Hermenéutica del deseo y género sexual

"La que mis palabras esconden, mi cuerpo lo revela". El interés de esta cita de Roland Barthes1 para una reflexión formal sobre la distinción de género entte 10 femenino y 10 masculino radica en el supuesto de la diferencia hermeneutica entte las palabras y el cuerpo, que se oponen conceptualmente a partir de su función, respectivamente, ocultadora y reveladora en relación con el deseo.

Estudi sobre assetjament sexual a la Universitat Pompeu Fabra

La present investigació té com a objectiu analitzar la dimensió d’assetjament sexual en el àmbit de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Per poder valorar-ho, s’ha creat una enquesta per analitzar aquest fenomen dirigida exclusivament a la població de la universitat. La investigació es divideix en tres apartats diferents. El primer, pretén valorar la percepció dels membres de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra en relació a l’assetjament sexual. El segon, veure si es produeix assetjament dins de la Universitat. Per últim, es vol valorar la opinió de la població en relació a la implementació d’un mecanisme per atendre a les víctimes d’assetjament sexual.

Perfil sociosanitario sexual y contraceptivo de las mujeres visitadas por primera vez en el Programa Joven del Bages

Objetivos. Conocer las características, el perfil sanitario, sexual y contraceptivo, y los factores de riesgo en las mujeres jóvenes (menores de 24 años) que han acudido por primera vez al Programa Joven del PSAD-ASSIR del Bages. Método. Estudio transversal, descriptivo y observacional, realizado mediante el vaciado de 790 historias clínicas de jóvenes, pertenecientes a la comarca del Bages (Barcelona), que acudieron por primera vez al Programa Joven durante el año 2002. Resultados. La media de edad de las mujeres estudiadas es de 20 años (DE= 3), la mayoría nacidas en España (84%), con estudios secundarios (43%) y que viven la gran mayoría con familiares de primer grado (71%). Factores sexuales de riesgo: la edad media de inicio de relaciones sexuales con penetración es de 18 años (DE= 2,41); un 16% no emplea ningún método anticonceptivo o métodos poco fiables; un 14% tiene más de dos parejas sexuales. El porcentaje de mujeres que manifestaron haber estado embarazadas es del 18%, y habían tenido una interrupción voluntaria del embarazo (IVE) el 7%. Las principales sustancias tóxicas consumidas son tabaco (46%), alcohol (26%) y cannabis (7,2%). La petición de la anticoncepción de emergencia es el principal motivo de consulta (20%). Conclusión. En el momento de plantear políticas preventivas para la población juvenil, debería contemplarse desde una perspectiva global y no individualizada, ya que los factores de riesgo son múltiples y se hallan estrechamente relacionados.

Populations with elevated mutation load do not benefit from the operation of sexual selection.

Theory predicts that if most mutations are deleterious to both overall fitness and condition-dependent traits affecting mating success, sexual selection will purge mutation load and increase nonsexual fitness. We explored this possibility with populations of mutagenized Drosophila melanogaster exhibiting elevated levels of deleterious variation and evolving in the presence or absence of male-male competition and female choice. After 60 generations of experimental evolution, monogamous populations exhibited higher total reproductive output than polygamous populations. Parental environment also affected fitness measures - flies that evolved in the presence of sexual conflict showed reduced nonsexual fitness when their parents experienced a polygamous environment, indicating trans-generational effects of male harassment and highlighting the importance of a common garden design. This cost of parental promiscuity was nearly absent in monogamous lines, providing evidence for the evolution of reduced sexual antagonism. There was no overall difference in egg-to-adult viability between selection regimes. If mutation load was reduced by the action of sexual selection in this experiment, the resultant gain in fitness was not sufficient to overcome the costs of sexual antagonism.

Flight energetics in relation to sexual differences in the mating behaviour of a mayfly, Siphlonurus aestivalis

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are known to have short adult life-spans. Adults are unable to feed, and they utilize reserves stored during their aquatic larval stage. Energy reserves (fat, glycogen, and free sugars) of mature larvae, subimagoes and imagoes of both sexes of Siphlonurus aestivalis Eaton were compared. All the stages of both sexes had low glycogen and free sugar contents, and the only significant change occurred during the transformation of the mature larva to subimago when almost all the reserves of free sugars were used up. Glycogen and free sugars may serve as energy sources permitting individuals to swim and fly out of the water during emergence. Fat made up most of the energy reserves of mature larvae and was the main source of energy used during the final development of both sexes. Young adult males had high fat reserves which they used as a source of energy for their swarming flights. In contrast, females did not seem to use a significant amount of fat for flight. This difference is probably related to the different mating strategies of the sexes in this species. Males perform long flights waiting for females, whereas females perform only brief flights to mate and reproduce.

Actuació d'infermeria en salut afectiva sexual i reproductiva en adolescents: proposta Programa Educatiu en l'àmbit escolar

L'adolescència és un període de transició entre la infància i l'edat adulta, una etapa del cicle de creixement que marca el final de la infància i anuncia la maduresa, aquest terme s'utilitza generalment per referir-se a una persona que es troba entre els 13 i 19 anys d'edat. En aquesta etapa s'inicia la maduració física, cognitiva, social i emocional del nen o nena en la cerca del camí cap a l'adultesa. Per a molts joves l'adolescència és un període d'incertesa i fins i tot de desesperació; per a uns altres, és una etapa d'amistats internes, de desvinculació de les lligadures amb els pares, de somnis sobre el futur, etc. El desenvolupament físic és només una part d'aquest procés de maduració, ja que els adolescents han de superar també una sèrie de canvis psicosocials, com per exemple: independència dels pares, aprenentatge d'estratègies de comunicació per relacionar-se de forma més madura, desenvolupament de les capacitats intel·lectuals, consolidació de la pròpia identitat, inici de les relacions sexuals, actituds i valors, control emocional, entre uns altres.

Prevalence and dimensions of sexual orientation in Swiss adolescents: a cross-sectional survey of 16 to 20-year-old students.

AIM: Sexual orientation plays an important part in building identity during adolescence. The aim of this study was to describe patterns of sexual orientation, including sexual attraction, fantasies, affiliations and behaviour. METHODS: The study was based on the analysis of data from computerized self-administered questionnaires of a Swiss national survey on the sexual life of 16 to 20-year-old adolescents (n = 2,075 girls and 2,208 boys.). RESULTS: Overall, 95.0% of girls and 96.2% of boys described themselves as predominantly heterosexual; 1.4% of girls and 1.7% of boys as predominantly homosexual or bisexual; and 2.8% of teenagers (girls: 3.6%; boys: 2.1%) were "unsure" of their sexual orientation. The reported prevalence of homosexual attraction (girls: 2.0%; boys: 2.9%) exceeded homosexual fantasies (girls: 0.4%; boys: 0.5%) and affiliations (girls: 0.3%; boys: 0.5%). Among the 4205 respondents, 31 girls (1.5% of girls) and 56 boys (2.5% of boys) reported sexual behaviour (experience or penetrative intercourse) with a person of the same sex. Among 1.5% of girls and 2.5% of boys who reported sexual behaviour with a person of the same sex, 65% of boys and 80% of girls nevertheless considered themselves as heterosexual. CONCLUSION: For a comprehensive understanding of sexual orientation in adolescence a differentiated look at dimensions of sexual orientation is indispensable. This applies to clinical settings, public health and research.

The Effect of Sexual Abuse on Children's Attachment Representations in Chile.

Child sexual abuse is associated with problems in children's emotional development, particularly increased insecurity of attachment. However, few studies have examined its effect on the organization of attachment representations in preschoolers, and the findings of those that have been conducted have not been entirely consistent. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of child sexual abuse on attachment representation quality in a sample of children 3 to 7 years old in Chile. The results indicate child sexual abuse does affect children's attachment representation quality. The attachment narratives of child sexual abuse victims scored significantly higher than nonvictims on the hyperactivity and disorganization dimensions of attachment. These results are discussed in terms of attachment theory, clinical findings on child sexual abuse, and clinical implications.

Clustering of HCV coinfections on HIV phylogeny indicates domestic and sexual transmission of HCV.

BACKGROUND: HCV coinfection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected individuals and its incidence has increased dramatically in HIV-infected men who have sex with men(MSM). METHODS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study(SHCS) was studied by combining clinical data with HIV-1 pol-sequences from the SHCS Drug Resistance Database(DRDB). We inferred maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees, determined Swiss HIV-transmission pairs as monophyletic patient pairs, and then considered the distribution of HCV on those pairs. RESULTS: Among the 9748 patients in the SHCS-DRDB with known HCV status, 2768(28%) were HCV-positive. Focusing on subtype B(7644 patients), we identified 1555 potential HIV-1 transmission pairs. There, we found that, even after controlling for transmission group, calendar year, age and sex, the odds for an HCV coinfection were increased by an odds ratio (OR) of 3.2 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2, 4.7) if a patient clustered with another HCV-positive case. This strong association persisted if transmission groups of intravenous drug users (IDUs), MSMs and heterosexuals (HETs) were considered separately(in all cases OR>2). Finally we found that HCV incidence was increased by a hazard ratio of 2.1 (1.1, 3.8) for individuals paired with an HCV-positive partner. CONCLUSIONS: Patients whose HIV virus is closely related to the HIV virus of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients have a higher risk for carrying or acquiring HCV themselves. This indicates the occurrence of domestic and sexual HCV transmission and allows the identification of patients with a high HCV-infection risk.

Importance and evolution of sexual dimorphism in different families of Collembola (Hexapoda)

A bibliographic revision of sexual dimorphism in different families of Collembola was performed in order to determine the most common patterns in each group. We list several examples of the sexual dimorphism in different families of Collembola, which illustrate from some of the smallest differences between males and females to major differences between both sexes in some families. We show different cases of sexual dimorphism in Spinactaletes, Sminthurides, and the remarkable morphology of Guthriella muskegis. It seems that most of the cases of strong sexual dimorphism are related to aquatic habitats or behaviour still not fully understood. Species belonging to primarily aquatic families (fresh water or marine water) have the most evolved morphology, where males have clasping antennae to attach the females in order to avoid loosing them with the movement of the water.