Distribution Of Women Research Articles

False-Negative Hybrid Capture II Results Related to Altered Adhesion Molecule Distribution in Women with Atypical Squamous Cells Pap Smear Results and Tissue-Based Human Papillomavirus-Positive High-Grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

We investigated the detection of high-risk human papillomavirus DNA with the Hybrid Capture II test (HCII; Digene Corporation, Beltsville, MD) and the presence and pattern of distribution of adhesion molecules in biopsy-proven high-grade neoplastic lesions containing high-risk HPV-DNA from women with ASC cytology results. We screened 4,600 women and performed colposcopy in 278 women with atypical squamous cells cytologic results. All women underwent HCII and tissue-based polymerase chain reaction analysis for high-risk HPV subtypes. Of 33 women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 or worse biopsy results, 27 biopsy specimens contained sufficient tissue to perform immunohistochemical testing (pathologist blinded as to cytologic and HCII results) for adhesion molecules beta-catenin and 21 cases for E-cadherin. Five of 27 specimens with CIN 2 or worse biopsy results (18.5%) had negative HCII results. All five specimens showed evidence of high-risk human papillomavirus by polymerase chain reaction analysis. All five showed full-thickness distribution via immunohistochemical staining for beta-catenin. There was sufficient tissue to examine four of five specimens for E-cadherin, and a full-thickness distribution also was documented. Previous research linked false-negative cytologic results in women with high-grade CIN to altered adhesion molecule distribution and impaired exfoliation, and a similar phenomenon may be responsible for false-negative HCII results in women with atypical squamous cells cytologic results and high-grade CIN.

Maintaining Difference and Managing Change: Female Agrarian Clientelist Relations in a Gambian Community

AbstractThe introduction of dry-season vegetable cultivation on a large scale in Brikama, The Gambia in the early 1970s has led to the development of a new labour system amongst female farmers whereby strangers or clients are given access to land primarily in the dry season for vegetable cultivation in exchange for providing unremunerated labour for hosts for the cultivation of rice in the rainy season. Hosts, who either claim descent from the founding families or have married into founding families, have access to land and control its distribution for women's crops. This article examines the way in which social difference is played out in the acquisition of land and labour through the establishment of agrarian clientelist relations. Agrarian clientelist relations are about the maintenance of host–stranger distinctions and the management of social difference within a rapidly changing Gambian political economy. The nature of these clientelist relations is changing because of the changing relations of agrarian production, related in turn to the introduction of cooperative gardens in the region, the increasing scarcity of farming land and the increasing political power of strangers on a local and national level. The youth, particularly those who are educated, are moving out of farming altogether. Consequently, female hosts are increasingly reliant on their clients' labour. I argue that female hosts attempt to manage these processes of change out of a need to maintain the particular power relations that form the basis for host–stranger distinctions and their existing claims to land and labour. The article examines the tensions and the intra-gender struggles that emerge between female hosts and their client-strangers. In refusing to take the initiative to set up cooperative gardens, female hosts have maintained what they see as their rightful claims to their land and their clients' labour. Hegemonic notions of ‘the correctness of practices’, associated with host–stranger identities, have informed hosts' behaviour and that of their clients, and ultimately influenced the nature of resource allocation.

P53 at codon 72 polymorphism, human papillomavirus infection and cervical lesions: a cross-sectional study from northeastern Italy

Objective: To test the hypothesis that p53 homozygous Arg/Arg genotype at codon 72 is a significant risk factor for the development of HPV induced cervical cancer. Study design: A cross-sectional survey on p53 allelotypes distribution in women with different grade of cervical lesions and with or without HPV infection, in comparison to the distribution on a control group of women cytologically normal and HPV negative. Results: No statistically significant difference in the p53 polymorphism distribution was found in relation to the infection with HPV, the cytological pattern and both conditions. A modest but constant over-representation of Pro-allelotypes was found in all groups in comparison to the control group. Conclusion: Searching for p53 polymorphism in a clinical setting does not seem to support secondary prevention procedures, at least for women in this area.

Body fat patterning in polycystic ovary syndrome women as a predictor of the response to clomiphene

Background. To investigate the difference in the response to clomiphene citrate (CC) based on body fat distribution in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods. Ninety anovulatory PCOS women were divided into two subgroups based on treatment response: women who ovulated with CC (CC responders, n = 49) and those who did not ovulate with CC (CC nonresponders, n = 41). Baseline characteristics included age, age at menarche, height, weight and body mass index [BMI; weight/(height)2]. Percentage of body fat, body fat mass and the ratio of trunk fat to leg fat mass amount (trunk–leg fat ratio) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Results. Age, age at menarche and height did not differ between the two groups. However, trunk–leg fat ratio in CC responders (0.9 ± 0.4) was significantly lower than that in CC nonresponders (1.3 ± 0.4) (p < 0.001). Percentage of body fat, body fat mass and BMI were also lower in CC responders (p < 0.01). On multiple regression analysis, however, trunk–leg fat ratio proved to be a superior predictor of CC responder to percentage of body fat, BMI or body fat mass (standardized regression coefficient ≥ 0.510; t-values ≥ 3.432; p < 0.001). Conclusions. Response to CC in anovulatory PCOS women differs with body fat distribution.

Are There Gender and Country of Origin Differences in Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes Across European Destinations?

The paper uses the 1994-2000 waves of the European Community Household Panel to conduct a systematic analysis of the earnings of immigrants as compared to native workers, in particular to test whether there is any systematic variation in the labor market performance of immigrants across gender related to duration in the destination, schooling, age at immigration, country of origin, or country of destination. We find a significant negative effect of immigrant status on individual earnings of around 40% at the time of arrival in the pooled sample, although the difference is somewhat smaller for women. Those differences, however, vary greatly across countries with migrants in Germany and Portugal faring best relative to natives, and those in Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg or Spain the worst, particularly among non-EU born migrants. Gender differences are more important among those born outside the European Union, with women doing relatively better than men. Among men, those from Asia, Latin-America and Eastern Europe receive the lowest earnings. Latin-American and Eastern European women are at the bottom of the women's distribution. Earnings increase with duration in the destination and the foreign born catch-up to the native born, others variables being the same, at around 18 years in the destination among both men and women. Education matters more for women in terms of explaining earnings, whereas language skills are relatively more important for men.

Women in academic medicine: a report of focus groups and questionnaires, with conjoint analysis.

The percentage of women graduating from U.S. medical schools has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, but the distribution of women and men across faculty ranks in academic medical centers has remained nearly unchanged. Women remain underrepresented in the senior ranks of academic medicine. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the work environment at Duke University Medical Center, with particular emphasis on gender climate. An independent firm conducted structured focus groups and administered questionnaires, analyzed through conjoint analysis. Focus groups were stratified by rank and included the following groups of women: medical students, residents, fellows, junior faculty, senior faculty, and women in fields with few women. The conjoint analysis demonstrated that the women placed high value on the quality of their personal and work lives and rated these as more important than other traditional markers of career success, such as stature of their institution or earnings potential. Discussions during the focus groups elaborated on what "quality of personal and professional life" meant. They described a need for career efficiencies that allow individuals to excel professionally while also honoring their personal values and responsibilities. The discussions also suggested that similar problems have increasing importance for men. The results suggest that institutions should provide more alternative models of success and increase flexible work options. Future studies of women in academic medicine should explore the role of value conflict in career development in academic medicine and probe the idea that the priorities articulated by the women in these focus groups may reflect the values of a generation as much as they do gender.

Occupational cancer among women: Where have we been and where are we going?

Studies of occupational exposures have been a fruitful area of research for identifying carcinogens. Some of the early observations, such as increased risk of breast cancer among nuns and bone cancer among radium dial workers, were made among women. Recent research on cancer among women has shown increased risks of cancer in many industries and occupations. Estimates that 1% of cancer among women is attributable to occupation are based on research conducted mainly in the 1970s among men in developed countries. These studies do not reflect the dramatic changes in the participation of women in the workplace or the patterns of employment of women in developing countries. The proportion of women in the paid workforce, the amounts and types of unpaid labor, the distribution of women by economy sector, the scale of the workplaces, the allowable exposure levels in the workplace, and implementation of controls have changed over time and vary internationally. Occupational cancer researchers need to expand their focus on women, increase activities in developing countries, include newly created industries, use sophisticated exposure assessment methods, and, where appropriate, incorporate molecular epidemiologic techniques to discover new occupational carcinogens and to identify where better control measures are needed.

Gender awareness among physicians--the effect of specialty and gender. A study of teachers at a Swedish medical school.

BackgroundAn important goal for medical education today is professional development including gender equality and awareness of gender issues. Are medical teachers prepared for this task? We investigated gender awareness among physician teachers, expressed as their attitudes towards the role of gender in professional relationships, and how it varied with physician gender and specialty. We discuss how this might be related to the gender climate and sex segregation in different specialties.MethodQuestionnaires were sent to all 468 specialists in the clinical departments and in family medicine, who were engaged in educating medical students at a Swedish university. They were asked to rate, on visual analogue scales, the importance of physician and patient gender in consultation, of preceptor and student gender in clinical tutoring and of physician gender in other professional encounters. Differences between family physicians, surgical, and non-surgical hospital doctors, and between women and men were estimated by chi-2 tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsThe response rate was 65 %. There were differences between specialty groups in all investigated areas mainly due to disparities among men. The odds for a male family physician to assess gender important were three times higher, and for a male non-surgical doctor two times higher when compared to a male surgical doctor. Female teachers assessed gender important to a higher degree than men. Among women there were no significant differences between specialty groups.ConclusionsThere was an interaction between physician teachers' gender and specialty as to whether they identified gender as important in professional relationships. Male physicians, especially from the surgical group, assessed gender important to a significantly lower degree than female physicians. Physicians' degree of gender awareness may, as one of many factors, affect working climate and the distribution of women and men in different specialties. Therefore, to improve working climate and reduce segregation we suggest efforts to increase gender awareness among physicians, for example educational programs where continuous reflections about gender attitudes are encouraged.

Three-dimensional ultrasonography: an objective outcome tool to assess collagen distribution in women with stress urinary incontinence

Objectives To examine the distribution of periurethral collagen by three-dimensional ultrasonography (3D US) and to incorporate this technology into a practical treatment decision tree for women with stress urinary incontinence desiring collagen injection. Methods Forty-six women who received periurethral collagen injection were assessed with 3D US to document the position and volume of collagen around the urethra. Patients with a good clinical response were observed with serial 3D US scans. Women with no persistent improvement who showed a low volume or asymmetric distribution of collagen were offered repeat injections. When the patient had no improvement despite symmetric or circumferential distribution of collagen with good volume retention, another anti-incontinence treatment was recommended. Group 1 was composed of women who had a good clinical outcome and group 2 of those who did not. A statistical comparison between the two outcome groups was done to determine whether any particular distribution pattern was associated with an increased likelihood of clinical success. Results Of the 46 patients, 21 (46%) were satisfied with their continence after their last periurethral collagen injection, with a median follow-up of 14.0 months (range 2 months to 4.25 years). A significantly greater proportion of patients in group 1 had circumferentially distributed collagen on 3D US compared with those in group 2 (62% versus 20%, P = 0.006). Conclusions Circumferential distribution of collagen around the urethra is associated with a higher likelihood of clinical success. The assessment of periurethral collagen by 3D US provides an affordable, noninvasive, objective outcome measure that may aid in treatment planning.

Demographic perspectives on the future of the Indonesian family

This paper explores some consequences of rapid changes in contraceptive use, fertility and mortality in Indonesia. An examination of demographic trends over four decades reveals a behavioural disjuncture, with implications for diagnoses of social problems arising from changing family structures, and for policy prescriptions to overcome these problems. One important issue not revealed by statistics representing average behaviour is the way in which lower fertility implies a change in the distribution of women between mothers and the childless, and between mothers with very small numbers of children and those who more than reproduce themselves. To the degree that these distributions reflect the emergence of new social roles that are a function of reproductive status, any efforts to prevent fertility from going to the very low levels typical of Europe and many countries of East Asia imply the need to address the core nature of new roles adopted by Indonesian women. Looking to the future of childbearing in Indonesia, the emergence of low fertility seems to be bringing the nation to a crossroads: will increasing numbers of women adopt no-fertility roles that preclude childbearing; or will patterns of near-universal marriage be maintained, with the bulk of women becoming mothers of very small numbers of children? Convincing evidence to answer these questions is likely to emerge only in the next decade, but this paper presents some speculations that suggest the answers may be very surprising to the current generation of policy-makers.

Racial differences in subcutaneous and visceral fat distribution in postmenopausal black and white women

Most studies examining racial disparities in abdominal fat distribution have focused on premenopausal women. The purpose of this report was to determine if racial differences exist in the abdominal fat distribution in postmenopausal white and black women. Fifty-four women (33 white and 21 black) were scanned by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine abdominal fat distribution, were measured by hydrostatic weighing for percent body fat, and had their fasting blood lipids, glucose, and insulin levels measured. These women were matched for age (mean age, 53.5 ± 0.9 years) and percent body fat (black: 39.6% ± 2.3%, white: 37.3% ± 1.2%). When adjusted for total body fat mass and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), total abdominal fat (white: 10,352.1 ± 535.2, black: 11,220.4 ± 670.1 cm3) was not statistically different between groups, but the visceral fat content was significantly higher in the white women (white: 2,943.5 ± 220.4, black: 2,332.6 ± 176.1 cm3). The percent visceral fat was also higher in these women (white: 30.5% ± 1.3%, black: 22.1% ± 1.6%, P <.01). Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was significantly higher in the black women (white: 7,408.6 ± 450.2, black: 8,887 ± 563.1 cm3, P <.05). No significant differences were found in the insulin concentrations or the blood lipid profile of these women. Regardless of race, visceral fat was a significant predictor of log triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), cholesterol/LDL-C, insulin levels, and insulin resistance. Race was only found to contribute to 8% of the variability of LDL-C. HRT use had no effect on abdominal fat distribution or the blood lipid profile in this cohort of women. In conclusion, disparities in abdominal fat distribution between black and white women continue to exist in the early postmenopausal years, and the regression results indicate that the absolute amount of visceral fat, and not the relative amounts of visceral fat, is the best predictor of the blood lipid profile and insulin sensitivity. HRT use did not result in differences in abdominal fat distribution in these women. Factors, such as genetics and lifestyle, must play a larger role in explaining the increased health risk in black women. Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

The potential value of tubal perfusion pressures measured during selective salpingography in predicting fertility.

The value of tubal perfusion pressures assessed during selective salpingography and tubal catheterization in predicting fertility has not been investigated. A total of 325 infertile women underwent selective salpingography and tubal catheterization. Pregnancy information was collected in 256 (78.7%). The 50th (300 mmHg) and 90th (500 mmHg) centiles of the tubal perfusion pressure distribution in women with normal tubes on selective salpingography were used as thresholds. Women were divided into three tubal perfusion pressure groups: good (both tubes <300, or one tube <300 and the other 300-500 mmHg), mediocre (both tubes 300-500, or one tube <300 and the other >500 mmHg) and poor (both tubes >500, or one tube > 500 and the other 300-500 mmHg). The pregnancy rate in the good perfusion pressure group was significantly higher than that in the poor perfusion pressure group, both when all non-IVF/ICSI first conceptions (P = 0.001) as well as when spontaneous first conceptions only were considered (P = 0.010). The pregnancy rate in the mediocre group lay between the good and the poor groups, though none of the comparisons reached statistical significance. Selective salpingography can provide additional diagnostic information in comparison with other tubal assessment tests. Tubal perfusion pressures may be predictive of future fertility.

Depth of insertion of the ProSeal™ laryngeal mask airway

The depth of insertion of the ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) is unknown. We measured depth of insertion in satisfactorily positioned PLMAs. All women received size 4 masks and men size 5 masks. We measured the position of the integral bite block in relation to the upper incisors documented in patients over a 6-month period. Depth of insertion was scored by dividing the integral bite block into quarters. Satisfactory positioning of the ProSeal itself was determined by (i) positive 'suprasternal notch test', (ii) no venting via the drain tube during maximal lung inflation, and (iii) an unobstructed airway. We studied 274 patients (147 women and 127 men). The midway point of the bite block was proximal to the incisors (e.g. within the oropharynx) in 78% of women (95% CI 71-85%) and 92% of men (95% CI 87-97). The standard deviation for the depth distribution in women was 0.8 cm and for men was 1.0 cm. Usually most of the integral bite block lies within the oropharynx. It was never normal for the entire bite block to stick out of the mouth (4 SD from the mean for both men and women). The position of the integral bite block relative to the upper incisors gives valuable information during assessment of PLMA position.

Detection of Human Papillomavirus in Cervical Neoplasia using HPVDNAChip(R) and Hybrid capture IITM system

Objective : Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is well known as one of the major risk HPVDNAChip factors for cervical cancer. The purpose of this study is to know HPV genotype distribution in women with normal cervix, precancerous lesion, and invasive cervical cancer by HPVDNAChip test. In addition, the result of HPVDNAChip test was compared with Hybrid system for HPV detection. Methods : One hundred forty nine patients were included in this study. 57 women had normal cervix, 59 women had precancerous lesion, and 33 women had invasive cervical cancer. We tested them with two method for detection of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) by HPVDNAChip test and Hybrid system. Hybrid CaptureⅡTM test can detect same high-risk HPVs (16/18/31/33/35/39/45/51/52/56/58/59/68) with HPVDNAChip test which can detect additional 66 & 69 high risk types of HPV. Results : Both methods for the detection of HPV were useful tests. The correlation between the results of two methods was very significant (kappa value 0.721 [p<0.01]). Positive Hybrid test and negative HPVDNAChip test group were 18 women (12.1%) and average Hybrid titer value of this group was 120.7233.0 (meanSD), positive Hybrid test and positive HPVDNAChip test group were 84 women (54.4%) and average titer was 448.1732.8. The Hybrid test showed a sensitivity of 94.6% and a specificity of 78.9% and the HPVDNAChip test showed a sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 89.5%. HPVDNAChip test detected total 14 genotype of HPV. HPV-16 was 28.8% (15/59) in precancerous lesion and 48.5% (19/33) in invasive cancer, most common in both groups. Next common type HPV-58 was 25.4% (12/59) in precancerous lesion and 9.1% (3/33) in invasive cancer. Conclusion : HPVDNAChip test is very sensitive and effective method for detection of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection as Hybrid test. In comparison with Hybrid test, HPV genotype and multiple HPV infection information can be given by HPVDNAChip test. Further study will be needed to know the value of screening of cervical cancer by HPVDNAChip test in future.

An X-chromosome scan reveals a locus for fat distribution in chromosome region Xp21-22.

Several groups have completed autosomal genome scans for human obesity, but only two have examined the X chromosome. A French group reported linkage of BMI to Xp and Xq markers, and a Finnish group reported linkage of BMI to Xq. We scanned the X chromosome in two cohorts, 190 European-American families (940 members) and 43 African-American families (208 members). We examined five correlated obesity phenotypes, BMI, body fat percentage, hip and waist circumferences, and plasma leptin concentration. We also examined leptin resistance (leptin/BMI) and fat patterning (waist-to-hip ratio [WHR]). Variables were adjusted for age within generation, race, and sex. We genotyped 20 markers with average spacing of 10 cM and no interval >22 cM and conducted nonparametric analyses. Suggestive linkage was found for WHR only. Linkage was supported in both family sets, and support was especially strong for females. Z scores for analyses of female phenotypes were 2.69, 1.73, and 2.37 (P = 0.0036, 0.0418, and 0.0089) for African-Americans, European-Americans, and the combined sample, respectively. The peaks were 51-73 cM from the p terminus, 14-34 cM distal of the French report in Xp22. Our results suggest that a quantitative trait locus influencing fat distribution in women may lie in chromosome region Xp21-22; however, the linked interval is large and differs substantially from that of the French and Finnish groups. Given the positive but divergent results, it would be worthwhile for others to examine the X chromosome.

"Spare from Your Luxuries": Women, Charity, and Spending in the Eighteenth Century

"Spare from Your Luxuries": Women, Charity, and Spending in the Eighteenth Century CATHERINE KEOHANE The eighteenth century was proud of its charitableness: across a range of texts, including novels, sermons, conduct books, and periodical essays, writers identify their time as an age of charity or benevolence. Common is Henry Fielding's mid-century assertion that "Charity is in fact the very Characteristic of this Nation at this Time.------1 believe we may challenge the whole World to parallel the Examples which we have of late given of this sensible, this noble, this Christian virtue."1 Yet, giving was also worrisome, and such congratulatory characterizations of the period coexist with equally common depictions of the age as misdirected in its charity. The reported consequences of misdirected charity were quite serious and included the impoverishment of the country and the perpetuation of poverty.2 Given such worries, it is not surprising that many contemporary didactic tracts and sermons attempt to regulate giving. In one 1773 example, the sermonist Beilby Porteus alleges the presence of a "spirit of universal philanthropy," but also observes that the benevolent need direction: "The chief thing necessary is not so much to urge them to do good, as to show them, how they may do the most good; in what way they can bestow their alms to the greatest advantage."3 That this "greatest advantage" could benefit more than the poor is suggested by two methods that proposed how polite women were to fund 41 42 / KEOHANE their charity: the economy argument and its apparent inverse, consumer charity, attempt to regulate polite women's outlays of money not just in charity, but also in their consumption of so-called luxuries. As a result, these methods have larger significance for understanding eighteenth-century concerns about women's spending more generally. On the one hand, the economy argument (the model to which we will devote the most attention here) posits consumption and charity as mutually exclusive forms of spending, urging women to "sacrifice" luxuries in the interest of having money for charity; on the other hand, the model of consumer charity combines charity and consumption by identifying forms of consumption that can serve charitable ends. Focusing on the construction of charity allows us to see that, as Ken Jackson reminds us, charity "does not just involve charitable practices or good works, but a whole cultural belief system which helps determine and explain those practices."4 Looking at these two models of women's charity will allow us to see the concerns about women's money handling that "determine and explain" them and, in doing so, will open up our understanding of the opportunities available for eighteenthcentury polite women's participation in the public arena. Charity is a significant component of this participation, being a site of the intersection of both developing notions of feminine propriety and women's agency. Speaking to notions of propriety, conduct books and didactic literature assign women an innate charitableness and allege that its cultivation will develop polite women's character and fill up their time with appropriate activities. On the one hand, assigning women charitable duties allows them a degree of agency, by giving them some work to do. Yet, on the other hand, the models proposed by the economy argument and consumer charity seek to harness women's so-called natural charitableness in order to restrict their activity in the area of consumer spending. While conduct literature recommends charity as an activity that develops women's character, a byproduct of the inculcation of habitual charity, as we will see, is making them less self-interested in a more basic, economic sense. Although apparently contradictory models, the economy argument and the model of consumer charity both mask, as they also respond to, a more general fear of women's distribution of money that is fueled by the growing array of consumer products and increasing opportunities to spend money. While my emphasis here will be on conduct books' and charitable treatises' construction of these two models of charity, brief considerations of the fictional representations of women givers in Frances Burney's Cecilia (1782) and Sarah Scott's Millenium Hall (1762) will confirm that conduct-book prescriptions...

Nigeria 1999: results from the Demographic and Health Survey.

With the technical assistance from ORC/Macro the National Population Commission in Abuja Nigeria conducted the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey during March 29-May 29 1999. Data for the nationally representative population were gathered from 7647 households. Moreover complete interviews with 8199 women aged 15-49 and 2680 men aged 15-64 were conducted. This paper presents tables and graphs on the statistical results of the survey. It presents data on the general characteristics and percentage distribution of women surveyed according to educational level and residence. In addition the statistics on fertility fertility preferences contraceptive use contraception marital and contraceptive status postpartum variables infant mortality disease prevention and treatment and anthropometric measures of nutritional status are shown.

Les naissances sont retardees mais la fecondite est stable

Resume Depuis 1976, annee de stabilisation consecutive a la fin du baby-boom, le nombre de naissances est a peu pres constant en France. Apres avoir baisse au debut des annees 1990, il augmente depuis 1995 malgre la diminution du nombre de personnes en âge d’etre parents : les premiers baby-boomers approchent de l’âge de la retraite, ils auront eu 2,1 enfants en moyenne par femme, mais auront ete remplaces par des generations moins nombreuses a partir de 1973 en raison du retard de l’âge a la maternite. A cause de ce retard, l’indice conjoncturel de fecondite est stable depuis 1976 a un niveau plus faible, aux alentours de 1,8 enfant par femme ; un modele dans lequel la fecondite des femmes deja meres varie avec l’âge du dernier enfant, et non avec l’âge de la mere, conduit a une estimation superieure a 2,0 enfants par femme, proche de la descendance finale des generations. Cette derniere va baisser legerement pour les generations nees apres 1956, et pourrait se stabiliser aux alentours de 2,0 enfants par femme pour la generation 1970, en raison d’une legere augmentation de la part des femmes qui resteront sans enfant. Mis a part cette hausse de l’infecondite, la repartition des femmes selon le nombre d’enfants est remarquablement stable depuis vingt-cinq ans : les tailles de famille sont tres homogenes, puisque pres de deux femmes sur cinq ont exactement deux enfants.

Women's Work Roles and Their Impact on Health, Well-Being, and Career: Comparisons Between the United States, Sweden, and The Netherlands

ABSTRACT As women have become more assimilated into the workforce over recent decades, they have realized considerable changes in their work roles which may contribute to health problems and other negative outcomes such as marital strain and diminished job status. The purpose of this review was threefold: (1) to synthesize data on the distribution of women's work efforts in the areas of paid employment, household chores, and childcare; (2) to outline research which addresses the impact of women's workload on their well-being and careers; and (3) to make international and gender comparisons regarding women's work responsibilities. Our findings showed that women from each of the three countries examined–the United States, Sweden, and The Netherlands–contribute more effort to household chores and childcare and less to the workplace than men do. As a result, their total workloads appear to be somewhat greater and more diffusely distributed than those of men. Heavy workloads may adversely affect women's health, especially in the presence of certain role characteristics (e.g., having a clerical, managerial, professional, or executive position, or caring for young children). Heavy work responsibilities may also undermine marital happiness, particularly if there is perceived inequity in the way partners share household work. Finally, women's total work responsibilities often impact their careers due to compensatory reductions in work commitment and job status. These observations point to the need for further research on women's workload and work roles, on the relationship of work to well-being, and on methods of preventing or alleviating adverse effects on overburdened workers.

Relationships between tamoxifen use, liver fat and body fat distribution in women with breast cancer

Tamoxifen is a nonsteroidal anti-estrogenic drug used for adjuvant treatment of breast cancer and recently as a chemopreventative agent for breast cancer and, on an investigational basis, for other cancers. To date there are case reports of hypertriglyceridemia and fatty liver disease in tamoxifen users. Fatty liver is associated with visceral obesity and other components of the metabolic syndrome. Here we evaluated steatosis and adipose tissue distribution by CT scan in a cross-sectional study of 32 women on tamoxifen and 39 control women. Tamoxifen users had more visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and more liver fat than controls. This is the first study to demonstrate that fatty liver and intra-abdominal fat accumulation are common in breast cancer patients receiving tamoxifen. Prospective studies of tamoxifen should monitor metabolic changes in obese women with or without breast cancer.