Behind the rainbow, "Tongqi" wives of men who have sex with men in China: a systematic review

open access articleBackground: Due to the restrictions and stigmatization of homosexuality in China, there has emerged the “Tongqi,” or the wives of men who have sex with men (MSM). There are around 14 million Tongqi wives whose needs for support are often overshadowed. This phenomenon has been largely under researched, this review is the first to address the current data on the Tongqi. The aim of this systematic review is to begin to provide insight into the pre-existing data and the further support that is needed for the wives of MSM. Methods: The researchers searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CNKI, Sinomed and WangFang databases from their inception date until June 7, 2019. Handsearching was also completed to provide a rich data set. Results: The articles were summarized and analyzed for thematic clusters. From the selected article, five themes emerged, including Sexual Health Issues, Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health Status, Marriage Dissatisfaction, and Coping Strategies. These themes often intersected to provide a complex understanding of the current gaps in support provided to Tongqi. Conclusion: Tongqi wives remain a hidden population in Chinese mainstream society, who deserves a sensitive approach to support. The study revealed that the MSM wives suffer severe mental, physical, health, and life related harms. However, instead of situating them into the victim roles, many women take on an identity of empowerment and are working together, aiming to make social changes. In order to address the Tongqi phenomenon, it is also essential to reduce the discrimination toward homosexuality. Tongqi are a special group of Chinese women, they require further intensive research attention

Do you know how to use a condom? – UK nurse practitioners’ conversation about men and family planning

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Introduction: Health professionals have been identified as central to encouraging men to take an active part in family planning. The aim of this article is to understand nurse practitioners’ conversations about men as family planning patients. Methods: One-to-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five nurse practitioners. Nurses interviewed worked in a northern UK student medical practice serving over 34,000 students with a diverse range of ages and demographic backgrounds (both home and overseas students). The research method was qualitative using discourse analysis. Results: After completing the analysis, two discourses emerged. Discourse one, family planning services are culturally female centric, and discourse two, condom use by male family planning patients is problematic. Discussion: Implications for how nurse practitioners can continue to play an important part when providing care to male family planning patients is discussed, specifically in relation to culture and condom efficacy

Cooking Hand Multi-Tool

The purpose of this project was to devise a solution for Jorge Segura, a US Marine who was wounded in Afghanistan and had to have his non-dominant arm amputated above the elbow. His current prosthetic attachments are not suited to cooking tasks, so he needed a way to cook more effectively with either prosthetic attachments or accessibility devices. The main tasks that he needed help with was holding down food on cutting boards and stabilizing pots, pans, and bowls especially when stirring. After background research, exploring commercially available devices, and talking with our challenger, our solution was to design three prosthetic attachments with a quick-change wrist to enable Jorge to stabilize pots, pans, and bowls, as well as hold food down on a cutting board and switch between the attachments efficiently. The quick-change wrist operates in a twist-and-lock fashion, with the wrist inserts mating into the wrist receiver and locking into place with magnets on each component. The wrist receiver easily mates with Jorge’s current wrist so that he can efficiently and easily install our quick-change wrist into his existing wrist. The wrist is predominantly made from delrin to reduce weight and improve component machinability. The prototyping process for the wrist cost $144.58 to develop our functional prototypes, while the estimated mass production cost is only$13.99 per wrist assembly. The clamp attachment interfaces with Jorge’s current body powered prosthetic arm through a connector plate mounted on the attachment body. Jorge is able to engage the cable to open the clamp so that it can fit over various sizes of pots and bowls, and release the tension in the cable to allow it to close over the pot or bowl. The clamp is also fully adjustable, with a trifold face designed with springs to conform to different diameters, and an angled guide that is adjustable with thumb screws to allow Jorge to angle the trifold to fit on curved bowls. It also includes a set of angled and straight inner prongs that can be removed for easier cleaning. The clamp is predominantly made from aluminum to reduce weight, and has an estimated cost of $209.55 to develop our functional prototypes, while the estimated mass production cost is only$43.25 per clamp assembly. The sleeve attachment allows Jorge to stabilize shallow pans with long handles. The design includes a simple diamond-shaped opening to fit over a variety of pan sizes, and has no moving parts for simplicity. Made from a 3D printed core and sheet metal inserts and connections, the sleeve is relatively lightweight and easy to manufacture. Design development to make our sleeve prototypes cost $124.91, while the estimated mass production cost of one sleeve is only$8.05. The cutting tool attachment enables Jorge to secure various sizes of food onto a cutting board. It is made of clear acrylic to allow Jorge to receive visual feedback from what he is cutting. The design of the cutting tool attachment includes several ridges to allow for better grip, and a narrow slit on the base to allow for perpendicular knife cuts. The cutting tool has an estimated development cost of $70.86 for the prototypes, with an estimated mass production cost of$4.72 per assembly. For future manufacturing of the wrist, we recommend that the wrist inserts be made from aluminum instead of delrin to improve the strength of the epoxied and press-fit joints. This would increase the weight of the device and decrease the cost slightly. We recommend that future iterations of the clamp include a more robust prong design, and a more secure connection for the angle guides. To manufacture more copies of the sleeve, we recommend adding a key to both sides of the connecting rod to fully restrain the rotation of the connecting rod. This would increase the weight and cost of the sleeve marginally. Finally, for future iterations of the cutting tool we recommend looking into a solid construction cast from food-safe resin in order to improve cutting tool durability with respect to impact loads

Marginalisation of men in family planning texts: An analysis of training manuals

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Objective: Men’s engagement in family planning has become part of the global health agenda; however, little is known about the training manuals health practitioners’ use and how these manuals describe and explain men’s roles within a family planning context. Design:To further understand engagement, this paper examines how training manuals written for health practitioners describe and define men’s participation within family planning. Setting:The training manuals were written for UK health practitioners and covered men’s contributions to family planning. Method:Discourse analysis was used to examine the three training manuals focused upon. Results:Three main discourses were identified: ‘contraception is a woman’s responsibility’, ‘men disengage with health practitioners’ and ‘men are biologically predisposed to avoid sexual responsibility’. Conclusion:Together, these three discourses function to marginalise men in family planning, constructing them as detached accessories that lack the ability to engage

A thematic analysis of the perceptions of reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance as a potential family planning method in the United Kingdom

open access articleBackground: This exploratory study aimed to look into public perceptions of Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance (RISUG) as a family planning method in the United Kingdom (UK). It also aimed to discover if there were any sex differences in perceptions between males and females. Design: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted, six with males and six with females, all residents of the UK. Methods: The audio data from the interviews then was transcribed for analysis. An inductive and a semantic thematic analysis was conducted on the data set. Results: Three main themes were constructed, including: (i) RISUG Hesitancy, (ii) Females perceived benefits of RISUG and (iii) Males perceived concerns regarding RISUG. Hesitancy was related to vaccination hesitancy, females wanted males to have more reproductive autonomy and males placed their concerns through the lens of ‘other’ males that their may be unintended side effects. Together these three themes represent both perceived risk and overall benefits of the method. However, while randomized control trails have been completed to standard for RISUG, males perceived concerns, suggesting a disconnect between the public’s perceptions and professionals understanding of trails. Conclusion: RISUG was perceived as a viable option for family planning in the future, however trust of the new contraceptive method will need to be fostered among the public in order to effectively transfer knowledge on the potential side effects and the standard of pre-market testing for these. Effective public health messages can result in better education of people concerning the new contraceptive method, including the risks and benefits. By using perceptions to inform health messages around RISUG, researchers and practitioners can learn from potential users how to best address misinformation or concerns, while at the same time building an evidence base for when new male methods reach the contraceptive market

The relationship between social networking site use and the internalization of a thin ideal in females: A meta-analytic review

Published: 07 August 2017Previous research has indicated that exposure to traditional media (i.e., television, film, and print) predicts the likelihood of internalization of a thin ideal; however, the relationship between exposure to internet-based social media on internalization of this ideal remains less understood. Social media differ from traditional forms of media by allowing users to create and upload their own content that is then subject to feedback from other users. This meta-analysis examined the association linking the use of social networking sites (SNSs) and the internalization of a thin ideal in females. Systematic searches were performed in the databases: PsychINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Communication and Mass Media Complete, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. Six studies were included in the meta-analysis that yielded 10 independent effect sizes and a total of 1,829 female participants ranging in age from 10 to 46 years. We found a positive association between extent of use of SNSs and extent of internalization of a thin ideal with a small to moderate effect size (r = 0.18). The positive effect indicated that more use of SNSs was associated with significantly higher internalization of a thin ideal. A comparison was also made between study outcomes measuring broad use of SNSs and outcomes measuring SNS use solely as a function of specific appearance-related features (e.g., posting or viewing photographs). The use of appearance-related features had a stronger relationship with the internalization of a thin ideal than broad use of SNSs. The finding suggests that the ability to interact with appearance-related features online and be an active participant in media creation is associated with body image disturbance. Future research should aim to explore the way SNS users interact with the media posted online and the relationship linking the use of specific appearance features and body image disturbance.John Mingoia, Amanda D. Hutchinson, Carlene Wilson and David H. Gleave

The trajectory of fidelity in a multiyear trial of the Family Check-Up predicts change in child problem behavior

Therapist fidelity to evidence-based family interventions has consistently been linked to child and family outcomes. However, few studies evaluate the potential ebb and flow of fidelity of therapists over time. We examined therapist drift in fidelity over four years in the context of a Family Check-Up prevention services in early childhood (age 2–5). At age 2, families engaging in Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement Program (WIC) services were randomized and offered annual Family Check-Ups. Seventy-nine families with a child in the clinical range of problem behaviors at age 2 were included in this analysis. Latent growth modeling revealed a significant linear decline in fidelity over time (M = ?0.35, SD = 0.35) and steeper declines were related to less improvement in caregiver-reported problem behaviors assessed at ages 7.5/8.5 (b = ?.69, p = .003; ? = ?.95, CI: ?2.11 | ?0.22). These findings add to the literature concerning the need to continually monitor therapist fidelity to an evidence-based practice over time to optimize family benefits. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed

Understanding Sow Sexual Behavior and the Application of the Boar Pheromone to Stimulate Sow Reproduction

In this chapter, we review the sexual behavior of domestic pigs, and the visible or measurable anatomical features of the pig that will contribute to detecting sows in estrus. We also summarize olfactory organs, and the effects of a sexual pheromone on pig’s biology and sow reproductive performance. We discuss the role of a live boar in the heat detection where the female is in breeding crates. However, there is an increasing interest in being able to breed sows without a boar present. Farm workers must be trained on the fine points of estrus detection so that they can work in a safe and productive setting. After a review of olfactory biology of the pig, the chapter explains how new pheromonal technology, such as BOARBETTER®, aids in the process of heat detection with or without a live boar. To achieve reproductive success, the persons breeding must assimilate all fine points of pig sexual behavior and possess a clear understanding of what they should be looking for in each sow they expect to breed