Socialist Transformation of Agriculture and Gender Relations: the Vietnamese Case

summary The author argues, on the basis of a case study of Vietnam, that socialist transformation of agriculture can be neither successful nor adequately understood without an analysis of gender aspects of production relations. A socialist solution to the ‘agrarian question’ and the ‘woman's question’ must create an institutional framework which coordinates the spheres of production and reproduction and develops a new sexual division of labour. Resumen Transformaciön socialista de la agricultura y relaciones entre sexos: el caso vietnamita Basándose en un caso tipico de Vietnam, la autora argumenta que la transformación socialista de la agricultura no puede ni tener éxito ni comprendersedebidamente sin un análisis de losaspectos del sexo en las relaciones de producción. La solución socialista a la ‘cuestión agraria’ y la ‘cuestión de la mujer’ ha de crear un marco institucional que coordine la esteras de producción y reproducción y desarrolle una nueva división sexual de 1a mano de obra. Résumé Transformation socialiste de l'agriculture et rapports de genre: le cas vietnamien L'auteur prouve, sur la base d'une étude de cas du Vietnam, que la transformation socialiste de l'agriculture ne peut être réussie ni comprise sans une analyse des aspects de genre des rapports de production. Une solution socialiste à la 'question agraire' et à la 'question de la femme doit créer un cadre institutionnel qui coordonne les sphères de production et de reproduction et qui développe une nouvelle division sexuelle du travail

Women, employment and the family: report on a colloquium comparing the women's movement and government legislation for gender equality in Britain and Vietnam

SUMMARY This is an account of a colioquium on Women, employment and the family held in Hanoi, March 14?24, 1983 jointly organised by the Subordination of Women cluster IDS, and the Vietnamese Social Sciences Research Commission, with financial support from the Swedish International Development Authority. The main topics dicussed were the women's movement in Britain and Vietnam, government legislation to promote women's equality in employment and the family and research on women. As a result of the colioquium, Vietnamese women researchers asked that a Scientific Research and Information Centre on Women be set up within the Social Sciences Research Commission. RESUMEN Mujeres, empleo y familia: comparación de los movimientos femeninos y de la legislación gubernamental sobre la igualdad de géneros en Gran Bretaña y Vietnam Esta es una relación del coloquio sobre ‘Mujeres empleo y familia’ , organizado conjuntamente pro el Grupo de Estudios de la Subordinación de la Mujer del IDS y la Comisión Vietnamita de Investigacion de Ciencias Sociales, realizado en Hanoi entre el 14 y 24 de marzo de 1983, con el apoyo financiero de la institución sueca SIDA. Los principales tópicos analizados fueron los movimientos feministas, la legislación gubernamental para promover la igualdad de las mujeres en el empleo y la familia y, la investigación sobre ellas, en Gran Bretaña y Vietnam. Como resultado de este evento, las investigadores vietnamitas solicitaron la creación de un centro de información e investigación cientifica sobre las mujeres, en el seno de la Comisión de de investigación de Ciencias Sociales. RESUMES Les femmes, et la famille: une comparaison du mouvement féministe et de la législation gouvernementale pour l'égalité des sexes entre la Grande Bretagne et le Vietnam Ceci est un résumé d'un colloque sur Les Femmes, L'Emploi et la Famille tenu à Hanoi, entre le 14 et 24 Mars 1983 organise jointement par un groupe de la Subordination des Femmes, IDS, et la Commission Vietnamienne de Recherche en Sciences Societes, avec le support financier du Bureau Suédois du Déve;ppement International. Les principaux sujets traités furent le Mouvement Féministe en Grande Bretagne et au Vietnam, la législation gouvernementale pour promouvoir l'égalité des femmes devant l'emploi et la famille et la recherché sur les femmes. En tant que résultat du colloque, les chercheuses vietnamiennes ont demandé qu'un Centre de Recherche et d'Information Scientifique sur les Femmes soit cree à l'intérieur de la Commission de Recherches des Sciences Sociales

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in follicular fluid from women experiencing infertility in Australia

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been widely used and detected in human matrices. Evidence that PFAS exposure may be associated with adverse human reproductive health effects exists, however, data is limited. The use of a human matrix such as follicular fluid to determine chemical exposure, along with reproductive data will be used to investigate if there is a relationship between PFAS exposure and human fertility. Objective: This study aims to: (1) assess if associations exist between PFAS concentrations and/or age and fertilisation rate (as determined in follicular fluid of women in Australia who received assisted reproductive treatment (ART)); and (2) assess if associations exist between PFAS concentrations and infertility aetiology. Methods: Follicular fluids were originally collected from participants who underwent fully stimulated ART treatment cycles at an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic in the period 2006–2009 and 2010–11 in Queensland, Australia. The samples were available for analysis of 32 PFASs including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). 97 samples were matched with limited demographic data (age and fertilisation rate) and five infertility factors (three known female factors): 1) endometriosis, 2) polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and 3) genital tract infections - tubal/pelvic inflammation disease; as well as 4) male factor, and 5) idiopathic or unknown from either males or females. SPSS was used for linear regression analysis. Results: PFASs were detected in all follicular fluid samples with the mean concentrations of PFOS and PFOA, 4.9, and 2.4 ng/ml, respectively. A lower fertilisation rate was observed at higher age when age was added as a covariate, but there was no relationship between PFAS concentrations and fertilisation rate. There were few statistically significant associations between PFAS concentrations in follicular fluid and infertility factors. Log-transformed PFHxS concentrations were lower in females with endometriosis (factor 1) than in women who had reported ‘male factors’ as a reason of infertility, while PFHpA was higher in women who had infertile due to female factors (factor 1–3) compared to those who had infertile due to male factor. Conclusion: PFASs were detected in follicular fluid of Australian women who had been treated at an IVF clinic. PFAS exposure found in follicular fluids is linked to increased risk of some infertility factors, and increased age was associated with decreased fertilisation rate in our data. But there was no relationship between PFAS and ferlitisation rate. Further large-scale investigations of PFAS and health effects including infertility are warranted

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements