Explaining binge drinking among adolescent males using the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Binge drinking among adolescents in Northern Ireland is prevalent and has detrimental eff ects on public health. Health education interventions, based on valid explanatory models of health behaviour, are required to reduce binge drinking behaviour among adolescents. " is paper examines the utility of the " eory of Planned Behaviour in explaining binge drinking behaviour among adolescent males. Using questionnaire responses from 94 adolescent boys attending secondary schools in the Belfast area, logistic regression modelling suggested that the " eory of Planned Behaviour explained 36% of the variance in self-reported binge drinking behaviour. Attitudes towards binge drinking were the strongest predictor of binge drinking behaviour. Tackling attitudes about binge drinking is a challenge to be considered when designing interventions to reduce binge drinking among this population

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and VPAC1 receptor in adult human dental pulp in relation to caries

Objective: To quantitatively measure VIP levels and to qualitatively study the distribution of VIP fibres and demonstrate the presence of the VPAC1 receptor in human dental pulp from carious and non-carious adult human teeth. Design: Dental pulp samples were collected from non-carious, moderately carious and grossly carious adult human teeth. VIP levels were determined using radioimmunoassay. The distribution of VIP fibres was studied using immunohistochemistry. The VPAC1 receptor protein expression was determined by Western blotting. Results: VIP levels were found to be significantly elevated in the dental pulp of moderately carious compared with non-carious (p = 0.0032) or grossly carious teeth (p = 0.0029). The distribution of VIP fibres was similar in non-carious and carious teeth, except that nerve bundles appeared thicker in the pulp samples from carious compared with non-carious teeth. Western blotting indicated that the VPAC1 receptor proteins were detected in similar levels in pooled dental pulp samples from both carious and non-carious teeth. Conclusion: It is concluded that quantitative changes in the levels of VIP in human dental pulp during the caries process and the expression of VPAC1 receptor proteins in membrane extracts from carious and non-carious teeth suggests a role for VIP in modulating pulpal health and disease. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exclusion and Marginalisation in Adolescence: The Experience of School Exclusion on Drug Use and Antisocial Behaviour

Young people excluded from school are a group at an increased risk to drug use and antisocial behaviour during adolescence and later marginalisation and exclusion from society in adulthood (Blyth and Milner, 1993). As part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent drug use, young people who entered post primary school in 2000 (aged 11/12 years) were surveyed annually on four occasions. This paper reports on findings from this survey in relation to a supplementary group of young people who were surveyed because they had been excluded from school. The findings show higher levels of drug use and antisocial behaviour among school excludees, lower levels of communication with their parents/guardians, higher levels of contact with the criminal justice system and increased likelihood of living in communities characterised with neighbourhood disorganisation. This lifestyle perhaps suggests these young people are leading a life that is already taking them towards the margins of society.

Endogenous expression and localization of myostatin and its relation to MHC distribution in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells

Myostatin is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. We have previously reported that recombinant myostatin protein inhibits DNA and protein synthesis in C2C12 cells. Our objective was to assess if C2C12 cells express myostatin, determine its sub-cellular localization and the developmental stage of C2C12 cells in which myostatin mRNA and protein are expressed. To study the endogenous expression of myostatin, C2C12 myoblasts were allowed to progress to myotubes, and changes in the levels of endogenous myostatin mRNA expression were determined by RT-PCR. The myostatin protein and the two major myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms (MHC-I and -II) were determined by Western blot. Confirmation of the relative MHC expression patterns was obtained by a modified polyacrylamide gel electropheretic (PAGE) procedure. Imunofluorescence staining was employed to localize the site of myostatin expression and the relative distribution of the MHC isoforms. Co-expression of these proteins was studied using a dual staining approach. Expression of myostatin mRNA was found in myotubes but not in myoblasts. Myostatin protein was seen in most but not all, of the nuclei of polynucleated fibers expressing MHC-II, and myostatin was detected in the cytoplasm of myotube. The localization of myostatin protein in myotube nuclei was confirmed by Western blot of isolated nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions. Incubation of C2C12 myotubes with graded doses of dexamethasone dose-dependently increased the intensity of nuclear myostatin immunostaining and also resulted in the appearance of cytoplasmic expression. In conclusion, myostatin was expressed mostly in C2C12 myotubes nuclei expressing MHC-II. Its predominant