Mobile lives, immutable facts : family reunification of children in Finland

Peer reviewe

Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior With Adolescent Academic Achievement

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (N = 8,061) was used to investigated the joint associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with academic achievement. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate how classes formed by latent class analysis (LCA) according to overall physical activity, sports club membership, viewing TV, using a computer, reading books and magazines, other sedentary activities, and sleep were associated with grade-point average. When adjusted for gender, self-rated health, and mother's education, physically active adolescents and generally active adolescents were about twice as likely to have high grade-point average compared with sedentary TV viewers.Peer reviewe

Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time Differ According to Education Level in Young Adults

This study examined the association of education level with objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in young adults. Data from the Finnish ESTER study (20092011) (n = 538) was used to examine the association between educational attainment and different subcomponents of physical activity and sedentary time measured using hip-worn accelerometers (ActiGraph GT1M) for seven consecutive days. Overall physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light-intensity physical activity and sedentary time were calculated separately for weekdays and weekend days. A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify the different profiles of sedentary time and the subcomponents of physical activity. The educational differences in accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time varied according to the subcomponents of physical activity, and between weekdays and weekend days. A high education level was associated with high MVPA during weekdays and weekend days in both sexes, high sedentary time during weekdays in both sexes, and a low amount of light-intensity physical activity during weekdays in males and during weekdays and weekend days in females. The results indicate different challenges related to unhealthy behaviours in young adults with low and high education: low education is associated with a lack of MVPA, whereas high education is associated with a lack of light-intensity physical activity and high sedentary time especially during weekdays.Peer reviewe

Illuminating arts and crafts interiors: lighting design in the 1890s

The aim of this thesis is to re-root the study of the Arts and Crafts movement in its Victorian economic and socio-cultural context. It does so by focusing on the design of light fittings, thus introducing an element of history of technology into art historical discourse on the Arts and Crafts movement. This new line of inquiry allows for a reassessment of the relationship the Arts and Crafts has been perceived to have had with the idea of modernity as well as tradition. Firstly this thesis introduces different illumination technologies on the market in the 1890s to showcase the intrinsic connection technology had with the design of the material culture of domestic lighting. Secondly, it argues that Arts and Crafts lighting should be studied as completed schemes that had an active aesthetic and functional role in designed interiors. Thirdly, this thesis highlights how the objects of illumination are mimetic and concrete ways in which these interiors were connected to wider infrastructures of society

Physical activity and obesity mediate the association between childhood motor function and adolescents' academic achievement

The global epidemic of obesity and physical inactivity may have detrimental implications for young people’s cognitive function and academic achievement. This prospective study investigated whether childhood motor function predicts later academic achievement via physical activity, fitness, and obesity. The study sample included 8,061 children from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986, which contains data about parent-reported motor function at age 8 y and self-reported physical activity, predicted cardiorespiratory fitness (cycle ergometer test), obesity (body weight and height), and academic achievement (grades) at age 16 y. Structural equation models with unstandardized (B) and standardized (β) coefficients were used to test whether, and to what extent, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity at age 16 mediated the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement. Physical activity was associated with a higher grade-point average, and obesity was associated with a lower grade-point average in adolescence. Furthermore, compromised motor function in childhood had a negative indirect effect on adolescents’ academic achievement via physical inactivity (B = –0.023, 95% confidence interval = –0.031, –0.015) and obesity (B = –0.025, 95% confidence interval = –0.039, –0.011), but not via cardiorespiratory fitness. These results suggest that physical activity and obesity may mediate the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement. Compromised motor function in childhood may represent an important factor driving the effects of obesity and physical inactivity on academic underachievement

Effect of Weight Loss on Liver Free Fatty Acid Uptake and Hepatic Insulin Resistance

Objective: Weight loss has been shown to decrease liver fat content and whole-body insulin resistance. The current study was conducted to investigate the simultaneous effects of rapid weight reduction with a very-low-calorie diet on liver glucose and fatty acid metabolism and liver adiposity. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that liver insulin resistance and free fatty acid uptake would decrease after weight loss and that they are associated with reduction of liver fat content. Design: Thirty-four healthy obese subjects (body mass index, 33.7 +/- 8.0 kg/m(2)) were studied before and after a very-low-calorie diet for 6 wk. Hepatic glucose uptake and endogenous glucose production were measured with [18(F)] fluorodeoxyglucose during hyperinsulinemic euglycemia and fasting hepatic fatty acid uptake with [18(F)] fluoro-6-thia-heptadecanoic acid and positron emission tomography. Liver volume and fat content were measured using magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. Results: Subjects lost weight (11.2 +/- 2.9 kg; P <0.0001). Liver volume decreased by 11% (P <0.002), which was partly explained by decreased liver fat content (P <0.0001). Liver free fatty acid uptake was 26% lower after weight loss (P <0.003) and correlated with the decrement in liver fat content (r = 0.54; P <0.03). Hepatic glucose uptake during insulin stimulation was unchanged, but the endogenous glucose production decreased by 40% (P <0.04), andhepatic insulin resistance by 40% (P <0.05). Conclusions: The liver responds to a 6-wk period of calorie restriction with a parallel reduction in lipid uptake and storage, accompanied by enhancement of hepatic insulin sensitivity and clearance. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94: 50-55, 2009

Parasitoids indicate major climate-induced shifts in arctic communities

Climatic impacts are especially pronounced in the Arctic, which as a region is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe. Here, we investigate how mean climatic conditions and rates of climatic change impact parasitoid insect communities in 16 localities across the Arctic. We focus on parasitoids in a widespread habitat,Dryasheathlands, and describe parasitoid community composition in terms of larval host use (i.e., parasitoid use of herbivorous Lepidoptera vs. pollinating Diptera) and functional groups differing in their closeness of host associations (koinobionts vs. idiobionts). Of the latter, we expect idiobionts-as being less fine-tuned to host development-to be generally less tolerant to cold temperatures, since they are confined to attacking hosts pupating and overwintering in relatively exposed locations. To further test our findings, we assess whether similar climatic variables are associated with host abundances in a 22 year time series from Northeast Greenland. We find sites which have experienced a temperature rise in summer while retaining cold winters to be dominated by parasitoids of Lepidoptera, with the reverse being true for the parasitoids of Diptera. The rate of summer temperature rise is further associated with higher levels of herbivory, suggesting higher availability of lepidopteran hosts and changes in ecosystem functioning. We also detect a matching signal over time, as higher summer temperatures, coupled with cold early winter soils, are related to high herbivory by lepidopteran larvae, and to declines in the abundance of dipteran pollinators. Collectively, our results suggest that in parts of the warming Arctic,Dryasis being simultaneously exposed to increased herbivory and reduced pollination. Our findings point to potential drastic and rapid consequences of climate change on multitrophic-level community structure and on ecosystem functioning and highlight the value of collaborative, systematic sampling effort.Peer reviewe