Complex relationship between sex hormones,insulin resistance and leptin in men with and without prostatic disease

Objectives: To assess sex hormones, leptin and insulin-resistance in men with prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and to study associations between androgens and histologic score of prostate tissue in PCa.

Subjects and methods: Two hundred ten men older than 45 years selected from 2906 participants of a population screening for PCa were studied: 70 with PCa, 70 with BPH and 70 controls (CG), matched by body mass index and age. Insulin, IGF-1, PSA, leptin, total, free (fT) and bioavailable testosterone (bT) and estradiol were measured. Each group was subdivided into two subgroups considering the presence of metabolic syndrome (MS); androgens and leptin levels were analyzed in the subgroups.

Results: Prostate cancer and BPH patients presented higher total, fT and bT levels than CG. IGF-1, insulin and HOMA index were higher in BPH than in the other two groups. PCa presented higher leptin [median (range) 6.5 (1.3–28.0) versus 4.8 (1.1–12.3) ng/ml; p?p?=?0.025] levels than CG. After dividing men considering the presence of MS, leptin was higher and total testosterone was lower in MS patients in all the groups.

Conclusions: It was observed a coexistence of an altered hormone profile with increased sex hormones and leptin in PCa patients, in accordance with the new perspective of PCa pathogenesis.     

From Sacred Place to Monumental Space: Mobility Along the Way to St. James

Human intervention and social practices have been pivotal for the creation of sacred spaces; indeed, the mobility of human beings has endowed spaces with meaning through religious cultural products. Progressive human intervention in holy places has turned them into monumental spaces, where cultural heritage has become a symbol of identity and the space has assumed the values of the culture that produced it. In this paper, we investigate the value of heritage along pilgrimage routes, as in the case of the Way of St. James. The sacred-monumental space works according to the system of artistic and cultural elements that define it as an integrated system. We will focus on the twentieth-century rediscovery of the Way in Spain, on the processes of monumental reinterpretation that culminated in its declaration, in 1987, as ‘First European Cultural Route’ by the Council of Europe, and as ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’, in 1993.     

Latina and African‐American Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Needs,Problems, and Solutions

This review focuses on Latina and African‐American girls in the juvenile justice system with a special emphasis on their mental health, substance abuse, and treatment needs. Like many young women in the juvenile justice system, Latina and African‐American girls often have histories of neglect, abuse, and trauma, which contribute to later mental health and substance abuse issues. Despite these histories, juvenile justice professionals sometimes rely on stereotypes rooted in cultural deficit thinking to explain Latina and African‐American girls' delinquency. Relying on gendered, racialized, and classed stereotypes and assumptions can result in decisions that negatively impact Latina and African‐American girls' access to mental health, substance abuse, and other types of treatment. Policy and practice implications for better addressing the needs of Latina and African‐American girls are discussed.     

Hybrid Strategies: Allocating Involvement in the Digital Age

An important trait of mobile phones is their capacity to superimpose multiple social interactions in time and space. Little research examines how individuals choose between face‐to‐face and digitally mediated interactions in specific social contexts. Drawing upon focus group interviews with a diverse sample of university students in the United States, we argue that, contrary to a perspective that is popular in theory and journalistic commentary, mobile phone users do not experience the digital and the face‐to‐face as distinct realms. In deciding where to direct their attention, users enmesh the distant and the present, making moves that are expressive and strategic in their own right that reveal the interest, intimacy and urgency that users place in multiple, coinciding social involvements.     

The Benefits of Diversity in Education for Democratic Citizenship

The social science statement in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) stressed that desegregation would benefit both African American and White children. Eventually, it was recognized that integration, rather than mere desegregation, was important for benefits to be realized. A parallel argument is made in the legal cases concerning affirmative action in higher education: educational benefits of diversity depend on curricular and co-curricular experience with diverse peers, not merely on their co-existence in the same institution ( Gurin, P., 1999 , Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002 ). Positive benefits of diversity were demonstrated in a study comparing students in a curricular diversity program with students in a matched control group ( n = 174 ), and in a longitudinal survey of University of Michigan students ( n = 1670 ) .     

Peer Educators Reach College Students with Nutrition Information

Abstract

Leighton C. Whitaker and Jeffrey W. Pollard, eds. Campus Violence: Kinds, Causes, and Cures. New York: Haworth Press, 1993. 313 pps, $39.95.     

Gender Differences in the Associations Among Body Mass Index,Weight Loss,Exercise, and Drinking Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: To explore gender differences regarding weight management behaviors of college drinkers. Participants: Nationally representative sample of college students from the fall 2008 American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II (N = 26,062 students). Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to examine potential gender differences in associations among exercise, weight loss behaviors, and alcohol use. Results: Critical ratio tests revealed that associations between exercise and weight loss behaviors were more strongly correlated among females as compared with males. For females, there was a small negative association between exercise and drinking behaviors; in contrast, for males, there was a positive relationship between exercise and alcohol use. Weight loss behaviors were positively associated with drinking for both female and male students; however, the association was significantly stronger for females. Conclusions: This investigation furthers previous research on drunkorexia and also sheds additional light on the gender-based differences in weight management behaviors of drinkers.