Pregnancy, alcohol intake, and intimate partner violence among men and women attending drinking establishments in a Cape Town, South Africa township.

The highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome worldwide can be found in South Africa. Particularly in impoverished townships in the Western Cape, pregnant women live in environments where alcohol intake during pregnancy has become normalized and interpersonal violence (IPV) is reported at high rates. For the current study we sought to examine how pregnancy, for both men and women, is related to alcohol use behaviors and IPV. We surveyed 2,120 men and women attending drinking establishments in a township located in the Western Cape of South Africa. Among women 13.3% reported being pregnant, and among men 12.0% reported their partner pregnant. For pregnant women, 61% reported attending the bar that evening to drink alcohol and 26% reported both alcohol use and currently experiencing IPV. Daily or almost daily binge drinking was reported twice as often among pregnant women than non-pregnant women (8.4% vs. 4.2%). Men with pregnant partners reported the highest rates of hitting sex partners, forcing a partner to have sex, and being forced to have sex. High rates of alcohol frequency, consumption, binge drinking, consumption and binge drinking were reported across the entire sample. In general, experiencing and perpetrating IPV were associated with alcohol use among all participants except for men with pregnant partners. Alcohol use among pregnant women attending shebeens is alarmingly high. Moreover, alcohol use appears to be an important factor in understanding the relationship between IPV and pregnancy. Intensive, targeted, and effective interventions for both men and women are urgently needed to address high rates of drinking alcohol among pregnant women who attend drinking establishments.

Polymorphisms in the kinesin-like factor 1 B gene and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in Eastern Chinese women.

The kinesin-like factor 1 B (KIF1B) gene plays an important role in the process of apoptosis and the transformation and progression of malignant cells. Genetic variations in KIF1B may contribute to risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In this study of 1,324 EOC patients and 1,386 cancer-free female controls, we investigated associations between two potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in KIF1B and EOC risk by the conditional logistic regression analysis. General linear regression model was used to evaluate the correlation between the number of variant alleles and KIF1B mRNA expression levels. We found that the rs17401966 variant AG/GG genotypes were significantly associated with a decreased risk of EOC (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.81, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.68-0.97), compared with the AA genotype, but no associations were observed for rs1002076. Women who carried both rs17401966 AG/GG and rs1002076 AG/AA genotypes of KIF1B had a 0.82-fold decreased risk (adjusted 95 % CI = 0.69-0.97), compared with others. Additionally, there was no evidence of possible interactions between about-mentioned co-variants. Further genotype-phenotype correlation analysis indicated that the number of rs17401966 variant G allele was significantly associated with KIF1B mRNA expression levels (P for GLM = 0.003 and 0.001 in all and Chinese subjects, respectively), with GG carriers having the lowest level of KIF1B mRNA expression. Taken together, the rs17401966 polymorphism likely regulates KIF1B mRNA expression and thus may be associated with EOC risk in Eastern Chinese women. Larger, independent studies are warranted to validate our findings.

Female narratives of ‘new’ citizens’ belonging(s) and identities in Europe: case studies from the Netherlands and Britain

Public discourses on citizenship, identity and nationality, which link geographical borders and the political boundaries of a community, are infused with tensions and contradictions. This paper illustrates how these tensions are interwoven with multilayered notions of home, belonging, migration, citizenship and individual’s ‘longing just to be’, focusing on the Dutch and the British context. The narratives of a number of Dutch and British women, who either immigrated to the respective countries or were born to immigrants, illustrate how the growing rigid integration and assimilative discourses in Europe contradict an individual anchoring in national and local communities. The narratives of women participating in these studies show multilayered angles of belonging presenting an alternative to the increasing strong argument for a fixed notion of positioning and national belonging. The female ‘new’ citizens in our study tell stories of individual choices, social mobility and a sense of multiple belonging in and across different communities.

Lini Richarda Grol Fonds, 1946-2007

Lini Richarda Grol was originally born in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1913 and immigrated to Canada in 1954 after working as a nurse in South America for three years from 1951 to 1954. She was granted her first Canadian passport in 1961 and worked full-time as nurse at the Welland County Hospital. While nursing she would enroll in writing courses at McMaster University and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, now Ryerson University. Eventually she decided to dedicate herself to her writing and artwork and began to only work as a nurse part-time and then later opened the Fonthill Studio to devote herself to her writing and artwork full-time. Her status as an immigrant and career as a nurse provided inspiration for much of her writing and she frequently tackles the experience of the female immigrant in her works. Her first publication was in 1938 in a small literary and women’s magazines in Holland and Belgium and her first work of poetry was entitled Stive Gedachten. None of these publications exist in this archive. Her most well-known publication, Liberation, centers around her experiences leading up to and after the liberation of Holland during World War II. Grol was, and continues to be a prolific writer in the Niagara Region and has been published in the Welland Tribune, Pelham Herald, Thorold News, Parent Magazine, Dunville Chronicle, and various Christian publications and literary newsletters and journals. Grol also started her own poetry magazine entitled Canadian Poets Pen Club to help aspiring writers get published. Perhaps her most recognized achievement was the inclusion of one of her poems and the recognition of her novel Liberation into the Thank You Canada Day celebration in May 1970. Grol participated in many local writers’ groups such as the Welland Writer’s Club, and the Canadian Author’s Association. Grol was membership secretary for the Canadian Author’s Association in 1984. She also founded a writer’s club in 1995 in her retirement home, Holland Christian Homes where members meet to talk about their poems and short stories either in English or Dutch. Participating in and creating a writers’ community is integral to Grol’s identity as an author and can be related to the feelings of isolation she felt as an immigrant to Canada. Grol also hosted her own television shows entitled Discovery with Lini Grol which featured guests, usually local artists and writers, and Holland en Hollanders a cultural program for Dutch immigrants. Grol’s most recent activities include the publication of a one act play entitled Peppermint Problems [1996] and a short story entitled “When our War started in Rotterdam” [2004]. In 1994, she moved to Brampton, Ontario into a Christian retirement center called Holland Christian Homes. For further biographical information about Grol see two books contained within this collection Women of Action [1976] and Something About the Author [1976].

Retired Women Teachers of Ontario—St. Catharines branch fonds, 1970-2013.

The Retired Women Teachers of Ontario (RWTO) was founded in Toronto by a small group of retired women teachers known as the Rendezvous Club. This group brought together several branches in 1956 to form the Ontario Association of Superannuated Teachers (OAWST), which was changed to the RWTO in 1999. The group was initially formed in order to provide retired women teachers with the same pension that was received by their male colleagues. The group came to the realization that they would have a better chance of success if they had a larger group of supporters. As a result, new branches were formed throughout Ontario. In 1967, the government concurred that the pension should be raised, and the minimum pension level was increased to $1200 a year. The following year the Retired Teachers of Ontario was formed, representing both male and female retired teachers. This new group was now responsible for communicating and negotiating with the government concerning pension matters. However, the RWTO continued to exist with a focus on the special interests and well-being of retired women teachers. There are currently 53 branches throughout Ontario.

Piety and sociability in early modern women's devotional writing

The letters of early modern women demonstrate that their experience of religion was essentially social, contrary to the impression created by much modern work on diaries or meditations. The stereotypical melancholic, pious lady is far from the ideal offered by spiritual advisors, women and men, in their correspondence. Letters demonstrate how women created networks of spiritual support within and beyond their families. Letters also testify to the agency exercised by early modern women in religious matters, particularly in their assumption of the role of religious advisor and in their engagement with ecclesiastical politics. While this is far from showing that religion empowered all early modern women, it does offer a corrective to the unduly gloomy view of the role of religion in such women's lives. Letters provide indispensable testimony to the social nature of women's responses to the changing religious culture and politics of the eighteenth century.

Copy number variants on the X chromosome in women with primary ovarian insufficiency

Objective: To investigate whether submicroscopic copy number variants (CNVs) on the X chromosome can be identified in women with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), defined as spontaneous secondary amenorrhea before 40 years of age accompanied by follicle-stimulating hormone levels above 40 IU/L on at least two occasions. Design: Analysis of intensity data of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) probes generated by genomewide Illumina 370k CNV BeadChips, followed by the validation of identified loci using a custom designed ultra-high-density comparative genomic hybridization array containing 48,325 probes evenly distributed over the X chromosome. Setting: Multicenter genetic cohort study in the Netherlands. Patient(s): 108 Dutch Caucasian women with POI, 97 of whom passed quality control, who had a normal karyogram and absent fragile X premutation, and 235 healthy Dutch Caucasian women as controls. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Amount and locus of X chromosomal microdeletions or duplications. Result(s): Intensity differences between SNP probes identify microdeletions and duplications. The initial analysis identified an overrepresentation of deletions in POI patients. Moreover, CNVs in two genes on the Xq21.3 locus (i.e., PCDH11X and TGIF2LX) were statistically significantly associated with the POI phenotype. Mean size of identified CNVs was 262 kb. However, in the validation study the identified putative Xq21.3 deletions samples did not show deviations in intensities in consecutive probes. Conclusion(s): X chromosomal submicroscopic CNVs do not play a major role in Caucasian POI patients. We provide guidelines on how submicroscopic cytogenetic POI research should be conducted. (Fertil Steril (R) 2011;95:1584-8. (C) 2011 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)

Well-being and menopause: an investigation of purpose in life, self-acceptance and social role in premenopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women

Objectives: Many studies have investigated anxiety and depression during the menopausal transition. However, there is little understanding of positive aspects of well-being among menopausal women. This paper reports on two studies which investigated how menopausal stage and age accounted for how women felt about their purpose in life, self-acceptance and social role. Method: In Study One, 304 women from a community sample completed structured questionnaires which included questions relating to demographic background and two subscales of the Psychological Well-being Inventory: purpose in life and self-acceptance. In Study Two, 203 participants from Study One returned a follow-up structured questionnaire related to purpose in life and social role. Results: Study One found that the effects of age group and menopausal group could not be separated: All women felt they would be more positive about these well-being measures in the future than they had been in the past and at present. Study Two found that women who were perimenopausal and postmenopausal did not feel as positive about their role/s in life as premenopausal women, regardless of their age. Conclusions: The results suggest that the menopause may indicate to women that their role/purpose in life is changing. It is important that any understanding of the menopause incorporate psychosocial aspects of women''s lives. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore well-being factors and the menopause.

Relationship between men's and women's body image and their psychological, social, and sexual functioning

This study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning throughout adulthood. The respondents were 211 men and 226 women (age range 18–86 years; mean = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of self-rated attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Body image was associated with self-esteem for all groups, but was unrelated to other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. There were some exceptions; a disturbance in body image was related to problematic social and sexual functioning among middle-aged men and to depression and anxiety symptoms in late adulthood among men and women. Middle-aged men who presented with the type of body image disturbance typical of women were more likely to have impaired interpersonal functioning. These results demonstrate that social aspects of body image appear to be important in understanding psychological functioning in later life.

The relationship between quality of life and perceived body weight an dieting history in Dutch men and women

OBJECTIVES: (1) To study the relationship between quality of life (QoL) and measured and perceived weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women; (2) to assess the effect of weight loss over a 5 y period on QoL.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study, in a sub-sample longitudinal over 5 y.

SUBJECTS: A total of 2155 men and 2446 women, aged 20-59 and recruited from the general population from three towns in The Netherlands.

MEASUREMENTS: Body weight, height, self-administered questionnaire including questions concerning demographic variables and weight loss practices as part of the Dutch Monitoring project on Risk Factors for Chronic Disease (MORGEN). The Rand-36 questionnaire was used as the QoL measure.

RESULTS: In men, measured overweight (body mass index, BMI>25 kg=m2) was not associated with any dimension of QoL after adjustment for age, educational level and perceived overweight. Perceived overweight was related to reduced scores for general health and vitality. This relationship was independent of measured obesity. A history of repeated weight loss was associated with reduced scores for role functioning due to both physical and emotional problems. In women, measured overweight was significantly associated with lower scores for five out of eight QoL dimensions and perceived overweight with three: general health, vitality and physical functioning. A history of frequent weight loss was related to significantly reduced scores in six dimensions. However, only with history of frequent weight loss, and uniquely in women, was there a significant reduction in
scores on mental health and limited emotional role functioning. Measured and perceived overweight and frequent weight loss were all related to reduced scores for physical functioning. Longitudinal data indicate that in older women weight gain of 10% body weight or more was associated with a significant deterioration in QoL.

CONCLUSIONS: When looking at measures of QoL in relation to overweight it is important to separate the effects of perception of weight status and history of weight loss. We observed that the latter two factors were associated with reduced scores on several dimensions of QoL, particularly in women. These associations were observed to be independent of body weight. International Journal of Obesity (2001) 25, 1386 – 1392

Women's political participation and gender parity in decision-making at all levels in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

AAUW- Rock Hill Chapter Records (American Association of University Women) - Accession 13

The AAUW- Rock Hill Chapter Records consists of minutes, membership lists, correspondence, newspaper clippings, financial statements, constitutions and by-laws and branch reports of the chapter’s presidents and committee chairmen to the national office, extending from 1925 to 1985.

Women's Club of Rock Hill Records - Accession 219

The Women's Club of Rock Hill's mission is to further the cultural, educational, and social interest of its members and to promote interest in Rock Hill’s civic development and welfare. The Women's Club of Rock Hill Records consist of constitutions and bylaws, histories, minutes, reports, correspondence, memoranda, program notes, brochures, newsletters, membership lists, yearbooks, questions, certificates, awards, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The records also relate to the thirteen affiliated clubs comprising the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill: Amateur Arts, Arts Appreciation, Book Discussion, Book Lovers, Crafts, Hearthstone, Hermitage, Home Study, Lantern, Literary, Outlook, Palmetto, and Politeia, and to other records for the South Carolina Federation of Women’s Club and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Records of various organizations not directly related to the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill are also included, such as the Tri-County Parents Without Partners, the Rock Hill Community Council, the Rock Hill Model Cities Commission, the Rock Hill Senior Center, and the South Carolina Conference on the Status of Women.