This study explored the relationships between the existence of and length of time since implementation of school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and explicit antihomophobic bullying policies in secondary schools across British Columbia, Canada, with experiences of anti-gay discrimination, suicidal ideation and attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB), mostly heterosexual, and exclusively heterosexual students. Analyses of the province-wide random cluster-stratified 2008 B.C. Adolescent Health Survey (n = 21,708) compared students in schools with GSAs or policies implemented at least 3 years, and less than 3 years, with those in schools without GSAs or anti-homophobia policies, using multinomial logistic regression, separately by gender. LGB students had lower odds of past year discrimination, suicidal thoughts and attempts, mostly when policies and GSAs had been in place for 3+ years; policies had a less consistent effect than GSAs. Heterosexual boys, but not girls, also had lower odds of suicidal ideation and attempts in schools with longer-established antihomophobic bullying policies and GSAs. Given consistently higher documented risk for suicidal ideation and attempts among LGB and mostly heterosexual adolescents, prevention efforts should be a priority, and school-level interventions, such as GSAs, may be an effective approach to reducing this risk, while also offering prevention benefits for heterosexual boys.

In extending our understanding of how the social climate of schools can affect academic outcomes, this study examined the relationship between school bullying, student— teacher (S-T) connectedness, and academic performance. Using data collected in Canada as part of a larger international study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, participants included 27,217 students aged 15 years and 1,087 school principals. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that math achievement was negatively related to school bullying and positively related to S-T connectedness. For boys, there was a significant interaction between bullying and S-T connectedness, suggesting a buffering effect of S-T connectedness on the relationship between school bullying and math achievement. Similar results were evident for reading achievement.

This study examined how student reports of bullying were related to different dimensions of school climate, at both the school and the student levels, using a contextual effects model in a two-level multilevel modeling framework. Participants included 48,874 secondary students (grades 8 to 12; 24,244 girls) from 76 schools in Western Canada. Results revealed significant associations for student perceptions of all schoolclimate dimensions at the student level and for a majority of the aggregated schoolclimate dimensions (except adult-related variables) at the school level in relation to bullying, when each school-climate dimension was included as the sole predictor in the contextual effects model. When examining the roles of all school-climate dimensions together, results showed that, at the school level, the effects of three school-climate variables-peer support, discipline/fairness/clarity of rules, and school safety-remained significant predictors of being bullied and bullying others, controlling for the effects of other school-climate dimensions at both the school and the student levels. The implications of these findings for building a safe and caring school environment are discussed.

Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for development of several obesity-related diseases. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates energy metabolism. Previously, we reported that 9-oxo-10,12-octadecadienoic acid (9-oxo-ODA) is presented in fresh tomato fruits and acts as a PPARα agonist. In addition to 9-oxo-ODA, we developed that 13-oxo-9,11-octadecadienoic acid (13-oxo-ODA), which is an isomer of 9-oxo-ODA, is present only in tomato juice. In this study, we explored the possibility that 13-oxo-ODA acts as a PPARα agonist in vitro and whether its effect ameliorates dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis in vivo. In vitro luciferase assay experiments revealed that 13-oxo-ODA significantly induced PPARα activation; moreover, the luciferase activity of 13-oxo-ODA was stronger than that of 9-oxo-ODA and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a precursor of 13-oxo-ODA and is well-known as a potent PPARα activator. In addition to in vitro experiment, treatment with 13-oxo-ODA decreased the levels of plasma and hepatic triglycerides in obese KK-Ay mice fed a high-fat diet. In conclusion, our findings indicate that 13-oxo-ODA act as a potent PPARα agonist, suggesting a possibility to improve obesity-induced dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis.

Objective-This study examined whether students' odds of recent substance use were lower in the presence of GSAs or explicit anti-homophobia policy that had been established at their school recently, or at least three years prior.Methods-We analyzed a population-based sample of students in grades 8 through 12 from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey of 2008 (weighted N = 21,708). We used multinomial logistic regressions to test the hypothesized effects of GSAs and policies on substance use outcomes for LGB and 100% heterosexual students separately.Results-Results indicated that GSAs and anti-homophobic bullying policies were linked to significantly lower odds of some but not all types of recent risky alcohol use, and past-year harms from alcohol or drug use, for LGB adolescents, but these were predominantly among girls, and almost exclusively in schools where the policies or GSAs had been established for at least three years.Conclusions-Our findings suggest that these school-based strategies (GSAs and antihomophobia policies) to reduce homophobia and foster school inclusion may be beneficial in reducing problem alcohol use among all students, not just sexual minority students.