Gender differences in the prevalence of impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance in Mauritius. Does sex matter?

Objective: To examine gender differences in the characteristics and prevalence of various categories of glucose tolerance in a population study in Mauritius.

Research design and methods: In 1998, a community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Mauritius. Categories of glucose metabolism were determined in 5388 adults, with an oral glucose tolerance test given to those who did not have previously diagnosed diabetes (n = 4036). Other cardiovascular risk factors were assessed among those without known diabetes.

Results: For men and women the prevalence of diabetes (22.0 vs. 21.8%, respectively) and the prevalence of coexisting impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (3.2 vs. 2.9%) were similar. However, men were twice as likely as women to have isolated IFG [5.1% (4.2–6.0) vs. 2.9% (2.3–3.5)], despite being younger, thinner and with lower plasma insulin but higher lipids. Conversely, the prevalence of isolated IGT was lower in men [9.0% (7.9–10.2) vs. 13.9% (12.6–15.1)]. Among non-diabetic individuals, fasting glucose was higher in men than women, whereas 2-h glucose was higher in women. In people without diabetes, women had significantly higher body mass index, beta cell function (HOMA-B), fasting and 2-h insulin than men and significantly lower waist-hip ratios, waist circumference, insulin sensitivity (HOMA-S) and triglycerides.

Conclusion: In Mauritius, the distribution of impaired glucose metabolism differs by sex. The observation that IFG is more prevalent in men and IGT more prevalent in women raises important questions about their underlying aetiology and the ability of the current glucose thresholds to equally identify men and women at high-risk of developing diabetes. IFG should be seen as a complimentary category of abnormal glucose tolerance, rather than a replacement for IGT.

Australian property investment advice : an unregulated industry and the need for better consumer protection laws

Currently, consumers have no means of protecting themselves when they are looking for property investment advice in Australia. There is no uniform national or State regulation in the property investment advice and marketeering industry. The only protection and remedies currently available are those under the general consumer protection laws scattered in various Acts, and even so, these have numerous problems. This paper highlights what those problems are under the general consumer protection laws and suggests some changes to the current system. The paper also argues that a national co-operative approach is the only way to move forward in this area and suggests that the constitutional difficulty can be overcome by using the legislative conferral of state powers provision, which has often been overlooked. The paper also argues that a new regulator be set up to administer and enforce the new proposed laws on property investment advice.

The impact of patient sex on paramedic pain management in the prehospital setting

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish the impact of patient sex on the provision of analgesia by paramedics for patients reporting pain in the prehospital setting.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study of paramedic patient care records included all adult patients with a Glasgow Coma Score higher than 12 transported to hospital by ambulance in a major metropolitan area over a 7-day period in 2005. Data collected included demographics, patient report of pain and its type and severity, provision of analgesia by paramedics, and type of analgesia provided. The outcomes of interest were sex differences in the provision of analgesia. Data analysis was by descriptive statistics, χ2 test, and logistic regression.
Results: Of the 3357 patients transported in the study period, 1766 (53%) reported pain; this forms the study sample. Fifty-two percent were female, median age was 61 years, and median initial pain score (on a 0-10 verbal numeric rating scale) was 6. Forty-five percent of patients reporting pain did not receive analgesia (791/1766) (95% confidence interval [CI], 43%-47%), with no significant difference between sexes (P = .93). There were, however, significant sex differences in the type of analgesia administered, with males more likely to receive morphine (17%; 95% CI, 15%-20%) than females (13%; 95% CI, 11%-15%) (P = .01). The difference remains significant when controlled for type of pain, age, and pain severity (odds ratio, 0.61, 95% CI, 0.44-0.84).
Conclusion: Sex is not associated with the rate of paramedic-initiated analgesia, but is associated with differences in the type of analgesia administered.

Co-localization and distribution of corticotrophin-releasing hormone, arginine vasopressin and enkephalin in the paraventricular nucleus of sheep : a sex comparison

The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is integral to regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and contains cells producing corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), arginine vasopressin (AVP) and enkephalin. We used immunohistochemistry to map these peptides and to resolve the extent of co-localization within PVN cells in intact and gonadectomized male and female sheep. Immunoreactive (ir) CRH, AVP and enkephalin cells were mapped in two rams and two ewes at 180 μm intervals throughout the rostro-caudal extent of the PVN. Similar distributions of AVP-ir cells occurred in both sexes whereas CRH-ir and enkephalin-ir cells extended more rostrally in rams. In groups (n=4) of intact and gonadectomized sheep of both sexes, co-localization and distribution of neuropeptides was influenced by sex and gonadectomy. Males had more AVP and CRH cells than females. Intact animals had more AVP cells than gonadectomized animals. There were no differences between groups in the number or percentage of cells that stained for both CRH and AVP or in the number of cells that stained for both CRH and enkephalin. Differences were observed in the percentage of enkephalin cells that contained CRH with males having a greater percentage of co-localized cells than did females. Differences were also observed in the number and percentage of cells that stained for both enkephalin and AVP; the number of cells that stained for both neuropeptides was greater in males than in females and greater in intact animals than in gonadectomized animals. Differences were observed in the percentage of AVP cells that contained enkephalin, and in the percentage of enkephalin cells that contained AVP with males having a greater percentage of co-localized cells than did females. We conclude that sex and gonadal status affect peptide distribution in the PVN of the sheep which may provide an anatomical basis for sex differences in HPA axis

Sex difference in the effect of cortisol on the LH response of the pituitary to exogenous GnRH in hypothalamo-pituitary disconnected gonadectomised sheep

We have used the hypothalamo-pituitary disconnected (HPD) sheep model to investigate direct pituitary actions of cortisol to suppress LH secretion in response to exogenous GnRH. We previously observed that, during the non-breeding season, treatment with cortisol did not suppress the LH response to GnRH in HPD gonadectomised rams or ewes.1 In the present experiment, we tested the effect of cortisol on the LH response to exogenous GnRH in gonadectomised HPD sheep during the breeding season. Using a cross-over design, HPD gonadectomised Romney Marsh rams (n = 6) and ewes (n = 5) received a saline or cortisol (250 μg/kg/h) infusion for 30 h on each of two days, one week apart. All animals were treated with 125 ng i.v. injections of GnRH every 2 h during a 6 h control period preceding the infusion and during the infusion. Jugular blood samples were taken during the control period and the first 6 h and last 6 h of the infusion (over 3 LH pulses). Mean plasma concentrations of LH and LH pulse amplitudes, driven by programmed GnRH injections, were similar in gonadectomised rams and ewes and there were no significant effects of saline infusion between the control periods or the saline infusion in either sex. The amplitude of LH pulses was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in rams during the first 6 h of the cortisol infusion compared to the control period, but there were no effects of the cortisol infusion in ewes. These data show that, in the absence of sex steroids, there is a sex difference in the mechanism by which cortisol acts at the pituitary to reduce LH secretion in response to exogenous GnRH in HPD gonadectomized sheep during the breeding season. We conclude that the effect of cortisol to reduce secretion of LH involves an action on the pituitary, at least in gonadectomised rams.

The evidentiary strategies of Two Laws

This article examines the ways in which the documentary film Two Laws deploys a variety of strategies to represent the historical claim to land made in the early 1980s by the Borroloola people of Australia's Northern Territory. Cross-cultural collaboration between the indigenous people of Borroloola and two non-indigenous film-makers produced a film that combines a vigorous reflexivity with dramatic re-enactment and oral testimony. Importantly, the presentation of evidence in support of the land claim is achieved via a form communally devised by the Borroloola people based on their cultural needs and contingent on Borroloola social structure. In this way the so-called documentary truth claim and indigenous land claim intersect in Two Laws: for the Borroloola people, the filmic evidentiary truth claim functions in a direct way in support of their legal claim to their lands.

Investigative interviewing of suspected sex offenders : a review of what constitutes best practice

Research on the topic of investigative interviewing of suspected sex offenders is still in its infancy, with the majority of work to date focusing on developing theories underlying confessions, and reflecting on the value of specific interview techniques that have been observed in the field. This paper provides a synthesis of the literature in order to produce a preliminary guide to best practice for the interviewing of this particular interviewee group. Specifically, this review is structured around five elements that should be considered when planning for and administering the interview. These elements include: (a) establishing rapport, (b) introducing the topic of concern, (c) eliciting narrative detail, (d) clarification/specific questions and (e) closure. The unique contribution of this paper is its practical focus, and its synthesis of findings across a variety of streams, including the general eyewitness memory literature, legislation and case law, therapeutic literature, and research specifically related to the interviewing of offenders (including confessions). At the conclusion of the review, recommendations are offered for further research.

Morphological signals of sex and status in spotted bowerbirds

The Spotted Bowerbird, Chlamydera maculata, appears to be sexually monomorphic. We caught and marked 118 birds in central Queensland, and sexed 88 using molecular methods. We found that our catch was strongly male-biased, both at bower sites and at non-bower feeding sites. We continued to observe the bird's behaviour after their release and so sub-divided males into sexual status groups as either bower-owners or non-owners. We searched for morphological measures, subjectively judged colour differences and quantitatively collected spectral measures of the visual properties of the crest feathers that would allow us to separate birds of differing sex and status. We found that bower owners had larger crests than non-owner males or females and that crest area provided the most accurate predictor of a bird's sex and status in a discriminant function analysis. We studied a cohort of seven males who went from non-owners to bower owners over three years, and found that their change in status was accompanied by a change in crest size – the only significant change in their morphology. Crest size did not relate to the mating success of a bower-owner. Instead, we suggest why the crest may differ between status groups and the implications that this may have for the sexual behaviour of male and female Spotted Bowerbirds.

Building realities less limited than their own : young people practising same sex attraction on the internet

The internet has met with mixed community reactions, especially when the focus is on young people's internet use. There are those who fear that the internet will introduce undesirable people and information into the home, leaving the young vulnerable and exploited. Alternatively, there are others who argue that the exclusion of young people from the internet is one of many examples of the diminishing public space that is made available to young people in this post-modern world. In this article we focus on the internet use of one ‘space deprived’ group of marginalized young people, those who are same-sex attracted. Regardless of some important changes in Australian culture and law, these young people's opportunities to openly live their sexual difference remain restricted. In this article we are interested in exploring the role of the internet as a space in which some important sexuality work can be done. What we found was that the internet was providing young people with the space to practise six different aspects of their sexual lives namely identity, friendship, coming out, intimate relationships, sex and community.

The construction of the racially different indigenous offender

The over‐representation and increased growth of Indigenous offenders in all Western criminal justice systems is longstanding and undeniable. In 2006 Victoria’s Koori offenders were 12 times more likely to be sentenced to a custodial or community sanction than non‐Koori people. Similarly, in New Zealand, Maori men account for 50 percent of the prison population but only 12.5 percent of the general population. Yet, it was not until the 1990s that the issues of Indigenous over‐representation or expanding Indigenous offender populations began to be presented as a problem within the correctional literature. This paper will explore the parameters of these ‘problems’, and present the following three arguments: (1) the issues of over‐representation was constructed within the correctional literature as a symptom of the different nature of Indigenous offending; (2) the different nature of Indigenous offending was in turn constructed as a problem of race; and (3) this construction of Indigenous offending is consistent with the contemporary constitution of mainstream offending behaviour. In concluding, this paper will discuss the implications of the emergence and sustained production of this figure of the Indigenous offender in relation to the capacity of criminologists to reconceptualise Indigenous offending.

Cashmere production and fleece attributes associated with farm of origin, age and sex of goat in Australia

Differences in cashmere production and fleece attributes associated with farm of origin, age and sex were quantified for commercial Australian cashmere goat enterprises. From 11 farms in four states, 1147 does and 97 wethers were monitored, representing 1- to 13-year-old goats. Individual clean cashmere production ranged from 21 to 389 g, with a mean ± standard deviation value of 134 ± 62 g. The mean cashmere production of 2-year-old does from different farms varied from 69 to 225 g and averaged 141 g. Mean ± s.d. greasy fleece weight was 394 ± 123 g, clean washing yield was 90.8 ± 4.1%, clean cashmere yield 33.4 ± 9.4%, cashmere fibre diameter 16.4 ± 1.6 µm, fibre curvature 48 ± 8.7 degrees/mm and staple length 8.7 ± 2.1 cm. There were large, commercially significant differences between farms for clean cashmere weight, mean fibre diameter and other attributes of cashmere. These were much larger than the effects of age and sex. Farm and age accounted for 42 to 67% of the variation in clean cashmere production, mean fibre diameter, fibre curvature, staple length and clean washing yield. Farm of origin affected clean cashmere yield, accounting for 24% of the variation. Sex of the goats had only a minor effect on the staple length of cashmere. The responses to age of clean cashmere weight, mean fibre diameter and the inverse of fibre curvature are very similar. Generally, cashmere production and mean fibre diameter increased with age. For the majority of farms, cashmere fibre curvature declined in a curvilinear manner with increases in age of goat. There were large differences in cashmere staple length from different farms, with means ranging from 7 to 12 cm. Between 1 and 2 years of age, the staple length of cashmere demonstrated a constant proportional increase. At ages older than 2 years, staple length either declined or increased by less than 1 cm with age, depending on the farm of origin. This study demonstrates that there are large gains in productivity that can be achieved from Australian cashmere goats. A better understanding of on-farm factors that influence cashmere production would enable all producers to optimise their production systems.