JOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 12 2004
C. J. Scott
Abstract Rams and ewes show a negative-feedback response to peripheral treatment with testosterone, with both sexes having a similar degree of suppression in luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion during the breeding season. At least part of the action of testosterone to suppress gonadotropin-releasing hormone/LH secretion is exerted via interaction with an androgen receptor. The distribution of androgen receptor-containing cells in the hypothalamus has been described for the ram, but similar studies have not been performed in the ewe. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that levels of androgen receptor mRNA expression in the preoptic area and hypothalamus would be similar in rams and ewes. Perfusion-fixed brain tissue was obtained from adult Romney Marsh ewes (luteal phase) and rams during the breeding season (n = 4/sex). Androgen receptor mRNA expression was quantified in hypothalamic sections by in situ hybridization using an 35S-labelled riboprobe and image analysis. Hybridizing cells were found in the medial preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, anterior hypothalamic area, ventromedial nucleus, arcuate nucleus and premamillary nucleus. The level of androgen receptor mRNA expression was higher in rams than ewes in the rostral preoptic area, caudal preoptic area and rostral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, with no sex difference in other regions. The preoptic area and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are important for reproductive behaviour and the sex differences in androgen receptor mRNA expression at these levels may relate to this. The high level of androgen receptor mRNA expression in the basal hypothalamus, with no sex difference, is consistent with the role of this region in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion. [source]

Social Inequality: Utilisation of general practitioner services by socio-economic disadvantage and geographic remoteness

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2004
Gavin Turrell
Objective: To examine the association between socio-economic status (SES) and GP utilisation across Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) that differed in their geographic remoteness, and to assess whether Indigenous status and GP availability modified the association. Design: Retrospective analysis of Medicare data for all unreferred GP consultations (1996/97) for 952 SLAs comprising the six Australian States. Geographic remoteness was ascertained using the Area Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), and SES was measured by grouping SLAs into tertiles based on their Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage score. Main outcome measure: Age/sex standardised rates of GP utilisation for each SLA. Main results: In SLAs classified as ,highly accessible', rates of GP use were 10.8% higher (95% CI 5.7,16.0) in the most socio-economically disadvantaged tertile after adjustment for Indigenous status and GP availability. A very different pattern of GP utilsation was found in ,remote/very remote' SLAs. After adjustment, rates of GP use in the most socio-economically disadvantaged tertile were 25.3% lower (95% CI 5.9,40.7) than in the most advantaged tertile. Conclusions: People in socio-economically disadvantaged metropolitan SLAs have higher rates of GP utilisation, as would be expected due to their poorer health. This is not true for people living in disadvantaged remote/very remote SLAs: in these areas, those most in need of GP services are least likely to receive them. Australia may lay claim to having a primary health care system that provides universal coverage, but we are still some way from having a system that is economically and geographically accessible to all. [source]

PERSPECTIVE: SEX, RECOMBINATION, AND THE EFFICACY OF SELECTION,WAS WEISMANN RIGHT?

EVOLUTION, Issue 2 2000
Austin Burt
Abstract., The idea that sex functions to provide variation for natural selection to act upon was first advocated by August Weismann and it has dominated much discussion on the evolution of sex and recombination since then. The goal of this paper is to further extend this hypothesis and to assess its place in a larger body of theory on the evolution of sex and recombination. A simple generic model is developed to show how fitness variation and covariation interact with selection for recombination and illustrate some important implications of the hypothesis: (1) the advantage of sex and recombination can accrue both to reproductively isolated populations and to modifiers segregating within populations, but the former will be much larger than the latter; (2) forces of degradation that are correlated across loci within an individual can reduce or reverse selection for increased recombination; and (3) crossing-over (which can occur at different places in different meioses) will create more variability than having multiple chromosomes and so will have more influence on the efficacy of selection. Several long-term selection experiments support Weismann's hypothesis, including those showing a greater response to selection in populations with higher rates of recombination and higher rates of recombination evolving as a correlated response to selection for some other character. Weismann's hypothesis is also consistent with the sporadic distribution of obligate asexuality, which indicates that clones have a higher rate of extinction than sexuals. Weismann's hypothesis is then discussed in light of other patterns in the distribution of sexuality versus asexuality. To account for variation in the frequency of obligate asexuality in different taxa, a simple model is developed in which this frequency is a function of three parameters: the rate of clonal origin, the initial fitness of clones when they arise, and the rate at which that fitness declines over time. Variation in all three parameters is likely to be important in explaining the distribution of obligate asexuality. Facultative asexuality also exists, and for this to be stable it seems there must be ecological differences between the sexual and asexual propagules as well as genetic differences. Finally, the timing of sex in cyclical parthenogens is most likely set to minimize the opportunity costs of sex. None of these patterns contradict Weismann's hypothesis, but they do show that many additional principles unrelated to the function of sex are required to fully explain its distribution. Weismann's hypothesis is also consistent with what we know about the mechanics and molecular genetics of recombination, in particular the tendency for chromatids to recombine with a homolog rather than a sister chromatid at meiosis, which is opposite to what they do during mitosis. However, molecular genetic studies have shown that cis -acting sites at which recombination is initiated are lost by gene conversion as a result, a factor that can be expected to affect many fine details in the evolution of recombination. In summary, although Weismann's hypothesis must be considered the leading candidate for the function of sex and recombination, nevertheless, many additional principles are needed to fully account for their evolution. [source]

Recombination is suppressed over a large region of the rainbow trout Y chromosome

ANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2009
R. B. Phillips
Summary The previous genetic mapping data have suggested that most of the rainbow trout sex chromosome pair is pseudoautosomal, with very small X-specific and Y-specific regions. We have prepared an updated genetic and cytogenetic map of the male rainbow trout sex linkage group. Selected sex-linked markers spanning the X chromosome of the female genetic map have been mapped cytogenetically in normal males and genetically in crosses between the OSU female clonal line and four different male clonal lines as well as in outcrosses involving outbred OSU and hybrids between the OSU line and the male clonal lines. The cytogenetic maps of the X and Y chromosomes were very similar to the female genetic map for the X chromosome. Five markers on the male maps are genetically very close to the sex determination locus (SEX), but more widely spaced on the female genetic map and on the cytogenetic map, indicating a large region of suppressed recombination on the Y chromosome surrounding the SEX locus. The male map is greatly extended at the telomere. A BAC clone containing the SCAR (sequence characterized amplified region) Omy - 163 marker, which maps close to SEX, was subjected to shotgun sequencing. Two carbonyl reductase genes and a gene homologous to the vertebrate skeletal ryanodine receptor were identified. Carbonyl reductase is a key enzyme involved in production of trout ovarian maturation hormone. This brings the number of type I genes mapped to the sex chromosome to six and has allowed us to identify a region on zebrafish chromosome 10 and medaka chromosome 13 which may be homologous to the distal portion of the long arm of the rainbow trout Y chromosome. [source]

Peak Oxygen Consumption and Heart Failure Prognosis,Does Race, Sex, or Fat Explain the Discrepancy?

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, Issue 1 2009
Editor's note: The following commentary addresses issues raised in an article published in the previous issue.
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Constructing Queer Communities: Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Fantasies

CONSTELLATIONS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRITICAL AND DEMOCRATIC THEORY, Issue 1 2001
Morris Kaplan
[source]

Predictive, concurrent, prospective and retrospective validity of self-reported delinquency

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2003
Darrick Jolliffe
Background The self-report method is widely used to measure offending. Previous studies suggest that it is generally valid, but that its validity may be lower for blacks than for whites. Aim To assess the validity of self-reported offending in relation to court referrals, and to investigate how it varies with types of offences, sex and race. Method Annual court and self-report data were collected between ages 11 and 17 for eight offences in the Seattle Social Development Project, which is a prospective longitudinal survey of 808 youths. Results Self-reports predicted future court referrals. Predictive validity was highest for drug offences, for males and for whites, and lowest for females and Asians. The probability of youths with a court referral reporting offences and arrests was highest for drug offences, for males, for whites and for blacks. Retrospective ages of onset agreed best with prospective ages for drug offences, Asians and whites. More Asians than blacks or whites failed retrospectively to report offences that had been reported prospectively. Conclusions The validity of self-reports of offending was high, especially for drug offences, for males and for whites. Contrary to prior research, validity was high for black males. It was lowest for Asian females. Sex and race differences in validity held up after controlling for socioeconomic status. Differential validity probability did not reflect police bias. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]

Languages of Sex and AIDS in Nepal: Notes on the Social Production of Commensurability

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
Stacy Leigh Pigg
First page of article [source]

Racial Metaphors: Interpreting Sex and AIDS in Africa

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2003
Eileen Stillwaggon
Western preconceptions regarding African sexuality distorted early research on the social context of AIDS in Africa and limited the scope of preventive policies. Key works cited repeatedly in the social science and policy literature constructed a hypersexualized pan,African culture as the main reason for the high prevalence of HIV in sub,Saharan Africa. Africans were portrayed as the social ,Other' in works marked by sweeping generalizations and innuendo, rather than useful comparative data on sexual behaviour. Although biomedical studies demonstrate the role of numerous factors that influence HIV transmission among poor people, a narrowly behavioural explanation dominated the AIDS,in,Africa discourse for over a decade and still circumscribes preventive strategies in Africa and elsewhere. [source]

Differences between European birthweight standards: impact on classification of ,small for gestational age'

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 11 2006
K Hemming PhD
We describe a quantitative and comparative review of a selection of European birthweight standards for gestational age for singletons, to enable appropriate choices to be made for clinical and research use. Differences between median values at term across standards in 10 regions and misclassification of 'small for gestational age'(SGA), were studied. Sex and parity differences, exclusion criteria, and methods of construction were considered. There was wide variation between countries in exclusion criteria, methods of calculating standards, and median birthweight at term. The lightest standards (e.g. France's medians are 255g lower than Norway's medians) were associated with fewer exclusion criteria. Up to 20% of the population used in the construction of the Scottish standard would be classified as SGA using the Norwegian standard. Substantial misclassification of SGA is possible. Assumptions about variation used in the construction of some standards were not justified. It is not possible to conclude that there are real differences in birthweight standards between European countries. Country-based standards control for some population features but add misclassification due to the differing ways in which standards are derived. Standards should be chosen to reflect clinical or research need. If standards stratified by sex or parity are not available, adjustments should be made. In multinational studies, comparisons should be made between results using both a common standard and country-based standards. [source]

Leptin,a predictor of abnormal glucose tolerance and prognosis in patients with myocardial infarction and without previously known Type 2 diabetes

DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 8 2008
M. Wallander
Abstract Aims High levels of leptin and low adiponectin are associated with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular (CV) disease. We studied the prognostic implications of leptin and adiponectin in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without previously known Type 2 DM. Methods One hundred and eighty-one patients were included. Based on an oral glucose tolerance test at hospital discharge (day 4,5), 168 (67% men) had normal or abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT), defined as impaired glucose tolerance or T2DM. Sex- and age-matched healthy persons served as control subjects (n = 185). The associations between fasting serum leptin and adiponectin (day 2) and newly discovered AGT and CV events (CV mortality, non-fatal stroke, reinfarction or severe heart failure) during a median follow-up of 34 months were investigated. Results Compared with control subjects, patients of both genders had significantly higher levels of leptin 2 days after an AMI. These levels were higher than those obtained at hospital discharge and 3 months later. Circulating levels of (ln) leptin 2 days after the AMI predicted AGT at discharge (odds ratio 2.03, P = 0.042). Ln leptin at day 2 was the only biochemical variable that significantly predicted CV events both on univariate [hazard ratio (HR) 1.60, P = 0.018] and on multivariate analysis (HR 1.75, P = 0.045). Adiponectin levels did not differ between patients and control subjects and did not relate to AGT or CV events. Conclusions Elevated circulating levels of leptin on the first morning after an AMI are associated with the presence of AGT at discharge and with a poorer long-term prognosis. [source]

Measurement and reporting of the duration of untreated psychosis

EARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY, Issue 4 2008
Matthew Large
Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic, illness and methodological factors associated with mean and median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the published studies of DUP and an examination of available DUP distributions. Results: DUP was longer in samples with a higher proportion of patients with schizophrenia and was shorter in samples that included affective psychosis. Sex, age, and the methods of measuring the onset and end-point of DUP and the type of service in which the studies were performed did not contribute to the heterogeneity of the mean or median DUP values. Mean DUP is significantly prolonged by a small number of patients, and the median DUP is a poor indicator of the rate at which patients present. Conclusions: The DUP of patients with affective and non-affective psychosis should be examined separately in order to make measures of DUP more meaningful and comparable, and DUP should be reported using more comprehensive measures. We suggest a method of reporting DUP based on the rate of presentation of first-episode psychosis patients rather than the length of DUP. [source]

Sex, isolation and fidelity: unbiased long-distance dispersal in a terrestrial amphibian

ECOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2006
M. Alex Smith
Amphibians in general are considered poor dispersers and thus their dispersal curve should be dominated by short movements. Additionally, as male toads do not compete for females and sexual selection is by female choice, dispersal should be male-biased. Furthermore, since adults are site-loyal and polygynous, juveniles should move farther and faster than adults. We tested the hypotheses that dispersal would be limited and both sex- and age-biased in a population of Fowler's toads Bufo fowleri at Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada. Based on a mark-recapture study of 2816 toads, 1326 recaptured at least once, we found that although the toads did show high site fidelity, the dispersal curve was highly skewed with a significant "tail" where the maximum distance moved by an adult was 34 km. Dispersal was neither sex-biased nor age-biased despite clear theoretical predictions that dispersal should be biased towards males and juveniles. We conclude that the resource competition hypothesis of sex-biased dispersal does not predict dispersal tendencies as readily for amphibians as for mammals and birds. Toad dispersal only appears to be juvenile-biased because the juveniles are more abundant than the adults, not because they are the more active dispersers. [source]

HIV antibody seroprevalence in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea

EMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 4 2005
Chris Curry
Abstract Objective:, To determine the prevalence of HIV antibody in patients presenting to the ED at Port Moresby General Hospital in Papua New Guinea. Method:, Three hundred patients in whom blood samples were taken for investigation of illness or injury between April and July 2003 were surveyed for HIV antibodies. Sex, age and presenting illness were recorded. Results:, Fifty-four tests (18%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 14,23%) were positive. Forty-seven per cent were men and 53% were women. The most common presenting illnesses were respiratory tract infections (37%) and gastrointestinal tract infections (26%). Because of resource constraints results were not linked to patients and there was no follow up. Conclusion:, These limited data support the prediction that the developing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Papua New Guinea will be serious. [source]

Cold hardiness of diapausing and non-diapausing pupae of the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana

ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 2 2005
Stefanos S. Andreadis
Abstract Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a key pest of grapes in Europe. It overwinters as a pupa in the bark crevices of the plant. Supercooling point (SCP) and low temperature survival was investigated in the laboratory and was determined using a cool bath and a 1 °C min,1 cooling rate. Freezing was fatal both to diapausing and non-diapausing pupae. SCP was significantly lower in diapausing male (,24.8 °C) and female (,24.5 °C) pupae than in non-diapausing ones (,22.7 and ,22.5 °C, respectively). Sex had no influence on SCP both for diapausing and non-diapausing pupae. Supercooling was also not affected by acclimation. However, acclimation did improve survival of diapausing pupae at temperatures above the SCP. Survival increased as acclimation period increased and the influence was more profound at the lower temperatures examined. Diapausing pupae could withstand lower temperatures than non-diapausing ones and lethal temperature was significantly lower than for non-diapausing pupae. Freezing injury above the SCP has been well documented for both physiological stages of L. botrana pupae. Our findings suggest a diapause-related cold hardiness for L. botrana and given its cold hardiness ability, winter mortality due to low temperatures is not expected to occur, especially in southern Europe. [source]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bioaccumulation by meiobenthic copepods inhabiting a superfund site: Techniques for micromass body burden and total lipid analysis

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2002
Susan L. Klosterhaus
Abstract Microtechniques for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) body burden and total lipid analysis were developed and applied to determine the first lipid-normalized bioaccumulation factors for a hydrophobic organic toxicant in a meiobenthic organism (0.063-0.500 mm) living in field-contaminated sediments. The total lipid microtechnique combines the standard Bligh-Dyer extraction method with a colorimetric quantification method for analysis of samples containing 1 to 50 ,g lipid. The microtechnique for body burden analysis quantifies PAHs from tissue samples containing as little as 10 pg PAH. Fluoranthene, benz[a]anthracene, and benzo[a]pyrene biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) were determined for the meiobenthic copepod Microarthridion littorale living in an estuarine U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Gravid female, nongravid female, and male BSAFs were 0.82, 0.54, and 0.36, respectively, for fluoranthene; 0.50, 0.44, and 0.40, respectively, for benz[a]anthracene; and 0.09, 0.12, and 0.15, respectively, for benzo[a]pyrene. Comparison of nonlipid-normalized bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) to BSAFs indicates that M. littorale bioaccumulated PAHs on a gram lipid basis. The BSAFs declined consistently with increasing PAH log Kow for all copepod sex and reproductive stages. Sex- and stage-specific comparisons of BSAFs suggest that differences in lipid content and quality may lead to differences in BSAF values depending on PAH molecular weight and/or hydrophobicity. [source]

Variation of metallothionein and metal concentrations in the digestive gland of the clam Ruditapes decussatus: Sex and seasonal effects

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2001
Maria A. Serafim
Abstract Metallothionein (MT) and metal (Cd, Cu, and Zn) concentrations were determined in the digestive gland of male and female Ruditapes decussatus. Clams were collected monthly during the period of sexual development, from June to September, at two different sites of a coastal lagoon, the Ria Formosa Lagoon, on the south coast of Portugal. The MT concentrations were determined in the heat-treated cytosolic fraction of the digestive gland of both male and female clams. Total metal (Cd, Cu, and Zn) concentrations in the heat-treated cytosol of the digestive gland were also determined in both sexes. The MT and metal concentrations in the digestive gland were not sex dependent in this species. Therefore, these results suggest that random samples can be used to determine MT and metal concentrations in the digestive gland of R. decussatus. Seasonal and site-specific dependency, however, were detected for MT, Cd, and Cu concentrations. The maximum concentration levels of MT, Cd, and Cu were detected in July and August for both sexes in the same area. Zinc concentrations, however, did not show marked seasonal variations, indicating that this species is able to regulate zinc concentrations. The highest MT concentrations were significantly related to the highest metal concentrations. [source]

Sex, Reproductive Status, and Cost of Tail Autotomy via Decreased Running Speed in Lizards

ETHOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
William E. Cooper Jr
Autotomy, voluntary shedding of body parts to permit escape, is a theoretically interesting defense because escape benefit is offset by numerous costs, including impaired future escape ability. Reduced sprint speed is a major escape cost in some lizards. We predicted that tail loss causes decreased speed in males and previtellogenic females, but not vitellogenic females already slowed by mass gain. In the striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus, adults of both sexes are subject to autotomy, and females undergo large increases in body condition (mass/length) during vitellogenesis. Time required for running 1 m was similar in intact autotomized males and previtellogenic females, but increased by nearly half after autotomy. Vitellogenic females were slower than other lizards when intact, but their speed was unaffected by autotomy. Following autotomy, speeds of all groups were similar. Thus, speed costs of autotomy vary with sex and reproductive condition: decreased running speed is not a cost of autotomy in vitellogenic females or presumably gravid females. Costs of autotomy are more complex than previously known. Speed and other costs might interact in unforseen ways, making it difficult to predict whether strategies to compensate for diminished escape ability differ with reproductive condition in females. [source]

Sex, Rank and Age Differences in the Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata yakui) Participation in Inter-Group Encounters

ETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
Bonaventura Majolo
In many species interactions among group are often characterized by agonistic behaviour. Although animals may participate in inter-group encounters in different ways, depending on their energetic requirements, reproductive tactics, and/or developmental stage, the proximate causes affecting an animal's participation in inter-group encounters are still poorly understood. Indeed, many studies have analysed the behaviour of males and females during inter-group encounters without considering the importance of additional factors (e.g. rank). This study focuses on wild non-provisioned Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) living on Yakushima Island, Japan. It aims to determine how monkeys of different sex, age, and rank behave during inter-group encounters and it discusses the implications and consequences of their behaviour on group composition and male dispersal. Males participated significantly more than females in inter-group encounters, by displaying more aggressive or affiliative behaviour. High-ranking and/or adult males were more aggressive than low-ranking and/or subadult males during encounters occurring in the mating season and they also showed more herding behaviour. This trend was not found in inter-group encounters occurring during the non-mating season. Finally, males which then emigrated to new groups were low-ranking and/or subadult individuals. Those males displayed more affiliative behaviour towards foreign males than males which did emigrate. These data indicate that in non-territorial species with male dominance over female and high competition for mating partners males play an active, and often aggressive, role during inter-group encounter while female participation is scarce. Factors such as age, rank and period of the year (in seasonally breeding species) have to be taken into considerations when analysing interactions between groups and their effects on group composition and social behaviour. [source]

Sex and the Single Vole: Effects of Social Grouping on Prairie Vole Reproductive Success

ETHOLOGY, Issue 10 2002
Karen E. Hodges
Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) have a mating system that is primarily monogamous with paired males and females together defending breeding space against intruders of either sex. Breeding success may be affected when other adults intrude on the territorial space of pairs. We conducted an experiment to determine the impact of additional members of either sex on reproductive success of pairs. In laboratory arenas, we formed pairs (1F:1M) and two kinds of triad (2F:1M, 1F:2M). Females in pairs had the highest conception rates, litter sizes and survival of litters. Females in 1F:2M groups had slightly reduced litter sizes and reduced numbers of weanlings, and some females had litters sired by both males. Females in 2F:1M groups had low conception rates and the smallest litters, and >35% of their litters suffered infanticide; in no case did both females become pregnant. Throughout the trials, individuals of the sex doubly represented in triads were more likely to die than were individuals of the sex singly represented. We conclude that there may be fitness costs associated with the presence of unrelated supernumerary adults during gestation and lactation. [source]

Modelling the Influence of Age, Body Size and Sex on Maximum Oxygen Uptake in Older Humans

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000
Patrick J. Johnson
The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of body size and sex on the decline in maximum oxygen uptake (V,O2,max) in older men and women. A stratified random sample of 152 men and 146 women, aged 55-86 years, was drawn from the study population. Influence of age on V,O2,max, independent of differences in body mass (BM) or fat-free mass (FFM), was investigated using the following allometric model: V,O2,max= BMb (or FFMb) exp(a + (c × age) + (d × sex)) [epsilon]. The model was linearised and parameters identified using standard multiple regression. The BM model explained 68.8% of the variance in V,O2,max. The parameters (± s.e.e., standard error of the estimate) for lnBM (0.563 ± 0.070), age (-0.0154 ± 0.0012), sex (0.242 ± 0.024) and the intercept (-1.09 ± 0.32) were all significant (P < 0.001). The FFM model explained 69.3% of the variance in V,O2,max, and the parameters (± s.e.e) lnFFM (0.772 ± 0.090), age (-0.0159 ± 0.0012) and the intercept (-1.57 ± 0.36) were significant (P < 0.001), while sex (0.077 +/, 0.038) was significant at P = 0.0497. Regardless of the model used, the age-associated decline was similar, with a relative decline of 15% per decade (0.984 exp(age)) in V,O2,max in older humans being estimated. The study has demonstrated that, for a randomly drawn sample, the age-related loss in V,O2,max is determined, in part, by the loss of fat-free body mass. When this factor is accounted for, the loss of V,O2,max across age is similar in older men and women. [source]

Resolving Disease Management Problems in European-American and Latino Couples with Type 2 Diabetes: The Effects of Ethnicity and Patient Gender,

FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 4 2000
Lawrence Fisher Ph.D.
The management of type 2 diabetes requires major life style changes. How patients and family members resolve disagreements about disease management affects how well the disease is managed over time. Our goal was to identify differences in how couples resolved disagreements about diabetes management based on ethnicity and patient gender. We recruited 65 Latino and 110 European-American (EA) couples in which one spouse had type 2 diabetes. Couples participated in a 10-minute videotaped, revealed differences interaction task that was evaluated with 7 reliable observer ratings: warm-engagement, hostility, avoidance, amount of conflict resolution, off-task behavior, patient dominance, and dialogue. A series of 2 × 2, Ethnicity × Sex ANOVAs indicated significant effects for Ethnicity and for the Ethnicity × Sex interaction, but not for Sex. Latino couples were rated as significantly more emotionally close, less avoidant, less hostile toward each other, and had less dominant patients than EA couples; however, Latino couples achieved significantly less problem resolution and were more frequently off-task than EA couples. These findings were qualified by patient gender. The findings highlight important differences in how couples manage diabetes based on ethnicity and patient gender, and suggest that effective family-based programs of intervention must take both characteristics into account. [source]

Dimensions of Mothers' and Fathers' Differential Treatment of Siblings: Links With Adolescents' Sex-Typed Personal Qualities,

FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 1 2003
Corinna Jenkins Tucker
We explored mothers' and fathers' differential treatment (PDT) of their adolescent offspring in five domains (privileges, chores, affection, discipline, and temporal involvement) and examined how siblings' personal qualities were associated with PDT. Participants were 188 families with first- and secondborn adolescents. Equal treatment was the modal parental style except for privileges and discipline. Even where equal treatment was normative a substantial proportion of parents reported differential treatment. Further, the similarity of the nature of parents' differential treatment varied by domain. Sex was associated with parents' differential temporal involvement. Sex-typed personal qualities were related to parents' differential discipline. Both sex and sex-typed personal characteristics were linked to differential affection. Privileges and chores were associated with age and birth order. [source]

Sex in a cyclical parthenogen: mating behaviour of Chydorus sphaericus (Crustacea; Branchiopoda; Anomopoda)

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2006
KAY VAN DAMME
Summary 1. We describe the interactions during mating in Chydorus sphaericus, a cyclical parthenogenetic anomopod. Mating behaviour is more complex than previously assumed, with evidence for a diffusible chemical to which males react at the onset of mating, for reproductive isolation, and for postcopulatory mate guarding. 2. During mating, the male and female form a ,mating cross' that may be maintained for several hours, while copulation itself typically lasts less than a minute. Furthermore, males invariably attach to the right valve of females. Copulation involves intromission of the postabdomen between the valves, so that the gonopores approach the left ovarium. 3. This behaviour is reflected in the morphology of both sexes: males have a specialised anterior valve margin, postabdomen, first limb and rostrum, under selective pressure for successful mate guarding and copulation, while gamogenetic females have asymmetric ovaries, and a species-specific setulation of the valves. Males of the structurally related Chydorus ovalis react to the presence of C. sphaericus, but fail to dock to females, suggesting a lock-antilock element in the reproductive isolation of both species. 4. The morphological and ethological adaptations in C. sphaericus suggest that there is a strong selective pressure on mating behaviour in this cyclical parthenogen and specifically towards the formation of the ,mating cross'. [source]

Tongue Sandwiches and Bagel Days: Sex, Food and Mind-Body Dualism

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2004
Lynne Baxter
The substantive content of our paper is that of mind-body dualism, which we explore through food metaphors. However, our primary aim is to use these food metaphors to explore the difficulties in going beyond dualistic thinking. We do this by focusing on dualism as a learnt state of being. Accordingly, and using an analysis of pedagogies of the everyday that takes account of particular communities of practice, we seek to demonstrate the (re)production of dualistic frameworks in organizational life. Our conclusion returns to a political agenda that is concerned to go beyond the inevitable hierarchization implicit in dualistic construction. Here we present the case for the retention of the binary and we indicate the work that now needs to take place if we are interested in developing interpretations that express the fluidity of gendered identities. [source]

From Work as Sex to Sex as Work: Networks, ,Others' and Occupations in the Analysis of Work

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 5 2002
Jackie West
While once upon a time the social science of work and organization neglected or marginalized gender and sexuality, we have now lost sight of what people actually do, that is to say the activity of work. Gender and sexuality have been identified as crucial to organizational dynamics and, notwithstanding different theoretical emphases, this paradigm has become increasingly influential. We argue (contrary to most of its protagonists) that , within this model , the significance of sex and gender for organization rests principally on their role in the production of identities rather than in what they can tell us about production or work in any wider sense. The article highlights parallels with the ways in which prostitution is now generally understood, whether the emphasis is on subordination or agency. This literature also emphasizes gender relations and identities, even where the focus is on re,writing ,sex as work'. We argue that this focus neglects the wider networks in which all work, whether mainstream or otherwise, is embedded and that a full analysis must take due account of both these networks and the discursive production of identities. Examples , of work in the finance and sex industries , are used to substantiate this argument and a case is made for the importance of the Chicago School's analysis of occupations. [source]

Diagnosis of hepatic nodules 20 mm or smaller in cirrhosis: Prospective validation of the noninvasive diagnostic criteria for hepatocellular carcinoma,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Alejandro Forner
This study prospectively evaluates the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the diagnosis of nodules 20 mm or smaller detected during ultrasound (US) surveillance. We included 89 patients with cirrhosis [median age, 65 years; male 53, hepatitis C virus 68, Child-Pugh A 80] without prior hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in whom US detected a small solitary nodule (mean diameter, 14 mm). Hepatic MRI, CEUS, and fine-needle biopsy (gold standard) (FNB) were performed at baseline. Non-HCC cases were followed (median 23 months) by CEUS/3 months and MRI/6 months. FNB was repeated up to 3 times and on detection of change in aspect/size. Intense arterial contrast uptake followed by washout in the delayed/venous phase was registered as conclusive for HCC. Final diagnoses were: HCC (n = 60), cholangiocarcinoma (n = 1), and benign lesions (regenerative/dysplastic nodule, hemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia) (n = 28). Sex, cirrhosis cause, liver function, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were similar between HCC and non-HCC groups. HCC patients were older and their nodules significantly larger (P < 0.0001). First biopsy was positive in 42 of 60 HCC patients. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of conclusive profile were 61.7%, 96.6%, 97.4%, and 54.9%, for MRI, 51.7%, 93.1%, 93.9%, and 50.9%, for CEUS. Values for coincidental conclusive findings in both techniques were 33.3%, 100%, 100%, and 42%. Thus, diagnosis of HCC 20 mm or smaller can be established without a positive biopsy if both CEUS and MRI are conclusive. However, sensitivity of these noninvasive criteria is 33% and, as occurs with biopsy, absence of a conclusive pattern does not rule out malignancy. These results validate the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) guidelines. (HEPATOLOGY 2007.) [source]

Sex- or gender-specific medicine in hepatology

HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008
Sumiko Nagoshi
Sex- or gender-specific medicine is an up-to-date medical science in recent medical care. Medical doctors must offer better medical care and should understand and elucidate the mechanisms underlying the sex or gender differences regarding the incidence or etiology, clinical features, and natural history or response to therapies. Sex or gender differences are frequently seen among liver diseases, such as viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanisms of sex or gender differences, however, are still unclear. Clinicians and basic scientists are required to cooperatively contribute to the development of sex- or gender-specific medicine to establish an accurate diagnosis and prophylaxis. [source]

Women as Weapons of War: Iraq, Sex, and the Media.

HYPATIA, Issue 2 2010
By KELLY OLIVER
First page of article [source]

Sex, Race, and Biopower: A Foucauldian Genealogy

HYPATIA, Issue 3 2004
LADELLE MCWHORTER
For many years feminists have asserted an "intersection" between sex and race. This paper, drawing heavily on the work of Michel Foucault, offers a genealogical account of the two concepts showing how they developed together and in relation to similar political forces in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Thus it attempts to give a concrete meaning to the claim that sex and race are intersecting phenomena. [source]