The Trends and Experiences of Sexual and Reproductive Health among Late Female Adolescents in Bangladesh

Adolescence period is a very important transitional stage of human develoment as in this period a human being undergoes some major physical, emotional and social changes. Bangladesh has an adolescent population consisting one fifth of the total population. Among them almost half of them are girls. Among the adolescent girls who belong to the late adolescent age group are in the most exposed and disadvantaged situation in the context of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) of Bangladesh. Therefore, the aim of this article is to concentrate on the SRH of adlescents girls (15-19 years) with an aim to reveal the trends and experieces of SRH among this group and some major challenges so that female adolescent SRH issues can receive proper attention in the policy making level.

Methylmercury plus Ethanol Exposure: How Much Does This Combination Affect Emotionality?

Mercury is a heavy metal found in organic and inorganic forms that represents an important toxicant with impact on human health. Mercury can be released in the environment by natural phenoms (i.e., volcanic eruptions), industrial products, waste, or anthropogenic actions (i.e., mining activity). Evidence has pointed to mercury exposure inducing neurological damages related to emotional disturbance, such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia. The mechanisms that underlie these emotional disorders remain poorly understood, although an important role of glutamatergic pathways, alterations in HPA axis, and disturbance in activity of monoamines have been suggested. Ethanol (EtOH) is a psychoactive substance consumed worldwide that induces emotional alterations that have been strongly investigated, and shares common pathophysiological mechanisms with mercury. Concomitant mercury and EtOH intoxication occur in several regions of the world, specially by communities that consume seafood and fish as the principal product of nutrition (i.e., Amazon region). Such affront appears to be more deleterious in critical periods of life, such as the prenatal and adolescence period. Thus, this review aimed to discuss the cellular and behavioral changes displayed by the mercury plus EtOH exposure during adolescence, focused on emotional disorders, to answer the question of whether mercury plus EtOH exposure intensifies depression, anxiety, and insomnia observed by the toxicants in isolation.

Sekizinci Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Soru Çözerken Yaptıkları Yanlışların Analizi

Studying for the High School Entrance Examination is one of the critical periods in students' lives. In this period, which coincides with the adolescence period, students are preparing for an exam that will affect their future lives. The students who solve many questions from Mathematics, Science, Turkish, History of Revolution and Kemalism, English and Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses naturally make mistakes. Determining the reasons of these mistakes provides an opportunity for students to learn from their mistakes. The aim of this study is to analyze what kind of mistakes the eighth grade students make in their problem solving works. In this context, a total of 257210 questions solved by 10 students preparing for LGS in 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 in all branches and 10705 mistakes were analyzed. Reasons of making mistakes were classified as lack of attention, lack of subject matter knowledge, process/method mistakes, and comprehension mistakes. Consequently, it was found that students mostly make mistakes in Mathematics, Science, Turkish and Religious Culture courses because they could not understand the questions. The most common reason of making mistakes in History of Revolution and Kemalism is lack of subject matter knowledve and lack of vocabulary in English. According the to the findings suggestions were developed for students and future researches. Keywords: Studying for LGS, Reason of istakes, learning from mistakes

Problems of maintaining high motivation of students to have Physical Education lessons at the stage of transition from primary general secondary school to basic general secondary school

The beginning of the adolescence period is characterized by restructuring of the motivational sphere of the personality and changes in the social situation in education. During this difficult period, Physical Education lessons for adolescents often turn into a routine, motivation for them ceases to develop. The authors presented the results of the study of the fifth graders’ motivation to have Physical Education lessons, developed the tasks of forming motivation when moving from the first stage of study to the second one according to the gender principle, since gender determines both the pace of psychological development of schoolchildren and the orientation of motivation, which also develops under the influence of interests actively formed in this period. The authors showed that schoolchildren come to the basic general secondary school with a moderately positive force of motivation. Boys are at the emotional stage in the development of motivation, they have identified prerequisites for the formation of the constructive-active and spiritual-creative orientation of motivation. The motivational sphere of girls is characterized by the socio-emotional orientation, is in the state of restructuring, has some shortage of relevant motives, what makes some threat to polymotivation in the future, is defined by integration of knowledge, activity, socio-personal and personal motives in the significant zone. Common tasks in increasing motivation will be the formation of an idea of health and ways to preserve it, the formation of ideas of personal self-improvement, means of physical education for personal development. For boys, the current tasks will be the formation of the spiritual and creative orientation, carried out on the basis of revealing the links between theoretical ideas about health and practical development and implementation of individual health programs for a healthy lifestyle. For girls, expanding the field of relevant motives by transferring the motivational orientation from emotionally effective to socially effective or personality-effective on the basis of the differentiation of significant motives, training in socially prestigious ways of achieving recognition in a socially significant group through various types of health activities, focusing on individual psychological, morphofunctional and motor abilities. The authors proposed pedagogical means for solving these problems.

Journey from Trauma to Transcendence Through Art Therapy: The Study of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak

The aim of this research paper is to analyze the novel of American writer, Laurie Halse Anderson, entitled Speak, through the lens of art therapy to highlight that the journey from trauma to transcendence is possible through the therapeutic medium of art. This study examines all the traumatic encounters which the protagonist of Speak, Melinda Sordino, must face in her adolescence period and her constant struggle to cope with those experiences. The research substantiates that Anderson's novel frames speech and recovery from depression and traumatic stress possible through the artistic renderings. The theoretical framework of this paper is encapsulated in Shaun McNiff’s theory of art as medicine. The scopes of existing studies of Laurie Anderson’s Speak are limited to the exploration of the impact of traumatic encounters on the psychological and social growth of the young adult but this has not been clarified that how the protagonist overpowers the weaknesses and frailties of her mind through the healing properties of art. The decipherment of the element of art therapy in Speak fills the gap in research on trauma recovery through expressive art in Young Adult literature. Thus, the findings generated from this study might help future researchers in exploring various dimensions of Young Adult Literature to study the implications of trauma recovery through creative art therapy.

Comparison of Self-Differentiation and Identity Statuses in Twins and Nontwins

Formation of identity and differentiation is crucial in the development process of adolescents and young people. Despite many studies on identity status and self-differentiation in adolescence and early adulthood stages, this issue has been less examined among twins. This study was conducted to compare self-differentiation and identity statuses in twins and nontwins. The sample of the study consisted of 128 identical twins, 176 nonidentical twins and 170 nontwins aged from 13 to 30 years and living in Mashhad in Iran, who completed the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status and Self-Differentiation questionnaires. The results showed that the self-differentiation of identical and nonidentical twins was significantly higher than nontwins. The results also showed that level of Foreclosure identity, Moratorium identity and Achieved identity was similar among identical twins, nonidentical twins and nontwins, but significantly different in terms of Diffusion identity. Further, the results showed that twins younger than 18 years had scores higher than nontwins and twins over 18 years in terms of Diffusion identity. Findings revealed that females were significantly lower than males for Moratorium identity. The adolescence period and co-twins may be the reason for the high levels of Diffusion identity and self-differentiation. Also, it seems that identity development and differentiation are related to emotional and cognitive development.

Relationship of Overweight and Obesity with Body Self-Image Dissatisfaction in Urban Mediterranean Adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyze whether weight status has a relationship with the prevalence of body self-image dissatisfaction in Mediterranean urban teenagers. A series of 809 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years underwent anthropometric measurements according to ISAK protocols and completed the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). The overall overweight prevalence according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria was 11.5%, and 2.7% for obesity. Girls showed higher overweight prevalence than boys (18.4% vs. 12.9%; p < 0.05). At the late adolescence period (16–17 y), obesity was observed in the boys but not in the girls (8.7% vs. 0%; p < 0.01). There was a relative low prevalence of body image (BI) dissatisfaction among participants (boys 17.3%; girls 22.7%). In the late adolescence period, the girls were more often classified as being dissatisfied (31%). A weak correlation between the BSQ scores and all the anthropometric variables related to the adiposity profile was detected only in the boys. A logistic regression confirmed that female adolescents and the late pubertal period had a significant association with body dissatisfaction, regardless of their weight status. As BI are not related to weight status measured by body mass index (BMI) percentiles, other factors beyond anthropometry deserve further research to explain BI concerns specifically in girls.

Adult Male Rats Show Resilience to Adolescent Bisphenol A Effects on Hormonal and Behavioral Responses While Co-Exposure With Hop Extracts Supports Synergistic Actions

The adolescence period, marked by sexual and brain maturation, has shown sensitivity to various environmental disruptors. Exposure to the xenoestrogen bisphenol A (BPA) is known to alter physiological and behavioral responses although its role at this critical period remains largely unknown. Recent research further suggests biochemical and genomic effects of BPA to be mitigated by various natural compounds, while effects on behavior have not been examined. This study aimed to characterize (1) the effects of dietary BPA during adolescence on endogenous corticosterone (CORT) secretion, emotional behavior, and testosterone (T) in adulthood, and (2) the impact of combined exposure to BPA with hop extracts (Hop), a phytoestrogen with anxiolytic properties. To do so, four groups of male Wistar rats [postnatal day (PND) 28] were administered corn oil (control), BPA (40 mg/kg), hops (40 mg/kg), or BPA-hops by oral gavage for 21 days (PND 28–48). Blood droplets collected on PND 28, 48, and 71 served to measure CORT and T changes. As adults, rats were tested in the elevated plus maze (EPM), the social interaction test, and the forced swim test. Our findings demonstrated elevated anxiety and a trend toward depressive-like behaviors in BPA- compared to hops-exposed rats. However, BPA intake had no impact on basal CORT levels, or adulthood T secretion and sociability. Of note, BPA's anxiogenic effect manifested through decreased EPM open arm entries was abolished by hops co-supplementation. Together, our observations suggest the adolescence period to be less sensitive to deleterious effects of BPA than what has been reported upon gestational and perinatal exposure.

Dental Trauma Management in a Young Teenager through Endodontics and Implantology: A Case Report

Endodontic treatment is often the first-line procedure to manage the immediate or long-term aftermath of dental trauma, particularly in cases of luxation or avulsion. Failure to manage trauma in the short or medium term leads to significant functional or aesthetic consequences, especially in the adolescence period. Under this specific conditions, endodontic treatment could provide a temporary solution by keeping teeth with poor prognosis on the arch while waiting for better anatomical conditions for implantology. This clinical case aimed to describe the management of a maxilla-facial dental trauma and the following consequences in a 10-year-old male patient. Clinical and radiological examination showed complete extrusive luxation of 11 and 21 and intrusive luxation of 12 and 22. Endodontic treatment of 11 and 21 was performed six months after the trauma. Two years later, the patient was referred to the endodontic department because pink spot lesions appeared on 12 and 22 due to cervical invasive resorptions (class III for 12 and class II for 22). Endodontic treatment of 12 and filling with resin composite of 22 were performed. During the following two years, complication management finally led to placement of four OBI® (Euroteknika, Sallanches, France)-type mini-implants after avulsion of all four maxillary incisors. Palliative endodontic treatment helped maintain the prosthetic space and the volume of supporting tissue needed for future implant placement. The interest of using delaying procedures (palliative endodontic treatments and mini-implants) was to allow the patient to complete growth. Managing early treatment failure of trauma in adolescents has to be pluridisciplinary and should take into account the evaluation of the treatment’s difficulty, the prognosis of the endodontic treatment, the available bone volume and the pubertal growth stage.

Cannabidiol attenuates cognitive deficits and neuroinflammation induced by early alcohol exposure in a mice model.

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the umbrella term used to describe the physical and mental disabilities induced by alcohol exposure during development. Early alcohol exposure induces cognitive impairments resulting from damage to the central nervous system (CNS). The neuroinflammatory response accompanied by neurodegenerative mechanisms contribute to those detrimental alterations. Cannabidiol (CBD) has recently emerged as an anti-inflammatory drug that might be useful to treat several neuropsychiatric disorders. In our study, we assessed the effects of CBD on long-lasting cognitive deficits induced by early alcohol exposure. Furthermore, we analysed long-term pro-inflammatory and apoptotic markers within the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. To model alcohol binge drinking during gestational and lactation periods, we used pregnant C57BL/6 female mice with time-limited access to 20% v/v alcohol solution. Following the prenatal and lactation alcohol exposure (PLAE), we treated the male and female offspring with CBD from post-natal day (PD) 25 until PD34, and we evaluated their cognitive performance at PD60. Our results showed that CBD treatment during peri-adolescence period ameliorates cognitive deficits observed in our FASD-like mouse model, without sex differences. Moreover, CBD restores the PLAE-induced increased levels of TNFα and IL-6 in the hippocampus. Thus, our study provides new insights for CBD as a therapeutic agent to counteract cognitive impairments and neuroinflammation caused by early alcohol exposure.