“AIDS is rape!” gender and sexuality in children's responses to HIV and AIDS

This paper examines young African school children's understanding of HIV and AIDS. Based on focus group interviews with children aged 7–8 in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, it explores the ways in which gender and sexuality feature in their responses to the disease. Data were collected between 2003 and 2004 through 26 focus groups involving 55 boys and 64 girls. The paper argues that younger children are active agents in giving meaning to the disease. Their agency is negotiated within complex social processes involving sexual violence, highly unequal gender/age inequalities, but also sexual expression. Those expressions are subsumed however under a regime of violence and fear catapulting men, albeit with contestation, as chief vectors in the spread of the disease and a source of girls' anxieties. Children's responses to the disease are the effects of material, symbolic and discursive forces effectively constraining the opportunities available to them and creating patterns of vulnerability especially for young girls. Interventions aimed at scaling up efforts to address young children responses to the disease must be situated in parallel efforts to end poverty, sexual violence and pervasive gender inequalities in order to foster more comprehensively the exercise of young children's agency.     

Changing health status and health expectancies among older adults in China: Gender differences from 1992 to 2002

Numerous studies document improvements in health status and health expectancies among older adults over time. However, most evidence is from developed nations and gender differences in health trends are often inconsistent. It remains unknown whether changes in health in developing countries resemble Western trends or whether patterns of health improvement are unique to the country's epidemiologic transition and gender norms. Using two nationally representative samples of non-institutionalized adults in China aged 65 years and older, this study investigates gender differences in the improvements in disability, chronic disease prevalence, and self-rated health from 1992 to 2002. Results from multivariate logistic regression models show that all three indicators of health improved over the 10-year period, with the largest improvement in self-rated health. With the exception of disability, the health of women improved more than men. Using Sullivan's decomposition methods, we also show that active life expectancy, disease-free life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy increased over this decade and were patterned differently according to gender. Overall, the findings demonstrate that China experienced broad health improvements during its early stages of the epidemiologic transition and that these changes were not uniform by gender. We discuss the public health implications of the findings in the context of China's rapidly aging population.     

Predictors of employment in substance-using male and female welfare recipients

This study examined predictors of employment among substance-using men and women enrolled in welfare-to-work programs. Participants were 394 welfare applicants assigned to either coordinated care management or usual care for treatment services and job training and followed up for 1 year to track employment outcomes. Common barriers to work were assessed at baseline in four key domains: disabilities, situational barriers, labor capital, and motivation. Results indicated substantial gender differences in the number and profile of work barriers. Among men, work experience and job motivation were the only significant predictors of employment; among women, multiple factors from each barrier domain predicted job acquisition even when controlling for all other significant predictors. Findings suggest that welfare-to-work programs should emphasize job training and job seeking during the early stages of welfare interventions for men and for many women.     

A call for a gender specific approach to address the worldwide cardiovascular burden

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among non-communicable diseases are already a major public health challenge worldwide. A further increase in CVD is projected to occur over the next 25 years as a result of both adverse lifestyle changes and demographic shifts in the population age profile. The adverse impact of these health problems will affect women in particular, given the steady rise in the proportion of the aging population that will be women.The critical issue presently in the management of CVD is that we are not even adequately using the data that are available. Women still remain unaware that they are at risk, and information about women is not easily accessible to their physicians. This is a global issue and the need remains for worldwide initiatives with greater vigilance to identify these factors and make efforts to control them effectively.Currently, in scientific research, it is expected that the results of clinical research be analyzed for sex differences, sex- and gender-appropriateness, and sex- and gender-specific approaches for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and counseling. To address the care discrepancy, the global community needs to develop a conducive environment within a comprehensive policy and operational framework to achieve favorable lifestyles, and CVD risk factor reduction for both men and women.     

Sex differences in plasma cocaine levels and subjective effects after acute cocaine administration in human volunteers

Gender differences after acute cocaine administration have received little attention in spite of the fact that males and females respond differently to many drugs. Seven male and seven female occasional cocaine users received both an intranasal dose of cocaine hydrochloride (0.9 mg/kg) and placebo powder in a randomized order and reported subjective effects via an instrumental joystick device and various questionnaires. Blood samples were withdrawn at 5-min intervals to assess pharmacokinetic differences. Male subjects achieved the highest peak plasma cocaine levels (144.4 ± 17.5 ng/ml), detected cocaine effects significantly faster than females and also experienced a greater number of episodes of intense good and bad effects. Women studied during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle had peak plasma cocaine levels of 73.2 ± 9.9 ng/ml, which was significantly higher than when they were studied during their luteal phase (54.7 ± 8.7 ng/ml), but there were no differences in their subjective reports of cocaine effects. In spite of the different cocaine blood levels and subjective effects, peak heart rate increases did not differ between males and females suggesting that women may be more sensitive than males to the cardiovascular effects of cocaine. These data suggest that there are significant gender and menstrual cycle differences in the response to acute intranasal cocaine administration and these differences may have implications for the differential abuse of this drug.This paper is dedicated to Xavier Lamas, MD, PhD, who lost his life while ascending Mt. Everest, August 1995     

Effects of gender,age, and heart rate on QT intervals in children

The objective of this study was to determine if gender, age, and heart rate affect corrected QT intervals in children. Electrocardiograms were obtained from 781 healthy children 10–18 years of age. Corrected QT intervals were significantly (p < 0.0005) greater for girls than for boys in the entire population and for each age group over 14 years. The corrected QT interval varied inversely with age and directly with heart rate. Hence gender, age, and heart rate should be considered when diagnosing long QT syndrome.     

高脂饮食诱导的内脏肥胖小鼠模型存在性别差异

目的:比较不同性别BALB/c小鼠采用高脂饮食建立肥胖模型的差异。方法:32只4周龄无特定病原体级BALB/c小鼠（雌雄各半）随机分为雌性对照组、雌性高脂组、雄性对照组和雄性高脂组,每组8只。雌性对照组和雄性对照组采用普通饮食,雌性高脂组和雄性高脂组采用高脂饲料喂养,喂养12周后测量小鼠体重、内脏脂肪比、空腹血糖、葡萄糖耐量、血脂、代谢相关激素水平,并采用16S rRNA测序检测小鼠粪便菌群构成。结果:高脂饮食干预导致雄性小鼠体重和内脏脂肪比明显增加,病理表现为单个脂肪面积明显增大,肝脏脂肪滴堆积,总胆固醇、空腹血糖、口服糖耐量试验时间-血糖曲线下面积以及血清胰岛素水平明显上升（均P<0.05）,并出现明显胰岛素抵抗（P<0.01）。而雌性高脂组体重、内脏脂肪比、血清胰岛素和瘦素水平与雌性对照组差异均无统计学意义（均P>0.05）。高脂干预后小鼠肥胖相关肠道菌群相对丰度显著变化并存在性别差异,其中雄性高脂组肥胖相关菌属（如布劳特菌）相对丰度明显增加,菌群结构变化更明显。结论:高脂饮食喂养12周4周龄BALB/c雄性小鼠可稳定建立以内脏脂肪堆积、代谢功能紊乱和肠道菌群变...     

荧光原位杂交同时检测精子X和Y染色体的方法

用实验手段分离X和Y染色体精子或富集特定性别染色体精子．对于预防性连锁遗传病具有潜在应用价值。建立精子X和Y染色体鉴定方法对于评估分离或富集特定性别染色体效果至关重要。本文介绍采用CY3TM和FlourXTM探针作荧光原位杂交（FISH），同时检测精子Y和X染色体。10份正常精液标本分析结果显示：X染色体精子为50．23％，Y染色体精子为49．77％；有效杂交率达91．99％。FISH方法比传统的精子染色体核型分析和奎纳克林染色检查Y荧光小体更具有简易、特异和快速的优点。     

Skinfold thickness versus isotope dilution for body fat assessment during simulated microgravity: results from three bed-rest campaigns in men and women with and without countermeasures

Because body composition is altered during head-down bed rest (HDBR), body mass can not be used as an index of energy balance. Consequently diet allowances should not be based on body mass evolution but on fat mass changes. Though criticized, skinfold thickness (ST) is the costless, easiest and fastest method to use for such an objective. The aim of this study was to compare the percentage of body fat (%BF) estimated by ST with the isotope dilution of H₂¹⁸O. We compiled data from three HDBR campaigns, one on women (n=8) in November 1998 and two on the same men (n=8) in December 1997 (without countermeasure) and January 1998 (with thigh-cuffs countermeasure), according to a crossover design. Body composition was assessed before and after 6 days of HDBR. %BF was derived from the biceps, triceps, sub-scapular and sup-iliac ST according to Durnin and Wormersly (1974). Fat-free mass was measured on the same day by H₂¹⁸O dilution and fat mass was calculated by the difference with body mass and expressed as a percentage. Based on precision tests, the minimum measurable change by ST was 1.1%BF for single measurement point. Both intercepts (F _4,30=0.89, P=0.45) and slopes (F _4,30=0.74; P=0.57) of the ST versus dilution relationships were not affected by the periods (December vs January), experimental conditions (control vs HDBR vs HDBR + thigh cuffs) or sex allowing the derivation of a common relationship %BF_st=0.94 × %BF_dil (F _1,47=97.9, P<0.0001; non-significant intercept excluded) with a bias between methods of −1.7±2.0 %BF (95% CI: −5.8, 2.4 %BF). ST can be used to measure %BF during HDBR provided great care is placed on training and changes are higher than 1.1 %BF. If the method can be applied for in-flight energy balance monitoring given the high observed energy deficit, a tight monitoring of the individual nutritional status as needed during simulation appears, however, dubious based on this solely method.