This article examines how minority leaders articulate emergent group boundaries. We provide the first systematic comparison of the Asian and Hispanic panethnic movements of the 1970s, assessing how ...pioneering publications developed claims about panethnicity before the identities became widely institutionalized. The findings indicate that despite referring to communities with different histories, discussions about Asian and Hispanic panethnicity displayed strikingly similar discursive patterns. We identify three such analytical patterns – broad definitions, prototypes, and group comparison – and theorize about how they helped to make new Asian and Hispanic boundaries recognizable. In doing so, we develop a new analytical framework for understanding the role of cultural and discursive resources in boundary construction and suggest how it may be applied beyond the cases examined here.
Overweightness and obesity rates have increased dramatically over the past few decades and they represent a health epidemic in the United States (US). Unhealthy dietary habits are among the factors ...that can have adverse effects on weight status in young adulthood. The purpose of this explorative study was to use a qualitative research design to analyze the factors (barriers and enablers) that US college students perceived as influencing healthy eating behaviors. A group of Cornell University students (
= 35) participated in six semi-structured focus groups. A qualitative software, CAQDAS Nvivo11 Plus, was used to create codes that categorized the group discussions while using an Ecological Model. Common barriers to healthy eating were time constraints, unhealthy snacking, convenience high-calorie food, stress, high prices of healthy food, and easy access to junk food. Conversely, enablers to healthy behavior were improved food knowledge and education, meal planning, involvement in food preparation, and being physically active. Parental food behavior and friends' social pressure were considered to have both positive and negative influences on individual eating habits. The study highlighted the importance of consulting college students when developing healthy eating interventions across the campus (e.g., labeling healthy food options and information campaigns) and considering individual-level factors and socio-ecological aspects in the analysis.
In the coming years, the new EU Regulation on Novel Food is likely to facilitate the development of a niche market for insects and insect‐based ingredients in many European countries. In this ...research, the aim is to explore the relationship between willingness to try (WTT) and behavior of eating insects, where the independent variables are food neophobia, sensory property expectations, and previous consumption. In total, 88 Italian participants took part in the study. The food neophobia scale (FNS) was constructed using 9 of the 10 items from the original FNS, and a Structural Equation Modeling approach was used to test the research hypotheses. The results show that males are more open to trying insects than females, and food neophobia is negatively correlated with the willingness to eat insects. Findings also indicate that the first exposure to insects positively increases consumers’ sensory property expectations. Intention to try is a strong predictor of the behavior of eating insects. People who scored lower on the FNS were more likely to try (intention) and consequently eat insects (behavior). These findings enhance knowledge about factors which could lead to lower levels of negative prejudice and greater willingness to taste edible insects among Western consumers. Finally, some marketing implications are discussed, like the need of information campaigns to emphasize positive sensory attributes of edible insects to increase the WTT this unfamiliar food.
Substance use disorder (SUD) often co‐occur at high prevalence with other psychiatric conditions. Among them, attention‐deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is present in almost one out of every ...four subjects with SUD and is associated with higher severity, more frequent polysubstance dependence and increased risk for other mental health problems in SUD patients. Despite studies suggesting a genetic basis in the co‐occurrence of these two conditions, the genetic factors involved in the joint development of both disorders and the mechanisms mediating these causal relationships are still unknown. In this study, we tested whether the genetic liability to five SUD‐related phenotypes share a common background in the general population and clinically diagnosed ADHD individuals from an in‐house sample of 989 subjects and further explored the genetic overlap and the causal relationship between ADHD and SUD using pre‐existing GWAS datasets. Our results confirm a common genetic background between ADHD and SUD and support the current literature on the causal effect of the liability to ADHD on the risk for SUD. We added novel findings on the effect of the liability of lifetime cannabis use on ADHD and found evidence of shared genetic background underlying SUD in general population and in ADHD, at least for lifetime cannabis use, alcohol dependence and smoking initiation. These findings are in agreement with the high comorbidity observed between ADHD and SUD and highlight the need to control for substance use in ADHD and to screen for ADHD comorbidity in all SUD patients to provide optimal clinical interventions.
Histidine is a versatile residue playing key roles in enzyme catalysis thanks to the chemistry of its imidazole group that can serve as nucleophile, general acid or base depending on its protonation ...state. In bacteria, signal transduction relies on two-component systems (TCS) which comprise a sensor histidine kinase (HK) containing a phosphorylatable catalytic His with phosphotransfer and phosphatase activities over an effector response regulator. Recently, a pH-gated model has been postulated to regulate the phosphatase activity of HisKA HKs based on the pH-dependent rotamer switch of the phosphorylatable His. Here, we have revisited this model from a structural and functional perspective on HK853-RR468 and EnvZ-OmpR TCS, the prototypical HisKA HKs. We have found that the rotamer of His is not influenced by the environmental pH, ruling out a pH-gated model and confirming that the chemistry of the His is responsible for the decrease in the phosphatase activity at acidic pH.
Although fruit and vegetable consumption is highly recommended for a healthy and balanced daily diet, several European countries do not meet these recommendations. In Italy, only 45% of young people ...are consuming at least one portion of vegetables per day. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the main determinants of vegetables consumption among young adults to suggest possible intervention strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a samples of Italian students (n = 751), using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual framework. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed to test the TPB predictors for vegetable consumption, and the role of background factors (socio-demographic and personal characteristics) in improving the TPB model's explaining power. Overall, 81% and 68%, respectively, of intentions and behaviour variance is explained by the TPB model. Socio-demographic and personal characteristics were found to influence intentions and behaviour indirectly by their effects on the theory's more proximal determinants. Interventions should be targeted to improve perceived behavioural control (PBC), attitudes and subjective norms that significantly affect intentions. Tailored interventions for male students, enrolled in courses other than food science, and doing less physical activity may have a larger effect on behavioural change.
Abstract
Background
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and is often thought ...as an entry point into a negative life trajectory, including risk for comorbid disorders, poor educational achievement or low income. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the causal relationship between ADHD and a comprehensive range of related traits.
Methods
We used genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for ADHD (n = 53 293) and 124 traits related to anthropometry, cognitive function and intelligence, early life exposures, education and employment, lifestyle and environment, longevity, neurological, and psychiatric and mental health or personality and psychosocial factors available in the MR-Base database (16 067 ≤n ≤766 345). To investigate their causal relationship with ADHD, we used two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) with a range of sensitivity analyses, and validated MR findings using causal analysis using summary effect estimates (CAUSE), aiming to avoid potential false-positive results.
Results
Our findings strengthen previous evidence of a causal effect of ADHD liability on smoking and major depression, and are consistent with a causal effect on odds of decreased average total household income odds ratio (OR) = 0.966, 95% credible interval (CrI) = (0.954, 0.979) and increased lifetime number of sexual partners OR = 1.023, 95% CrI = (1.013, 1.033). We also found evidence for a causal effect on ADHD for liability of arm predicted mass and weight OR = 1.452, 95% CrI = (1.307, 1.614) and OR = 1.430, 95% CrI = (1.326, 1.539), respectively and time spent watching television OR = 1.862, 95% CrI = (1.545, 2.246), and evidence for a bidirectional effect for age of first sexual intercourse beta = −0.058, 95% CrI = (−0.072, −0.044) and OR = 0.413, 95% CrI = (0.372, 0.457), respectively, odds of decreased age completed full-time education OR = 0.972, 95% CrI = (0.962, 0.981) and OR = 0.435, 95% CrI = (0.356, 0.533), respectively and years of schooling beta = -0.036, 95% CrI = (−0.048, −0.024) and OR = 0.458, 95% CrI = (0.411, 0.511), respectively.
Conclusions
Our results may contribute to explain part of the widespread co-occurring traits and comorbid disorders across the lifespan of individuals with ADHD and may open new opportunities for developing preventive strategies for ADHD and for negative ADHD trajectories.
How do individuals form new health beliefs and act in the context of unprecedented uncertainty? Drawing on a unique data set of registered California voters collected a month into stay-at-home orders ...that allows for an individual-level analysis, we examine the impact of political worldviews on trust in public health institutions and beliefs about the threat of COVID-19, effective methods for preventing the disease, and leaving home during the pandemic. Although all measures of political worldviews are strongly associated with trust in public health institutions and perceptions of threat, beliefs about effective prevention measures, and behavior, we find that Trump approval is particularly associated with COVID-19 risk perception and beliefs, beyond political party affiliation or life circumstances that shape exposure to COVID-19. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for understanding how political worldviews bear on embodied practices and shape the relationship between beliefs and action in unsettled times.
Background and aims
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used substances among adolescents and young adults. Earlier age at cannabis initiation is linked to adverse life outcomes, including ...multi‐substance use and dependence. This study estimated the heritability of age at first cannabis use and identified associations with genetic variants.
Methods
A twin‐based heritability analysis using 8055 twins from three cohorts was performed. We then carried out a genome‐wide association meta‐analysis of age at first cannabis use in a discovery sample of 24 953 individuals from nine European, North American and Australian cohorts, and a replication sample of 3735 individuals.
Results
The twin‐based heritability for age at first cannabis use was 38% 95% confidence interval (CI) = 19–60%. Shared and unique environmental factors explained 39% (95% CI = 20–56%) and 22% (95% CI = 16–29%). The genome‐wide association meta‐analysis identified five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 16 within the calcium‐transporting ATPase gene (ATP2C2) at P < 5E‐08. All five SNPs are in high linkage disequilibrium (LD) (r2 > 0.8), with the strongest association at the intronic variant rs1574587 (P = 4.09E‐09). Gene‐based tests of association identified the ATP2C2 gene on 16q24.1 (P = 1.33e‐06). Although the five SNPs and ATP2C2 did not replicate, ATP2C2 has been associated with cocaine dependence in a previous study. ATP2B2, which is a member of the same calcium signalling pathway, has been associated previously with opioid dependence. SNP‐based heritability for age at first cannabis use was non‐significant.
Conclusion
Age at cannabis initiation appears to be moderately heritable in western countries, and individual differences in onset can be explained by separate but correlated genetic liabilities. The significant association between age of initiation and ATP2C2 is consistent with the role of calcium signalling mechanisms in substance use disorders.
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