Associations Between Sexting Behaviors and Sexual Behaviors Among Mobile Phone-Owning Teens in Los Angeles.

The implications of teen sexting for healthy development continue to concern parents, academics, and the general public. Using a probability sample of high school students (N = 1,208) aged 12-18, the prevalence of sexting, associations with sexting, and associations between sexing and sexual activity were assessed. Seventeen percent both sent and received sexts, and 24% only received sexts. Sending and receiving sexts were positively associated with each other and both behaviors were associated with having peers who sext. Lifetime reports of sexual intercourse, anal sex, oral sex, and recent unprotected sex were positively associated with reports of texting 300 or more times per day, only receiving sexts, and both sending and receiving sexts.

Risk for referral to the child welfare system following parental relationship transitions in Norway.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of knowledge concerning how changes in family structures are associated with involvement in child welfare systems. Particularly little attention has been paid to the role of parental relationship transitions, which may involve major changes in the lives of children and parents in terms of housing, finances, and relationship boundaries between family members. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how transitions in parental relationship status are linked to referrals to the child welfare system. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: All children born in Norway in 1995 (N = 60,218) and 2005 (N = 56,644) and their parents. METHODS: This retrospective birth cohort study consisted of child welfare statistics merged with various registers from Statistics Norway. Logistic panel-data models were used to examine the relationship between the occurrence of a parental relationship transition and referral to the child welfare system. Four types of relationship transitions were analyzed: (1) couple to a single mother, (2) couple to a single father, (3) single mother to a couple, and (4) single father to a couple. RESULTS: The occurrence of any type of relationship transition increased the likelihood of referral to the child welfare system in the year that the transition occurred, with the transitions to single motherhood, to single fatherhood, and from single fatherhood to a couple associated with greater odds of referral than the transition from single motherhood to a couple. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding how parental relationship transitions are associated with referrals to the child welfare system is important to appropriately facilitate help to families in need.

Combined targeting of pathways regulating synaptic formation and autophagy attenuates Alzheimer's disease pathology in mice.

All drug trials completed to date have fallen short of meeting the clinical endpoint of significantly slowing cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. In this study, we repurposed two FDA-approved drugs, Fasudil and Lonafarnib, targeting synaptic formation (i.e., Wnt signaling) and cellular clearance (i.e., autophagic) pathways respectively, to test their therapeutic potential for attenuating AD-related pathology. We characterized our 3xTg AD mouse colony to select timepoints for separate and combinatorial treatment of both drugs while collecting cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using an optimized microdialysis method. We found that treatment with Fasudil reduced Aß at early and later stages of AD, whereas administration of Lonafarnib had no effect on Aß, but did reduce tau, at early stages of the disease. Induction of autophagy led to increased size of amyloid plaques when administered at late phases of the disease. We show that combinatorial treatment with both drugs was effective at reducing intraneuronal Aß and led to improved cognitive performance in mice. These findings lend support to regulating Wnt and autophagic pathways in order to attenuate AD-related pathology.

In Vivo Microdialysis in Mice Captures Changes in Alzheimer's Disease Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers Consistent with Developing Pathology.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) can provide valuable insights into the onset and progression of the disease, such as changes in concentrations of amyloid-ß (Aß) and tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, such models are currently underutilized due to limited advancement in techniques that allow for longitudinal CSF monitoring. OBJECTIVE: An elegant way to understand the biochemical environment in the diseased brain is intracerebral microdialysis, a method that has until now been limited to short-term observations, or snapshots, of the brain microenvironment. Here we draw upon patient-based findings to characterize CSF biomarkers in a commonly used preclinical mouse model for AD. METHODS: Our modified push-pull microdialysis method was first validated ex vivo with human CSF samples, and then in vivo in an AD mouse model, permitting assessment of dynamic changes of CSF Aß and tau and allowing for better translational understanding of CSF biomarkers. RESULTS: We demonstrate that CSF biomarker changes in preclinical models capture what is observed in the brain; with a decrease in CSF Aß observed when plaques are deposited, and an increase in CSF tau once tau pathology is present in the brain parenchyma. We found that a high molecular weight cut-off membrane allowed for simultaneous sampling of Aß and tau, comparable to CSF collection by lumbar puncture in patients. CONCLUSION: Our approach can further advance AD and other neurodegenerative research by following evolving neuropathology along the disease cascade via consecutive sampling from the same animal and can additionally be used to administer pharmaceutical compounds and assess their efficacy.