Securing a Sustainable Future for Children and Young People

This article outlines why sustainable development matters for children and young people, and explores the relevant policy context in England and the UK. It asks whether enough is being carried out by central government to secure a more sustainable future for, and with, today’s children. More is needed at the national policy level to: embed sustainable living principles within a range of policy frameworks affecting children and young people; provide a clear strategy for empowering children and young people to lead change and take action on climate change and environmental issues; and address the impact of environmental degradation on disadvantaged groups of children and young people.     

Effects of testosterone replacement therapy withdrawal and re-treatment in hypogonadal elderly men upon obesity,voiding function and prostate safety parameters

Whether testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is a lifelong treatment for men with hypogonadism remains unknown. We investigated long-term TRT and TRT withdrawal on obesity and prostate-related parameters. Two hundred and sixty-two hypogonadal patients (mean age 59.5) received testosterone undecanoate in 12-week intervals for a maximum of 11 years. One hundred and forty-seven men had TRT interrupted for a mean of 16.9 months and resumed thereafter (Group A). The remaining 115 patients were treated continuously (Group B). Prostate volume, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), residual voiding volume, bladder wall thickness, C-reactive protein (CRP), aging male symptoms (AMS), International Index of erectile function – erectile function (IIEF-EF) and International Prostate Symptoms Scores (IPSS) were measured over the study period with anthropometric parameters of obesity, including weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Prior to interruption, TRT resulted in improvements in residual voiding volume, bladder wall thickness, CRP, AMS, IIEF-EF, IPSS and obesity parameters while PSA and prostate volume increased. TRT interruption reduced total testosterone to hypogonadal levels in Group A and resulted in worsening of obesity parameters, AMS, IPSS, residual voiding volume and bladder wall thickness, IIEF-EF and PSA while CRP and prostate volume were unchanged until treatment resumed whereby these effects were reversed. TRT interruption results in worsening of symptoms. Hypogonadism may require lifelong TRT.     

Researching community,work and family with an interpreter

Community, work and family have been studied as practice and experience on an international scale. This work has included research with ethnic minority groups, usually practised by 'insiders' who share their participants' ethnicity, culture and first language. Many of these people live and work in extended family networks, part of a relatively small community embedded within a larger one. Generally, researchers do not have the language skills necessary to communicate with a linguistically diverse population. However, there has been a call to give a voice to, and hence empower, minority groups through the research process. It is in this context that a consideration of the use of interpreters in research on community, work and family can be made. Within this paper we present exploratory suggestions, drawn from our own research, for the appropriate use of an interpreter. This includes a discussion of the practical considerations and implications involved in this research activity, as well as more conceptual issues. Finally, the ways in which this research activity should be documented to reflect concerns in current qualitative methodological debates are considered. La communauté, le travail et la famille sont des sujets qui ont été étudiés, tant au niveau de la pratique que de l'expérience, à l'échelon international. Cette étude a envelopéune recherche parmi les groupes éthniques en minorité, dans l'ensemble vécue par des gens qui connaissent les choses de l'intérieur et qui partagent l'identité éthnique, la culture et la langue maternelle. Nombreux, parmi eux, sont des gens qui vivent et travaillent dans le cadre de familles étendues et font partie d'une petite communauté au sein d'une communaute plus grande. Dans l'ensemble, les chercheurs n'ont pas les competences linguistiques nécessaires pour communiquer avec une population de langues diverses. Cependant, il s'est avéré qu'il est plus que nécessaire de donner la parole et, de là, donner le pouvoir, aux groupes minoritaires au travers de la procedure du travail de recherche. C'est dans ce contexte que la considération de l'utilité de faire appel à des interprètes dans le domaine de la recherche qui embrasse la communauté, le travail et la famille, peut etre faite. Dans ce papier, nous soumettons des suggestions exploratoires, tirées de notre propre recherche, pour l'utilisation appropriée d'un interprete. Cela inclue une discussion sur les considerations pratiques et les implications contenues dans l'activite de cette recherche, y compris des activités conceptuelles. Pour finir, nous considérons la manière dans laquelle cette recherche devrait être documentée afin de refléter les débats méthodologiques qualitatifs en cours.     

Transforming Sex: An Interview with Joanne Meyerowitz,Ph.D. Author of How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States

Christine Jorgensen's widely publicized sex reassignment surgery in 1952 brought transsexualism to worldwide attention and fostered medical interest in transsexualism. Joanne Meyerowitz has traced the history of Jorgensen's personal odyssey, the medical history of transsexualism, and the broader impact of transsexualism on United States culture. In this interview, Meyerowitz discusses how she came to this project and some of its theoretical and methodological challenges. Finally, she sets her historical work in the context of contemporary gender and transgender politics.