Thermal reference points as an index for monitoring body temperature in marine mammals

BACKGROUND Monitoring body temperature is essential in veterinary care as minor variations may indicate dysfunction. Rectal temperature is widely used as a proxy for body temperature, but measuring it requires special equipment, training or restraining, and it potentially stresses animals. Infrared thermography is an alternative that reduces handling stress, is safer for technicians and works well for untrained animals. This study analysed thermal reference points in five marine mammal species: bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus); beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas); Patagonian sea lion (Otaria flavescens); harbour seal (Phoca vitulina); and Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). RESULTS The thermogram analysis revealed that the internal blowhole mucosa temperature is the most reliable indicator of body temperature in cetaceans. The temperatures taken during voluntary breathing with a camera held perpendicularly were practically identical to the rectal temperature in bottlenose dolphins and were only 1 °C lower than the rectal temperature in beluga whales. In pinnipeds, eye temperature appears the best parameter for temperature control. In these animals, the average times required for temperatures to stabilise after hauling out, and the average steady-state temperature values, differed according to species: Patagonian sea lions, 10 min, 31.13 °C; harbour seals, 10 min, 32.27 °C; Pacific walruses, 5 min, 29.93 °C. CONCLUSIONS The best thermographic and most stable reference points for monitoring body temperature in marine mammals are open blowhole in cetaceans and eyes in pinnipeds.

Body image

Body image is a multifaceted construct which is central to an individual’s self-concept, and critical to mental health andgeneral well-being. Given our increasingly appearance-focused culture, body image concerns are now reported by bothwomen and men across the life span. This article examines the different components of body image and prevalence of bodydissatisfaction, and provides examples of measures that have been developed to assess these constructs. It also examines themain factors that shape body image related to age and gender. The nature of programs to prevent body image problems,particularly at school and policy levels, is also discussed.

Relationships between residual intake and gain, performance, feeding behavior and body measures in Brahman young bulls

2016

Ruumiinkuvia! : Suomalainen performanssi- ja kehotaide 1980- ja1990-luvulla psykoanalyysin valossa

My PhD-thesis Body Images! Psychoanalytical Analysis of Finnish Performance and Body Art in the 1980s and 1990s considers Finnish performance and body art performed mainly by visual artists. In Part I, I chart the historical construction of performance art and its extension since the beginning of the 21st century. There are several wievs of the historical background of performance art. I introduce three different genealogies of performance art. One is Rose-Lee Goldberg s view. She connects performance art with the European avant-garde already at the beginning of the 20th century from futurists and dadaists to Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. I prefer to present performance art as contemporary art, which began to take shape in connection with visual arts in the 1950s and 1960s. The focus on the body is apparent in nearly all performance art. Nevertheless, throug the concept of body art I want to empasize the artist s body as the place of art. Body art (as part of performance art) functions as thematic and interpretive concept, which allows me to focus on performances where the questions of body image, narcissism, desire, language and pleasure are incorporated in particular intensive ways. In Part II, I explore the arrival of performance art in Finnish visual arts in the 1980s. I study the new generation s relation to earlier Finnish happenings (1960s) and performative actions in 1970 s. I briefly introduce performance groups of the 1980s art scene and consider their reception in media. The main focus is on the group Jack Helen Brut, in which I see many similarities to the so- called Theatre of Images. The goal of this part II is to provide historical context for the performance analysis that follows. In Part III, I develop the concept of body image which is my main theoretical term. The concept of body image is used according to Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, especially his considerations of mirror stages. My first mapping of body image, which I call imaginary body image, is based on Lacan s famous mirror stage article (1949). According to my reading, body image is narcistic and aggressive. The important concepts here are ego, imaginary, méconnaisance and alienation. In 1953 Lacan began to develop different version on mirror stage, in which he emphasized the primacy of symbolic dimension. It is not image, but language which constructs the foundations of body image. Central concepts in this chater are Other as language, ego-ideal, demand and desire. In the last chapter I connect the third version of the mirror stage to concepts of gaze, phantasy, real, jouissance and object a. In previous chapters I had considered body image in relation to ego. Now I explore it in relation to subject. In my reading the body image is fragile phenomen, which oscillates between yearning for coherence and phantasies of fragmented images. Part IV of the thesis begins with an introduction to the central concepts and debates in performace studies over the last few decades. Important concepts are presence, performativity and theatricality. The main substance of my thesis, however, is the performance analysis, which focuses on works by three Finnish artists and one Finnish group. The first analysis concerns the performance (1992) of Kimmo Schroderus. I discuss the relationship between narcissism and body art and the changes in demands projected on body images of men in recent decades in a Euro-American context. I also explore this performance in relation to the myth of Narcissus, which I reinterpret through Narcissus s aggression against his own body. The group Homo S is the main subject of the next analysis. I discuss the relationship between feminist art and performance art, especially in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Homo S is different from this early performance art because of its anarchism, humor and rejection of all ideals. Homo S characterizes its performance Body Body (1983) as liberating vulgar feminism . Sociality and performance of erotic relations between women are central in Body Body. Pia Lindman s performances are the subjects of my third analysis. I study three of her performances: Olen muoto (1993), 17 and in love (1994) and Arranged views (1995). I interpret these performances as efforts to disperse the imaginary and symbolic structures of the body image. She constructs the peculiar object a and phantasy space of her own. In the last analysis I move from questions of image and gaze to a study of language, sound and jouissance. I discuss at a general level the performance of orality and helplesness (Hilflosigkeit) in body art. The central elements in Pentti Otto Koskinen s performances are the ear, listening and receptive gestures and postions. Perseveraatio (1998) can be understood representing as submission to the super-ego s power, which compels one to enjoy. I examine particularly closely the performance Maissi on hyvää ei missään nimessä maissia (1995), which I interpret as the return of a baby s body image to the liminal site of choice: language or jouissance?

Interface da sexualidade no processo de parturição: perspectiva de mulheres

Esta pesquisa tem por objeto de estudo a expressão da sexualidade feminina no momento do parto e nascimento. A sexualidade é entendida a partir de um enfoque abrangente, como um aspecto central do indivíduo, e que está presente em todos os momentos de sua vida. Discutimos a sexualidade feminina como aquela expressa pela mulher no momento do parto e nascimento, ou seja, seus sentimentos positivos, emoções, desejos, fonte de prazeres, troca, comunicação e afetos, expressos e vivenciados pela mulher neste momento. Assim, objetivamos descrever a sexualidade na visão das mulheres que vivenciaram o parto normal; analisar a relação existente entre sexualidade e parto, na perspectiva das mulheres que vivenciaram o parto normal; e, discutir as relações e expressões de sexualidade vividas pelas mulheres durante o parto normal. Caracteriza-se por ser um estudo qualitativo, exploratório, onde o cenário foi duas maternidades situadas no Rio de Janeiro. Participaram do estudo 11 mulheres no puerpério mediato de partos fisiológicos. A coleta dos dados foi realizada através de entrevista semiestruturada que foram analisadas a partir de Análise de Conteúdos. Emergiram dos depoimentos as categorias: Sexualidade na compreensão das depoentes e a Sexualidade e sua interface no momento da parturição: uma relação a partir da vivência da mulher. Os resultados mais significativos foram: na primeira categoria, identificamos que as mulheres, inicialmente, tiveram dificuldade em falar de sexualidade, mas mesmo assim compreendem a sexualidade a partir de relações que fizeram, a saber: sexo/relação sexual; sensações e sentimentos positivos; e, imagem corporal. Na segunda categoria, encontramos uma afirmação da sexualidade presente no parto. A associação da sexualidade com o processo parturitivo foi verbalizada e expressada pelas mulheres com base em suas vivências pessoais, que se inter-relacionam com seu cotidiano sócio-cultural. Desta maneira, apontaram que a sexualidade está presente no parto, pois é demonstrada nele: o papel sexual reprodutivo da mulher, onde observamos satisfação e prazer feminino no nascimento do filho; e, o poder feminino de parir, onde as mulheres manifestaram satisfação e prazer na sua força e potencial no parto.

Perspectiva estética/sociopoética ao cuidar de clientes com alterações de autoimagem devido a afecções dermatológicas

Tratar sobre dimensões vivenciais que envolvem o adoecimento cutâneo é indispensável em uma sociedade onde as pessoas vivem sujeitas às pressões quanto à: modelos socioculturais, preocupações com crenças e valores e imposições estéticas, podendo assim sofrer distorções em sua autoimagem corporal e autoestima. Refletindo sobre a teoria de adaptação de Roy quanto à singularidade do ser humano para reagir, aprender e se adaptar na sua convivência no mundo, consigo e com os outros, indaga-se: quais são as repercussões do acometimento cutâneo na vida das pessoas? Assim, formulou-se o objeto de estudo - Repercussões do acometimento de afecções cutâneas na vida das pessoas. Teve-se como objetivos propor uma perspectiva de cuidar em enfermagem compatível com as necessidades humanas de pessoas com alteração de autoimagem e autoestima devido a afecções dermatológicas; identificar as características sociodemográficas e clínicas das pessoas com afecções dermatológicas; analisar a dimensão imaginativa de pessoas referente à sua convivência com afecções dermatológicas, destacando seus sentimentos quanto à autoimagem e à autoestima. Este trabalho se insere no Grupo de Pesquisa Concepções teóricas para o cuidar em saúde e enfermagem - CNPq, na Linha de pesquisa Fundamentos filosóficos, teóricos e tecnológicos do cuidar em saúde e enfermagem e no projeto denominado A perspectiva estética/sociopoética do cuidar em enfermagem: identificando necessidades de autocuidado para promoção da saúde da Bolsa de Produtividade em Pesquisa CNPq, período 2011-2014, e da Bolsa de Professor Visitante da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Escolheu-se como referencial teórico metodológico a sociopoética e as técnicas de pesquisa dinâmica do corpo como território mínimo e a narrativa da lenda da beleza. O Grupo-Pesquisador, (GP) dispositivo analítico da sociopoética foi composto por 18 clientes da Enfermaria de Dermatologia do Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto, que desenvolveram as fases do método sociopoético no período de maio a agosto de 2013. Os dados produzidos foram analisados conforme os estudos sociopoéticos transversal, classificatório e filosófico. No transversal se destacam as categorias - Investindo no cuidado para o autocuidado e o desejo por uma pele íntegra x Imagem corporal elevada. No classificatório, a categoria Percebendo e conhecendo a afecção dermatológica x Descuidado consciente com o corpo. No estudo filosófico, destacam-se as categorias: comprometimento da autoimagem frente às repercussões da afecção dermatológica e a beleza existente no ser humano amado. Os resultados permitiram responder a questão inicialmente formulada e alcançar os objetivos propostos. Conclui-se que, a sociopoética como uma construção coletiva revelou-se, nesta pesquisa, como uma importante ferramenta tanto no cuidar/educar/pesquisar em enfermagem como na abordagem humanista aos clientes com afecções dermatológicas. Sendo assim, ao analisar a dimensão imaginativa referente à convivência das pessoas com a enfermidade citada, esta dissertação contribuiu para uma ampliação da perspectiva da imagem e estima das mesmas, na tentativa de possibilitar o desenvolvimento do cuidado de enfermagem cada vez mais próximo ao cliente por meio da interação e do diálogo.

Dilatando o corpo da arte: provocações de Um Crime Delicado na literatura e no cinema

A dissertação estuda o romance Um Crime Delicado, de Sérgio SantAnna (1996), ao filme quase homônimo, de Beto Brant (2005), tendo como principal questão a imagem do corpo no contexto sócio-cultural urbano e a sua representação na arte contemporânea. O romance de SantAnna acolhe, na urdidura ficcional, subtemas da maior relevância, tais como o lugar da deficiência física no horizonte de uma cultura hedonista, violência sexual (contra a mulher) e os poderes da crítica de arte (da autojustificação ao desvirtuamento de seus fins). A adaptação fílmica, por sua vez, introduz mudanças na obra de partida que complementam e enriquecem o romance e suas questões. No exercício comparativo, a tradicional discussão sobre as relações interartísticas (calcadas em Lessing), o culto à beleza e respectiva hostilização da feiura, os limites da exacerbação sensorial a partir do uso artístico da nudez provocaram a incorporação de outras obras de arte e de artistas à discussão de conceitos imprescindíveis: o abjeto, o contraditório, a intermidialidade. No primeiro capítulo, circunscrevemos historicamente nosso tema, focalizando a representação do corpo como lugar de multiplicação e relativização de significações; a seguir, apresentamos o painel de contradições que a sociedade excitada do século XX (Christoph Türcke, 2010) projeta sobre a questão corporal; e, para finalizar, propusemos a dilatação teórica do adágio horaciano ut pictura poesis /a poesia é como a pintura ao cinema poético (com suporte teórico de Claus Clüver, 2011, e Wolfgang Moser, 2006). Concluímos sugerindo que as intermidializações propõem novas interpretações aos textos literários, mas podem ser bem mais contundentes como formas de potenciação estética e de crítica social.

Changing bodies, changing discourses : women's experiences of early menopause

Early menopause has been constructed by discourses of biological determinism as an untimely, but natural, failure of the female body. Medical discourses in particular have interpreted early menopause as a congenital irregularity and a rare anomaly of menopause at midlife. In this thesis I challenge the notion that early menopause is an innate imperfection related only to women’s age. I propose that early menopause is dependent upon the cultural interpretations of individual women and is constituted through the mercurial and multiple discourses of women who have this embodied experience. Moreover, I reveal that early menopause is a contemporary condition and that its location in history is inextricably bound to discourses of risk, naturalism and the self. Further I make the assumption that having an early menopause both affects and is an effect of women’s fertility, sexuality and subjectivity. I have drawn upon a broad range of sources to provide a sociological analysis of early menopause. Literature on early menopause is dominated by positivist discourses, yet many alternate discourses negotiate these influential constructions. I suggest here that the perception of early menopause as a natural fault is merely a construction by medical discourses and does not incorporate the dynamic discourses of early-menopausal women. Moreover, the restriction of early menopause to a genetic female failure excludes the majority of women who have an early menopause through iatrogenisis. This omission occurs through the failure of positivist discourses to accommodate diversity in discourses. Recent sociological and feminist studies have vindicated menopausal women. They have reconstructed menopause through notions of embodiment and have removed the veil of negativity used by the medical sciences to contain menopausal women (Komesaroff, Rothfield and Daly 1997). The visibility of menopausal women, however, remains connected to age. Menopause has been created as a predictable consequence of aging and as such has come to be synonymous with middle age. Nowadays, even men are said to experience menopause at midlife (Carruthers 1996). But early menopause is constituted within the discourses of women who have this experience. Medico-scientific discourses, based upon theories of genetic inevitability, disregard this perspective. Consequently early menopause is subsumed by naturalistic discourses that relate menopause to midlife. Such restraint reflects the unease created by menopause that does not coincide with prescribed life stages. Women's experiences of their changing bodies are largely unheard. Thus, women who have an early menopause are faced with a chasm of ‘cultural non-recognition’ (Fraser 1997). Conjointly with this discursive repression early-menopausal women face social imbalances that are transacted as both cause and consequence of early menopause. In particular the contemporary creation of early menopause is bound to the social and historical location of women as a group. Women are exploited by the institution of medicine, ‘exposure to environmental toxicity’ (Fraser 1997: 11) and commercialization as causes of early menopause. Yet the corporeal effects of practices of risk avoidance (Beck 1993), social practices (Shilling 1993) and Western consumerism (Lupton 1994) fail to be recognized. I address these problematics through a poststructural and feminist critique that assumes moments of commonality among women, while at the same time recognizes shifting and multiple differences (Nicholson 1999). I suggest here that early menopause falls into cultural misrecognition in Fraser's (1997) terms and argue that it is united concurrently with the gender injustice of androcentrism (Fraser 1997: 21). Fraser (1997: 16) suggests that it is only by relating these dual problematics that we are able to make sense of current dilemmas. Thus I have critiqued early menopause through a connection between individual embodied experiences of early menopause and early menopause as a modern phenomenon that is specific to women. I have attempted to unravel these arguments that simultaneously call to ‘... abolish gender differentiation and to valorize gender specificity’ (Fraser 1997: 21) while at the same time acknowledging their interconnectedness. An approach of merely combining women’s discourses with overarching social issues would be inadequate as not only do these problematics intersect but they also can be opposed. As Fraser (1997: 25) notes with her theory, redressing one aspect of cultural or social analysis can further imbalance another. For instance making visible the diversity and uniqueness of individual experiences of early menopause could detract from acknowledging the contemporary construction of early menopause through social inequality. Crucial to this understanding is a destabilizing of the binary construction of differences between the sexes that makes way for a reconstruction of early menopause through ‘sexual slippage’ (Matus 1995). In this thesis I look for a subtlety between the particular and the collective that views early menopause as concurrently a singular and changeable experience as well as imbedded in social practice. I suggest that these concepts are entwined as interactive effects of early menopause. Thus I have analyzed the bivalent problematics of the embodiment and social location of early menopause as imbricated, dynamic and unending discourses. From this perspective I reviewed the literature that was available on early menopause. In Chapter One I look to descriptions of early menopause and note that it has disappeared into a conglomeration of disparate, mostly medical, discourses that are contradictory. Nevertheless medical discourses offer ‘conclusive’ definitions of early menopause that are based on naturalistic views of the body (Shilling 1994). The determinants used are inconsistent and do not include women's discourses of early menopause. Thus, dominant medical discourses obscure women’s embodied experiences of early menopause and ignore the contemporary causes of early menopause. In Chapter Two I examine the causes of early menopause as a way of explaining the disparity between medical discourses and my anecdotal observations of early menopause as a fairly common contemporary occurrence. The relatively recent escalation in gynaecological surgery, especially hysterectomy, appears to account almost single-handedly for early menopause as a current phenomenon. Moreover, the extraordinary number of women who have their uterus removed at hysterectomy can be interpreted as a modern implementation of ancient anxieties. Women's sexuality has been constructed throughout history as problematic and this unease has been translated through women's bodies as dangerous and in need of control (Greer 1992). Thus social concerns which have evolved historically have emerged through the representation of a woman's uterus as an unseen, dark and mysterious risk (Beck 1993). Medical discourses define this risk and are able to negate the so-called dangers of women's sexuality through the surgical removal of their organs. Widespread negotiation of medical discourses is apparent, as hysterectomy in the modern Western world is the most common of all surgical operations (Hufnagel 1989). It is overwhelmingly the most common cause of early menopause as well. I examine also the historical condemnation of infertile women and how this anxiety has been transposed to the modern world through the commercialization of reproduction. Transactions of this social unease can cause early menopause. For instance the medical technology of in-vitro fertilization (I.V.F.) has been offered as a panacea for the infertility of early menopause but, paradoxically, can cause early menopause as well. Conception through technology has been normalized as a viable option for women who are unable to conceive and understandings of I.V.F. have moved into everyday discourse. Medical discourses have constructed fertility as a saleable item and infertile women expect that they can purchase this merchandise. Human eggs have become lucrative commodities that now are available in the market place. Egg ‘donation’ for I.V.F. programs can hasten the attrition rate of eggs and can cause early menopause in some pre-menopausal women (Rowland 1992: 24). Even the recycling of a woman’s uterus supposedly has become a possibility through the transferring of this ‘used’ organ at hysterectomy to a recipient woman who can use the other woman’s uterus as a ‘gestational garage’ (Rogers 1998). In this way women have been disembodied as mechanical systems with inter-changeable body parts and the potentially detrimental consequences of these commercial transactions are ignored. In addition I show how early menopause can be caused by the connection between the self and the social structure. Women's subjectivity is constituted through the cultural discourses available to them and these discourses affect social behaviour (Lupton 1995). For instance smoking and dieting have been identified as causes of early menopause. These activities have been related to the creation of women’s bodies as hetero-sexually desirable and are endemic to young women (Evans-Young 1995). This suggests that cultural causes of early menopause are transactions of sexual politics. Yet there is a paucity of literature that acknowledges the relationship between women’s subjectivity and early menopause. Thus the second chapter exposes a link between sexual politics and causes of early menopause through women's relationships with risk, naturalism and the self. In Chapter Three I deconstruct early menopause through theoretical considerations. I rely on an overarching poststructuralism that embraces the concept of fragmented plural discourses and the subjectivity of menopausal women as a continuous process (Komesaroff 1997: 61). I have woven these variables through broad feminist critiques (Leonard 1997). Through this eclectic approach I hoped to find some loose alignment between the corporeal, ontological and embodied dimensions of early menopause. The recurring themes of sexuality, fertility and subjectivity emerge through deconstructing discourses of sexual difference as immutable and non-negotiable; exposing ‘premature ovarian failure’ as a discursive construction that censures early-menopausal women; and acknowledging the discourses of individual women as unique, diverse and dynamic. I looked to a method of exposing some of these individual discourses and in Chapter Four I describe a critical research process aimed at understanding early menopause as a lived experience. In the remaining chapters I align these ontological arguments with an analysis of the discourses of women who had experienced or were experiencing an early menopause. This section partly relieves the ‘cultural non-recognition’ of the discourses of early-menopausal women. I recorded the narratives of fifty early-menopausal women through in-depth interviews and used this empirical data to direct the study. This data provides the opportunity to understand early menopause as an assortment of embodied experiences. For instance women’s experiences of age at commencement of menopause spanned over three and half decades. They did not reflect the age specifications prescribed by medical discourses. Rather women interpreted their experiences within their own discourses and determined their menopause as early based upon the expectations of their cultural context. Many of the women experienced changes attributed to menopause at midlife. It was not these changes that were significant to early-menopausal women it was how each woman translated these changes that provided meanings of early menopause. In Chapter Five I introduce the women through a table that connects the varying experiences of each woman. This profile shows that, in the main, the women’s experiences of early menopause were unexpected. I suggest that this is due to the disparity between early-menopausal women’s experiences and the current age and social norms of menopause. By bracketing the women into cohorts patterns emerged displaying differences between women who had menopause in their teens, twenties, thirties and forties. Adolescent women had intense feelings of abnormality and despair. Women who were in their twenties were less devastated by menopause than the younger women but described their sexuality and self-identity as changing. And although some women in their thirties were shocked or dismayed to have an early menopause others were ambivalent or happy. These women also described their sexuality and self-identity through changing discourses. A number of the women who were in their forties said that they were ‘too young for the menopause’ but were far less despondent than the younger women. It seemed that the greater the distance between age norms and social norms the more negatively women responded. Age norms that determine the social norms of women's lives through a ‘biological clock’ are constructed to reflect social values. But age is a social construction that changes over time. Thus it would appear that women’s changing bodies and changing discourses of early menopause are in the process of recreating age and social norms around menopause. In Chapter Six I draw upon women’s narratives that describe a connection between early menopause and sexuality. Yet the respondents were not unified in their constructions of sexuality. For instance a number of the women rejected the containment of their sexuality as absolute and defined in terms of bi-lateral hetero-sexual opposition. The discourses of these women constructed their sexuality as continuously flexible. Some early-menopausal women described this sexual mobility as an equivocal relationship between their sexuality, reproductive capacity and female organs. Other women articulated their sexuality as vacillating, ambiguous and unrepresentative of the so-called ‘true woman’. Several felt that they were not meant to have female reproductive organs at all. Nearly one third of the women had had their uterus removed at hysterectomy and the reproductive organs of two women were rudimentary. Women’s narratives showed that the social value of fertility influences constructions of early menopause. In Chapter Seven I record the contrast between the poignant responses of women who wished to have a baby of their own and other women who resisted discourses that entwine reproductivity with being a woman. For instance some women negotiated fertility through economic discourses of consumerism with the expectation that they could purchase conception as a commodity. Other women welcomed their early menopause as freedom from contraceptive concerns and others had no interest in reproduction at all. Thus discord arose through discourses that problematize early-menopausal women as non-reproductive and discourses that value variability. In addition many of the women’s accounts constructed their subjectivity as mobile, challenging the notion that discourses of the self are immutable. Chapter Eight presents narratives which suggest that the subjectivity of many women was altered continuously by early menopause. Yet some of the women rejected the construction of their subjectivity as unfluctuating. These contradictions reflect the uncertainties of the contemporary world. Nevertheless most respondents found that the tethering of menopause to constructions of midlife was incongruous with their own experiences. Many women refused to accept the label of social redundancy attached to middle-aged women. They moved their subjectivity beyond the reproductive body to a shifting and tractable identity of the self. This thesis demonstrates that the medical construction of early menopause as a rare and natural female flaw varies from women's experiences which suggest that early menopause is common and discursively constructed. This disparity has occurred through the privilege placed upon the construction of bodies as immutable and sexually static. This privileging has obscured the multi-dimensional causes of early menopause and given preference to a mono-causal theory. By exposing the variety of causes of early menopause the medical construction of women through a universal and unalterable body of reproduction is challenged. Moreover, women's discourses of early menopause demonstrate that the medical reduction of early menopause to a spontaneous bio-chemical malfunction has ignored the volatility of women’s embodied experiences. Women experience early menopause variously and through mercurial discourses. I suggest here that women's discourses of their experiences of early menopause reflect recurring and restructuring philosophical quandaries of fertility, sexuality and subjectivity. While there can be no representative claims made from this thesis it contributes to an understanding of the embodied experiences of early menopause. It provides an understanding of the creation of early menopause through social practices and goes part way to redressing the problematics of what Fraser terms ‘cultural non-recognition’. But, more importantly, it acknowledges early menopause as a variety of experiences where women interpret their changing bodies through changing discourses.

Older women and sternotomy

Explores the experiences of older women having a sternotomy incision following cardiac surgery. Older women account for a large proportion of patients undergoing cardiac surgery each year in Australia. The context from which they face cardiac surgery is unlike that of men and of younger women, and there has been limited exploration of their experiences.

Can deviation from standard beauty become appealing?: an age perspective

When exploring new perspectives on the impact of non-idealized vs. idealized body image in advertising, studies have focused mainly on body size, i.e., thin vs. heavy (Antioco et al., 2012; Smeesters & Mandel, 2006). Age remains largely unexplored, and the vast majority of ads in the market depict young models. The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate which images in advertisements – young or mature models – are more persuasive for older women (40+ years old). In this investigation, two studies were conducted. The first part was an exploratory analysis with a qualitative approach, which in turn helped to formulate the hypothesis tested in the subsequent experiment. The results of the in-depth interviews suggested a conflict over notions of imprisonment (need to follow beauty standards) and freedom (wish to deviate). The results of the experiment showed essentially that among older consumers, ads portraying older models were as persuasive as ads portraying younger models. Limitations and future research are discussed.

Aspectos psicológicos do adolescer com HIV/Aids: estudo de caso

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

Estudo sobre a construção da imagem de corpo feminino na revista Women's Health

The human being and consequently the human body is a subject that opens a range of possibilities for research in Physical Education study it never hurts and issues facing health helps us understand the paths chosen by the company. Women are targeted exposure and cult of the body and it is not uncommon to search for tips on how to have the silhouette of dreams through magazines that provide recommendations for achieving this purpose. The objective of this study aims to examine some concepts of body image, body and health, targeting study two books originated from the women's magazine Women's Health . Evaluate strengths and possible dangerous points of information. Through these studies we noted the importance of understanding the role of body image in the design to be healthy and yes we found studies that are presented in the magazine, good contribution, but there is also information that must be analyzed carefully, as not to prejudice the reader . We suggest further studies in this area to a greater understanding of topics covered in this work

Construção de escalas de silhuetas brasileiras para crianças entre quatro e seis anos de idade

O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi desenvolver duas escalas de silhuetas para crianças de ambos os sexos entre quatro e seis anos de idade, para avaliação da percepção e insatisfação com o tamanho corporal. O estudo foi composto por duas etapas. A primeira etapa envolveu a construção de uma escala de silhuetas bidimensional e uma escala de silhuetas tridimensional, a partir das fotos de 18 crianças voluntárias, divididas em nove crianças de cada sexo, sendo uma representante para cada intervalo de IMC estabelecido para a construção das escalas. Para garantir as qualidades psicométricas dos instrumentos, estabeleceram-se os valores médios de IMC correspondentes para cada figura com incremento constante de 1,9 Kg/m². Foram fotografadas crianças com Índice de Massa Corporal correspondente às médias dos intervalos estabelecidos para as figuras da sequência das escalas. Estas fotos foram transformadas por um designer gráfico em um arquivo para impressão 3D e um arquivo 2D frontal de silhuetas infantis. A segunda etapa contemplou a análise das qualidades psicométricas dos instrumentos. A coleta de dados ocorreu em quatro escolas particulares em diferentes cidades. Participaram do estudo 193 crianças de quatro a seis anos de idade, sendo 102 do sexo feminino e 91 do sexo masculino. As escalas foram apresentadas para cada criança em ordem ascendente ou aleatória, perguntando-se Qual figura representa seu corpo atual? e Qual figura representa o corpo que você gostaria de ter?, sendo a discrepância entre a figura que representa o IMC Atual e a que representa o IMC Desejado, caracterizada como Insatisfação com o tamanho corporal, e a discrepância entre a figura que representa o IMC Real e a que representa o IMC Atual caracterizada como Inacurácia da percepção do tamanho corporal. A escala bidimensional é apresentada na forma de nove cartões plastificados para cada gênero, com 12,5cm de altura por 6,5cm de largura, com a figura centralizada. A escala tridimensional é composta de nove bonecos para cada gênero impressos através da tecnologia de impressão 3D, com 12cm de altura. A Escala de Silhuetas Bidimensional mostrou valores de fidedignidade satisfatórios para Acurácia e Satisfação para crianças de seis anos, podendo ser um indicativo da influência do ambiente e do desenvolvimento em crianças menores. A Escala de Silhuetas Tridimensional apresentou-se mais adequada para a avaliação da Insatisfação com o tamanho corporal em relação a Bidimensional, mostrando que detalhes mais reais permitem um melhor julgamento por parte das crianças, seja do corpo como um todo, seja de partes dele. Este estudo sugere que as escalas de silhuetas podem ser usadas em crianças, e que pré-escolares já conseguem cumprir a tarefa de selecionar a figura que representa seu corpo nesta faixa etária. A construção e desenvolvimento das escalas mostraram-se ser válidas e permitem a investigação mais acurada de fatores relacionados as dimensões perceptivas da imagem corporal em pré-escolares, porém, parecem refletir também outras fontes de variância e influência que precisam ser investigadas.

Contradicciones del significado de la actividad físico-deportiva en las identidades corporales de las chicas adolescentes

Dentro de la estructura de género que impone la construcción social del cuerpo femenino, el sentimiento de inadecuación del propio cuerpo parece caracterizar la configuración de las identidades corporales femeninas en la adolescencia, motivando que la relación que establecen muchas chicas jóvenes con la actividad físico-deportiva sea compleja y a menudo problemática. Siguiendo un enfoque feminista post-estructuralista, este trabajo se centra en tres conflictos: 1) La actividad física para perder peso, instrumentalizada dentro de los discursos para alcanzar el ideal de belleza o luchar contra la obesidad; 2) El límite socialmente construido para las chicas deportistas entre lo que se considera un tono muscular atractivo y un cuerpo excesivamente musculoso; 3) Los procesos de sexualización y ansiedad física social debido a la exposición del cuerpo a una mirada masculina no deseada en diferentes contextos de práctica físico-deportiva.