Background and general attitude variables distinguishing satisfied and dissatisfied engineering teachers

Nine background variables and six general attitude variables were correlated with expressed job satisfaction. The significance of the difference between the means of the highly satisfied and the highly dissatisfied group was tested by the t-test. The sample consisted of 158 engineering teachers taken from 9 different higher technological institutions in India. The four variables which had a high correlation with job satisfaction and which distinguished between the two groups were, research involvement, research output, permanence of career plan and time satisfied.This article is based on a doctoral dissertation approved by the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. The author wishes to express her gratitude to Dr. Purnima Mathur, for her very valuable guidance.The author is currently at the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi-110057.     

Impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function in men with diabetes mellitus

In view of association of diabetes mellitus and male infertility, present study was designed to investigate the functional status of hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis in diabetic men. Thirty-five diabetic men (BMI 22.24±0.21) in the age group 20–40 (30.6±4.7) years were selected. Twenty-five healthy men (BMI 23.85±0.25), in the same age group (29.5±4.8) served as control. Blood samples were collected for hormonal and biochemical estimations. Diabetic men had significantly low serum testosterone with low LH and FSH, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypoalbuminemia and increased oxidative stress. Low serum testosterone in diabetic men was accompanied by low LH and FSH; the inability of the pituitary gland to respond appropriately to a decline in testosterone implying central effect of high serum glucose on the interaction between the nervous and endocrine system. Nutritional deficiency, increased oxidative stress and increased aromatase activity due to excessive body fat might have also contributed to low serum testosterone.