scholarly journals The circulating lipidome is largely defined by sex descriptors in the GOLDN, GeneBank and the ADNI studies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Kumar Barupal ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Sili Fan ◽  
Stanley L. Hazen ◽  
W. H. Wilson Tang ◽  
...  

AbstractBiological sex is one of the major anthropometric factors which influences physiology, metabolism and health status. We have investigated the effect of sexual dimorphism on the blood lipidome profile in three large population level studies - the Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging initiative - ADNI (n =806), the GeneBank Functional Cardio-Metabolomics cohort (n= 1015) and the Genetics of Lipid lowering Drugs and Diet Network - GOLDN (n=422). In total, 355 unique lipids from 15 lipid classes were detected across all three studies using LC-MS. Sixty percent of these lipids differed between men and women in all three cohorts, and up to 87% of all lipids demonstrated sex differences in at least one cohort. ChemRICH enrichment statistics on lipid classes showed that phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylinositols, ceramides, sphingomyelins and cholesterol esters were found at higher levels in female subjects while triacylglycerols and lysophosphatidylcholines were found at higher levels in male participants across the three cohorts. This strong sex effect on the blood lipidome suggests that specific regulatory mechanisms may exist that regulate lipid metabolism in a different manner between men and women. Cohort studies involving blood lipidomics should consider separate analyses for male and female participants instead of combined analyses treating sex as a confounding factor.

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1681-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Martin ◽  
Michael L. Slepian

The propensity to “gender”—or conceptually divide entities by masculinity versus femininity—is pervasive. Such gendering is argued to hinder gender equality, as it reifies the bifurcation of men and women into two unequal categories, leading many to advocate for a “de-gendering movement.” However, gendering is so prevalent that individuals can also gender entities far removed from human sex categories of male and female (i.e., weather, numbers, sounds) due to the conceptual similarities they share with our notions of masculinity and femininity (e.g., tough, tender). While intuition might predict that extending gender to these (human-abstracted) entities only further reinforces stereotypes, the current work presents a novel model and evidence demonstrating the opposing effect. Five studies demonstrate that gendering human-abstracted entities highlights how divorced psychological notions of gender are from biological sex, thereby decreasing gender stereotyping and penalties toward stereotype violators, through reducing essentialist views of gender. Rather than “de-gendering” humans, we demonstrate the potential benefits of “dehumanizing gender.”


Author(s):  
Ndubueze L. Mbah

As a system of identity, African masculinity is much more than a cluster of norms, values, and behavioral patterns expressing explicit and implicit expectations of how men should act and represent themselves to others. It also refers to more than how African male bodies, subjectivities, and experiences are constituted in specific historical, cultural, and social contexts. African masculinities, as historical subjects embodying distinctive socially constructed gender and sexual identities, have been both male and female. By occupying a masculine sociopolitical position, embodying masculine social traits, and performing cultural deeds socially construed and symbolized as masculine, African men and women have constituted masculinity. Across various African societies and times, there have been multiple and conflicting notions of masculinities, promoted by local and foreign institutions, and there have been ceaseless contestations and synergies among the various forms of hegemonic, subordinate, and subversive African masculinities. Men and women have frequently brought their own agendas to bear on the political utility of particular notions of masculinity. Through such performances of masculinity, Africans have constantly negotiated the institutional power dynamics of gender relations. So, the question is not whether Africans worked with gender binaries, because they did. As anthropologist John Wood puts it, African indigenous logic of gender becomes evident in the juxtaposition, symbolic reversals, and interrelation of opposites. Rather, one should ask, why and how did African societies generate a fluid gender system in which biological sex did not always correspond to gender, such that anatomically male and female persons could normatively occupy socially constructed masculine and feminine roles and vice versa? And how did African mutually constitutive gender and sexuality constructions shape African societies?


Author(s):  
Jennifer Eyl

The chapter examines the feminization of elite pagan men in Apocryphal Acts of Andrew. It argues that the ancient author constructs ascetic Christianity as the ideal realization of masculinity, whereby male and female converts control their passions and appetites. Simultaneously, elite pagan men are portrayed as appetitive, passionately emotional, and lacking self-control. Such ethical weakness was commonly thought to be characteristic of women. While attributing such ethical “femininity” to pagan men trades on ancient notions that women are prone to moral weakness, the author’s portrayal also dislodges ethical character from biological sex. Thus, men and women who take up Christianity in its ascetic forms are superior in ethics and gender, compared to those who reject ascetic Christianity.


Author(s):  
Claudia Truzzoli

<p><strong>Resumen</strong></p><p>Ni el género ni la sexualidad se dejan encorsetar dentro de unas normas que informan cómo deben ser y actuar hombres y mujeres para ser reconocidos socialmente como normales. Tanto el género como el sexo son susceptibles de desbordamiento de dichos encuadres rígidos, porque tal desbordamiento responde a lo real vivenciado por cualquier hombre o mujer. Las normas son un constructo artificial que no responde a la auténtica identidad genérica y sexual de cada sujeto, que es mucho más compleja que el reduccionismo monolítico que quiere demarcar la diferencia entre masculino y femenino. Dicha separación tan tajante no puede explicar la coexistencia de ambas características en un mismo sujeto ni las pretensiones de los transgéneros de ser considerados con una identidad que desmiente su sexo biológico, ni la angustia de los transexuales convencidos de estar atrapados en un cuerpo equivocado.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong><br /> </strong>Neither gender nor sexuality is allowed to be curtailed within norms that inform how men and women should be and act to be socially recognized as normal. Both gender and sex are susceptible to overflowing of such rigid frames, because such an overflow responds to the real thing experienced by any man or woman. Norms are an artificial construct that does not respond to the authentic generic and sexual identity of each subject, which is much more complex than the monolithic reductionism that wants to demarcate the difference between male and female. Such a clear separation can not explain the coexistence of both characteristics in the same subject nor the claims of transgenders to be considered with an identity that belies their biological sex, nor the anguish of transsexuals convinced to be trapped in a wrong body.</p><div id="SLG_balloon_obj" style="display: block;"><div id="SLG_button" class="SLG_ImTranslatorLogo" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/imtranslator-s.png'); display: none; opacity: 1;"> </div><div id="SLG_shadow_translation_result2" style="display: none;"> </div><div id="SLG_shadow_translator" style="display: none;"><div id="SLG_planshet" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/bg2.png') #f4f5f5;"><div id="SLG_arrow_up" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/up.png');"> </div><div id="SLG_providers" style="visibility: hidden;"><div id="SLG_P0" class="SLG_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Google">G</div><div id="SLG_P1" class="SLG_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Microsoft">M</div><div id="SLG_P2" class="SLG_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Translator">T</div></div><div id="SLG_alert_bbl"> </div><div id="SLG_TB"><div id="SLG_bubblelogo" class="SLG_ImTranslatorLogo" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/imtranslator-s.png');"> </div><table id="SLG_tables" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SLG_td" align="right" width="10%"><input id="SLG_locer" title="Fijar idioma" type="checkbox" /></td><td class="SLG_td" align="left" width="20%"><select id="SLG_lng_from"><option value="auto">Detectar idioma</option><option value="">undefined</option></select></td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="3"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="left" width="20%"><select id="SLG_lng_to"><option value="">undefined</option></select></td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="21%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="6%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="6%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="6%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="center" width="6%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" width="10%"> </td><td class="SLG_td" align="right" width="8%"> </td></tr></table></div></div><div id="SLG_shadow_translation_result" style="visibility: visible;"> </div><div id="SLG_loading" class="SLG_loading" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/loading.gif');"> </div><div id="SLG_player2"> </div><div id="SLG_alert100">La función de sonido está limitada a 200 caracteres</div><div id="SLG_Balloon_options" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/bg3.png') #ffffff;"><div id="SLG_arrow_down" style="background: url('chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/img/util/down.png');"> </div><table width="100%"><tr><td align="left" width="18%" height="16"> </td><td align="center" width="68%"><a class="SLG_options" title="Mostrar opciones" href="chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/html/options/options.html?bbl" target="_blank">Opciones</a> : <a class="SLG_options" title="Historial de traducciones" href="chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/html/options/options.html?hist" target="_blank">Historia</a> : <a class="SLG_options" title="ImTranslator Ayuda" href="http://about.imtranslator.net/tutorials/presentations/google-translate-for-opera/opera-popup-bubble/" target="_blank">Ayuda</a> : <a class="SLG_options" title="ImTranslator Feedback" href="chrome-extension://mchdgimobfnilobnllpdnompfjkkfdmi/content/html/options/options.html?feed" target="_blank">Feedback</a></td><td align="right" width="15%"><span id="SLG_Balloon_Close" title="Cerrar">Cerrar</span></td></tr></table></div></div></div>


Author(s):  
Melanie C. Steffens ◽  
Inga Plewe

Abstract. The introduction of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ) has stimulated numerous research activities. The IAT is supposed to measure the degree of association between concepts. Instances have to be assigned to these concepts by pressing appropriate keys as quickly as possible. The reaction time difference between certain conditions, termed the IAT effect, is used as an indicator of the degree of the concepts’ association. We tested the hypothesis that the degree of association between one concept (or category) and the instances of the other presented concept also influences reaction times. In our experiment, the instances in the target categories, male and female names, were kept constant. The adjectives in the evaluative categories were manipulated: Either the pleasant adjectives were female-associated and the unpleasant adjectives were male-associated, or vice versa. These stereotypic associations were indeed found to exert a substantial influence on the size of the IAT effect. This finding casts doubt on the assumption that the IAT effect may be interpreted as a pure measure of the degree of association between concepts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Salari ◽  
A Dahlberg ◽  
A Sarkadi ◽  
K Fängström

Abstract Low participation in evidence-based parenting programs not only presents a major challenge for population trials where a minimum level of intervention exposure is necessary to detect population-level impact, but also undermines the incorporation of these programs into routine practice settings. As part of a large population trial, we aimed to increase participation in a series of parenting seminars by using a simple direct-to-consumer marketing strategy, i.e., redesigning the program flyer. We captured parents' attention by affirming that “parenting is not always easy”, highlighted the potential benefits of participation, clarified what participation entailed, and addressed some of the common barriers such as the stigma associated with participation in parenting programs. Because fathers and mothers were shown to have different needs, we tailored the flyers to mothers and fathers separately. Testing the flyers on a small sample of parents showed that both mothers and fathers perceived the flyers as relevant. As expected, mothers were more likely to express interest in the program when they saw the flyer which focused on benefits related to dealing with child behavioural problems and featured a mother-child dyad, while fathers preferred the flyer which highlighted the benefits related to dealing with emotional problems, and featured a father-child dyad. Next, following the same procedure that was used to deliver the original flyers over the first 18 months of the project, we used the new flyers to inform parents about the upcoming seminars over the next 24 months. The preliminary results showed that although the average number of parents participating in each seminar had initially decreased from about seven to four, after the introduction of the new flyers, the number increased consistently and reached an average of nine parents during the last 6-month period. The results shows that program uptake can be increased using simple direct-to-consumer marketing strategies.


1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 875-883
Author(s):  
Nancy Lipsitt ◽  
Rose R. Olver

The relative contribution of sex and situation has become a contested issue in the understanding of sex differences in behavior. In the present study, 20 male and 20 female undergraduates were asked to describe their behavior and thoughts in six everyday college situations. Three of the situations were constructed to be typically male and three typically female in content. The results indicate that men and women demonstrate sex-specific characteristics in their responses regardless of the type of situation presented. Men exhibited concern with separateness from others, while women exhibited concern with sustaining connection to others, even when faced with situations described to present demand properties that might be expected specifically to elicit the concern characteristic of the other sex. However, for these students the situation also made a difference: female-defined situations elicited the most masculine responses for both male and female subjects.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnete E. Kristoffersen ◽  
Arne J. Norheim ◽  
Vinjar M. Fønnebø

The associations for CAM use are only occasionally differentiated by gender in populations where both male and female cancer survivors occur. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of CAM use in individuals with a previous cancer diagnosis and to investigate gender differences regard to factors associated with use. A total of 12982 men and women filled in a questionnaire with questions about life style and health issues. Eight hundred of those had a previous cancer diagnosis of whom 630 answered three questions concerning CAM use in the last 12 months. A total of 33.8% of all cancer survivors reported CAM use, 39.4% of the women and 27.9% of the men (). The relationship between the demographic variables and being a CAM user differed significantly between men and women with regard to age (), education (), and income (). Female CAM users were more likely to have a university degree than the nonusers, while male CAM users were more likely to have a lower income than the nonusers. According to this study, prevalence and factors associated with CAM use differ significantly between male and female survivors of cancer.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A100-A101
Author(s):  
Shawn Barr ◽  
Kwanghyun Sohn ◽  
Gary Garcia

Abstract Introduction Heart rate variability (HRV) is commonly used to assess the activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS function changes, reflected in HRV, result from factors including lifestyle, aging, cardiorespiratory illnesses, sleep state, and physiological stress. Despite broad interest in HRV, few studies have established normative overnight HRV values for a large population. To better understand population level HRV changes, ecologically-valid, overnight sleep SDNN (standard deviation of all normal heartbeat intervals, lower HRV is reflected by lower SDNN) values have been analyzed for a large sample of Sleep Number 360 smart bed users. Methods Overnight SDNN values were obtained over the course of 18.2M sleep sessions from 379,225 sleepers (48 ± 14.7 sessions/user). 50.9 percent of sleepers were female. The age was normally distributed with mean ± SD of 52.8 ± 12.7 years (range 21 to 84). Heartbeat intervals used to compute SDNN were extracted from a ballistocardiogram (BCG). BCG-based HRV estimation during sleep has previously been validated against ECG-based HRV with an R-square of 0.5. Results Using a Generalized Linear Model, significant cross-sectional associations with SDNN were observed for three variables of interest: age, gender, and day-of-the-week. For sleepers under 50, SDNN declined at a rate of about 2.1 ms/year, then leveled off for sleepers aged 50-65, and increased slightly thereafter. Women under 50 displayed lower, more slowly declining, SDNN values than men, but this trend reversed for sleepers over 50. Throughout the week, SDNN values followed a U-shaped (women) or L-shaped (men) pattern, where values were highest during the weekend and lowest at mid-week. Conclusion Using a smart bed to unobtrusively measure overnight SDNN values for a large set of sleepers in an ecologically valid environment, reveals significant effects of age, gender, and day of the week on overnight SDNN. Support (if any):


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Léonard KOUSSOUHON ◽  
Fortuné AGBACHI

<p>This paper is an attempt to examine the way male and female participants perform gender in 03 novels, <em>Everything Good Will Come</em> (2006), <em>Swallow</em> (2010) and <em>A Bit of Difference</em> (2013), by a contemporary Nigerian writer called Sefi Atta. The study draws on Gender Performative Theory as developed by the feminist Butler (1990/1999). This theory considers gender identities as being socially constructed. The study highlights the multiple ways in which male and female participants perform gender according to established social norms in the selected novels. Regarding the existing social norms in Nigeria, the findings by scholars like Fakeye, George and Owoyemi (2012), Mejiuni and Awolowo (2006), Bourey et al (2012), Gbadebo, Kehinde and Adedeji (2012), Okunola and Ojo (2012) exude that men are traditionally portrayed as career people, assertive, powerful and active, independent and violent while women are stereotypically depicted as housewives, submissive, powerless and passive, dependent and non-violent (or victims). Based on the above dichotomies between men and women, the study unveils the ideology that underpins gender performances in the novels.</p>


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