CHMPions of repair: Emerging perspectives on sensing and repairing the nuclear envelope barrier

Understanding how the integrity of the nuclear membranes is protected against internal and external stresses is an emergent challenge. Work reviewed here investigated the mechanisms by which losses of nuclear-cytoplasmic compartmentalization are sensed and ameliorated. Fundamental to these is spatial control over interactions between the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport machinery and LAP2-emerin-MAN1 family inner nuclear membrane proteins, which together promote nuclear envelope sealing in interphase and at the end of mitosis. We suggest that the size of the nuclear envelope hole dictates the mechanism of its repair, with larger holes requiring barrier-to-autointegration factor and the potential triggering of a postmitotic nuclear envelope reassembly pathway in interphase. We also consider why these mechanisms fail at ruptured micronuclei. Together, this work re-emphasizes the need to understand how membrane flow and local lipid metabolism help ensure that the nuclear envelope is refractory to mechanical rupture yet fluid enough to allow its essential dynamics.

Past and current contraceptive use in Pakistan

Despite a vigorous national family planning program and such innovations as the Continuous Motivation System, there has been little change in contraceptive use in Pakistan in recent years. Data from the 1968-69 National Impact Survey and the 1975 World Fertility Survey for Pakistan show that, while use rates increased by a small amount in urban areas, the rates in rural areas seem to have declined. Even in urban areas contraceptive use is low in comparison with other developing countries that began family planning programs around the same time. Although this is probably due to differences in economic development, further investigation of program structure and inputs is recommended.

Birth interval study in a culturally stable urban population

Five hundred women were interviewed within 2 days of delivery to examine indigenous birth spacing among the urban and rural population of Ife township. The crude birth interval was between 30 and 40 months due mainly to cultural attitudes towards lactation and sexual abstinence. The women studied possessed considerable knowledge of Western contraceptive methods, but they rejected them. The possible cause of this rejection is examined and solutions to the problem are suggested.

Sexual knowledge, attitudes, and practice of Israeli adolescents

A study of 4,976 high-school students in Israel, representative of this age group for the entire country except for 13 percent who attend religious schools, revealed that about one-third of the boys aged 14-15 and almost one-half of those in the 16-17 age category have had sexual intercourse. The respective figures for girls are 6 percent and 16 percent. Age at onset of sexual activity was found to be higher and the level of knowledge about the same as in reports from the Western world. Students of Oriental origin, as well as those considering themselves religious or traditional tended to be less active sexually, more conservative in their attitudes, and less knowledgeable. In contrast, students of both sexes residing in kibbutzim were found to be more active sexually and more knowledgeable. A double standard for girls was accepted, especially among the female respondents, except in the kibbutzim. A subgroup of girls highly sexually active, in contrast to their own attitudes, has been identified, and possible reasons for this discordance discussed. As sexual activity among teenagers is becoming more prevalent, comprehensive and early sex education school programs should be encouraged.

Agreement rates between oral contraceptive users and prescribers in relation to drug use histories

A comparison between prescriber records and patient-reported oral contraceptive histories obtained during a case-control study of thromboembolism and oral contraceptive use served as the basis for evaluating the extent of agreement between these two sources of information. Agreement between oral contraceptive user and prescriber was highest on the name of the most recently-used product (89% agreement), and dropped to 62.5% on the name of the product taken before the more recent one. For total duration of oral contraceptive use (to within one month of hospital admission), agreement (defined as differences not exceeding one month) was 36%, while 39% showed the users reporting longer duration of use, and 25% showed users reporting shorter duration. Cases showed a higher rate of agreement with prescriber records than the controls on both the name of the product and the total duration of use. Disagreement from prescriber records in the direction of reporting longer duration of use was 45% for the controls compared to 27% for the cases. These results indicate that while user information in connection with the most recently used oral contraceptive can be acceptable in studies employing the case-control research strategy, user reports about previous oral contraceptive use may be less useful.

The changing African family project: a report with special reference to the Nigerian segment

The Changing African Family Project was begun in 1973 as a cooperative venture of the Sociology Department of the University of Ibadan and the Demography Department of the Australian National University, with research institutes and individual researchers in 11 representative countries of Africa, to investigate the preconditions for fertility decline. This paper reports initial initial findings from the large Nigerian segment of the project, which was used as a laboratory, and presents technical information about the surveys, as well as findings on economic supports for high fertility, factors affecting fertility, the role of sexual abstinence in determining fertility levels, the increase in contraception and its relation to family size limitation, and the incidence and nature of achieved small families. Information is also provided on the projects in Cameroon, the Congo (Brazzaville), Ghana, and the Sudan.

Modernism and contraceptive use in Colombia

This analysis addresses the question of whether fertility can be lowered without the prior occurrence of the social and economic changes that have come to be labeled modernization. The data show that there exists in Colombia a relatively high level of motivation to control fertility that, for many women, is not coupled with both knowledge of and access to a method of contraception. For the "traditional" woman, the problem may not be lack of motivation so much as lack of access to methods that she is aware of, such as the pill, and lack of knowledge of methods that require few resources of supplies, such as rhythm and withdrawal.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practice of family planning in Singapore

The First National Survey on Family Planning in Singapore was designed to gather data that would aid in evaluating the program of the National Family Planning and Population Board and the influence of government population policies on attitudes toward family planning. Interviews with 2,078 currently married women aged 15--44 revealed high levels of contraceptive knowledge and use, satisfaction of clinic users with the Board's services, and attitudes that favor greater acceptance of abortion and sterilization. Continued promotion of the concept of the two-child family appears necessary in light of divided opinions of respondents on this government recommendation.

Family planning in Iran: results of a survey and a mass media campaign

This article presents some of the general findings and, in particular, the information on family planning practice in Isfahan City and Ostan compiled in two phases of the Isfahan Communications Project (ICP). In terms of information generated, the project had two main stages: (1) the ostan-wide sample presurvey (May, 1970), and (2) the ostan-wide mass media campaign (August, 1970-March, 1971). The presurvey was made to obtain demographic information and data on the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of family planning among the population and their exposure to the various media. The media campaign was directed at those couples who because of their media behavior and previous experiences with contraception were thought to be predisposed to adopt modern family planning methods.