text:
Genetic Polymorphism of CYP27B1-1260 as Associated With Impaired Fasting Glucose in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Undergoing Antiviral Therapy
Derong Sun 1 , Wenqian Qi 1 , Song Wang 2 , Xu Wang 1 , Yonggui Zhang 1 , Jiangbin Wang 1 , *
1 Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, PR China
2 Department of Urology, The Second Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, PR China
* Corresponding Author: Jiangbin Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, PR China, E-mail: zrlwangjb@medmail.com
Hepatitis Monthly: 16 (9); e35179
Received: December 4, 2015
DOI : 10.5812/hepatmon.35179
Background: Recent studies have indicated that abnormal glucose levels and diabetes are negatively associated with the prognosis of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The genetic polymorphism of the promoter region -1260 of a gene encoding the enzyme 1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1-1260) has been shown to have an impact on the signaling pathways involved in insulin secretion.
Objectives: The aim is to investigate the effect of CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism on the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels in patients with chronic HCV undergoing antiviral therapy.
Patients and Methods: A total of 461 patients with chronic HCV infection and 300 volunteers without HCV infection were enrolled in an observational cohort study in the China-Japan Union hospital of Jilin University and the Second Hospital of Daqing, Changchun, Jilin Province. Both groups were further divided into normal and abnormal FPG subgroups. The frequencies of the three CYP27B1-1260 genotypes (AA, AC, and CC) were determined in each subgroup. FPG levels were monitored at baseline in HCV and control participants, and both during and after antiviral therapy in HCV infected patients. The frequency of each genotype was determined. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors associated with abnormal FPG levels in HCV infected patients undergoing antiviral therapy.
Results: In HCV infected patients with abnormal FPG levels, the frequency of the genotype CC was significantly higher than that in patients with normal FPG levels (19% vs. 7%, P < 0.001). In contrast, in the control participants, the CC genotype was not significantly different between FPG groups. At baseline, the CC genotype was associate with four times more risk of IFG after adjusting for multiple variables (OR: 4.11; 95%CI: 1.98 - 8.52, P = 0.0001). During 24 weeks of anti-HCV treatment, 38 HCV participants developed newly-diagnosed impaired fasting glucose. The CC genotype markedly increased the risk for newly developed IFG (OR: 26.54; 95%CI: 7.80 - 90.32, P < 0.0001). Other risk factors included age and body mass index.
Conclusions: CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism is associated with abnormal glucose metabolism in HCV infected patients. HCV infected individuals with CYP27B1-1260 genotype CC appeared to have an increased risk of developing abnormal FPG levels.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Impaired Fasting Glucose Hepatitis C Virus Interferon Therapy
Copyright © 2016, Kowsar Corp. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.
Recent studies have suggested that impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are not only are associated with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but also aggravate liver damage, thereby adversely affecting the prognosis in these patients (1, 2). The risk factors for IFG and T2DM, and the underlying molecular mechanisms by which HCV infection influences the susceptibility of patients to T2DM, remain largely unknown (3, 4). Increased fasting blood sugar levels during interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C have attracted considerable interest. Enhanced autoimmune reactions to interferon treatment have been suggested as a contributing factor for impaired pancreatic function and insulin resistance, but definitive evidence of this association has yet to be obtained (5, 6). Interferon therapy is the primary treatment regimen for HCV infection in China, and its association with IFG and T2DM requires further investigation (7).
With the advances in genome-wide association technology, significant progress has been made in isolating the genetic determinants of susceptibility to hyperglycemia. Over two dozen T2DM-associated genes have been identified, but the crucial ones that initiate the pathogenesis of T2DM have yet to be discovered (4, 8-10). Recently, the active form of vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) was shown to be closely associated with the development and prognoses of several diseases (11). Studies have shown that 1,25(OH)2D3 can increase the cytoplasm Ca2+ levels in islet β cells, enhance the binding of calmodulin to insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), regulate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and stimulate insulin secretion, indicating that 1,25(OH)2D3 deficiency may play a role in the pathogenesis of T2DM (12-15). Renal mitochondrial enzyme 1-alpha-hydroxylase, converting 25(OH)D3 to 1,25(OH)2D3, is encoded by gene CYP27B1. Polymorphisms of CYP27B1 have been associated with the plasma levels of 1,25(OH)2D3 (16). However, whether this gene polymorphism is also associated with the impaired fasting glucose in patients with HCV infection remains unclear.
As a result of these observations, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism on fasting blood glucose in patients with chronic hepatitis C, both before and after treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin (Peg-IFNα-2a/RBV) therapy.
3. Patients and Methods
3.1. Patients
Patients with chronic hepatitis C who were admitted to the China-Japan Union hospital of Jilin University and the second hospital of Daqing in the period between 2009 and 2013 were enrolled in this observational cohort study. Diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C was conducted as per the clinical guidelines of the American association for the study of liver diseases in 2004 (17). IFG were diagnosed as per the American Diabetes Association guidelines from 2009 (18).
3.2. Inclusion Criteria
The inclusion criteria consisted of: 1) confirmed HCV infection with an HCV viral load > 50 IU/ml; 2) no history of antiviral therapy. The exclusion criteria were: 1) pregnancy; 2) liver cirrhosis; 3) patients with mental illness, uncontrolled epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, symptomatic or severe heart disease, and impaired kidney function; 4) alcohol or substance abuse; 5) infection with hepatitis A, B, D or E, EBV, CMV, or HIV infection; 6) presence of gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, primary liver cancer, and other complications.
A total of 491 patients with chronic hepatitis C qualified for the selection criteria and were enrolled in the study. Thirty patients withdrew from the study due to complications from interferon therapy or loss during the follow-up process (18 with either neutropenia or thrombocytopenia; three with decreased hemoglobin; two with thyroid dysfunction; one with interstitial pneumonia, and six lost during the follow-up). Therefore, a total of 461 patients were included in the final analysis. Meanwhile, 300 volunteers without HCV infection from the same geographical area were enrolled in the control group. Informed consent was obtained from all study subjects. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee at the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University and the second hospital of Daqing, Changchun, Jilin province (study code: CHICTR-ONRC-12002207.
3.3. Study Design
HCV-infected patients and healthy controls were divided into FPG normal and abnormal groups according to the baseline FPG levels. All HCV patients were administered Peg-IFNα-2a/RBV treatments for 24 weeks. Correlations between the CYP27B1-1260 genotypes and abnormal FPG at baseline and after therapy were assessed. Risk factors affecting impaired fasting glucose were also investigated through backward logistic regression. A schematic illustration of the study design is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Schematic Illustration of the Study Design
3.4. Treatment Regimen and Efficacy
In patients diagnosed with T2DM, insulin was administered to control the FPG levels prior to the initiation of Peg-IFNα-2a/RBV treatment. The Peg-IFNα-2a dosage was 180 μg/w and the duration of treatment was 48 weeks for patients with HCV genotype 1 infection, while the duration was 24 weeks for those with other HCV genotypes.
The RBV dosages were as follows: 1) for patients with HCV genotype 1 infection, 1200 mg/d for those weighing > 75 kg, and 1000 mg/d for those weighing ≤ 75 kg; 2) for patients with infection with other HCV genotypes, 1000 mg/d for those weighing > 75 kg, and 800 mg/d for those weighing ≤ 75 kg.
During treatment, insulin dosage was adjusted and the Peg-IFNα-2a dosage was reduced gradually to 135 and 90 μg/w in the event of an increase in FPG level to 7.8 - 10.0 mmol/L. If the FPG level approached ≥ 10.0 mmol/L, the insulin dosage was titrated accordingly, and the Peg-IFNα-2a was reduced further to 67.5 μg/w or discontinued (19). In the event of the development of leucopenia, the Peg-IFNα-2a dosage was reduced as described above. If pancytopenia occurred, cell growth-stimulating factor (C-GSF) and erythropoietin were administered, and the Peg-IFNα-2a dosage was reduced or discontinued. Upon resolution of the adverse effects, the Peg-IFNα-2a dosage was gradually restored to the standard level. An FPG level ≥ 5.6 mmol/L indicated IFG, while the FPG was considered as having improved if the level was < 6.1 mmol/L following reduced dosage or discontinuation of insulin treatment. Insulin treatment was considered to be ineffective if FPG level was ≥ 6.1 mmol/L even with an appropriate dose of insulin (18).
3.5. Clinical and Laboratory Parameters
Age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) were collected during the participants' first clinical visits by professional staff. Both the weight and height of each participant were recorded on a scale. BMI was than calculated by height (m) divided by weight (kg)2.
Laboratory parameters were assessed in patients prior to the initiation of antiviral therapy. These included: FPG, liver function, anti-HCV antibodies, HCV RNA quantification, HCV genotyping, IL-28B genotypes, and CYP27B1-1260 genotypes. During the first month of Peg-IFNα-2a/RBV treatment, routine blood tests were performed at weekly intervals. Afterwards, the test was performed at monthly intervals until the sixth month, followed thereafter by once every three months. Liver function and FPG were examined once every month during the course of treatment, and once every three months post-treatment. The HCV RNA levels were measured at weeks 4, 12, 24, and 48 of treatment, and at 6 months post-treatment. Patients with abnormal pre-treatment thyroid function were monitored at monthly intervals.
The routine blood test was performed using the XE-5000 Hematology Analyzer (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan). Liver function and FPG were measured by using an automatic biochemistry analyzer with the relevant reagents obtained from Beckman Coulter (Pasadena, CA, USA). Serum HCV RNA levels were determined using a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), the reagents for which were obtained from Da'an Gene of Yat-Sen University (Guangzhou, Guangdong, China). The HCV genotype was determined using the PCR-oligo hybridization-ELISA kit obtained from Lanxing Biotech (Guangzhou, Guangdong, China). The IL-28B genotype was determined using an ABI3730 sequencer obtained from Sangon Biotech (Shanghai, China) following the manufacturer's instructions. The CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism was examined through sequencing by using the primers: F 5'-GGTGGCGTATGCCTGTAGTG-3', R 5'-TGTTCCCTAAGTGTTGTCTCTGG -3'. The results were analyzed with 3730 fast system image analytic software V1.3.1 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA).
3.6. Statistical Analysis
Quantitative data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD); inter-group differences were assessed using a t test or nonparametric statistical methods. Qualitative data were expressed as percentages (%); a Pearson chi-square test was performed to assess differences in genotypes and allele frequencies. The allele frequency of the CYP27B1-1260 rs10877012 A/C polymorphism was calculated with the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium test. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Post-hoc power was 85.3% based on the estimated relative risk for CC genotype as four times higher than AA or AC. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistical Analysis Software Version 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
4.1. Baseline Characteristic in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients
A total of 461 patients (251 males, 210 females; male: female = 1.19:1) with chronic hepatitis C were recruited for the study. The average age of the patients was 44.6 ± 7.1 years (range 31 - 72 years). Baseline characteristics are outlined in Table 1. Patients with higher fasting plasma glucose were significantly older (P < 0.001), had higher body mass index (P < 0.001), and had higher ALT levels (P < 0.001). More patients in the abnormal FPG group had positive family histories for diabetes (P < 0.001). More importantly, the CYP27B1-1260 genotype frequencies were significantly different between the FPG groups (P = 0.001), whereas the IL-28B genotypes were similar between groups (P = 0.375). There were no significant differences in gender distribution, HCV genotype, or HCV RNA load.
Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of HCV Patients Grouped by Different Fasting Blood Glucose Level Status (N = 461)a
Abnormal FPG (N = 126)
Normal FPG (N = 335)
Male gender 66 (52.4) 185 (55.2) 0.775
Age 48.9 ± 6.9 43.7 ± 5.3 < 0.001
BMI 26.0 ± 2.2 23.5 ± 1.9 < 0.001
ALT 93.3 ± 37.6 63.6 ± 22.8 < 0.001
HCV type 1 113 (89.7) 274 (81.8) 0.290
HCV RNA load > 4 × 105 IU/mL 70 (55.6) 210 (62.7) 0.441
CYP27B1-1260 Genotype AA 48 (38) 144 (43) 0.001
AC 54 (43) 168 (50)
CC 24 (19) 23 (7)
IL-28B genotype CC 96 (76.2) 279 (83.3) 0.375
Family history of diabetes 102 (81.0) 149 (44.5) < 0.001
Abbreviations: ALT, alaninetransaminase; BMI, body mass index; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; HCV, Hepatitis C virus.
aValues are expressed as mean ± SD or No. (%).
4.2. CYP27B1-1260 and IL-28B Genotypes and Allele Frequencies
The genotype and allele frequencies of CYP27B1-1260 were compared among the four subgroups (Table 2). In the HCV patients, the CC genotypes were significantly higher in patients with abnormal FPG than ones with normal FPG (P < 0.001), whereas in the healthy controls, no such difference was observed (P = 0.805). There was no difference in the C allele frequencies between patients with or without normal FPG in either the HCV or healthy participants. When comparing the genotype frequencies to those of the control participants, no sufficient difference was observed (Table 2).
Table 2. Genotype and Allele Frequencies of CYP27B1-1260 and IL28 in HCV Infected Patients Before Antiviral Treatment and in the Non-Infected Controlsa,b,c,d
HCV Infected Patients
Non-Infected Controls
P Valuec
P Valued
P Valueb
Abnormal FPG (N = 91)
CYP27B1-1260 Genotype
AA 48 (38) 143 (43) 45 (49) 90 (43) 0.135
AC 54 (43) 168 (50) 0.909 38 (42) 106 (51) 0.239 0.712
CC 24 (19) 23 (7) < 0.001 8 (9) 13 (4) 0.805 0.436
Allele frequency
A 60 68 70 68 0.920
C 40 32 0.864 30 32 0.966 0.884
IL-28B genotype
CC 96 (76.2) 279 (83.3)
CT 30 (23.8) 56 (16.7) 0.375
Abbreviations: FPG, fasting plasma glucose; HCV, Hepatitis C virus.
aPatients and controls were further divided into two subgroups based on the FPG status.
bValues are expressed as or No. (%) or %.
cA significant difference in the genotype frequency compared to the wildtype within the HCV group.
dSignificant difference in the indicated genotype frequency across the FPG groups of the control compared to the HCV group.
IL-28B genotype analysis showed that 375 patients were found to have the CC genotype, while 86 patients had the CT genotype, and no patients had the TT genotype. There was no difference in IL-28B genotypes between the FPG groups (P = 0.375).
4.3. Proportions of Impaired Fasting Glucose Throughout Antiviral Treatment
In the 461 HCV-infected patients, the accumulated proportions of IFG are presented in Figure 2. At baseline, 50% of the CC patients already had higher fasting glucose, while in week 12 of the antiviral treatment, 56.3% of the CC patients were diagnosed with IFG through the fasting glucose test. At the end of the treatment process, over 80% of CC carriers had higher fasting glucose. The proportions of IFG at the three time points were all significantly higher than those of the AA or AC participants (all P < 0.001).
Figure 2. Proportions of Impaired Fasting Glucose in Different CYP27B1-1260 Genotypes Throughout Anti-HCV Treatment
HCV, hepatitis C virus; IFG, impaired fasting glucose.
4.4. Associations Between Genotype Polymorphism and Risk of Impaired Fasting Glucose
At baseline, associations between CYP27B1-1260 and IL-28B genotypes and IFG risk are presented in Table 3. The CC genotype was significantly associated with a higher risk of IFG in a multivariable regression model (OR: 4.11, 95%CI: 1.98 - 8.52), whereas the IL-28B genotype CT was not associated with a risk of impaired glucose (OR: 1.04; 95%CI: 0.60 - 1.81).
Table 3. Association Between Genotype Polymorphism and the Risk of Baseline Impaired Fasting Glucose in HCV Infected Patients (N = 461)a
CYP27B1-1260 Genotypes
AA AC CC
Unadjusted 1.00 0.96 (0.61 - 1.50) 2.98 (1.55 - 5.72) 0.016
Multivariable adjusted 1.00 1.82 (1.07 - 3.09) 4.11 (1.98 - 8.52) 0.0001
CC CT
Unadjusted 1.00 0.95 (0.57 - 1.59) 0.858
Multivariable adjusted 1.00 1.04 (0.60 - 1.81) 0.882
aData presented as odds ratios (95% confidence interval) by logistic regression analysis; confounders in the multivariable model included age, gender, BMI, family history of diabetes, ALT levels, and HCV gene types as well as HCV RNA load.
After 24 weeks of anti-HCV treatment, 38 patients experienced newly-developed higher fasting glucose. A backward logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors associated with the increased likelihood of newly-diagnosed IFG (Table 4). The CYP27B1-1260 CC genotype was significantly associated with an increased likelihood for newly-developed IFG as compared to the AA genotype (OR: 26.12; 95%CI: 7.85 - 86.92; P < 0.0001). Other risk factors included age and BMI. Multi-variable regression showed a similar trend (OR: 26.54; 95%CI: 7.80 - 90.32; P for trend < 0.0001; Table 5). The IL-28B genotype was not associated with newly developed IFG either before or after multi-variable adjustment.
Table 4. Risk Factors Associated With Newly-Diagnosed Impaired Fasting Glucose After 24-Week Anti-Viral Treatment in HCV Infected Patients (N = 335)a
Odds Ratios (95% CI)
Age 0.96 (0.93 - 1.00) 0.036
BMI 1.17 (1.01 - 1.37) 0.043
Liver fibrosis 0.48 (0.22 - 1.08) 0.076
CYP27B1-1260 genotypes AA 1.00
AC 1.03 (0.39 - 2.76) 0.953
CC 26.12 (7.85 - 86.92) < 0.0001
aData presented as odds ratios (95% confidence interval) through logistic regression analysis backward LR selection. Variables selected from age, gender, BMI, family history of diabetes, ALT, HCV genotypes, HCV RNA load, and CYP27B1-1260 and IL-28B genotypes.
Table 5. Association Between Genotype Polymorphism and the Risk of Newly-Diagnosed Impaired Fasting Glucose After 24-Week Anti-Viral Treatment in HCV Infected Patients (N = 335)a
Unadjusted 1.00 0.63 (0.27 - 1.49) 16.67 (6.11 - 45.49) < 0.0001
Multivariable adjusted 1.00 1.02 (0.37 - 2.80) 26.54 (7.80 - 90.32) < 0.0001
aData presented as odds ratios (95% confidence interval) by logistic regression analysis. Variables adjusted including age, gender, BMI, family history of diabetes, ALT, HCV genotypes, and HCV RNA load.
This study demonstrated that the CC genotype of CYP27B1-1260 was associated with a higher risk of impaired fasting glucose in HCV infected patients, especially during anti-viral treatment. To our knowledge, this was the first study investigating genetic polymorphism and hyperglycemia in Chinese HCV-infected patients.
Chronic HCV infection complicated by diabetes could aggravate liver injury (2). The incidence of T2DM during chronic HCV infection has been reported to be 13.8% in a case control study (20), which was higher than the rate known to be induced by other chronic liver diseases (1). In our study, we observed 27.3% of HCV patients with impaired fasting glucose at baseline, whereas 11.3% of HCV patients developed IFG during 24 weeks of anti-viral therapy. Previous studies also suggested that HCV patients were more susceptible to developing insulin resistance (21) and impaired glucose tolerance (22). Therefore, our results reinforced the evidence that chronic HCV infection and diabetes were inter-related.
In our study, we also observed a higher risk of IFG in HCV patients with the CC genotype of CYP27B1-1260. Current studies on genetic factors associated with T2DM primarily focus on the genes implicated in insulin resistance and the dysfunction of islet β cells (4). Nevertheless, vitamin D levels were shown to be closely associated with insulin secretion and insulin resistance. Vitamin D deficiency has also induced insulin resistance in the skeletal muscles, as demonstrated in mouse models (23). The islet β cells express vitamin D receptors on the cell surface, and also produce the enzyme 1-alpha-hydroxylase, which converts 25(OH)D3 into its bioactive form 1,25(OH)2D3. Evidence has shown that the reduction in 1-alpha-hydroxylase activity may have led to vitamin D deficiency, which subsequently leads to decreased interaction with vitamin D receptors and further results in β cell dysfunction and impaired insulin production (12, 24, 25).
Investigation of the gene CYP27B1 encoding 1-alpha-hydroxylase showed that the polymorphism in its promoter region-1260 has a substantial impact on the enzymatic activity of 1-alpha-hydroxylase and thus influences the serum 1,25(OH)2D3 level (16). Further studies have found that HCV infected individuals carrying the genotype CC had significantly lower serum 1,25(OH)2D3 levels and showed poorer sustained virological responses to interferon therapy when compared with those carrying the AA and AC genotypes (16). Besides its impact on HCV infection, previous research has suggested a possible relationship between CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism and the persistence of, but not susceptibility to, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (26). In patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), the mRNA levels of CYP27B1 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of those with CC genotype have been reported to be much lower than those in the healthy controls (27). Consequently, the CYP27B1-1260 genotype CC has been considered to be a risk factor for T1DM (27, 28). All of these results, including our own, imply that, as a factor influencing the level of active vitamin D in the human body, the genotype CC may contribute to the development of hyperglycemia and T2DM.
In the present study, the CYP27B1-1260 genotypes were examined in patients with both chronic HCV infection and in controls at baseline. The marked higher frequency of the genotype CC in the HCV infected patients with abnormal FPG levels was not observed in the uninfected controls. Therefore, it appears that the genotype CC is more frequently associated with abnormal FPG in patients with chronic hepatitis C. During antiviral therapy, the genotype CC was consistently associated with a higher risk of IFG in HCV patients. Previous studies suggested that the genotype CC of CYP27B1-1260 was a potential risk factor for T1DM, T2DM, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, chronic hepatitis B, and hepatitis C (29). However, contrasting results have been reported from studies on some other diseases including multiple sclerosis. In some cases, the CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism does not seem to be associated with disease progression (30). We therefore think that the role of 1-alpha-hydroxylase might be disease-specific, and that the involvement of CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism as a genetic susceptibility factor in pathogenesis should be defined individually for different disease types. Although our results require further validation through clinical studies, they still provide a new direction for the investigation of the relationship between chronic HCV infection and impaired glucose metabolism.
The strength of our study was the employment of a prospective cohort design to assess the records of HCV patients with newly developed abnormal fasting glucose. There were also certain limitations in our study, which ought to be highlighted. First, the functions mediated by vitamin D are also in part related to the gene polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor and the vitamin D-binding protein. We did not examine the genotype distribution of these genes in our patients, nor did we evaluate the levels of vitamin D in the participants. Furthermore, insulin was frequently administered in patients who showed abnormal FPG levels during the antiviral treatment; however, the extent of its influence on the results of our study remains largely unclear. These issues should be addressed in future investigations.
In conclusion, the CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism is associated with abnormal glucose metabolism in HCV-infected patients. HCV patients with CYP27B1-1260 genotype CC appear to be at an increased risk of developing abnormal FPG levels both during and after antiviral treatment.
Author's Contribution: Derong Sun and Wenqian Qi contributed equally to the work. Derong Sun and Wenqian Qi: Study design, literature search, data collection, data interpretation, writing, figures, and critical revision of the manuscript; Song Wang, Xu Wang, and Yonggui Zhang: study design, data collection and critical revision of the manuscript; Jiangbin Wang: study conception and design, literature search, data analysis, figures, and critical revision of the manuscript. All authors approved of the final version of the manuscript. Derong Sun and Wenqian Qi contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.
Funding/Support: This work was supported by the national natural science foundation of China 30970415.
1. Naing C, Mak JW, Ahmed SI, Maung M. Relationship between hepatitis C virus infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus: meta-analysis. World J Gastroenterol. 2012; 18(14) : 1642 -51 [DOI][PubMed]
2. Elkrief L, Chouinard P, Bendersky N, Hajage D, Larroque B, Babany G, et al. Diabetes mellitus is an independent prognostic factor for major liver-related outcomes in patients with cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 2014; 60(3) : 823 -31 [DOI][PubMed]
3. Petit JM, Bour JB, Galland-Jos C, Minello A, Verges B, Guiguet M, et al. Risk factors for diabetes mellitus and early insulin resistance in chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol. 2001; 35(2) : 279 -83 [PubMed]
4. Staiger H, Machicao F, Fritsche A, Haring HU. Pathomechanisms of type 2 diabetes genes. Endocr Rev. 2009; 30(6) : 557 -85 [DOI][PubMed]
5. Fabris P, Betterle C, Greggio NA, Zanchetta R, Bosi E, Biasin MR, et al. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus during alpha-interferon therapy for chronic viral hepatitis. J Hepatol. 1998; 28(3) : 514 -7 [PubMed]
6. Betterle C, Fabris P, Zanchetta R, Pedini B, Tositti G, Bosi E, et al. Autoimmunity against pancreatic islets and other tissues before and after interferon-alpha therapy in patients with hepatitis C virus chronic infection. Diabetes Care. 2000; 23(8) : 1177 -81 [PubMed]
7. Welch NM, Jensen DM. Pegylated interferon based therapy with second-wave direct-acting antivirals in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. Liver Int. 2015; 35 Suppl 1 : 11 -7 [DOI][PubMed]
8. Florez JC, Jablonski KA, Bayley N, Pollin TI, de Bakker PI, Shuldiner AR, et al. TCF7L2 polymorphisms and progression to diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Program. N Engl J Med. 2006; 355(3) : 241 -50 [DOI][PubMed]
9. Groves CJ, Zeggini E, Minton J, Frayling TM, Weedon MN, Rayner NW, et al. Association analysis of 6,736 U.K. subjects provides replication and confirms TCF7L2 as a type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene with a substantial effect on individual risk. Diabetes. 2006; 55(9) : 2640 -4 [DOI][PubMed]
10. Zhang C, Qi L, Hunter DJ, Meigs JB, Manson JE, van Dam RM, et al. Variant of transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene and the risk of type 2 diabetes in large cohorts of U.S. women and men. Diabetes. 2006; 55(9) : 2645 -8 [DOI][PubMed]
11. McGrath JJ, Saha S, Burne TH, Eyles DW. A systematic review of the association between common single nucleotide polymorphisms and 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2010; 121(1-2) : 471 -7 [DOI][PubMed]
12. Bourlon PM, Faure-Dussert A, Billaudel B. Modulatory role of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 on pancreatic islet insulin release via the cyclic AMP pathway in the rat. Br J Pharmacol. 1997; 121(4) : 751 -8 [DOI][PubMed]
13. Hoenderop JG, Dardenne O, Van Abel M, Van Der Kemp AW, Van Os CH, St -Arnaud R, et al. Modulation of renal Ca2+ transport protein genes by dietary Ca2+ and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1alpha-hydroxylase knockout mice. FASEB J. 2002; 16(11) : 1398 -406 [DOI][PubMed]
14. Munshi HG, Burks DJ, Joyal JL, White MF, Sacks DB. Ca2+ regulates calmodulin binding to IQ motifs in IRS-1. Biochemistry. 1996; 35(49) : 15883 -9 [DOI][PubMed]
15. Li Z, Joyal JL, Sacks DB. Binding of IRS proteins to calmodulin is enhanced in insulin resistance. Biochemistry. 2000; 39(17) : 5089 -96 [PubMed]
16. Lange CM, Bojunga J, Ramos-Lopez E, von Wagner M, Hassler A, Vermehren J, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and a CYP27B1-1260 promoter polymorphism are associated with chronic hepatitis C and poor response to interferon-alfa based therapy. J Hepatol. 2011; 54(5) : 887 -93 [DOI][PubMed]
17. Strader DB, Wright T, Thomas DL, Seeff LB, American Association for the Study of Liver D. Diagnosis, management, and treatment of hepatitis C. Hepatology. 2004; 39(4) : 1147 -71 [DOI][PubMed]
18. American Diabetes A. Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2009; 32 Suppl 1 -7 [DOI][PubMed]
19. Arase Y, Kobayashi M, Suzuki F, Suzuki Y, Kawamura Y, Akuta N, et al. Effect of type 2 diabetes on risk for malignancies includes hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 2013; 57(3) : 964 -73 [DOI][PubMed]
20. Elhawary EI, Mahmoud GF, El-Daly MA, Mekky FA, Esmat GG, Abdel-Hamid M. Association of HCV with diabetes mellitus: an Egyptian case-control study. Virol J. 2011; 8 : 367 [DOI][PubMed]
21. Sciacqua A, Perticone M, Tassone EJ, Cimellaro A, Caroleo B, Miceli S, et al. Renal function is impaired in normotensive chronic HCV patients: role of insulin resistance. Intern Emerg Med. 2016; 11(4) : 553 -9 [DOI][PubMed]
22. Kaur H, Singh P, Pannu HS, Sood A, Jain NP, Bhoday HS. To study the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance in patients with hepatitis C virus related chronic liver disease. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015; 9(3) -20 [DOI][PubMed]
23. Chen S, Villalta SA, Agrawal DK. FOXO1 Mediates Vitamin D Deficiency-Induced Insulin Resistance in Skeletal Muscle. J Bone Miner Res. 2016; 31(3) : 585 -95 [DOI][PubMed]
24. Johnson JA, Grande JP, Roche PC, Kumar R. Immunohistochemical localization of the 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor and calbindin D28k in human and rat pancreas. Am J Physiol. 1994; 267(3 Pt 1) -60 [PubMed]
25. Bland R, Markovic D, Hills CE, Hughes SV, Chan SL, Squires PE, et al. Expression of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1alpha-hydroxylase in pancreatic islets. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004; 89-90(1-5) : 121 -5 [DOI][PubMed]
26. Zhu Q, Li N, Han Q, Li Z, Zhang G, Li F, et al. Single-nucleotide polymorphism at CYP27B1-1260, but not VDR Taq I, is possibly associated with persistent hepatitis B virus infection. Genet Test Mol Biomarkers. 2012; 16(9) : 1115 -21 [DOI][PubMed]
27. Bailey R, Cooper JD, Zeitels L, Smyth DJ, Yang JH, Walker NM, et al. Association of the vitamin D metabolism gene CYP27B1 with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes. 2007; 56(10) : 2616 -21 [DOI][PubMed]
28. Ramos-Lopez E, Kahles H, Weber S, Kukic A, Penna-Martinez M, Badenhoop K, et al. Gestational diabetes mellitus and vitamin D deficiency: genetic contribution of CYP27B1 and CYP2R1 polymorphisms. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2008; 10(8) : 683 -5 [DOI][PubMed]
29. Lopez ER, Zwermann O, Segni M, Meyer G, Reincke M, Seissler J, et al. A promoter polymorphism of the CYP27B1 gene is associated with Addison's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus in Germans. Eur J Endocrinol. 2004; 151(2) : 193 -7 [PubMed]
30. Jensen CJ, Stankovich J, Van der Walt A, Bahlo M, Taylor BV, van der Mei IA, et al. Multiple sclerosis susceptibility-associated SNPs do not influence disease severity measures in a cohort of Australian MS patients. PLoS One. 2010; 5(4)[DOI][PubMed]
Derong Sun: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Wenqian Qi: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Song Wang: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Xu Wang: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Yonggui Zhang: [PubMed] [Scholar]
Jiangbin Wang: [PubMed] [Scholar]


text:
Third of local firms do business on social networks
Almost a third of more than 4,100 enterprises surveyed in Việt Nam do business on social networks, a slight decrease from the previous year.— Photo thoibaonganhang.vn
HÀ NỘI — Almost a third of more than 4,100 enterprises surveyed in Việt Nam do business on social networks, a slight decrease from the previous year.
Việt Nam E-commerce Association (VECOM) conducted the survey on Vietnamese e-commerce activities from September to November last year.
Thirty two per cent said yes, they were using social networks, which is down 2 per cent compared to 2016.
Business on social networks is a trend among small- and medium-sized enterprises, business households and individuals in recent years, said the report.
In addition to social networks, e-commerce platform is also a useful tool for small and medium enterprises, but the trend of using e-commerce trading floors has not changed dramatically over the past few years.
Eleven per cent of businesses surveyed said they traded on e-commerce sites last year, down slightly compared to that of the previous year at 13 per cent.
VECOM said the year 2015 marked the boom in the trend of mobile commerce.
Along with the development of mobile infrastructure, businesses have invested more on this new platform, from upgrading mobile-friendly websites to developing applications.
However, according to the survey, this trend seems to be leveling off with the proportion of websites compatible with mobile devices not increasing, accounting for 17 per cent of the total surveyed enterprises, and down 2 per cent compared to 2016.
"It can be seen that many businesses do not really see the effect from this platform and the demand for mobile-based shopping is only suitable for big cities like Hà Nội and HCM City," online newspaper ictnews.vn quoted a VECOM representative.
The survey also found the percentage of businesses that have mobile applications was 15 per cent last year, equal to the rate in 2016.
Android is still the most popular platform, accounting for 71 per cent; followed by the iOS with 43 per cent and Windows 40 per cent.
"This data does not change much compared to that of 2016 survey," the representative said.
In addition, VECOM's survey also said that up to 39 per cent of businesses questioned highly rated online sales through social networks, the highest among online tools, followed by sales via enterprise websites (35 per cent), mobile applications (22 per cent) and e-commerce trading floors (18 per cent).
The survey also revealed that domain name ".vn" was chosen by the top companies when building websites with 47 per cent of businesses using it, followed by ".com" with 42 per cent. — VNS

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Personnel EBlackboard
ACA 3
ADEA 1
FLSA 1
FMLA 1
FOIA 2
IMRF 1
Notice 1
OMA 1
PERA 2
Payroll 2
Pensions 4
RIF 3
Reorganization 1
Social Networking 1
Speech 2
Tenure 2
Union Rights 1
GRANDFATHERED CONTRACTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO TRS BY MARCH 29, 2019
On June 4, 2018, then-Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law Public Act 100-0587, which reduces the 6% soft cap on end-of-career TRS creditable earnings increases to 3% for any individual employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after that date. "Grandfathered" contracts and collective bargaining agreements entered into before June 4th are still subject to the old 6% limit. Also, for employees not covered by a bargaining agreement or an employment contract, TRS will accept employment policies for grandfathering if notice was provided as required by the employment policy prior to June 4, 2018 and payments are made pursuant to the term of the policy prior to June 30, 2022.
Now, in order to help it administer the new law, TRS has launched a CBA/Contract Collection Portal and is requiring school districts to submit all grandfathered employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements to TRS via this online portal by March 29, 2019. Employees covered by grandfathered retirement policies also need to be identified through the portal. According to TRS, "[i]f the required information is not received by TRS, any year-over-year salary increases in the 2018-19 and future years will be subject to the 3 percent threshold." Districts can access the portal here.
To avoid any unforeseen TRS excess cost penalties, we recommend that your district comply with this mandate. Should you have any questions regarding these new TRS obligations, your attorneys at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd. stand ready to assist.
Tags Personnel; Pensions
February 19, 2019 / Scariano Himes and Petrarca/
U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST FAIR SHARE FEE ARRANGEMENTS
June 27, 2018 / Scariano Himes and Petrarca
This morning the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Janus v. AFSCME and has ruled that requiring a bargaining unit member to pay Fair Share deductions to the union representing the bargaining unit is unconstitutional. Recall that Fair Share payments are payroll deductions for bargaining unit members who have not elected to join the union as a full member, but who are nevertheless covered by a Fair Share fee requirement in a collective bargaining agreement. If you have Fair Share fee payers in your district, you now must immediately cease deductions of Fair Share amounts and cease remittance of those fees to the union. If you have a payroll being processed this week, make sure your payroll department knows to eliminate Fair Share deductions from any person who has been assessed such deductions this year.
This decision DOES NOT affect union member voluntary dues deductions. Payroll deductions for employees who are voluntary members of the union MUST continue. This ruling only applies to employees covered by a Fair Share provision who have not elected to join the union as full members.
Please contact your SHP attorney to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.
June 27, 2018 / Scariano Himes and Petrarca/
PREPARATION FOR THE POSSIBLE END OF FAIR SHARE FEE ARRANGEMENTS
We are aware that most if not all of our school district clients recently received a joint email from the leaders of IASA, IASBO, the IFT and the IEA regarding the possible end of Fair Share fee deductions. These are payroll deductions for bargaining unit members who have not elected to join the union as a full member, but who are nevertheless covered by a Fair Share fee requirement in a collective bargaining agreement. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule before June 30 on whether such Fair Share deductions are unconstitutional. As stated in the joint email, if you have Fair Share fee payers in your district, you may need to immediately cease deductions of Fair Share fees and cease remittance of those fees to the IEA or IFT as soon as the date the Court issues its decision.
Since each school district has different payroll schedules, and different lead time requirements for processing payroll, the timing of the Supreme Court's opinion may or may not give your district time to halt Fair Share deductions before the next payroll is processed. Because of the differences in each school district's payroll procedures, different payroll lead time requirements, and differences in remittance practices, we cannot provide a uniform recommendation for how to prepare for this decision. However, we can work with your Business Office to prepare or review individualized procedures to increase the likelihood that you will be able to promptly comply with the Court's decision.
Please contact John Fester, James Petrungaro, or your primary contact attorney to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS MUST ADOPT SPECIFIC SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES BY JANUARY 15, 2018
By Anthony Scariano III and James Petrungaro
Recently, the news media have been rife with reports of sexual harassment that has occurred in many of our nation's most valued and well-known institutions. Noticing this trend, and increased amounts of complaints from its own members, the Illinois General Assembly has acted with legislation.
Public Act 100-0554, in relevant part, amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act so that "governmental units," which include school districts, must adopt a resolution to establish a policy prohibiting sexual harassment with the following requirements: (1) the policy must prohibit sexual harassment; (2) the policy must include details on how an individual can report an allegations of sexual harassment, including options for making a confidential report to a supervisor, ethics officer, or the Illinois Department of Human Rights; (3) the policy must include a prohibition on retaliation for reporting sexual harassment allegations, including availability of whistleblower protections under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and the Illinois Human Rights Act; and (4) the policy must include the consequences of a violation of the prohibition on sexual harassment and the consequences for knowingly making a false report.
For school districts that subscribe to the Illinois Association of School Board's Policy Reference Education Subscription Service ("PRESS") and have adopted the model Policy 5:20, your policy likely already substantially complies. The PRESS model policy needs modification to clarify the process for filing harassment claims and to expand the recitation of available laws providing whistleblower protections.
PRESS is expected to release modifications to Policy 5:20 sometime in January 2018. The mandated policy must be adopted by school districts no later than January 15, 2018. The attorneys of Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd. stand ready to assist your Board with complying with this new legislative requirement. Should your District wish to modify its policy before PRESS releases its expected update in January 2018, or if your District does not participate in PRESS and you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Discrimination, Policies
Personnel, Board Governance
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT DETERMINES SCHOOL BOARDS ARE OWED DEFERENCE OVER HEARING OFFICERS IN TENURED TEACHER DISMISSAL CASES
By James A. Petrungaro and Anthony Scariano III
In a decision with vast implications for schools statewide, the Illinois Supreme Court recently determined that although hearing officers play an important role in tenured teacher dismissal cases, the school board's decision on a hearing officer's findings and the tenured teacher's continued employment is entitled to deference.
The facts in Beggs v. Bd. of Educ. of Murphysboro Comm. Unit Sch. Dist. No. 186, are quite detailed and lengthy, far too much to discuss at length in this bulletin. In short, the school board did not agree with the hearing officer's findings of fact and ultimate recommendation that the tenured teacher at-issue should be reinstated, notwithstanding the teacher's work attendance issues. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 24-12(d)(8) of the School Code, the school board supplemented the hearing officer's findings of fact and modified them. The school board also made a final decision to dismiss the tenured teacher despite the hearing officer's recommendation that the teacher be reinstated. Obviously unhappy with the school board's overturning of the hearing officer's recommendation, the tenured teacher filed a lawsuit in circuit court seeking administrative review of the school board's final decision. After the Circuit Court reversed the school board's decision, and the Appellate Court agreed with the Circuit Court, the school board appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The majority of the Supreme Court's focus was on the Appellate Court's opinion that the hearing officer's decision, not the school board's, should be given deference when reviewing tenured teacher dismissal cases. Ultimately, the Supreme Court determined that the plain language of Section 24-12 of the School Code provides that the school board's decision is final for purposes of administrative review. Therefore, the Supreme Court reviewed the school board's supplemental factual findings in addition to the hearing officer's findings when determining the correctness of the school board's decision.
Ultimately, The Supreme Court found that the overwhelming majority of the school board's factual findings were against the manifest weight of the evidence (i.e., not credible), and the school board's decision to dismiss the teacher was therefore clearly erroneous. The decision therefore serves as a reminder that school boards intending to refute and ignore an ISBE hearing officer's findings of fact and recommendation to reinstate a tenured teacher should be wary that those decisions will be reviewed with careful scrutiny by the Court. Nevertheless, the Court's decision regarding the deference owed to school boards (as opposed to hearing officers) in teacher dismissal cases sets important and valuable precedent for boards of education. As always, if you are faced with a situation regarding potential discipline of a tenured teacher, we are here to guide you through that process.
Teachers, Tenure
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S BINDING OPINION HOLDS THAT EMAILS SENT AND RECEIVED ON PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS THAT PERTAIN TO PUBLIC BUSINESS ARE "PUBLIC RECORDS" UNDER FOIA
Earlier this month, the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor ("PAC") Office issued a binding opinion that has sweeping implications under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"). The opinion stemmed from a FOIA request submitted by CNN to the Chicago Police Department for "all emails related to Laquan McDonald from Police Department email accounts and personal email accounts where business was discussed" for 12 police officers within two date ranges. As you may recall, Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in October of 2014 and the release of the police video related to the incident sparked outrage, protests and the firing of CPD Chief Gary McCarthy, among other CPD changes.
The PAC's opinion addressed whether emails on the officers' personal email accounts met FOIA's definition of "public records," which includes electronic communications "pertaining to the transaction of public business...having been prepared by or for, or having been or being used by, received by, in the possession of, or under the control of any public body." Ultimately, the PAC determined that the emails on the officers' personal accounts were public records.
The PAC reasoned that because public bodies always act through its employees and officials, emails discussing public business that those employees and officials prepare and possess do not lose their public character merely because the public body does not possess them on its servers. To the PAC, the inquiry under FOIA should be focused on the content of correspondence (such as emails), and not the method by which the correspondence is sent.
The PAC also reiterated the Illinois General Assembly's intent when it created FOIA, which was to ensure that the public had full access to records pertaining to the transaction of public business. If the General Assembly's intent was ignored, the PAC opined, public officials would be able to circumvent FOIA's reach by using personal devices to discuss public business. The PAC did not address whether its decision concerning the reach of the Illinois FOIA is permitted by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable government searches and seizures of persons and their property.
The City of Chicago has not yet announced whether it will appeal the PAC's decision and its time for doing so has not yet expired. Although the PAC's decision is binding on only the City of Chicago, the broad ruling of the decision and the likelihood that the PAC would issue a similar ruling in other cases means that it is effectively the law of the land unless and until overturned by a judge. Your attorneys at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca stand ready to assist you with navigatinthis far-reaching FOIA decision.
August 29, 2016 / Scariano Himes and Petrarca/
FOIA, Privacy
TRS' EARLY RETIREMENT OPTION EXPIRES
TRS' Early Retirement Option ("ERO") expired on July 1st. As a result, payroll contributions for TRS members going forward will be reduced from 9.4% of their salaries to 9.0%, as that .4% had been previously used to fund the ERO program. Moreover, approximately 200,000 active and inactive TRS members will soon be eligible to receive a refund of the total ERO contributions they paid from 2005 until 2016. Beginning in December, TRS members will be able to apply for this refund. For now, TRS members can estimate their refund by simply adding up their annual TRS creditable earnings from each year between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2016, and then multiplying that amount by 0.004.
According to TRS, members will have three options with respect to their refund: (1) apply for a cash refund; (2) apply for a withdrawal with the intention of "rolling over" the taxable portion of the refund into a qualified non-TRS retirement plan (e.g. a 401(k), 403(b) or an IRA); or (3) do nothing for now and leave the prior ERO contributions withTRS, and applyfor arefund later (no interest will accruein thiscase, however). Cash refunds will have federal income taxes withheld at a rate of 20%, and TRS members will subsequently receive an IRS Form 1099-R after getting their refund.
For more information regarding the expiration of ERO, TRS has published its guidance here.
Tag: Personnel; Benefits, Pension
The information herein was prepared by Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd. to provide general guidance on issues affecting educators. This publication is not intended to provide specific legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. We are pleased to provide legal assistance to you on the subjects addressed in this communication or on other subjects. Reproduction is permitted with credit to Scariano, Himes & Petrarca, Chtd.
Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd., represents school districts, special education cooperatives, vocational education cooperatives and community colleges. Our attorneys have experience in all areas of education law and practice throughout Illinois and the Midwest with our principal office located at Two Prudential Plaza, 180 N. Stetson, Suite 3100, Chicago, Illinois 60601-6702.
www.edlawyer.com
Pensions, Benefits
New Regulations Clarify Overtime Entitlement
By John Fester
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor announced updates to federal wage regulations that will increase worker eligibility for overtime. As a refresher, the general rule is that all employees are entitled to overtime after working 40 hours in a workweek, unless one of the exceptions set forth in the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") applies. Illinois also has an overtime law, but this update will focus primarily on the FLSA and the new regulations.
The good news is that nothing in the new regulations applies to teachers. Teachers remain exempt from overtime, regardless of salary level. However, other school district employees will be impacted by the changes. This is because the minimum salary that must be paid to a non-teaching employee in order to exempt that employee from overtime eligibility rises from $23,660 ($455 per week) to $47,476 ($913 per week) on December 1, 2016. Employees paid hourly, or paid an annual salary of less than $47,476, will be eligible for overtime and no further analysis is needed.
Remember that annualizing an hourly rate is not the same as being paid a "salary" for FLSA purposes. Being paid on a "salary basis" means an employee regularly receives a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period. The predetermined amount cannot be reduced because of variations in the quality or quantity of the employee's work. With few exceptions (for example, unpaid FMLA leave), an exempt employee must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours actually worked.
However, the fact that an employee is paid on a salary basis is not alone sufficient to exempt that employee from the FLSA's overtime requirements. Generally, one of the FLSA's "white collar" duties exemptions must also apply. These exemptions exclude "bona fide" executive, administrative, and professional employees from overtime requirements. Determining whether a "white collar" duty exemption applies requires a fact-specific review of a position's actual job duties. These exemptions will almost always apply to central office administrators (superintendent, assistant superintendents, directors, business managers, etc.) and building administrators (principals and assistant principals).
Conversely, the "white collar" exceptions will rarely apply to support staff positions because of the authority required for the executive exemption; the discretion and independent judgment required for the administrative exemption; and the advanced knowledge and consistent exercise of discretion and judgment required of the professional exemption. For example, even if you have an administrative assistant earning a salary of more than $47,476 on December 1, the position will remain eligible for overtime unless the administrative exemption test can be satisfied.
Employers have a range of options for responding to the increased standard salary level. For each affected employee newly entitled to overtime pay, employers may, subject to applicable collective bargaining agreements and bargaining obligations:
Increase the salary of an employee to whom a "white collar" duties exemption applies to at least the new salary level to retain his or her exempt status;
Leave the employee below the new threshold and pay an overtime premium (or compensatory time) of one and a half times the employee's regular rate of pay for any overtime hours worked;
Reduce or eliminate overtime hours;
Reduce the amount of pay allocated to base salary and use the difference to account for overtime for hours worked over 40 in the workweek, in order to hold total weekly pay constant; or
Use some combination of these responses. Obviously, some responses will be received better than others by the employees.
Just as has been done for non-exempt employees in the past, it will be essential for employers to keep accurate records of hours worked for those employees who become newly eligible for overtime on December 1. As a refresher, the following records should be kept (preferably electronically) for each non-exempt employee for three years:
1. Employee's full name and social security number.
2. Address, including zip code.
3. Birth date, if under 19.
4. Gender and occupation.
5. Time and day of week when employee's workweek begins.
6. Hours worked each day.
7. Total hours worked each workweek.
8. Basis on which employee's wages are paid (e.g., per hour, per week)
9. Regular hourly pay rate.
10. Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.
11. Total overtime earnings for the workweek.
12. All additions to or deductions from the employee's wages.
13. Total wages paid each pay period.
14. Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.
Also in the area of recordkeeping, the Illinois Department of Labor recently required the following information be kept for all employees: name and address, the hours worked each day in each work week, the rate of pay, copies of notice of hire rate and notice of any subsequent changes, the amount paid each pay period and all deductions made from wages or final compensation. Additionally, for employees given paid vacation, employers must maintain for a period of not less than 3 years accurate records of the number of vacation days earned for each year and the dates on which vacation days were taken and paid. The consequence for failing to keep these records is the inability to contest the employee's recollection and estimate of time worked but not paid, overtime worked but not paid, and the amount of vacation pay owed at separation.
This does not necessarily mean non-exempt employees must punch a time clock each day. Employers have options for accounting for workers' hours. There is no particular form or order of records required and employers may choose how to record hours worked for overtime-eligible employees. For example, where an employee works a fixed schedule that rarely varies, the employer may simply keep a record of the schedule and then indicate the changes to the schedule that the worker actually worked when the worker's hours vary from the schedule.
We recommend you take some time this summer to review positions currently paid less than $47,476 per year, identify those that you presently treat as exempt from overtime, and analyze the identified positions to determine whether it makes sense to try to continue the overtime exemption by raising the employee's salary, or whether other steps should be taken to ensure overtime compliance on and after December 1, 2016.
Questions regarding overtime eligibility or exemption require a very fact specific analysis. If you have questions about a particular position or positions in your district, please contact your attorney at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca.
Tags: Personnel
SH&P FOILS UNWARRANTED FOIA REQUESTS
By Paulette A. Petretti and Parker R. Himes
On July 17, 2015, Judge David Akemann, presiding in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, Kane County, Illinois, granted the Firm's motion to dismiss a complaint against an Illinois community college, which claimed that the college had violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"). The violations were allegedly manifested by the College's invocation of FOIA exemptions as grounds to deny requests for voluminous data, databases and compilation of generic student information.
In David Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, the controversy focused on the validity of FOIA requests seeking data and information that the College did not aggregate in the ordinary course of business, such as aggregated zip codes of GED students, numbers of registered students who lack social security numbers, and records of numbers of students taking ABE/GED classes on certain campuses. The plaintiff argued that even though the public body had not created or maintained records such as those requested, the College should nonetheless be required to "query" its numerous databases to compile the requested data. To the extent that the College declined to perform queries, Hites demanded that he be given direct access to the databases in order to perform his own queries. The plaintiff's arguments were premised on his assertion that every piece of data (e.g. reference to a social security number or a zip code) is a public record and is subject to disclosure, pursuant to FOIA. The Court rejected plaintiff's theory that each piece of data contained in a database is its own unique public record subject to FOIA disclosure and relied on a strict construction of the meaning of "public record" under FOIA.
The Court ruled that a public body is not required to aggregate data which it does not aggregate in the regular course of business. Notably, the Court found that "plaintiff's requests do not seek 'public records' as the term is defined in the Act, but rather seek numerical tallies, the compilation of which is not required of the College by FOIA." Importantly, "plaintiff's insistence that he is not requesting that the College review its files and prepare a tally and/or produce general data, information, and statistics belies the text of his own FOIA request." The Court reminded plaintiff that, "well settled in Illinois law is the principle that a request to inspect or copy must reasonably identify a public record, as opposed to general data, information, or statistics." The Court ruled that "the College is not obligated under FOIA to answer general inquiry questions concerning the number of students that fall within the very specific categories crafted by plaintiff. In order to answer the above-referenced five requests, it would require the creation of new records, which explicitly is not required under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Thus dismissal relative to these requests is proper."
Just as the College is not required to compile data from physical records, the Court stated that "FOIA does not require the College to query individual data fields contained on the College's database and create a new report that the College had not already generated or otherwise used." The pleadings and testimony in this case demonstrated to the Court that the College does not prepare or maintain any documents or databases that aggregate the data sought by plaintiff.
The plaintiff alternatively argued that requested pieces of data, such as zip codes, could be found on various paper forms, including the student registration form, used by the public body. Notwithstanding this fact, the College pointed out that locating, copying and redacting thousands of forms, almost 10,000 documents, would take months to complete. Responding to the request would also necessitate pulling employees off their important day-to-day tasks, because student registration records include confidential information that only certain authorized employees may inspect. Therefore, in order to respond to the request, the College would be required to hire temporary employees to do the day-to-day work of confidential employees processing the request, costing the public body tens of thousands of dollars. The Court found that responding to the requests using the paper forms would cause an undue burden on the public body that FOIA seeks to avoid. Additionally, in noting that over the course of several years Hites had repeatedly asked for the same information, the Court pointed out that "repeated requests from the same person for the same records that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly burdensome."
Moreover, the Court found that "querying" the numerous databases maintained by the public body for individual and unrelated pieces of data would have unduly burdened the public body, in that most of the College's IT department would be taken off their regular tasks, causing significant interference and disruption for the College's functions. With regard to the question of burden, the Court found that "the College has successfully demonstrated that the burden of complying with the plaintiff's remaining FOIA requests outweighs the public's interest in obtaining the requested information."
In summary, the College disagreed with plaintiff's position that there existed public records that were responsive to his requests. In keeping with the College's position, the Court determined that plaintiff's requests were barred by statutory provisions and that the College's invocation of exemptions and objections was warranted.
This FOIA ruling provides significant legal authority for any public sector entity seeking to challenge requests to obtain compilations of data, which are not aggregated in the ordinary course of business. Moreover, to the extent redaction of public records is demanded, this case confirms that a showing of undue disruption of public resources will serve to bar such requests.
September 11, 2015 / Scariano Himes and Petrarca/
GOVERNOR'S EXECUTIVE ORDER DOES NOT IMPACT SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEEs' "FAIR SHARE" FEES
Yesterday, Governor Bruce Rauner issued an executive order that seeks to abolish "fair share" fees for state employees who do not wish to join a public sector union. The Governor's executive order does not, however, extend to local governmental employees, such as those employed by school districts.
In Illinois, public employees are free to choose not to join a union but must still pay "fair share" fees, which are used to support a union's collective bargaining efforts that benefit all employees, regardless of union membership. "Fair share" fees may not be used by public unions for political activities, but, according to the Governor, such a distinction cannot possibly be made because public sector unions bargain directly with the government. Thus, says the Governor, some public employees are being required to sponsor political activities that they do not agree with, which is in violation of the First Amendment.
As a practical matter, if your collective bargaining agreement requires you to deduct "fair share" fees from bargaining unit members who have not joined the union, you must continue to make those deductions and remit the fees to the appropriate union. If such provisions are declared illegal or unconstitutional as applied to Illinois public school employees, we will issue further guidance.
Union Rights
The Impact of the Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act on School Districts
By Jacqueline M. Litra
The Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, which took effect on January 1, 2015, prohibits employers and employment agencies from inquiring about, considering or requiring disclosure of applicants' criminal history until an applicant has been: (1) determined qualified for an interview and notified of his/her selection for an interview; or, (2) if there is no interview, after a conditional offer of employment is made. Some of our clients have expressed confusion over how this new law impacts them.
The Act defines "Employer" as any person or private entity that has 15 or more employees and any agent of such an entity or person. School Districts do not fit within this definition of "Employer" because they are public, not private entities. Additionally, the Act expressly states that the prohibited pre-screening practices do not apply to positions where employers are required to exclude applicants with certain criminal convictions from employment by state or federal law. The pre-screening practices prohibited by the Act are allowed for school districts because school districts are required to review criminal history reports for employees and are prohibited from employing individuals with certain convictions.
As a result of the new law, the Illinois Association of School Boards, through its PRESS policy service, recommended changes regarding candidate criminal histories through its proposed Administrative Procedure (Interview Questions for Board Policy 5:30). In our opinion, the proposed revision provides an overly conservative approach to inquiring about criminal convictions. School districts can still inquire as to whether an applicant has ever been convicted of a crime, especially at an interview. In addition, it is possible that attempting to utilize the broad classifications of offenses in the Administrative Procedure's recommended question could result in applicants failing to report a relevant conviction because he/she is unfamiliar with the offenses included in each broad category.
Accordingly, we advise that school districts are not required to follow the new language on convictions in the IASB Administrative Procedure – Interview Questions or to change their pre-screening practices as a result of the Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act.
If you have any questions regarding appropriate employment practices, please contact your attorney at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd.
Chief School Business Officer Requirements
By John E. Fester
A recent TRS Employer Bulletin was issued regarding the participation of business administrators in TRS (Bulletin 14-06). Please note the following excerpts:
"Therefore, individuals serving as the CSBO and required to hold a [professional educator] license with the CSBO endorsement must have CSBO in their titles. If a school business-related position does not include CSBO in the title, the position does not require licensure even if the individual holds a CSBO endorsement."
"Effective with the 2014-15 school term, for a school business official to be reportable to TRS, he/she must hold the CSBO endorsement and must have CSBO in his/her title. For example, the title of the position may be CSBO, Assistant Superintendent/CSBO, etc."
If you need to make this change, we recommend changing the title in the job description and amending employment contracts to reflect the title change. As a general rule, if an employee does not have a professional educator license, or is serving in a position that does not require such a license, the person is not eligible for TRS membership. If you have questions regarding this topic, please contact your attorney at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca.
DEADLINE FOR THE FIRST PERA JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING
School districts are acutely aware of the looming implementation deadlines for PERA compliant teacher evaluation plans and the 180-day timeline for the PERA joint committee to reach agreement on incorporating student growth into the teacher evaluation plan. However, some may not realize that the Illinois State Board of Education's Rules require that the first meeting of a school district's PERA joint committee occur by November 1 of the school year immediately preceding the school district's implementation date.
School districts whose student performance ranks in the lowest 20% must implement a PERA compliant teacher evaluation plan by September 1, 2015. Those school districts should have their first official PERA joint committee meeting no later than Friday, October 31, 2014. School districts in the bottom 20% of the student performance list should have been informed by the Illinois State Board of Education of that placement on or around September 22, 2014.
PERA joint committees must reach agreement on the use of data and indicators on student growth as a significant factor in rating teacher performance within 180 calendar days of the committee's first meeting. Accordingly, a PERA joint committee that has its first meeting on October 31, 2014 has until April 29, 2015 to reach agreement.
All remaining school districts are required to implement a PERA compliant teacher evaluation plan by September 1, 2016. Those school districts should officially convene their PERA joint committees by Friday, October 30, 2015. A PERA joint committee that has its first meeting on October 30, 2015 has until April 27, 2016 to reach agreement because 2016 is a leap year.
If you have any questions regarding the requirements of PERA and the responsibilities of the PERA joint committee, we are available to guide you through this difficult process.
Evaluations, PERA
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT EMPLOYER MANDATE DELAYED FOR MEDIUM SIZED EMPLOYERS
The Treasury Department on Monday announced that employers with 50-99 full-time employees will be given until 2016 to offer insurance to full-time employees before risking a federal penalty. The 2016 deadline is two years longer than the original deadline under the Affordable Care Act. Under the Act, a full-time employee is anyone who works 30 or more hours per week.
Also announced on Monday is another type of grace period for employers with 100 or more full-time employees. Originally, employers were required to offer coverage to 95% of full-time employees by 2015. Under the new rules, however, employers with 100 or more full-time employees can avoid the federal penalty for failing to offer coverage by offering insurance to just 70% of full-time employees by 2015 and 95% of full-time employees by 2016. Importantly, however, employers are still subject to a $3,000 penalty for each employee in the 30% not offered health insurance who buys coverage on a state health-care exchange and qualifies for subsidized premiums.
Administration officials also said Monday that they will issue a separate set of rules in the next few weeks related to how employers must report their employees' insurance status to the government. The Firm will be monitoring the law's progress and will keep you up to date on any significant developments.
If you have any questions related to this issue or any other aspect of the Affordable Care Act, we encourage you to contact an attorney at the Firm for clarification.
Finally, please join us for a presentation on the Affordable Care Act at the Firm's 34th Annual School Law Seminar on Saturday, March 1 at McDonald's Hamburger University in Oak Brook. As always, board members, district and building level administrators may register for no cost on the Firm's website (http://edlawyer.com/law-seminar-registration). We look forward to seeing you there.
Benefits, ACA
ILLINOIS ADOPTS NEW PREGNANCY ACCOMMODATIONS LAW
Effective January 1, 2015, Illinoisschooldistrictsmustbeginprovidingreasonableaccommodationsto pregnant employees who request them. In an expansion of pregnant employees' rights beyond what is provided under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), the Governor signed into law House Bill 8 late last month, which amends several sections of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
This state law will soon make it a civil rights violation for an employer, after a job applicant or employee (including a part-time, full-time, or probationary employee) requests a reasonable accommodation, to not make such an accommodation for any medical or common condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. Where the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on its normal operations, however, the accommodation need not be made. The law provides examples of what a "reasonable accommodation" in this instance might be:
More frequent or longer bathroom, water, or rest breaks.
Private non-bathroom space for breastfeeding.
Assistance with manual labor.
Light duty.
Temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position.
A part-time or modified work schedule.
Appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations.
Time off to recover from conditions related to childbirth.
Unpaid leave.
In addition, the law makes clear that school districts will also be prohibited from denying employment opportunities or benefits to, or taking adverse action against, a pregnant employee if the denial or adverse action is based on the need of the district to make reasonable accommodations. Further, districts will not be able to require a pregnant employee to accept a reasonable accommodation when she did not request one, nor can a district require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided. Moreover, under the law, school districts will not be allowed to retaliate against an employee because she requested, attempted to request, used, or attempted to use a reasonable accommodation.
Lastly, school districts will be required to provide notice to their employees concerning these new rights at a conspicuous location on the district's premises where notices to employees are customarily posted and in any employee handbook. The Illinois Department of Labor will prepare the notice documents and make them available on its website.
Should your district have any questions about these changes in the law, including what might constitute an "undue hardship," please do not hesitate to contact Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd.
Discrimination, Pregnancy
TRS Pension Cap – Start Date for Contracts
TRS has recently cast doubt on whether an employment contract starting on May 31, 2014 will be considered "effective on or before June 1, 2014" for purposes of pension cap grandfathering. Because May 31 is a Saturday, and TRS generally does not recognize weekends as days on which service credit can be earned, it could be argued that the contract is not truly effective until Monday, June 2 (the first day of creditable service), which is after the June 1 deadline. In order to protect against this argument, employees seeking to have a multi-year contract in place for purposes of pension cap grandfathering should make sure the effective date of the contract (i.e. the first day of creditable service under the contract) is earlier than May 31, 2014. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your attorney at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca.
Benefits, Pensions
New Changes to the Teacher Reduction in Force Procedures
On June 13, 2014, House Bill 5546 was signed into law as Public Act 98-0648. This Amendatory Act is the most recent amendment to Senate Bill 7. The Act significantly amends the reduction in force procedures established in SB 7 by creating recall rights for certain teachers reduced from Group Two.
Now, if a school board has any vacancies from the beginning of the term following the reduction in force through February 1 of that term, such positions must be offered to qualified teachers dismissed from Group 2 with a "Needs Improvement" evaluation rating on either of their last two evaluations. If a teacher has more than one rating, the other rating must be proficient or better for recall rights to apply. These new recall rights do not apply to teachers rated "Unsatisfactory." These changes apply to layoffs made during the 2013-2014 school year.
These recall rights apply to probationary teachers laid off from Group 2. Accordingly, it is important that school districts use the non-renewal process and not the layoff process for probationary teachers who are not making the cut.
The Act codifies the fact that only one evaluation rating each term may be used for determining the sequence of honorable dismissal. If there are multiple performance evaluations during a school year (other than evaluations as part of a remediation plan), the last evaluation before the sequence of honorable dismissal list is established will be the one evaluation used. School districts may only average multiple evaluation ratings without agreement from the union.
The Act also clarifies that the sequence of honorable dismissal list, which districts are required to provide to the union at least 75 days before the end of the school year, must include teachers by name and categorized by position and group.
Your attorneys at Scariano, Himes and Petrarca stand ready to assist you in navigating the ever-changing reduction in force procedures and your re-defined responsibilities under this Act.
Teachers, RIF
SCHOOLS ALLOWED TO PREDICT FUTURE HARMFUL IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE'S FIRST AMENDMENT SPEECH
By Paulette A. Petretti
On December 3, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit entered an opinion in the matter of Bryan Craig v. Rich Township High School District 227, et al., in which the Court addressed the issue of whether a school district could terminate a guidance counselor who self-published a book he wrote on his personal time containing adult relationship advice entitled "It's Her Fault." The Court reviewed the school's charges for termination which included, among other considerations, that the publication had caused disruption, concern, distrust and confusion among members of the school district community, that the book violated the district's sexual harassment policy because it created a hostile and offensive educational environment, and that the guidance counselor failed to present himself as a positive role model. After analysis of Craig's provocative themes and sexually explicit terminology, spanning discussions of penis sizes, oral sex, and differences in women's vaginas, the Court determined that the school district's interest in protecting the integrity of counseling services at the high school "dwarfed" the guidance counselor's interest in publishing "It's Her Fault."
While the Court was willing to acknowledge that Craig's book did address a matter of public concern because it, in part, addressed the structure of adult relationships, the Court found the weight of Craig's First Amendment message to be extremely limited. In light of the limited weight of Craig's speech interest, the Court concluded that the school district's interest in preventing a likely disruption of their guidance counseling service outweighed Craig's limited speech interest and was sufficient to justify Craig's discharge. Craig's termination did not offend the First Amendment.
In arriving at its decision, the Court examined the unique relationship between a guidance counselor and students and found that the school district reasonably gauged how students' response would impact conditions at the school. For example, the Court under stood how easily female students could feel uncomfortable seeking advice from Craig given his professed inability to refrain from sexualizing females. In his book, Craig confesses a "weakness for cleavage" and another portion of a woman's anatomy and admits that these body parts served as distractions in his encounters with women. Knowing Craig's tendency to objectify women, the school district could reasonably anticipate that some female students would feel uncomfortable reaching out to Craig for advice. Indeed, there was a reasonable danger that some students would forego receiving the school's counseling services entirely rather than take the risk that Craig would not view them as a person but instead as an object. Accordingly, the Court deemed the school district's concerns as substantial grounds for terminating Craig's employment.
Here, the school district reasonably predicted that "It's Her Fault" would interfere with the learning environment. The Court respected the school district's concern that the book would be available to students. Parents and students had aired complaints to the administration and the book was available for purchase, without age restrictions, over the internet. Craig dedicated the boo k to his students who "consistently reach out" to him about relationships and encouraged those students to "keep listening and learning." The school's assessment of how Craig's students, particularly his female students, would respond upon reading or hearing about the "hypersexualized" content of his book loomed large in the Court's analysis.
The opinion stresses that a public school teacher holds a position that by its very nature requires a degree of public trust not found in many other positions of public employment. Particularly as a guidance counselor, Craig was required to maintain a safe place for his students in order to ensure they remain willing to come to him for advice. With the publication of his book, Craig betrayed the trust required of his job. The school district's interest in delivering appropriate educational services outweighed Craig's interests in providing advice about "adult" relationships. Therefore, the Court upheld the dismissal of his complaint, which invoked protection under the First Amendment.
Scariano, Himes and Petrarca partners Paulette A. Petretti and Darcee C. Williams defended the school district defendants against Craig's First Amendment claims in federal district court and on appeal. A copy of the opinion, which is rather colorful in its review of the book and the school district's decision, is available here.
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
A full-time employee under the Affordable Care Act is defined as an employee working 30 hours or more, not 35 hours as stated in a previous article. While the 30 hour standard has not changed, over the next year and a half the Obama Administration will explore ways to make the law more palatable to employers, which could include modifying the definition of full-time employee to include only those employees working 35 hours or more. In fact, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) recently proposed bipartisan legislation, titled the "Forty Hours is Full Time Act of 2013" (S. 1188), that would change the definition of full-time employee to 40 hours under the Act. We will monitor the progress of this bill.
During this time, further guidance will be forthcoming concerning the definition of "employee" under the Act. The Administration anticipates that the guidance on this issue, and many others, will help clarify employers' responsibilities and help employers implement the infrastructure necessary to comply with the law. It is important to note that any number of changes could occur between now and January 2015. The Firm will be monitoring the law's progress and will keep you abreast of any developments.
If you have any questions about this issue or any other related to the Affordable Care Act, we encourage you to contact an attorney at the Firm for clarification.


text:
New managing director for Barnwood Construction
By Andrew Merrell | 5th November 2019
A major county building firm behind many key projects which have changed the face of Gloucestershire has a new managing director.
Barnwood Construction has built the likes of the landmark Gloucestershire College Forest of Dean campus, large parts of Gloucester Quays redevelopment and Cheltenham's newest office building - the £12 million 64,000 sq ft of grade A office space that is Honeybourne Place.
A £100 million pound-plus business born and bred in the county and headquartered at Barnwood, Gloucester, the firm lost its long-standing former managing director, and one of the key architects of its success, with the death of Chris Gabb died earlier this year.
Simon Carey, managing director of Barnwood Construction, now passes the baton to the incoming Ben Ramsay and moves on to a new role as chief executive officer of the company.
Barnwood Group employs an estimated estimated 255 staff.
Mr Ramsay will already be known to many in the county as the former operations director for Kier Construction, which has its county base in Quedgeley.
In his previous role the 46-year-old led the team which built the acclaimed Princess Anne Stand at Cheltenham Racecourse. Before Kier he worked for Pearce Construction and Morgan Sindall.
"I am delighted to be joining Barnwood which is a great opportunity to support the company through its next stage of evolution. The group has a strong reputation and I have always admired the building work it has done," said Mr Ramsay.
"Every business is built on reputation and that's what really appeals to me about Barnwood. Its customers and employees are at the heart of everything it does, and my challenge is to build on and strengthen that even further.
"As I take over the leadership of Barnwood Construction's talented teams, I am committed to deliver it to the same, or even higher standards than before and look forward to broadening the portfolio of work undertaken by the company."
"The construction industry is demanding and competitive. Barnwood has always focused on its future and with Ben's experience added to our already strong board, we will continue to meet and exceed our client's expectations," said Mr Carey.
"When I joined Barnwood in 2004 we were predominantly an industrial building contractor. Over the last 15 years we have diversified considerably, and I am looking forward to working alongside Ben in leading the group's next stage of growth."
Barnwood Group, established 57 years ago, includes Barnwood Construction, Barnwood Shopfitting and Barnwood General Works (which undertakes specialist construction projects). Other landmark projects it has completed include the wealth management firm St James's Place new Cirencester headquarters.
Mr Ramsay will be spearheading new projects for the business, including the delivery of a £20 million contract with one of the UK's biggest business and science park developers, MEPC, to build 250,000 sq ft of high tech industrial units at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, and major project at Bishop's Cleeve in Cheltenham for Chancery Gate and Rivershill House, Cheltenham for Telereal Trillium.
Alongside his new role of Mr Carey will focus on Barnwood Shopfitting where its teams are working on retail and office interior fitout projects, including banks, building societies and gyms, alongside its regular work with well-known high street fashion brands such as H&M, Jigsaw and Anthropologie.
Read more: Contractor named for multi-million pound National Star expansion
Read more: Remembering Chris Gabb - the man who made Barnwood Shopfitting a national success story


Health Hydration Oasis is a relaxing boutique with clinical-grade health care.
Health Hydration Oasis is a relaxing boutique with clinical-grade health care. Back to the full article.
Health and wellness boutique, providing custom IV cocktail therapy to help heal and restore in the Milwaukee area.


text:
Mipblog
Mip Resources
TV Business
Brands & Content
Mip Events
MIPJunior
MIPDoc
MIPFormats
MIP Cancun
MIP China
You are at:Home»Liveblog: Keynote — Brian Robbins, AwesomenessTV
Liveblog: Keynote — Brian Robbins, AwesomenessTV
AwesomenessTV founder Brian Robbins's illustrious career started as mullet-sporting Eric Mardian in Head of the Class. But if you're an early-born millennial, you may know him best for his later projects: All That, One Tree Hill, or Kenan and Kel.
Then the internet happened, and the explosion of YouTube, transforming perfectly ordinary kids into stars, like Fred.
"When (Nickelodeon) asked me to talk to Fred", who was making waves with teens, "I thought my career was over," Robbins joked at the start of his anticipated Masterminds panel.
In the end, he became such a fan of Fred that he raised funds for the "Fred" film independently. "It's still one of the highest-rated movies in the history of Nickelodeon," Robbins beams. Three sequels were produced in the years that followed.
A lot's changed for him since then. In 2012 he launched AwesomenessTV, a YouTube-exclusive channel for kids and teens, purchased by Jeffrey Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation in May 2013.
"It was in my experience, watching how my kids consumed content, that I realised there was disruption brewing," Robbins reflects. "What used to take me years to develop and get on network TV now just takes two weeks. The whole window has collapsed for us."
AwesomenessTV launched with over 20 shows — an amount that peers considered risky. But Robbins sensed it was the right choice: "We — as adults — like to eat meals. Kids? They snack a lot."
Especially with content they love. "Deliver what they want, when they want, and constantly refresh it."
The success of AwesomenessTV is a testament to his being right: today it boasts 1 million subscribers and 200m video views. Half of the latter are from outside the US; half is mostly mobile — an opportunity Robbins has no intention of losing.
"We're gonna live everywhere. YouTube is just the beginning," he says. Right now, his team's working on a mobile app and PlayStation access.
"If you want to reach and engage kids, you have to go where they are," Robbins stresses. "Of all the entertainment channels on YouTube, we have the highest engagement for kids and teens."
And the content isn't necessarily different from what network producers know. One AwesomenessTV show, Side Effects, was made for YouTube, but "looks like it could be on TV," said Robbins.
Neither should we be surprised. "What's happening online today is similar to what happened on TV 25 years ago. Just as brands like MTV changed TV, new brands like AwesomenessTV will change the 'net."
It's simply a question of being super-targeted and knowing your audience. "For us it's kids and teens … we know who our viewers are and what they're telling us."
And what are they telling us?
"When you speak to kids, the No. 1 thing they want to be is famous," Robbins reveals. "They don't even know for what. They just want to be famous. That's what's beautiful about YouTube," and the reason why he decided to launch a multi-channel network: "for the kids who'd be the YouTube stars of tomorrow."
Providing that chance is crucial as the lines of consumption and participation blur. The recipe for AwesomenessTV's success can be distilled thus: "We are strictly one demo. We are 25m teens. They don't care about CPMs… all we promised them was the chance to participate. And they came in droves."
Luckily, the cost of failure is much lower on YouTube than on TV. "My Nickelodeon colleagues will produce two pilots [to ensure success]," said Robbins. "Now we can produce multiple pilots a day."
Not to say this is a kiss of death for broadcasters. "People are watching more TV than ever before," Robbins reassures. "We're just filling periods of time that kids have… when they're waiting at the dentist" — with help from their mobile devices, of course. "We live in a world where people are impatient."
But it is clear that broadcast moguls sense the opportunity. "9 months into the process, AwesomenessTV was bought out by Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks Animation," Robbins reminds us. "That should tell you a lot about where the space is headed."
Has the acquisition changed the way Robbins works? Has, for example, Katzenberg asked Robbins to make a film, an audience member asked. "No, he wants me to stay in my lane, and stay out of his business," said Robbins.
panels_data: a:0:{}
WebToLead
TV Trends in your inbox
Tick here to receive our Industry Trends Newsletter with monthly exclusive content on the music ecosystem.
I accept to:
Receive commercial offers from Reed MIDEM via email
Receive commercial offers from Reed Elsevier Group via email
Hidden sources
Lead Source --None--Web to Lead
Company Lead Source:
Rating Hot
Lead Status Unqualified
Record Type RM Unqualified Lead
In accordance with Article "Privacy and Data Policy" of the Rules and the Organiser's Privacy Policy, this data is processed by Reed MIDEM, for the purposes of (i) carrying out its contractual obligations: fulfilling request for information or content, registration, Online Database, or for (ii) newsletter, promotional communication or promotional analysis. Such data is stored for a maximum duration of 3 years or 10 years if your personal data are used in the framework of a contract with Reed MIDEM. You may exercise your right to access, obtain, correct and oppose the use of your personal data by writing to: privacy center. In case, unsatisfied answer to your request, you may rise a complain before the French National Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertés or CNIL) www.cnil.fr.
**This offer applies to non-retailers. Retailers who register early will benefit from an additional dedicated offer.
Thank you for signing up to receive the latest TV Trends. Keep an eye on your inbox!
MIP Markets on Twitter
Tweets by @mip
Discover MIP


Social media – Is it harming your well being?
If there is one thing that I have noticed with all the social media out there, is when I walk away from it on a personal level there is a quietness I feel. That quiet both feels challenging, liberating, and also extremely lonely. Let's learn how to get rid of the lonely part, and embrace the realness of human contact and why the coldness of electronic contact is hurting our mental state.
" Social media use for a minority of individuals is associated with a number of psychological problems, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and addiction. Because social media is most frequently accessed via smartphones, their usage is intimately intertwined and their mobile nature contributes to excessive checking habits, which often derives from what is commonly labelled as the 'fear of missing out' (FOMO).
The fact is that social media is negatively affecting our relationships with others and keeping us from growing lasting relationships that are tangible.
Most of us use smartphones to access our social media. The draw is there ALL the time to constantly hit those Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram buttons. Remove the temptations or at the very least turn off the notifications as a first step.
Hold yourself accountable for sticking to your rules by giving yourself a reward for sticking to it! Maybe you treat yourself to a favorite meal out with a friend, or a little shopping. Reward systems don't have to just be in place for kids, they can be for you too!
This goes hand in hand with accountability, especially if you're unwilling to delete your apps. Use a time tracker to see how much time you're REALLY spending on your social media apps. You will be shocked at the hours you have lost.
Look, technology is not all bad, and it HAS had many positive impacts on our lives. I know that I use it heavily for promotion of my business. But when we are using it for validation, seeking out compliments or attention, trying to change our appearance to look good on social media, bragging…..that is when you should know you have a problem. Start creating some tangible relationships, and you will be surprised that you will feel LESS lonely that you did spending so much time online.