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PubMedDate not supplied

Sex education and family planning services for adolescents in foster care.

Representatives of public child-welfare agencies in 48 states were surveyed to determine their states' policies for meeting the sexual development and family planning needs of teenagers served by the agencies. Only nine states have a formal written policy dealing with this area of child welfare, and just two of the states have a comprehensive policy. A handful of states have deliberately avoided addressing the issue. Officials in other states believe that a formal policy would be counterproductive, arguing that a low-key approach is the best way to deal with the needs of the teenagers they serve. Finally, some state child-welfare officials admit that they have not given the issue much thought. Twenty-nine states offer foster parents special training in adolescent sexuality, and 19 offer such training to caseworkers; however, only five states mandate such training for foster parents and only four do so for caseworkers. Southern states are the most likely to have written policies, while western states are the least likely; western states also are the least likely to offer or mandate special training for caseworkers in contact with teenagers. The officials surveyed also identified a number of institutional barriers that prevent their agencies from developing and implementing policies to deal with the sexual development needs of children in state care.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Self-assessment and physicians' assessment of sexual maturation in adolescents' in Taipei].

The characteristics of puberty included the change of physiology, psychology and behavior, the inter-relationship within three was emphasized. The study of the sexual development is difficult to be achieved, only adolescents' self-assessment can overcome this obstacle. Four-hundred and twelve male and ninety female junior high school students grade three were enrolled from Taipei middle schools by probability proportionate to size method. The criteria of Tanner sexual staging were explained to the target population orally and pictorially. The orchidometer was demonstrated as well. Judging self-development were then asked for. School children were later examined by physician of same sex. The study included pubic hair, testis, penis and breast. The agreement between adolescents' rating and physicians' rating was high in penis and breast, low in male's testis and female's pubic hair. The correlation coefficient between two ranged from 0.25 to 0.52. Although the foreign reports revealed that adolescents can assess their own sexual development reliably. It is not so in our study. Perhaps more efforts in discussion on development performed immediately would help.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Children of gay or lesbian parents.

There are no data to suggest that children who have gay or lesbian parents are different in any aspects of psychological, social, and sexual development from children in heterosexual families. There has been fear that children raised in gay or lesbian households will grow up to be homosexual, develop improper sex-role behavior or sexual conflicts, and may be sexually abused. There has been concern that children raised by gay or lesbian parents will be stigmatized and have conflicts with their peer group, thus threatening their psychological health, self-esteem, and social relationships. These fears and concerns have not been substantiated by research. Pediatricians can facilitate the health care and development of these children by being aware of these and their own attitudes, by educating themselves about special concerns of gay or lesbian parents, and by being a resource and an advocate for children who have homosexual parents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Onset of obesity and puberty in genetically obese SHHF/Mcc-cp rats.

SHHF/Mcc-cp rats, as a model of obesity and diabetes, were followed through breeding and throughout development to determine timing of obesity and sexual development. The obesity or corpulency gene (cp) follows recessive transmission characteristics with no segregation between sexes. Although the frequency of litter sizes was different, the mean litter size of heterozygous mating (8.9 +/- 0.3 pups/litter) was not different from homozygous lean matings (7.9 +/- 0.3 pups/litter). Body weights of the population of female obese rats statistically deviated from lean females at day 35 and obese males deviated from lean males at day 37. Vaginal opening of obese and lean females did not differ in time of occurrence (day 34.6 +/- 0.2 for lean and 33.6 +/- 0.4 for obese). To further evaluate development and examine onset of diabetes, animals were killed at six, eight and ten weeks of age and development of reproductive organs and plasma levels of insulin, glucose, and testosterone or oestradiol determined. Testes development was slightly retarded in the obese male with smaller testes at six weeks of age, however testes size increased at eight and ten weeks of age and was not significantly less than lean males. In contrast, testes function was impaired with smaller seminal vesicles and lower testosterone levels in the obese male rats. Both ovarian and uterine weights were significantly less in obese females. However, oestradiol levels were not significantly different at any of the time points examined. Development of elevated insulin levels were first noted in the obese female at six weeks of age, however marked hyperinsulinemia developed only in the obese males at ten weeks of age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

A longitudinal study of leptin during development in the male rhesus monkey: the effect of body composition and season on circulating leptin levels.

The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in serum leptin concentrations during development and to correlate those changes with sexual development in male rhesus monkeys housed under natural environmental conditions. Blood samples were drawn from 8 control animals approximately every other month from 10 to 30 mo of age and thereafter monthly through 80 mo of age. Leptin levels declined through the juvenile period until the onset of puberty and were negatively correlated with body weight. Seven of the eight animals became sexually mature during the breeding season of their fourth year of life. Puberty was delayed in the other animal until the subsequent breeding season. There were no significant fluctuations in leptin levels prior to or in association with the pubertal rise in LH and testosterone (T) secretion. During the peripubertal period, levels of leptin varied between 2 and 3 ng/ml. The animal that exhibited delayed puberty had the lowest body weight and highest leptin levels during this period. With the achievement of sexual maturity, leptin levels varied seasonally, with peak levels in the late winter (Jan-Mar) and a nadir in the late summer (Aug-Sept). A late winter rise in leptin was also evident in most of the animals during Years 2 and 3, but not during Year 4. In the fall of Years 5 and 6, the seasonal rise in leptin concentrations lagged 3-4 mo behind the seasonal increase in LH and T. In the fall of Year 5, but not thereafter, leptin levels were positively related to percent body fat and negatively correlated with lean body mass. The data do not support the hypothesis that increasing leptin concentrations trigger the onset of puberty in the male rhesus monkey. During the juvenile period and after sexual maturation, but not during the peripubertal period, leptin secretion varied with season in the animals; but the environmental factors that cue or drive this rhythm remain to be determined.

Aging↗
PubMed1993

Either alpha-tubulin isogene product is sufficient for microtubule function during all stages of growth and differentiation in Aspergillus nidulans.

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans has two genes encoding alpha-tubulin, tubA and tubB, which are differentially required at distinct stages during the life cycle. The tubA gene is required during vegetative growth for mitosis and nuclear migration (B. R. Oakley, C. E. Oakley, and J. E. Rinehart, Mol. Gen. Genet. 208:135-144, 1987; P. Doshi, C. A. Bossie, J. H. Doonan, G. S. May, and N. R. Morris, Mol. Gen. Genet. 225:129-141, 1991). The tubB gene is not required for any detectable aspect of vegetative growth or asexual reproduction but is essential during sexual development prior to the first meiotic division (K. E. Kirk and N. R. Morris, Genes Dev. 5:2014-2023, 1991). In this study, we determined whether the role of each alpha-tubulin gene is to provide a specific isotype necessary for a particular microtubule function or whether either alpha-tubulin isotype, if present in sufficient quantities, can participate effectively in all types of microtubule. Strains carrying a deletion allele of tubB (tubB delta) produce no ascospores from a cross. When one copy of a plasmid containing the region upstream of the tubB gene fused to the tubA coding region was integrated into a tubB delta strain, ascosporogenesis proceeded beyond the tubB delta block and resulted in the formation of sexual spores. However, irregular numbers of spores formed in some asci during development, and the ascospores had greatly diminished viability and aberrant morphologies. These defects were nearly corrected when two additional copies of the tubA coding region were integrated into the tubB delta strain. These results indicate that the tubA alpha-tubulin isotype can form functional microtubules during sexual development in the absence of tubB protein. In a reciprocal set of experiments, we examined whether upregulation of tubB can complement the tubA4 mutation, which causes supersensitivity to benomyl during vegetative growth. When tubA4 strains integrated a plasmid containing an alcohol-inducible promoter joined to the tubB coding region and subsequently overexpressed the tubB isotype, the benomyl supersensitivity normally caused by the tubA4 allele was relieved. These results indicate that when enough tubB alpha-tubulin is supplied, strains lacking functional tubA isotype can still form microtubules which effectively carry out mitosis and nuclear migration.

Aspergillus nidulans↗
PubMed2000

Sperm and ova conservation: existing standards of practice in North America.

BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURE: Rapid advances have occurred in both reproductive medicine and survival from childhood cancer. To establish the current level of best clinical practice for sperm, ovarian, and prepubertal tissue collection and storage, a cross-sectional survey of a major pediatric oncology collaborative study group (Pediatric Oncology Group, POG) was performed. RESULTS: Of the 110 centers surveyed, 69 questionnaires (63%) were completed. No responding center had guidelines regarding which young people should be offered sperm, ovarian, or prepubertal testicular tissue conservation; 93% centers had offered sperm and 10% ova conservation; 15% had offered sperm conservation to males prior to completion of sexual development and 3% to girls prior to sexual maturation. All centers were more likely to offer sperm conservation than ova conservation for any given disease. The most common diseases for which conservation was offered were Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and sarcomas. Fertility counseling was offered in a variety of settings by 71% of centers by health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and geneticists. CONCLUSION: There was little agreement regarding appropriate indications for, and method of, gamete preservation in children's cancer centers. It is hard to establish best clinical practice from these data. Unresolved medical, legal, and ethical issues necessitate the development of a voluntary code of practice and guidelines in order to ensure good clinical practice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Influence of sickle hemoglobinopathies on growth and development.

To determine the influence of hemoglobinopathy on growth and development, we examined the height, weight, and sexual maturation of 2115 patients 2 to 25 years old who had homozygous sickle-cell disease (SS), SC disease (SC), sickle beta+ thalassemia (S beta+), or sickle beta O thalassemia (S beta O). Using regression analysis of these cross-sectional data to generate growth and maturation curves for each hemoglobinopathy, we found that the curves for all hemoglobinopathy groups were significantly different from published norms for black subjects (P less than 0.001), and that subjects with SS and S beta O were consistently smaller and less sexually developed than those with SC and S beta+ (P less than 0.001). For both sexes and all hemoglobinopathies, low weight was more pronounced than short height and was most apparent in subjects over the age of seven. The median age of the female subjects who had attained at least Tanner Stage V was 17.3 years for those with SS, 17.2 years for S beta O, 16.0 years for SC, and 16.5 years for S beta+; among male subjects the corresponding values were 17.6, 18.8, 16.6, and 16.6 years. Discriminant analysis of menarche status, weight, age, and hemoglobinopathy revealed that the influences of age and weight on menarche were similar regardless of hemoglobinopathy. This relationship suggests a constitutional rather than a primary endocrinologic cause of sexual immaturity in patients with hemoglobinopathies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Transient true precocious puberty. A report of five cases.

Five girls with idiopathic true precocious puberty are reported who underwent spontaneous regression of sexual development. In all patients the signs of sexual maturation were of moderate degree. Considering the possible spontaneous regression of precocious puberty, in similar cases it seems advisable to defer suppressive central therapy for about 6-12 months.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1986

The relationship between plasma prolactin and testosterone levels in male hypogonadism.

Fifty seven male patients either complaining of poor sexual development, gynecomastia or dwarfism and signs of sexual infantilism were studied. Plasma prolactin (PRL) and testosterone (T) were estimated in all patients while 33 of them were also subjected to full pituitary function tests. Twelve of the latter had an elevated basal plasma cortisol or growth hormone which suggested the patient may have been "stressed"; the results were analyzed both excluding and including these patients. The remaining patients were divided into those with a plasma T less than 8.0 nmol/l (Group A, 25 patients) and those with a plasma T greater than 8.0 nmol/l (Group B, 20 patients). The results were compared with those from 18 normal men (Group C). The mean plasma PRL in group A (108.1 mU/l) was significantly lower than that in group B (181.5 mU/l, p less than 0.005) or group C (255.7 mU/l, p less than 0.001). The difference between groups A and B became much less (p less than 0.01) when results from the "stressed" patients were included but this did not affect the difference with group C. The mean plasma PRL in group B was also significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than that in group C but the significance of the difference disappeared when all the patients were included (p less than 0.2). In the patients there was a significant correlation between plasma and PRL plasma T (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Optical quality of the ocular lens of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) during the mature and transformer periods of life.

While larval sea lampreys exist as eyeless filter feeders for several years, they transform into free-swimming juveniles (transformers) that attach parasitically to prey fish as they develop sexual maturity. This study examines lamprey lens development and optics and, since the lens is often the only refractive component of an aquatic eye, the data also provide an indication of visual ability during transformer and adult periods of life. Seven adult sea lampreys (0.40-0.55 m) and eight transformers (0.15-0.18 m) were sacrificed, the eyes removed and lenses dissected, measured, and placed in an automated laser scanning instrument. Back vertex focal length (spherical aberration) was measured for 14 beam positions across each lens by using a digital camera to record the position of the refracted beam. Transformer lenses exhibit positive spherical aberration, with average focal lengths varying from about 2.40 mm near the lens center and 1.06 mm at the lens periphery. On the other hand, the lenses from adults are largely corrected for spherical aberration, with average focal lengths varying from 2.19 mm to 2.44 mm. This result indicates that the younger lenses do not have a gradient refractive index necessary to mitigate the aberration and that further study of this model may reveal the relation between lens embryology and the development of such a gradient.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Effect of a restricted diet on the metabolism of glucose in uteri isolated from immature rats: influence of indomethacin and nordihydroguaiaretic acid.

In immature female rats (21 days), a restricted diet (50% of the daily normal intake for 25 days) interrupts sexual development, leaving animals in a state of sexual immaturity. Food restriction does not affect the use of glycogen in uteri isolated and increases 14CO2 production from U14C-glucose in relation to animals receiving normal feeding that reach sexual maturity. Indomethacin and acetylsalicylic acid stop the increase of glucose metabolism produced by underfeeding, without affecting the uteri of rats receiving normal feeding. The addition of PGE2 and PGF2alpha changes the inhibitory effect of indomethacin. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid produces the opposite effect, increasing glucose metabolism only in uteri isolated from immature animals. These results show that immature animals have a higher glucose metabolism if compared to mature rats. The restricted diet, which slows down sexual maturity, keeps this parameter high due to the influence of some eicosanoids.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1997

Sexual orientation and professional dance.

The stereotypical professional male dancer is a gay man. However, little if any systematic research has investigated the validity of this stereotype, much less the reasons why male sexual orientation would be associated with interest in dance. We interviewed 136 professional dancers about the prevalence of homosexuality among dancers, the dancers' own sexual development, and relationships between dancers of different sexual orientations. Dancers estimated that over half of male dancers are gay, but that only a small minority of female dancers are lesbian. Gay men recalled more intense early interest in dance compared to heterosexual men and women, and were more feminine as boys than were heterosexual men. Gay men's homosexual feelings typically preceded their dance experience, and only one gay man felt that his dance experiences may have influenced his sexual orientation. Heterosexual men voiced some mild complaints about gay male dancers, but these were balanced by positive sentiments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Enriching the sexual experience of couples: the Asian traditions and sexual counseling.

Drawing from Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions, central themes reflecting Asian approaches to sexuality are described and contrasted with contemporary values, assumptions, and objectives implicit in both sexual experience and in the clinical practice of sexual counseling. The Tantric ceremonial sex ritual provides a fertile source for several innovative behavioral assignments useful in sexual counseling. Five exercises in intimacy derived from the ancient Tantric sex ritual are presented and suggested as home assignments for couples: the creation of a ritual, synchronized breathing, sustained eye contact, motionless intercourse, and sexual exchange without orgasm. Applications to intimacy development, sexual enhancement, and sexual counseling for couples are described, creating a broad and meaningful context for responding to clients' sexual concerns.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1976

[Juvenile struma and development].

Different aspects of the juvenile struma development in children are studied. The object of the investigations were puplis: 260 with juvenile struma and 240--without, aged from 8 to 17. The following indices were used: 1. physical growth--height, bodyweight, growth rate, annual mark in gymnastics; 2. mental development--mean annual marks at school; 3. sexual development--menarche rhythm and duration of menses in girls. All data were processed statistically by rank, non-parametric, variation and despersion analysis. The author thinks that the juvenile struma does not influence the normal progress of growth but is significantly more frequent among rapidly growing-up girls. He concludes that faster parapuberal growth might be the cause of juvenile struma origination.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Sociopathologic behavior and repeated infection with venereal disease].

INTRODUCTION: The sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) comprise a large group of infections produced by different microorganisms including spirochetes, bacteria, chlamydia, mycoplasme, protozoa, fungi, parasites, and viruses. A considerable number of sexually transmitted diseases patients are STD repeaters. As reported by Marjanovitsh and Laloshevitsh [2], in Belgrade, among patients who during the years 1985 and 1986 visited the City Department for Skin and Veneral Diseases, because of syphilis or gonorrhea, 22.8% had these diseases two or more times during their lives (male/female ratio 10:1). In Richert et al. [6] study over 30% of all patients who in one year visited sexually transmitted diseases clinic in Dade County, Florida, returned with a new infection within 3 years of their index visit. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between antisocial behaviour and repeated STD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Case-control study was performed in the population of Belgrade, from June 1997 to April 1998. Participants were recruited among patients attending the City Department for Skin and Venereal Diseases of Belgrade because of sexually transmitted diseases (syphilis, gonorrhea, nongonoccocal urethritis and genital warts). The group comprised 101 patients who in their personal histories already had STD two or more times. The control group consisted of 210 patients treated at the same institution for micotic diseases, patients who in their personal histories have never had STD or had it only once (13% of controls). All participants were men aged 20 to 50 years and all were from Belgrade. Data on demographic characteristics, sexual history and sexual behaviour, as well as data on use of sedatives, smoking habit and sport activity, and data on antisocial behaviour (alcohol abuse, prostitution, drug abuse, prosecution for minor and criminal offences) were collected from all participants by an anonymous questionnaire. In the present paper only data on antisocial behaviour are presented. In the analysis of data chi 2 was used. RESULTS: According to the results obtained, STD repeaters in comparison to their controls used more frequently alcohol (17.8%:0.9%) and drug 18.8%:3.8%), had more frequently sex for money (17.8%:2.8%), and were more frequently prosecuted for minor offences (58.4%:24.8%) and criminal offences (24.8%:4.3%). All these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.01). DISCUSSION: In the present study STD repeaters consumed alcohol more frequently than their controls, especially hard liquors, and 55.5% of them had used alcohol at the time of STD infection. In the study of Myliueva et al. [4], 50% of venereal disease patients consumed alcohol now and then and 10% consumed alcohol frequently. Scheidt and Windle [5] found that 60% of alcoholics had at least one sexually transmitted disease as the result of a high number of sexual partners, low use of condoms and practicing sex for drugs or money. Alcohol has depressive effect on the central nervous system, reduces anxiety and increases libido. In this study STD repeaters in comparison with their controls were significantly more frequently drug users (the majority of them inhaled drugs). In several studies conducted in the USA [7, 8] the increase of gonorrhea and syphilis was related to drug use. Upchurch et al. [9] reported that individuals with repeated episodes of gonorrhea were frequently intravenous drug abusers. Drugs are most frequently used by young people, at ages of the highest sexual activity. While most of the subjects developed sexual disinterest and dysfunction with prolonged crack cocaine use, some of them become more sexually promiscuous and consequently contracted sexually transmitted diseases more often. Inciardi /10/ found that 1/3 of men who had exchanged sex for crack (or for money needed to by crack) had 100 or more sex partners during a 30-day period prior to study recruitment. Cleghorn et al. (ABSTRACT TRUNCAT

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The sexual problems of diabetic men.

Diabetic men are prone to develop sexual problems, the most common being erectile failure. In the past this diabetic impotence has been regarded as a discrete clinical entity, providing one of the best examples of a physically-induced failure of erection. It now appears likely that the clinical picture and aetiology are more involved than had been suspected, there being a complex interaction between physical and psychological influences. Assessment and treatment need to take account of this interaction by concentrating not only on the form of the sexual disturbance but also on its context.

Diabetes Complications↗
PubMed1993

Hypothalamic lesions that induce female precocious puberty activate glial expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene: differential regulation of alternatively spliced transcripts.

Injury of the nervous system triggers a complex series of repair mechanisms that include production of neurotrophic and mitogenic factors by cells neighboring the injured area. While trauma of most parts of the brain results in loss of function, lesions of certain regions of the female hypothalamus enhance the secretory activity of a group of specialized neurons that produce luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), the neuropeptide that controls sexual development. The increased output of LHRH causes sexual precocity by prematurely activating the neuroendocrine reproductive axis. Recent studies have implicated transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) produced by reactive astrocytes in the process by which lesions hasten sexual maturation, and have suggested that the stimulatory actions of TGF alpha on LHRH neurons require the intermediacy of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs). In the present study, we examined the changes in EGFR gene expression following lesions of the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic area (POA-AHA) of immature female rats, identified the cell types where EGFR synthesis increases, and assessed the biochemical activity of the newly formed EGFR protein. RNase protection assays demonstrated that the lesion significantly increased the levels of a predominant mRNA transcript encoding the full-length, membrane-spanning EGFR, but did not affect those of a much less abundant, alternatively spliced mRNA that encodes a truncated, presumably secreted form of EGFR. Following lesions, antibody-induced EGFR kinase activity increased twofold. Antibodies directed against a peptide sequence contained within the carboxy terminus of EGFR showed intense EGFR immunoreactivity in cells surrounding the lesion site; double immunohistochemistry identified these cells as astrocytes since EGFR immunoreactivity was colocalized with that of glial fibrillary acidic protein, an astrocytic marker. That these changes result from an increase in EGFR gene expression was indicated by the elevated levels of EGFR mRNA detected by in situ hybridization in cells of the same area. Although POA-AHA lesions did not result in appearance of EGFR in LHRH neurons themselves, EGFR-positive cells and processes were seen in close proximity to LHRH neurons and their nerve terminals, particularly in the area surrounding the lesion. Since TGF alpha gene expression is also increased in reactive astrocytes of POA-AHA lesions and blockade of EGFR prevented the advancing effect of the lesion on puberty (Junier et al., 1991b), the present results support the concept that, in lesioned animals, TGF alpha stimulates LHRH secretion indirectly via a paracrine mechanism that involves its interaction with EGFRs located on astroglial cells.

Animals↗