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Vasalgel
Reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG), formerly referred to as the synthetic polymer styrene maleic anhydride (SMA), is the development name of a male contraceptive injection developed at IIT Kharagpur in India by the team of Dr. Sujoy K. Guha. RISUG has been patented in India, China, Bangladesh, and the United States. Phase III clinical trials were underway in India, and were slowed by insufficient volunteers. , a contraceptive product based on RISUG, Vasalgel, was under development in the US by Parsemus Foundation, but funding was uncertain. , RSUG and Vasalgel were still in development and testing. Development Sujoy K. Guha developed RISUG after years of developing other inventions. He originally wanted to create an artificial heart that could pump blood using a strong electrical pulse. Using the 13-chamber model of a cockroach heart, he designed a softer pumping mechanism that would theoretically be safe to use in humans. As India's population grew throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vasalgel Diagram
Reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG), formerly referred to as the synthetic polymer styrene maleic anhydride (SMA), is the development name of a male contraceptive injection developed at IIT Kharagpur in India by the team of Dr. Sujoy K. Guha. RISUG has been patented in India, China, Bangladesh, and the United States. Phase III clinical trials were underway in India, and were slowed by insufficient volunteers. , a contraceptive product based on RISUG, Vasalgel, was under development in the US by Parsemus Foundation, but funding was uncertain. , RSUG and Vasalgel were still in development and testing. Development Sujoy K. Guha developed RISUG after years of developing other inventions. He originally wanted to create an artificial heart that could pump blood using a strong electrical pulse. Using the 13-chamber model of a cockroach heart, he designed a softer pumping mechanism that would theoretically be safe to use in humans. As India's population grew through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Male Contraceptive
Male contraceptives, also known as male birth control, are methods of preventing pregnancy that solely involve the male physiology. The most common kinds of male contraception include condoms, outercourse, and vasectomy. In domestic animals, castration is commonly used for contraception. Other forms of male contraception are in various stages of research and development. These include methods like RISUG/VasalGel (which has completed a small phase II clinical trial in humans in India) and ultrasound (with results so far obtained in experimental animals). Methods Surgery Vasectomy is a surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent birth control. During the procedure, the vasa deferentia of a man are severed, and then tied or sealed to prevent sperm from entering into the seminal stream (ejaculate). Vasectomies are usually performed in a physician's office or medical clinic. CDC research has estimated there is a probability of 11 failures per 1,000 procedures over 2 years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parsemus Foundation
The Parsemus Foundation is an American non-governmental organization whose objective is to advance low-cost evidence-based medicines not pursued by the pharmaceutical industry. The foundation's focus is on supporting small proof-of-concept studies and then pursuing press coverage of the results, so that the advances change treatment practice rather than disappearing into the scientific literature. Many of the studies supported involve low-cost approaches that are not under patent. Background Founded in 2005, Parsemus is an advocate of research into the plausibility of RISUG (and a method based on RISUG, called Vasalgel), a reversible male contraceptive. The foundation began procuring RISUG's United States intellectual property rights in November 2010, completed the acquisition process in February 2012, and is for the past 8 years conducting toxicology tests as an initial step towards Food and Drug Administration approval. Vasgel production has continually been delayed. Huma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrotum
The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum contains the external spermatic fascia, testes, epididymis, and ductus deferens. It is a distention of the perineum and carries some abdominal tissues into its cavity including the testicular artery, testicular vein, and pampiniform plexus. The perineal raphe is a small, vertical, slightly raised ridge of scrotal skin under which is found the scrotal septum. It appears as a thin longitudinal line that runs front to back over the entire scrotum. In humans and some other mammals the scrotum becomes covered with pubic hair at puberty. The scrotum will usually tighten during penile erection and when exposed to cold temperatures. One testis is typically lower than the other to avoid compression in the event of an impact. The scrotum is biologicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carcinogenicity
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substances are considered carcinogens, but their carcinogenic activity is attributed to the radiation, for example gamma rays and alpha particles, which they emit. Common examples of non-radioactive carcinogens are inhaled asbestos, certain dioxins, and tobacco smoke. Although the public generally associates carcinogenicity with synthetic chemicals, it is equally likely to arise from both natural and synthetic substances. Carcinogens are not necessarily immediately toxic; thus, their effect can be insidious. Carcinogens, as mentioned, are agents in the environment capable of contributing to cancer growth. Carcinogens can be categorized into two different types: activation-dependent and activation-independent, and each nature impacts their l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell Membrane
The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment (the extracellular space). The cell membrane consists of a lipid bilayer, made up of two layers of phospholipids with cholesterols (a lipid component) interspersed between them, maintaining appropriate membrane fluidity at various temperatures. The membrane also contains membrane proteins, including integral proteins that span the membrane and serve as membrane transporters, and peripheral proteins that loosely attach to the outer (peripheral) side of the cell membrane, acting as enzymes to facilitate interaction with the cell's environment. Glycolipids embedded in the outer lipid layer serve a similar purpose. The cell membrane controls the movement of substances in and out of cells and organelles, being selectively permeable to ions a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Charge
Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes charged matter to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative'' (commonly carried by protons and electrons respectively). Like charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other. An object with an absence of net charge is referred to as neutral. Early knowledge of how charged substances interact is now called classical electrodynamics, and is still accurate for problems that do not require consideration of quantum effects. Electric charge is a conserved property; the net charge of an isolated system, the amount of positive charge minus the amount of negative charge, cannot change. Electric charge is carried by subatomic particles. In ordinary matter, negative charge is carried by electrons, and positive charge is carried by the protons in the nuclei of atoms. If there are more electrons than protons in a piece of matter, it will have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma Radiation
A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically shorter than those of X-rays. With frequencies above 30 exahertz (), it imparts the highest photon energy. Paul Villard, a French chemist and physicist, discovered gamma radiation in 1900 while studying radiation emitted by radium. In 1903, Ernest Rutherford named this radiation ''gamma rays'' based on their relatively strong penetration of matter; in 1900 he had already named two less penetrating types of decay radiation (discovered by Henri Becquerel) alpha rays and beta rays in ascending order of penetrating power. Gamma rays from radioactive decay are in the energy range from a few kiloelectronvolts (keV) to approximately 8 megaelectronvolts (MeV), corresponding to the typical energy levels in nuclei with reasonably long lifeti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60 (60Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2713 years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotopic and mononuclidic cobalt isotope . (PDF also located aCanadian Nuclear FAQ Measurable quantities are also produced as a by-product of typical nuclear power plant operation and may be detected externally when leaks occur. In the latter case (in the absence of added cobalt) the incidentally produced is largely the result of multiple stages of neutron activation of iron isotopes in the reactor's steel structures via the creation of its precursor. The simplest case of the latter would result from the activation of . undergoes beta decay to the stable isotope nickel-60 (). The activated nickel nucleus emits two gamma rays with energies of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV, hence the overall equation of the nuclear reaction (activation and decay) is: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rad (unit)
The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose, defined as 1 rad = 0.01 Gy = 0.01 J/kg. It was originally defined in CGS units in 1953 as the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by one gram of matter. The material absorbing the radiation can be human tissue or silicon microchips or any other medium (for example, air, water, lead shielding, etc.). It has been replaced by the gray (Gy) in SI derived units, but is still used in the United States, although this is "strongly discouraged" in Chapter 5.2 of the ''Guide to the SI'', which was written and published by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. However, the numerically equivalent SI unit, the centigray, is widely used to report absorbed doses within radiotherapy. The roentgen, used to quantify the radiation exposure, may be related to the corresponding absorbed dose by use of the F-factor. Health effects A dose of under 100 rad will typically produce no immediate symptoms other than blood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monomer
In chemistry, a monomer ( ; ''mono-'', "one" + '' -mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization. Classification Monomers can be classified in many ways. They can be subdivided into two broad classes, depending on the kind of the polymer that they form. Monomers that participate in condensation polymerization have a different stoichiometry than monomers that participate in addition polymerization: : Other classifications include: *natural vs synthetic monomers, e.g. glycine vs caprolactam, respectively *polar vs nonpolar monomers, e.g. vinyl acetate vs ethylene, respectively *cyclic vs linear, e.g. ethylene oxide vs ethylene glycol, respectively The polymerization of one kind of monomer gives a homopolymer. Many polymers are copolymers, meaning that they are derived from two different monomers. In the case of condensation polymerizations, the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irradiation
Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. The exposure can originate from various sources, including natural sources. Most frequently the term refers to ionizing radiation, and to a level of radiation that will serve a specific purpose, rather than radiation exposure to normal levels of background radiation. The term irradiation usually excludes the exposure to non-ionizing radiation, such as infrared, visible light, microwaves from cellular phones or electromagnetic waves emitted by radio and TV receivers and power supplies. Applications Sterilization If administered at appropriate levels, all forms of ionizing radiation can sterilize objects, including medical instruments, disposables such as syringes, and sterilize food. Ionizing radiation (electron beams, X-rays and gamma rays) may be used to kill bacteria in food or other organic material, including blood. Food irradiation, while effective, is seldom used due to problems with public accepta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
