Modernity, Conservative Religious Movements, and the Female Subject: Newly Ultraorthodox Sephardi Women in Buenos Aires

Conservative religious movements are multivalent. Depending on the context in which they are practiced, they are capable of signifying to their adherents modernity as much as tradition. Women who embrace these movements may find them meaningful and appealing precisely for this reason and irrespective of their apparent patriarchy. In this article, I examine the case of Argentine Jewish women of Syrian descent who have abandoned their self-described traditional form of Jewish practice and embraced Jewish ultraorthodoxy. I focus on how local concerns about modernity and "Third Worldism" inform these transformations. In so doing, I demonstrate that women, as conservative religious actors, may be motivated by the same kinds of public sphere concerns that are normally attributed to their male counterparts.     

The Flagbearers: Israeli Druze Women Challenge Traditional Gender Roles

This ethnographic study expands educational anthropologists' knowledge of the relationship between higher education and personal and social change in so-called traditional societies. It describes transitions in the status of Druze women in Israel brought about by the first women from the community to obtain higher education, granting new insights into women's struggles for change. The study, conducted between 1998 and 2002, explores unique processes of change compatible with Druze tradition and culture initiated by these "first women," who served as role models and struggled to pave the way for themselves and other women in the community. The findings challenge research literature that expresses disappointment with the activities and influence of educated Arab women after returning to their society, thus enriching working anthropological theories that concern the dynamics of social change brought about by educated women.     

Diurnal variations in ventilatory and cardiorespiratory responses to submaximal treadmill exercise in females

Diurnal variations in ventilatory and cardiorespiratory responses to submaximal treadmill exercise were analysed in 11 eumenorrhoeic women and in 10 women using monophasic oral contraceptives. Subjects performed submaximal treadmill exercise at three intensities averaging 7, 8, and 9 km x h(-1), each for 4 min at 0800, 1300 and 1700 hours, assigned randomly on 3 separate days. Rectal temperature was measured before (T(rec(b))) and after (T(rec(a))) exercise. Cardiac frequency (f(c)), ventilation (V(E)), oxygen uptake (VO(2)), carbon dioxide output (VCO(2)), and respiratory exchange ratio (R) were assessed in the last minute of each stage of the exercise. Both T(rec(b)) and T(rec(a)) increased from 0800 to 1700 hours (P < 0.001). For a given submaximal work rate, VO(2) and VCO(2) were higher in the afternoon compared to the morning. Similarly, R was increased at 1700 hours compared to 0800 hours during the recovery period following exercise (P < 0.05). However, V(E) did not vary significantly during the day at any of the running intensities. No significant interactions (group x time of day) were observed in any of the studied parameters. In contrast to ventilation, the VO(2) and VCO(2) of the females during submaximal exercise were both affected by the time of day, without any differences between eumenorrhoeic women and users of oral contraceptives.     

Focus: Rare Disease: Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor in a Pregnant Woman: A Case Report and Literature Review

Background: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is an aggressive malignant tumor commonly found in young men; most occurs in the abdominal cavity. Here we conducted an in-depth analysis of a pregnant patient in our hospital and explored all the case information in the literature on small round cell carcinoma of women. Case presentation: A 27-year-old pregnant woman underwent tumor resection in our hospital at 29 weeks gestational age for a large progressive shoulder lump. The postoperative pathology showed that the mass was a DSRCT. Genetic testing found no fusion gene. At 36 weeks gestation, a painful mass was found in the breast and proved to be a metastatic focus of the desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Twenty days after a successful cesarean section at 40 weeks gestation, she received the VAC-IE chemotherapy regimen, successfully completed the first course, but when awaiting the next chemotherapy, unfortunately, the patient died during follow-up due to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Conclusion: The treatment of DSRCT in pregnant women requires a multidisciplinary consultation, and the treatment and examination during pregnancy are subject to many constraints, which may have a negative impact on the patient’s prognosis. Also, a review of the literature found that there is still no standard treatment protocol for DSRCT, and its prognosis in female patients is independent of age and tissue origin.     

Acts and practices of citizenship: Muslim women’s activism in the UK

Drawing on the growing literature on Muslim women’s activism, this paper explores grammars of action that frame political mobilizations of Muslim women in the UK. By taking a broad view of political activism, we identify acts and practices of citizenship through which Muslim women activists engage with, reinterpret and challenge social norms. The article critically engages with dominant readings of post-migration minorities’ political mobilization through the lens of citizenship regimes and draws attention to more processual and agency-centred perspectives on citizenship. We focus on two salient themes that Bristol-based Muslim activists were concerned with: mobilizing against violence against women, manifested in the anti-FGM campaign by Integrate Bristol, and attempts to re-negotiate the terms of participation in religious spaces, manifested in claims for more inclusive mosques. In both instances, mobilization was not confined to the local community or national level, but supported by and embedded in related transnational struggles.     

孕产妇情绪评估及个性化干预对降低产后抑郁症的作用研究

目的:研究孕产妇情绪评估及个性化干预对降低产后抑郁症的作用。方法:选取我院收诊的孕期检查产妇,经抑郁自评量表(SDS)筛查,选取其中SDS评分在42-52分的产妇186例作为研究对象,采取数字随机法分为观察组和对照组,对照组采取常规护理,观察组在此基础上,采取个性化干预,比较两组对产后抑郁症的降低情况。结果:观察组患者产后1个月的SDS评分低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。观察组患者产前7天、产后1个月的SDS评分均低于入院时,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。观察组患者产后1、3、12个月的产后抑郁症发生率均低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患者产后3、12个月的产后抑郁症发生率均低于产后1个月,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患者产后12个月的产后抑郁症发生率均低于产后3个月,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:孕产妇产前、产后普遍存在抑郁情绪,个性化干预对降低产后抑郁症的作用明显,是一种优秀的护理方法。     

Characterization of maternal motivation in the lactating rat: Contrasts between early and late postpartum responses

We previously assessed the motivational properties of pups relative to those of cocaine in parturient female rats (dams) across the postpartum period and demonstrated that the larger subset of dams in early postpartum (PPD8) preferred the pup-associated chamber, whereas the majority of dams tested in late postpartum (PPD16) preferred the cocaine-associated chamber [Mattson, B.J., Williams, S., Rosenblatt, J.S., Morrell, J.I. 2001. Comparison of two positive reinforcing stimuli: pups and cocaine throughout the postpartum period. Behav. Neurosci., 115, 683-694; Seip, K.M., Morrell, J.I. 2007. Increasing the incentive salience of cocaine challenges preference for pup- over cocaine-associated stimuli during early postpartum: place preference and locomotor analyses in the lactating female rat. Psychopharmacology 194, 309-319]. The present study uses a dual-choice conditioned place preference to ask how the progression of the postpartum period, including natural pup development, influences maternal motivation for pups. Preferences for cued chambers associated with pups that were age-matched to the postpartum stage of the dam in contrast to a stimulus with little incentive salience were higher during the early than the late postpartum, suggesting that the incentive salience of pups diminishes as the postpartum period progresses. Preferences of the early postpartum dams deprived of pups for 15 min, 2, 6, 12 or 22 hrs prior to conditioning and testing did not differ statistically but there was a trend of more pup preference after 22 hr deprivation; pup age was not an important factor in early postpartum. In marked contrast, late postpartum dams only exhibited robust pup-associated place preference when they were conditioned with young (4-7 day-old) pups or after a 22 hr period of deprivation from contemporaneous pups. Together these results suggest that both forces are at work in the mother-pup dyad, changes in the pups as they develop and changes in the physiological and endocrine state of the female as she progresses through the postpartum period.     

Plasmodium falciparum: Assessment of parasite-infected red blood cell binding to placental chondroitin proteoglycan and bovine tracheal chondroitin sulfate A

In pregnant women infected with Plasmodium falciparum, the infected red blood cells (IRBCs) sequester in placenta by binding to the chondroitin 4-sulfate (C4S) chains of low sulfated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG). Placental CSPG, the natural receptor for IRBC adherence in the placenta, is the ideal molecule for studying structural interactions in IRBC adhesion to C4S, adhesion inhibitory antibody responses, and identification of parasite adhesive protein(s). However, because of difficulty involved in purifying placental CSPG, the commercially available bovine tracheal chondroitin sulfate A (bCSA), a copolymer having structural features of both C4S and C6S, has been widely used. To determine the validity of bCSA for C4S-IRBC interaction studies, we comparatively evaluated the characteristics of IRBC binding to placental CSPG and bCSA using three commonly used parasite strains. The results indicate that, in all three parasites studied, the characteristics of IRBC binding to placental CSPG and bCSA are qualitatively similar, but the binding capacity with respect to both the number of IRBCs bound per unit area of coated surface and binding strength is significantly higher for CSPG than bCSA regardless of whether parasites were selected on CSPG or bCSA. These results demonstrate that placental CSPG is best suited for studying interactions between parasite adhesive protein(s) and C4S, and have implications in understanding C4S-IRBC structural interactions.     

Estrogen therapy affects right hemisphere functioning in postmenopausal women

It has been suggested that hormone therapy (HT) in postmenopausal women differentially affects verbal and visuo-spatial abilities which mainly rely on left hemisphere (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) functioning, respectively. Thus, it seems likely that HT-related effects on cognition are driven by associated hormonal changes and their impact on functional brain organization, and functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) in particular. The present study investigated HT-related effects on FCAs in sixty-seven postmenopausal women who received hormone therapy either with estrogen (E) alone (n =  14), an E-gestagen combination (n =  22) or without HT (control group, n =  31). Saliva levels of free E and progesterone (P) were analyzed using chemiluminescence assays. FCAs were measured with the visual half-field (VHF) technique using a word matching and a figural comparison task. In agreement with previous results, a postmenopausal control group showed a left hemisphere (LH) advantage in the verbal task and a right hemisphere (RH) advantage in visuo-spatial processing. In contrast, both HT groups revealed significantly reduced FCAs in the figural comparison task as a result of an E-related decrease in RH performance. The findings suggest that E-therapy in postmenopausal women can affect visuo-spatial abilities by modulating the functional brain organization and RH functioning in particular.     

Influences of diet during gestation on potential postpartum reproductive performance and milk production of beef heifers

The influences of nutritional protein and energy during early and mid pregnancy on milk production and postpartum reproductive parameters were determined in 70 beef heifers of two composite breeds (Bos indicus X Bos taurus). At artificial insemination (AI), heifers were divided into four dietary treatment groups identified by the level of protein, and to a lesser extent energy, fed during the first and second trimesters: high/high (HH), high/low (HL), low/high (LH), and low/low (LL). Milk production was lower in the heifers receiving high treatment in first trimester than that in heifers receiving the low treatment (P = 0.01). Milk production was negatively associated with dam body condition score (BCS; P = 0.01), nonesterified fatty acids (P = 0.001), and leptin (P = 0.02) and positively associated with urea (P < 0.001) concentrations during lactation. Increased dietary protein in the first trimester increased or decreased concentrations of colostral protein dependent upon genotype (P = 0.03). Colostral protein was positively associated with bovine pregnancy associated glycoprotein from late gestation (P = 0.007). Milk fat was negatively associated with BCS (P = 0.007) and influenced by genotype (P = 0.003). Dietary treatment did not affect the postpartum reproductive performance of beef heifers. Gestation length (P < 0.001) and the postpartum interval to first estrus (PPI; P = 0.02) were positively associated with calf size. Placental size was negatively associated with placental expulsion time (P < 0.01). Prepartum BCS of the heifers was negatively associated with PPI (P = 0.01). Overall, high levels of nutrition during early gestation are detrimental to milk production in beef heifers.