Harrastuksen monet kasvot:joukkueurheilu osana peruskouluikäisen nuoren minäkuvaa

Tiivistelmä. Joukkueurheilulajien rooli suomalaisten nuorten vapaa-ajanvietossa on merkittävä, ja suosio on havaittavissa lukuisissa liikuntatottumuksia mittaavissa tutkimuksissa vuodesta toiseen. Joukkueurheilu tarjoaa yksilölle kasvuympäristön, jonka moninaiset vaikutukset ovat huomattavia hänen kehitykselleen. Nämä vaikutukset voidaan nähdä yksilön kehitystä tukevina, mutta toisaalta myös heikentävinä tekijöinä. Tämän kandidaatintutkielman lähtökohtana oli kuvata joukkueurheilun ja minäkuvan kehittymisen välistä yhteyttä. Tutkielma pyrkii avaamaan minäkuvaan liittyvää haastavaa käsitteistöä ja tarjoamaan informaatiota joukkueurheilun käytänteisiin. Lisäksi tutkielma tarkastelee ryhmän toimintaan liittyviä ilmiöitä, jotka voidaan nähdä olennaisina minäkuvan kehittymisen kannalta. Tutkimuskysymyksenämme oli, millaisia vaikutuksia joukkueurheiluharrastuksella voi olla peruskouluikäisen nuoren minäkuvan kehittymiseen. Tutkielmassa rajaudutaan tarkastelemaan peruskouluikäisiä, eli 6–15-vuotiaisiin nuoria. Tutkielma toteutettiin kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jonka teoriapohjan laatimiseen käytettiin laajasti kotimaisia sekä kansainvälisiä kirjallisuus- sekä tutkimuslähteitä. Joukkueurheilun vaikutukset minäkuvaan on eritelty osa-alueittain, joita ovat turvallinen ympäristö, pätevyyden kokemukset, palautteen merkitys ja sosiaalinen vuorovaikutus. Tutkielman perusteella voidaan sanoa, että joukkueurheilun vaikutukset nuoren minäkuvan kehitykseen ovat moninaiset. Sekä myönteiset että kielteiset vaikutukset ilmenevät pääasiassa sosiaalisessa ympäristössä tapahtuvien vuorovaikutustekojen välityksellä. Minäkuvan kehityksessä on yksilön kannalta keskeisessä roolissa yksilölle itselleen merkityksellisten henkilöiden vaikutus. Joukkueurheilukontekstissa tällaista roolia nuorelle näyttelevät valmentaja sekä vertaiset eli joukkuetoverit

Beneficial effects of running and milk protein supplements on Sirtuins and risk factors of metabolic disorders in rats with low aerobic capacity

Background Physical activity and dietary intake of dairy products are associated with improved metabolic health. Dairy products are rich with branched chain amino acids that are essential for energy production. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying the benefit of the sub-chronic effects of running and intake of milk protein supplements, we studied Low Capacity Runner rats (LCR), a rodent exercise model with risk for metabolic disorders. We especially focused on the role of Sirtuins, energy level dependent proteins that affect many cellular metabolic processes. Methods Forty-seven adult LCR female rats sedentary or running voluntarily in wheels were fed normal chow and given supplements of either whey or milk protein drink (PD)-supplemented water, or water only for 21 weeks. Physiological responses were measured in vivo. Blood lipids were determined from serum. Mitochondrial markers and Sirtuins (Sirt1-7) including downstream targets were measured in plantaris muscle by western blotting. Results For the first 10 weeks whey-drinking rats ran about 50% less compared to other groups; still, in all runners glucose tolerance improved and triglycerides decreased. Generally, running induced a ∼six-fold increase in running capacity and a ∼8% decrease in % body fat. Together with running, protein supplements increased the relative lean mass of the total body weight by ∼11%. In comparison with sedentary controls, running and whey increased HDL (21%) and whey, with or without running, lowered LDL (−34%). Running increased mitochondrial biogenesis and Sirtuins 3 and 4. When combined with exercise, both whey and milk protein drink induced about a 4-fold increase in Sirt3, compared to runners drinking water only, and about a 2-fold increase compared to the respective sedentary group. Protein supplements, with or without running, enhanced the phosphorylation level of the acetyl-coA-carboxylase, suggesting increased fat oxidation. Both supplemented diets increased Sirt5 and Sirt7 without an additional effect from exercise. Running diminished and PD supplement increased Sirt6. Conclusion We demonstrate in rats new sub-chronic effects of milk proteins on metabolism that involve Sirtuins and their downstream targets in skeletal muscle. The results show that running and milk proteins act on reducing the risk factors of metabolic disorders and suggest that the underlying mechanisms may involve Sirtuins. Notably, we found that milk protein supplements have some favorable effects on metabolism even without running.Peer reviewe

Lexical retrieval in discourse: An early indicator of Alzheimer’s dementia

We examined the progression of lexical-retrieval deficits in individuals with neuropathologically determined Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n=23) and a comparison group without criteria for AD (n=24) to determine whether linguistic changes were a significant marker of the disease. Our participants underwent multiple administrations of a neuropsychological battery, with initial administration occurring on average 16 years prior to death. The battery included the Boston Naming Test (BNT), a letter fluency task (FAS) and written description of the Cookie Theft Picture (CTP). Repeated measures analysis revealed that the AD-group showed progressively greater decline in FAS and CTP lexical performance than the comparison group. Crosssectional time-specific group comparisons indicated that the CTP differentiated performance between the two groups at 7–9 years prior to death and FAS and BNT only at 2–4 years. These results suggest that lexical retrieval deficits in written discourse serve as an early indicator of AD

Nicotinamide riboside improves muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, satellite cell differentiation, and gut microbiota in a twin study

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR) has emerged as a promising compound to improve obesity-associated mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic syndrome in mice. However, most short-term clinical trials conducted so far have not reported positive outcomes. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether long-term NR supplementation boosts mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic health in humans. Twenty body mass index (BMI)- discordant monozygotic twin pairs were supplemented with an escalating dose of NR (250 to 1000 mg/day) for 5 months. NR improved systemic NAD(+) metabolism, muscle mitochondrial number, myoblast differentiation, and gut microbiota composition in both cotwins. NR also showed a capacity to modulate epigenetic control of gene expression in muscle and adipose tissue in both cotwins. However, NR did not ameliorate adiposity or metabolic health. Overall, our results suggest that NR acts as a potent modifier of NAD(+) metabolism, muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and stem cell function, gut microbiota, and DNA methylation in humans irrespective of BMI.Peer reviewe

The fitness consequences of inbreeding in natural populations and their implications for species conservation – a systematic map

Background: Threatened species often have small and isolated populations where mating among relatives can result in inbreeding depression increasing extinction risk. Effective management is hampered by a lack of syntheses summarising the magnitude of, and variation in inbreeding depression. Here we describe the nature and scope of the literature examining phenotypic/fitness consequences of inbreeding, to provide a foundation for future syntheses and management. Methods: We searched the literature for articles documenting the impact of inbreeding in natural populations. Article titles, abstracts and full-texts were assessed against a priori defined criteria, and information relating to study design, quality and other factors that may influence inbreeding responses (e.g. population size) was extracted from relevant articles. Results: The searches identified 11457 articles, of which 614 were assessed as relevant and included in the systematic map (corresponding to 703 distinct studies). Most studies (663) assessed within-population inbreeding resulting from self-fertilisation or consanguineous pairings, while 118 studies assessed among-population inbreeding due to drift load. Plants were the most studied taxon (469 studies) followed by insects (52 studies) and birds (43 studies). Most studies investigated the effects of inbreeding on components of fitness (e.g. survival or fecundity; 648 studies) but measurements were typically under laboratory/greenhouse conditions (486 studies). Observations were also often restricted to the first inbred generation (607 studies) and studies frequently lacked contextual information (e.g. population size). Conclusions: Our systematic map describes the scope and quality of the evidence describing the phenotypic consequences of inbreeding. The map reveals substantial evidence relating to inbreeding responses exists, but highlights information is still limited for some aspects, including the effects of multiple generations of inbreeding. The systematic map allowed us to define several conservation-relevant questions, where sufficient data exists to support systematic reviews, e.g. How do inbreeding responses vary with population size? However, we found that such syntheses are likely to be constrained by incomplete reporting of critical contextual information. Our systematic map employed the same rigorous literature assessment methods as systematic review, including a novel survey of study quality and thus provides a robust foundation to guide future research and syntheses seeking to inform conservation decision-making

Packages of Care for Schizophrenia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In the third in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Jair Mari and colleagues discuss the treatment of schizophrenia

Analysis of jak2 catalytic function by peptide microarrays: The role of the JH2 domain and V617F mutation

Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) initiates signaling from several cytokine receptors and is required for biological responses such as erythropoiesis. JAK2 activity is controlled by regulatory proteins such as Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) proteins and protein tyrosine phosphatases. JAK2 activity is also intrinsically controlled by regulatory domains, where the pseudokinase (JAK homology 2, JH2) domain has been shown to play an essential role. The physiological role of the JH2 domain in the regulation of JAK2 activity was highlighted by the discovery of the acquired missense point mutation V617F in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Hence, determining the precise role of this domain is critical for understanding disease pathogenesis and design of new treatment modalities. Here, we have evaluated the effect of inter-domain interactions in kinase activity and substrate specificity. By using for the first time purified recombinant JAK2 proteins and a novel peptide micro-array platform, we have determined initial phosphorylation rates and peptide substrate preference for the recombinant kinase domain (JH1) of JAK2, and two constructs comprising both the kinase and pseudokinase domains (JH1-JH2) of JAK2. The data demonstrate that (i) JH2 drastically decreases the activity of the JAK2 JH1 domain, (ii) JH2 increased the Kmfor ATP (iii) JH2 modulates the peptide preference of JAK2 (iv) the V617F mutation partially releases this inhibitory mechanism but does not significantly affect substrate preference or Kmfor ATP. These results provide the biochemical basis for understanding the interaction between the kinase and the pseudokinase domain of JAK2 and identify a novel regulatory role for the JAK2 pseudokinase domain. Additionally, this method can be used to identify new regulatory mechanisms for protein kinases that provide a better platform for designing specific strategies for therapeutic approaches