The Weekly Roundup is an opportunity to recap a week in news and share recently discovered materials that might be of interest.
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
How humans became the best throwers on the planet
The Conversation, 2021
European Journal of Pain, 2023
Abstract: Background: Low back pain (LBP) is more likely to occur in people with a family history of this condition, highlighting the importance of accounting for familial factors when studying the individual risk of LBP. We conducted a study of opposite-sex twin pairs investigating sex differences in LBP while accounting for (genetic and shared environmental) familial factors. Methods: We applied a matched co-twin control design to study 795 adult opposite-sex pairs from Australia, Spain, and the United States (US). We used mixed-effects logistic regression to assess the within-pair association between female sex and lifetime prevalence of LBP in unadjusted and adjusted models for body-mass-index, and depression, as well as interactions between female sex and age (<median age vs. ≥median age) in this association. Results: The mean age of the sample was 47.4 years (Standard Deviation = 16.5). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of the association between sex and LBP in the merged sample was 1.11 (95% Confidence Interval = 0.88-1.40), with 87.4% of the variance in the studied association explained by between-site heterogeneity (Q test; p = 0.001). Females had 2.37 (95% CI: 1.48-3.78) higher odds of LBP compared to their male co-twins in the Spanish sample (adjusted), but a sex association was not found in the Australian nor US samples. Conclusions: We found no evidence of the association between sex and LBP in our merged sample. Between-population differences (i.e. cultural background or health system characteristics) are likely to be major factors leading to variation in the sex association with LBP when familial factors are accounted for. Significance: Our study of adult opposite-sex twin pairs found no evidence of an association between female sex and lifetime prevalence of low back pain after controlling for familial factors in the merged sample from Australia, Spain and USA, contrary to findings from previous studies of unrelated individuals. Our findings indicate potentially relevant between-country genetic, cultural and environmental differences which may need to be considered for optimal and individualized strategies for the prevention and management of low back pain across the lifespan.
Self and Identity, 2009
Abstract: When evaluating potential mates, men place greater importance on youth and beauty, whereas women place more importance on status and resources. Six studies tested the hypothesis that the self-concepts of men and women reflect the preferences of potential mates. Studies 1–3 showed that traits related to status were an important aspect of men's self-concepts, whereas traits related to physical attractiveness were an important aspect of women's self-concepts. Studies 4–6 found that men were more upset when derogated by rivals on traits related to status, whereas women were more upset when derogated on their physical attractiveness, suggesting that status and attractiveness are integral parts of men's and women's self-concepts respectively. The importance of the self-concept in human mating is discussed.
HISTORICAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, 2009
Abstract: Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and Rand have much in common in their critiques of altruism but almost nothing in common in their views on egoism.
RUBBISH BIN
Ms-represented: strategies to increase female representation in sports cardiology research
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023
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