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Proceedings of the National Academy of... Oct 2002Exposure to an acute stressful event can enhance learning in male rats, whereas exposure to the same event dramatically impairs performance in females. Here we tested... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Exposure to an acute stressful event can enhance learning in male rats, whereas exposure to the same event dramatically impairs performance in females. Here we tested whether the presence of sex hormones during early development organizes these opposite effects of stress on learning in males vs. females. In the first experiment, males were castrated at birth whereas females were injected with testosterone. Rats were trained as adults on the hippocampal-dependent learning task of trace eyeblink conditioning. Performance in adult males that had been castrated at birth was still enhanced by exposure to an acute stressful experience. However, adult females injected with testosterone at birth responded in the opposite direction, i.e., exposure to the stressor that typically reduces performance instead enhanced their levels of conditioning. In the second experiment, exposure to testosterone was manipulated in utero by injecting pregnant females with a testosterone antagonist. After foster rearing, adult offspring were exposed to the stressor and trained on the hippocampal-dependent learning task of trace conditioning. Although performance in adult females was unaffected by antagonizing testosterone in utero, i.e., stress still reduced performance, the enhancement of conditioning after stress in adult males was prevented. Thus, the presence of sex hormones during gestation and development organizes whether and how acute stressful experience will affect the ability to acquire new information in adulthood. As with many sexual behaviors, these cognitive responses to stress appear to be masculinized by exposure to testosterone and feminized by its absence during very early development.
Topics: Animals; Female; Fetus; Learning; Male; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Orchiectomy; Parturition; Pregnancy; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Sex Characteristics; Stress, Physiological; Testis; Testosterone
PubMed: 12359876
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.202199999 -
Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira de... 2011The purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamics of the AIDS epidemic affecting adolescents in Rio de Janeiro to establish healthy prevention strategies. The...
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamics of the AIDS epidemic affecting adolescents in Rio de Janeiro to establish healthy prevention strategies. The incidence of AIDS in Brazil is declining among men who have sex with men (MSM) except in individuals between 13 and 19 years of age, and the feminization phenomenon is more pronounced among adolescents.
METHODS
We evaluated data from Sistema de Informações de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) regarding cases of AIDS in patients aged between 13 and 19 years through November 2009.
RESULTS
This study includes 656 cases. The incidence of AIDS increased until 1998, and, since 1996, more cases have been diagnosed in girls than in boys. The homo/bisexual exposure category predominantly consisted of boys (50.8%), and the heterosexual category predominantly consisted of girls (88.9%). The geographic distribution of the cases by year of diagnosis revealed that the increase was proportionally larger in the poorest area and that there was a large decrease in the wealthiest area. A decreasing linear tendency was observed in the relationship between the year of diagnosis and the human development index (HDI).
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the need for greater investment in sexual health and reproductive services in the poorest areas of the city and in the promotion of healthy sexual practices directed to MSM and female adolescents.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Age Distribution; Brazil; Cities; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Sex Distribution; Socioeconomic Factors; Space-Time Clustering; Young Adult
PubMed: 21860892
DOI: 10.1590/s0037-86822011000400013 -
American Journal of Public Health Jan 2007A considerable number of studies have sought to identify what factors accounted for substantial reductions in HIV seroprevalence after several countries deployed "ABC"...
A considerable number of studies have sought to identify what factors accounted for substantial reductions in HIV seroprevalence after several countries deployed "ABC" (abstinence, be faithful, condom use) strategies. After much public discourse and research on ABC success stories, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2004 epidemic report indicated that nearly 50% of infected people worldwide were women, up from 35% in 1985. In light of the feminization of HIV/AIDS, we critically assess the limitations of ABC strategies. We provide 3 additional prevention strategies that focus on gender relations, economics, and migration (GEM) and can speak to the new face of the epidemic. Pressing beyond ABC, GEM strategies provide the basis for a stronger central platform from which national efforts against HIV/AIDS can proceed to reduce transmission risks.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; Coercion; Communicable Disease Control; Condoms; Culture; Female; Global Health; HIV Infections; Heterosexuality; Humans; Incidence; Interpersonal Relations; Male; National Health Programs; Power, Psychological; Program Evaluation; Schools; Sexual Abstinence; Socioeconomic Factors; Transients and Migrants; United Nations; Women's Health
PubMed: 17138923
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.074591 -
Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira de... 2009This study had the aim of prospectively analyzing the clinical and epidemiological characteristics that lead adult patients with HIV/AIDS to seek urgent medical care in...
[Study on the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with human immunodeficiency virus at the walk-in service of the teaching hospital of the Federal University of Minas Gerais].
This study had the aim of prospectively analyzing the clinical and epidemiological characteristics that lead adult patients with HIV/AIDS to seek urgent medical care in the walk-in service of the teaching hospital of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Over a one-year period, all admissions of adult patients with HIV were evaluated. There were 118 admissions involving 99 patients. Their mean age was 39.4 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1.35:1. The length of time from diagnosis to admission was most frequently 0-5 years (40.4% of the cases). Antiretroviral therapy was being regularly used among 56.8% of the admissions. The T CD4+ lymphocyte count was less than 200 cells/mm(3) in 45.7% of the patients. The most frequent complaints were increased body temperature, diarrhea, coughing and dyspnea. The respiratory tract was the region most affected. The most common opportunistic diseases were pneumocystosis, community-acquired pneumonia, diarrheal syndrome and oral candidiasis. The demand for admissions among HIV patients represented 2.8% of all admissions, with an average length of stay of 4.6 days. Most of the patients had low T CD4+ lymphocyte counts, and almost half of them were not taking highly active antiretroviral therapy. There was a tendency towards feminization. AIDS-related diseases continue to be the most frequent occurrences within our setting.
Topics: Adult; Brazil; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; HIV Infections; Hospitalization; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Male; Prospective Studies
PubMed: 19448925
DOI: 10.1590/s0037-86822009000200004 -
Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira de... 2001The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a dynamic unstable global phenomenon, constituting a veritable mosaic of regional sub-epidemics. As a consequence of the deep inequalities that...
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a dynamic unstable global phenomenon, constituting a veritable mosaic of regional sub-epidemics. As a consequence of the deep inequalities that exist in Brazilian society, the spread of HIV infection has revealed an epidemic of multiple dimensions undergoing extensive epidemiological transformations. Initially restricted to large urban centers and markedly masculine, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is currently characterized by heterosexualization, feminization, interiorization and pauperization. The evolution of the profile of AIDS in Brazil is above all due to the geographical diffusion of the disease from large urban centers towards medium and small municipalities in the interior, to the increase in heterosexual transmission and the persistent growth of cases among injecting drug users. The increase in transmission through heterosexual contact has resulted in substantial growth of cases among women, which has been pointed out as the most important characteristic of the epidemic's current dynamic in Brazil.
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brazil; Child; Female; HIV Infections; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Socioeconomic Factors
PubMed: 11391445
DOI: 10.1590/s0037-86822001000200010 -
Medecine Sciences : M/S Mar 2008
Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Female; HIV Infections; Humans; Risk-Taking; Sexual Behavior; Women's Health
PubMed: 18681139
DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2008242s208