IL-17A stimulates cardiac fibroblasts to produce inflammatory mediators critical for the recruitment and differentiation of myeloid cells during inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy.

BackgroundPhysician migration, also known as “brain drain,” results from a combination of a gap in the supply and demand in developed countries and a lack of job satisfaction in developing countries. Many push and pull factors are responsible for this effect, with media and internet playing their parts. Large-scale physician migration can pose problems for both the donor and the recipient countries, with a resulting reinforcement in the economic divide between developed and developing countries. The main objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence of migration intentions in medical undergraduates, to elucidate the factors responsible and to analyze the attitudes and practices related to these intentions.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study, conducted at Dow Medical College of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, between January, 2012 and May, 2012. A total of 323 students responded completely. The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections, and was aimed at collecting demographic details, determining students’ migratory intentions, evaluating reasons for and against migration and assessing attitudes and practices of students related to these intentions.ResultsOut of 323 respondents, 195 wanted to pursue their careers abroad, giving a prevalence rate of 60.4% in our sample. United States was the most frequently reported recipient country. The most common reasons given by students who wished to migrate, in descending order, were: lucrative salary abroad followed by quality of training, job satisfaction, better way of life, relatives, more opportunities, better working environment, terrorism in Pakistan, harassment of doctors in Pakistan, desire to settle abroad, more competition in Pakistan, better management, peer pressure, longer working hours in Pakistan, religious reasons, parent pressure, political reasons and favoritism in Pakistan. A considerable number of respondents had already started studying for licensing examinations, and were also planning of gaining clinical experience in their desired country of interest.ConclusionPhysician migration is a serious condition that requires timely intervention from the concerned authorities. If considerable measures are not taken, serious consequences may follow, which may pose a threat to the healthcare system of the country.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women around the world. About one in 12 women in the West develop breast cancer at some point in life. It is estimated that 5%-10% of all breast cancer cases in women are linked to hereditary susceptibility due to mutations in autosomal dominant genes. The two key players associated with high breast cancer risk are mutations in BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. Another highly important mutation can occur in TP53 resulting in a triple negative breast cancer. However, the great majority of breast cancer cases are not related to a mutated gene of high penetrance, but to genes of low penetrance such as CHEK2, CDH1, NBS1, RAD50, BRIP1 and PALB2, which are frequently mutated in the general population. In this review, we discuss the entire spectrum of mutations which are associated with breast cancer.