The adolescent drinker : correlates and predictors of alcohol consumption among Swedish youth

Background: Drinking among adolescents has declined in most high-income countries during the past two decades. In Sweden, the reduction in youth drinking has been more pronounced than in many other parts of the world. The lower alcohol consumption has been reflected in several indicators. However, many adolescents still drink, and there is an urgency to understand the current situation in light of the non-drinking trend. The studies in this thesis examine concurrent and longitudinal factors not previously examined in a Swedish context. Overall aim: The overarching objective of this thesis is to improve our understanding of alcohol use during mid and late adolescence among contemporary youth. The four studies included in this thesis address this aim by answering the following research questions: (I) What are the motivations for drinking, and how are motives associated with drinking? (II) How are general and institutional trust associated with drinking? (III) How are psychosocial factors related to two-year drinking status? and (IV) Does the age of onset have an independent effect on subsequent drinking? Data and method: All studies of this thesis exploited data from the Futura01 project. Since 2017, this project has followed a cohort of Swedish adolescents born in 2001. A self-reporting school survey was carried out at baseline (T1), and at a follow-up (T2) in 2019, when the respondents were 15/16 and 17/18 years, respectively. At T1, 5,537 individuals (81.7%) participated; at T2, 4,018 individuals (72.4%) participated. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models examined associations with alcohol use. Results: (I) Social and enhancement motives were most strongly associated with drinking frequency, whereas enhancement motives had the strongest association with heavy drinking frequency. Coping-depression motives also had a positive but weaker link with drinking and heavy drinking frequency. Conformity motives were negatively related to how often adolescents drank. (II) General and institutional trust was found to be negatively associated with drinking status, and institutional trust had the stronger link. Cross-combinations with low scores on both trust dimensions were related to the highest probability of drinking. Parental control and support, along with school satisfaction, modified the associations. (III) Abstainers reported better mental health and parental relationships, and worse friendships, whereas the opposite was true for early-onset drinkers. Later-onset drinkers were linked to a more favorable psychosocial situation than early drinkers. (IV) An early drinking onset predicted higher alcohol consumption two years later. Those with the earlier onset scored higher on AUDIT-C and had a higher probability of risky and binge drinking in late adolescence. Early binge drinking was found to be more predictive of later binge drinking than the age of onset of any drinking. Those with early drinking onset were more exposed to risk factors. Conclusions: Adolescents’ motivations for drinking are closely related to their consumption of alcohol. The social aspects of drinking are supported by the links between different forms of trust and alcohol use, in addition to patterns of parent/friend relationships and drinking status in adolescents. Early drinkers are a psychosocially vulnerable group burdened with numerous problems and risk factors for alcohol use. An early drinking onset is also related to more alcohol use in late adolescence. To prevent youth drinking, it is important to improve parent-child relationships, build trust, and support mental health. Preventing early drinking likely reduces alcohol consumption in late adolescence

Hemlöshetens paradoxer i Helsingborg : Där den offentliga och ideella sektorn möts

Homelessness is a problem that has received a lot attention in Helsingborg in the past years. In part this is due to a conflict between the city and a non-profit organization, a conflict that has been frequently covered by the local media. The conflict concerns the City of Helsingborg’s decision to quit funding the organization's housing facility for homeless individuals. The decision was also made to demolish their housing facility. This study has explored perceptions held by key individuals within the public- and the non-profit sectors, related to homelessness in Helsingborg. The aim of the study was to distinguish the differences of opinion and conflict lines among the participants of the study, in order to help us understand welfare policy changes from a societal perspective. The Swedish welfare system has undergone major changes since the 1990’s, as the result from policies, deregulation and marketization, drawn from a liberal tradition of thought. These changes has opened up new markets in the field of welfare service and the amount of private companies and non-profit organizations in this sector has increased rapidly. In this study I have analyzed some of these structural changes in perspective of the participants in my study. I have used some sociological concepts of Bourdieu as my theoretical point of departure, alongside Esping-Andersen’s concepts of welfare regimes. The study is based on six qualitative semi-structured interviews with key people from different organizations. Three of them each represented a non-profit organization, the other three are representatives of the public sector. Two of them are politicians at the Social Welfare Board and City Council and one of them is the manager of the Social Services Supported Housing Department in City of Helsingborg. The result identify what subjects the study participants agree on and what conflicts there are. The analysis suggests that the City of Helsingborg obtains an undisputed power position and exercise the greatest influence over conditions that relate to the field of homelessness in Helsingborg. The cutting funds results in a protected, preserved and legitimized power position. Non-profit organizations seem to be forced to be dependent on either the market or the state, which makes them required to remain loyal to the hand that feeds them

Physical Activity Plays an Important Role in Body Weight Regulation

Emerging literature highlights the need to incorporate physical activity into every strategy intended to prevent weight gain as well as to maintain weight loss over time. Furthermore, physical activity should be part of any plan to lose weight. The stimulus of exercise provides valuable metabolic adaptations that improve energy and macronutrient balance regulation. A tight coupling between energy intake and energy expenditure has been documented at high levels of physical exercise, suggesting that exercise may improve appetite control. The regular practice of physical activity has also been reported to reduce the risk of stress-induced weight gain. A more personalized approach is recommended when planning exercise programs in a clinical weight loss setting in order to limit the compensatory changes associated to exercise-induced weight loss. With modern environment promoting overeating and sedentary behavior, there is an urgent need for a concerted action including legislative measures to promote healthy active living in order to curb the current epidemic of chronic diseases

Apparent Half-Lives of Hepta- to Decabrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Human Serum as Determined in Occupationally Exposed Workers

The aim of the present study was to model apparent serum half-lives of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) with 7–10 bromine substituents. Workers with occupational exposure to PBDEs have elevated serum levels of PBDEs, but these substances are also found in the general population and are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. The calculations were based on exposure assessments of rubber workers (manufactured flame-retarded rubber compound) and electronics dismantlers who donated blood during a period with no work-related exposures to PBDEs, and referents without any known occupational exposure (clerks, cleaners, and abattoir workers). The workers had previously been found to have elevated levels of high- and medium-brominated diphenyl ethers compared with the referent populations. We performed nonlinear mixed-effects modeling of kinetics, using data from previous and present chemical analyses. The calculated apparent half-life for decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) was 15 days (95% confidence interval, 11–18 days). The three nona-BDEs and four octa-BDE congeners were found to have half-lives of 18–39 and 37–91 days, respectively. BDE-209 has a short half-life in human blood. Because BDE-209 is commonly present in humans in general, the results of this study imply that humans must be more or less continuously exposed to BDE-209 to sustain the serum concentrations observed. BDE-209 is more readily transformed and/or eliminated than are lower brominated diphenyl ether congeners, and human health risk must be assessed accordingly

Human muscle protein synthesis rates after intake of hydrolyzed porcine-derived and cows' milk whey proteins-a randomized controlled trial

Background: Whey protein has been shown to be one of the best proteins to stimulate muscle protein synthesis rate (MPS), but other high quality proteins, e.g., animal/porcine-derived, could have similar effects. Objective: To investigate the effects of hydrolyzed porcine proteins from blood (HPB) and muscle (HPM), in comparison to hydrolyzed whey protein (HW), on MPS after intake of 15 g alone or 30 g protein as part of a mixed meal. We hypothesized that the postprandial MPS would be similar for porcine proteins and whey protein. Design: Eighteen men (mean ± SD age: 24 ± 1 year; BMI: 21.7 ± 0.4 kg/m2) participated in the randomized, double-blind, three-way cross-over study. Subjects consumed the three test products (HPB, HPM and HW) in a random order in two servings at each test day. Serving 1 consisted of a drink with 15 g protein and serving 2 of a drink with 30 g protein together with a mixed meal. A flood-primed continuous infusion of (ring-13C6) phenylalanine was performed and muscle biopsies, blood and urine samples were collected for determination of MPS, muscle free leucine, plasma amino acid concentrations and urea excretion. Results: There were no statistical differences between the MPS measured after consuming 15 g protein alone or 30 g with a mixed meal (p = 0.53) of HPB (0.048 ± 0.007 vs. 0.049 ± 0.008%/h, resp.), HPM (0.063 ± 0.011 vs. 0.062 ± 0.011 %/h, resp.) and HW (0.058 ± 0.007 vs. 0.071 ± 0.013%/h, resp.). However, the impact of protein type on MPS reached statistical tendency (HPB vs. HPM (p = 0.093) and HPB vs. HW (p = 0.067)) with no difference between HPM and HW (p = 0.88). Plasma leucine, branched-chain, essential and total amino acids were generally higher for HPB and HW than HPM (p < 0.01), which reflected their content in the proteins. Muscle-free leucine was higher for HPB than HW and HPM (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Hydrolyzed porcine proteins from blood and muscle resulted in an MPS similar to that of HW, although with a trend for porcine blood proteins to be inferior to muscle proteins and whey. Consequently, these porcine-derived muscle proteins can be used similarly to whey protein to support maintenance of skeletal muscle as part of supplements and ingredients in foods

All-optical phase and amplitude regenerator for next-generation telecommunications systems

Fibre-optic communications systems have traditionally carried data using binary (on-off) encoding of the light amplitude. However, next-generation systems will use both the amplitude and phase of the optical carrier to achieve higher spectral efficiencies and thus higher overall data capacities(1,2). Although this approach requires highly complex transmitters and receivers, the increased capacity and many further practical benefits that accrue from a full knowledge of the amplitude and phase of the optical field(3) more than outweigh this additional hardware complexity and can greatly simplify optical network design. However, use of the complex optical field gives rise to a new dominant limitation to system performance-nonlinear phase noise(4,5). Developing a device to remove this noise is therefore of great technical importance. Here, we report the development of the first practical ('black-box') all-optical regenerator capable of removing both phase and amplitude noise from binary phase-encoded optical communications signals

Patient profiling for success after weight loss surgery (GO Bypass study):An interdisciplinary study protocol

Despite substantial research efforts, the mechanisms proposed to explain weight loss after gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SL) do not explain the large individual variation seen after these treatments. A complex set of factors are involved in the onset and development of obesity and these may also be relevant for the understanding of why success with treatments vary considerably between individuals. This calls for explanatory models that take into account not only biological determinants but also behavioral, affective and contextual factors. In this prospective study, we recruited 47 women and 8 men, aged 25–56 years old, with a BMI of 45.8 ± 7.1 kg/m2 from the waiting list for RYGB and SL at Køge hospital, Denmark. Pre-surgery and 1.5, 6 and 18 months after surgery we assessed various endpoints spanning multiple domains. Endpoints were selected on basis of previous studies and include: physiological measures: anthropometrics, vital signs, biochemical measures and appetite hormones, genetics, gut microbiota, appetite sensation, food and taste preferences, neural sensitivity, sensory perception and movement behaviors; psychological measures: general psychiatric symptom-load, depression, eating disorders, ADHD, personality disorder, impulsivity, emotion regulation, attachment pattern, general self-efficacy, alexithymia, internalization of weight bias, addiction, quality of life and trauma; and sociological and anthropological measures: sociodemographic measures, eating behavior, weight control practices and psycho-social factors.Joining these many endpoints and methodologies from different scientific disciplines and creating a multi-dimensional predictive model has not previously been attempted. Data on the primary endpoint are expected to be published in 2018. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials. gov ID NCT02070081. Keywords: Gastric bypass (RYGB), Sleeve gastrectomy, Weight loss, Interdisciplinary, Study protoco

Exposure to p,p′-DDE: A Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as PCBs, DDT and dioxins have in several cross-sectional studies shown strong associations with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Reversed causality can however not be excluded. The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate whether POPs concentration is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A case-control study was performed within a well-defined cohort of women, age 50-59 years, from the Southern part of Sweden. Biomarkers for POP exposure, 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE) were analyzed in stored serum samples, which were collected at the baseline examination when the cohort was established. For 107 out of the 371 cases, serum samples were stored at least three years before their type 2 diabetes was diagnosed. In this data set, CB-153 and p,p'-DDE were not associated with an increased risk to develop type 2 diabetes. However, when only the cases (n = 39) that were diagnosed more than six years after the baseline examination and their controls were studied, the women in the highest exposed quartile showed an increased risk to develop type 2 diabetes (OR of 1.6 [95% 0.61, 4.0] for CB-153 and 5.5 [95% CI 1.2, 25] for p,p'-DDE). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results from the present case-control study, including a follow-up design, confirms that p,p'-DDE exposure can be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes