The impact of age,BMI and sex hormone on aging males’ symptoms and the international index of erectile function scores

Objective: To analyze the impact of age, BMI and sex hormone on aging males’ symptoms (AMS) and the 5-item version of the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) scores in middle-aged and elderly Chinese men.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Jiashan County. A total of 969 men, aged between 40 and 80 years old, were admitted. Physical examination and the sex hormones were measured, and AMS and IIEF-5 scores were assessed.

Results: The oneway ANOVA analysis indicated older age groups had higher AMS total-scores, somatic and sexual sub-scores, and lower IIEF5 scores (all p?r_pairwise) analyses showed the significant associations between AMS and age or sex hormone (cFT, Bio-T, SHBG, and LH) levels, and similar for IIEF5. However, when age was adjusted, the correlation coefficients (r_partial) weakened, and correlation significance disappeared, except LH (for AMS: r_partial?=?0.096, p?=?.009; for IIEF-5: r_partial?= ?0.140, p?=?.001). Multiple linear regressions confirmed the influence of increased age and LH on the AMS and IIEF5 scores.

Conclusion: CFT, Bio-T and SHBG failed to yield any additional predicting information when age was adjusted. To improve the male reproductive health, future research should pay more attention on aging-related comorbidities and how to improve general wellness.     

Body esteem and self-esteem in middle-aged women

The aims of the study were (a) to identify predictors of body esteem and (b) to expand on previous research by examining the link between global self-esteem and body esteem in a community-based sample of women in midlife. We found that body esteem in midlife women was predicted by body mass index (BMI), optimism, self-esteem, and menopausal symptoms. Although BMI was the main predictor of body esteem in middle-aged women, global self-esteem was more strongly related to feelings about appearance and physical condition than feelings about body size.     

Stressors beget stressors: The effect of passive leadership on employee health through workload and work–family conflict

The current study examined passive leadership as a potential antecedent of two commonly studied workplace stressors (i.e. workload and work–family conflict), and investigated its negative effect on employee burnout and physical symptoms via these stressors. We collected two waves of data from 274 focal participants, and one wave of data from their co-workers. Results showed that both self-reported and co-worker-reported passive leadership was positively related to employee burnout and physical symptoms, as well as workload and work–family conflict. Additionally, workload and work–family conflict partially mediated the effects of passive leadership on burnout and physical symptoms, respectively. Our findings support the notion that passive leadership can create a stressful workplace and have a detrimental effect on employees’ health.     

Are urge incontinence and aging risk factors of erectile dysfunction in patients with male lower urinary tract symptoms?

Introduction: Several studies have indicated that erectile dysfunction (ED) patients also suffer from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). We investigated a group of men with LUTS and assessed their sexual function with the aim of being able to predict ED risk factors and introduce ED treatments earlier for this patient group.

Methods: International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Overactive Bladder Symptoms Score (OABSS) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) score were obtained from 236 men with LUTS at their first out-patients visit. Clinical parameters such as body mass index, prostate volume, residual urine volume and prostate specific antigen were also evaluated. The relationship between the SHIM score and other clinical data was analyzed.

Results: According to the SHIM score, ED in men with LUTS was severe 15%, moderate 19%, moderate to mild 28%, mild 17%, normal 7% and data was incomplete in 14%. Based on the results of a multivariate analysis, aging (p?p?=?0.024) were significantly correlated to severe and moderate ED. Furthermore, among OAB symptoms score items, urge urinary incontinence was a risk factor for severe and moderate ED (p?=?0.005).

Conclusion: Aging and OAB (notably urinary urge incontinence) are risk factors for severe and moderate ED in men with LUTS.     

Note From Iran: Self-Reported Elder Abuse in Qazvin, 2012

This brief report provides a first look at self-reported instances of elder abuse by a sample of people 60 years and older living in Qazvin, Iran. Six hundred community-dwelling persons, drawn from the registry files of each health center in Qazin, completed questionnaires during April to October 2012. At least 80% of the participants reported experiencing some form of psychological abuse, financial abuse, and/or neglect at least once during a 2-month period. Physical and sexual abuse were rarely reported. Despite a strong Iranian cultural emphasis on respect for elders, the self-reporting of elder abuse, especially psychological abuse, is greater than our expectation. We recommend that health-related policies and programs begin to identify elder abuse and neglect as a first step in prevention.     

试论健美操运动对大学生树立终身体育观的影响

高校体育作为学校体育教育的最高层次和最后环节,是学校体育与体育社会化的转折点和学与用的衔接点。因此对大学生来说终身体育教育是我国高校体育教育的重要课题之一。健美操运动不仅能全面锻炼身体的各个部位,更能培养大学生自觉运动的能力和习惯,从而影响他们,使之形成终身体育的观念。     

Assimilation,segregation, or integration? A teaching project examining approaches to religious and ideological diversity in the classroom

In this article, we describe the multiple phases of a project that was constructed around the real case of a young Muslim student who wished to be exempted from coeducational physical education on religious grounds. When the school refused her initial request, she decided to take legal measures which ended up in the German Federal Administrative Court. The court ultimately ruled in her favour. Her case was selected as the core ingredient for a new teaching project, which studies acculturation from different perspectives, and examines the complex balance between individual rights and societal duties, as defined by constitutional law in the Federal Republic of Germany. This case demonstrates that the majority society, represented in this study by the school, at times needs to change traditional educational policy in order to further national goals of integration; not as a compromise, but as a fair balance of interests. The project was implemented successfully as an integrated part of teacher preservice education occurring towards the end of the first academically based phase of their training.     

制度变迁过程的历史沉淀成本效应分析

在新古典完全竞争市场理论——历史沉淀成本决策无关性的假设前提背景下,从未来不确定性、信息不完全和财务预算约束等角度考察历史沉淀成本对制度变迁过程的影响,为制度变迁过程确立一个新的分析视角,从而弥补了原有研究的不足。在现实经济生活中,市场不完全是常态,有限理性、交易成本、信息不完全和环境不确定性等因素普遍存在,历史沉淀成本很容易发挥作用,从而表明:未来越不确定,信息越不完全,资源越稀缺,导致财务预算越硬,历史沉淀成本效应越大,制度变迁过程越困难;反之越容易。由此可发现,在放松完全竞争市场的假设前提条件下,当事人的决策不可能不受到历史沉淀成本的影响。因此,只有当事人对历史沉淀成本的约束条件作出正确的理性反应,才能使其决策更加贴近真实世界,这对于全面认识制度变迁过程具有重要的理论创新意义和现实指导价值。