With obesity and type 2 diabetes on the rise, research is trying to find ways to reverse or slow its progress. Soy diets have been shown to be effective in doing so but have variable results. One variable that may affect soy's effectiveness is intestinal microflora. This experiment used female Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats that develop type 2 diabetes when fed high-fat diet and is similar to that of human development of type 2 diabetes. This study used soy diets designed to modify intestinal bacteria with probiotics or prebiotics: control, 2.5% fructooligosaccharide (FOS), 2.5% B. lactis, or 2.5% L. acidophilus. Food intake, body weight, and glucose levels were evaluated weekly throughout the study. At the end of a 23 day period total body lipids were assessed, as well as, glucose levels. The percent body lipids in the B. lactis group were higher than all other groups (p>0.05). The B. lactis and L. acidophilus groups had seemingly higher glucose levels; however, the statistical analysis was insignificant due to high variation between groups. Urine samples showed B. lactis and L. acidophilus groups had three rats with glucose levels of 500 mg/dl or above while control and FOS groups had one rat each in this category. This study showed no improvement to obesity and diabetic parameters through the microflora modifications used. In fact, some parameters worsened indicating a need for continuing research of soy with intestinal microflora modification.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organisation as the deliberate total or partial removal of the external female genitalia, or other deliberate injury to the female genitalia, which is carried out for non-therapeutic purposes. The practice is widely condemned. Even though the adverse effects of the practice have been well documented in many small studies and case reports, FGM is still common in many countries. The effects of this practice are also being felt in many developed countries due to substantial migration in recent years. One of the limiting factors in encouraging eradication is the availability of high quality evidence of the effects of the practice on the process of childbirth. By highlighting the effects of FGM on the process of childbirth, the objective was to encourage policy makers, in co-operation with many relevant organisations, to work together to eradicate the procedure. This original study investigates the effects of FGM on the process of childbirth using a large international epidemiological case control study involving three centres in three different countries. The inclusion criteria were strict and comprised of agreement by the woman and or her husband to participate in the study, for a normal singleton pregnancy at term with a cephalic presentation which resulted in a normal baby, for the women with and without FGM during the period of study. Women who did not fulfil these criteria were excluded. Maternal outcome measures included length of labour, obstruction to the progress of labour, operative delivery, urine retention, perineal complications, intrapartum and postpartum haemorrhage and blood loss during the process of labour. Newborn outcome measures included birth status at delivery, Apgar scores at 5 and 10 minutes, requirement for resuscitation, admission to special care unit and time taken from delivery to the first breast feed. Psychological sequelae were not assessed. The total number of participants in these three centres was 1,970 women; 526 with no FGM (control) and 1444 with different types of FGM. Every effort was taken to keep confidentiality and not to interfere with management of labour during data collection. The results indicate a highly significant difference between the two groups when comparing length of the process of labour, mode of delivery and the need for instrumental deliveries, episiotomies and tears, blood loss during and after delivery, the need for catheterisation following deliveries and duration of hospital stay following birth. Adverse effects were not confined to women and were found to have extended to the new-borns in the two groups again with highly significant difference with regard to birth trauma, requirement for resuscitation and medical attention. The time taken for the first breast contact was different in the two groups with possible effects which may be difficult to establish and require further research. The data provide clear evidence that the practice of FGM is associated with clinical adverse effects, which are not only confined to women but involve the newborn as well. It is hoped that this systematic and comprehensive collection of evidence will make a substantial contribution to the world wide effort to eradicate this harmful practice.

149 f. / Submitted by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2013-05-24T15:07:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 833859 bytes, checksum: d424b31158a460f6cd324bbb07ce259e (MD5) PRÉ-TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 110575 bytes, checksum: 311874d87736395abab8d767db26ba23 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura(anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2013-05-24T15:09:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 833859 bytes, checksum: d424b31158a460f6cd324bbb07ce259e (MD5) PRÉ-TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 110575 bytes, checksum: 311874d87736395abab8d767db26ba23 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-24T15:09:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 833859 bytes, checksum: d424b31158a460f6cd324bbb07ce259e (MD5) PRÉ-TEXTO FINAL PARA IMPRESSÃO E DEPÓSITO.pdf: 110575 bytes, checksum: 311874d87736395abab8d767db26ba23 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal a análise das desigualdades que afetam os direitos da mulher, influenciadas, em sua gênese, principalmente pela desigual distribuição sexual dos encargos familiares. O vetor do estudo é o da perspectiva dos direitos de conciliação entre trabalho e família e a efetividade de tais direitos. O estudo dos direitos de conciliação tem o seu fundamento principal no princípio da igualdade impondo a não discriminação fundada na perspectiva do gênero. Desta forma, assegurar medidas de conciliação entre a vida laboral e familiar significa fomentar a igualdade entre os sexos, possibilitando novos rearranjos familiares que favoreçam o compartilhamento das responsabilidades familiares e domésticas entre homens e mulheres. As discriminações relacionadas às responsabilidades familiares precisam ser combatidas para permitir o alcance da igualdade entre os gêneros, a partir de uma mudança nos papeis atribuídos tradicionalmente a homens e mulheres na família. / Salvador

My dissertation examines the unacknowledged role of negative female models from traditional literature in constructing the modern woman in China. It draws upon literary and historical sources to examine how modern cultural figures resuscitated and even redeemed qualities associated with traditional shrews in their perceptions and constructions of the new woman across the first half of the twentieth century. By linking the literary trope of the shrew, associated with imperial China, with the twentieth-century figure of the new woman, my work bridges the transition from the late-imperial to the modern era and foregrounds the late-imperial roots of Chinese modernization. The scope of my dissertation includes depictions of shrews/new women in literary texts, the press, theater, and public discourses from the Republican to the Socialist period. Although there exists a rich body of work on both traditional shrew literature and the new woman narrative, no one has addressed the confluence of the two in Chinese modernity. Scholars of late imperial Chinese literature have claimed that shrew literature disappeared when China entered the modern age. Studies on the new woman focus on specific social and cultural contexts during the different periods of modernizing China; few scholars have traced the effects that previous female types had on the new woman. My research reveals the importance of the traditional shrew in contributing to the construction and reception of the new woman, despite the radically changing ideologies of the twentieth century. As I argue, the feisty, rebellious modern women in her many guises as suffragette, sexual independent, and gender radical are female types grafted onto the violent, sexualized, and transgressive typologies of the traditional shrew. My research contributes to the studies of Chinese modernity and the representations of Chinese women. First, it bridges the artificial divide between modern and traditional studies of China and expands the debates about the nature of Chinese modernity. Second, it brings to light the underexamined constructions of the new woman as an empowered social actor through her genealogical connections to the traditional shrew. Third, it provides a methodology for rethinking the contested depiction of women in Chinese modernity.

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Estudo qualitativo, cujo objetivo foi compreender o significado da alopecia, decorrente de quimioterapia, para mulheres submetidas a esse tipo de tratamento para o câncer ginecológico ou mamário, e teve como referencial teórico o Interacionismo Simbólico. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas e prontuários de 15 mulheres que apresentaram alopecia como evento adverso ao tratamento quimioterápico, e frequentavam um serviço especializado em reabilitação pós-mastectomia ou um ambulatório ou enfermaria de oncologia de um hospital universitário do interior de São Paulo. Foram identificadas duas unidades temáticas pela Análise de Conteúdo: 1) o significado da alopecia para as mulheres que a apresentam, na relação consigo próprias; e 2) na relação com os outros e com o mundo. Na relação consigo próprias, a alopecia significou necessidade de lidar com alterações emocionais e da autoestima, necessidade de disfarce, dificuldade de lidar com a alopecia, de se olhar no espelho e de falar sobre o assunto, sendo que a mulher descobriu formas de lidar com os problemas ocasionados pela queda de cabelo, embora este tenha sido um problema que muitas vezes trouxe sofrimento maior do que o câncer em si. Já na relação com os outros e com o mundo, a alopecia foi tida como um estigma relacionado ao câncer e seus tratamentos, trouxe mudanças nos hábitos e rotinas, além de interferir na sexualidade. Assim, puderam ser identificadas instituições que ofereceram apoio às mulheres. Compreender o significado pleno da experiência de alopecia na vida cotidiana dessas mulheres é fundamental para poder proporcionar-lhes apoio durante o curso da doença, e para auxiliá-las no desenvolvimento de estratégias para lidar com as mudanças que ocorrem durante o tratamento do câncer. / Qualitative study aimed to understand the meaning of hair loss because chemotherapy for women undergoing this type of treatment for breast or gynecological cancer, and had the theoretical Symbolic Interaction. Data were collected through interviews and medical records of15 women who had hair loss as an adverse event to chemotherapy, and attended a specialized rehabilitation postmastectomy or a clinic or oncology ward of a university hospital in São Paulo. Two thematic units were identified by Content Analysis: 1) the meaning of hair loss for women, in relation to themselves, and 2) the relationship with others and with the world. In relation to themselves, hair loss meant the necessity to deal with emotional and self-esteem, the necessity to disguise, difficulty to deal with alopecia, to look in the mirror and talk about it, although the woman discovered ways of dealing with the problems caused by hair loss, this has been a problem that often caused more suffering than the cancer. In the relation with others and with the world, the hair loss was seen as a stigma related to cancer and its treatments, caused changes in habits and routines, as well as interfere with sexuality. Therefore could be identified institutions which offered support for women. Understand the full meaning of the experience of hair loss in women\'s daily life is crucial to be able to provide them support during the course of the disease, and to assist them in developing strategies to deal with the changes that occur during cancer treatment

This thesis will explore the images of nüxia or “female knight-errant” in Jin Yong’s novels: The Eagle-Shooting Heroes, the Giant Eagle and Its Companion, and the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber. The depiction of nüxia underwent a significant development from the classical to modern literature of knight-errantry-related genre. Jin Yong, the master of wuxia fiction, has created many remarkable nüxia that distinguishes his nüxia images from the literary conventions. To examine Jin Yong’s uniqueness in portraying nüxia, this thesis will look into the history of nüxia-related works of poetry and classical literature, and analyze Jin Yong’s nüxia in the context of the literary history. / Graduate

The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. Details on data recording: All samples were recorded digitally using an AKG SE 300B microphone with a mouth to mic distance of approximately 10 inches. Signals were recorded digitally using a Marantz PMD671, 16 bit PCM (uncompressed) at 44.1KHz. Recordings are made available in .wav format. Individual zip files contain all recordings from a single session.

La littérature au féminin du XXe siècle est marquée par la récurrence des motifs de la matrophobie et du matricide (Hirsch, 1991 ; Saint-Martin, 1999 ; Giorgio 2002). Dans une perspective comparatiste, la présente étude s’intéresse plus précisément aux années 1945 à 1968, délimitées par six textes de fiction composés par six écrivaines du Québec, de la France et des États-Unis. La notion de sacrifice telle qu’elle a été définie par René Girard (1972 et 1982 notamment) et par Anne Dufourmantelle (2007) est convoquée pour comprendre la représentation textuelle de la matrophobie et du matricide. Combinés à plusieurs analyses féministes de la maternité comme institution (Rich, 1976 ; Irigaray, 1981 ; Olivier, 1980), les définitions et concepts de ces deux théories seront utilisés pour rendre compte des mécanismes horizontaux et verticaux à l’oeuvre dans les textes du corpus. De surcroît, le mythe, dans l’acception que lui a donnée René Girard, sera convoqué comme paradigme, pour saisir les enjeux de la parole sur la mère. À l’issue de la lecture des textes, il apparaît que, dans le corpus, loin d’être synonyme de retour à la paix sociale comme le pose René Girard, le sacrifice des mères et des filles (par identification aux mères) signifie la destruction des sociétés représentées. À ce titre, la présente thèse conclut qu’à une époque riche en bouleversements socioculturels et politiques sur la place et le statut des mères dans les trois pays concernés, ces textes de femmes mettent en image un malaise lié à la maternité instituée ainsi que l’extraordinaire force d’emprise d’une idéologie qui condamne les femmes et les mères à une mort littérale ou symbolique, parfois les deux. / Western women’s writing in the twentieth century is marked by the thematic prominence of matricide and matrophobia (Hirsch, 1991; Saint-Martin, 1999 ; Giorgio 2002). Working comparatively, this study addresses the years 1945-1968 as seen through six texts written by women in Quebec, France, and the United States. This study deploys the notion of “sacrifice,” as articulated by René Girard (1972, 1982) and Anne Dufourmantelle (2007), in order to delimit the textual representations of matrophobia and matricide engendered by these works. Drawing on feminist critiques of the “institution” of maternity (Rich, 1976; Irigaray, 1981; Olivier, 1980), this study pursues both a horizontal (systemic and causal) and vertical (learned or inherited) analysis of the act of sacrifice. It further draws on Girard’s seminal exploration of “myth” in order to examine the period’s discursive constructions of the mother. Far from being synonymous with a restoration of social harmony as René Girard argues, the “sacrifice” of mothers (and daughters, through an identification with their mothers) incites the destruction of the societies depicted by these authors. These texts relate women’s unease with the institutions of maternity during a period of political and socio-cultural upheaval regarding the role and status of mothers in the three countries concerned. Through its exploration of the ontology of sacrifice, this thesis illustrates the extraordinary influence of an ideology, which in its time, condemned women and mothers, in some cases, to both a literal and symbolic death.