Women and Superannuation: Labour Market Participation and Retirement Prospects

Superannuation has risen to prominence as the vehicle for providing workers with additional retirement income, supplementing the government-provided age pension. In Australia, the union movement spearheaded a move in 1986 to include superannuation as part of social wage considerations in National Wage Cases. The stated objective of the Labor government in supporting superannuation was to improve the retirement incomes of low-income earners. As women comprise a large portion of those earning low incomes, the effect on women will be significant. This article analyses the gender implications of the shift to provide retirement incomes through a private sector-based superannuation system rather than the utilising the welfare system to provide a government-provided age pension. The existing superannuation system has been criticised for creating inequalities for low-income earners and generally entrenching inequity for low income groups. This contention is considered in the article

Effects of postanesthetic sedation with romifidine or xylazine on quality of recovery from isoflurane anesthesia in horses

Objective—To test the hypothesis that postanesthetic sedation with romifidine would dose-dependently improve recovery quality of recovery from isoflurane anesthesia in horses more than postanesthetic sedation with xylazine. Design—Prospective, randomized, blinded clinical trial. Animals—101 healthy adult horses examined at the University of California-Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital from 2007 to 2009. Procedures—Horses were sedated with xylazine, and anesthesia was induced with guaifenesin, diazepam, and ketamine via a standardized drug protocol. Anesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures was maintained with isoflurane in oxygen for 1 to 4 hours. At the end of anesthesia, horses were moved to a padded stall for recovery. Once the breathing circuit was disconnected and the patient was spontaneously breathing, either xylazine (100 or 200 μg/kg [45 or 91 μg/lb]) or romifidine (10 or 20 μg/kg [4.5 or 9.1 μg/lb]) was administered IV. Objective patient, surgical, and anesthesia data were recorded. Subjective visual analog scale (VAS) scores of recovery quality were assigned by a single individual who was unaware of the treatment received. A stepwise linear regression model was used to correlate patient and procedure factors with the VAS score. Results—Painful procedures, longer anesthesia times, and the Arabian horse breed were associated with poorer VAS scores. Adjustment for these factors revealed an improved VAS recovery score associated with the use of a romifidine dose of 20 μg/kg. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—In healthy adult horses anesthetized with isoflurane for > 1 hour, the results of this study supported the use of 20 μg of romifidine/kg, IV, rather than lower romifidine doses or xylazine, for postanesthetic sedation to improve recovery quality

DNA methylation potential: dietary intake and blood concentrations of one-carbon metabolites and cofactors in rural African women.

BACKGROUND: Animal models show that periconceptional supplementation with folic acid, vitamin B-12, choline, and betaine can induce differences in offspring phenotype mediated by epigenetic changes in DNA. In humans, altered DNA methylation patterns have been observed in offspring whose mothers were exposed to famine or who conceived in the Gambian rainy season. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to understand the seasonality of DNA methylation patterns in rural Gambian women. We studied natural variations in dietary intake of nutrients involved in methyl-donor pathways and their effect on the respective metabolic biomarkers. DESIGN: In 30 women of reproductive age (18-45 y), we monitored diets monthly for 1 y by using 48-h weighed records to measure intakes of choline, betaine, folate, methionine, riboflavin, and vitamins B-6 and B-12. Blood biomarkers of these nutrients, S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), homocysteine, cysteine, and dimethylglycine were also assessed monthly. RESULTS: Dietary intakes of riboflavin, folate, choline, and betaine varied significantly by season; the most dramatic variation was seen for betaine. All metabolic biomarkers showed significant seasonality, and vitamin B-6 and folate had the highest fluctuations. Correlations between dietary intakes and blood biomarkers were found for riboflavin, vitamin B-6, active vitamin B-12 (holotranscobalamin), and betaine. We observed a seasonal switch between the betaine and folate pathways and a probable limiting role of riboflavin in these processes and a higher SAM/SAH ratio during the rainy season. CONCLUSIONS: Naturally occurring seasonal variations in food-consumption patterns have a profound effect on methyl-donor biomarker status. The direction of these changes was consistent with previously reported differences in methylation of metastable epialleles. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01811641