Researching Youth Participation – theoretical and methodological reflections on limitations of existing research and innovative perspectives

In both youth research and pedagogical literature, and especially in related policy arenas, the perspectives often combine normative and analytical aspects, and the concept of participation is sometimes used uncritically, legitimised by a powerful discourse in which young people are addressed as the future of society. This chapter provides theoretical and methodological perspectives that help to deconstruct the ideological lenses through which participation is continually reproduced in ways defined by powerful institutional actors, and from there reconstruct the meaning of participation starting from the perspective of the participants, especially young people. An understanding of democracy is important in studying ways of youth participation that might not be recognised as such by conventional understandings of participation. Apart from participatory observation, group discussions can give access to practical knowledge of young people by reconstructing they refer to each other and the shared meanings of their activities in public spaces. Most processes of institutionalisation of youth participation are related to youth policies

Acute and Chronic Effects of SGLT2 Inhibitor Empagliflozin on Renal Oxygenation and Blood Pressure Control in Nondiabetic Normotensive Subjects: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background The sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor empagliflozin has cardiorenal protective properties through mechanisms beyond glucose control. In this study we assessed whether empagliflozin modifies renal oxygenation as a possible mechanism of renal protection, and determined the metabolic, renal, and hemodynamic effects of empagliflozin in nondiabetic subjects. Methods and Results In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 45 healthy volunteers underwent blood and urine sampling, renal ultrasound, and blood-oxygenation-level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging before and 180 minutes after administration of 10 mg empagliflozin (n=30) or placebo (n=15). These examinations were repeated after 1 month of daily intake. Cortical and medullary renal oxygenation were not affected by the acute or chronic administration of empagliflozin, as determined by 148 renal blood-oxygenation-level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Empagliflozin increased glucosuria (24-hour glucosuria at 1 month: +50.1±16.3 g). The acute decrease in proximal sodium reabsorption, as determined by endogenous fractional excretion of lithium (-34.6% versus placebo), was compensated at 1 month by a rise in plasma renin activity (+28.6%) and aldosterone (+55.7%). The 24-hour systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressures decreased significantly after 1 month of empagliflozin administration (-5.1 and -2.0 mm Hg, respectively). Serum uric acid levels decreased (-28.4%), hemoglobin increased (+1.7%), and erythropoietin remained the same. Conclusions Empagliflozin has a rapid and significant effect on tubular function, with sustained glucosuria and transient natriuresis in nondiabetic normotensive subjects. These effects favor blood pressure reduction. No acute or sustained changes were found in renal cortical or medullary tissue oxygenation. It remains to be determined whether this is the case in nondiabetic or diabetic patients with congestive heart failure or kidney disease. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clini​caltr​ials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03093103

Regimes of youth participation? Comparative analysis of youth policies and participation across European cities

This paper problematizes the assumption that national policies have a direct impact on youth participation at local level and analyses the relationships between local forms of youth participation and local and national policies. Relying on data from a EU project, the paper focuses on formally institutionalised settings of youth participation and elaborates local constellations of youth participation in six European cities. These constellations may be referred to as regimes of youth participation as they reflect wider structures of power and knowledge that influence the way in which young people’s practices in public spaces and their claims of being part of society are recognised. However, the analysis reveals that rather deducing it from the model of welfare regimes, such a typology needs to be developed starting from the local level and should consider the ways in which different relationships between local youth policies and national welfare states affect youth participation

Control of Cyclin C Levels during Development of Dictyostelium

Background: Cdk8 and its partner cyclin C form part of the mediator complex which links the basal transcription machinery to regulatory proteins. The pair are required for correct regulation of a subset of genes and have been implicated in control of development in a number of organisms including the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. When feeding, Dictyostelium amoebae are unicellular but upon starvation they aggregate to form a multicellular structure which develops into a fruiting body containing spores. Cells in which the gene encoding Cdk8 has been deleted fail to enter aggregates due to a failure of early gene expression.Principal Findings: We have monitored the expression levels of cyclin C protein during development and find levels decrease after the multicellular mound is formed. This decrease is triggered by extracellular cAMP that, in turn, is working in part through an increase in intracellular cAMP. The loss of cyclin C is coincident with a reduction in the association of Cdk8 with a high molecular weight complex in the nucleus. Overexpression of cyclin C and Cdk8 lead to an increased rate of early development, consistent with the levels being rate limiting.Conclusions: Overall these results show that both cyclin C and Cdk8 are regulated during development in response to extracellular signals and the levels of these proteins are important in controlling the timing of developmental processes. These findings have important implications for the role of these proteins in controlling development, suggesting that they are targets for developmental signals to regulate gene expression.</p

Squalamine: An Appropriate Strategy against the Emergence of Multidrug Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria?

We reported that squalamine is a membrane-active molecule that targets the membrane integrity as demonstrated by the ATP release and dye entry. In this context, its activity may depend on the membrane lipid composition. This molecule shows a preserved activity against bacterial pathogens presenting a noticeable multi-resistance phenotype against antibiotics such as polymyxin B. In this context and because of its structure, action and its relative insensitivity to efflux resistance mechanisms, we have demonstrated that squalamine appears as an alternate way to combat MDR pathogens and by pass the gap regarding the failure of new active antibacterial molecules

CDK19 is disrupted in a female patient with bilateral congenital retinal folds, microcephaly and mild mental retardation

Microcephaly, mental retardation and congenital retinal folds along with other systemic features have previously been reported as a separate clinical entity. The sporadic nature of the syndrome and lack of clear inheritance patterns pointed to a genetic heterogeneity. Here, we report a genetic analysis of a female patient with microcephaly, congenital bilateral falciform retinal folds, nystagmus, and mental retardation. Karyotyping revealed a de novo pericentric inversion in chromosome 6 with breakpoints in 6p12.1 and 6q21. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis narrowed down the region around the breakpoints, and the breakpoint at 6q21 was found to disrupt the CDK19 gene. CDK19 was found to be expressed in a diverse range of tissues including fetal eye and fetal brain. Quantitative PCR of the CDK19 transcript from Epstein–Barr virus-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines of the patient revealed ~50% reduction in the transcript (p = 0.02), suggesting haploinsufficiency of the gene. cdk8, the closest orthologue of human CDK19 in Drosophila has been shown to play a major role in eye development. Conditional knock-down of Drosophila cdk8 in multiple dendrite (md) neurons resulted in 35% reduced dendritic branching and altered morphology of the dendritic arbour, which appeared to be due in part to a loss of small higher order branches. In addition, Cdk8 mutant md neurons showed diminished dendritic fields revealing an important role of the CDK19 orthologue in the developing nervous system of Drosophila. This is the first time the CDK19 gene, a component of the mediator co-activator complex, has been linked to a human disease

The analysis of youth participation in contemporary literature: a European perspective

Today in Europe, the participation of young people in the decision-making process appears crucial to public authorities for a number of reasons. The crisis of trust and confidence towards traditional forms of representation (as shown both by the growth of abstention but also by the change or even the disengagement from the classical forms of associative and union mobilization), the growth of individualisation, the building of more varied and uncertain biographical trajectories, the appearance of an unsettled and weakened sense of belonging to the national and local communities, these factors encourage public authorities to rally specifically round the young generations. However, the participation of young people remains an ambivalent political concern. References to participation can be interpreted as a key concept for an understanding of social integration in modern and late modern societies in which the actions and choices of the individuals \u2013 in their role as citizens \u2013 play an essential role in terms of influence, involvement and active citizenship it. According to the White Paper, \u2018Young people want the right to give their opinion on all aspects of their daily lives, such as family, school, work, group activities, their local area, etc. However, in doing so, they are also involved in broader economic, social and political issues.\u2019 (European Commission, 2001, p 24) This quotation reflects the awareness of a change in the way social integration has become politically institutionalised in terms of a citizenship status; from members of society based on formally assigned rights and responsibilities towards a diversification of involvement possibilities and influence in late modern societies. One may also speak of an individualisation of governance. Consequently, participation in the White Paper is defined as \u2018Ensuring young people are consulted and more involved in the decisions which concern them and, in general, the life of their communities.\u2019 (European Commission, 2001, p 8) This volume aims at investigating the meaning and the forms, the extent and conditionality of young people\u2019s active citizenship. What conditions are imposed on young people\u2019s citizenship? How are young people treated in a society that promotes citizenship in this sense? The varied definitions of participation and the implications of differing forms of participation will therefore require exploration. Thus, the issue of participation itself represents an intellectual challenge, particularly in relation to the multiplicity of meanings this concept has acquired at regional, national and European levels. As Percy-Smith and Thomas underline in the introduction of their Handbook of Children and Young People\u2019s Participation (2010), the concept of participation is still \u2018in search of definition\u2019, therefore, a core objective of this book is to analyse the relationships and tensions between institutionalised and newly emerging forms of participation. This becomes more important as, even on the European policy level, we find not only different but contradicting statements on the relevance and meaning of participation. On the one hand, the 2001 White Paper to some extent accepts that participation means to accept social change towards new and unknown forms of society \u2013 which implies accepting uncertainty: \u2018We are expecting them [young people] to create new forms of social relations, different ways of expressing solidarity or of coping with differences and finding enrichment in them, while new uncertainties appear.\u2019 (European Commission, 2001, p 4) On the other hand, in the follow-up process of the White Paper and especially in the framework of the European Youth Pact, participation is much more related to the existing societal structures and institutions. The question of participation also represents a political challenge. If young people do not behave as active citizens in these areas, it damages the political legitimacy of these institutions (Giddens, 199..

Translation and Interpretation of Policy Instruments and Negotiation of Subject Positions

The chapter draws on the results of empirical studies in eight European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (England and Northern Ireland), carried out under the EU-funded GOETE project. It analyses how are internationally circulating policy instruments addressing central problems of schooling shaped and translated, adapted and modified, in institutional relations as well as in the intersection between institution and actors at various levels. Related to this, also on an empirical level, is the question of how subject positions are allocated to individual students especially in the context of educational transitions. How are these allocation processes negotiated, who are the main actors involved, what kind of leverage do they bring into the arena, and how do they interact in the negotiation process. Of special importance are the points of transition and how these correspond to the allocation processes which ultimately indicate future status. In our context, whether or not students and their families feel in charge of their educational trajectories or whether they experience themselves to be powerless in the face of decisions made by someone else, also depends on the allocation politics of their subject positions. The chapter deals with the specific question of how educational trajectories are diverted in the context of a re-signification of \u2018the knowledge economy\u2019 and \u2018lifelong learning discourses\u2019 through specific policy instruments at a local level