Background: Individuals with obesity face weight-related discrimination in many life domains, including workplace bullying, especially in female employees with obesity. However, associations between experiences of workplace bullying and psychological health impairments considering weight status and sex remain unclear. Methods: Within a representative population-based sample of N = 1290 employees, self-reported experiences of workplace bullying were examined for variations by weight status and sex. Using path analyses, sex-specific mediation effects of workplace bullying on associations between weight status and work-related psychological health impairments (burnout symptoms, quality of life) were tested. Results: Employees with obesity experienced more workplace bullying than those with normal weight. Workplace bullying was positively associated with psychological health impairments and partially mediated the associations between higher weight status and elevated burnout symptoms and lower quality of life in women, but not in men. Conclusions: The result that more experiences of workplace bullying were, compared with weight status, more strongly associated with work-related psychological health impairments in women, but not in men, uniquely extends evidence on sex-specific effects within weight-related discrimination. Continued efforts by researchers, employers, and policy makers are needed to reduce weight-related discrimination in work settings, eventually increasing employees’ health and job productivity.

No description available.

C1q TNF Related Protein 3 (CTRP3), is a cytokine that is primarily secreted from adipose tissue, which classifies it as an adipokine. Our previous research has shown that CTRP3 prevents alcoholic fatty liver disease (ALD) in male mice. However, even when accounting for confounding factors such as absolute and relative alcohol intake, females are more sensitive to the effects of consumption compared to male mice. Therefore, the goal of this project was to determine whether CTRP3 prevented ALD in female mice. Methods: Female wild type (WT) and female CTRP3 transgenic over expressing (Tg) mice were fed an ethanol containing liquid diet (5% v/v) for 6 weeks. Daily weight and food intake measurements were taken and external heat-pads were placed under a portion of the cage to facilitate thermoregulation. Hepatic steatosis was determined by total triglyceride quantification and lipid droplet quantitation in liver sections. Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA, t-test, or Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test as appropriate. Results: There was no difference between WT and Tg mice in food intake or body weight. There was no difference in survival between WT and Tg mice, however, Tg mice trended towards a reduced rate of survival compared with WT mice (78% in WT versus 44% in Tg, p=0.13). Stereological analysis indicated no difference in the percent of lipid liver volume between the two groups (WT 7.2±3.6 vs Tg 5.1±4.1%). This finding was consistent with no difference in total hepatic triglyceride accumulation observed between WT and Tg mice (12.7±4.4 vs. 13.1±6.8 mg triglycerides/gram liver protein). Conclusion: Combined these data indicate that unlike previous studies with male mice, CTRP3 is not protective against alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis in female mice. Combined, these data indicate that the adipokines such as CTRP3 contribute to physiology in a sex-specific manner.

Cardiac troponins are crucial for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Despite known differences in their diagnostic implication, there are no recommendations for only one of the two troponins, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and troponin T (cTnT) so far. In an everyday routine diagnostic, cTnT (Roche) as well as cTnI (Abbott) were measured in 5667 samples from 3264 patient cases. We investigated the number of identical or discrepant troponin findings. Regarding cTnI, we considered both, sex-dependent and unisex cutoffs. In particular, the number of cTnT positive and cTnI negative results was strikingly high in 14.0% of cTnT positive samples and increases to 23.8% by using sex-specific cTnI cutoffs. This group was considerably greater than the group of cTnI positive and cTnT negative results, also after elimination of patients with an eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Comparing the troponin cases with a dynamic increase or decrease between two measurements, we saw a balanced number of discrepant cases (between cTnT+/cTnI− and cTnT−/cTnI+), which was, however, still present. Using ROC analysis, sex-dependent cutoffs improved sensitivity and specificity of cTnI. This study shows in a large cohort that comparing the two cardiac troponins does not amount to identical analytical results. Consideration of sex-dependent cutoffs may improve sensitivity and specificity.

Society would tell us that women have a superior sense of smell compared to men, but studies on innate olfactory ability have failed to verify these results. Perhaps women outperform men on some tests of olfactory ability due to the effect of a societal bias on perception, instead. The goal of this study was to determine if the presence of a sex-specific societal bias could affect an individual’s olfactory perception by influencing an individual to both rate an olfactory stimulus in line with the presented bias while also perceiving a noticeable difference according to the bias’s expectations. During both biased and unbiased conditions, 32 adults (women, n =16) were asked to smell and rate a set of 20 flasks all containing the same concentration of butanol. The biased scores were the same for both sexes with only the presentation of the bias changing. Participants were also asked to answer a follow-up survey tasked at determining why they rated to two conditions differently. The results showed that participants tended to rate in line with the sex-specific bias for measures of intensity. No difference for intensity scores were observed between the sexes. All 32 participants marked on the follow-up survey that they rated differently between conditions, with the majority of them indicating that they did perceive the biased condition as more intense. The results from this experiment provide support for the hypothesis that the presence of a societal bias can potentially affect how an individual perceives an olfactory stimulus. / Samhället säger oss att kvinnor har ett bättre luktsinne jämfört med män, men studier på medfödd luktförmåga har misslyckats att verifiera detta. Det är möjligt att kvinnor presterar bättre än män i vissa studier om luktförmåga på grund av fördomar som ändrar deras uppfattning om deras luktförmåga. Målet med denna studie var att avgöra om närvaron av en könsspecifik bias kunde påverka en individs luktuppfattning genom att påverka en individ att skatta en lukt i linje med en bias och samtidigt uppleva en märkvärd skillnad enligt förväntningar från biasen. Under två omgångar, en med och en utan bias, ombads 32 vuxna (kvinnor, n = 16) att lukta och skatta en samling av 20 flaskor där alla innehöll samma koncentration av n-butanol. Biasen var samma för män och kvinnor, där endast presentationen ändrades. Deltagarna ombads också fylla i en uppföljningsenkät med syftet att avgöra varför de skattade de två omgångarna olika. Resultaten visade på att deltagarna tenderade att skatta i linje med den könsspecifika biasen för skattningar av intensitet. Ingen skillnad i värden för intensitet observerades mellan könen. Alla 32 deltagare markerade på uppföljningsenkäten att de skattade olika mellan de två omgångarna, och att majoriteten indikerade att de upplevde lukterna med bias som mer intensiva. Resultaten från detta experiment ger stöd för hypotesen att närvaron av en bias potentiellt kan påverka hur en individ upplever en lukt.

Rising archipelagos provide unique settings for the study of the temporal and spatial dynamics of their biota. This offers the possibility to study the ecology and genetics of early successional processes; both between islands that differ in age and within islands when already established organisms have to keep pace with the changing environment. I have worked in the Skeppsvik Archipelago housing about 100 islands that due to land uplift vary in age, thus representing various stages of primary succession. I have utilized a naturally created metapopulation of Silene dioica, which in this archipelago is a dominant plant of the deciduous border, offering the possibility to study subpopulations on islands of different ages and in different phases of primary succession. Many plant species exist as metapopulations, which consists of many local populations which may differ in size and degree of connectivity. Metapopulations are further characterized by recurrent colorizations and extinctions of local populations, meaning that a species continually must disperse and relocate to allow for persistence in this system. For a dioecious plant species, gene flow is in the shape of seeds and pollen and to allow for the persistence of populations, it is necessary that levels of seed dispersal and pollen gene flow are enough to ensure both colonisation, establishment and subsequent population growth. Levels of seed dispersal and pollen gene flow is in turn influenced by how the two sexes partition resources between reproduction, growth and survival. In paper I, I combined a field survey, a common garden experiment and a nine-year demographic study to assess the demographic consequences of sex-specific resource allocation and to investigate if differential costs of reproduction may be a driver in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in dioecious Silene dioica. Significant somatic intersexual dimorphism was found with females being the larger sex, both in terms of above – and belowground biomass. Furthermore, the reproductive effort of females exceeds that of males across a growing season which largely confirms what has been observed earlier in dioecious, herbaceous plant species. According to the cost of reproduction hypothesis, high reproductive investment should result in trade-offs with somatic and/or life-history traits. Somatic trade-offs were not observed, and instead I found strong, positive associations between reproductive investment and vegetative growth in both males and females. Compensation mechanisms were found in both sexes although females are generally more efficient at compensating their reproductive costs. At the end of a flowering season, after having paid the current costs of reproduction, females are better than males at provisioning perennial roots and rosettes potentially influencing the ability to set future flower buds and winter survival. Trade-offs were found between current and future reproduction and survival, but this is condition dependent and compensation through frequency of flowering plays an important role. The cost of reproduction hypothesis appears to play some role in driving the somatic and demographic sexual dimorphisms observed in this system but sexual selection acting on males will be a fruitful avenue for future research. In paper II, I investigated the population genetic consequences of metapopulation dynamics in Silene dioica. The occurrence of islands in different phases of primary succession together with successional gradients across islands, makes it possible to investigate the genetic dynamics occurring in an age-structured metapopulation across several hierarchical levels. Genetic diversity and differentiation were estimated in eight young, recently colonised populations and in ten populations of an intermediate successional stage. Young populations were less genetically diverse compared to older populations, indicating that bottlenecks, created by small founding groups derived from a limited number of source populations, reduce the genetic diversity within newly founded populations. The observation of strong genetic structure both between islands and between patches with islands, indicates that gene flow is restricted across several spatial levels in this system. However, the lack of statistically significant differences in genetic differentiation between young and intermediate populations, indicates that levels of gene flow may not be high enough to reduce the genetic differentiation that arise from the initial founder event. The patterns of sexual dimorphism and the roles of males and females in Silene dioica have evolved to allow persistence in an ecological and population context of this species. The nature of this habitat, where islands rise up from the sea creating new environments for colonisation while at the same time, autogenic primary succession processes eventually leads to extinction, means that S. dioica continuously must relocate within successional phases for its persistence. The obvious success of this dioecious plant is apparent as it is one of the few dominant species in the deciduous border. This suggests that levels of seed dispersal and gene flow are sufficient enough to allow for establishment and persistence of island populations and that the sexual dimorphisms that have evolved in this metapopulation system act to increase levels of gene flow. The "live hard – die young" strategy, with extensive flowering bouts, which we find in the males may have evolved as a way of maintaining sufficient levels of genetic diversity in the metapopulation but will only be a possible strategy if there are continuous opportunities for re-establishments. Thus, the continuous land uplift that is occurring in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia may very well be a prerequisite for the long-term persistence of this dioecious, perennial plant species. / Landhöjningsprocesser i skärgårdsmiljöer skapar nya habitat som gör det möjligt att studera naturliga populationer i ett rumsligt och tidsmässigt sammanhang. Detta möjliggör studier av ekologi och genetik i tidiga successionsprocesser, både mellan öar som skiljer sig åt åldersmässigt och inom öar, där redan etablerade organismer måste anpassa sig till en föränderlig miljö. Jag har utfört studier i Skeppsviks skärgård som rymmer cirka 100 öar. På grund av landhöjningen så varierar dessa öar i ålder och de representerar således olika stadier i primärsuccession. Jag har använt mig av en naturlig Silene dioica metapopulation lokaliserad i Skeppsviks skärgård. Många växtarter existerar i metapopulationer, vilket består av ett antal lokala populationer som kan skilja sig åt i storlek och grad av anknytning. Metapopulationer kännetecknas även av återkommande koloniseringar och utrotningar av lokala populationer, vilket innebär att en art kontinuerligt måste sprida sig för att garantera sin fortlevnad i detta system. Genflöde inom dioika växtarter är i form av pollen och frön, och för att populationer skall kunna överleva så är det nödvändigt att nivåerna av fröspridning och pollen-genflöde är tillräckliga för att säkerhetsställa både kolonisering, etablering och efterföljande populationstillväxt. Nivåer av fröspridning och pollen-genflöde påverkas i sin tur av hur de två könen partitionerar resurser mellan reproduktion, tillväxt och överlevnad. I den första studien har jag kombinerat en fältundersökning, ett frilandsexperiment och en nioårig demografisk studie för att undersöka de demografiska konsekvenserna av könsspecifik resursallokering och för att utreda om könsspecifika skillnader i reproduktiv kostnad kan vara en drivkraft för evolutionen av sexuell dimorfism hos den dioika växten Silene dioica. Jag upptäckte signifikant somatisk intersexuell dimorfism där honor hade betydligt mer ovanjordisk och underjordisk biomassa jämfört med hanar. Över en växtsäsong så investerar honorna mer resurser i reproduktion, vilket i stor utsträckning bekräftar vad som tidigare har observerats i örtartade, dioika växter. Enligt hypotesen för reproduktiv kostnad så bör en hög investering i reproduktion leda till trade-offs med somatiska egenskaper, t.ex. tillväxt. Jag observerade inga somatiska trade-offs och istället fann jag positiva associationer mellan reproduktion och tillväxt hos både honor och hanar. Båda könen verkar ha utvecklat kompensationsmekanismer, även om honorna generellt är mer effektiva i hur de kompenserar för sina reproduktiva kostnader. Vid slutet av en växtsäsong, efter att ha betalat för de nuvarande reproduktiva investeringarna, så är honor bättre än hanar på att allokera resurser till fleråriga strukturer, såsom bladrosetter och rötter. Detta kan potentiellt påverka hur de anlägger sina knoppanlag för nästkommande år och hur väl de överlever vintern. Trade-offs hittades mellan nuvarande reproduktion och framtida reproduktionsmöjligheter och överlevnad men detta var habitat-specifikt och kompensation med hjälp av hur ofta en växt blommar under sin livstid spelar en viktig roll. Hypotesen för reproduktiv kostnad verkar vara en del av förklaringen till den somatiska och demografiska könsdimorfism som observerats i detta system men sexuell selektion, som verkar på hanar, kan vara ett möjligt område för framtida studier. I den andra studien undersökte jag populationsgenetiska konsekvenser av metapopulationsdynamik i Silene dioica. Förekomsten av öar i olika faser av primär succession tillsammans med olika grader av succession inom öar gör det möjligt att undersöka den genetiska dynamiken som uppträder i en åldersstrukturerad metapopulation över flera hierarkiska nivåer. Genetisk mångfald och differentiering uppskattades i åtta unga, nyligen koloniserade populationer och i tio populationer av ett intermediärt successionsstadium. Unga populationer hade lägre genetisk diversitet jämfört med äldre populationer, vilket indikerar att genetiska flaskhalsar, skapade av fåtal antal koloniserande individer, s.k. founders, som härrör från ett begränsat antal källpopulationer, minskar den genetiska diversiteten inom nybildade populationer. Observationen av stark genetisk strukturering, mellan och inom öar, indikerar att genflödet är begränsat över flera rumsliga nivåer i detta system. Bristen på statistiskt signifikanta skillnader i genetisk differentiering mellan unga och intermediära populationer indikerar emellertid att nivåer av genflöde kanske inte är tillräckligt höga för att minska den genetiska differentieringen som uppstår från den ursprungliga founder-händelsen. Mönstren av sexuell dimorfism och hanarnas och honornas roll har utvecklats för att möjliggöra fortlevnad i ett ekologisk och populationsmässigt sammanhang hos Silene dioica. I denna livsmiljö, där öar stiger upp ur havet och skapar nya miljöer för kolonisering samtidigt som autogena primära successionsprocesser leder till utrotning, måste S. dioica kontinuerligt sprida sig mellan olika successionsfaser för att överleva. Den uppenbara framgången för den här dioika växten är uppenbar eftersom den är en av de få dominerande arterna i lövkanten. Detta tyder på att nivåer av fröspridning och genflöde är tillräckliga för att möjliggöra etablering och beständighet av ö-populationer och att de sexuella dimorfismer som har utvecklats i detta metapopulationssystem verkar för att öka nivåerna av genflöde. "Lev hårt – dö ung" -strategin med omfattande blomningar som vi finner hos hanarna kan ha utvecklats som ett sätt att upprätthålla tillräckliga nivåer av genetisk diversitet i metapopulationen men den kommer endast att vara en möjlig strategi om det finns kontinuerliga möjligheter för re-etableringar. Således kan den kontinuerliga landupphöjningen som förekommer i norra delen av Bottniska viken mycket väl vara en förutsättning för den långsiktiga beständigheten av denna dioika, fleråriga växtart. / <p>Felaktigt angivet "Dissertation for PhD" i kolofon.</p>

Objetivos: Avaliar as médias das velocidades e Índices Doppler das Artérias Cerebrais Médias (ACM) e Oftálmicas (AO) de tabagistas conforme o tempo de consumo do cigarro em função do sexo. Avaliar as relações entre a ACM e a AO. Métodos: Utilizou-se o método Doppler para a avaliação do Pico de Velocidade Sistólica (PSV), Velocidade Diastólica Final (VDF) e Velocidade Média (VM) na ACM e na AO. Foi realizada a coleta da VM na Artéria Carótida Interna (ICA) para a realização do Índice de Lindegaard (IL). Os Índices de Resistência (IR) e de Pulsatilidade (IP) também foram avaliados em ambos os vasos. O Segundo Pico de Velocidade Sistólica (P2) e a Relação P2/PVS (PR) foram avaliados na AO. As coletas foram realizadas com um intervalo mínimo de duas horas de abstinência ao cigarro (período tardio) e em até 10 minutos após fumar (período recente). Utilizaram-se os testes t de Student para medidas pareadas para avaliar as diferenças entre os períodos tardio e recentes de consumo (avaliação intragrupo) e o teste t de Student para a comparação entre os sexos (avaliação intergrupo). A diferença entre o período tardio e agudo foi expresso em porcentagens para a avaliação do efeito na AO e na ACM. A variação entre as velocidades intra arteriais da AO e da ACM foi estimada utilizando-se os testes ANOVA e Krukal-Walis. Consideramos significância a um nível de α ≤ 0,05 e um intervalo de confiança de 95% para todos os testes. Resultados: O grupo de estudo foi composto por 71 fumantes crônicos (34 homens e 37 mulheres). O PSV, a VDF e a VM mostraram um aumento de velocidade na AO e na ACM em ambos os vasos e sexos depois de fumar. O IR e o IP apresentaram uma diminuição em ambas as artérias depois de fumar com efeito quase exclusivo nas mulheres. O PR não se alterou em função do consumo dos cigarros, mas foi maior nas mulheres em ambos os períodos de consumo. Não houve variação do IL. Conclusões: Houve aumento das velocidades de fluxo após o consumo do cigarro em ambos os vasos e sexos, com a mesma direção de efeito, compatíveis com alterações transitórias e funcionais no leito arterial. Contudo, os achados sugerem que as mulheres apresentam maior resposta hemodinâmica ao consumo de cigarros. / Objectives: To evaluate the mean of Doppler velocities and indices of the Middle Cerebral Arteries (MCA) and Ophthalmic Arteries (OA) in chronic smokers according to the time of cigarette consumption as a function of sex. To evaluate the relations between the Middle Cerebral Artery and the Ophthalmic Artery. Methods: We used the Doppler method for assessing the Peak of Velocity Systolic (PVS), End Diastolic Velocity (EDV) and Mean Velocity (VM) in MCA and OA. MV was collected in the Internal Carotid Artery (ICA) to perform the Lindegaard Index (IL). Resistance Index (RI) and Pulsatility Index (IP) were performed in both arteries. Second Peak of Systolic Velocity (P2) and P2 / PVS (Peak Ratio _ PR) were evaluated only in the AO. The samples were collected with a minimum of two hours of cigarette withdrawal (late period) and up to 10 minutes after smoking (recent period). We used the paired t-test for the comparison between late and recent periods of cigarette consumption (intragroup assessment) and the unpaired t-test for the comparison between sexes (intergroup comparison). The difference between the late and recent period were expressed in percentages for the evaluation of the effect on the AO and the MCA were used. The variation between intra-arterial velocities in the AO and in the ACM was estimated using the ANOVA and Krukal-Walis tests. We considered significance at a level of α ≤ 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval for all tests. Results: The study group was composed by 71 chronic smokers (34 men and 37 women). The PVS, EDV and VM showed a velocity increase in OA and MCA in both sexes after smoking. RI and PI presented a decrease in both Arteries after smoking, with effect almost exclusively in women. PR was not changed after consumption of cigarettes in both sexes, but it was higher in women in both periods of consumption. There was no variation of IL. Conclusions: There was an increase in flow velocities after cigarette consumption in both arteries and sexes, presenting the same direction of effect, compatible with transient and functional alterations in the arterial bed. However, the findings suggest that women have a greater hemodynamic response to cigarette smoking. / Tese (Doutorado)

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No description available.

Environmental factors can have profound effects on the strength and direction of selection and recent studies suggest that such environment-dependent selection can be sex-specific. Sexual selection theory predicts that male fitness is more condition dependent compared to female fitness, suggesting that male fitness is more sensitive to environmental stress. However, our knowledge about the effect of environmental factors on sex-specific reproductive performance and on sex differences in the opportunity for selection is still very limited. In the present study, we investigated the sex-specific effects of diet quality (yeast deprivation and flour type) in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Specifically, we manipulated yeast supplementation in wheat and whole-wheat flour in competition assays allowing us to test for sex-specific effects of food quality (i) on reproductive success and (ii) on the opportunity for selection. Our data show that yeast deprivation in wheat flour had significantly negative effects on body mass and reproductive success of both sexes, while high-quality flour (whole-wheat flour) was able to buffer the negative impact to a large extent. Importantly, our data suggest no sex-specific effect of dietary stress on reproductive success because the magnitude of the negative effect of yeast deprivation was similar for males and females. Moreover, our study demonstrates that low food quality inflated the opportunity for selection and did not differ between sexes neither under benign nor stressful dietary conditions. We discuss the implications of our findings for the adaptation to stressful environments.