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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Kinesiology / Craig A. Harms / The overall aim of this dissertation is to further understand sex differences in the cardiopulmonary responses during exercise in younger and older individuals. Emphasis is directed towards the influence of sex in modulating respiratory muscle blood flow and the inspiratory muscle metaboreflex. The first investigation of this dissertation (Chapter 2) demonstrated that sex differences do not alter respiratory muscle blood flow at rest or during exercise. The second investigation (Chapter 3) demonstrated that sex differences exist in the cardiovascular consequences of the inspiratory muscle metaboreflex. Specifically, premenopausal women, compared to age-matched men, exhibited attenuated increases in mean arterial pressure and limb vascular resistance as well as decreases in limb blood flow during inspiratory muscle metaboreflex activation. In Chapter 4, we demonstrated that postmenopausal, compared to pre-menopausal, women exhibit greater increases in mean arterial pressure and limb vascular resistance and decreases in limb blood flow during activation of the inspiratory muscle metaboreflex. Furthermore, no differences in the cardiovascular consequences were present between older men and women or younger and older men with activation of the inspiratory muscle metaboreflex. These data suggest that the tonically active inspiratory muscle metaboreflex present during maximal exercise will result in less blood flow redistribution away from the locomotor muscles in pre-menopausal women compared to postmenopausal women, as well as younger and older men. In conclusion, sex differences in young adults incur a major impact in the cardiovascular consequences during inspiratory muscle metaboreflex activation, while not modifying respiratory muscle blood flow.

Lee Ka-man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-88). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Members of Thesis Committee --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Chinese Abstract --- p.v / Acknowledgements --- p.vii / Table of Contents --- p.ix / List of Tables --- p.xi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction to the Research Question --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 1.2 --- Life Course Perspective / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Basic Principles of the Life Course Perspective / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Timings of life events / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Cohort Analysis to Study Social Change / Chapter 1.3. --- Determinants of Family Timing / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Analytical framework --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 2.2 --- Gender Comparison / Chapter 2.3 --- Cohort Comparison / Chapter 2.4 --- Determinants of Family Timings / Chapter 2.4.1 --- The Extension of Education / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Work Career Development / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Migration History / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Family Formation in a Changing Social Context --- p.28 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 3.2 --- Migration Experiences / Chapter 3.3 --- Education Expansion / Chapter 3.4 --- Increased Labour Force Participation / Chapter 3.5 --- First Marriage / Chapter 3.6 --- First Birth / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Data and Method --- p.43 / Chapter 4.1 --- Data and Measures / Chapter 4.2 --- Method / Chapter Chapter 5 --- First Marriage --- p.53 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 5.2 --- Gender Comparison / Chapter 5.3 --- Cohort Comparison / Chapter 5.4 --- Summary / Chapter Chapter 6 --- First Birth --- p.62 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 6.2 --- Transition to Parenthood since Age15 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Gender Comparison / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Cohort Comparison / Chapter 6.3 --- Transition into First birth since Marriage / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Gender Comparison / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Cohort Comparison / Chapter 6.4 --- Summary / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Discussion and Conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter 7.1 --- Research Questions / Chapter 7.2 --- Key Findings / Chapter 7.3 --- Limitations / Chapter 7.4 --- Implications for Future Studies / Chapter 7.4.1 --- Sibling Order and Number of Sibling / Chapter 7.4.2 --- Parents' Educational Attainment and Occupational Status / Chapter 7.4.3 --- Residential Arrangement / Bibliography --- p.80

In Year 9, when boys and girls are expected to make choices regarding what they want to become when they grow up, many take a crucial decision to drop or side-line IT as an academic subject, which in turn steers them away from a possible future IT career. This thesis examines the reasons why IT careers are not well-imagined or popular amongst teenagers at this critical time of their lives. Taking the widely acknowledged ‘women in IT' problem as a starting point, it focuses specifically on gender differences that exist in relation to how teenagers form their ideas about IT as an academic subject, as a possible career and in everyday life. 79 boys and 85 girls participated in this study from a mixture of 12 state-maintained and nine independent secondary schools (single-sex and co-educational) in Southeast London Borough. This research was exploratory and used an age-appropriate, participatory and mixed-methods framework incorporating: a questionnaire, a creativity map exercise, group and individual interviews, mini-focus groups, and observations. During the interviews, students were also provided with information and opportunities regarding IT careers. I argue this has been of benefit to the students as well as the research, as it has prompted them to think about a career they previously had not even considered. The findings of my study indicate boys were more likely than girls to say that they liked and enjoyed IT/ICT1 as a subject and would consider IT as a career choice for the future. Evidence throughout the study does not suggest girls lack confidence with regard to their general engagement with and use of technology, compared to the boys. Rather, the findings suggest more needs to be done in the area of role models, mentors and careers advice to inform more girls (and boys) about IT careers. The thesis concludes with recommendations for further research, especially in light of the new computing curriculum, which commenced in September 2014.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The majority of studies examining the role of prenatal androgens on abnormal behavior have focused on developmental disorders showing large male to female ratios (i.e., autism and Tourette's Syndrome). There is a scarcity of research examining the role of prenatal sex hormones on female-linked disorders or disorders showing adult onset. This study is the first to evaluate the organizational and activational influences of sex hormones on adult levels of anxiety, while simultaneously examining previously reported hormone-behavior associations. In addition, this study explores the relation between prenatal and postnatal sex hormones and two other female-linked disorders, depression and borderline personality. As part of this study, participants (n = 110) completed a battery of psychopathology questionnaires, gender role measures, and spatial/cognitive tasks. Prenatal androgen levels were indirectly measured by means of the index to ring finger ratio (2D:4D), and testosterone and estrogen levels were obtained from saliva samples. Results replicate previously reported sex differences in anxiety and gendered behavior and confirm various hormone-behavior associations. More importantly, results provide preliminary evidence for the organizational role of prenatal androgens in two female-linked conditions, anxiety and borderline personality. Individuals with a higher (i.e., more feminine) 2D:4D reported greater symptoms of trait anxiety and borderline personality (i.e., affective instability), and this effect appeared to be strongest in males.

The time-course of the attentional bias to threat in women and men was examined in order to clarify the validity of the "vigilant-avoidant hypothesis" and extend findings with spider pictures (Rinck and Becker, 2006) to other ecologically valid stimuli. Two hundred thirty-one (104 men, 127 women) participants pre-selected for high and low trait anxiety completed a battery of mood measures and viewed a series of slides with competing angry versus friendly faces. For a subset of these participants (54 men, 50 women), fixations and gaze durations were recorded via an eye tracker. All participants completed a face recognition task and provided copy and live measures of digit ratio (2D:4D), a putative marker of prenatal androgen exposure. Consistent with results from Rinck and Becker (2006), it was predicted that highly anxious individuals would show a vigilant-avoidant pattern toward angry faces while lesser anxious individuals would attend equally to angry and friendly faces over time. In addition, it was hypothesized that the vigilant-avoidant pattern would be stronger in highly anxious women. For secondary hypotheses, it was expected that digit ratio would correlate positively with trait anxiety and that attentional patterns for threat would differ between those with low and high digit ratio. Results did not support a heightened threat bias in high anxious versus low anxious individuals. Both groups showed an early bias for the angry female face during the first 1500 ms of presentation and a general avoidance for the angry male face over the course of 60 s. Although no association was found between trait anxiety and digit ratio, there was a negative correlation between reports of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and live left hand digit ratio in men. Moreover, early attentional patterns for angry faces appeared to differ between women with low and high digit ratio, suggesting that prenatal androgen action may lead to cognitive biases associated with the development and maintenance of anxiety.

The majority of studies examining the role of prenatal androgens on abnormal behavior have focused on developmental disorders showing large male to female ratios (i.e., autism and Tourette's Syndrome). There is a scarcity of research examining the role of prenatal sex hormones on female-linked disorders or disorders showing adult onset. This study is the first to evaluate the organizational and activational influences of sex hormones on adult levels of anxiety, while simultaneously examining previously reported hormone-behavior associations. In addition, this study explores the relation between prenatal and postnatal sex hormones and two other female-linked disorders, depression and borderline personality. As part of this study, participants (n = 110) completed a battery of psychopathology questionnaires, gender role measures, and spatial/cognitive tasks. Prenatal androgen levels were indirectly measured by means of the index to ring finger ratio (2D:4D), and testosterone and estrogen levels were obtained from saliva samples. Results replicate previously reported sex differences in anxiety and gendered behavior and confirm various hormone-behavior associations. More importantly, results provide preliminary evidence for the organizational role of prenatal androgens in two female-linked conditions, anxiety and borderline personality. Individuals with a higher (i.e., more feminine) 2D:4D reported greater symptoms of trait anxiety and borderline personality (i.e., affective instability), and this effect appeared to be strongest in males.