Sex- and age-specific associations between income and incident major osteoporotic fractures in Canadian men and women: a population-based analysis

We investigated sex- and age-specific associations between income and fractures at the hip, humerus, spine, and forearm in adults aged ≥50 years. Compared to men with the highest income, men with the lowest income had an increased fracture risk at all skeletal sites. These associations were attenuated in women.

Sex, androgens, and whole-organism performance in an Australian lizard

Understanding underlying physiological differences between the sexes in circulating androgens and how hormonal variation affects morphology-performance relationships may help clarify the evolution of sexual dimorphism in diverse taxa. Using a widely distributed Australian lizard (Eulamprus quoyii) with weak sexual dimorphism and no dichromatism, we tested whether circulating androgens differed between the sexes and whether they covaried with morphological and performance traits (bite force, sprint speed, endurance). Males had larger head dimensions, stronger bite force, faster sprint speed, and longer endurance compared to females. We found that the sexes did not differ in androgen concentrations and that androgens were weakly associated with both morphological and performance traits. Interestingly, high circulating androgens showed a nonlinear relationship with bite force in males and not females, with this relationship possibly being related to alternative male reproductive tactics. Our results suggest that androgens are not strongly correlated with most performance and morphological traits, although they may play an important organizational role during the development of morphological traits, which could explain the differences in morphology and thus performance between the sexes. Differences in performance between the sexes suggest differential selection on these functional traits between males and females. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London.

Different male vs. female breeding periodicity helps mitigate offspring sex ratio skews in sea turtles

 The implications of climate change for global biodiversity may be profound with those species with little capacity for adaptation being thought to be particularly vulnerable to warming. A classic case of groups for concern are those animals exhibiting temperature-dependent sex-determination (TSD), such as sea turtles, where climate warming may produce single sex populations and hence extinction. We show that, globally, female biased hatchling sex ratios dominate sea turtle populations (exceeding 3:1 in >50% records), which, at-a-glance, reiterates concerns for extinction. However, we also demonstrate that more frequent breeding by males, empirically shown by satellite tracking 23 individuals and supported by a generalized bio-energetic life history model, generates more balanced operational sex ratios (OSRs). Hence, concerns of increasingly skewed hatchling sex ratios and reduced population viability are less acute than previously thought for sea turtles. In fact, in some scenarios skewed hatchling sex ratios in groups with TSD may be adaptive to ensure optimum OSRs.

First-time offender, productive offender, offender with dependents: why the profile of offenders (sometimes) matters in sentencing

Should a single mother of four young children who commits theft be sentenced to a lesser sanction than a woman who commits the same crime but has no dependents? Should a billionaire philanthropist be sentenced to a lesser penalty than the average citizen for assaulting a random bystander? Should a first-time thief receive a lighter sanction than a career thief for the same theft? The relevance of an offender’s profile to sentencing is unclear and is one of the most under-researched and least coherent areas of sentencing law. Intuitively, there is some appeal in treating offenders without a criminal record, those who have made a positive contribution to society, or who have dependents more leniently than other offenders. However, to allow these considerations to mitigate penalty potentially licenses offenders to commit crime and decouples the sanction from the severity of the offense, thereby undermining the proportionality principle. This article analyzes the relevance that an offender’s profile should have in sentencing. We conclude that a lack of prior convictions should generally reduce penalty because the empirical data shows that, in relation to most offenses, first-time offenders are less likely to reoffend than recidivist offenders. The situation is more complex in relation to offenders who have made worthy social contributions. They should not be given sentencing credit for past achievements given that past good acts have no relevance to the proper objectives of sentencing and it is normally not tenable, even in a crude sense, to make an informed assessment of an individual’s overall societal contribution. However, offenders should be accorded a sentencing reduction if they have financial or physical dependents and if imprisoning them is likely to cause harm to their dependents. Conferring asentencing discount to first-time offenders and those withdependents does not license them to commit crime or unjustifiablyencroach on the proportionality principle. Rather, it recognizes thedifferent layers of the legal system and the reality that sentencinglaw should not reflexively overwhelm broader maxims of justice,including the principle that innocent people should not suffer. Thisarticle argues that fundamental legislative reform is necessary toproperly reflect the role that the profile of offenders should have inthe sentencing regime.

Out & online; effectiveness of a tailored online multi-symptom mental health and wellbeing program for same-sex attracted young adults: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Same-sex attracted young adults have been found to experience higher rates of mental health problems and greater difficulties in accessing specialist mental health care services compared to their heterosexual peers. Internet-based mental health interventions have the potential to be more engaging and accessible to young adults compared to those delivered face-to-face. However, they are rarely inclusive of lesbian women and gay men. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an online mental health and wellbeing program, Out & Online (http://www.outandonline.org.au), in comparison to a wait-list control group, for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in same-sex attracted young adults aged between 18 and 25 years.

Building healthcare workers' confidence to work with same-sex parented families.

This article reports on a qualitative study of barriers and access to healthcare for same-sex attracted parents and their children. Focus groups were held with same-sex attracted parents to explore their experiences with healthcare providers and identify barriers and facilitators to access. Parents reported experiencing uncomfortable or anxiety-provoking encounters with healthcare workers who struggled to adopt inclusive or appropriate language to engage their family. Parents valued healthcare workers who were able to be open and honest and comfortably ask questions about their relationships and family. A separate set of focus groups were held with mainstream healthcare workers to identity their experiences and concerns about delivering equitable and quality care for same-sex parented families. Healthcare workers reported lacking confidence to actively engage with same-sex attracted parents and their children. This lack of confidence related to workers' unfamiliarity with same-sex parents, or lesbian, gay and bisexual culture, and limited opportunities to gain information or training in this area. Workers were seeking training and resources that offered information about appropriate language and terminology as well as concrete strategies for engaging with same-sex parented families. For instance, workers suggested they would find it useful to have a set of 'door opening' questions they could utilize to ask clients about their sexuality, relationship status or family make-up. This article outlines a set of guidelines for healthcare providers for working with same-sex parented families which was a key outcome of this study.

A new light on sex: signalling in the guppy

The environment influences the evolution of animal colour signals in highly complex ways. This PhD identified the effects of varying light environments on the evolution of colour signals, identified behaviours that are able to mitigate these effects and demonstrated co-option as a potential origin of colour sexual signals.

Metabolic fate (absorption, β-oxidation and deposition) of long-chain n-3 fatty acids is affected by sex and by the oil source (krill oil or fish oil) in the rat

The effects of krill oil as an alternative source of n-3 long-chain PUFA have been investigated recently. There are conflicting results from the few available studies comparing fish oil and krill oil. The aim of this study was to compare the bioavailability and metabolic fate (absorption, β-oxidation and tissue deposition) of n-3 fatty acids originating from krill oil (phospholipid-rich) or fish oil (TAG-rich) in rats of both sexes using the whole-body fatty acid balance method. Sprague-Dawley rats (thirty-six male, thirty-six female) were randomly assigned to be fed either a krill oil diet (EPA+DHA+DPA=1·38 mg/g of diet) or a fish oil diet (EPA+DHA+DPA=1·61 mg/g of diet) to constant ration for 6 weeks. The faeces, whole body and individual tissues were analysed for fatty acid content. Absorption of fatty acids was significantly greater in female rats and was only minimally affected by the oil type. It was estimated that most of EPA (>90 %) and more than half of DHA (>60 %) were β-oxidised in both diet groups. Most of the DPA was β-oxidised (57 and 67 % for female and male rats, respectively) in the fish oil group; however, for the krill oil group, the majority of DPA was deposited (82-83 %). There was a significantly greater deposition of DPA and DHA in rats fed krill oil compared with those fed fish oil, not due to a difference in bioavailability (absorption) but rather due to a difference in metabolic fate (anabolism v. catabolism).

Having sex with capitalism: parodic in-citation in the prose poem sequence

In his Spleen de Paris or Petits poèmes en prose [Little Prose Poems] Baudelaire (1869) forges an instrument of supple and radical potential, declaring the prose poem a ‘dangerous’ hybrid, which he wills elastic enough and staccato enough, to register the flows, jolts and distractions for the flâneur in the increasingly industrialised Paris. Here,by the mid-19th century, plate glass and gas lighting enable conspicuous consumption. Itis most strikingly the romantic-erotic and the relation between poet and his delicious, execrable wife, his inescapable, pitiless Muse (Baudelaire 1989: 177] that provides the nexus for radical questioning of the whole socio-political economy. Departing from Johnson’s Défigurations (1979) and using Irigaray’s (1984) hypothesis that the economy of sexual difference is the founding trope for the discursive and thus political economy of differences – of culture, ethnicity and class – this article first looks at theway Baudelaire activates the heterosexual relation as a site for social critique. It examines how Perec continues Baudelaire’s prose poetry experiment, offering, pre-May 1968, a revolutionary critique of desire by exploiting formal constraints to deconstruct still further the consumer subject of capitalism. It then investigates Brossard’s ‘hologrammatic’ challenge (1991) to patriarchal regimes of representation and the forms of desire they outlaw. Finally, it suggests how new work by Walwicz (2015)develops and displaces this radical inheritance.

The effects of bed-rest and countermeasure exercise on the endocrine system in male adults: evidence for immobilization-induced reduction in sex hormone-binding globulin levels

BACKGROUND AND AIM: There is limited data on the effects of inactivity (prolonged bed-rest) on parameters of endocrine and metabolic function; we therefore aimed to examine changes in these systems during and after prolonged (56- day) bed-rest in male adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty healthy male subjects underwent 8 weeks of strict bed-rest and 12 months of follow-up as part of the Berlin Bed Rest Study. Subjects were randomized to an inactive group or a group that performed resistive vibration exercise (RVE) during bed-rest. All outcome parameters were measured before, during and after bed-rest. These included body composition (by whole body dual X-ray absorptiometry), SHBG, testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), PRL, cortisol (C), TSH and free T3 (FT3). RESULTS: Serum SHBG levels decreased in inactive subjects but remained unchanged in the RVE group (p<0.001). Serum T concentrations increased during the first 3 weeks of bed-rest in both groups (p<0.0001), while E2 levels sharply rose with re-mobilization (p<0.0001). Serum PRL decreased in the control group but increased in the RVE group (p=0.021). C levels did not change over time (p≥0.10). TSH increased whilst FT3 decreased during bed-rest (p all ≤0.0013). CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged bed-rest has significant effects on parameters of endocrine and metabolic function, some of which are related to, or counteracted by physical activity.

Psychological wellbeing among same-sex attracted and heterosexual parents: Role of connectedness to family and friendship networks

© 2015 Australian Association of Family Therapy. Increasing numbers of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults are entering into parenthood. Previous studies indicate many of these parents receive little or no support from their families of origin due to family members' negative attitudes toward homosexuality. This study looks at the extent to which LGB parents report a lower sense of connectedness to family of origin and friendship networks than heterosexual parents and whether this has an impact on psychological wellbeing in either of these groups. Data were derived from two studies of parents: Work, Love, Play, a study of Australian and New Zealand LGB parents (n=324); and the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a population-based study of young children and parents (n=6460). Structural equation modelling was used to explore the relationships between: parent sexuality and family/friendship connectedness, family/friendship connectedness and psychological wellbeing, parent sexuality and psychological wellbeing. LGB parents reported feeling less connected to their families of origin but more connected to their friendship groups than heterosexual parents. Counter to previous studies, we found no difference in the psychological wellbeing of LGB parents compared to heterosexual parents when examining the direct effect of sexuality on psychological wellbeing. Clinical implications for counsellors and family therapists are discussed.

Effects of stress on reproduction in non-rodent mammals : the role of glucocorticoids and sex differences

The means by which stress influences reproduction is not clearly understood, but may involve a number of endocrine, paracrine and neural systems. Stress impacts on the reproductive axis at the hypothalamus (to affect GnRH secretion) and the pituitary gland (to affect gonadotrophin secretion), with direct effects on the gonads being of less importance. Different stressors have different effects and there are differences in response to short- and long-term stress. Many short-term stresses fail to affect reproduction and there are reports of stimulatory effects of some 'stressors'. There are species differences in the way that specific stressors affect reproduction. Sex differences in the effects of a particular stressor have been delineated and these may relate to effects of stress at different levels of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. The significance of stress-induced secretion of cortisol varies with species. In some instances, there appears to be little impact of short-term increases in cortisol concentrations and protracted increases in plasma concentration seem to be required before any deleterious effect on reproduction is apparent. Issues of sex, sex steroid status, type of stressor and duration of stress need to be considered to improve understanding of this issue.

Sex, fat and the tilt of the earth: effects of sex and season on the feeding response to centrally administered leptin in sheep

Whilst there have been many studies in various species examining the effects of leptin on food intake, there is a paucity of data comparing responsiveness in the two sexes. We have, therefore, addressed this issue in sheep. Because this species shows seasonal variation in voluntary food intake (VFI), we also considered the possibility that there might be seasonal variation in the responsivity to leptin. Centrally administered leptin was relatively ineffective as a satiety factor in either sex during AUTUMN: In Spring, leptin had a profound inhibitory effect on VFI in the females, but only a slight effect in males. These data indicate that responsiveness to leptin depends on sex and also on season in animals that are substantially affected by photoperiod.