Respecting children’s rights and ownership in the design process:towards guidelines for co-designing with children

Abstract. Increase of digital fabrication and makerspaces have made it possible to bring designing into education in new ways. At the same time, companies have started to show interest to co-designing with children and schools have shown interest in making and selling commercial products co-designed by children. In these rapid new developments, children’s rights have received too little attention. There are no established practices for how children’s rights and ownership issues should be considered in co-design projects. For this thesis study, interviews were carried out with adults who have experience of digital fabrication and making projects with children. The interviews were then transcribed and analyzed with content analysis methods. The aim in this qualitative study was to formulate guidelines for respecting children’s rights and ownership in co-design. The topic was approached through two research questions, the first of which examined the current state of co-design practices and the second of which aimed to give recommendations for future. The findings suggest that adults working with children are generally well informed about children’s rights but lack knowledge about ownership questions. The most common way to address ownership issues was making written agreements, which clearly stated who owns the intellectual property rights and the end-products of the co-design projects. The agreements were made typically either between school and the company or signed by parent(s)/guardian(s) on behalf of the child. Children’s rights were addressed similarly to regular schoolwork, which majority of the co-design projects were part of. The findings also suggest that while teachers are used to respecting children’s rights, it is not necessarily the case with external business partners. The guidelines formulated in this thesis aim to provide support for addressing children’s rights and ownership questions in co-design projects. They are aimed for practitioners planning to conduct co-design projects with children. The guidelines are by no means comprehensive or sufficient by themselves for facilitating a co-design project. This topic would benefit from further research, especially considering the children’s views of co-design and further development of guidelines for co-designing

Nitric oxide mediates interleukin-1 induced inhibition of glycosaminoglycan synthesis in rat articular cartilage

Interleek-1β (IL-1) is a key mediator of cartilage matrix degradation in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It was found that the IL-1-induced suppression of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis in rat articular cartilage occurred simultaneously with the accumulation of nitrite (a metabolite of nitric oxide (NO) in aqueous milieu) in the culture medium. NO-synthase inhibitors, L-NMMA and L-NIO, inhibited both these IL-1 effects. Dexamethasone suppressed GAG synthesis additively to IL-1, but did not alter nitrite accumulation. Three NO-donors (GEA 3175, SNAP and SIN-1) also had an inhibitory effect on cartilage GAG synthesis. Therefore, it is concluded that IL-1 induced suppression of GAG synthesis in rat articular cartilage is mediated by the production of NO

Developing a scale : adolescents' health choices related rights, duties and responsibilities

Background: Adolescents´ health choices have been widely researched, but the ethical basis of these choices, namely their rights, duties and responsibilities, have been disregarded and scale is required to measure these. Objective: To describe the development of a scale that measures adolescents´ rights, duties and responsibilities in relation to health choices and document the preliminary scale testing. Research design: A multi-phase development method was used to construct the Health Rights Duties and Responsibilities (HealthRDR) scale. The concepts and content were defined through document analysis, a systematic literature review and focus groups. The content validity and clarity of the items were evaluated by expert panel of 23 adolescents, school nurses and researchers. We then calculated the content validity index and the content validity ratio at on item and scale levels. Preliminary testing was conducted with 200 adolescents aged 15-16 years. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach´s alpha correlation and statistics for the item-analysis were calculated. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval and permission were obtained according to national legislation and responsible research practice was followed. Informed consent was obtained from the participants and the parents were informed about the study. Findings: The HealthRDR scale comprises of four sub-scales with 148 items: 15 on health choices, 36 on rights, 47 on duties and 50 on responsibilities. The items had a 0.93 content validity index and a 0.85 content validity ratio. The Cronbach alpha correlation coefficient was 0.99 for the total scale and the individual sub-scales scores were: health choices (0.93), rights (0.97), responsibilities (0.99) and duties (0.98). Discussion: The findings are discussed in light of the ethical concepts and validity and reliability of the developed scale. Conclusion: The HealthRDR scale defines and understands adolescents´ rights, duties and responsibilities in relation to health choices and has good content validity. Further testing and refinement of the concepts are needed

Discovery of a New Deeply Eclipsing SU UMa-Type Dwarf Nova, IY UMa (= TmzV85)

We discovered a new deeply eclipsing SU UMa-type dwarf nova, IY UMa, which experienced a superoutburst in 2000 January. Our monitoring revealed two distinct outbursts, which suggest a superoutburst interval of ~800 d, or its half, and an outburst amplitude of 5.4 mag. From time-series photometry during the superoutburst, we determined a superhump and orbital period of 0.07588 d and 0.0739132 d, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by PASJ lette

Systemic inflammatory responses following welding inhalation challenge test

Peer reviewe

Short-term studies underestimate 30-generation changes in a butterfly metapopulation

Most studies of rare and endangered species are based on work carried out within one generation, or over one to a few generations of the study organism. We report the results of a study that spans 30 generations (years) of the entire natural range of a butterfly race that is endemic to 35 km2 of north Wales, UK. Short-term studies (surveys in single years and dynamics over 4 years) of this system led to the prediction that the regional distribution would be quite stable, and that colonization and extinction dynamics would be relatively unimportant. However, a longer-term study revealed unexpectedly high levels of population turnover (local extinction and colonization), affecting 18 out of the 20 patches that were occupied at any time during the period. Modelling the system (using the 'incidence function model' (IFM) for metapopulations) also showed higher levels of colonization and extinction with increasing duration of the study. The longer-term dynamics observed in this system can be compared, at a metapopulation level, with the increased levels of variation observed with increasing time that have been observed in single populations. Long-term changes may arise from local changes in the environment that make individual patches more or less suitable for the butterfly, or from unusual colonization or extinction events that take metapopulations into alternative states. One implication is that metapopulation and population viability analyses based on studies that cover only a few animal or plant generations may underestimate extinction threats

Three-year tracking of fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids in healthy children

Objectives: The fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids reflects the dietary fatty acid intake as well as endogenous turnover. We aimed at investigating the potential tracking of plasma phospholipid fatty acid composition in children that participated in a prospective cohort study. Methods: 26 healthy children participated in a longitudinal study on health risks and had been enrolled after birth. All children were born at term with birth weights appropriate for gestational age. Follow-up took place at ages 24, 36 and 60 months. At each time point a 24-hour dietary recall was obtained, anthropometric parameters were measured and a blood sample for phospholipid fatty acid analysis was taken. Results: Dietary intake of saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids at the three time points were not correlated. We found lower values for plasma MUFA and the MUFA/SFA ratio at 60 months compared to 24 months. In contrast, total PUFA, total n-6 and n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) were higher at 60 months. Significant averaged correlation coefficients (average of Pearson's R for 24 versus 36 months and 36 versus 60 months) were found for n-6 LC-PUFA (r = 0.67), n-6/n-3 LC-PUFA ratio (r = 0.59) and arachidonic acid/linoleic acid ratio (r = 0.64). Partial tracking was found for the docosahexaenoic acid/alpha-linolenic acid ratio (r = 0.33). Body mass index and sum of skinfolds Z-scores were similar in the three evaluations. Conclusions: A significant tracking of n-6 LC-PUFA, n-6 LC-PUFA/n-3 LC-PUFA ratio, arachidonic acid/ linoleic acid ratio and docosahexaenoic acid/alpha-linolenic acid ratio may reflect an influence of individual endogenous fatty acid metabolism on plasma concentrations of some, but not all, fatty acids. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Influence of FADS Polymorphisms on Tracking of Serum Glycerophospholipid Fatty Acid Concentrations and Percentage Composition in Children

Tracking of fatty acid (FA) contribution to plasma or serum lipids over time was shown in children and adults. However, the potential role of FADS gene variants has not been investigated. Serum GP FA composition of 331 children aged 2 and 6 years, participating in an ongoing birth cohort study, was analyzed. Correlation coefficients were estimated to describe FA tracking over 4 years and to assess the influence of FADS variants on tracking. We found low to moderate tracking (r = 0.12-0.49) of FA compositions and concentration between 2 and 6 years. Concentration changes of total monounsaturated FA and total saturated FA over time correlated closely (r = 0.79) but percentage values were unrelated (r = -0.02). Tracking for n-6 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) concentrations was lower in subjects homozygous for the major allele of FADS variants and higher in carriers of at least one minor allele, whereas for total n-3 LC-PUFA concentrations and compositions this was vice versa. For individual n-3 PUFA inconsistent results were found. Serum GP FA composition shows low to moderate tracking over 4 years with a higher tracking for LC-PUFA metabolites than for their precursor FA. Serum PUFA levels and their tracking seem to be more influenced by lipid and lipoprotein metabolism than by FA specific pathways

Influence of FADS Polymorphisms on Tracking of Serum Glycerophospholipid Fatty Acid Concentrations and Percentage Composition in Children

BACKGROUND: Tracking of fatty acid (FA) contribution to plasma or serum lipids over time was shown in children and adults. However, the potential role of FADS gene variants has not been investigated. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Serum GP FA composition of 331 children aged 2 and 6 years, participating in an ongoing birth cohort study, was analyzed. Correlation coefficients were estimated to describe FA tracking over 4 years and to assess the influence of FADS variants on tracking. We found low to moderate tracking (r = 0.12-0.49) of FA compositions and concentration between 2 and 6 years. Concentration changes of total monounsaturated FA and total saturated FA over time correlated closely (r = 0.79) but percentage values were unrelated (r = -0.02). Tracking for n-6 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) concentrations was lower in subjects homozygous for the major allele of FADS variants and higher in carriers of at least one minor allele, whereas for total n-3 LC-PUFA concentrations and compositions this was vice versa. For individual n-3 PUFA inconsistent results were found. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Serum GP FA composition shows low to moderate tracking over 4 years with a higher tracking for LC-PUFA metabolites than for their precursor FA. Serum PUFA levels and their tracking seem to be more influenced by lipid and lipoprotein metabolism than by FA specific pathways