Youth and Risky Consumption: Moving Toward a Transformative Approach

Recent statistics indicate that youth continue to engage in a wide variety of risky behaviours in spite of significant investment devoted to improving their well-being. One possible factor is a paternalistic view in understanding risk and promoting well-being. Participants in the Youth and Risk track of the Transformative Consumer Research conference challenge the paternalistic view, arguing in this paper for a more inclusive perspective that requires a re-examination of the nature of risk. The paternalistic view is discussed, and then countered with a more participatory approach that develops a role for youth in research in order to achieve socially desirable outcomes

Advancing a participatory approach for youth risk behavior:foundations, distinctions, and research

Researchers of youth risk behavior frequently assume that behavior is volitional; the choice is to either engage in a risky behavior or a safe alternative. Yet, many factors may constrain life choices, not the least of which is how individuals view risk. The study here examines youth risk research to identify general knowledge gaps and shortcomings that may be limiting the positive impact of research-based efforts to promote youth well-being. The study proposes alternative approaches that address these gaps and shortcomings in particular with recognition of the social contexts of both risks and the programs designed to address those risks. A distinctive foundation for a participatory approach to understanding youth risk behavior is then developed

Evolution of the ancestral mammalian karyotype and syntenic regions

Decrypting the rearrangements that drive mammalian chromosome evolution is critical to understanding the molecular bases of speciation, adaptation, and disease susceptibility. Using 8 scaffolded and 26 chromosome-scale genome assemblies representing 23/26 mammal orders, we computationally reconstructed ancestral karyotypes and syntenic relationships at 16 nodes along the mammalian phylogeny. Three different reference genomes (human, sloth, and cattle) representing phylogenetically distinct mammalian superorders were used to assess reference bias in the reconstructed ancestral karyotypes and to expand the number of clades with reconstructed genomes. The mammalian ancestor likely had 19 pairs of autosomes, with nine of the smallest chromosomes shared with the common ancestor of all amniotes (three still conserved in extant mammals), demonstrating a striking conservation of synteny for ∼320 My of vertebrate evolution. The numbers and types of chromosome rearrangements were classified for transitions between the ancestral mammalian karyotype, descendent ancestors, and extant species. For example, 94 inversions, 16 fissions, and 14 fusions that occurred over 53 My differentiated the therian from the descendent eutherian ancestor. The highest breakpoint rate was observed between the mammalian and therian ancestors (3.9 breakpoints/My). Reconstructed mammalian ancestor chromosomes were found to have distinct evolutionary histories reflected in their rates and types of rearrangements. The distributions of genes, repetitive elements, topologically associating domains, and actively transcribed regions in multispecies homologous synteny blocks and evolutionary breakpoint regions indicate that purifying selection acted over millions of years of vertebrate evolution to maintain syntenic relationships of developmentally important genes and regulatory landscapes of gene-dense chromosomes