Exploring the potentially positive interaction between social media and mental health; the perspectives of adolescents.

Adolescents are spending significant time online. Consequently, concerns are consistently raised about potential negative impacts on their mental health. Potentially, these concerns minimise their autonomy and reify the construction of the vulnerable adolescent. Using template analysis, we explored adolescents' perspectives (N = 54) of the relationship between social media and mental health. We centrally considered the wide array of uses made of different social media by the participants, focusing on their understandings of the potentially positive effects these might have. Focus group discussions showed social media could be used to reduce stress, have value for social connectivity, were an important source of information about mental health, and provided a platform for peer-to-peer support. Our conclusion indicated adolescents are generally socially competent online and are often experimenting with their emergent sense of agency.

ATP and related purines stimulate motility, spatial congregation, and coalescence in red algal spores.

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is a versatile extracellular signal along the tree of life, whereas cAMP plays a major role in vertebrates as an intracellular messenger for hormones, transmitters, tastants, and odorants. Since red algal spore coalescence may be considered analogous to the congregation process of social amoeba, which is stimulated by cAMP, we ascertained whether exogenous applications of ATP, cAMP, adenine, or adenosine modified spore survival and motility, spore settlement and coalescence. Concentration-response studies were performed with carpospores of Mazzaella laminarioides (Gigartinales), incubated with and without added purines. Stirring of algal blades released ADP/ATP to the cell media in a time-dependent manner. 10-300 µM ATP significantly increased spore survival; however, 1,500 µM ATP, cAMP or adenine induced 100% mortality within less than 24 h; the exception was adenosine, which up to 3,000 µM, did not alter spore survival. ATP exposure elicited spore movement with speeds of 2.2-2.5 µm · s(-1) . 14 d after 1,000 µM ATP addition, spore abundance in the central zone of the plaques was increased 2.7-fold as compared with parallel controls. Likewise, 1-10 µM cAMP or 30-100 µM adenine also increased central zone spore abundance, albeit these purines were less efficacious than ATP; adenosine up to 3,000 µM did not influence settlement. Moreover, 1,000 µM ATP markedly accelerated coalescence, the other purines caused a variable effect. We conclude that exogenous cAMP, adenine, but particularly ATP, markedly influence red algal spore physiology; effects are compatible with the expression of one or more membrane purinoceptor(s), discarding adenosine receptor participation.

The release of sympathetic neurotransmitters is impaired in aged rats after an inflammatory stimulus: a possible link between cytokine production and sympathetic transmission.

Aging results in a general decline in the response to external insults, including acute inflammatory challenges. In young animals, the inflammatory response requires activation of the sympathetic system, including neurotransmitters such as ATP, and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). To test whether aging affects activation of this axis, and whether this in turn might affect cytokine release, we administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) i.p. to adult, middle-aged and aged Fisher 344 rats (6-, 15- and 23-month old, respectively) and evaluated the early (0-12h) serum levels of Neuropeptide-Y (NP-Y), ATP and vanillyl mandelic acid (VMA, as an indirect measurement of catecholamine levels). In addition, we evaluated the association between these factors and serum levels of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Induction of both ATP and NP-Y was markedly reduced in the serum of aged animals, when compared to their younger counterparts, while induction of VMA was not affected by age. In spite of these changes, serum levels of TNFalpha and IL-10 were strongly hyper induced and delayed in aged rats. The results suggest that during aging there is a dysregulation in sympathetic neurotransmitter regulatory mechanisms, and this might play a role in the impairment of the inflammatory response.

Efectividad del tratamiento local de las heridas por quemaduras en niños hospitalizados / Effectiveness of local treatment of burns in hospitalized children

El presente estudio pertenece al Area de Enfermería Quirúrgica infantil, siendo de tipo descriptivo, analítico y retrospectivo. Pretende mostrar los resultados obtenidos con el uso de tratamiento tópico en la herida por quemadura de los niños hospitalizados. La herida por quemadura constituye un importante porcentaje de las muertes por accidentes y violencia, y es de suma importancia el manejo adecuado de ellas por las secuelas que genera, tanto en lo físico como en lo psicológico. La población estudiada está constituida por los niños hospitalizados en la Unidad de quemados del Servicio de Cirugía del Hospital Roberto del Río, durante el año 1996; cuya unidad de análisis fueron las fichas clínicas, escogiéndo al azar un total de 52 fichas. Para obtener la información deseada se diseñó y aplicó un instrumento de recolección de datos, los cuales fueron analizados con el Software EPI INFO 6.0. utilizándose para la gratificación Work 4.0 y Word 6.0. Este estudio permite describir el perfil del niño atendido en el mencionado servicio; el cual corresponde a un niño de entre 1 a 5 años de edad, que se quema mayoritariamente con líquidos calientes, dentro del hogar y específicamente en la cocina, producto de sus propias acciones al volcar dichos líquidos sobre él. Sufre quemaduras de mediana gravedad, según el índice de Gravedad de Garcés. Recibe como tratamiento casero agua fría y como tratamiento tópico hospitalario preferentemente Sulfadiazina de plata asociada al uso de balneoterapia. Las heridas originadas presentan una extensión que abarca entre el 0,1 a 3 por ciento; pero que por su profundidad, localización y agente causal (cuando es electricidad) requirió de su hospitalización. Injertándose en un 46 por ciento de los casos, con cicatrices principalmente normales...