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The causes of sex determination in amphipods are believed to be multi-factorial. Sex determination in Echinogammarus marinus (Leach, 1815) has been reported to be linked with feminising parasites. To date, however, no such studies have linked this species with environmental sex determination (ESD). A field study and laboratory breeding experiments were conducted to determine the influence of photoperiod on sex determination. Over the two-year field study, males dominated during August to November, whilst female-biased populations were observed during April to July. A significant linear relationship was observed between photoperiods and sex ratios from the field data. Under laboratory conditions, photoperiod was also shown to be an influential factor in sex determination, with a male bias over a long-day photo regime (61.5% male broods) and a female biased over a short-day photoperiod regime (43.5% male broods). Findings suggest that there is some level of ESD present within the species, suggesting considerable plasticity in the sex differentiation pathway., Introduction There are multiple factors that are known to trigger or influence sex determination in Crustacea. Sex can be determined by environmental (Bulnheim 1978), parasitic (Mautner et al. 2007), as [...]

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that perinatal exposure to the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) leads to feminization of the seminal vesicle (SV) in male mice, as illustrated by tissue hyperplasia, ectopic [...]

BACKGROUND: The feminization of nature by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is a key environmental issue affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. A crucial and as yet unanswered question is whether EDCs [...]

We examined gender differences in frequency and sociodemographic predictors of spousal, non-spousal family, and friendship bereavement events among community-dwelling older adults using data from the UAB Study of Aging. Analysis involved a 30-month observation period of 893 subjects. There were significant differences between women and men for all types of loss. Significant differences were also found in the sociodemographic predictors of loss between and within gender categories. This study revealed the extent to which older women disproportionately bear the burden of loss and points to the need for greater attention to bereavement as a women's issue. KEYWORDS. Bereavement, feminization, older adults

Gender-based violence, only recently emerging as a pervasive global issue, contributes significantly to preventable morbidity and mortality for women across diverse cultures. Existing documentation suggests that profound physical and psychological sequelae are endemic following intimate partner violence. The presentation of domestic violence is often culture specific. A new lexicon, prompted by the expansion of human rights analysis, describes particular threats to local women including dowry deaths, honor murder, sati, and disproportional exposure to HIV/AIDS as well as globally generic perils including abuse, battering, marital rape, and murder. While still fragmentary, accruing data reveal strengthening associations between domestic violence and mental health. Depression, stress-related syndromes, chemical dependency and substance (ab)use, and suicide are consequences observed in the context of violence in women's lives. Emerging social, legal, medical, and educational strategies, often culture specific, offer novel local models to promote social change beginning with raising the status of women. The ubiquity, gravity, and variability of domestic violence across cultures compel additional research to promote the recognition, intervention, and prevention of domestic violence that are both locally specific and internationally instructuve. Key words - domestic violence, gender-based violence, spouse abuse, pregnancy, cross-cultural studies, dowry death, HIV/AIDS, rape, mental health, human rights, ethics

Recent studies have documented an increasing feminization of poverty, especially among households with children and among elderly households. Because those studies have been based mainly on aggregate data, they do not provide a clear picture of the conditions of gender differences in the risk of poverty. Using individual-level data from a 1986 survey of Florida's resident population aged 55 and older, the authors analyze the gender differential relative to several correlates of poverty - for example, race/ethnicity, education, income sources, and living arrangements. In addition to specifying conditions under which older women have faced greatest risks of poverty, the analyses provide an estimate of the extent to which poverty is gendered in later stages of the life course, net of other 'determinants' or correlates of poverty.

Veterinary medicine has undergone dramatic, rapid feminization while in many ways remaining gendered masculine. With women constituting approximately half of its practitioners and nearly 80 percent of students, veterinary medicine is the most feminized of the comparable health professions. Nevertheless, the culture of veterinary medicine glorifies stereotypically masculine actions and attitudes. This article examines how women veterinarians understand the gender dynamics within the profession. Our analysis reveals that the discursive strategies available to women sustain and justify the status quo, and thus preserve hegemonic masculinity. Women use strategies previously used toward female tokens in nontraditional jobs, such as role encapsulation, and strategies previously used by male tokens in traditionally female jobs, such as distancing from the feminine. Through this discursive 'gender work,' women help to maintain the institutionalized inequality and the masculine ethic of the profession. Veterinary medicine illustrates the importance of considering organizational context in studies of feminization.

R. Stouthamer [1] J.A.J. Breeuwer [2] G.D.D. Hurst [3] [1] Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen Agricultural University, 6700 EH Wageningen, Netherlands; [2] Department of Fundamental and Applied Ecology, University of Amsterdam, [...]

Previous studies have shown that perinatal exposure to the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) leads to feminization of the seminal vesicle (SV) in male mice, as evidenced by tissue hyperplasia, ectopic [...]

Feminization by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is a key environmental issue affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. A crucial question is whether EDCs have adverse impacts on the sustainability of wildlife [...]

More than 100,000 substances occur in wastewater effluent, including an array of endocrine disruptors such as human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, natural and synthetic hormones, detergents, and industrial chemicals. Studies have [...]

This article analyzes the 1970 and 1980 Public Use Samples of the decennial census and the 1983 Current Population Survey to determine if the degree of occupational feminization, i.e., the change in the percent female, affects men changing occupations. The results lend some support to the contention that men do not leave feminizing occupations. Men in occupations with the greatest increases in their percentage of female workers had the lowest percentage of men leaving their occupations. As the change in the percent female decreased, the percentage of men leaving the occupation increased. However, occupation was a critical factor in this relationship. While men from nonmanufacturing occupations followed a pattern similar to that found in the entire labor force (described above), men in manufacturing occupations left occupations that feminized the most. Men who changed occupations, in fact, often entered occupations that feminized. In the wake of these findings, I discuss how occupational sex segregation may be maintained., During the 1970s, more women began to enter occupations that previously were dominated by men, and as a result the labor force became less sex segregated (see Beller, 1984; Jacobs, [...]