Connecting the Dots: Sexual and reproductive health and rights as prerequisites for global gender equality and empowerment

Global gender equality and empowerment are universally agreed upon goals and are widely considered critical across political affiliations in the U.S. Achieving these goals requires dedicated commitment to women's and girls' health; freedom from violence; and equal participation in education, the workforce, and politics. Additionally, a commitment to the global sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda is critical to the advancement of gender equality and empowerment as they are directly impacted by the availability and accessibility of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services.Connecting the Dots emphasizes the need for the U.S. to increase its support for sexual and reproductive health and rights – both financially and politically – in order to make meaningful progress on advancing its global policy and programming priorities of achieving gender equality and empowerment worldwide

Temporal associations between salivary cortisol and emotions in clinically depressed individuals and matched controls:A dynamic time warp analysis

Depression can be understood as a complex dynamic system where depressive symptoms interact with one another. Cortisol is suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of depression, but knowledge on the temporal interplay between cortisol and depressive symptoms is scarce. We aimed to analyze the temporal connectivity between salivary cortisol and momentary affective states in depressed individuals and controls. Thirty pair-matched depressed and non-depressed participants completed questionnaires on momentary positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect and collected saliva three times a day for 30 days. The association between cortisol and affect was analyzed by dynamic time warp (DTW) analyses. These analyses involved lag-1 backward to lag-1 forward undirected analyses and lag-0 and lag-1 forward directed analyses. Large inter- and intra-individual variability in the networks were found. At the group level, with undirected analysis PA and NA were connected in the networks in depressed individuals and in controls. Directed analyses indicated that increases in cortisol preceded specific NA items in controls, but tended to follow upon specific affect items increase in depressed individuals. To conclude, at group level, changes in cortisol levels in individuals diagnosed with a depression may be a result of changes in affect, rather than a cause.</p

Impact of Gender on Acute Aerobic Exercise Induced Brainderived Neurotrophic Factor And Cognitive Function In Older Adults

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of gender on acute exercise induced BDNF and cognitive function among older individuals. The hypothesis was that exercise would increase BDNF levels and enhance cognitive processing time post exercise followed by a drop in BDNF and return cognitive processing time to baseline post-30 minutes. It was also hypothesized that women would have higher BDNF values compared to men. Methods: The subjects consisted of 18 active males (n = 9) and females (n = 9). The subjects took part in an exercise trial and a control trial. The exercise trial entailed riding either a recumbent or upright bike at 75% of their age predicted max heart rate for 30 minutes. The control trial consisted of reading. A Stroop Test was given, and blood samples were obtained before, after, and 30 minutes after exercise and control. Serum was analyzed for BDNF, testosterone, and estrogen using commercially available ELISA kits. Results: Results showed that there was a significant effect of time in Stroop testing across all subjects. There was a trend (p = 0.068) for a decrease in Stroop time from pre to immediate post timepoints, and a significant decrease (p = 0.004) in Stroop time from pre to post-30 timepoints. There was a significant main effect of exercise on BDNF levels, (p = 0.05) and females were found to have significantly higher BDNF than males (p = 0.055). Conclusion: There was statistical evidence that acute exercise affects BDNF production in both genders, but not cognitive processing speed among an older active population. Cognitive processing speed continued to improve across all timepoints. As well, women were found to have overall higher BDNF

Assessment of peripheral BNDF levels over 30 days

Brain health, and the benefits of exercise have been linked to the biological signaling molecule called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Animal and human studies have provided some support for physical exercise as a mechanism for increasing BDNF levels. However, results have been inconsistent, which may be attributed in part to incomplete information about normal variation in circulating peripheral BDNF levels. This investigation examined capillary-drawn whole blood samples from nine healthy adult participants over 30 days with the goal of documenting variability in resting BDNF levels and changes that may be attributed to physical exercise. It was hypothesized that BDNF concentrations would stay relatively consistent (overall coefficient of variance not exceeding 15%) and that physical exercise within 12 hours of blood sampling would increase BDNF levels. In contrast to these expectations, the current study showed high within-subject variability in resting BDNF levels across 30 days, and no association between recent physical exercise and BDNF levels. However, having a variability quantification is equally important for future methodology designs. While it remains unclear if there are valid cognitive benefits link to BDNF, understanding human BDNF variability can be of general utility as a benchmark for designing and interpreting future BDNF-related studies

Using in vitro, in silico, and in-Classroom Techniques to Address the Gender Data Gap in Health Care

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide in males (XY) and females (XX). Prior to menopause, females have a relative protection against serious cardiac pathologies compared to age-matched males. This phenomenon is widely attributed to the ovarian hormone estrogen. Unfortunately, hormone replacement therapy to maintain estrogen levels in postmenopausal females has overall adverse effects, and it is not recommended for long-term use or as a preventative measure for eCVDs. A major driver of CVDs, specifically heart failure, is cardiac fibrosis: the continued buildup of scar tissue that reduces the heart’s ability to pump. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies to specifically target cardiac fibrosis, and the five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with heart failure is typically under 50%. Recent studies exhibit the potential of estrogen to decrease the fibrotic response of cardiac fibroblasts, the cells responsible for the progression of fibrosis. However, most of these studies were conducted on tissue culture plastic (TCP) and/or with pooled male and female neonate rat CFs, limiting their clinical relevance. The goal of this dissertation is to expand our understanding of the sex-specific signaling of estrogen within CFs using in vitro and in silico techniques to identify potential sex-specific dimorphisms in regulatory signaling that will allow for the creation of novel treatments of cardiac fibrosis that mimic estrogen’s therapeutic abilities while negating its adverse systemic effects. Biological sex impacts the presentation, prognosis, and severity of many conditions. Yet, females have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials and experimental studies, resulting in health inequities that disproportionately affect women. Literature has shown that women are more likely to include female samples in their study design and report sex-disaggregated data. However, they have been consistently underrepresented in STEM fields. Increasing the number of female scientists will aid in shrinking the gender data gap, which will help elucidate our understanding of the sex-specific differences of various diseases and biological functions. In addition to my in vitro and in silico initiatives, I have developed in classroom techniques utilizing inclusive pedagogy strategies that specially target female students with an aim to increase their STEM self-efficacy and identity. These in vitro, in silico, and in classroom techniques are designed with the intention of fostering a more inclusive and equitable approach to healthcare

Sleep targets highly connected global and local nodes to aid consolidation of learned graph networks

Much of our long-term knowledge is organised in complex networks. Sleep is thought to be critical for abstracting knowledge and enhancing important item memory for long-term retention. Thus, sleep should aid the development of memory for networks and the abstraction of their structure for efficient storage. However, this remains unknown because past sleep studies have focused on discrete items. Here we explored the impact of sleep (night-sleep/day-wake within-subject paradigm with 25 male participants) on memory for graph-networks where some items were important due to dense local connections (degree centrality) or, independently, important due to greater global connections (closeness/betweenness centrality). A network of 27 planets (nodes) sparsely interconnected by 36 teleporters (edges) was learned via discrete associations without explicit indication of any network structure. Despite equivalent exposure to all connections in the network, we found that memory for the links between items with high local connectivity or high global connectivity were better retained after sleep. These results highlight that sleep has the capacity for strengthening both global and local structure from the world and abstracting over multiple experiences to efficiently form internal networks of knowledge

Test-retest Reliability of Cerebrovascular Measures during the Oral Contraceptive Cycle

In vascular testing, women who use oral contraceptives are tested in the placebo phase to control for potential confounding variables. This methodological decision may not be necessary if cerebrovascular measurements are reliable between days in women using oral contraceptives. We measured the reliability of middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity, heart-middle cerebral artery pulse wave velocity, and two cognitive tasks in 13 women, and 5 men on three days within an oral contraceptive cycle (21.49 ± 3.21 years, 72.2% female, 23.78 ± 2.53 kg/m2). Women had better reliability for main outcomes of middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (ICC: 0.718 v. 0.575) and heart-middle cerebral artery pulse wave velocity (ICC: 0.929 v. 0.844). These results suggest that women using oral contraceptives have similar reliability to men and they could be tested in any cycle phase during future vascular studies.Master of Art

A Phenomenological Study of the Relationship Experiences of Partners of Individuals Who Suffer with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a debilitating disorder that adversely affects the lives of individuals and their intimate relationships. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of the partners of individuals who suffer from Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. The theories guiding this study were the interpersonal theory of suicide and the adult attachment theory. This study examined the overall relationship experience of partners of individuals suffering from PMDD and their cyclic attachment styles during the luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle. A selection of three PMDD partners and three PMDD sufferers, who have been in an intimate relationship for six months or longer, were interviewed to measure the fluctuation in the overall relationship experience and cyclic attachment styles. Overall, the attachment styles of the PMDD partners may be affected because of the cyclic anguish of the PMDD sufferers during the luteal and follicular phases of menstruation. The fluctuating attachment styles of the PMDD sufferer can impact the PMDD partner’s overall relationship experience

Functional analysis and transcriptional output of the Göttingen minipig genome

In the past decade the Göttingen minipig has gained increasing recognition as animal model in pharmaceutical and safety research because it recapitulates many aspects of human physiology and metabolism. Genome-based comparison of drug targets together with quantitative tissue expression analysis allows rational prediction of pharmacology and cross-reactivity of human drugs in animal models thereby improving drug attrition which is an important challenge in the process of drug development.; Here we present a new chromosome level based version of the Göttingen minipig genome together with a comparative transcriptional analysis of tissues with pharmaceutical relevance as basis for translational research. We relied on mapping and assembly of WGS (whole-genome-shotgun sequencing) derived reads to the reference genome of the Duroc pig and predict 19,228 human orthologous protein-coding genes. Genome-based prediction of the sequence of human drug targets enables the prediction of drug cross-reactivity based on conservation of binding sites. We further support the finding that the genome of Sus scrofa contains about ten-times less pseudogenized genes compared to other vertebrates. Among the functional human orthologs of these minipig pseudogenes we found HEPN1, a putative tumor suppressor gene. The genomes of Sus scrofa, the Tibetan boar, the African Bushpig, and the Warthog show sequence conservation of all inactivating HEPN1 mutations suggesting disruption before the evolutionary split of these pig species. We identify 133 Sus scrofa specific, conserved long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the minipig genome and show that these transcripts are highly conserved in the African pigs and the Tibetan boar suggesting functional significance. Using a new minipig specific microarray we show high conservation of gene expression signatures in 13 tissues with biomedical relevance between humans and adult minipigs. We underline this relationship for minipig and human liver where we could demonstrate similar expression levels for most phase I drug-metabolizing enzymes. Higher expression levels and metabolic activities were found for FMO1, AKR/CRs and for phase II drug metabolizing enzymes in minipig as compared to human. The variability of gene expression in equivalent human and minipig tissues is considerably higher in minipig organs, which is important for study design in case a human target belongs to this variable category in the minipig. The first analysis of gene expression in multiple tissues during development from young to adult shows that the majority of transcriptional programs are concluded four weeks after birth. This finding is in line with the advanced state of human postnatal organ development at comparative age categories and further supports the minipig as model for pediatric drug safety studies.; Genome based assessment of sequence conservation combined with gene expression data in several tissues improves the translational value of the minipig for human drug development. The genome and gene expression data presented here are important resources for researchers using the minipig as model for biomedical research or commercial breeding. Potential impact of our data for comparative genomics, translational research, and experimental medicine are discussed

Exploring women’s experiences of premenstrual embodiment utilising a material-discursive-intrapsychic framework

Body image concerns are a prominent issue among women, with detrimental consequences for mental health and well-being. Women’s body shame and body dissatisfaction is heightened during the premenstrual phase of the cycle, associated with premenstrual distress. Body management behaviours also fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, manifested by premenstrual food cravings and reduced exercise. However, the meaning and consequences of premenstrual body dissatisfaction and changes to body management remains underexplored. How women construct and negotiate negative premenstrual embodiment in relation to cultural discourse, and factors contributing to premenstrual body shame and dissatisfaction, require further examination. The purpose of the research presented in this thesis was to explore how women who report premenstrual body dissatisfaction construct and experience their premenstrual bodies. A mixed method design was employed, utilising a survey and the arts-based method body-mapping, followed by an interview. In the statistical analysis of standardised survey scales, body shame was associated with higher premenstrual distress and self-objectification. Self-objectification was associated with higher premenstrual emotional/reactivity. Women who reported disordered eating attitudes reported lower premenstrual distress, body shame and self-objectification. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified that negative physical and emotional premenstrual changes were interrelated, associated with construction of the premenstrual body as abject, out of control, separate to the self, and to blame for women’s distress. Drawing on cultural discourse associated with feminine embodiment, constructions of the abject body as fat and leaking were associated with increased self-policing and body scrutiny. Premenstrual changes disrupted women’s usual strict management of their bodies, associated with negative feelings towards the premenstrual body and the self. Many women demonstrated agency and resistance of negative cultural discourses around premenstrual embodiment. Participants critiqued and challenged cultural discourses that negatively construct the premenstrual body, dressed for comfort rather than fashion premenstrually and took a break from restrictive eating and rigorous exercise practices during this phase. Findings of this thesis provide insight into women’s subjective experiences of negative premenstrual embodiment. These findings emphasize the need to acknowledge changes in body dissatisfaction and body management across the menstrual cycle, and the consequences for women’s feelings about the body and the self. The broader implications of these findings suggest that premenstrual body dissatisfaction is complex and multi-layered and plays a role in women’s premenstrual distress