Young Danes Research Articles

Inherited myopathy of great Danes

A hereditary, non-inflammatory myopathy occurring in young great Danes with distinctive histological features in muscle biopsy specimens is reviewed. Onset of clinical signs is usually before one year of age and both sexes are affected. Clinical signs are characterised by exercise intolerance, muscle wasting, and an exercise-induced tremor. Although most affected dogs have a severe form of the disease, occasional dogs may have a less pronounced form and survive into adulthood with an acceptable quality of life. Litters containing affected puppies are born to clinically unaffected parents, and an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance is likely. All recorded cases have had fawn or brindle coat coloration. Elevated serum creatinine kinase concentrations and spontaneous electrical activity in skeletal muscles are frequently found. While originally reported (Targett and others 1994) as a central core myopathy in this breed, the histochemical characteristics of the distinct cytoarchitectural structures differ from those of the well-characterised central core myopathy in human beings. In fact, these structures differ from any known myopathy in human beings and likely represents a unique non-inflammatory myopathy affecting dogs. Until this myopathy is characterised further, the name inherited myopathy in great Danes is suggested.

Nerves, Brain, or Heart? The Physiology of Emotions and the Mind-Body Problem in Russian Sentimentalism

L Nikolai Karamzin's Letters of a Russian Traveler (1791-95), the narrator jokingly reports a case of love malady (liubovnaia bolezn') he had observed. His travel companion and friend, the young Danish Doctor B* [Bekker], during their stay in a Swiss inn, became infatuated with a beautiful from Yverdon. The lady left the inn the morning following the contraction of the ailment, and the young Dane, the narrator comments, was immediately cured.' The story with the Lady from Yverdon, however, was not over. Later, after Doctor Bekker and the Russian traveler part, the Dane sends his friend a letter in which he recounts that he managed to find his beauty (whose name, interestingly, turns out to be Iuliia, evoking Rousseau's heroine). In the course of his visit, however, Doctor Bekker discovers that she has a fiance and that her favorable acceptance of his attention was mere flirtation. In the letter to his Russian friend, the young doctor prefaces the account of his unfortunate romantic experience with the observation, Yes, my friend! I studied anatomy and medicine, and I know that the heart is indeed the source of life, although the reverent Doctor Megadidactos, together with the respectable Micrologos, sought the soul and the vital principle in that miraculous-and hidden from our eyes-entwining of the nerves.2 This scientific-philosophical and clearly polemical pronouncement introducing the account of a private amorous episode may seem misplaced and even comical. The young Dane himself quickly brushes it aside in a self-mocking gesture, saying, But I am afraid I digress from my subject and therefore, leaving the venerable Megadidactos and the respectable Mikrologos aside for now, I'll tell you frankly that the beautiful lady from Yverdon awakened such feelings in me as I cannot describe at this moment.3 Nonetheless,

‘Healthy Types of Young Danes’: Australia's Unwilling Post‐War Migrants

AbstractFollowing the Second World War the Chifley government initiated an ambitious new immigration programme, which would dramatically alter the make‐up of Australian society. This article focuses on the initial Australian preference for white‐skinned migrants from Scandinavia, and the response of one of those countries – Denmark – to the Australian recruiting drive. It examines the official Danish resistance to Australian migration initiatives, and the way in which Australia was portrayed in Denmark. It is argued that the migrant issue went further than economic opportunity, and can be understood in terms of a discursive clash between dominant national myths in the respective countries – with Australia as a natural haven for energetic, opportunity‐seeking Europeans, and Denmark as a humane, sophisticated welfare state that took care of its citizens from cradle to grave. Understanding how alternative, non‐British sources of white immigration dried up in the post‐war era is a hitherto neglected context for understanding Australia's gradual retreat from the ‘white Australia’ immigration policy.

Research on youth and language in Denmark

The latest decade has seen an increased number of linguistic studies among Danish adolescents. In this paper we present a range of these. We sketch three different types of perspective and find that the majority of the Danish studies belong to a cultural- identity perspective. Survey studies of language attitudes indicate that young Danes are conformists adhering to the values of elite discourse. On the other hand, studies that take a closer look at peer groups find adolescents to be more creative in their use of all available linguistic resources for constructing group and identity affiliations, and we propose that this may be a point where the languages of youth and adults can be distinguished. We finish by suggesting how findings about bilingual youth can contribute to research on youth and language. As the studies we refer to only include individuals in their teens, we shall for the purpose of this paper simply define youth as the age span between twelve and twenty.

Language attitudes and language politics in Denmark

The paper deals with attitudes, policies, and politics in relation to varieties of Danish. The societal treatment of Danish varieties is characterized by referring to analyses of the activities of two public institutions, the language council and the school, which both play an important role in sustaining a strong standard language ideology. This ideology organizes the Danish varieties into a strict hierarchy with high Copenhagen at the top and low Copenhagen at the very bottom. Attitudinal patterns are also reported from studies based on direct and indirect methods of data collection. When consciously aware of displaying language attitudes, Danes consistently reproduce the official hierarchy of varieties. When unaware of displaying attitudes, however, young Danes in particular show an upgrading of low Copenhagen speech that accords with the spread of this accent.

Poor semen quality may contribute to recent decline in fertility rates.

During past decades, we have witnessed a remarkable decline in fertility rates (number of births per 1000 women of reproductive age) in the industrialized world. It seems beyond doubt that the enormous social changes of our societies play the major role in this decline, but can it be attributed to changing social structures alone or is a reduced fecundity in the population also a factor? To address this we have focused on trends in teenage pregnancies (which to a large extent are unplanned). During the period in question fertility rates among 15-19 year old Danish women have been falling and the decline in fertility rate is not counterbalanced by an increase in the rate of induced abortion. When seen together with recent results from Denmark, which have shown that more than 30% of 19 year old men from the general population now have sperm counts in the subfertile range, we argue that this fall may not be attributable to social factors, changes in conception practices or diminished sexual activity alone. It seems reasonable also to consider widespread poor semen quality among men as a potential contributing factor to low fertility rates among teenagers. Due to the concern caused by the low sperm count among younger Danish men, the Danish Ministries of Health and Environment have launched a surveillance programme which includes an annual examination of the semen quality in 600 young Danes from the general population. We propose that researchers in other countries with low and falling fertility rates among young women should consider the possibility that semen quality of their younger male cohorts may also have deteriorated.

Two Standards: One for the Media and One for the School

This paper argues that young Danes are in the process of changing the notion of Standard Danish, partly by 'moving' it in the direction of what used to be perceived as 'low' Copenhagen speech, partly by 'splitting' it in two. Verbal guise data gathered in the town of Næstved not far from Copenhagen in 1989 indicated that 'low' Copenhagen features were far from alien to young Næstveders' representations of Standard Danish. Furthermore, the upgrading of speakers with such features was found to be stronger on 'dynamism' traits than on 'superiority' traits. A replication of the study in 1998 showed that the notion of Standard Danish continues to move in the direction of 'low' Copenhagen speech, and also that considerations of 'dynamism' and 'superiority' continue to play a decisive role in young Næstveders' attitudinal relationship to the phonetic variation in Copenhagen speech. The paper suggests that the evaluative distinction between 'dynamism' and 'superiority' reflects different notions of 'excellence' within traditional public institutions like school and business, on the one hand, and the modern media, on the other.

Guest Editorial: The Notion of Standard Language in Late Modernity: Introducing Three Studies of Young Danes' Perceptions and Evaluations of Standardness in Language

Guest Editorial: The Notion of Standard Language in Late Modernity: Introducing Three Studies of Young Danes' Perceptions and Evaluations of Standardness in Language

Model-based development and testing of advertising messages: a comparative study of two campaign proposals based on the MECCAS model and a conventional approach

Traditionally, the development of advertising messages has been based on ‘creative independence’, sometimes catalysed by inductively generated empirical data. Due to the recent intensified focus on advertising effectiveness, this state of affairs is beginning to change.The purpose of the study described in this article is to compare the development and effects of two campaign proposals, with the common aim of increasing the consumption of apples among young Danes (18 to 35 years of age). One of the proposals is the result of an inductive-creative process, while the other is based on the MECCAS model, i.e. means—ends based data collection employing the laddering method and subsequent use of the guidelines for message development formulated in MECCAS. The project was a joint venture of the Association of Danish Fruit Growers, Odense, Denmark, and the MAPP Centre, and was financed by EU funds.The comparison involved the efficiency of the managerial communication taking place in the message development process as well as target group communication effects. The managerial communication was studied by interviews with the involved advertising agency (Midtmarketing, Ikast, Denmark) and client staff. The target group communication was assessed by pre-testing the two campaign proposals (n = 500).The main finding of the managerial study was that the implementation of the MECCAS guidelines for message development led to better agency-client communication, which resulted in a more common understanding of the objective of the campaign. The pre-test showed that the MECCAS-based message compared to the conventionally developed message was perceived as more focused by the target group and stimulated better central processing.

N-3 PUFA from fish- or seal oil reduce atherogenic risk indicators in Danish women

In a previous pilot study among healthy young Danes intake of 5 and 10 gram seal oil per day significantly reduced serum triglycerides but did not significantly influence total cholesterol, HDL-or LDL-cholesterol. The aim of the present study was to test and compare this effect of seal oil with intake of fish oil capsules in a controlled study. The study was designed as a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, in which 78 young normolipidemic women were given 5 capsules a day of either fish oil, fish oil with B 12, seal oil, or placebo consisting of “average” Danish fat, during a 3–4 months intervention period, followed by 8 weeks of washout period, no capsules. The participants answered questionnaires about dietary habits, other lifestyle factors and anthropometric parameters. The compliance was followed by blood and gluteal fat lipid profiles. During the three months intervention there were gradual reductions in total serum cholesterol and triglycerides in all treatment groups. In paired sample t-tests, the effects of fish oil with B 12 were highly significant p<0.01 whereas fish oil alone, p=0.07, and seal oil, p=0.09, were borderline significant. Multiple regression analysis showed that the reductions in TG and atherogenic risk index were strongly correlated to concomitant increases of n-3/n-6 ratio in gluteal fat, an association which highly depended on the consumed n-3 dose and was independent of the type of marine oil used.

Difference and diversity: trends in young Danes' media uses

Drawing on results from a four-year project of basic research, and applying quantitative as well as qualitative methods, this article describes important, recent trends in young Danes' media culture and discusses the research implications that these trends enforce and enhance. Three empirical trends stand out: innovation in media applications, increased interaction between media types and genres, and a more `seamless' social integration of media into everyday life. First, contemporary adolescents are a multi-media generation in two senses: notably young men are pioneers in computer use and both genders mix a variety of media. Second, contrary to much postmodern discourse young people do not necessarily demonstrate media reflexivity as a result of increased intertextual crossbreeding. Third, adolescents' leisure culture is undergoing important reshufflings because of the changing media landscape: public and private spaces are becoming regendered, and the computer acts as a catalyst in shaping more vertical forms of interaction resembling premodern forms of socialization. Finally, it is argued that these trends call for more interdisciplinary, multifaceted research that integrates textual and social dimensions of analysis.

With the background in the foreground - Music among young Danes with immigrant backgrounds

'Cry, cry, cry, cry just a little bit...' With a tight rock beat and a backing group including choir and brass, the familiar sound of Shaky Steven comes out of the Copenhagen Channel of the Danish Radio on a warm summer afternoon in 1996. News items and short interviews alternate with music-easy-listening, Anglo-American, mainstream pop music. As Shaky Steven fades out the speaker says: 'Well, that was a pop song like pop songs are mostly. Like we are used to hearing them. Now you will hear an Arab love song'. The sound of a string instrument, probably a lotar, a four-string lure, takes over. In the background, one can hear the sounds of an informal gathering-this is not a real concert. A musician plays a simple melody a couple of times, then vocally joins in unison with the melody instrument. Another singer with a rough but relaxed voice takes over. The two singers alternate for a while, then the music fades out and the speaker re-enters, introducing the subsequent interview. This last piece of music creates a striking contrast in the soundscape. After hours of modern mainstream pop, a 20-year-old recording of traditional Moroccan folk music from the Southern part of the country really sounds strange. Without being rude, two words probably come into mind of the listener; folkloric and exotic. Why did the soundscape change so radically? The subsequent interview was about immigrants or more correctly about youngsters in Copenhagen with immigrant background. What made the speaker choose this kind of music as introduction to an interview about young people? When asked afterwards, she answered that 'she hadn't thought about it that way'.

Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in HIV-infected Patients in Denmark

Denmark is an area of low incidence of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). The number of newly reported cases of HIV has been stable during the 1990s, whereas the number of TB cases has doubled in Denmark in the past decade, mainly due to immigration. However, among native Danes the incidence of TB has increased in the younger age groups, indicating more newly infected persons. This study was performed in order to assess the impact of the HIV epidemic and immigration on TB incidence among native Danes. The study was also designed to reveal transmission patterns of TB among HIV-positive patients. Data from HIV-TB co-infected patients identified in the national registers of TB and AIDS from 1992-95 were collected retrospectively from medical records. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of TB isolates from co-infected patients were compared with all patterns registered in the nationwide Danish RFLP database (approximately 1,700 patients). Sixty-seven co-infected patients were identified, 26 Danes and 41 immigrants, representing only 4% of all TB cases during the study period. Danish co-infected patients were part of a cluster, i.e. they had a RFLP-pattern identical to a pattern in the national RFLP database, more often than immigrants (83% vs. 45%, p < 0.005). In only 2 cases were co-infected Danes and immigrants part of the same cluster. Danish HIV-TB co-infected patients were more often intravenous drug users than were co-infected immigrants (p < 0.0005). In conclusion, we found no evidence to suggest that the increase in TB incidence among young Danes was caused by the HIV-epidemic or transmission from immigrants. TB among HIV-positive Danes is most often due to recent infection. The patients often belong to a subpopulation living in Copenhagen characterized by intravenous drug use.

The Role of Standard Ideology in the Disappearance of the Traditional Danish Dialects

Language variation and change can and should be described at the level of language use, but also at a sociopsychological level involving entities such as norms and attitudes, processes of identification and social evaluation. Especially if our aim is to explain variation and change in use, the study of the underlying sociopsychological mechanisms becomes of paramount importance. From this perspective the paper compares patterns of language use with patterns of language attitudes in Denmark. - The traditional Danish dialects are dead in the sense that they are no longer used in the younger generations. Instead, the Copenhagen variety of the language spreads rapidly throughout the entire country. Variation in Copenhagen speech is commonly thought of as relating to the difference between a 'high' variety, the standard, and a 'low' variety which is traditionally associated with the working class. It is the 'low' variants, in particular, which have been gaining ground in recent years. - At the same time, most people hold positive attitudes towards the traditional dialects, whereas the 'low' Copenhagen variety is strongly stigmatised, and generally downgraded by subjects in evaluation tasks in which language is salient and, hence, attitudes are conscious. At a more subconscious level however, i.e. in situations in which people are not aware of displaying language attitudes, it is the traditional dialects which are downgraded, in particular on the evaluative dimension involving social status, whereas the 'low' Copenhagen variety is upgraded, especially by younger people. Since this upgrading is to be found not only on the solidarity but also on the status dimension, it indicates that young Danes today see a language containing 'low' Copenhagen variants as the standard. In other words, the social evaluation of these traditionally stigmatised variants has changed. This means that the spread of these variants is only superficially in contradiction with the standard ideology.

Studies of genetic variability of the uncoupling protein 1 gene in Caucasian subjects with juvenile-onset obesity.

Our objective was to investigate whether genetic variants of the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) gene are associated with juvenile-onset obesity or alterations in weight gain and insulin sensitivity in young healthy Caucasians. Single-strand conformation polymorphism and heteroduplex analysis of the coding region of the UCP1 gene was performed in 56 subjects randomly selected at the draft board examination from a cohort of 156 males with juvenile-onset obesity. Association studies of amino acid variants were undertaken in the cohort of males with juvenile-onset obesity, a cohort of 205 randomly selected control males, and a subgroup of this cohort comprising 76 lean subjects. Genetic variants of the coding region as well as a previously described a-->g nucleotide polymorphism of the 5'-flanking region of the UCP1 gene were examined for associations with accelerated weight gain or reduced sensitivity to insulin in a cohort of 380 young healthy Caucasians. The mutational analysis revealed five nucleotide substitutions that changed the sequence of UCP1, Arg/Trp40, Ala/Thr64, Val/Met137, Met/Leu229, and Lys/Asn257 and two nucleotide substitutions in the nontranslated region of exon 1. Among subjects with juvenile-onset obesity, the allelic frequencies of Ala/Thr64 and Met/Leu229 were both 8.2% (95% confidence interval: 5.1-11.3%) vs. 8.8% (6.0-11.6%) and 8.1% (5.3-10.9%), respectively, in the cohort of randomly selected control subjects. Among lean control subjects, the allelic frequencies of the polymorphisms were 8.2% (3.7-12.7%) and 5.6% (1.9-9.3%), respectively. In the cohort of young healthy subjects, measurements of obesity and insulin sensitivity did not differ between carriers of the Ala/Thr64 and Met/Leu229 variants and wild-type carriers. The Val/Met137 and Lys/Asn257 mutations were each found in one subject with juvenile-onset obesity, and the Arg/Trp40 mutation was found in two obese subjects and in one control subject. The allelic frequency of the nucleotide polymorphism of the 5'-flanking region of the UCP1 gene was 25.3% (22.2-28.4%) in the cohort of 380 young Danes. There were no differences in body mass index, fat mass, waist-to-hip ratio, or weight gain during childhood or adolescence between carriers and noncarriers of this nucleotide variant. Although we cannot exclude an effect of the rare mutations in the UCP1 gene on susceptibility to juvenile-onset obesity, genetic variation of the coding region of the UCP1 gene is not a common factor contributing to obesity in Caucasian subjects of Danish ancestry.

Imipramine demethylation in vivo: impact of CYP1A2, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4.

To further substantiate the role of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 for the N-demethylation in vivo. At least three different P450s appear to be responsible for the N-demethylation of imipramine to desipramine in vivo: CYP1A2, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4. The role of CYP2C19 in this regard is well documented, but for the two other P450s the evidence is either indirect or based on in vitro studies. Phenotypic tests for imipramine N-demethylation, CYP1A2 (caffeine testing), CYP2C19 (mephenytoin and chloroguanide [proguanil] testing), and CYP3A4 (hydrocortisone and quinidine testing) were carried out in 32 healthy young Danes; all were poor (n = 31) or extremely slow extensive metabolizers (n = 1) of sparteine. By exclusion of the insignificant log-transformed variables, multiple regression analysis for In (desipramine/imipramine) showed that only in (mephenytoin S/R) correlated (p = 0.013; r2 = 0.19). For in (2-hydroxydesipramine/2-hydroxyimipramine) we found that in (mephenytoin S/R) and in (4-chlorophenylbiguanide/chloroguanide) correlated (p = 0.001; r2 = 0.41). We did not find in vivo evidence of either CYP1A2 or CYP3A4 activity in the N-demethylation of imipramine. This could be due in part to inadequate CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 in vivo function tests.

Psychometric properties of the Danish 16PF and EPQ.

A Danish translation of the Cattell's 16PF has been used in studies evaluating the effects of prenatal drug exposure. This paper reports a psychometric analysis of the 16PF and Eysenck's EPQ based on a sample of 558 young Danes. Many 16PF scales had unacceptable psychometric properties (as indicated by coefficient alpha and item--total score correlations), but more satisfactory results were obtained with the EPQ N and E scales. A factor analysis of all 16PF and EPQ scales suggested a six factor solution that roughly corresponds to the second-order factor structure obtained by Krug and Johns (1986). It is concluded that the second-order factor structure should be the basis of interpretation of the 16PF in both practical and research contexts.

The importance of adrenaline, insulin and insulin sensitivity as determinants for blood pressure in young Danes

To study the influence of the adrenergic system, fasting serum insulin level and insulin sensitivity on systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in young individuals. In a population survey we measured SBP and DBP (using the London School of Hygiene sphygmomanometer) and fasting levels of serum catecholamines, serum insulin and insulin sensitivity in 383 randomly recruited subjects (mean age 25.0 years) of both sexes. Insulin sensitivity was estimated from a combined intravenous glucose and tolbutamide tolerance test and calculated using Bergman's minimal model. Confounders were body mass index, waist:hip ratio, maximal aerobic capacity, age, sex, and consumptions of tobacco and alcohol. In a multiple regression analysis including the above factors, the most important determinant of SBP, after sex, was the plasma adrenaline level (partial correlation coefficient, rp = 0.23, P < 0.01). No significant association was found between plasma noradrenaline level and SBP. A significant association was found between plasma adrenaline level and DBP in females only (rp = 0.15, P < 0.05). Overall, the plasma adrenaline level was more important than the plasma noradrenaline level. Fasting serum insulin level and insulin sensitivity were each significantly correlated with both SBP and DBP in univariate analyses, but not in a multiple regression analysis. A family history of hypertension was associated with higher SBP level, body mass index and fasting serum insulin level, and with lower insulin sensitivity, but with no difference in circulating plasma adrenaline or noradrenaline compared with individuals without a family history. In a multiple regression analysis with the above confounders, no significant association between SBP and plasma adrenaline level could be found in either sex for subjects with a family history of hypertension. Both male (rp = 0.41, P < 0.001) and female (rp = 0.18, P < 0.05) subjects with no history of family hypertension had a significant association between SBP and plasma adrenaline level in a multiple regression analysis. In young healthy Caucasians adrenergic activity is an important determinant for SBP. The importance of fasting serum insulin level and insulin sensitivity on blood pressure level is minor when confounders are considered.

Coronary heart disease risk factors, physical activity, and fitness in young Danes

In a random sample of young Danish adults (86 men and 115 women, 23-27 yr of age) maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), physical activity (PA), blood pressure, blood lipids, body fat content, and smoking habits were studied. Cholesterol, triglyceride and body fat related negatively to VO2max. The ratio HDL/total cholesterol was positively related to VO2max (r = 0.3, P < 0.001), but no relationship was observed for HDL cholesterol. No association was found between PA and any of the risk factors. The relationships between different measures of PA and directly measured VO2max was around r = 0.3. No relationship existed between heart rate recorded during submaximal testing and PA (r = 0.0), which indicates that the method of assessing VO2max is important in demonstrating relationships to PA and risk factors. In conclusion, a favorable coronary heart disease risk profile was related to a higher VO2max, but not to time spent on physical activity. This suggests that in this age group intensity must be high enough to have an effect on VO2max before a preventive effect is present.

Body, control and desire: Health and capacity of life among young Danes in the 1990s

Body, control and desire: Health and capacity of life among young Danes in the 1990s