Obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic. It is associated with preventable chronic disease and vast healthcare cost in the United States (about 200 billion per year). Therefore, dissecting pathogenic mechanisms of obesity would provide effective strategies to prevent its development and reduce related cost. Obesity is characterized by excessive expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT). Autophagy, a cellular self-digestive process, is associated with WAT expansion and may be a promising target for combating obesity. Both hormone signaling (e.g., ERα) and energy sensing factors (e.g., Sirt1) control metabolism and prevent adiposity, and in which they have been shown to play collaborate roles. However, how autophagy is involved in ERα and Sirt1's inhibitory roles on adiposity is unknown. These questions have been addressed in my dissertation studies. To address this fundamental questions, I have established a method to monitor autophagy flux during adipocyte differentiation, which better reflected the dynamic process of autophagy. Compared with preadipocytes, autophagy flux activity was increased in mature adipocytes after differentiation. And then, my thesis project has addressed three main questions. Firstly, the gender difference in visceral fat distribution (Males have higher deposit of visceral fat than females) is controlled by an estradiol (E2)-autophagy axis. In C57BL/6J and wild type control mice, a higher visceral fat mass was detected in the males than in the females, which was associated with lower expression of estrogen receptor  (ER) and more active autophagy in males vs. females. ER knockout normalized this difference. Mechanistically, E2-ER- mTOR-ULK1-autophagy signaling contributed to the gender difference in visceral fat distribution. Secondly, in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that Sirt1 suppressed autophagy and reduced adipogenesis and adiposity via inducing mTOR-ULK1 signaling. Specific activation and overexpression of Sirt1 induced mTOR-ULK1 signaling to suppress autophagy and adipogenesis. And knockdown of Sirt1 exhibited opposite effects. The first and second studies revealed that ER and Sirt1 acted on mTOR-ULK1 signaling pathway, underlying the importance of their interaction in inhibiting autophagy and adipogenesis. As such, the third study was conducted and it unraveled that ER acted as upstream of Sirt1, possibly through its direct binding to Sirt1 promoter. Specifically, E2 signaling suppressed autophagy and adipogenesis. But when Sirt1 was knockdown, the effects of E2 on autophagy and adipogenesis were abolished. Taken together, my dissertation project underscores the importance for future research to consider gender difference and how E2-ER-autophagy axis contributes to this difference in other metabolic diseases. Also, the unraveled interaction between ERα and Sirt1 might lead to new therapeutic approach to adiposity and metabolic dysfunction in post-menopausal women or individuals with abnormal estrogen secretion. For example, dietary intervention or exercise challenge to activate Sirt1 may partially compensate estrogen deficiency. / Doctor of Philosophy / Obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic, which is associated with chronic disease and vast healthcare cost in the United States. Understanding the pathogenic mechanism of obesity is of critical importance. Recent studies have implicated autophagy, a cellular self-digestive process, in WAT development and expansion. It was also shown that hormone (e.g., via estrogen receptor ERα) and energy (e.g., via Sirt1) signaling control metabolism and adiposity. However, it is unclear whether and how autophagy interacts with ERα and Sirt1 in the regulation of adiposity. My dissertation project unraveled the mechanism of how hormone signaling (e.g., ERα) and energy sensing factors (e.g., Sirt1) interacted with autophagy to control adipogenesis and adiposity. My thesis project has addressed three main questions. Firstly, the gender difference in visceral fat distribution (Males have higher deposit of visceral fat than females) is controlled by an estradiol (E2)-autophagy axis, ER knockout normalized this difference. Mechanistically, E2- ER- mTOR-ULK1-autophagy signaling contributed to the gender difference in visceral fat distribution. Secondly, in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that Sirt1 induced mTOR-ULK1 signaling, suppressed autophagy and reduced adipogenesis and adiposity (ER similar effects). As such, the third study was conducted and it unraveled that ER acted as upstream of Sirt1, possibly through its direct binding to Sirt1 promoter. Taken together, my dissertation study has explored how hormone signaling (ER) and energy signaling (Sirt1) interact with autophagy to control adipogenesis and adiposity individually and collaboratively, which may provide new therapeutical approach to control obesity.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第25198号 / 医博第5084号 / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 阪上 優, 教授 松村 由美, 教授 山本 洋介 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Les recherches récentes ont mis en évidence le rôle des processus de catégorisation et de comparaison sociale pour comprendre les similitudes et les différences de genre au niveau du concept de soi. Cette thèse propose un prolongement méthodologique et théorique de ces travaux afin d’en vérifier le bien-fondé et d’évaluer leurs implications éventuelles pour le développement d’une psychologie sociale de la personnalité. Ainsi, nous montrons d’abord qu’il existe des relations significatives entre les différents instruments visant à mesurer le concept de soi, confirmant la validité de ces instruments (étude 1). L’hypothèse d’une interaction « genre X culture » sur le concept de soi est alors examinée dans une étude comparant des étudiants français et coréens. Comme prévu, les résultats montrent que les différences de genre sur le soi, peu importe la mesure du concept de soi utilisée, sont plus importantes en France qu’en Corée du Sud. Les études 3, 4, et 5 cherchent ensuite à vérifier si de telles manifestations de la malléabilité du concept de soi en fonction des contextes peuvent également être obtenues en mesurant les traits de personnalité. Il est démontré qu’il existe des stéréotypes de genre sur les dimensions de la personnalité identifiées dans la théorie de la personnalité en cinq facteurs (étude 3, étude 4) et que le processus d’auto-stéréotypie proposé dans la théorie de l’auto-catégorisation (Turner, 1987) semble effectivement influencer la manifestation de certains traits de personnalité. Les études 4 et 5, en utilisant les paradigmes expérimentaux originaux, contribuent à mettre en évidence les conditions sous lesquelles les individus vont « changer » de personnalité en fonction de la situation. Ces premiers résultats permettent de conclure qu’il existe certains traits de la personnalité qui sont stables et qui ne changent pas selon la situation mais également qui se transforment de manière significative en fonction des interactions sociales et des processus de catégorisation. / Recent researches have highlighted the role of categorization and social comparison process in understanding the gender differences and similarities at the level of self-concept. This thesis proposes a methodological and theoretical extension of these works to verify their soundness and assess their possible implications for the development of social psychology of personality. Thus, we first show that there are significant relations between several instruments for the measure self-concept, in confirming the validity of these instruments (study 1). The hypothesis of an interaction “gender X culture” on self-concept is then examined in a study comparing French and Korean students. As expected, the results show that gender differences on self are, no matter what self-concept measures are used, bigger in France than in South Korea. Then the studies 3, 4, and 5 seek to ascertain whether such manifestations of the malleability of the self-concept in different contexts may also be obtained by the measure of the personality traits. It is shown that there are gender stereotypes on certain personality traits of the five-factor model (Study 3 Study 4) and that the self-stereotyping process proposed by the self-categorization theory (Turner, 1987) seems to actually influence the manifestation of personality traits. Studies 4 and 5, using the original experimental paradigms, help to highlight the conditions under which individuals will "change" their personality according to the situation where they find themselves. These results suggest that there exist certain personality traits stable and they do not change according to the situation but there also exist certain traits that vary significantly in accordance with social interaction and self-categorization process.

Most individuals with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, were diagnosed in their late adulthood. The fact that these chronic diseases is a consequence of long-term unhealthy behaviors is often ignored. The unhealthy behaviors are often traced back to the young adulthood (age 18-25). Some young adults may participate in unhealthy behaviors, such as unhealthy diet, under the perception that they are “still young”. However, it is often overlooked that once a habit is established, it is difficult to eliminate or modify it. Furthermore, the awareness that the development of the chronic disease is a gradual progress is deficient. This enhances the perception that doing unhealthy behaviors is benign to the “young body”. Additionally, individuals in this age group start to live independently. Their existing behaviors may change due to the changes in the available resources. Lack of capability to cope with the transition from living at home to living independently has been shown to contribute to an unhealthy diet, especially among college students. Given that unhealthy diet behaviors in young adulthood often remains over the lifetime, there is a need in identifying the factors that motivate the food choices during the transition from high school into college life. The findings of this research suggest that the campus environment is not conducive to a healthy diet. When compared to the students who live on-campus, students who live offcampus (either live with or without family) reported a better dietary quality.

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays about absenteeism. Essay I analyzes if the design of the insurance system affects work absence, i.e. the classic insurance problem of moral hazard. Several reforms of the sickness insurance system were implemented during the period 1991-1996. Using Negative binomial models with fixed effects, the analysis show that both workers and employers changed their behavior due to the reforms. We also find that the extent of moral hazard varies depending on work contract structures. The reforms reducing the compensation levels decreased workers’ absence, both the number of absent days and the number of absence spells. The reform in 1992, introducing sick pay paid by the employers, also decreased absence levels, which probably can be explained by changes in personnel policy such as increased use of monitoring and screening of workers. Essay II examines the background to gender differences in work absence. Women are found, as in many earlier studies, to have higher absence levels than men. Our analysis, using finite mixture models, reveals that there are a group of women, comprised of about 41% of the women in our sample, that have a high average demand of absence. Among men, the high demand group is smaller consisting of about 36% of the male sample. The absence behavior differs as much between groups within gender as it does between men and women. The access to panel data covering the period 1971-1991 enables an analysis of the increased gender gap over time. Our analysis shows that the increased gender gap can be attributed to changes in behavior rather than in observable characteristics. Essay III analyzes the difference in work absence between natives and immigrants. Immigrants are found to have higher absence than natives when measured as the number of absent days. For the number of absence spells, the pattern for immigrants and natives is about the same. The analysis, using panel data and count data models, show that natives and immigrants have different characteristics concerning family situation, work conditions and health. We also find that natives and immigrants respond differently to these characteristics. We find, for example, that the absence of natives and immigrants are differently related to both economic incentives and work environment. Finally, our analysis shows that differences in work conditions and work environment only can explain a minor part of the ethnic differences in absence during the 1980’s.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender and reasoning ability on the 8th grade students&rsquo / understanding of ecological concepts and attitude toward science. All 8th grade students from public elementary school in Tosya participated in the study. Students&rsquo / understanding, attitude toward science and reasoning ability were also measured by means of the Test of Ecology Concept (TEC), the Attitude Scale toward Science (ASTS) and the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) respectively. In order to investigate students&rsquo / understanding deeply, interview was conducted. Results of the TEC and interview show that students have many misconceptions concerning ecosystem, population, community, decomposers, food chain, food web, energy pyramid and energy flow. Students&rsquo / understanding for the first tier (M= 55.8), combination of first two tiers (M= 27) and combination of all three tiers (M= 21.2) were calculated according to TEC results. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) conducted to determine the effect of gender on students&rsquo / understanding of ecological concepts and attitude towards science when reasoning ability was controlled. The results indicated that there was significant gender difference in favor of girls with respect to students&rsquo / understanding of ecological concepts and attitude towards science when reasoning ability was controlled (Wilks&rsquo / Lambda=0.97 / p=.00).

Titel: Sociala medier och musikfestivaler - En kvantitativ och jämförande studie om skillnaden mellan män och kvinnors användande av musikfestivaler`s konton på sociala medier sett från ett marknadsföringsperspektiv. Författare: Jenny Claurentzius, Fanny Malmborg och Sofie Svedin Handledare: Thomas Michel Institution: Managementhögskolan, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola  Kurs: Kandidatarbete i Företagsekonomi, 15 högskolepoäng  Syfte: Att öka förståelsen för de skillnader som finns mellan män och kvinnors användande av de konton som musikfestivaler innehar på sociala medier. Metod: En kvantitativ studie utfördes i form av en enkätundersökning som spreds via Facebook till festivalbesökare som besökt en festival i år (2017) eller föregående år (2016).  Resultat: Skillnader uppmättes i sätten som män och kvinnor använder sig av, interagerar och identifierar sig med en musikfestival och dess konton på sociala medier. Slutsater: Män är mer observerande i sin användning av musikfestivalens konton på sociala medier, mindre angelägna att festivalens image passar in med egna självbilden och mer impulsiva i sina uppdateringa och beslutsfattande. Kvinnor är mer interagerande i sin användning av musikfestivalens konton på sociala medier, mer angelägna att musikfestivalens image passar ihop med den egna självbilden, mer känslomässigt engagerade och praktiska i sitt beslutsfattande.  Nyckelord: sociala medier, musikfestival, marknadsföring, genusskillnad, varumärke / Title: Social media and music festivals - a quantitative and comparative study about men and women's differences in the use of the accounts run by music festivals on social media, seen from a marketing perspective. Authors: Jenny Claurentzius, Fanny Malmborg and Sofie Svedin Supervisor: Thomas Michel Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Bachelor’s thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Purpose: To increase the understanding of the differences between men and women´s usage of social media accounts run by music festivals. Method: We conducted a quantitative study where we distributed an online survey on Facebook where we asked people who had visited a festival this year (2017) or previous year (2016) to take part. Results: We discovered differences in the way men and women uses, interacts and identifies with a music festival and its accounts on social media. Conclusions: Men are more observant and interact less with accounts held by festival organisers on social media, they care less about the festivals image matching their own and they are more impulsive in the way they make updates and decisions. Women interact more with the accounts held by festival organisers on social media, they care more about the festivals image matching their own, they are more emotionally engaged and more practical in their decision making. Keywords: social media, music festival, marketing, gender difference, trademark

This thesis is a study of gender and honour, focusing on NGO’s who work to support women in Sweden who have escaped honour violence. The purpose of this thesis is to find out and explain how they make sense of honour and more specifically, to investigate how does Swedish authorities can help the Middle Eastern women who are victims under this tradition. My focus through this thesis will be on the data analysis, moreover, using intersectionality as an analytical tool will help to explain the intersections which lead to the honour killings. The results show that the honour violence still exists in the Swedish society as well as the Middle East, in addition, some Middle Eastern people who moved to Sweden still believe and practice the honour culture in the Swedish society. More than that, I got the answers for all the research questions which helped me to clarify the relation between honour and its intersections which helped me to know the reasons why does the Honour violence/killings can happen. The answers agree that the honour violence is connected to the shame and guilt cultures. The meaning of honour is different in different cultures. Most of the honour related cases have women as victims. The honour has many intersections, most of them related to virginity, homosexuality, out marriage relations and rape. The Swedish organisations offer help for the victims of honour.  More than that, reading my thesis will give the reader the understanding of the phenomena of Honour, its intersections and how it does exist in the Middle Eastern culture and its old traditions. / Gender Studies

This study examined differences in sexual risk behaviors by gender and over time among 1281 patients (777 males and 504 females) from 12 community-based substance use disorder treatment programs throughout the United States participating in CTN-0032, a randomized control trial conducted within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. Zero-inflated negative binomial and negative binomial models were used in the statistical analysis. Results indicated significant reductions in most types of sexual risk behaviors among substance users regardless of the intervention arms. There were also significant gender differences in sexual risk behaviors. Men (compared with women) reported more condomless sex acts with their non-primary partners (IRR = 1.80, 95 % CI 1.21–2.69) and condomless anal sex acts (IRR = 1.74, 95 % CI 1.11–2.72), but fewer condomless sex partners (IRR = 0.87, 95 % CI 0.77–0.99), condomless vaginal sex acts (IRR = 0.83, 95 % CI 0.69–1.00), and condomless sex acts within 2 h of using drugs or alcohol (IRR = 0.70, 95 % CI 0.53–0.90). Gender-specific intervention approaches are called for in substance use disorder treatment.

This qualitative study highlights young women's own experiences and how gender roles, gender stereotypes and gender differences affect them in their workplace. This study includes 8 women respondents' own experiences, but also how they have been affected in their workplace. In this study, we have limited ourselves to women aged 25-30 who work in larger cities in Sweden. This study has been analyzed using a qualitative method, with a hermeneutic analysis. Scientific articles have also been a background for analysis of the results of interviews. Theories and concepts such as norms, habitus, sex and gender, have been an asset for a sociological analysis of the results. These theories and concepts explain how the respondents' own experiences about gender roles, gender stereotypes and gender differences has affected them in their workplace. Therefore this study is only a study that explains individual perceptions and not the objective truth. The analysis of the results in this study display how young women have been affected by both gender roles, gender stereotypes and gender differences in their workplace. The study reveals how they apprehend themselves according to how norms have been created based on their gender, and hence formed gender roles in their workplace but also in society. / Följande kvalitativ studie belyser unga kvinnors egna erfarenheter av hur könsroller, könsstereotyper och könsskillnader påverkar dem på deras arbetsplats. I studien ingår 8 kvinnliga respondenternas egna erfarenheter av hur de har påverkats på deras arbetsplats. Studien har avgränsats till kvinnor i åldern 25-30 år som arbetar i större städer i Sverige. Studien har analyserats med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod som innefattar en hermeneutisk analys. Vetenskapliga artiklar har också varit en bakgrund för analys av resultaten och intervjuer. Teorier och begrepp som normer, habitus, kön och genus har varit en tillgång för den sociologiska analysen av resultaten. Samtliga teorier och begrepp förklarar hur respondenternas egna erfarenheter om könsroller, könsstereotyper och könsskillnader har påverkat dem på deras arbetsplats. Studien förklarar endast individuella uppfattningar och inte en objektiv sanning. Analysen av resultaten i studien visar hur unga kvinnor har påverkats av både könsroller, könsstereotyper och könsskillnader på sin arbetsplats. Studien belyser hur respondenterna upplever sig själva utifrån hur normer har skapats utifrån deras kön och därmed bildat könsroller på sin arbetsplats men också i samhället.