Association of anti-oxidized LDL and candidate genes with severity of coronary stenosis in the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation study

Atherosclerosis is the major cause of coronary artery disease (CAD), and oxidized LDL (oxLDL) is believed to play a key role in the initiation of the atherosclerotic process. Recent studies show that inflammation and autoimmune reactions are also relevant in atherosclerosis. In this study, we examined the association of antibodies against oxLDL (anti-oxLDL) with the severity of CAD in 558 Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study samples (465 whites; 93 blacks) determined by coronary stenosis (< 20%, 20%-49%, > 50% stenosis). We also examined the relationship of anti-oxLDL with serum lipid levels and nine candidate genes including APOE, APOH, APOA5, LPL, LRP1, HL, CETP, PON1, and OLR1. IgM anti-oxLDL levels were significantly higher in the >20% stenosis group than in the ≥ 20% stenosis group in whites (0.69 ± 0.02 vs. 0.64 ± 0.01, respectively; P = 0.02). IgM anti-oxLDL levels correlated significantly with total cholesterol (r² = 0.01; P = 0.03) and LDL cholesterol (r² = 0.017; P = 0.004) in whites. Multiple regression analysis revealed a suggestive association of LPL/S447X single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with both IgG anti-oxLDL (P = 0.02) and IgM anti-oxLDL (P = 0.07), as well as between IgM anti-oxLDL and the OLR1/3'UTR SNP (P = 0.020). Our data suggest that higher IgM anti-oxLDL levels may provide protection against coronary stenosis and that genetic variation in some candidate genes are determinants of anti-oxLDL levels.

Physical Dating Aggression in Adolescence

The present study aims to investigate the latent structure of a Physical Dating Aggression Scale in Italian and Canadian adolescents and to evaluate the measurement invariance across gender and country. Participants involved 1,628 adolescents (704 Italians and 924 Canadians; 800 males and 828 females) aged 14–16 years. A revised version of the CTS Physical Aggression Scale ( Straus, 1979 ) modified to make the items more acceptable to younger teens was used. Results from Single-Group confirmatory factor analysis supported a monodimensional structure as the most parsimonious index of Physical Dating Aggression. Furthermore, Multiple-Group analyses conducted through different tests (across gender in each country separately, across country in each gender separately, and across country on the whole sample) showed a substantial factorial invariance. Results are discussed in relation to age, gender, and cultural issues on Physical Dating Aggression.

Obesity as a determinant of two forms of bullying in Ontario youth: a short report

OBJECTIVE

Obesity can have negative effects in terms of stigma and discriminatory behavior. Past cross-sectional analyses have shown that overweight and obese youths are more likely to be involved in bullying. Here, we examine such relationships in a longitudinal analysis. Study outcomes were self-reports of: i) physical bullying victimization and perpetration and ii) relational bullying victimization and perpetration.

METHODS

Participants were administered the Health Behaviour in School-Age Children Survey in 2006 and then again in 2007, and included 1,738 youths from 17 Ontario high schools. Relationships between adiposity and each of the four forms of bullying were evaluated using multi-level analyses.

RESULTS

Excess adiposity was shown to precede bullying involvement in this study. Obese and overweight males reported 2-fold increases in both physical and relational victimization, while obese females reported 3-fold increases in perpetration of relational bullying. Among those free of bullying at baseline (2006), significant increases in perpetration of relational bullying were reported by obese females in 2007 relative to normal-weight females (14.8 vs. 3.8% among normal-weight girls; p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are congruent with previous cross-sectional studies and confirm that obese youths are at increased risk of social consequences attributable to their appearance.

Adolescent dating aggression in Canada and Italy: A cross-national comparison

This study compared rates of dating aggression among 16-year-old adolescents in Canada and Italy, as well as differential associations with dyadic risk factors. 664 Canadians (297 boys, 367 girls) and 578 Italians (315 boys, 263 girls) indicated the frequency of physical aggression towards a romantic partner. They also rated the level of conflict and power imbalance in their romantic relationship. The results revealed comparable rates of physical dating aggression in the two countries for both boys and girls. Dyadic risk factors were also significant, with levels of conflict associated with dating aggression in both countries, and power imbalance uniquely linked in Italy. Overall, the results point to dating aggression as a global problem among youth.

Adolescent romantic relationships in China and Canada: A cross-national comparison

This study compared the romantic involvements of Canadian and Chinese adolescents as well as linkages with friend and parental relationships. Participants were 496 Chinese adolescents and 395 Canadian adolescents, aged 16—17 years. Chinese adolescents were less likely to have any form of romantic involvement, including a romantic relationship, displayed lower levels of romantic experience, and had fewer close romantic relationships. Gender moderated cultural differences, with Chinese girls least involved in romantic experiences. Although friendships were more intimate in Canada and parent relationships were closer in China, the linkages of parental and friend relationships with romantic experience were quite consistent across the two cultures, with friends being positively linked to romantic experiences and parents indirectly linked through their connection to friends. Among Chinese adolescents, parents also directly connected with romantic experiences in a negative direction. Implications of the findings for understanding the interface between individual growth and cultural context are discussed.

Key elements in a strategic approach to capacity building in the biosafety of genetically modified organisms

In recent times, it has become imperative for countries to define and implement policy in biosafety due to the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops. As such, countries wishing to utilise transgenic technologies in the development of advanced agricultural products must have regulations in place coupled with trained personnel in national competent authorities able to contribute effectively to the decision-making process. Capacity building initiatives play an important role in supporting such individuals, institutions and governmental authorities by providing training and/or physical structures/equipment and technical assistance. There are many types of capacity building activities; however not all have the same relevance in different regions of the world. For capacity building to be effective, a strategic approach incorporating a variety of forms and disciplines is desired. This commentary discusses the importance of factors such as: the targeting of support to relevant beneficiary(ies); the identification of specific needs and the incorporation of socio-economic conditions when elaborating effective strategies designed to help building capacity. Moreover, the importance of interaction and collaboration amongst the various capacity builders is also discussed such that unnecessary duplication of efforts and best use of available human and economic resources results.

A cross-national profile of bullying and victimization among adolescents in 40 countries

OBJECTIVES

(1) To compare the prevalence of bullying and victimization among boys and girls and by age in 40 countries. (2) In 6 countries, to compare rates of direct physical, direct verbal, and indirect bullying by gender, age, and country.

METHODS

Cross-sectional self-report surveys including items on bullying and being bullied were obtained from nationally representative samples of 11, 13 and 15 year old school children in 40 countries, N = 202,056. Six countries (N = 29,127 students) included questions about specific types of bullying (e. g., direct physical, direct verbal, indirect).

RESULTS

Exposure to bullying varied across countries, with estimates ranging from 8.6% to 45.2% among boys, and from 4.8% to 35.8% among girls. Adolescents in Baltic countries reported higher rates of bullying and victimization, whereas northern European countries reported the lowest prevalence. Boys reported higher rates of bullying in all countries. Rates of victimization were higher for girls in 29 of 40 countries. Rates of victimization decreased by age in 30 of 40 (boys) and 25 of 39 (girls) countries.

CONCLUSION

There are lessons to be learned from the current research conducted in countries where the prevalence is low that could be adapted for use in countries with higher prevalence.

Income inequality and school bullying: multilevel study of adolescents in 37 countries

PURPOSE

To examine the association between income inequality and school bullying in an international sample of preadolescents and to test for mediation of this association by the availability of social support from families, peers, and schools.

METHODS

The study used economic data from the 2006 United Nations Development Program Human Development Report and survey data from the 2005/2006 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study which included 66,910 11-year-olds in 37 countries. Ecological correlations tested associations between income inequality and bullying among countries. Multilevel linear and ordinal regression analyses tested the effects of income inequality on perceived social support and bullying others at school.

RESULTS

Income inequality was associated with rates of bullying among the 37 countries (r = .62). Multilevel analyses indicated that each standard deviation increase in income inequality corresponded with more frequent bullying by males (odds ratio = 1.17) and females (odds ratio = 1.24), less family support and school support but more peer support. Social support from families and schools was associated with less bullying after differences in wealth were taken into account; however, social support did not account for the association between income inequality and bullying.

CONCLUSIONS

Countries with high income inequality have more school bullying among preadolescents than countries with low income inequality. Further study is needed to understand the mechanisms that account for this association. Findings suggest that adolescents in areas of wide income inequality-not only those in deprived schools and neighborhoods- should be a focus of anti-bullying campaigns.

A cross-national profile of bullying and victimization among adolescents in 40 countries

OBJECTIVES

(1) To compare the prevalence of bullying and victimization among boys and girls and by age in 40 countries. (2) In 6 countries, to compare rates of direct physical, direct verbal, and indirect bullying by gender, age, and country.

METHODS

Cross-sectional self-report surveys including items on bullying and being bullied were obtained from nationally representative samples of 11, 13 and 15 year old school children in 40 countries, N = 202,056. Six countries (N = 29,127 students) included questions about specific types of bullying (e. g., direct physical, direct verbal, indirect).

RESULTS

Exposure to bullying varied across countries, with estimates ranging from 8.6% to 45.2% among boys, and from 4.8% to 35.8% among girls. Adolescents in Baltic countries reported higher rates of bullying and victimization, whereas northern European countries reported the lowest prevalence. Boys reported higher rates of bullying in all countries. Rates of victimization were higher for girls in 29 of 40 countries. Rates of victimization decreased by age in 30 of 40 (boys) and 25 of 39 (girls) countries.

CONCLUSION

There are lessons to be learned from the current research conducted in countries where the prevalence is low that could be adapted for use in countries with higher prevalence.

Cross-national time trends in bullying behaviour 1994-2006: findings from Europe and North America

OBJECTIVES

To identify trends over 12 years in the prevalence of bullying and associated victimization among adolescents in North American and European countries.

METHODS

Cross-sectional self-report surveys were obtained from nationally representative samples of 11-15 year old school children in 21 countries in 1993/94 and in 27 countries in each of 1997/98, 2001/02 and 2005/06. Measures included involvement in bullying as either a perpetrator and/or victim.

RESULTS

Consistent decreases in the prevalence of bullying were reported between 1993/94 to 2005/06 in most countries. Geographic patterns show consistent decreases in bullying in Western European countries and in most Eastern European countries. An increase or no change in prevalence was evident in almost all English speaking countries participating in the study (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Canada, but not in the USA).

CONCLUSION

Study findings demonstrated a significant decrease in involvement in bullying behaviour in most participating countries. This is encouraging news for policy-makers and practitioners working in the field of bullying prevention.

Approach to bullying and victimization

OBJECTIVE

To review the epidemiology, identification, and management of bullying and victimization among children in the primary care setting.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Information was obtained from PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases, as well as the authors' own clinical and research experience. Information is based on levels II and III evidence.

MAIN MESSAGE

Involvement in bullying is a destructive relationship problem, with important health implications. Physicians need to be aware of the physical and psychosocial symptoms commonly associated with involvement in bullying so that they can screen and identify those children involved. This article presents a review of bullying and associated symptoms, a tool for assessing bullying involvement, and an overview of intervention and management.

CONCLUSION

Bullying is a substantial problem affecting Canadian children. With an increased awareness and understanding of bullying as a health problem, physicians can play an instrumental role in identifying children involved in bullying and providing them with the support needed to develop healthy relationships.

Investigating the Comparability of a Self-Report Measure of Childhood Bullying Across Countries

Responding to international concerns regarding childhood bullying and a need to identify a common bullying measure, this study examines the comparability of children's self-reports of bullying across five countries. The Pacific-Rim Bullying Measure, a self-report measure of students' experiences with six different types of bullying behaviour and victimization, was administered to 1,398 Grade 5 students from Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and United States. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory modeling were used to evaluate construct equivalence on the measure across different countries. Preliminary results revealed some construct differences across countries, that is, the bullying measure is measuring one construct, but that the construct is manifested differently in the different countries.

Risk models of dating aggression across different adolescent relationships: a developmental psychopathology approach

The present study examined physical dating aggression in different adolescent relationships and assessed linear, threshold, and moderator risk models for recurrent aggressive relationships. The 621 participants (59% girls, 41% boys) were drawn from a 1-year longitudinal survey of Canadian high school youths ranging from Grade 9 through Grade 12. Approximately 13% of participants reported recurrent dating aggression across 2 different relationships. Using peer and dyadic risk factors from Time 1 of the study, the authors confirmed a linear risk model, such that adolescents in 2 different violent relationships had significantly more contextual risk factors than did adolescents in 1 or no violent relationship. Further, structural equation modeling assessing moderation of contextual risk factors indicated that, for adolescents with high acceptance of dating aggression, peer aggression and delinquency significantly predicted recurrent aggression in a new relationship. In comparison, for adolescents with low acceptance of dating aggression, negative relationship characteristics significantly predicted recurrent aggression. Acceptance did not moderate concurrent associations between risk factors and aggression in 1 relationship. Results support a developmental psychopathological approach to the understanding of recurrent aggression and its associated risk factors.

Transplastomic tobacco plants expressing a fatty acid desaturase gene exhibit altered fatty acid profiles and improved cold tolerance

The possibility of altering the unsaturation level of fatty acids in plant lipids by genetic transformation has implications for the stress tolerance of higher plants as well as for their nutritional value and industrial utilisation. While the integration and expression of transgenes in the plastome has several potential advantages over nuclear transformation, very few attempts have been made to manipulate fatty acid biosynthesis using plastid transformation. We produced transplastomic tobacco plants that express a Delta(9) desaturase gene from either the wild potato species Solanum commersonii or the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans, using PEG-mediated DNA uptake by protoplasts. Incorporation of chloroplast antibiotic-insensitive point mutations in the transforming DNA was used to select transformants. The presence of the transcript and the Delta(9) desaturase protein in transplastomic plants was confirmed by northern and western blot analyses. In comparison with control plants, transplastomic plants showed altered fatty acid profiles and an increase in their unsaturation level both in leaves and seeds. The two transgenes produced comparable results. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using plastid transformation to engineer lipid metabolic pathways in both vegetative and reproductive tissues and suggest an increase of cold tolerance in transplastomic plants showing altered leaf fatty acid profiles. This is the first example of transplastomic plants expressing an agronomically relevant gene produced with the "binding-type" vectors, which do not contain a heterologous marker gene. In fact, the transplastomic plants expressing the S. commersonii gene contain only plant-derived sequences, a clear attraction from a public acceptability perspective.

The development of bullying

Over the past 25 years, concern has been growing for children's bullying. We now recognize that bullying is wrong and hurtful. Research has fuelled a growing understanding that persistent bullying may be an indication of significant psycho-social problems. In this paper, we describe our longitudinal research on the development of bullying, examine risk factors associated with diverse pathways of bullying, and consider intervention strategies to address problems among children and youth who bully.

How well is Environmental Biosafety Research supporting the scientific debate on the biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

One of the most direct routes to informing scientific debates is through the timely publication of relevant research results. By making a comparison of the number and type of articles published by Environmental Biosafety Research (EBR) with those from other journals active in the arena of GMO biosafety, it is possible to shed light on the answer to the question posed in the title. To do this, we have used a unique open access online tool, the Biosafety Bibliographic Database (BBD) that has been provided by ICGEB since 1990. As of June 2007, the BBD contained 6694 records pertaining to scientific publications (full references and abstracts), and appearing in international and national scientific periodicals and books. Based on the records in the BBD, biosafety research activity over the past 16-17 years can be summarized by analyzing basic statistics. The BBD should prove to be a useful starting point for diverse bibliometric studies of publications in this area.

Adolescent risk correlates of bullying and different types of victimization

This study examined correlates of different types of bullying and victimization relevant to the adolescent context. Of particular interest was the importance of risk factors that emerge and/or undergo significant changes during adolescence. Logistic regressions were performed using a representative sample of approximately 6,500 Canadian adolescents. We found that high-levels of victimization (7.6%), bullying (6.1%), and bully-victimization (0.9%) were quite prevalent amongst adolescents. The patterns of risk associated with each of these labels were different from each group. An examination of the different sub-types of victimization revealed that there were differences in both the prevalence and the risk patterns associated with each sub-type. Physical, verbal, and rumor victimization (the most common types) had similar risk patterns, while sexual victimization and ethnic victimization (the least most common type) each had a unique risk pattern. We conclude that emerging and/or changing risk factors associated with adolescent development are significantly related to bullying and victimization, with the specific relationships depending on the specific type of activity examined. These findings suggest that successful intervention strategies should try to be sensitive to the variations in prevalence and relationships with the risk factors.

Television viewing and forms of bullying among adolescents from eight countries

PURPOSE

Based on theories suggesting that frequent television viewers act and react in hostile, malicious, malevolent, or verbally aggressive ways rather than being physically violent, the present study investigates relationships between television viewing and different forms of bullying.

METHODS

Multilevel regression models were estimated based on cross-sectional data from 31,177 adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 years from Canada, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, and the United States who participated in the 2001-2002 Health Behavior in School-aged Children Survey.

RESULTS

Although all different forms of bullying were associated with television viewing in bivariate analyses, only the verbal forms (i.e. "calling mean names" and "spreading rumors") remained significant in multiple regression models. These relationships were observed consistently in all eight participating countries. However, the association between television viewing and physical forms of bullying such as kicking, pushing, or shoving around, varied across countries. In most weekend TV viewing cultures, frequent television viewers were prone to kick or push another student in addition to verbal forms of bullying, which was not the case in weekday viewing cultures.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate the importance of limiting adolescents' time engaged in unsupervised television watching, and the need to motivate adolescents to engage in joint family activities or organized after-school activities.