Between Autonomy and Alienation: Creating the Self via Sex-Reassignment Surgery

Upon a consideration of self-creation and the introduction of the gender binary a potential limiter of autonomy, sexQreassignment surgery (SRS) beckons significant reconsideration by the biomedical/ethical field, ranging from the transpersons who undergo it to the preoperative processes that oversee it. Autonomy does not underlie a majority of SRS on prevailing biomedical hypotheses; SRS is granted to those candidates who report symptoms of dysfunction and denied to candidates who do not confirm such suspicions. This research proposes that, upon his or her failure or refusal to demonstrate some understanding of the potentially limiting influence of the gender binary, a candidate should be denied SRS for lack of autonomy. Despite disadvantages of the proposal, it attempts to facilitate and preserve autonomy in transpersons’ projects of self-creation via SRS, indict the gender binary as a limit to autonomy, and estrange notions of ‘dysfunction’ and ‘inauthenticity’ currently associated with transpersons

Spatially and temporally resolved temperature measurements of plasma generated in percussion drilling with a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

Results of spectroscopic temperature measurements of the laser-induced plasma generated during percussion drilling with a high power diode-pumped, pulsed Nd:YAG laser are presented. SAE 52100 steel was drilled with varying average powers. Helium and oxygen were each used as the shield gas. Emission spectra were collected with a monochrometer and an intensified charge coupled detector connected to the optical multichannel analyzer. The plasma electron temperatures were calculated from the relative intensities of the spectral lines. The spatial and temporal temperature distributions are presented. Both drilling times and spatial distributions indicate energy absorption by the plasma. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71333/2/JAPIAU-84-8-4122-1.pd

On the use of low-cost computer peripherals for the assessment of motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease – Quantification of bradykinesia using target tracking tasks

The potential of computer games peripherals to measure the motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s diseases is assessed. Of particular interest is the quantification of bradykinesia. Previous studies used modified or custom haptic interfaces, here an unmodified force feedback joystick and steering wheel are used with a laptop. During testing an on screen cursor moves in response to movements of the peripheral, the user has to track a continuously moving target (pursuit tracking), or move to a predetermined target (step tracking). All tasks use movement in the horizontal axis, allowing use of joystick or steering wheel. Two pursuit tracking tasks are evaluated, pseudo random movement, and a swept frequency task. Two step tracking tasks are evaluated, movement between two or between two of five fixed targets. Thirteen patients and five controls took part on a weekly basis. Patients were assessed for bradykinesia at each session using standard clinical measures. A range of quantitative measures was developed to allow comparison between and within patients and controls using ANOVA. Both peripherals are capable of discriminating between controls and patients, and between patients with different levels of bradykinesia. Recommendations for test procedures and peripherals are given

Self-Induced Quasistationary Magnetic Fields

The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with temporally dispersive magnetic solids of small dimensions may show very special resonant behaviors. The internal fields of such samples are characterized by magnetostatic-potential scalar wave functions. The oscillating modes have the energy orthogonality properties and unusual pseudo-electric (gauge) fields. Because of a phase factor, that makes the states single valued, a persistent magnetic current exists. This leads to appearance of an eigen-electric moment of a small disk sample. One of the intriguing features of the mode fields is dynamical symmetry breaking

Physical Activity is Related to Mental Health and Sexual Orientation Among Women in College

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(5): 1347-1356, 2022. Non-heterosexual women tend to report lower physical activity and poorer mental health than their heterosexual counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in mental health (stress and depression) and physical activity among female college students by sexual orientation. Students self-reported socio-demographic characteristics, physical activity, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms via an online survey. Correlations, independent samples t-tests, and multiple regression analyses were used to examine relationships between perceived stress, depressive symptoms, physical activity, and sexual orientation. Most participants (n = 1072, 20.0 ± 1.5 years) identified as heterosexual (90.1%), non-Hispanic White (73%), and in their fourth semester or higher. Perceived stress and depressive symptoms differed significantly between heterosexual and non- heterosexual women, but physical activity participation did not. Higher participation in vigorous physical activity and strength training predicted both lower depressive symptoms and lower perceived stress while controlling for sexual orientation. For both heterosexual and non-heterosexual sexual women, depressive symptoms had a positive relationship with perceived stress, and a negative relationship to strength training. Depressive symptoms also had negative correlations with vigorous physical activity among heterosexual women. Findings indicate non-heterosexual women experience greater perceived stress and depressive symptoms, and these mental health issues can have multi-level implications. Greater vigorous physical activity and strength training were associated with lower perceived stress and depression regardless of sexual orientation. Administrators and health promoters should consider ways to promote these forms of physical activity among non-heterosexual women. Further research is needed on the potential barriers impacting engagement in physical activity

Investigating Gender Disparities in Internal Medicine Residency Awards

Background: Significant gender disparities persist in career advancement for physicians. Studies have highlighted the lack of female representation in awards from both academic institutions and professional societies; these awards play a role in promotions, making them a fundamental building block of success. Objectives: We aim to explore the gender breakdown among resident awards presented by several Internal Medicine residency programs across the United States in this pilot study. Our ultimate goals are to define disparities in award selection, determine what variables contribute to these disparities, and work to mitigate these variables. Methods/Research: We generated a survey in REDCap to collect retrospective data about resident award selection from academic Internal Medicine residency programs across the country. This survey gathered awards data from 2009-2019 and included variables such as gender breakdown of the program, gender of resident award recipients, and details about how awards are selected. Eight programs completed the survey; these programs were from six different states in various geographic regions. Overall 43.1 percent of residents were female. Across all residency programs and years, there were 51 distinct resident awards with 290 (39.7%) female winners. Of the 51 distinct awards, there were 10 which were awarded to female residents with the same or higher frequency as males; 6 of these mentioned words that have been differentially associated with women in medicine such as “ambulatory,” “community,” “compassion,” and “humanism.” In the 41 awards favoring males, there was only a single mention of the word “compassion,” and no mention of the others. Conclusions/Impact: This data shows a concerning disparity in gender of award winners. In the future we will collect data from more residency programs and perform a thorough investigation of selection mechanisms that may help mitigate bias in order to ultimately propose strategies to reduce these gender disparities.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/1007/thumbnail.jp

High-fructose corn syrup: is this what's for dinner?

Research on trends in consumption of added sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the U.S. has largely focused on calorically-sweetened beverages, ignoring other sources