Teen TV meets T4: assimilating 'The O.C.' into British youth television

This article explores the presence of imported US Teen TV in the schedules of British youth television and the relationship between the two national forms. Focusing on the broadcast of The O.C on Channel 4 youth strand T4, it considers the role of the spaces in-between programmes in framing the audience’s experience of the imported US text. It demonstrates how the T4 supertext employed presenter performance, critique and parody to assimilate the glamorously aspirational US Teen TV text into the cynically engaged flow of British youth television.

Lack of association between PCK1 polymorphisms and obesity, physical activity, and fitness in European Youth Heart Study (EYHS)

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-1 (PCK1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the hepatic gluconeogenic pathway. Studies have shown that overexpression of Pck1 in mice results in obesity-related traits and higher levels of physical activity (PA). Therefore, our aims were to investigate whether common genetic variation in the PCK1 gene influences obesity-related traits, PA, and fitness, and to examine whether PA and fitness attenuate the influence of the PCK1 polymorphisms on obesity in children. Analyses were undertaken on data from Danish and Estonian children (958 boys and 1,104 girls) from the European Youth Heart Study (EYHS), a school-based, cross-sectional study of children (mean ± s.d. age: 9.6 ± 0.4 years) and adolescents (15.5 ± 0.5 years). We genotyped eight polymorphisms that captured the common genetic variations in the PCK1 gene. The association between the PCK1 polymorphisms and BMI, waist circumference (WC), sum of four skinfolds, PA, and fitness was tested using an additive model adjusted for age, age-group, gender, maturity, and country. Interactions were tested by including interaction terms in the model. None of the polymorphisms were significantly associated with BMI, WC, sum of four skinfolds, PA, and fitness, and also with the risk of being overweight or obese (P > 0.05). The interactions between the polymorphisms and age-group, gender, PA, and fitness were not statistically significant. This is the first study to comprehensively examine the association of PCK1 polymorphisms with obesity, PA, and fitness. Despite strong evidence from animal studies, our study in the EYHS cohort failed to identify an association of PCK1 polymorphisms with obesity, PA, and fitness.

Absence of association between the INSIG2 gene polymorphism (rs7566605) and obesity in the European Youth Heart Study (EYHS)

The first genome-wide association study for BMI identified a polymorphism, rs7566605, 10 kb upstream of the insulin-induced gene 2 (INSIG2) transcription start site, as the most significantly associated variant in children and adults. Subsequent studies, however, showed inconsistent association of this polymorphism with obesity traits. This polymorphism has been hypothesized to alter INSIG2 expression leading to inhibition of fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis. Hence, we investigated the association of the INSIG2 rs7566605 polymorphism with obesity- and lipid-related traits in Danish and Estonian children (930 boys and 1,073 girls) from the European Youth Heart Study (EYHS), a school-based, cross-sectional study of pre- and early pubertal children. The association between the polymorphism and obesity traits was tested using additive and recessive models adjusted for age, age-group, gender, maturity and country. Interactions were tested by including the interaction terms in the model. Despite having sufficient power (98%) to detect the previously reported effect size for association with BMI, we did not find significant effects of rs7566605 on BMI (additive, P = 0.68; recessive, P = 0.24). Accordingly, the polymorphism was not associated with overweight (P = 0.87) or obesity (P = 0.34). We also did not find association with waist circumference (WC), sum of four skinfolds, or with total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, or high-density lipoprotein. There were no gender-specific (P = 0.55), age-group-specific (P = 0.63) or country-specific (P = 0.56) effects. There was also no evidence of interaction between genotype and physical activity (P = 0.95). Despite an adequately powered study, our findings suggest that rs7566605 is not associated with obesity-related traits and lipids in the EYHS.

PPARGC1A sequence variation and cardiovascular risk-factor levels: a study of the main genetic effects and gene x environment interactions in children from the European Youth Heart Study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The PPARGC1A gene coactivates multiple nuclear transcription factors involved in cellular energy metabolism and vascular stasis. In the present study, we genotyped 35 tagging polymorphisms to capture all common PPARGC1A nucleotide sequence variations and tested for association with metabolic and cardiovascular traits in 2,101 Danish and Estonian boys and girls from the European Youth Heart Study, a multicentre school-based cross-sectional cohort study. METHODS: Fasting plasma glucose concentrations, anthropometric variables and blood pressure were measured. Habitual physical activity and aerobic fitness were objectively assessed using uniaxial accelerometry and a maximal aerobic exercise stress test on a bicycle ergometer, respectively. RESULTS: In adjusted models, nominally significant associations were observed for BMI (rs10018239, p = 0.039), waist circumference (rs7656250, p = 0.012; rs8192678 [Gly482Ser], p = 0.015; rs3755863, p = 0.02; rs10018239, beta = -0.01 cm per minor allele copy, p = 0.043), systolic blood pressure (rs2970869, p = 0.018) and fasting glucose concentrations (rs11724368, p = 0.045). Stronger associations were observed for aerobic fitness (rs7656250, p = 0.005; rs13117172, p = 0.008) and fasting glucose concentrations (rs7657071, p = 0.002). None remained significant after correcting for the number of statistical comparisons. We proceeded by testing for gene x physical activity interactions for the polymorphisms that showed nominal evidence of association in the main effect models. None of these tests was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Variants at PPARGC1A may influence several metabolic traits in this European paediatric cohort. However, variation at PPARGC1A is unlikely to have a major impact on cardiovascular or metabolic health in these children.

Direct involvement, partnership and setting: a study in bounded diversity

This paper brings a comparative aspect to the analysis of direct involvement as the foundation for partnership. It considers how various forms of direct involvement can represent components of a broader partnership paradigm of people management, or a limited shallow partnership concession to facilitate the diffusion of top-down human resource management policies. Through the use of survey evidence, we explore the settings in which involvement is more likely to be encountered. Contrary to predictions in much of the literature as to their universal applicability, we found that they tended to be concentrated in specific locales, organisational types and sectors, as part and parcel of wider cooperative production paradigms; in practical terms, if involvement is a prerequisite for meaningful partnership, then the latter is more likely to be encountered in more coordinated varieties of capitalism. This does not suggest, however, that ‘shallow’ or instrumentalist partnerships do not occur, or that in infertile ground genuine partnerships are not possible. On one hand, national variations encountered were broadly on the lines of the literature on comparative capitalism. On the other hand, there was much diversity within national settings; we identify the contexts in which such engagement is more or less likely and consider the implications.

fMRI evidence for the involvement of the procedural memory system in morphological processing of a second language

Behavioural evidence suggests that English regular past tense forms are automatically decomposed into their stem and affix (played  = play+ed) based on an implicit linguistic rule, which does not apply to the idiosyncratically formed irregular forms (kept). Additionally, regular, but not irregular inflections, are thought to be processed through the procedural memory system (left inferior frontal gyrus, basal ganglia, cerebellum). It has been suggested that this distinction does not to apply to second language (L2) learners of English; however, this has not been tested at the brain level. This fMRI study used a masked-priming task with regular and irregular prime-target pairs (played-play/kept-keep) to investigate morphological processing in native and highly proficient late L2 English speakers. No between-groups differences were revealed. Compared to irregular pairs, regular pairs activated the pars opercularis, bilateral caudate nucleus and the right cerebellum, which are part of the procedural memory network and have been connected with the processing of morphologically complex forms. Our study is the first to provide evidence for native-like involvement of the procedural memory system in processing of regular past tense by late L2 learners of English.

Disorder-specific functional abnormalities during temporal discounting in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism and comorbid ADHD and Autism

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often comorbid and share cognitive abnormalities in temporal foresight. A key question is whether shared cognitive phenotypes are based on common or different underlying pathophysiologies and whether comorbid patients have additive neurofunctional deficits, resemble one of the disorders or have a different pathophysiology. We compared age- and IQ-matched boys with non-comorbid ADHD (18), non-comorbid ASD (15), comorbid ADHD and ASD (13) and healthy controls (18) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a temporal discounting task. Only the ASD and the comorbid groups discounted delayed rewards more steeply. The fMRI data showed both shared and disorder-specific abnormalities in the three groups relative to controls in their brain-behaviour associations. The comorbid group showed both unique and more severe brain-discounting associations than controls and the non-comorbid patient groups in temporal discounting areas of ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum and anterior cingulate, suggesting that comorbidity is neither an endophenocopy of the two pure disorders nor an additive pathology.

HIV-related stigma, asset inheritance and chronic poverty: vulnerability and resilience of widows and caregiving children and youth in Tanzania and Uganda

This paper develops a framework of risk and protective factors to conceptualise the relationship between HIV-related stigma, asset inheritance and chronic poverty among widows and caregiving children and youth in eastern Africa. Analysis of two qualitative studies with 85 participants in rural and urban areas of Tanzania and Uganda reveals that gendered and generational inequalities and stigmatisation sometimes led to property grabbing and chronic poverty. Human and social capital and preventative measures however may help widows and caregiving young people in HIV-affected households to safeguard land and other assets, within a wider supportive environment that seeks to tackle structural inequalities.

Youth unemployment and vocational training

This paper focuses on the determinants of the labor market situation of young people in developed countries and the developing world, with a particular emphasis on the role of vocational training and education policies. We highlight the role of demographic factors, economic growth and labor market institutions in explaining young people's transition into work. Subsequently, we assess differences between the setup and functioning of the vocational education and training policies across major world regions as an important driver of differential labor market situation of youth. Based on our analysis, we argue in favor of vocational education and training systems combining work experience and general education and provide some policy recommendations regarding the implementation of education and training systems adapted to a country's economic and institutional context.

Are happy youth also satisfied adults? An analysis of the impact of childhood factors on adult life satisfaction

This paper aims to consider whether there is a link between youth happiness levels and adult life satisfaction. Our results are unequivocal that such a link exists both because demographic and socio-economic conditions are persistent over a lifetime and also because there is a persistence in personality effects. To test this link, we estimate a model of happiness for a sample of young people. This model provides us with a range of variables measuring socio-economic effects and personality effects amongst young people. These variables are then included in the adult life satisfaction model. The model is estimated using data from the British Household Panel Survey for 1994–2008. In addition to childhood happiness levels influencing adult life satisfaction significantly, we also find that the youthful personality trait for happiness has a larger effect on adult life satisfaction than demographic and socio-economic conditions.

Long-term depression activates transcription of immediate early transcription factor genes: involvement of serum response factor/Elk-1

Long-term depression (LTD) is one of the paradigms used in vivo or ex vivo for studying memory formation. In order to identify genes with potential relevance for memory formation we used mouse organotypic hippocampal slice cultures in which chemical LTD was induced by applications of 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG). The induction of chemical LTD was robust, as monitored electrophysiologically. Gene expression analysis after chemical LTD induction was performed using cDNA microarrays containing >7,000 probes. The DHPG-induced expression of immediate early genes (c-fos, junB, egr1 and nr4a1) was subsequently verified by TaqMan polymerase chain reaction. Bioinformatic analysis suggested a common regulator element [serum response factor (SRF)/Elk-1 binding sites] within the promoter region of these genes. Indeed, here we could show a DHPG-dependent binding of SRF at the SRF response element (SRE) site within the promoter region of c-fos and junB. However, SRF binding to egr1 promoter sites was constitutive. The phosphorylation of the ternary complex factor Elk-1 and its localization in the nucleus of hippocampal neurones after DHPG treatment was shown by immunofluorescence using a phosphospecific antibody. We suggest that LTD leads to SRF/Elk-1-regulated gene expression of immediate early transcription factors, which could in turn promote a second broader wave of gene expression.

Patient and public involvement in healthcare quality improvement: how organizations can help patients and professionals to collaborate

Citizens across the world are increasingly called upon to participate in healthcare improvement. It is often unclear how this can be made to work in practice. This 4- year ethnography of a UK healthcare improvement initiative showed that patients used elements of organizational culture as resources to help them collaborate with healthcare professionals. The four elements were: (1) organizational emphasis on nonhierarchical, multidisciplinary collaboration; (2) organizational staff ability to model desired behaviours of recognition and respect; (3) commitment to rapid action, including quick translation of research into practice; and (4) the constant data collection and reflection process facilitated by improvement methods.