Women's Models Research Articles

Establishment of regression-based normative isometric strength values for major lower limb muscle groups in persons with multiple sclerosis

Limb weakness is a major impairment that affects mobility in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Specifically, lower limb (LL) weakness can greatly affect gait and balance, while increasing fall risk and decreasing quality of life. Numerous studies have compared LL strength of PwMS to healthy controls, however none have objectively measured strength in all major LL joints (hip, knee, and ankle) in a large number of PwMS. Additionally, while discrete normative values exist for knee extensors in PwMS, there has yet to be regression-based normative isometric strength values for all major LL muscle groups. Therefore, this study aimed to develop gender-specific regression-based normative prediction equations, with 95% confidence intervals, for maximal isometric peak torque of major LL muscles in PwMS. A secondary aim was to characterize the prevalence of LL weakness in PwMS, defined as ≥ 2 SD below values reported for healthy individuals. A convenience sample of 175 (women: n=135) PwMS participated in a prospective, cross-sectional study where isometric peak torque of hip flexors, extensors, and abductors, knee flexors and extensors, and ankle plantarflexors and dorsiflexors were measured using the Biodex System 4 Pro-Dynamometer®. Demographics (age, height, and weight) and disease characteristics (disease duration and disability) were collected. Performances were separated for each muscle group into strongest limb and weakest limb. For each gender, regression-based equations were generated for the LL muscle groups by limb with age, height, weight, disability, and disease duration as the covariates. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the frequency of LL weakness by gender and disability level. For comparison purposes, age-stratified (<30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, >70 years) and disability-stratified (mild, moderate, and severe ambulant) discrete peak torque values were also generated for each gender. Regression-based normative data are presented for men and women, accounting for age, height, weight, disability, and disease duration. Men were significantly stronger (P < 0.001) than women for all LL, with the men's models accounting for a greater percent of muscle strength variation than women's models for all muscle groups, except for hip extension. Disability was inversely related to strength in all of the models. LL weakness was prevalent in hip flexion (m: 47.5%; w: 63.0%) and extension (m: 92.5%; w: 88.1%), knee extension (m: 30.0%; w: 33.3%) and flexion (m: 25.0%; w: 34.8%), and ankle plantarflexion (m: 15.0%; w: 10.4%) and dorsiflexion (m: 100.0%; w: 96.3%). PwMS with mild disability had a high prevalence of ankle dorsiflexion (94.9-100.0%) and hip extension (81.4-90.0%) weakness. This study is the first to provide regression-based normative data of bilateral strength in all major LL muscle groups and clinically useful prevalence data on the occurrence of weakness in these muscles. Of note, PwMS had a high prevalence of ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension weakness even when they were only mildly disabled. These findings can help guide the direction of future interventions and treatments to improve muscle function in PwMS.

Gender Differences in Cognition and Social Cognition in Patients Affected by Psychosis in the Process of Psychosocial Rehabilitation

Objectives: The objectives of our study were to explore gender differences in Cognition and Social Cognition in patients affected by Psychosis in process of psychosocial rehabilitation and to establish a model of the relationship between Psychopathology, Cognition and Social Cognition in function of the gender, and attending to relevant clinical, sociodemographics and outcome factors.Methodology: Cross-sectional observational study with 124 Non-Affective Schizophrenia Spectrum patients included consecutively in Community Rehabilitation Program at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (XXXXX, XXXXXXXXX), assessed through PANSS (using Wallwork's factors) and Matrics Cognitive Consensus Battery.Results: Participants had a mean age of 40.2 years, 57.3% men and mainly Schizophrenia (71.0%). We found gender differences favour to men in attention (p=0.045), working memory (p=0.013) and reasoning/problem solving (p=0.002) domains. No differences in Social Cognition was founded. Linear regression model shows different participations for different domains, with a predominance of the influence of the Cognitive/Disorganized Wallwork's factor and patient's age. In the subsample of men, the model were quite similar to that of total sample, but the influence of the Disorganized factor decreases and that of age remains. In women subsample, the model had even less influence of Disorganized factor or age. In general, women's models explain less variance.

ДЖЕРЕЛА ОСОБОВОГО ПОХОДЖЕННЯ У ВИСВІТЛЕННІ СФЕРИ ПОВСЯКДЕННОСТІ ТА ЕМОЦІЙНИХ ПЕРЕЖИВАНЬ ЖІНОК ПІД ЧАС ПЕРШОЇ СВІТОВОЇ ВІЙНИ

The letters of the period of the Great War have remained a significant source of Ukrainian history of the 20 th century. The World War I posed new challenges, aggravated the old problems, and prominently identified the disadvantages of social life. The epistolary significance of the mentioned period is found in the author’s specific vision of the world and reflection of the direct perception of the historical events and phenomena. Tending to understand the significance of the Great War, as contemporaries called it, together with the desire to leave reliable evidence of the tragic events to future generations, has encouraged scholars to study memories, letters, diaries, and arrange the documents of that time. O. Melnychuk, L. Varavko, Y. Zin'ko, O. Kravchuk, V. Kosakivsky, and V. Rud’ addressed this extremely important topic in their researches. The works of the authors mentioned above relate precisely to the male vision of the Great War, which gives researchers the opportunity to recreate the features of the era more faithfully and fully through the reflection of the details of everyday life and the realities of masculine lifestyle, to show and feel the way of life of the male society under conditions of war to a certain extent. The presented study deals with unpublished women's letters written to the centennial Roman Sushko. They testify the life of civilian women and their engagement in fighting had become a severe test not only for the whole society, but also for the weaker sex. Women viewed their participation in military operations as a patriotic duty and expansion of women's skills and practices, rather than as a violation of gender roles. Shifting of the emphasis on the history of women's war experience, studying of women's models of memory of the war, and state policy regarding the women's front-line past, the analysis of the features of women's military psychology and women's behavior in sources of personal origin has appeared to be the richest material giving a more complete picture of life and survival within the frames of evaluation and interpretation of participants of the turbulent years of 1914-1918.

Compensation benefits in a population-based cohort of men and women on long-term disability after musculoskeletal injuries: costs, course, predictors

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to assess costs, duration and predictors of prolonged compensation benefits by gender in a population characterised by long-term compensation benefits for traumatic or non-traumatic...

Mirroring Nature? Men's and Women's Models of Conception in Telefolmin

Telefol men are reluctant to talk about conception, which they claim is ‘bad talk’. Despite this, they espouse a theory of conception, and this theory accords well with the general form of Telefol kinship. Telefol women are cognizant of the men's model, but have a further one of their own which differs from that of the men in regard to the respective contributions of the sexes and the domains in which these contributions are relevant. These domains may be glossed as kinship and cult, and this paper argues that it is the relation between these domains, as well as between women and men, that is the bone of contention.

Ethnicity and mental health encounters in primary care: help-seeking and help-giving for perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK

Background. Perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK remains an intriguingly under-researched topic. Despite high levels of known psychosocial risks, Black Caribbeans remain relatively invisible among those seeking/receiving help for depression during and after pregnancy. Methods. In-depth interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of twelve Black Caribbean women selected from a larger sample (n=101) to examine prevalence and psychosocial risks for perinatal depression among this ethnic group. The study also sought to explore women's models of help-seeking. During analysis, the context in which help-seeking/giving is mediated emerged as a key issue. We explore the nature of these encounters thereby opening up the possibility of finding common ground between service users and providers for enabling women to receive the care and support they need. Findings. Whether or not women configure depressive feelings as ‘symptoms’ requiring external validation and intervention is a reflection both of the social embeddedness of those individuals and of how ‘help-givers’ perceive them and their particular needs. We suggest that the ways in which help-seeking/giving are commonly conceptualised might offer at least a partial explanation for apparently low levels of diagnosed perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women. Conclusions. Popular approaches to health seeking behaviours within health promotion and practice focus on individuals as the fulcrum for change, tending to overlook their embeddedness within ‘reflexive communities’. This might serve to reinforce the invisibility of Black Caribbean women both in mainstream mental health services and associated research. Alternative approaches may be required to achieve government targets to reduce inequalities in access, care, and treatment and to deliver more responsive and culturally-appropriate mental health services.

A revolução da Gabriela: o ano de 1977 em Portugal&lt;A NAME="suptitulo"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;

Este trabalho apresenta os contextos da visionação, em 1977, da telenovela brasileira Gabriela, Cravo e Canela. Justifica-se a escolha do Corpus - dois diários (Diário de Notícias, Diário de Lisboa) e dois semanários (Expresso e O Jornal) explicitando-se as metodologias utilizadas na análise de imprensa. Faz-se o levantamento da agenda da telenovela Gabriela, Cravo e Canela nos quatro jornais seleccionados, confrontando-a com outra agenda, mais lata, da expansão e divulgação da indústria cultural brasileira em Portugal. Considera-se que o êxito desta telenovela antecipa a emergência de uma nova sociedade e estilos de vida, bem como uma outra imagem da mulher, centrados em novos valores, no consumo e nos media.

Women's Models of Leadership in the Child Care Sector

This paper will argue that women's ability to speak about their particular style of leadership has been muted by the dominant notions of leadership and management that emerge from traditionally organised settings. Feminist work such as that of Belenky et al. (1986) has been adapted and used to demonstrate that women's frameworks are more often based on principles of care, connection, and dialogue. Through our work in children's services leadership training, we are finding that women are developing their own perspectives, models, and language on leadership—a paradigm we are naming as ‘leadership wisdoms’. The wisdom framework is introduced and discussed as a potential springboard for further research and professional development of individuals and the profession. This paper aims to stimulate readers to further reflection and the development of a personal leadership model appropriate to their context.

The causes of disease. Women talking.

An analysis is presented of the concept of 'disease' and its causes, held by one group of middle-aged women brought up in poor social circumstances. The diseases which the women talked about, and their ideas of cause, are shown to be the products of a particular medical and social history. The categories of cause which were favoured were infection, heredity and family susceptibility and agents in the environment. The women preferred to reject natural degenerative processes or the idiopathic: inevitability and randomness were both found frightening. It is suggested that the women's models of disease processes (though often factually incorrect) were in principle no different to those of advanced medical science, and no less sophisticated. The most notable features of their talk, however, were the salience of knowing about cause, the strain towards rational explanation and the importance of linking together life events. It is suggested that these are common human traits, which have implications for the interaction between doctors and patients.

Matrons and Mistresses: women and boundaries in two Middle Eastern tribal societies

This paper examines some variables which may explain differences in the position of women, particularly in Middle Eastern tribal societies. By position of women, I mean women's status and roles vis-à-vis men. I am primarily concerned with differences in the dominant or male models concerning women, and the behaviours associated with them, however at a number of points in the paper, for illumination, I refer to women's models of women—that is, muted or counterpart models which are alternative, and sometimes contradictory, to the men's models (E. Ardener 1972; 1975; S. Ardener 1975: xi–xii). But my main argument is in a different direction: I suggest that certain features of social organization and structure determine these dominant models concerning women. Among the more obvious explanations of this kind would be those in terms of economic factors, such as the types of social production (whether a given social group is predominantly pastoral nomad, settled agricultural, or urban commercial-industrial, etc.) or the sexual division of labour within the group. But in my view certain more subtle factors than these are also of explanatory importance. The problem arises from the study of two particular tribal societies, the Shahsevan of north-western Iran and the Durrani of north-central Afghanistan; the women's position in these two societies differs in three significant spheres, yet the economic factors suggested above cannot explain these differences, for the two societies are economically similar, and women are excluded to a similar degree from control of economic and political resources.