The National Institute of Health (NIH) policy, Consideration of Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) in NIH-funded Research (2015), focuses on the expectation that researchers account for the ...influence of SABV in vertebrate animal and human studies and provide a strong justification for single-sex investigations. When SABV is considered in the research design, data analyses, and reporting, the rigor and reproducibility of the research are elevated and inform best practices and precision health for all people. Additional recommendations include the appropriate use of terminology, integration into curricula, intersection with social determinants of health, and application of sex and gender equity guidelines when disseminating research. This paper is a “call to action” for nurse researchers to lean into and apply this policy’s principles and our recommendations, from the bench to the bedside, to advance the equity and health of all people.
•Omics-based clinical discoveries explain the influences of sex and gender on health and disease.•Despite consensus that sex and gender are distinct constructs, their use in research is unreliable.•Key recommendations to advance generation and dissemination of rigorous research are provided.•The SAGER guidelines promote the systematic reporting of sex and gender in research.
There is growing recognition of the problem of male bias in neuroscience research, including in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) where fewer women than men are recruited to clinical trials ...and male rodents have predominantly been used as an experimental injury model. Despite TBI being a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, sex differences in pathophysiology and recovery are poorly understood, limiting clinical care and successful drug development. Given growing interest in sex as a biological variable affecting injury outcomes and treatment efficacy, there is a clear need to summarize sex differences in TBI. This scoping review presents an overview of current knowledge of sex differences in TBI and a comparison of human and animal studies. We found that overall, human studies report worse outcomes in women than men, whereas animal studies report better outcomes in females than males. However, closer examination shows that multiple factors including injury severity, sample size, and experimental injury model may differentially interact with sex to affect TBI outcomes. Additionally, we explore how sex differences in mitochondrial structure and function might contribute to possible sex differences in TBI outcomes. We propose recommendations for future investigations of sex differences in TBI, which we hope will lead to improved patient management, prognosis, and translation of therapies from bench to bedside.
Today’s scientific discourse is increasingly criticizing the strict binary concept of biological sex. While science is progressively revealing the complexity of biological sex, the knowledge of ...biology for many is limited to what is acquired at school. Nonheteronormative, sex-wise atypical people still face isolation, misunderstanding and resulting social and psychological difficulties at school and in society in general. To explore the concept of biological sex presented in biology textbooks, qualitative content analysis was used. The analysis focused on the stages of sex development, the characteristics defining biological sex, the concept of sex being discrete or continuous trait, and the representation of differences in sex development. It was found that the information provided was inconsistent and superficial, failing to reflect the complexity of the sex development process. Biological sex was presented as an unambiguously discrete and binary trait, with no mention of differences in sex development. A poor understanding of biological sex does not encourage critical discussion about human biodiversity. It reproduces heteronormative norms, that condition discrimination and bullying.
There is evidence of an association of severe coroanavirus disease (COVID-19) outcomes with increased body mass index (BMI) and male sex. However, few studies have examined the interaction between ...sex and BMI on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral dynamics.
Participants conducted RT-PCR testing every 24-48 hours over a 15-day period. Sex and BMI were self-reported, and Ct values from E-gene were used to quantify viral load. Three distinct outcomes were examined using mixed-effects generalized linear models, linear models, and logistic models, respectively: all Ct values (model 1), nadir Ct value (model 2), and strongly detectable infection (at least 1 Ct value ≤28 during their infection) (model 3). An interaction term between BMI and sex was included, and inverse logit transformations were applied to quantify the differences by BMI and sex using marginal predictions.
In total, 7988 participants enrolled in this study and 439 participants (model 1) and 309 (models 2 and 3) were eligible for these analyses. Among males, increasing BMI was associated with lower Ct values in a dose-response fashion. For participants with BMIs greater than 29 kg/m2, males had significantly lower Ct values and nadir Ct values than females. In total, 67.8% of males and 55.3% of females recorded a strongly detectable infection; increasing proportions of men had Ct values <28 with BMIs of 35 and 40 kg/m2.
We observed sex-based dimorphism in relation to BMI and COVID-19 viral load. Further investigation is needed to determine the cause, clinical impact, and transmission implications of this sex-differential effect of BMI on viral load.
Prevalence estimates of sibling bullying indicate it occurs more frequently and with more negative consequences than peer bullying, yet many countries do not track or investigate the phenomenon. ...University students from Argentina, Estonia, and the United States were surveyed to investigate their retrospective experiences involving sibling bullying, how often it occurred, the roles held, and the forms communicated. In the aggregated data, roughly 50 % of the sampled emerging adults (N = 3477) reported experience with sibling bullying, with the dual role of bully-victim being the most frequently reported role held by males and females, with the second role being bully for males and victim for females. Verbal forms of bullying were most frequently reported by males and females, with physical, relational, and technological forms occurring less frequently, indicating the importance of studying the messages conveyed during bullying incidents. Variations between biological sex, bullying role and form were detected that indicate siblings experience bullying in ways that are unique from peer bullying. Country comparisons revealed bullying frequencies varied among males and females, suggesting sibling bullying experiences are likely to be culturally influenced. More research is warranted to examine the negative impact bullying has on sibling psycho-social development and the potential transfer to non-familial relationships and contexts. Discussion of these findings and the implications for academics and practitioners alike is provided.
Masculinity and femininity Hristova, Gergana Nikolova
Проблеми на постмодерността,
04/2024, Letnik:
14, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The article examines the different interpretations of masculinity and femininity within the contexts of sociology, cultural studies, and psychology. In sociology, gender roles are considered to be ...socially constructed and variable, with feminist studies emphasizing the social construction of femininity in the context of gender inequality. In cultural studies, Hofstede views masculinity and femininity as cultural dimensions that influence societal attitudes and behavior. Overall, gender is interpreted as a complex of biological, social, and psychological aspects, which are expressed on a continuum and are often subject to social and cultural reconstruction. In psychology, these characteristics are associated with social and behavioral aspects, rather than with biological sex alone. Gender schema theory highlights that individuals can exhibit both masculine and feminine traits. Psychoanalysis introduces concepts of gender identity and the role of parents in the gender socialization of children.
The classification of names Handschuh, Corinna
Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung : STUF,
11/2020, Letnik:
72, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Personal names can be specified as male or female in almost all languages of the world. Languages differ, however, whether the sex of the referent is lexical knowledge or overtly coded in the form of ...the name. Symmetrical systems – with overt marking on both male and female names – can be distinguished from asymmetrical ones, of which one subtype, overt coding of female names, is by far the most frequent. In addition, the morpho-syntactic system of encoding the sex of the referent can be either limited to personal names or use morphological material also employed on other types of nominals. This paper investigates the morpho-syntactic means used for the classification of personal names in the languages of the world as well as the integration of personal names into classificatory systems used for common nouns, namely gender and classifiers.
Abstract
Aims
Recent data from national registries suggest that acute heart failure (AHF) outcomes might vary in men and women, however, it is not known whether this observation is universal. The aim ...of this study was to evaluate the association of biological sex and 1-year all-cause mortality in patients with AHF in various regions of the world.
Methods and results
We analysed several AHF cohorts including GREAT registry (22 523 patients, mostly from Europe and Asia) and OPTIMIZE-HF (26 376 patients from the USA). Clinical characteristics and medication use at discharge were collected. Hazard ratios (HRs) for 1-year mortality according to biological sex were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model with adjustment for baseline characteristics (e.g. age, comorbidities, clinical and laboratory parameters at admission, left ventricular ejection fraction). In the GREAT registry, women had a lower risk of death in the year following AHF HR 0.86 (0.79–0.94), P < 0.001 after adjustment. This was mostly driven by northeast Asia n = 9135, HR 0.76 (0.67–0.87), P < 0.001, while no significant differences were seen in other countries. In the OPTIMIZE-HF registry, women also had a lower risk of 1-year death HR 0.93 (0.89–0.97), P < 0.001. In the GREAT registry, women were less often prescribed with a combination of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers at discharge (50% vs. 57%, P = 0.001).
Conclusion
Globally women with AHF have a lower 1-year mortality and less evidenced-based treatment than men. Differences among countries need further investigation. Our findings merit consideration when designing future global clinical trials in AHF.
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