Sex Characteristics

Despite the dominant role of the hormone oxytocin (OT) in social behavior, little is known about the role of OT in the perception of social relationships. Furthermore, it is unclear whether there are sex differences in the way that OT affects social perception. Here, we employed a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design to investigate the effect of OT on accurate social perception. Following treatment, 62 participants completed the Interpersonal Perception Task, a method of assessing the accuracy of social judgments that requires identification of the relationship between people interacting in real life video clips divided into three categories: kinship, intimacy and competition. The findings suggest that OT had a general effect on improving accurate perception of social interactions. Furthermore, we show that OT also involves sex-specific characteristics. An interaction between treatment, task category and sex indicated that OT had a selective effect on improving kinship ...

There is much evidence to suggest that gender is an important factor in the modulation of pain. Literature data strongly suggest that men and women differ in their responses to pain: they are more variable in women than men, with increased pain sensitivity and many more painful diseases commonly reported among women. Gender differences in pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological pain interventions have also been reported, but these effects appear to depend on the treatment type and characteristics. It is becoming very evident that gender differences in pain and its relief arise from an interaction of genetic, anatomical, physiological, neuronal, hormonal, psychological and social factors which modulate pain differently in the sexes. Experimental data indicate that both a different modulation of the endogenous opioid system and sex hormones are factors influencing pain sensitivity in males and females. This brief review will examine the literature on sex differences in experim...

Determination of individuality is one of the prime concerns in forensic investigation. The study of fingerprints is widely used in providing a clue regarding identity. The present study was undertaken to study the sex differences in fingerprint ridge density in the Indian population. The study done on 100 males and 100 females revealed that significant sex differences occur in the fingerprint ridge density. The present study shows a statistically significant difference in fingerprint ridge densities of male and female fingerprints in ...

Men generally have an inherent performance advantage over women due to their average greater height and muscle mass and power, as the result of correspondingly different exposures to androgens. Therefore, it is considered fair that in sports men and women compete in separate categories. The question now emerging is whether reassigned transsexuals can compete in fairness with others of their new sex. The pertinent question is how far the previous effects of testosterone in male-to-female transsexuals (M-F) are reversible upon androgen deprivation so that M-F have no advantage over women, and, vice versa, what the effects are of androgen exposure in female-to-male transsexuals (F-M) on variables relevant to competition in sports. Before puberty, boys and girls do not differ in height, muscle and bone mass. Recent information shows convincingly that actual levels of circulating testosterone determine largely muscle mass and strength, though with considerable interindividual diversity. ...

A 14-item Sexual Coercion Inventory (SCI) was administered to an urban university sample in Western India. Twenty-six percent of the sample reported a total of 160 incidents of sexual coercion ranging in severity from unwanted kissing to sexual intercourse. The most common outcome was intercourse and was followed by kissing and fondling. No gender differences were discovered regarding victim status or types of coercion tactics experienced. A MANOVA analysis found no overall gender effect, but marital status and protected class membership did have a significant effect with people who are married and protected class members reporting more sexual coercion. Reasons for the lack of an overall gender effect and limitations of this research are discussed.

It has been suggested that the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be wrongly attributed to lactose intolerance. We examined the relations among IBS, demographic factors, living habits, and lactose intolerance. On the basis of a lactose tolerance test with ethanol, 101 of the 427 healthy subjects studied were lactose maldigesters and 326 were lactose digesters. IBS was diagnosed by means of the Bowel Disease Questionnaire, according to the Rome criteria. The use of dairy products and symptoms experienced after their consumption were recorded. IBS was found in 15% of both the lactose maldigesters and lactose digesters. One-third of the subjects reported intolerance to dairy products containing < or = 20 g lactose. About half of this third were lactose maldigesters and about half were lactose digesters. As explanations for this subjective lactose intolerance, the logistic regression model estimated lactose maldigestion (odds ratio: 10.3; 95% CI: 5.2, 20.4), IBS (4.6; 2.1...

We undertook a dietary survey of 167 Australian Olympic team athletes (80 females and 87 males) competing in endurance sports (n = 41), team sports (n = 31), sprint- or skill-based sports (n = 67), and sports in which athletes are weight-conscious (n = 28). Analysis of their 7-day food diaries provided mean energy intakes, nutrient intakes, and eating patterns. Higher energy intakes relative to body mass were reported by male athletes compared with females, and by endurance athletes compared with other athletes. Endurance athletes reported substantially higher intakes of carbohydrate (CHO) than other athletes, and were among the athletes most likely to consume CHO during and after training sessions. Athletes undertaking weight-conscious sports reported relatively low energy intakes and were least likely to consume CHO during a training session or in the first hour of recovery. On average, athletes reported eating on approximately 5 separate occasions each day, with a moderate relati...

Chronic myalgia is associated with higher muscle levels of certain algesic biomarkers. The aim of this study was to investigate if hypertonic saline-induced jaw myalgia also leads to release of such biomarkers and if there were any sex differences in this respect. Healthy participants, 15 men and 15 aged-matched women (25.7 ± 4.3 years) participated. Intramuscular microdialysis into masseter muscles was performed to sample serotonin (5-HT), glutamate, lactate, pyruvate, glucose and glycerol. After 2 hours 0.2 mL hypertonic saline (58.5 mg/mL) was injected into the masseter on one side and 0.2 mL isotonic saline (9 mg/mL) into the contralateral masseter close to the microdialysis catheter. Microdialysis continued for 1 hour after the injections. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and pain were assessed before and after injections. The median (IQR) peak pain intensity (0-100 visual analogue scale) after hypertonic saline was 52.5 (38.0) and after isotonic saline 7.5 (24.0) (p < 0.05). ...

Several studies in the new field of cognitive epidemiology have shown that higher intelligence predicts longer lifespan. This positive correlation might arise from socioeconomic status influencing both intelligence and health; intelligence leading to better health behaviours; and/or some shared genetic factors influencing both intelligence and health. Distinguishing among these hypotheses is crucial for medicine and public health, but can only be accomplished by studying a genetically informative sample. We analysed data from three genetically informative samples containing information on intelligence and mortality: Sample 1, 377 pairs of male veterans from the NAS-NRC US World War II Twin Registry; Sample 2, 246 pairs of twins from the Swedish Twin Registry; and Sample 3, 784 pairs of twins from the Danish Twin Registry. The age at which intelligence was measured differed between the samples. We used three methods of genetic analysis to examine the relationship between intelligence...

The aim of the present paper is to show how the variation of the EEG frontal cortical asymmetry is related to the general appreciation perceived during the observation of TV advertisements, in particular considering the influence of the gender and age on it. In particular, we investigated the influence of the gender on the perception of a car advertisement (Experiment1) and the influence of the factor age on a chewing gum commercial (Experiment2). Experiment1results showed statistically significant higher approach values for the men group throughout the commercial. Results from Experiment2showed significant lower values by older adults for the spot, containing scenes not very enjoyed by them. In both studies, there was no statistical significant difference in the scene relative to the product offering between the experimental populations, suggesting the absence in our study of a bias towards the specific product in the evaluated populations. These evidences state the importance of t...

Many orthodontic treatment modalities will yield a better result in less time if properly correlated with the unique facial growth patterns of the patients. The pubertal growth spurt depends on gender and varies in relationship to the chronologic age. General skeletal maturity usually is used as an indicator to predict timing of mandibular growth velocity peak. Hand-wrist radiographic evaluation is one of the diagnostic tools currently available to determine whether the pubertal growth has started, is occurring or has finished. The overview of topic related literature and skeletal maturity assessment (SMA) system developed by L. Fishman are presented. The SMA system is based on eleven discrete adolescence skeletal maturational indicators of hand-wrist bones, covering the entire period of adolescent development. Maturational stage and level demonstrated close correlation with maxillary and mandibular growth velocity, amount of incremental growth and timing. Clinical indications for t...

Summary While early studies of moral decision making highlighted the role of rational, conscious executive processes involving frontal lobe activation more recent work has suggested that emotions and gut reactions have a key part to play in moral reasoning. ...

Sex and gender differences are of fundamental importance in most diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). Men and women with CKD differ with regard to the underlying pathophysiology of the disease and its complications, present different symptoms and signs, respond differently to therapy and tolerate/cope with the disease differently. Yet an approach using gender in the prevention and treatment of CKD, implementation of clinical practice guidelines and in research has been largely neglected. The present review highlights some sex- and gender-specific evidence in the field of CKD, starting with a critical appraisal of the lack of inclusion of women in randomized clinical trials in nephrology, and thereafter revisits sex/gender differences in kidney pathophysiology, kidney disease progression, outcomes and management of haemodialysis care. In each case we critically consider whether apparent discrepancies are likely to be explained by biological or psycho-socioeconomic factor...

A systematic review of scientific experimentation addressing olfactory effects on mood, physiology and behavior was undertaken. From this review, 18 studies meeting stringent empirical criteria were then analyzed in detail and it was found that credible evidence that odors can affect mood, physiology and behavior exists. To explain these effects, pharmacological and psychological mechanisms were explored and a psychological interpretation of the data was found to be more comprehensive. Methodological problems regarding dependent measures and stimuli, which led to inconsistencies in the data were discussed, as were the mediating variables of culture, experience, sex differences, and personality.

Context: Volleyball players are reported to have shoulder strength imbalances. Previous authors have primarily investigated small samples of male players at a single skill level, without considering playing position, and with inconsistent findings. Objective: To evaluate shoulder strength asymmetry and a history of shoulder injury in a large sample of professional volleyball players of both sexes across different playing positions and skill levels. Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Patients or Other Participants: A sample of 183 volleyball players (99 men, 84 women). Main Outcome Measure(s): We assessed shoulder internal-rotator and external-rotator concentric strength at 60°/s using an isokinetic dynamometer and dominant-nondominant differences in shoulder strength and strength ratios using repeated-measures analyses of variance. Peak torque was normalized for body mass and external-rotation/internal-rotation concentric strength. Results: Internal-rotation strength was asymmetr...