Molecular Mechanisms and Genome-Wide Aspects of PPAR Subtype Specific Transactivation

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are central regulators of fat metabolism, energy homeostasis, proliferation, and inflammation. The three PPAR subtypes, PPARα, β/δ, and γ activate overlapping but also very different target gene programs. This review summarizes the insights into PPAR subtype-specific transactivation provided by genome-wide studies and discusses the recent advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying PPAR subtype specificity with special focus on the regulatory role of AF-1

The association between serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor and a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents:The CHAMPS-study DK

Cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes pose a global health burden. Therefore, clarifying the pathology of these risk factors is essential. Previous studies have found positive and negative associations between one or more cardiovascular risk factors and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) probably due to diverse methodological approaches when analysing peripheral BDNF levels. Moreover, only a few studies have been performed in youth populations. Consequently, the main objective of this study was to examine the association between serum BDNF and a composite z-score consisting of six cardiovascular risk factors. A secondary aim was to examine the associations between serum BDNF and each of the six risk factors.Four hundred and forty-seven apparently healthy adolescents between 11-17 years of age participated in this cross-sectional study. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), anthropometrics, pubertal status, blood pressure (BP), serum BDNF, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), blood glucose and insulin were measured. Information about alcohol consumption and socio-economic status was collected via questionnaires. Associations were modelled using linear regression analysis.Serum BDNF was positively associated with the composite z-score in the total study sample (standardized beta coefficient (std.β) = 0.10, P = 0.037). In males, serum BDNF was positively associated with the composite z-score (Std. β = 0.14, P = 0.034) and HOMA-IR (Std. β = 0.19, P = 0.004), and negatively associated with CRF (Std. β = -0.15, P = 0.026). In females, BDNF was positively associated with TG (Std. β = 0.14, P = 0.030) and negatively associated with waist circumference (WC) (Std. β = -0.16, P = 0.012).Serum BDNF was positively associated with a composite z-score of cardiovascular risk factors. This association seems to be mainly driven by the association between TG, HOMA-IR and serum BDNF, and particularly for males. Further longitudinal research is warranted to determine the temporal relationship between BDNF and cardiovascular risk factors

Theoretical perspectives on innovation for waste valorisation in the bioeconomy

This chapter discusses the notion of the circular bioeconomy, and the drivers and barriers for adding value to waste and thereby creating a more sustainable bioeconomy. It highlights the special role of governance including innovation policy in developing the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy is an emerging area for research, policy and economic activity and there are many views on it. Our focus is on the role of innovation in waste valorisation, including technological as well as social and institutional innovation. We discuss the waste pyramid that illustrates the hierarchy of alternative forms of waste management in terms of resource efficiency and sustainability, and the associated notion of the cascading use of biological resources. We conceptualise the different forms of waste management as “integrated socio-technical systems of production and consumption”. This concept brings into play the body of literature on socio-technical transitions, innovation and governance that is central for analysing the patterns and dynamics of waste valorisation

A pedagogical design pattern framework:for sharing experiences and enhancing communities of practice within online and blended learning

”Design patterns” were originally proposed in architecture and later in software engineering as a methodology to sketch and share solutions to recurring design problems. In recent years ”pedagogical design patterns” have been introduced as a way to sketch and share good practices in teaching and learning; specifically in the context of technology-enhanced learning (e-learning). Several attempts have been made to establish a framework for describing and sharing such e-learning patterns, but so far they have had limited success. At a series of workshops in a competence-development project for teachers at the University of Copenhagen a new and simpler pedagogical design pattern framework was developed for interfaculty sharing of experiences and enhancing communities of practice in relation to online and blended learning across the university. In this study, the new pedagogical design pattern framework is applied to describe the learning design in four online and blended learning courses within different academic disciplines: Classical Greek, Biostatistics, Environmental Management in Europe, and Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation. Future perspectives for using the framework for developing new E-learning patterns for online and blended learning courses are discussed

A 24 month longitudinal qualitative study of women's experience of electromyography biofeedback pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) and PFMT alone for urinary incontinence: adherence, outcome and context.

Aims of study: To investigate women’s experiences of electromyography (EMG) biofeedback pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) and PFMT alone for stress or mixed urinary incontinence (UI) to explain the contextual factors that influence intervention adherence and outcome within a randomised controlled trial. Study design, materials and methods: The study design was a two-tailed, longitudinal, qualitative case study (1) carried out in parallel to a randomised controlled trial (2). The ‘tails’ were the biofeedback PFMT group and PFMT alone group. Following ethical approval, purposive maximum variation sampling (based on difference in treatment centre, UI type, and therapist type) was used to invite a subsample of women, who had consented to the trial, to take part in the case study. Interested women were sent written information about, and asked to consent to, the case study specifically. The data from each recruited women formed one case. Women were interviewed at baseline, six, 12 and 24 months after randomisation. Interviews were semi-structured, digitally recorded and transcribed. Where possible, baseline and six month interviews were face to face and either at the participant’s home or in the clinic, and 12 and 24 month interviews were by telephone. Interviews explored women’s experiences of the social contexts within which they experienced UI, the intervention they received, adherence and outcome. Data analysis principally followed case study analytic traditions (1) whereby all data from a case were analysed and findings collected together to form a case summary with a focus on understanding a woman’s experience of UI, intervention, adherence and outcome and how these factors interacted. Case summaries within a ‘tail’ were collated, the cases compared, and the two tails were then compared to one another. Results: Sample: Forty women, 20 per group, were recruited as planned; 24 had data at all four time points (10 biofeedback PFMT and 14 PFMT alone), with 2856 minutes of interview data recorded. There was a wide age range in both groups (20 to 76 years). Eleven women had stress UI and 29 Mixed UI with similar proportions in the groups. Six women were treated in community clinics, 16 in University hospitals and 18 in District General Hospitals with similar proportions in the groups. Most women were treated by specialist women’s health physiotherapists (n=36) and four by continence nurses