Weight trajectories and disordered eating behaviours in 11-to 12-year-olds:A longitudinal study within the Danish National Birth Cohort

To examine how childhood weight trajectories are associated with disordered eating behaviours (DEBs) in early adolescence

Vilkår for læring og bruk av andrespråk i akademia: Internasjonalt tilsette sine erfaringar med språk på norske universitet og høgskular i lys av rådande språkpolitikk

Denne artikkelen presenterer ein studie som utforskar kva for plass og vilkår det norske språket har blant internasjonalt tilsette i norsk akademia. Studien inn­går i forskingsprosjektet NINjA – Norsk i akademia og byggjer på resultata av ei spørjeundersøking blant internasjonalt tilsette på 12 norske universitet og høg­skular og intervju med 55 av deltakarane i undersøkinga. Eit viktig utgangs­punkt for analysen er den gjeldande nasjonale språkpolitikken som blir ført over­for universitets- og høgskulesektoren. Det blir funne at internasjonali­seringa som har prega utviklinga i sektoren dei siste tiåra, er i konkurranse med mål­setjingane for språkpolitikken om norsk som samfunnsberande språk på alle domene. Midt mellom desse to agendaene står dei internasjonalt tilsette. Vil­kåra deira for å læra norsk er ikkje gode nok til å sikra at denne tilsettgruppa opp­når det ferdigheitsnivået i norsk som arbeidsoppgåvene krev. Artikkelen kon­kluderer med at denne situasjonen vil kunna ha negative følgjer for inter­nasjonalt tilsette, men truleg også for det norske språket, dersom dei akade­miske institusjonane og dei som utformar språkpolitikken i sektoren, ikkje i større grad legg forholda til rette for at internasjonalt tilsette får utvikla det norske andrespråket sitt.publishedVersio

The predictive validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in preschool age to identify mental disorders in preadolescence

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief, widely used instrument to screen for mental health problems in children and adolescents. The SDQ predictive algorithms developed for the SDQ, synthesize information from multiple informants regarding psychiatric symptoms and their impact on daily life. This study aimed to explore the validity of the SDQ predictive algorithms used in preschool age to predict mental disorders in preadolescence. The study population comprises 1176 children from the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 (CCC2000) assessed at age 5-7 years by the SDQ and reassessed at 11-12 years with the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA) for evaluation of ICD-10 mental disorders. Odds Ratios (ORs), sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs) were calculated for the SDQ predictive algorithms regarding ICD-10 diagnoses of hyperkinetic-inattentive-, behavioural- and emotional disorders. Significant ORs ranging from 2.3-36.5 were found for the SDQ predictive algorithms in relation to the corresponding diagnoses. The highest ORs were found for hyperkinetic and inattentive disorders, and the lowest for emotional disorders. Sensitivities ranging from 4.5-47.4, specificities ranging from 83.0-99.5, PPVs ranging from 5.0-45.5 and NPVs ranging from 90.6-99.0 were found for the SDQ predictive algorithms in relation to the diagnoses. The results support that the SDQ predictive algorithms are useful for screening at preschool-age to identify children at an increased risk of mental disorders in preadolescence. However, early screening with the SDQ predictive algorithms cannot stand alone, and repeated assessments of children are needed to identify, especially internalizing, mental health problems

A Liposome-Based Mycobacterial Vaccine Induces Potent Adult and Neonatal Multifunctional T Cells through the Exquisite Targeting of Dendritic Cells

BACKGROUND: In the search for more potent and safer tuberculosis vaccines, CAF01 was identified as a remarkable formulation. Based on cationic liposomes and including a synthetic mycobacterial glycolipid as TLR-independent immunomodulator, it induces strong and protective T helper-1 and T helper-17 adult murine responses to Ag85B-ESAT-6, a major mycobacterial fusion protein. Here, we assessed whether these properties extend to early life and how CAF01 mediates its adjuvant properties in vivo. METHODS/FINDINGS: Following adult or neonatal murine immunization, Ag85B-ESAT-6/CAF01 similarly reduced the post-challenge bacterial growth of M. bovis BCG, whereas no protection was observed using Alum as control. This protection was mediated by the induction of similarly strong Th1 and Th17 responses in both age groups. Multifunctional Th1 cells were already elicited after a single vaccine dose and persisted at high levels for at least 6 months even after neonatal priming. Unexpectedly, this potent adjuvanticity was not mediated by a massive targeting/activation of dendritic cells: in contrast, very few DCs in the draining lymph nodes were bearing the labeled antigen/adjuvant. The increased expression of the CD40 and CD86 activation markers was restricted to the minute portion of adjuvant-bearing DCs. However, vaccine-associated activated DCs were recovered several days after immunization. CONCLUSION: The potent adult and neonatal adjuvanticity of CAF01 is associated in vivo with an exquisite but prolonged DC uptake and activation, fulfilling the preclinical requirements for novel tuberculosis vaccines to be used in early life

Cationic Liposomes Formulated with Synthetic Mycobacterial Cordfactor (CAF01): A Versatile Adjuvant for Vaccines with Different Immunological Requirements

It is now emerging that for vaccines against a range of diseases including influenza, malaria and HIV, the induction of a humoral response is insufficient and a substantial complementary cell-mediated immune response is necessary for adequate protection. Furthermore, for some diseases such as tuberculosis, a cellular response seems to be the sole effector mechanism required for protection. The development of new adjuvants capable of inducing highly complex immune responses with strong antigen-specific T-cell responses in addition to antibodies is therefore urgently needed. (cell-mediated/humoral) and malaria (humoral) immunization with CAF01-based vaccines elicited significant protective immunity against challenge.CAF01 is potentially a suitable adjuvant for a wide range of diseases including targets requiring both CMI and humoral immune responses for protection