Cigarette smoking and random serum cholesterol levels in a Northern Ireland general practice population of 18- to 20-year-old students and non-students

Coronary heart disease is the commonest cause of death in Northern Ireland, but few data exist on the incidence of risk factors in young adult students and non-students.

'All Good Things Must Come to an End': Terminating Co-Ownership Under the 'Old' Partition and Sale Rules

Despite its benefits, co-ownership of land creates problems where relations between the parties
have soured, or one person simply wants to extricate themselves from this arrangement. The
remedies of compulsory partition and sale allow one joint tenant or tenant in common to terminate
co-ownership against the wishes of the others, by seeking a court order to this effect. Throughout
parts of the common law world, this has be en based on nineteenth century English legislation namely
the Partition Act 1868, the key elements of which remain in force in Western Australia,
South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. This article provides an up-to-date
analysis of the law on compulsory partition and sale as derived from the 1868 Act and analogous
provisions, drawing not only on Australian cases, but on frequently overlooked decisions from
courts in both parts of Ireland and in parts of Canada, as well as ‘old’ English judgments on the
1868 Act.

Age- and Light-Dependent Development of Localised Retinal Atrophy in CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) Mice

Previous studies have shown that CCL2/CX3CR1 deficient mice on C57BL/6N background (with rd8 mutation) have an early onset (6 weeks) of spontaneous retinal degeneration. In this study, we generated CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice on the C57BL/6J background. Retinal degeneration was not detected in CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice younger than 6 months. Patches of whitish/yellowish fundus lesions were observed in 17~60% of 12-month, and 30~100% of 18-month CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice. Fluorescein angiography revealed no choroidal neovascularisation in these mice. Patches of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor damage were detected in 30% and 50% of 12- and 18-month CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice respectively, but not in wild-type mice. All CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice exposed to extra-light (~800lux, 6 h/day, 6 months) developed patches of retinal atrophy, and only 20-25% of WT mice which underwent the same light treatment developed atrophic lesions. In addition, synaptophysin expression was detected in the outer nucler layer (ONL) of area related to photoreceptor loss in CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice. Markedly increased rhodopsin but reduced cone arrestin expression was observed in retinal outer layers in aged CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice. GABA expression was reduced in the inner retina of aged CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice. Significantly increased Müller glial and microglial activation was observed in CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice compared to age-matched WT mice. Macrophages from CCL2(-/-)CX3CR1(GFP/GFP) mice were less phagocytic, but expressed higher levels of iNOS, IL-1ß, IL-12 and TNF-a under hypoxia conditions. Our results suggest that the deletions of CCL2 and CX3CR1 predispose mice to age- and light-mediated retinal damage. The CCL2/CX3CR1 deficient mouse may thus serve as a model for age-related atrophic degeneration of the RPE, including the dry type of macular degeneration, geographic atrophy.

Risk-Taking Differences Across the Adult Life Span:A Question of Age and Domain

Older adults face important risky decisions about their health, their financial future, and their social environment. We examine age differences in risk-taking behaviors in multiple risk domains across the adult life span.

Old truths and new politics:Does truth commission 'publicness' impact democratization?

This article analyzes the relationship between truth and politics by asking whether the 'publicness' of a truth commission - defined by whether it has public hearings, releases a public report, and names perpetrators - contributes to democratization. The article reviews scholarship relevant to the potential democratizing effects of truth commissions and derives mechanisms that help explain this relationship. Work from the transitional justice field as well as democratization and political transition more generally is considered. Using a newly-constructed Truth Commission Publicness Dataset (TCPD), the analysis finds that even after statistically controlling for initial levels of democracy, democratic trends in the years prior to a commission, level of wealth, amnesties and/or trials, the influence of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and different cutoff points for measuring democratization across a number of models, more publicness predicts higher levels of democracy years after the commission has finished its work. The more public a truth commission is, the more it will contribute to democratization. The finding that more public truth commissions are associated with higher levels of democratization indicates particular strategies that policymakers, donors, and civil society activists may take to improve prospects for democracy in a country planning a truth commission in the wake of violence and/or government abuse. © The Author(s) 2012.

Age- and Sex-Specific Causal Effects of Adiposity on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Observational studies have reported different effects of adiposity on cardiovascular risk factors across age and sex. Since cardiovascular risk factors are enriched in obese individuals, it has not been easy to dissect the effects of adiposity from those of other risk factors. We used a Mendelian randomization approach, applying a set of 32 genetic markers to estimate the causal effect of adiposity on blood pressure, glycemic indices, circulating lipid levels, and markers of inflammation and liver disease in up to 67,553 individuals. All analyses were stratified by age (cutoff 55 years of age) and sex. The genetic score was associated with BMI in both nonstratified analysis (P = 2.8 × 10(-107)) and stratified analyses (all P < 3.3 × 10(-30)). We found evidence of a causal effect of adiposity on blood pressure, fasting levels of insulin, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides in a nonstratified analysis and in the <55-year stratum. Further, we found evidence of a smaller causal effect on total cholesterol (P for difference = 0.015) in the ≥55-year stratum than in the <55-year stratum, a finding that could be explained by biology, survival bias, or differential medication. In conclusion, this study extends previous knowledge of the effects of adiposity by providing sex- and age-specific causal estimates on cardiovascular risk factors.