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IntroductionThe prevalence of obesity and glycemic dysfunction in adolescents has increased over the past several decades but less is known on how these conditions are associated with systemic inflammation in this population. This study determined the associations between cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and inflammation among a nationally representative sample of US. adolescents.Research design and methodsCross-sectional analyses were conducted among 2693 adolescents aged 12–19 years who participated in the 2015 to March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Chronic inflammation was determined using laboratory measures for high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP). Adjusted ORs (aOR, 95% CI) were calculated from logistic regression models to determine the association between CVD risk factors (obesity, overweight, dysglycemia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia) and elevated hs-CRP (>3.0 mg/L) while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and other CVD risk factors.ResultsOverall, 15.3% of adolescents had elevated hs-CRP. Adolescents who were older (16–19 years vs 12–15 years), obese, had A1c ≥5.7% (≥39 mmol/mol), high total cholesterol, or low high-density lipoprotein had hs-CRP distributions that were more high risk (χ2 p value <0.001). Adolescents with obesity or A1c ≥5.7% had a sixfold and a nearly twofold higher odds of elevated hs-CRP compared those without obesity and A1c <5.7% after full adjustment (aOR=6.39, 4.64 to 8.79 and aOR=1.70, 1.05 to 3.06, respectively). Adolescents with hypertension or hyperlipidemia were significantly more likely to have elevated hs-CRP compared with those without these conditions after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics (aOR=2.46, 1.08 to 5.60 and aOR=2.19, 1.36 to 3.54, respectively), but the association was not significant after further adjustment for obesity.ConclusionsAmong US adolescents, obesity was strongly associated with elevated hs-CRP, a marker for future CVD risk. Given the obesity epidemic and the marked proportion with elevated CRP, concern should be given to future CVD risk in younger adults.

Alors que le projet français de loi de programmation (pluriannuelle) de la recherche (LPR), en cours d’examen parlementaire, suscite des inquiétudes légitimes dans le monde académique, on s’interroge rarement sur les sources d’inspiration qui ont guidé ses rédacteurs/trices. Pourtant, ce texte qui fragilise l’emploi scientifique statutaire, en introduisant des contrats dits « de mission » et des « chaires de professeur·e·s juniors » et qui généralise la recherche sur projets, introduit un mo...

BackgroundA limited amount of research has demonstrated beneficial effects of caffeine and theanine supplementation for enhancement of mental performance. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the acute ingestion of a supplement containing caffeine, theanine and tyrosine improves mental and physical performance in athletes.MethodsTwenty current or former male collegiate athletes (age: 20.5 ± 1.4 y; height: 1.82 ± 0.08 m; weight: 83.9 ± 12.6 kg; body fat: 13.8 ± 5.6%) completed this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. After familiarization, each participant completed two identical testing sessions with provision of a proprietary dietary supplement (SUP) containing caffeine theanine and tyrosine or a placebo (PL). Within each testing session, participants completed assessments of mental and physical performance before and after provision of SUP or PL, as well as after two rounds of exercise. Assessments were performed using a performance testing device (Makoto Arena) that evaluated multiple aspects of mental and physical performance in response to auditory and visual stimuli. Testing was performed both with the body in a static position and during dynamic movement. General linear models were used to evaluate the effects of SUP and PL on performance.ResultsChanges in movement accuracy during performance assessment were greater following SUP ingestion as compared to PL for both static and dynamic testing (SUP: + 0.4 to 7.5%; PL: − 1.4 to 1.4% on average; p < 0.05). For dynamic testing, the change in number of targets hit was higher and the change in average hit time was lower with SUP as compared to PL (p < 0.05). However, there were no differences between conditions for the changes in number of targets hit or average hit time during static testing. There were no differences in changes of subjective variables during either condition, and performance measures during the two rounds of exercise did not differ between conditions (p > 0.05).DiscussionThe present results indicate that a combination of a low-dose of caffeine with theanine and tyrosine may improve athletes’ movement accuracy surrounding bouts of exhaustive exercise without altering subjective variables. Based on this finding, supplementation with caffeine, theanine and tyrosine could potentially hold ergogenic value for athletes in sports requiring rapid and accurate movements.Trial registrationNCT03019523. Registered 24 January 2017.

En 1898, la colonie espagnole de Porto Rico fut conquise par les États-Unis en quelques semaines. Cette annexion marqua pour l’île et ses habitants le début d’une longue période de transformation politique, économique mais aussi linguistique, puisque l’anglais devint l’unique langue d’enseignement dès 1903. Les Portoricains se mobilisèrent contre cette politique linguistique jusqu’à son abandon en 1949. Ils revendiquèrent des droits linguistiques de nouveau dans les années 1960, mais cette fois-ci sur le continent, à New York, où ils réussirent à imposer l’enseignement bilingue dans les écoles new-yorkaises.Si plusieurs décennies séparent ces deux épisodes de lutte pour la reconnaissance de droits linguistiques, tous deux trouvent leurs origines dans une même histoire particulière: celle de Porto Rico au XXe siècle, un pays ni vraiment indépendant, ni vraiment colonisé et dont les habitants sont des citoyens nord-américains à part entière… sauf sur leur île. Le cas portoricain nous indique ainsi que les discours sur les droits linguistiques sont historiquement situés et qu’ils sont à rapporter à des revendications plus larges.

Purpose – This paper aims to examine whether advertisers attempt to engage consumers with online information presented in print advertisements by investigating whether they respond to consumers’ motives for using advertisements and whether these engagement practices have improved over time. By creating connections among different advertising channels, marketers strive to be more effective in building brand equity, online traffic and sales. Design/methodology/approach – The Uses and Gratification theory is utilized as the framework to content analyze the content and presentation of web references in 2,613 advertisements from 2008 and 2,159 advertisements from 2012. Chi-square analysis is used to compare the content of web references in both time periods. Findings – Even though past literature suggests that consumers use media and advertising to satisfy a variety of informational, personal identity, social and entertainment needs, advertisers respond with mostly ineffective and generic informational web references that fail to address those needs. Research limitations/implications – The study suggests that advertisers may have difficulty adopting the new advertising paradigm which identifies customers as active respondents of advertising. Web references analyzed in this study do not address consumers’ motives for advertisement use. Practical implications – Advertisers have not been effectively utilizing cross-promotion when it comes to directing traffic from print advertisements to Web sites. More attention and resources should be given to cross-promotion to ensure effective coordination between media types. Originality/value – This study questions advertisers’ current approach toward cross-promotion. Findings help advertisers evaluate and develop better practices to encourage consumer engagement with web references placed in print advertisements to drive traffic to online stores.

Many organisations have, to an extent, resorted to an &apos;all or nothing&apos; attitude when it comes to IT outsourcing. However, as the overall complexity of technology, the depth of knowledge, and the expertise required to manage it has increased, the possibility for an &apos;all-things-to-all-users&apos; IT department has become less viable. The key to deriving real benefit from outsourcing lies in identifying the parts of your IT infrastructure that will truly benefit from being managed out of house. Intelligent outsourcing challenges the idea of in-house versus outsource because, instead of an &apos;all or nothing&apos; approach, it applies both models strategically to maximise the performance of the back office. Considering compliance, flexibility and cost among other variables relevant to business needs, those in charge can decide which processes are better handled in-house and which are more efficient when managed by a specialist. A fast-paced and constantly changing working environment requires a fast-paced and constantly transforming technology infrastructure to support it. As companies focus more on improving the productivity of its workforce and business processes to keep up with the needs of the current environment, the technology and the issues faced in managing it have become more complex.