Disparities in Subjective Well-being by Sexual Orientation: Comparing Cohorts from pairfam’s (2008-09) and FReDA’s (2021) Baseline Waves

Significant expansion of legal rights and recognition of sexual minority populations triggered expectations that structural stigma, sexual minority stress and, consequently, previously well-documented disadvantages in health and well-being may decline over time. The empirical evidence on this issue is, however, still sparse and inconclusive. We contribute to this research by comparing baseline data from the German Family Panel (pairfam; 2008-09) and the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA; 2021). These data allow us to assess disparities in subjective well-being by sexual orientation and potential changes therein after legalisation of same-sex marriage in Germany in two adult cohorts interviewed more than a decade apart. We focus on two specific outcomes, namely life satisfaction and self-rated health. Two main findings emerged from our analysis: First, minority sexual orientation is associated with significantly lower subjective well-being, specifically lower life satisfaction. Second, there are no statistically significant changes in the sexual orientation-health nexus between cohorts. Our study, thus, neither lends support to “optimistic” expectations regarding the contribution of (further) reductions in institutional discrimination and structural stigma to (further) reductions in remaining disadvantages, nor does it lend support to “pessimistic” expectations suggesting that younger cohorts of sexual minority adults may experience an even larger gap in health and well-being than previous cohorts. We propose that the stability of sexual minorities’ disadvantages in subjective well-being during the first two decades of the 21st century in Germany be interpreted as the result of two opposing forces working in parallel: Reduced institutional discrimination and increased exposure to continued stigma. The legal recognition of same-sex relationships appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acceptance of sexual minorities. Remaining disparities by sexual orientation will thus not simply disappear when institutional discrimination of sexual minorities is eliminated. Currently, we may therefore find ourselves in a “transitory period” whose further evolution is difficult to predict. FReDA – with its evolving longitudinal dimension and the inclusion of self-reported measures of respondents’ sexual orientation – will constitute a powerful resource for future investigations of inequalities in yet understudied but increasingly visible sexual minority populations. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Family Research and Demographic Analysis – New Insights from the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA)”

Decomposition and nutrient release of leguminous plants in coffee agroforestry systems.

Leguminous plants used as green manure are an important nutrient source for coffee plantations, especially for soils with low nutrient levels. Field experiments were conducted in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais State, Brazil to evaluate the decomposition and nutrient release rates of four leguminous species used as green manures (Arachis pintoi, Calopogonium mucunoides, Stizolobium aterrimum and Stylosanthes guianensis) in a coffee agroforestry system under two different climate conditions. The initial N contents in plant residues varied from 25.7 to 37.0 g kg-1 and P from 2.4 to 3.0 g kg-1. The lignin/N, lignin/polyphenol and(lignin+polyphenol)/N ratios were low in all residues studied. Mass loss rates were highest in the first 15 days, when 25 % of the residues were decomposed. From 15 to 30 days, the decomposition rate decreased on both farms. On the farm in Pedra Dourada (PD), the decomposition constant k increased in the order C. mucunoides < S. aterrimum < S. guianensis < A. pintoi. On the farm in Araponga (ARA), there was no difference in the decomposition rate among leguminous plants. The N release rates varied from 0.0036 to 0.0096 d-1. Around 32 % of the total N content in the plant material was released in the first 15 days. In ARA, the N concentration in the S. aterrimum residues was always significantly higher than in the other residues. At the end of 360 days, the N released was 78 % in ARA and 89 % in PD of the initial content. Phosphorus was the most rapidly released nutrient (k values from 0.0165 to 0.0394 d-1). Residue decomposition and nutrient release did not correlate with initial residue chemistry and biochemistry, but differences in climatic conditions between the two study sites modified the decomposition rate constants

Green manure in coffee systems in the region of Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais: characteristics and kinetics of carbon and nitrogen mineralization.

The use of green manure may contribute to reduce soil erosion and increase the soil organic matter content and N availability in coffee plantations in the Zona da Mata, State of Minas Gerais, in Southeastern Brazil. The potential of four legumes (A. pintoi, C. mucunoides, S. aterrimum and S. guianensis)to produce above-ground biomass, accumulate nutrients and mineralize N was studied in two coffee plantations of subsistence farmers under different climate conditions. The biomass production of C. mucunoides was influenced by the shade of the coffee plantation.C. mucunoides tended to mineralize more N than the other legumes due to the low polyphenol content and polyphenol/N ratio. In the first year, the crop establishment of A. pintoi in the area took longer than of the other legumes, resulting in lower biomass production and N2 fixation. In the long term, cellulose was the main factor controlling N mineralization. The biochemical characteristics, nutrient accumulation and biomass production of the legumes were greatly influenced by the altitude and position of the area relative to the sun

Abnormal cardiac conduction and morphogenesis in connexin40 and connexin43 double-deficient mice

Connexin40-deficient (Cx40(-/-)/Cx43(+/+)) and connexin43-heterozygous knockout mice (Cx40(+/+)/Cx43(+/-)) are viable but show cardiac conduction abnormalities. The ECGs of adult double heterozygous animals (Cx40(+/-)/Cx43(+/-)) suggest additive effects of Cx40 and Cx43 haploinsufficiency on ventricular, but not on atrial, conduction. We also observed additive effects of both connexins on cardiac morphogenesis. Approximately half of the Cx40(-/-)/Cx43(+/+) embryos died during the septation period, and an additional 16% died after birth. The majority of the latter mice had cardiac hypertrophy in conjunction with common atrioventricular junction or a ventricular septal defect. All Cx40(-/-)/Cx43(+/-) progeny exhibited cardiac malformations and died neonatally. The most frequent defect was common atrioventricular junction with abnormal atrioventricular connection, which was more severe than that seen in Cx40(-/-)/Cx43(+/+) mice. Furthermore, muscular ventricular septal defects, premature closure of the ductus arteriosus, and subcutaneous edema were noticed in these embryos. Cx40(+/-)/Cx43(-/-) embryos showed the same phenotype (ie, obstructed right ventricular outflow tract) as reported for Cx40(+/+)/Cx43(-/-) mice. These findings demonstrate that Cx43 haploinsufficiency aggravates the abnormalities observed in the Cx40(-/-) phenotype, whereas Cx40 haploinsufficiency does not worsen the Cx43(-/-) phenotype. We conclude that the gap-junctional proteins Cx40 and Cx43 contribute to morphogenesis of the heart in an isotype-specific manne

Structural Reciprocity: Critical Overview and Promising Research/Design Issues

Reciprocity is a structural principle that has fascinated designers and builders throughout the world since ancient times. Despite the topic's having been studied by various academics, designers and researchers, a critical overview of the references is still missing, as is an outline and discussion of the current and future promising research/design issues. Further, no single text provides an exhaustive definition of the principle of structural reciprocity and it must be critically reconstructed from several different sources. This paper aims to fill in these gaps, providing a complete and annotated list of references, in which historical examples, as well as patents, research articles and terminological issues are discussed. A consistent definition of structural reciprocity is also proposed, and the promising developments of such a principle are outlined in order to guide designers and researchers in the futur