Summary: Adiposity is defined as the property of containing fat. Excessive adiposity is a cause of both morbidity and mortality in adults. Important consequences include increased risks of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, (particularly through the increased risks of high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance associated with adiposity), osteoarthritis, gall bladder disease and some cancers (particularly endometrial, breast, and colon). There is concern, both in the UK and in other settings, that levels of adiposity have risen during the past 20-30 years or so, both in adults and in children and adolescents, in whom relative increases in risk have been particularly large. Key adiposity indicators include markers of general adiposity, of which body mass index weight (kg)/height2 (m2) is the most commonly used and markers of central adiposity, of which waist circumference is the most commonly used; central adiposity is particularly related to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. High levels of body mass index, and, increasingly waist circumference, have been used to define overweight and obesity, although the definition of cut-offs for abnormality is difficult, especially in children and adolescents. In British adults, there are marked geographic, social and ethnic variations in the occurrence of adiposity. Higher levels of adiposity have been reported in Northern England and Wales when compared to Southern England, in lower social class groups compared to higher ones and among South Asians compared to White Europeans. However, there is limited information on the extent of geographic, social and ethnic variation in adiposity in children. Although raised adiposity in an individual fundamentally reflects an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, many potential determinants of adiposity have been identified. These include not only recent and previous dietary factors and physical activity, but also early life exposures and parental influences. In a population-based study of British 13-16 year-olds, this Thesis sets out to address four overall aims;- (i) to examine patterns of adiposity, including the interrelationships of different adiposity markers; (ii) to explore geographic, social and ethnic differences in adiposity and relate them to patterns observed in adults; (iii) to examine the association of three individual factors – current physical activity pattern, infant feeding and parental BMI – with adiposity; (iv) to examine the associations between adiposity markers, blood pressure and insulin resistance, particularly to determine which adiposity measures are most strongly related to these factors in adolescence.

Population ageing is a global phenomenon and occurring most rapidly in countries in Asia, which have experienced a rapid decline in fertility and mortality. Malaysia is one such country. The increase in life expectancy along with a rising cost of living has meant that many elderly women are exposed to the risk of poverty in later life. This is also due to the inability of the current pension system in Malaysia to recognise interruptions during employment. In the West, there has been extensive research highlighting how living longer combined with an early retirement age and having disruptions during employment years may lead to an inadequate retirement income and affect the quality of life during retirement. Such research is lacking in the Malaysian context. This research therefore investigated the effectiveness of Malaysia’s current pension system to deliver an adequate income in retirement, taking into account the differences in life course experienced by women, particularly interrupted work histories as a result of care-taking responsibilities as well as differences in educational level. This study used a hypothetical simulation model – MHYRISA (Malaysian Hypothetical Retirement Income Simulation Analysis) model to simulate different scenarios. The findings suggest that women with gaps and disruptions during employment will not be able to maintain their standard of living in later life under the present pension system due to the low replacement rate level generated. The findings also suggest that the current retirement age and contribution rate should be increased and also reconsidering the pre-retirement withdrawals policy in order to provide an adequate retirement income during old age. The government should also consider providing a pension credit contribution to women who are unemployed due to care-taking responsibilities, so that they are lifted out of poverty during old age.

In the UK, new Government pension reforms aimed at preventing a future of poorer pensioners represent a continuing policy emphasis on individual responsibility. Two main elements of the reforms are the introduction of Personal Accounts and a gradual increase in the age of eligibility for state pensions, from 65 to 68. These reforms will affect young people in particular. The success of the reforms in preventing a future of poorer pensioners will require young people to save more in Personal Accounts or alternative retirement saving vehicles. Young people wishing to retire before the state pension age will need to save even greater amounts. Despite the implications of these reforms for young people, retirement saving amongst young people is an under-researched topic. This research aims to help fill the gap. The research examines retirement saving behaviour and attitudes amongst young people under the age of 35, using secondary data analysis of the 2005/6 Family Resources Survey and semi-structured interviews. The findings are analysed within a framework of structure versus agency. The results suggest that although the majority of young people have positive attitudes towards retirement saving, actual pension saving activity depends more on labour market position than on saving intentions. In terms of access to pensions, young people are structurally disadvantaged when compared with other age groups, yet the blame for failure to save falls firmly upon the individual. The policy implications are that Personal Accounts will increase the level of retirement saving amongst young people, but considerable numbers of young people with limited access to the new scheme will remain disadvantaged. Furthermore, very few young people will be able to reach the level of saving required to retire before the new state pension age. Today’s young people are set to save more and work longer than previous generations.

Religiosity has been researched in relation to psychological well-being through assessing cognitive and behavioural components of religion (e.g. prayer). The lack of consensus in defining and measuring religiosity is a complex matter. Different forms of religiosity are measured in relation to positive and negative psychological well-being. The literature review identifies orthodoxy and spirituality as two forms of religiosity. Research is examined in detail to establish how orthodoxy relates to negative well-being whereas, spirituality associates with positive well-being. Shame is a distressing emotion that involves negative evaluations of the self. Whereas, self-compassion is contrasted in that a positive relationship with the self is evident. Since shame and self-compassion are opposite constructs the prediction was that orthodoxy may relate to greater shame and lower self-compassion, whereas spirituality may associate with lower shame and greater self-compassion. The empirical research explored how both forms of religiosity; orthodoxy and spirituality relate to shame and self-compassion in South Asian (SA) Muslim women. The study’s qualitative component explored the conceptualisation of shame. The results show that orthodoxy and spirituality are related yet distinct entities. Greater shame associates with lower self-compassion. No significant association was detected between shame and both forms of religiosity. Orthodoxy negatively correlated with self-compassion. That is a unique finding since this had never been researched previously. The qualitative component enabled the development of a process model for shame experience pertinent to this population that may be relevant for clinical practice. Implications of these findings, the study’s limitations and recommendations for future research are debated.

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This diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of toxins and their extraction from sandyloamy soil. Particularly, saxitoxin and trichothecene mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, HT-2 and T-2 toxins are in the centre of interest of this work. Their occurrence, toxic properties and influence on living organisms are described in theoretical part of this thesis. In next chapters, currently published extraction methods for individual toxins and analytical approaches for their quantitative evaluation are summarized. In experimental part of this thesis, optimized process of sample pretreatment based on extraction of toxins from soil using 1mM HCOONH4 in 84% acetonitrile was proposed as the best option. Simultaneous determination of toxins was performed by liquid chromatography on a CN column (3.0 x 150 mm, 3 Îm, 100 ) in gradient elution mode. Mass spectrometer with electrospray as ion source and linear ion trap as analyzer was used as detector. Recovery of designed method was over 80% for trichothecene mycotoxins and 51% for saxitoxin.

Neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) treatment of rats is associated with supersensitization of the dopamine D1 agonist induction of oral activity. The present study was conducted to determine whether induced oral responses to serotonin (5-HT) agonists would be similarly altered in this rat model. At 3 days after birth, rats received desipramine HCl (20 mg/kg, IP) 1 h before 6-OHDA HBr (100 μg in each lateral ventricle) or saline-ascorbic acid (0.1%) vehicle. At approximately 9 mo, rats were challenged with the mixed 5-HT1C and 5-HT2 receptor agonist, m-chlorophenylpiperazine diHCl (m-CPP 2HCl; 0.30-6.0 mg/kg, IP) and were then observed for 1 min every 10 min over a 60-min period. m-CPP induced oral activity in both the vehicle and 6-OHDA groups, with the responses of the 6-OHDA group being much greater. An m-CPP dose of 3.0 mg/kg produced a maximal response of 63.6 ± 3.2 oral movements in the 6-OHDA group. A bell-shaped response curve was obtained, with lower and higher doses of m-CPP producing less of an effect. Attenuation of the m-CPP-induced response by the 5-HT receptor antagonist, mianserin HCl (1.0 mg/kg, IP, 30 min before m-CPP), indicates that the m-CPP effect is receptor mediated. These findings demonstrate that neonatal 6-OHDA treatment produces ontogenic long-lived supersensitization of a 5-HT receptor system in rats.

Grooming behavior in rats has so far been known to be induced mainly by dopamine agonists type D1. In order to explore the involvement of serotonine (5-HT) and its receptors in such a behavior, rats were exposed to two phases of treatment: to the serotonin neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), injected intraventricularly three days after birth, and to the serotonin partial agonist m-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), administered in two dose levels, two months later. Grooming behavior was monitored immediately before and after the higher dose of mCPP, while brain levels of 5-HT and its major metabolite 5-HIAA were assayed one week after mCPP administration. It is documented that while a low dose of mCPP in the non-lesioned rats increased the grooming-time by 5.7-fold, the higher mCPP dose in the non-lesioned non-primed rats increased grooming behavior by 3.6-fold. The 5,7-DHT lesions caused a 6.7-fold increase in the non-primed rats, and a 4.2-fold increase in the primed ones. These increases were noticeable only in male rats. When a higher dose of mCPP followed its lower dose in the 5,7-DHT-lesioned rats, a 3.6-fold decrease was recorded only in the female rats. A 88% and 94% drop in 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels in the brain neostriatum of the 5,7-DHT-lesioned rats was noticed in both sexes, one week after mCPP administration. These findings are the first to demonstrate that the 5-HT2 partial agonist mCPP is capable of modifying grooming behavior, and that 5,7,-DHT brain lesions increase basal grooming time, suggesting that 5-HT neurons and receptors are involved in grooming behavior in rats.

Glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, plays an important role in neurological disorders. Previous studies have shown that excess glutamate can cause oxidative stress in a hippocampal HT-22 cell line. 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF), a member of the flavonoid family, is a selective tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) agonist that has neurotrophic effects in various neurological diseases such as stroke and Parkinson's disease. In this study, we found that there is no TrkB receptor in HT-22 cells. Despite this, our data demonstrate that 7,8-DHF still protects against glutamate-induced toxicity in HT-22 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, indicating that 7,8-DHF prevents cell death through other mechanisms rather than TrkB receptors in this cell model. We further show that 7,8-DHF increases cellular glutathione levels and reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production caused by glutamate in HT-22 cells. Finally, our data demonstrate that 7,8-DHF protects against hydrogen peroxide and menadione-induced cell death, suggesting that 7,8-DHF has an antioxidant effect. In summary, although 7,8-DHF is considered as a selective TrkB agonist, our results demonstrate that 7,8-DHF can still confer neuroprotection against glutamate-induced toxicity in HT-22 cells via its antioxidant activity.

The aim of this study was to determine histamine content in the brain and the effect of histamine receptor antagonists on behavior of adult rats lesioned as neonates with the serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT). At 3 days after birth Wistar rats were pretreated with desipramine (20 mg/kg ip) before bilateral icv administration of 5,7-DHT (37.5 μg base on each side) or saline-ascorbic (0.1%) vehicle (control). At 10 week levels of 5-HT and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) were determined in frontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus by an HPLC/ED technique. In the hypothalamus, frontal cortex, hippocampus and medulla oblongata, the level of histamine was analyzed by an immunoenzymatic method. Behavioral observations (locomotion, exploratory-, oral-, and stereotyped activity) were performed, and effects of DA receptor agonists (SKF 38393, apomorphine) and histamine receptor antagonists S(+)chlorpheniramine (H1), cimetidine (H2), and thioperamide (H3) were determined. We confirmed that 5,7-DHT profoundly reduced contents of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the brain in adulthood. Histamine content was also reduced in all examined brain regions. Moreover, in 5,7-DHT-lesioned rats the locomotor and oral activity responses to thioperamide were altered, and apomorphineinduced stereotype was intensified. From the above, we conclude that an intact central serotoninergic system modulates histamine H3 receptor antagonist effects on the dopaminergic neurons in rats.