Journal articles on the topic 'Gender similarities hypothesis'

I review new trends in research on the psychology of gender. The gender similarities hypothesis holds that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Gender is not only an individual-difference or person variable but also a stimulus variable. Emerging approaches to cross-national measurement of constructs such as gender equality provide new insights into patterns of gender differences and similarities across cultures. Current neuroscience approaches emphasize neural plasticity and provide the opportunity to study neural correlates of males' and females' differential experiences.

The role of gender in mathematical abilities has caught the interest of researchers for several decades; however, their findings are not conclusive yet. Recently the need to explore its influence on the development of some foundational mathematic skills has been highlighted. Thus, the current study examined whether gender differentially affects young children’s performance in several basic numeracy skills, using a complex developmentally appropriate assessment that included not only standard curriculum-based measures, but also a non-routine task which required abstract thinking. Further, 136 children (68 girls) aged 6 to 8 years old completed: (a) the third edition of the standardized Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA-3) to measure their mathematical knowledge; (b) the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT), and (c) a non-routine counting detection task where children watched several characters performing different counts, had to judge their correctness, and justify their answers. Furthermore, frequentist and Bayesian analyses were combined to quantify the evidence of the null (gender similarities) and the alternative (gender differences) hypothesis. The overall results indicated the irrelevance or non-existence of gender differences in most of the measures used, including children’s performance in the non-routine counting task. This would support the gender similarity hypothesis in the basic numerical skills assessed.

SynopsisForty-two male patients with an anorexic syndrome were assessed. Twenty-nine of them had a primary anorexia nervosa (most of them also had bulimic symptoms). They were compared with a series of 23 female anorexia nervosa patients. The males scored more highly than female patients on a number of symptoms, but generally more similarities than differences in symptomatology were apparent. Male patients with primary anorexia nervosa also showed several signs of a disturbed psychosexual and gender identity development. The data support the hypothesis that males with atypical gender role behaviour have an increased risk for developing anorexia nervosa or bulimia in adolescence.

Colloquial conjecture asserts perceptions of difference in what is more or less important to youth athletes based on binary categorization, such as sex (girls vs. boys), age (younger vs. older), and level of competitive play (recreational vs. travel). The fun integration theory’s FUN MAPS, which identify 11 fun-factors comprised of 81 fun-determinants, offers a robust framework from which to test these conceptions related to fun. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to scientifically explore: (a) the extent to which soccer players’ prioritization of the 11 fun-factors and 81 fun-determinants were consistent with the gender differences hypothesis or the gender similarities hypothesis, and (b) how their fun priorities evolved as a function of their age and level of play. Players’ (n = 141) data were selected from the larger database that originally informed the conceptualization of the fun integration theory’s FUN MAPS. Following selection, innovative pattern match displays and go-zone displays were produced to identify discrete points of consensus and discordance between groups. Regardless of sex, age, or level of play, results indicated extraordinarily high consensus among the players’ reported importance of the fun-factors (r = .90–.97) and fun-determinants (r = .92–.93), which were consistently grouped within strata of primary, secondary, and tertiary importance. Overall, results were consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis, thereby providing the first data to dispel common conceptions about what is most fun with respect to sex, in addition to age and level of play, in a sample of youth soccer players.

According to both experimental research and common sense, classical music is a better fit for figurative art than jazz. We hypothesize that similar fits may reflect underlying crossmodal structural similarities between music and painting genres. We present two preliminary studies aimed at addressing our hypothesis. Experiment 1 tested the goodness of the fit between two music genres (classical and jazz) and two painting genres (figurative and abstract). Participants were presented with twenty sets of six paintings (three figurative, three abstract) viewed in combination with three sound conditions: 1) silence, 2) classical music, or 3) jazz. While figurative paintings scored higher aesthetic appreciation than abstract ones, a gender effect was also found: the aesthetic appreciation of paintings in male participants was modulated by music genre, whilst music genre did not affect the aesthetic appreciation in female participants. Our results support only in part the notion that classical music enhances the aesthetic appreciation of figurative art. Experiment 2 aimed at testing whether the conceptual categories ?figurative? and ?abstract? can be extended also to music. In session 1, participants were first asked to classify 30 paintings (10 abstract, 10 figurative, 10 ambiguous that could fit either category) as abstract or figurative and then to rate them for pleasantness; in session 2 participants were asked to classify 40 excerpts of music (20 classical, 20 jazz) as abstract or figurative and to rate them for pleasantness. Paintings which were clearly abstract or figurative were all classified accordingly, while the majority of ambiguous paintings were classified as abstract. Results also show a gender effect for painting?s pleasantness: female participants rated higher ambiguous and abstract paintings. More interestingly, results show an effect of music genre on classification, showing that it is possible to classify music as figurative or abstract, thus supporting the hypothesis of cross-modal similarities between the two sensory-different artistic expressions.

Little is known about the attributes of men who sexually assault drinking women as compared with men who sexually assault sober women and nonperpetrators. Findings from a cross-sectional survey of 548 men and a laboratory computer-simulated date completed by a subset ( n = 87) support the hypothesis that both groups of perpetrators would share some common risk factors and differ regarding alcohol beliefs and consumption. Men who had previously assaulted a drinking woman gave their simulated date more alcohol to drink and perceived her as being more disinhibited. These findings demonstrate the power of alcohol expectancies and stereotypes about drinking women.

deixis is the use of general words and phrases to refer to a specific time, place, or person, e.g. the words (yesterday, there, and he) are deictic, as their denoted meaning varies and depends on time , place and person specified in the context. Deixis is a Universal feature of all languages. This study deals with the deixis in English and Kurdish languages, in order to show the similarities and differences between them from the grammatical and semantic aspects of points. The study is based on two hypotheses; the first is that the deixis as a Universal aspect, are similar in the two languages in terms of their types and the elements used to express them. The second hypothesis is that the two languages have similar and different grammatical and semantic aspects in terms of the type of personal pronouns, number, gender and case.

In spite of geographical and culture differences between examined countries, there can be found similarities in consumer behavior of men and woman and also the similar tendencies on the dairy product market. In the last decade different fields of science concerns with the topic of gender differences more frequently. The article is based on a research of consumers' overall attitude to dairy products in Slovakia and Russia. The important role of gender differences underlines the outcomes of the questionnaire survey. Kruskal-Wallis test and Bonferroni correction was applied to verify the hypothesis whether there is a dependency between gender of the respondents and their attitude while choosing the dairy products in both countries. Analysis showed that in both countries women tend to buy dairy products more often than men. Also consumers prefer more domestic products, but Russian not as significantly as Slovakian. In both countries consumers consider the price of dairy products as high, but they don’t outline the price as the most important factor when choosing dairy products. At the same time, both genders consider quality as the most important factor. These results indicate the existence of a niche at the Russian market, which could be used by Slovak dairy producers who can possibly penetrate Russian market. In addition, the similar marketing strategy for both, Slovak and Russian market can be used if the advertisement will be sensitively focused on the gender.

Gender differences have often been identified as being manifest in the performance and achievement of students in their academic activities. Male students are said to be more productive in science and technology courses, while female students are said to be better than the males in humanities and non-numerate disciplines. Therefore, in this paper, the gender similarities hypothesis (Hyde, 2005) was used to examine whether gender would make any significant difference between the writing achievements of newly admitted university undergraduates in Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. The pre-test, post-test, control group quasi-experimental method was employed, using a total number of 425 students in three experimental groups and one control group. At the end of the treatment of the experimental groups, the pre-test and post-test scores of male and female students were analyzed as data. It was found that there was no significant difference between the achievement of male and female participants. Therefore, it was concluded that there are no gender differences found in the writing achievement of male and female undergraduates but that students who apply themselves to their studies would excel irrespective of their gender.

ABSTRACTSecond language learners of English occasionally establish gender agreement between a possessive determiner and the local noun that follows it, rather than with its target antecedent (*“Maryi loves hisi brother”). The production and comprehension profiles of adult Mandarin second language learners of English and monolingual English-speaking children were examined to establish (a) if such errors result from an inherent tendency to establish agreement locally within the noun phrase or rather from transfer of first language agreement procedures, and (b) if these errors are production specific or rather reflect nontarget grammatical representations, thus also affecting comprehension. The results of the elicited production portion of the study support the hypothesis that gender agreement errors in learners’ production of possessives result from a generalized tendency to establish local agreement. The results of the comprehension portion of the study suggest that the observed tendency for local agreement within the noun phrase is production specific and does not characterize learners’ grammatical representations as a whole.

Objective: To examine the hypothesis that chronic alcohol use causes accelerated aging of the brain. Methods: The auditory evoked potentials (EPs) were compared in three groups of 10 subjects each: (a) middle-aged individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence, (b) age- and gender-matched group of healthy individuals, and (c) an older (>65 years) group of gender-matched healthy individuals. Multiple levels of cortical information processing were examined using EPs. Early stages of information processing, related to sensory gating and stimulus classification (P50, N100/P200), were studied using a paired-click paradigm. Later stages of information processing associated with memory upgrading and identification of novel stimuli (P300) were studied using an oddball paradigm. Results: The amplitude and latency of the P300 of the alcoholic patients and the older healthy subjects differed significantly from those of the younger healthy group. Both groups showed changes that have been reported in association with aging. A tendency towards decreased sensory gating in later stages of information processing was noted in the aged healthy individuals. Conclusions: These data suggest that alcohol dependence may accelerate the aging process. The tendency towards a sensory gating deficit during the attentive phase of information processing in older healthy subjects requires further investigation because it may be a marker for an increased proneness to developing psychotic symptoms in that group.

In two studies, 374 participants gave retrospective reports of their favorite games, toys, and hobbies (games) and of their favorite exercise and sports (sports) in elementary school, high school, and college. We tested Gilligan's (1982) expectation that more of males' play would be group activities played in public places, whereas more of females' games and sports would be home-based play in “intimate” dyads. Results showed that sex similarities and differences varied as a function of kind of play. For both sexes, games tended to be home-based and individual or dyadic play, however sports tended to be group, public-based play. Whereas team sports play was most frequent in childhood for both sexes and decreased in frequency from childhood into adulthood, the decrease in team, as compared to individual and dyadic, sports was significantly more dramatic for girls than for boys. The data indicated that whereas girls participate in a variety of types of play, boys' sports play is dominated by team activity across development. Thus, sex differences in the types of sports play provided the strongest support for Gilligan's hypothesis that socialization in team play may foster a reliance upon rights-based moral reasoning in boys.

Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is an autoinflammatory disease occurring mainly in the pediatric age group (before 16 years) and generally presents as a separate entity. Synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome combines osteoarticular and cutaneous involvement, similar to CRMO, and falls into the spectrum of spondyloarthritis (SpA). The fact that a patient can progress from one disease to another raises the question of whether CRMO, like SAPHO, could fall within the spectrum of SpA, ranging from a predominantly osteoarticular form to an enthesitic form with more or less marked skin involvement. In this review, we set out to discuss this hypothesis by highlighting the differences and similarities between CRMO and juvenile SpA in clinical, radiological and pathophysiological aspects. A common hypothesis could potentially consider intestinal dysbiosis as the origin of these different inflammatory diseases. Interindividual factors such as gender, environment, genetics and/or epigenetic background could act as combined disease modifiers. This is why we suggest that pathophysiology, rather than clinical phenotype, be used to reclassify these diseases.

Abstract Objective: To use 3-dimensional (3D) facial averages to test the hypothesis that the facial morphologies of 2 European white groups (Slovenia and Wales) have no differences. Methods: Fifty males and 50 females from Wales and 43 males and 44 females from Slovenia were included in the study. Subjects ranged from 18 to 30 years of age. Four subgroups were formed: Slovenian males (SM), Slovenian females (SF), Welsh males (WM), and Welsh females (WF). 3D data were acquired using a laser scanning system. An average face for each subgroup was obtained using a previously validated mathematical algorithm. Facial differences were quantified after average faces had been superimposed using a previously validated method. Results: A total of 187 subjects from Slovenia and Wales formed 4 gender-specific subgroups. Absolute differences between subgroups ranged from 0.36 mm to 1.51 mm. The mean linear facial difference between SF and WF was 0.64 ± 0.51 mm, and between SM and WM was 0.36 ± 0.41 mm. Similarities between subgroups ranged from 13.43% (SF, WF) to 70.23% (SM, WM). Slovenian males and females tend to express Class III facial morphology when compared with the Welsh gender–specific subgroups. Male faces, in general, have more pronounced nasal, brow, and frontal regions and mandibles when compared with females. Female faces have more prominent malar and periocular areas. Conclusion: The hypothesis is rejected. Morphologic differences exist between Slovenian and Welsh faces.

In the context of sexual prejudice, in which group distinctiveness motivation is particularly strong for men, three studies tested the hypothesis that egalitarian norms can intensify reactive distinctiveness motives, and then paradoxically increase intergroup differentiation and prejudice. Depending on the studies, the egalitarian norm was experimentally manipulated or induced and kept constant. Group distinctiveness was manipulated through scientific support for the theory that a person’s sexual orientation is determined by biological factors in terms of the extant biological differences (high distinctiveness) versus biological similarities (low distinctiveness) between heterosexual and gay people. Egalitarian norms increased men’s (but not women’s) intergroup differentiation (Study 1) and prejudice (Study 2) when group distinctiveness was low (as compared to high). This pattern was specific to men with high gender self-esteem, and appeared when the biological theory was framed in terms of intergroup differences rather than the uncontrollability of sexual orientation (Study 3).

Since the 1970s there has been a growing interest in analysing sex differences in psychological variables. Empirical studies and meta-analyses have contributed evidence on the differences between male and female individuals. More recently, the gender similarities hypothesis has supported the similarity of men and women in most psychological variables. This study contributes information on women's greater empathic disposition in comparison with men by means of a longitudinal design in an adolescent population. 505 male and female adolescents aged between 13 and 16 years were evaluated at two different moments (grade 2 and grade 3, lower secondary education). They completed the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents by Bryant and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index by Davis. The results confirm a greater empathic response in females than in males of the same age, differences growing with age. The sizes of the effect estimated in the second evaluation (average age 14 years) are large for emotional empathy and medium for cognitive empathy.

Context Demographic similarities between support personnel and next of kin are of increasing interest. Studies examining like-race requestors have not produced clear and consistent outcomes. No studies have examined demographic relatedness factors for family support personnel who are not requestors. Objectives To examine the degree of “relatedness” between family communication coordinator chaplains and next of kin in cases that resulted in consent for donation. To examine “relatedness” in terms of demographic characteristics between primary hospital family support individuals and next of kin. Design Retrospective nonexperimental descriptive design spanning 1997 to 2004. Main Outcome Measures Demographic characteristics including gender, race and ethnicity, age, religion, and contact time. Results The results fail to support the hypothesis that the degree of “relatedness” between the family communicator and next of kin is associated with positive consent decisions. The findings show that gender is a shared quality in 60% of these cases, and race, age, and religion are even more infrequently shared qualities. The findings also suggest an elevated role of women in the donation discussion. Conclusions This study fills the void of empirical research through its use of objective outcome measures. The results fail to support the common wisdom and bring to question the foundation of many programs used to promote organ donation. Additionally, the findings emphasize the need for more rigorous investigations and development of more refined, valid measures for examining factors that may influence the donation discussion.

This research focuses on the value-meaning aspect of love in different cultures. In this study, we looked at people from Central African Republic (CAR) and Russia, and tested the hypothesis on how much influence a culture has on the way love is viewed. 50 people from Central African Republic and 50 people from Russia took part in this research. Groups had equal gender representation (25 females and 25 males in each group) and comparable age. As a methodology, we used our questionnaire “Notions about love” and classical associative experiment. Comparative analysis of the data showed that notions of love even in such distant cultures have many more similarities than differences. In both groups (Russia and CAR), the idealization of this feeling (love) prevails. Love is seen as a power that helps people create, grow and overcome obstacles. Another similarity is that both groups associate love with dedication and the meaning of life. Data from the associative experiment confirms this commonality, because in both groups, love is associated with passion, friendship and patience. At the same time, the results of this experiment show that concept of love is ambivalent among the Russians: they associate love not only with positive feelings, but with suffering and selfsacrifice. Russians are more likely to agree with relatively negative statements about love. Notions about love among people from Central African Republic is mostly associated with religion and action-related components.

Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS thought to be due to an autoimmune response directed against myelin antigens. EAE is a commonly used animal model for MS and shares clinical, histopathologic and immunologic similarities with MS. Profound suppression of the MS and EAE relapse rate is observed during late pregnancy and is followed by a marked increase in disease severity postpartum. We have recently observed that histopathologic progression of EAE is diminished during late pregnancy and is exacerbated post partum. During EAE and late pregnancy, mice were found to have less mononuclear CNS infiltrates, demyelination and axon severing than virgin controls. The purpose of this study was to explore the hypothesis that decreased autoimmune disease during pregnancy is due to immunosuppressive factors present in the serum during late pregnancy. Female SJL/J mice were immunized for EAE using myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) 139–151. T cell proliferation assays were carried out using lymph node (LN) cells stimulated with PLP or anti-CD3 in the presence of 0–3% late pregnancy or virgin mouse sera. LN cells from age and gender matched naïve mice served as controls. Three percent late pregnancy serum suppressed both anti-CD3 and PLP stimulated T cell proliferation as compared to cells cultured with virgin mouse sera. These results demonstrate the broad suppressive potential of late pregnancy serum on T cell activation and may be responsible for amelioration of clinical signs of EAE during late pregnancy. (Supported by NIH grants NS48316 and T32AI055411).

Informed by previous works within gender studies, postmaterialist studies and environmental humanities, this article explores the connections – and potential reciprocities – between the term fluidity and the term leakage. Both terms can be said to depict movements of liquids, but whereas fluidity translates to the ability to flow and the state of being fluid leakage translates to (unwanted and/or accidental) loss and to exude, spill and secrete. Investigating fluidity and leakage in relation, both to environmental spills and women’s bodies, this article seeks to a) show similarities as well as differences between exploitation of nature and oppression of women, b) encourage an understanding of the two terms as gendered, and c) emphasize materiality, not as a blank slate awaiting cultural inscription, but as an active part of its own becoming. The hypothesis is that leakage is an active, innate, but first and foremost unruly part of every attempt to enclose and contain, something that leads me to suggest that there is an inherent resistance in the leakage – in the movement itself – that remains ignored in recent discussions of fluidity, particularly from a postmaterialist stance. Similar to fluidity, leakage changes and transforms, both in relation to social structures, its own material composition as well as the particular context that encompasses it; however, the former also carries its own resistance in that it is involved in, and co-constituted by different kinds of oppositional practices that spur disgust, repulse and calls for different kinds of measures. This is evident, specifically in relation to waste, where leakage can provide an understanding of the continuous negotiations that occurs as waste both defines, and is defined by (the constant threat of) leakage.

The aim of the study was to study the motives of peasants applying to the spiritual consistories to obtain divorce permits in the Yaroslavl, Tver and Tobolsk provinces in the second half of the 19th early 20th centuries. Tasks were set to find out the number of surviving cases initiated by petitions for the termination of marriage by peasants separately for each sex and the reason for discord in the family. The source base was previously unknown archival documents of the State Institution of the Yaroslavl Region "The State Archive of the Yaroslavl Region, the State Institution of the Tver Region The State Archive of the Tver Region and the State Budgetary Institution of the Tyumen Region The State Archive in Tobolsk. General scientific and historical methods were used, in particular historical-comparative and historical-typological, as well as methods of gender history. As a result of the analysis of archival materials, the main reasons for the desire of the peasants to dissolve the marriage were identified: adultery; link; unknown absence of a spouse; incapacity for married life; lack of desire to live with a husband / wife; beatings; mental disorder; religious differences. The hypothesis was confirmed that adultery in the studied period was the most frequent reason for drawing up petitions for divorce. However, most of the cases ended with an instruction to continue living together in peace and harmony, or refusal due to non-compliance with the requirements for filing petitions (non-payment of stamp duty, drawing up documents on plain paper instead of stamp paper, failure to provide evidence). This article is the first stage in studying the history of marital relations in the Yaroslavl, Tver and Tobolsk provinces, identifying similarities and differences in motives, types of marital conflicts, as well as determining their consequences, methods of solution and prevention.

Because sexual attraction is a key driver of human mate choice and reproduction, we descriptively assess relative sex differences in the level of attraction individuals expect in the aesthetic, resource, and personality characteristics of potential mates. As a novelty we explore how male and female sexual attractiveness preference changes across age, using a dataset comprising online survey data for over 7,000 respondents across a broad age distribution of individuals between 18 and 65 years. In general, we find that both males and females show similar distribution patterns in their preference responses, with statistically significant sex differences within most of the traits. On average, females rate age, education, intelligence, income, trust, and emotional connection around 9 to 14 points higher than males on our 0–100 scale range. Our relative importance analysis shows greater male priority for attractiveness and physical build, compared to females, relative to all other traits. Using multiple regression analysis, we find a consistent statistical sex difference (males relative to females) that decreases linearly with age for aesthetics, while the opposite is true for resources and personality, with females exhibiting a stronger relative preference, particularly in the younger aged cohort. Exploring non-linearity in sex difference with contour plots for intelligence and attractiveness across age (mediated by age) indicates that sex differences in attractiveness preferences are driven by the male cohort (particularly age 30 to 40) for those who care about the importance of age, while intelligence is driven by females caring relatively more about intelligence for those who see age as very important (age cohort 40 to 55). Overall, many of our results indicate distinct variations within sex at key life stages, which is consistent with theories of selection pressure. Moreover, results also align with theories of parental investment, the gender similarities hypothesis, and mutual mate choice–which speaks to the fact that the broader discipline of evolutionary mate choice research in humans still contains considerable scope for further inquiry towards a unified theory, particularly when exploring sex-difference across age.

Background. Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a type of chronic headache, whose mechanisms are still unknown. The impact of psychological factors has been matter of debate from different perspectives. The role of personality and personality pathology in processes involved in MOH development has been advanced but was poorly studied. The hypothesis of addiction-like behaviors sustaining the drug misuse has been examined and reached contrasting findings. Objectives. This study is aimed at detecting personality and its disorders (PDs) in MOH, with a specific attention to the addiction aspect. Methods. Eighty-eight MOH patients have been compared with two clinical populations including 99 patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and 91 with PDs using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200), a clinician-report tool that assesses both normal and pathological personality. MANCOVAs were performed to evaluate personality differences among MOH, SUD, and PD groups, controlling for age and gender. Results. MOH patients were predominantly women and older. They showed lower traits of the SWAP-200’s cluster A and B disorders than SUD and PD patients, who presented more severe levels of personality impairment. No differences in the SWAP-200’s cluster C have been found, indicating common personality features in these populations. At levels of specific PDs, MOH patients showed higher obsessive and dysphoric traits and better overall psychological functioning than SUD and PD patients. Conclusion. Although MOH, SUD, and PD populations have been evaluated in multiple sites with different levels of expertise, the study supported the presence of a specific constellation of personality in MOH patients including obsessive (perfectionist) and dysphoric characteristics, as well as good enough psychological resources. No similarities to drug-addicted and personality-disordered patients were found. Practitioners’ careful understanding of the personality characteristics of MOH patients may be useful to provide a road map for the implementation of more effective treatment strategies and intervention programs.

This study examines the associations of the concepts “Man” and “Woman” typical of the Turkic peoples of Siberia, i.e. Altaians, Tuvans, Khakas, and Yakuts. The objective of the study was to identify the semantic fields of stimuli associated with these concepts determined by the ethnocultural context. The study tested the hypothesis that the core of the associative fields of these concepts, in a meaningful sense, will have more similarities than differences among the Turkic ethnic groups mentioned above. The study involved 487 representatives of the Siberian Turkic peoples, namely 80 Altaians, 157 Tuvans, 126 Khakas, and 124 Yakuts, including 230 men and 257 women aged 18-65, of whom 145 were with a secondary general education, 73 were technical school graduates and 269 had an academic degree. The main research method was a survey with elements of an associative experiment. A total of 1844 associations were revealed, including 914 for the stimulus “man” and 930 for the stimulus “woman”. During the content analysis, all the answers were divided into six categories, which included subcategories and various indicators, i.e. ‘Physical characteristics’, ‘Status-role characteristics’, ‘Man’, ‘Subject, nature, abstraction, image’, ‘Personal qualities’, and ‘Behavioural characteristics’. By the number of references in the images “man” and “woman”, the first three ranks belong to ‘Status-role characteristics’, ‘Personal qualities’ and ‘Physical characteristics’. As for the core of the associative fields of the concept “man”, the respondents included the following indicators in it: ‘strong’, ‘defender’, ‘can stand up for his family’, ‘can defend the rights of his family’, ‘supporter of the family’, ‘shoulder’, ‘adviser’, ‘provider’, ‘breadwinner’, ‘father’, ‘dad’, ‘parent’, ‘master of the house’, ‘courageous’; and specifically: ‘smart’ (Tuvans and Khakas); ‘brave’, ‘fearless’, ‘bold’, ‘valiant’ (Tuvans and Yakuts); ‘stands by his word’ (Altaians); ‘strong-willed’ (Yakuts). The core of the associative fields of the concept “woman” included such indicators as: ‘beautiful’, ‘striking’, ‘well-groomed’, ‘attractive’, ‘nice’, ‘sweet’, ‘mom’, ‘mistress of the house’, ‘guardian of the hearth’, ‘feminine’, ‘soft’, ‘tender’, ‘kind’, ‘affectionate’, ‘kind-hearted’, ‘generous’, ‘helpful’, ‘sincere’, ‘smart’, ‘wife’, ‘caring’. The results of the study can be used for developing concepts and programmes of gender and family policy of the state as well as find application in the work of services of social and psychological assistance to families in the national regions of the Russian Federation.

The world of video games has become one of the most important entertainment niches for society. In the last decade it has surpassed in turnover audio-visual markets such as cinema and music, driving the development of a new form of communication. The increase in the number of female gamers has highlighted the need to discover differences and similarities between players, both in habits and motivations. We present a study based on a survey procedure for the completion of a questionnaire that aimed to cover the age range of 18 to 30 years of Spanish youngsters and that reached a total of 711 valid responses. The results showed that there were no significant differences in terms of hours spent playing video games between the two genders, although there were motivational differences in the reasons for playing, specifically in terms of competition and challenge. The discussion of the results was carried out by means of a comparative statistical analysis of means to confirm the hypotheses and meet the objectives. Despite the existence of significant differences between genders, these were not as notable as might be expected. When it comes to gaming, as we have detected in our study, there were some consumption habits with differentiated gender patterns; however, in relevant indicators such as hours of consumption, increase in lockdown consumption, and spending, there were no significant differences. The gender gap that existed a few years ago between video gamers is becoming progressively narrower.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to see whether gender plays a role in the apology strategies employed by native speakers of Arabic, i.e., how Arab males and females express apologies in different situations. Data necessary for this study were collected via a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) questionnaire, incorporating 10 real-life scenarios in the form of short descriptive statements. In accordance with the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realisation Patterns, participants’ responses(n = 20) were analysed and further classified into five distinct apology strategies: (Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID), Responsibility (RESP), Explanation (EXPL), Repair (REPR), and Forbearance (FORB)). The researcher initially hypothesised that apology strategies employed by participants would exhibit more differences than similarities among native speakers of Arabic. Contrary to previously conducted research on this subject (i.e., attesting more differences), the data analysed (n = 350 apology exchanges) revealed more similarities than differences regardless of gender. In fact, no statistically significant differences were found. In addition to contributing to the current theoretical debate on gender and gender-related topics, the results of this study may entail pedagogical implications for those in direct contact with Arab learners of English as a Second Language or with speakers of Arabic in general terms.

The purpose of this paper is to point out the quality of products and services in the business of tourist companies (Meka and Arxhena) in the municipality of Dragash, as well as their influence on the promotion of competitive advantages that will affect the creativity, breadth of product range, top service and quality, as well as branding. The apartments are located in a series that offer a complete service to guests. Hotel, as well as other companies in tourism, are exposed to significant and rapid changes, thanks to the quality of the business of the touristic ambiance. Subject research. The subject of the research is to determine the quality of products and services in the hotels Arxhena and Meka in the municipality of Dragash. This research includes the application of general elements, ie, the determinant of the quality of products and services (availability, warranty, communication, expertise, standard, service, safety, accountability, security); without which quality service would not be adequately completed. Research goals. Among the more important objectives of research in the research work are: • How satisfied are the tourists with tourist services in the hotel industry in the municipality of Dragash. • How much infrastructure does affect the development of hotel tourism in the municipality of Dragash. • What types of tourists use hotel services in hotel management in Dragash municipality according to their educational status. Research hypotheses. Based on these goals, the following hypothesis is posed: H1: Tourists are satisfied with tourist services in the hotel industry in the municipality of Dragash. H2: Road infrastructure will negatively affect the development of hotel tourism in the municipality of Dragash. H3: The highest number of tourists in the hotel industry in Dragash Municipality is with a high degree of education. Methods of research. In achieving these goals, different scientific methods have been used to: • Inductive method - allows you to arrive at the conclusion based on the characteristics and facts obtained by the inductive method of conclusion. • A deductive method - making conclusions based on specific facts and laws, anticipating future events, and others. • Methods of analysis and synthesis - embracing concepts on their simple parts, analyzing each part in particular. • Comparative method - comparisons or perceptions of differences, common features, similarities, etc. • Descriptive method - a description of the current situation in tourism. The mathematical-statistical method was used in the processing of the sample of the research. In this research, we use the survey method to conduct this research. The obtained results will be processed by statistical analysis and as such will be shown through several tables and graphs. In the process of collecting data we used secondary sources such as: books, websites, various publications, magazines and brochures. Method of choice, size and design of the sample. The sample of respondents includes persons of all ages, professional qualifications, gender and civil status, the questionnaire refers to the provision of services at the Meka and Arxhena Hotel in the municipality of Dragash. The study was conducted on a sample of 98 respondents. The test instrument was designed in the form of a questionnaire containing 12 questions, and the answers are rounded off. The study lasted three months. Time and place of research realization. The place where the research was conducted is the municipality of Dragash. In the research we tried to include two hotels (Arxhena and Meka). Methodologically, these two hotels will dominate the research. Special attention is paid to hotels, products and services, tourist and geographical position of the municipality of Dragash and analysis of research results. Dragash municipality is characterized by limited accommodation capacity, which are not fully used.

This study attempts to explore the potential extension of general strain theory (GST) by applying the hypotheses proposed by Broidy and Agnew to a sample of South Korean youths. Specifically, this study examines whether particular forms of strain and stressors have differential effects across genders on various deviant outcomes, delinquency, and suicidal thoughts. Multiple regression analyses using longitudinal data of 3,125 South Korean youths revealed mixed support for the GST proposition. Females experienced a higher level of both anger and depression than males. However, the experience of negative emotions is partly gendered in general. This study also found that different negative emotions and strain/stress factors are important and demonstrate gendered pathways in the case of delinquency. However, it also revealed that similar types of strains and stressors and negative emotions were significant and positive for suicidal thoughts for both males and females. Furthermore, a model examining the impacts of conditioning variables on suicidal thoughts highlighted that depression is particularly important in females. These findings indicate that various types of deviant outcomes and strain–stressors provide a fuller understanding of both similarities and differences by gender.

Abstract Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling multi-system complex disorder with prevalence of 875 per 100,000 (up to 3.4 million people) in the United States. There are no known etiologic or risk factors and no approved treatments for ME/CFS. We conducted a molecular epidemiologic study to test the hypothesis that ME/CFS may be an autoimmune disease (AID) and explore the link between ME/CFS and cancer, specifically hematologic malignancies. Methods: Our clinic-based study involved carefully selected cases with confirmed diagnosis of ME/CFS (n=59) and healthy controls (n=54) frequency matched to cases on age, gender and ethnicity. During structured interviews, detailed multi-generation pedigrees, epidemiologic and medical questionnaires, and biospecimen were obtained on all subjects. Statistical analysis of pedigree data involved comparison of cases and controls with respect to the prevalence and cumulative incidence of AID and cancer among their first-degree relatives. For unadjusted analysis, risk ratios, 95% confidence intervals (CI), and p-values were calculated. For age-adjusted analyses, cumulative incidence estimates were compared using the log-rank test. Results: The prevalence of AID was significantly higher among the first-degree relatives of cases compared to those of controls (OR=5.30; 95%CI: 1.83-15.38; p=0.001). The prevalence of AID among mothers was 14% for cases and 1.9% for controls (p=0.03). 11.2% of the first-degree relatives of cases had an AID compared to 3.1% of the relatives of controls (prevalence ratio=3.71; 95% CI: 1.74-7.88; p=0.0007). The cumulative incidence of AID among the first-degree relatives of ME/CFS cases was 9.4% compared to 2.7% for those of the controls (p=0.0025). First-degree relatives of ME/CFS cases had a significantly higher prevalence of any cancer compared to the relatives of unrelated controls (OR=4.06, 95%CI: 1.84-8.96, p=0.0005). Age-adjusted analysis revealed significantly higher (p=0.03) cumulative incidence of any cancer among the first-degree relatives of cases (20%) compared to the relatives of controls (15.4%). The cumulative incidence of hematologic cancers was also significantly higher among the relatives of cases (p<0.05). Conclusions: We found statistically significant increased risks of AID and cancer among the first-degree relatives of ME/CFS cases. Our findings implicate immune dysregulation as an underlying mechanism, providing etiologic clues and leads for prevention. Given symptomatic similarities between ‘long COVID’ and ME/CFS, it is predicted that there will be a significant increase in incidence of ME/CFS as the result of COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings may enable defining a subset of COVID-19 patients who could be at risk of developing ME/CFS, and who may benefit from treatments used for certain AIDs. Citation Format: Roxana Moslehi, Anil Kumar, Amiran Dzutsev. Increased risks of cancer and autoimmune disease among the first-degree relatives of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 34.

Aim: The article describes similarities and differences regarding various risk factors between girls and boys with substance abuse problems who begin outpatient treatment at the Maria clinics in Sweden. Potential hypotheses and some implications are also discussed. Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on interview data from 2169 adolescents obtained over three years from outpatient clinics in 11 Swedish cities. Results: Girls appear to consistently have more difficult family and childhood environments than boys, and are more likely to have problems related to school, more serious substance abuse problems, and more severe mental health problems. Criminal activity is significantly higher among boys. Conclusions: The study shows that girls entering treatment generally have significantly more risk factors than boys and thus more extensive problems in several aspects of life, which in turn increases the risk of developing serious drug and alcohol problems in adulthood. The study supports the gender-paradoxical relationship in which a smaller proportion of girls than boys enter treatment for substance abuse, even though girls tend to have more problematic life situations.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the association between auditor and chief financial officer (CFO) gender and earnings quality, utilising data from Sweden. This study also aims to examine whether interactions between auditor and CFO, which may affect a firm’s earnings quality, are associated with their gender. These aims are inspired by the notion that gender differences will be overruled by the rewards and socialisation into the occupational roles as suggested by the structural approach to gender. Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a multivariate regression model to test its hypotheses. The sample consists of 976 firm-year observations covering the period 2008 to 2013. FindingsThe results show that gender of the auditor and CFO is not associated with earnings quality, and the interactions between auditors and CFOs, which may affect earnings quality, are not associated with their gender. Consequently, the results give tentative support for the structural approach in gender studies in the accounting and auditing field. Research limitations/implicationsThis study indicates that future research in gender studies should consider the structural approach based on the argument of gender similarities. This approach contends that work-related behaviour of women will more resemble men, and this is caused by the socialisation process into the occupational role and the structure where they work (e.g. organisational and professional culture, work conditions, a compensation scheme, national culture, etc.) instead of gender. Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding whether gender – auditor and CFO gender – is associated with firms’ earnings quality and standing whether the interactions between auditor and CFO are associated with their gender, something that, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has not been tested previously. It also re-introduces the structural approach within the gender research in the accounting and auditing field.

Abstract Introduction T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) represent the second most common subtype of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in children and adolescents. In contrast to other pediatric NHL-subtypes and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) criteria for the stratification of treatment intensity are lacking in T-LBL. Consequently all patients receive identical treatment intensity resulting in over- and under-treatment of a relevant but not yet characterized subgroup of patients. Recently a genetic classifier for adult T-ALL patients was reported. Whether T-ALL and T-LBL represent one or two diseases remains an ongoing discussion. Whole exome sequencing data of pediatric T-LBL cases now support the hypothesis that T-ALL and T-LBL, despite pathogenic similarities are biologically different. Here we used our large dataset of well defined and uniformly treated pediatric patients with T-LBL to define molecular risk factors of the disease. Methods All pediatric T-LBL patients of the NHL-BFM group with sufficient material available were sequenced for abnormalities in the genes: NOTCH1, FBXW7, NRAS, KRAS, PTEN, PIK3R1, PIK3CA using Sanger sequencing of known mutational hotspots and loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 6q using fragment length analyses. Patients were treated uniformly according to NHL-BFM protocols for T-LBL. Clinical data were available from the data base of the NHL-BFM study center. Accompanying molecular research for the trials NHL-BFM 95 and EURO-LB 02, in which these patients were recruited, has been approved by the ethical committees of the Hannover Medical School and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany. Results The observed frequencies of somatic mutations with 95% confidence intervals were: NOTCH1 61% (51-70%), FBXW7 18% (12-27%), PTEN 15% (9-23%) in 114 analyzed patients, N-RAS + K-RAS 10% (5-18%) in 99 analyzed patients, PIK3R1+PIK3CA in 8% (4-15%) in 107 analyzed patients, and LOH6q 12% (8-17%) in 217 analyzed patients. Detailed evaluation of potential associations of distinct mutation status and clinical characteristics revealed a statistically significant association of NOTCH1 mutations (p=0.006) and FBXW7 mutations (p=0.034) with age below 10 years compared to patients with germline status. All other analyses evaluated for each gene separately taking into account age, gender, stage of disease, CNS disease, bone marrow involvement, mediastinal tumor, and general condition at diagnosis did not identify any statistically significant association. Concerning the concurrence or exclusion of the analyzed alterations, NOTCH1 mutations were significantly associated with FBXW7 mutations (p=0.03). LOH6q positive patients presented significantly more often in cases with NOTCH1 wildtype status (p=0.03) and PTEN mutations and FBXW7 mutations turned out to present mutually exclusive (p=0.03). The analyses concerning patients outcome allowed the proposal of an new genetic classifier defining three risk groups: 1) Good risk group (GR) comprising 39% (35/91) of patients defined by NOTCH1 mutation and no RAS or PIK3 mutation with a cumulative incidence of relapse of 11+5%. 2) Intermediate risk group (IR) with all non-GR and non-HR patients including 46% (42/91) of patients with a cumulative incidence of relapse of 20+6%. 3) High-risk group (HR) of 15% (14/91) of patients defined by NOTCH1 wildtype in combination with PTEN mutation and/or LOH6q positivity associated with a cumulative incidence of relapse of 64+14%. Except for an overrepresentation of patients 10 to 15 years of age in the HR arm, none of tested patients’ characteristic parameters of was associated with risk group. Conclusion Detailed analyses of genetic alterations in pediatric T-LBL revealed relevant somatic mutation frequencies for gene loci of the PTEN/PI3K pathway and the RAS pathway. Together with earlier published results on the prognostic relevance of NOTCH1 mutations and chromosome 6q alterations the analyzed cohort of about 100 uniformly treated pediatric T-LBL patients allowed the definition of a genetic classifier for risk group stratification. This proposed classifier requires prospective validation. The here proposed genetic classifier for T-LBL might be worth to be analyzed in pediatric T-ALL. Interestingly our proposed T-LBL classifier includes some aspects in parallel, but overall differed significantly from the earlier published classifier for adult T-ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms by which decisions about others are affected by the information known about them. The authors argue that the availability of information about deep-level attributes diminishes the role of surface-level attributes in how people make decisions about others. The authors posit that individuals will make discriminatory decisions based on surface-level attributes when only this information is available; but, as predicted by the integration-and-learning perspective, the availability of information about deep-level attributes will reduce surface-level attribute discrimination. Although discrimination will not disappear completely, it will shift its focal point toward a person’s deep-level attributes. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from subjects in two studies, with 52 subjects in Study 1 and 230 in Study 2. Paired-samples t-test and mixed effects GLS regression were used to test the hypotheses. Findings – When presented with surface-level attributes of a target person, subjects demonstrated discriminatory behaviors based on race and sex. However, when subjects were presented with surface-level attributes along with deep-level attributes about a target person, subjects made decisions based on deep-level attribute similarities and disregarded surface-level information. Research limitations/implications – The authors interpret the findings to mean that enhancing information about others shifts favoritism and discrimination based on surface-level attributes to “deeper” grounds. Originality/value – This study demonstrates how multiple identities and values that individuals possess, and of which they become aware of in others, affect decision-making behavior toward others. It elucidates the mechanisms by which providing individuals with meaningful information about others can help them overcome, or at least reduce, surface-level discriminatory decision making.

Background: Childhood worry is common, and yet little is known about why some children develop pathological worry and others do not. Two theories of adult worry that are particularly relevant to children are Davey's problem-solving model in which perseverative worry occurs as a result of thwarted problem-solving attempts, and Wells’ metacognitive model, in which positive and negative beliefs about worry interact to produce pathological worry. Aims: The present study aimed to test hypotheses that levels of worry in young children are associated with poor or avoidant solution generation for social problems, and poor problem-solving confidence. It also aimed to explore beliefs about worry in this age group, and to examine their relationships with worry, anxiety and age. Method: Fifty-seven young children (6–10 years) responded to open ended questions about social problem-solving situations and beliefs about worry, and completed measures of worry, anxiety and problem-solving confidence. Results: Children with higher levels of worry and anxiety reported using more avoidant solutions in social problem situations and children's low confidence in problem solving was associated with high levels of worry. Children as young as 6 years old reported both positive and negative beliefs about worry, but neither were associated with age, gender, or level of anxiety or worry. Conclusions: Results indicate similarities between adults and children in the relationships between problem-solving variables and worry, but not in relationships between beliefs about worry and worry. This may be due to developmental factors, or may be the result of measurement issues.

Introduction: In recent years, we have seen differences between women’s values ​​and their actions. Some women have actions according to their values ​​and others express actions completely different from their values. Women’s values ​​are influenced by various factors that are mentioned in this article, and Robert Merton’s theory of pressure has been used to identify women’s actions and in general, and women’s actions in three districts of Tehran were compared. Method: This research is quantitative, it and has been done with a survey technique and a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population includes women living in three areas of Tehran in the north, center and south of the city. The statistical sample includes 390 people out of which 130 people were selected by random sampling. Findings: Factors of fear and anxiety, gender discrimination, social rejection, attachment to the family and the weakness of religious beliefs and the decline of moral values ​​affect the actions of women. Besides, these factors have led to the formation of four types of women’s actions: concordant actions, innovative actions, formative actions, and anomic actions. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between value variables and types of women’s actions. Discussion: The results of the test of research hypotheses show that in some cases there are similarities and differences between the values and actions of women in the three districts of Tehran. In fact, the actions of women under the influence of their values can manifest as one of these four forms. In the affluent region of Tehran, most of the actions were morphological and anomic, while in the central region of Tehran, the actions were innovative and formative in nature, and in the southern region of Tehran, the actions were consonantal and innovative in nature. Some differences were found in the four actions in all areas, and this reflects a change in women’s values.

The cultural development and contacts on Bornholm during the late Palaeolithic and MesolithicThis paper presents the current status of research concerning the late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cultures on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Due to the island’s geographical position between Scandinavia and continental Europe, it can reveal important regional knowledge of all cultures throughout prehistoric times. The article also discusses subjects relating to island-archaeology, such as migration and possible isolation. Furthermore, the results show an updated picture of the settlement pattern on Bornholm during the Mesolithic. Finally, the archaeological finds reveal cultural as well as social contacts between hunter/gatherer societies in the Western Baltic and Bornholm. During the last few decades, the Mesolithic research on Bornholm has been focusing on the Maglemosian Culture. Systematic surveys in search of Maglemosian settlements were not conducted until the early 1980s. As an added bonus from these surveys, some late Palaeolithic and late Mesolithic sites were registered on Bornholm for the first time. Today, more than 125 Maglemosian settlements are recorded, but most of them are still a result of surface collections. Unfortunately, the preservation of organic material is not good on these sites, as they are found on Late Glacial shoreline deposits, i.e. on sandy soil. The Mesolithic habitants were forced to adapt and adjust to a very different raw material situation, and this gives the lithic industry during the Maglemosian Culture an extremely small and microlithic appearance. The lithic material from the Maglemosian Culture on Bornholm reveals some important regional aspects, which have similarities with Maglemosian settlements in Scania. These similarities are primarily caused by the same size of the raw nodules. The raw materials from Bornholm are all from the Maastrichtien and located in secondary deposits brought to the island with the different glaciers from the Quaternary Period. The most common flint type is »kugleflint« (nodular flint), often of good quality and not larger than four to six cm. The second most common material is the Kristianstad flint, which is dark grey and quite coarse and often up to 10-15 cm in size. The other two flint types are grey Danien, which is coarse to fine grained and tends to vary between four to six cm to around 10-15 cm in size. The use of local raw materials makes it easier to find the lithics from the Maglemosian Culture (Figs. 1 & 10). Many of the registered Mesolithic sites are a result of several survey projects.The first survey project concentrated on inland sites located abnormally far from any water resources. We retrieved information from old maps about the old bogs and lakes, which had been drained through the last 100 years. By raising the ground water level on modern maps using GIS, it was possible to recreate the size of the former inland lakes and hereby reconstruct the landscape and the lake. The majority of the Maglemosian sites turned out to be located exactly on the edge of these former lakes. The second survey project involved sites lying near the different creeks on Bornholm. These sites were repeatedly visited during all the phases of the Maglemosian Culture. What caused the habitants to return to a certain area over a 1000 years period? One of the reasons could be the access to migrating salmon and trout. Recent biological research of the trout population from the Kobbe and Bagå creeks indicates that a large number of migrating trout still migrates up the major streams, which may coincide with some of the Maglemosian hotspots. The geographical development in the Baltic region can be divided into some main stages, the Baltic Ice Lake stage, 12000-9300 cal BC, the Yoldia Sea stage, 9300-8500 cal BC, and the Ancylus Lake stage, 8500-7000 cal BC, (Figs. 2 A-D). From the Baltic Ice Lake stage until the beginning of the Ancylus Lake stage, approx. 8200 cal BC, the island was either the northern part of a peninsula covering an area from Rügen in Germany to Bornholm, or an island with a substantial land bridge towards Rügen. In the following phases, from 8200-7200 cal BC, the sea level of the Ancylus Lake was low, and due to continued transgressions, the land bridge was flooded and several smaller islands were created between Pomerania, Rügen, and Bornholm. The size and geographical spreading of these smaller islands is still heavily debated. However, it is clear that Bornholm became an island some time during the Boreal period. The late Palaeolithic finds occur randomly on some Maglemosian sites on the island (Fig.3). A particularly interesting find is the elk antler harpoon found in Vallensgård Mose (Fig. 6). This double rowed harpoon is of a type known from both the Ahrensburg and the Sviderian Cultures. So far, the only excavated Palaeolithic site on Bornholm is in Vallensgård Mose (“mose” is a peat bog). The assemblage from Vallensgård Mose consists of lithic material, found in a layer, which was cryoturbated during permafrost in the Dryas III. The lithic material consists of blade and flake cores, flakes, blades, one end scraper and one tanged point. The raw material is high quality Senonian flint (Figs. 4-5). The typological dating and technological observations from the blade core suggests that the Vallensgård Mose material belongs to the Bromme, the Swiderian, or the Ahrensburgian Period. The question as to which technological complex the Vallensgård material belongs remains open and can only be answered through future excavations of the site. The key to an understanding of the settlement pattern during the late Palaeolithic cultures is the fact that reindeer tend to migrate along fixed routes. However, is it possible to relate an actual reindeer migration route to Bornholm? The datings prove that reindeer were present throughout the entire Late Glacial. The reindeer remains found on Bornholm display no certain signs of human working (cut marks and marrow fracturing). If we consider the datings of reindeer remains from Bornholm, an actual reindeer migration route to or through Bornholm can neither be established nor excluded. The absence of the Ahrensburgian Culture on Bornholm could be caused by the smaller size of the raw materials on Bornholm. This could have forced the Ahrensburgian lithic production to adapt a new technology, which had a Mesolithic character. A climatic explanation for the absence of Ahrensburg material could also be made – for instance that the harsh climate around the Baltic Ice Lake frightened off the Ahrensburg humans, as argued by Svante Björck. According to him, we should expect no scenarios with human activity near the shores of the Baltic Ice Lake. However, this is contradictive to the find of a longitudinally split metatarsal from elk from the bay of Køge Bugt. The faunal picture from the Preboreal containing reindeer elks and beavers proves that Bornholm had a complete package of migrating animals during this period. The reindeers and elks became extinct in the early Boreal when Bornholm became an island. The isolation did not have any effect on other larger mammals, such as red deer, roe deer, and wild boar, which migrated to Bornholm during the late Preboreal and the early Boreal. These animals had the ability to reproduce and adapt to a warmer climate and a denser forest during the Boreal and the Atlantic period. These faunal changes had an impact on the hunter-gatherers who migrated to the island during the Preboreal. A limited number of finds have been registered from the Preboreal phase (9.500-8.000 Cal. BC.) on Bornholm. At Lundebro, a few microliths and blanks were found, which show similarities with the early Mesolithic Barmose Phase, (Figs. 7-8). The pieces are up to three times broader on the average than the typical blades from the Middle and Later Maglemosian phases on Bornholm. This proves that the later habitants on Bornholm were forced to adapt and adjust to a very different raw material situation. From the later Boreal phases, a large number of Maglemosian settlements with different topographic characteristics have been registered. Two different types of coastal sites have been observed on Bornholm, with major difference in accumulation, use, and exploitation of the settlement area (Figs. 7, 20-21). Kobbebro was settled repeatedly, which resulted in a 70 cm thick cultural layer. Less than 500 m from Kobbebro, two other sites – Melsted and Nr. Sandegård – have been excavated. At these sites, a different picture of a coastal site type with separate flint concentrations emerges. All the sites are dominated by microliths, which indicates that hunting played an important role. The coastal sites have been located 100 to 200 metres from the Ancylus Lake, which played an important economic part, as indicated by the repeated habitation. Seal hunting could have taken place in the Ancylus Lake during the Maglemosian Culture, as the ringed seal migrated into the Gulf of Bothnia during the late glacial period. The inland settlements on Bornholm are located on higher elevated grounds near a lake, a stream, or a forced passage. So far, they are only known from surface finds. Another type of settlements is the observation site, which revealed differences in size and duration. The larger site Loklippen is located on elevated ground approx. 115 m above the sea, with a broad outlook over the Vallensgård Mose and near a forced passage, where hunters shoot their pray even today (Figs. 12-14). A big surprise was the fact that the inhabitants of the Loklippen site used quartz as raw material. This rather untraditional, yet systematic, flake production indicates that they were forced to use unconventional materials such as quartz. Quartz assemblages dominate the early Mesolithic settlements in Central and Northern Sweden, with the settlement of Hjälmsjön as the southernmost site dominated by a quartz material. This could prove a direct contact between hunter-gatherers in Bornholm and in Scania, as revealed by the systematic production of quartz flakes. A smaller type of observation site was excavated at Smedegade in Klemensker. This site had a more typical appearance compared to other observation sites and covered an area of four to eight square metres. The site had a limited lithic assemblage and so it was interpreted as a short-term hunting station. However, the situation at Loklippen proves that certain observation sites were more frequently used. The last type of site is the transit camp, which lies on a sandy plateau near a spring and a creek, where the conditions for water transportation, fishing, hunting, and gathering are favourable. Ålyst and Hullegård are two such sites that were visited repeatedly during the Maglemosian Culture, and so contain a complex of smaller or larger settlements. The main lithic production is blades for the production of microliths (Figs. 19-20, 24). The microliths at Ålyst can be dated typologically from the beginning of the Boreal phase (8000 cal BC) until the end of the Boreal period (7000 cal BC) (Fig. 22). Finds from Ålyst indicate that there was also a more permanent settlement that lasted for up to one or two months. It became clear when visible structural evidence representing two oval-shaped huts was found (Figs. 16-18). The two huts show remarkable similarities as to orientation, size, entrance area, fireplaces, and pits, as well as to the combination of lithic tool types. However, differences are seen with respect to the microliths. Lanceolates with lateral retouch and triangular microliths dominate in Hut I, while the microlith inventory of Hut II was confined to lanceolates with lateral retouch. The two huts are probably not contemporary, which can be established by future C-14 dating of the different features from the huts. There are also problems concerning the flint concentrations in the two huts: are they altogether contemporary with the huts? To prove this hypothesis, it is necessary to do extensive refitting between the flint concentrations, the postholes, and the pits both inside and outside the huts. The huts are 7 x 4 m, which gives them an inner area of 30 square metres. The Ålyst huts are thus of a middle size hut structure, compared to the rest of the Maglemosian huts from Northern Europe. Could the oval shaped huts be a normal hut type connected to the Maglemosian Culture in the Western Baltic? If we look at some of the huts found in the Western Baltic, there are indeed parallels to the oval shaped hut at Tingby and Årup in Scania and at Wierzhowo 6 in the north eastern part of Poland, (Figs. 9 & 19). The similarities are particularly remarkable between the Ålyst huts and the Årup hut. These hut structures show similarities in orientation, dimensions, position of the postholes, lithic material, typological dating, etc. (Fig. 18). The striking parallel gives rise to interesting questions about cultural influences and regionalism during the Early Mesolithic in the Western Baltic. The connection between Årup in North-Eastern Scania and Ålyst on Bornholm should be considered as more than chance. However, at the present it is still unclear whether the oval-shaped hut type has a special geographical or topographical distribution in southern Scandinavia. The settlement pattern on Bornholm is influenced by a regional mobility strategy connected to the special geographical conditions on the peninsula. These observations also illustrate the regional differences between the Maglemosian societies and their ability to change mobility patterns and to adapt to the local situation. This opens up for the discussions regarding the coastal vs. inland problem in Southern Scandinavia. The discussion should consider the geographical differences, which could lead to a different mobility strategy in each region of the Maglemosian Culture. Especially the sites from Holmegård, Sværdborg, and Lundby are located closer to the Ancylus Lake than to the Kattegat coast during the Maglemosian Culture. This location could lead to a commuting strategy between the inland lakes and the Ancylus Lake, with sporadic contacts to the marine areas as indicated by several objects of marine origin and the imported flint. This hypothesis – which is supported by the Carbon-13 values from Zealand and from the Barum Woman in Scania – indicates a mobility strategy orientated towards the Ancylus Lake rather than towards the marine coast along Kattegat. All the areas surrounding the Ancylus Lake, including Bornholm, probably had similar mobility and settlement patterns orientated towards the freshwater lake. The settlement pattern around the inland lakes changed drastically in the late Maglemosian Period when Bornholm had become an island. The main difference on Bornholm between the settlement pattern of the island and the settlement patterns from the earlier periods is the apparently deliberate rejection of the inland as a habitation zone and the concentration of settlements in the coastal zone. A possible explanation for this major change could be that some important resources were lost as the larger inland lakes became overgrown and filled with sediments. A similar pattern and decline in site number has been observed around some of the flat-bottomed lakes on Zealand, such as Barmose, Lundby, Sværdborg, and Holmegård. Part of the repeated settlement pattern on Bornholm proves that some of the creeks were used through more than a thousand years during the Maglemosian Culture. This may have had both historical and ecological causes. Some locations may be recognized as specifically orientated towards a certain gender, or a specific season. Furthermore, some sites could be devoted to the exploitation of specific resources of primarily symbolic or mythological rather than economical causes. However, it is clear that the island was occupied and used by hunter-gatherers who shared a landscape with territorial and ideological components. The repeated use of certain hotspots in the landscape could indicate bordered territories determined by the creeks. One family group would hunt and fish in one particular creek, whereas others were connected to another creek. Unfortunately, it is impossible at the present to locate these territorial borders due to the incomplete picture of the site distribution. The settlement patterns presented in this paper must be regarded as preliminary and subject to later modifications, mainly because the dating base for the sites is their content of microliths. As for Bornholm, a preliminary regional microlithic typology with four phases has been suggested (Fig. 22). However, we face serious problems in fine-tuning the typo-chronology of the Maglemosian Culture. If this phase could be split into minor segments, the sites would appear much more sporadic compared to the current picture of the habitation. The repeated settlement pattern and the fact that the typological and functional expressions are unchanged during the Maglemosian Culture indicate that the societies on Bornholm had a continuing social and cultural contact with other groups or tribes within the Maglemosian Culture. Towards the end of the Maglemosian Culture, the habitation became sporadic, and the possibilities of creating contact with other cultural groups became limited and difficult because Bornholm was an island. It is however important to keep in mind that Bornholm seems to have never been completely isolated, and that it had a continuous social and cultural contact with the later Kongemose and Ertebølle Cultures. This is currently supported by the fact that the first Kongemose site (Sandemandsgård) has been registered at Bornholm (Figs. 23-24). Furthermore, a submerged site was located on Southern Bornholm at Boderne at a depth of four to five metres (Figs. 23 & 25). This indicates a now submerged landscape around Bornholm, which was settled in the Mesolithic. The use of this submerged landscape and its impact on the settlement pattern is currently uncertain. These arguments demonstrate that Bornholm was never out of sight or out of mind for the hunter-gatherers of the Kongemose and early Ertebølle Cultures. During the following late Ertebølle Period, a large habitation along the Littorina coast is registered on the island. One of these sites is Troldskoven, which is of particular interest as it is the only settled cave site in Denmark (Figs. 23 & 26). It was found by a coincidence when a German tourist excavated the site in 1939 and collected a large lithic material. The material was subsequently lost under the World War II. During the following years, the site was more or less forgotten until we took an interest in the cave.In 2004, we conducted a small survey and dry sieving of the surface of the cave and found lithic material. This could indicate that the cave was inhabited during the Early Ertebølle Culture. However, it is not possible to conclude any final dating of the assemblage until more investigations of the cave have been conducted. Another important late Ertebølle site on Bornholm is Grisby. This site demonstrates fishing and hunting – in particular on marine mammals. The artefacts from Grisby include imported lithic artefacts, Limhamn axes, and groove-decorated ceramics with an elongated cylinder-shaped base (Fig.27). All these artefacts are characteristic of the East Scandinavian Ertebølle sites, which were part of an established network across the Baltic Sea. These factors could be the basis of a swift transition to the Neolithic.To sum up, Bornholm in the late Palaeolithic was the northern part of a peninsula or an island with a substantial land bridge, which covered an area from Rügen and Pomerania to Bornholm. The settlement in the late Palaeolithic is sporadic, although the excavated site in the bog Vallensgård Mose indicates possible contacts with Rügen. This material presumably belongs to either the Bromme or the Ahrensburgian Culture in the Allerød or Dryas III. During the Dryas III and Preboreal, faunal remains of reindeer and elks have been registered on Bornholm, but there is no evidence of settlements in the Ahrensburg Culture and only little evidence from the earliest Maglemosian Culture. In the following Boreal phases, a large migration to the island along with a warmer climate and a changed fauna has been registered. During the late Maglemosian Culture, Bornholm became an isolated island and the settlement pattern changed. The number of inhabited sites was reduced and the settlements concentrated near the coast. In the Maglemosian Culture, it has been possible from the archaeological material to observe continuous social and cultural contacts with other Maglemosian societies in the Western Baltic, as exemplified by the changes in flint technology and the similarities concerning the hut structures in this region. These facts illustrate how geographic developments challenge a hunter/gatherer group exceedingly and prove their ability to adapt to changed conditions, as seen during the Maglemosian Culture in the Baltic region. During the following Kongemose and early Ertebølle cultures, the island had a sporadic habitation, but new finds, especially underwater sites, could change the impression of the settlement distribution. In the late Ertebølle Culture, an increasing number of coastal sites have been registered on the island, and this clearly proves cultural contacts with Scania. Finally, the consistent contacts between Bornholm, Scania, Rügen, and Pomerania could be one of the main reasons why the process of neolithisation seems to have been swift compared to other parts of Southern Scandinavia. The prehistory on Bornholm also has its peculiarities with an exotic quartz production during the Maglemosian Culture and the first cave site attached to the Ertebølle Culture observed in Denmark. In this article, we have described how the geographical changes have challenged the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to the extreme. One of their most important faculties was the ability to exploit and maintain cultural as well as social contacts with other Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic societies in the Baltic region.Claudio Casati og Lasse SørensenAfdeling for ArkæologiSaxo-InstituttetKøbenhavns Universitet

AbstractThe current study involved multilevel analysis of high-stakes examination results (i.e., GCSE) in Northern Ireland to investigate gender differentials in mathematical achievement, whereas most previous research in the area used results from low-stakes tests (i.e., PISA, TIMSS). The analysis supported the gender similarities hypothesis with respect to both overall and content domain-specific mathematical attainment. Similar conclusions were drawn from the current study as have been reported in studies into gender differentials using data from low-stakes assessments in the respective jurisdiction. This suggests that previously expressed concerns in the literature about the viability of using data derived from low-stakes assessments to accurately assess gender differentials in achievement may be unfounded. Furthermore, the context for the current study permitted an investigation into the effects of school type (grammar versus non-grammar) and gender on overall and domain-specific mathematical achievement, an area that has received scant attention in the literature. School type was not found to have an effect on the applicability of the gender similarities hypothesis with respect to mathematical achievement. The study findings are likely to prove useful to researchers and policymakers who are interested in gender equity issues in mathematics.

Introduction : Alzheimer dementia (AD) has been reported in both men and women. However, factors contributing to gender differences are not fully understood. We tested the hypothesis that specific pharmacological, demographic, and risk factors contribute to gender difference in AD. Methods : A retrospective analytical approach was used to analyze data from 12,632 AD patients, comprising 4,584 men and 8,048 women. Univariate and multivariate analyses determined the factors contributing to the gender difference in AD patients. Results : About 36% of AD patients were men, and 64% were women. Citalopram (OR = 1.187, 95% CI, 1.044 – 1.350, P = 0.009) was associated with men, while escitalopram (OR = 1.213, 95% CI, 1.119 – 1.315, P<0.001) was associated with women. In both men and women, increasing age (OR = 1.075, 95% CI, 1.071 – 1.079, P<0.001/OR = 1.096, 95% CI, 1.093 – 1.100, P<0.001), tobacco use (OR = 1.150, 95% CI, 1.054 – 1.254, P = 0.002/OR = 1.150, 95% CI, 1.073 – 1.233, P<0.001), and black patients (OR = 2.380, 95% CI, 2.120 – 2.674, P<0.001/OR = 1.395, 95% CI, 1.268 – 1.535, P<0.001) were associated with AD. Conclusions : Our findings reveal similarities and differences in factors associated with both men and women AD patients, suggesting the development of management strategies for the care of AD.

Background: NHLBI supported Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist trial (TOPCAT) (NCT00094302) investigated whether treatment with spironolactone reduces hospitalization due to heart failure (hHF) in 3,445 adults with prior heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction over 45%. We reused publicly available individual patient-level data from NHLBI Data Repository (BioLINCC) to perform hypothesis-generating secondary analyses by machine learning (ML) on the American TOPCAT cohort (n=1767) to identify gender and age groups specific baseline (bl) predictors of hHF. Methods: The subjects were stratified into subgroups based on gender (male and female) and age (50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-90). Random Survival Forest (RSF), a non-parametric ML approach, evaluated 172 bl variables as predictors of hHF. Top 10 predictors were subsequently included in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The top 10 predictors of hHF are shown in Figure 1. Overall, renal and hematological biomarkers appeared prominently in the top 10 predictors for these patients. While liver markers were among top predictors for hHF in males, diabetes treatment and diabetic complications were top predictors for females. Also, diabetic treatment was a top predictor among age group 50-59, diabetic complications were top predictors among age groups 50-59 and 70-79, liver markers were top predictors among age groups 70-79, and race and years of smoking were top predictors among age group 60-69. Importantly, the use of potassium sparing diuretic at bl was the top predictor among age group 80-90. Conclusion: Using ML, we uncovered in an unbiased fashion, otherwise overlooked bl predictors of hHF in a large, international, multi-center trial like TOPCAT. Thus, ML can help to identify similarities and differences of disease and treatment outcomes among gender, race, ethnicity, and age specific subgroups and advance precision medicine.

Background Music has been associated with therapeutic properties for thousands of years across a vast number of diverse regions and cultures. This study expands upon our current understanding of music’s influence on human neurophysiology by investigating the effects of various music genres on cerebral cortex activity using electroencephalography (EEG). Methods A randomized, controlled study design was used. EEG data were recorded from 23 healthy adults, aging 18–29 years, while listening to a music sequence consisting of five randomized songs and two controls. The five studied music genres include: Classical, Tribal Downtempo, Psychedelic Trance (Psytrance), Goa Trance, and Subject Choice. Results Controls were most strongly associated with relative decreases in beta frequencies and increases in alpha frequencies. Psytrance was most strongly associated with relative increases in theta and delta frequencies. The lowest relative percentages of beta frequencies and highest relative percentages of alpha frequencies occurred in the occipital and parietal regions. The highest relative percentages of theta and delta frequencies occurred in the frontal and temporal regions. Subjects with prior music training exhibited relative increases in delta frequencies in the frontal region. Subject gender and music preferences did not have a significant influence on EEG activity. Conclusions Findings from this study support those of previous music therapy studies and provide novel insights regarding music’s influence on human neurophysiology. Our findings also support the hypothesis that music may promote changes in cerebral cortex activity that has similarities to non-rapid eye movement sleep, while the listener remains awake.

Abstract Background The interplay of host, agent, and environment implicated in traumatic brain injury (TBI) events is difficult to account for in hypothesis-driven research. Data-driven analysis of injury data can enable insight into injury events in novel ways. This research dissected complex and multidimensional data at the time of the TBI event by exploiting data mining and information visualization methods. Methods We drew upon population-based decade-long health administrative data collected through the routine operation of the publicly funded health system in Ontario, Canada. We applied a computational approach to categorize health records of 235,003 patients with TBI versus the same number of reference patients without TBI, individually matched based on sex, age, place of residence, and neighbourhood income quantile. We adopted the basic concepts of the Haddon Matrix (host, agent, environment) to organize emerging factors significantly related to TBI versus non-TBI events. To explore sex differences, the data of male and female patients with TBI were plotted on heatmaps and clustered using hierarchical clustering algorithms. Results Based on detected similarities, the computational technique yielded 34 factors on which individual TBI-event codes were loaded, allowing observation of a set of definable patterns within the host, the agent, and the environment. Differences in the patterns of host, agent and environment were found between male and female patients with TBI, which are currently not identified based on data from injury surveillance databases. The results were internally validated. Conclusions The study outlines novel areas for research relevant to TBI and offers insight into how computational and visual techniques can be applied to advance the understanding of TBI event. Results highlight unique aspects of sex differences of the host and agent at the injury event, as well as differences in exposure to adverse social and environmental circumstances, which can be a function of gender, aiding in future studies of injury prevention and gender-transformative care.

Introduction: The New Jersey Neuroscience Institute (NJNSI) serves the Middlesex County, NJ which, has a population of 750,000 (68.4% white, 7.3% Asian-Indian, 9.1% African-American, 15.2% others; 13.6% Hispanic of any race, based on 2000 US Census). This prospective multi-ethnic hospital-based registry provides a unique opportunity to study Asian-Indian stroke/TIA patients. Hypothesis: There are differences of stroke risk factors/subtypes between Asian-Indian and Caucasian stroke/TIA patient groups, in light of similar differences noted in the African-American and Hispanic groups individually in relation to the Caucasian group. Methods: Between 1998 and 2009, data on stroke risk factors and stroke subtypes were collected on 1100 consecutive stroke/TIA patients (1037 or 94.3% non-Hispanic; 63 or 5.7% Hispanic) admitted to the NJNSI. Of the non-Hispanics, 768 (74.1%) were Caucasian, 99 (9.6%) Asian-Indian, 139 (13.4%) African-American, 31 (3.0%) were others. Stroke risk factors assessed included age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation evaluated by 48-hour Holter monitor, hyperlipidemia evaluated by fasting lipid profile, prevalent coronary artery disease, smoking history, alcohol use, carotid stenosis (>70%) evaluated by duplex ultrasound, fasting homocysteine level and stroke subtypes (using TOAST classification). Asian-Indians, African-American and Hispanic groups were individually compared with the Caucasian group (control) in this study using odds ratio (OR) analyses and X2 test for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables. Results: The Asian-Indian group was younger (66±12 vs 72±14, p <0.001), higher proportion of males (OR 2.1, p=0.001) and diabetes (OR 2.3, p< 0.001); lower proportion of atrial fibrillation (OR 0.2, p<0.001), smokers (OR 0.3, p<0.001), Alcohol users (OR 0.4, p=0.003) and higher fasting plasma homocysteine level (17.2±20.3 vs 11.9±7.4, p=0.002). There were fewer strokes related to cardioembolism (OR 0.2, p<0.0001) and a higher number of strokes related to small vessel occlusive disease (OR 2.4, p = 0.001). The African-American group had lower proportion of carotid stenosis (OR 0.5, p=0.007) and atrial fibrillation (OR 0.6, p=0.034). African-American group had higher levels of fasting triglyceride level (Median 92 vs 122 mg/dL). The Hispanic group resembled the Asian-Indian group in that they were younger (64±16 vs 72±14, p< 0.001), had a higher proportion of diabetes (OR 1.7, p=0.039), lower proportion of atrial fibrillation (OR 0.5, p=0.037) than the Caucasian group. Conclusions: The Asian-Indian stroke/TIA group in this community has unique attributes in respect to stroke risk factors and stroke subtype. There are few similarities in the stroke risk factors with the Hispanic stroke/TIA group.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine individuals' levels of work ethic amongst current and recent university attendees across three countries. This article presents the results of a survey of 537 respondents from the United States of America, Korea and China, thus extending the previous research into work ethic, often conducted from a Western perspective. The comparative study aims to enhance the understanding of cross-cultural and gender differences and similarities whilst probing for the levels of work ethic amongst the respondents.Design/methodology/approachA comparative research method was adopted because the authors' aim was to probe similarities and differences across three societies. Multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests were utilised to explore gender and country-related differences. Cluster analysis was applied to probe for segments highly similar to each other in the levels of work ethic of the respondents.FindingsThe results confirm the hypothesised differences between countries as well as across gender groups, with American females having the highest levels of work ethic, closely followed by Chinese males and females. Three distinct segments – low, medium and high levels of work ethic – were found in all three countries, indicating that there are individuals in each of the societies who could benefit from strategies for increasing the individuals' levels of work ethic.Originality/valueNovel gender comparisons of the three country groups revealed American females as having the highest levels of work ethic and Korean females the lowest, whilst the identification of clusters of low, medium and high levels of work ethic provides evidence of the need to increase levels of work ethic to enhance productivity, regardless of the country of origin.

<p class="MsoBlockText" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This study investigates the gender differences in job attribute preferences and job choice among a group of university students in China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Due to the shortage of well-trained professionals and managers in China, both foreign and Chinese organizations compete for highly trained candidates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Correlation and regression analysis on data from 1,231 university students in China were used to test three hypotheses. Similarities between how men and women view the importance of advancement, compensation, and learning and overseas opportunities, in employment by foreign and national enterprises, were observed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>But, on issues of job security, firm size, and nationality of supervisor, gender differences were present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Implications on employee recruitment for Chinese and foreign enterprises are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. </span></span></span></p>