"People think it's a harmless joke": young people's understanding of the impact of technology, digital vulnerability, and cyber bullying in the United Kingdom

Young people's technology use has increased exponentially over the last few years. To gain a deeper understanding of young peoples’ experiences of digital technology and cyber bullying, 4 focus groups were conducted with 29 11- to 15-year-olds recruited from 2 schools. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed three themes: Impact of technology, vulnerability, and cyber bullying. Technology was seen as a facilitator and a mechanism for maintaining social interactions. However, participants reported experiencing a conflict between the need to be sociable and the desire to maintain privacy. Cyber bullying was regarded as the actions of an anonymous coward who sought to disrupt social networks and acts should be distinguished from banter

Developing the cyber victimisation experiences and cyber bullying behaviours scales

The reported prevalence rates of cyber victimisation experiences and cyber bullying behaviours vary. Part of this variation is likely due to the diverse definitions and operationalisations of the constructs adopted in previous research and the lack of psychometrically robust measures. Through two studies, the current research developed (Study 1) and evaluated (Study 2) the cyber victimisation experiences and cyber bullying behaviours scales. In Study 1 393 (122 male, 171 female), and in Study 2 345 (153 male and 192 female), 11- to 15-year-olds completed measures of cyber victimisation experiences, cyber bullying behaviours, face-to-face victimisation experiences, face-to-face bullying behaviours, and social desirability. The three factor cyber victimisation experiences scale comprised: threat, shared images, and personal attack. The three factor cyber bullying behaviours scale comprised: sharing images, gossip, and personal attack. Both scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and convergent validity

MicroRNA-433 Dampens Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling, Impacting Circadian Rhythm and Osteoblastic Gene Expression

FUNDING This work was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health [AR44877]; the National Institutes for Dental and Craniofacial Research [5T90DE21989]; a Grant-in-Aid award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research; the UConn Health Center Research Advisory council; and the Center for Molecular Medicine at UConn Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Polyploid superficial cells that maintain the urothelial barrier are produced via incomplete cytokinesis and endoreplication

Summary: The urothelium is an epithelia barrier lined by a luminal layer of binucleated, octoploid, superficial cells. Superficial cells are critical for production and transport of uroplakins, a family of proteins that assemble into a waterproof crystalline plaque that helps protect against infection and toxic substances. Adult urothelium is nearly quiescent, but rapidly regenerates in response to injury. Yet the mechanism by which binucleated, polyploid, superficial cells are produced remains unclear. Here, we show that superficial cells are likely to be derived from a population of binucleated intermediate cells, which are produced from mononucleated intermediate cells via incomplete cytokinesis. We show that binucleated intermediate and superficial cells increase DNA content via endoreplication, passing through S phase without entering mitosis. The urothelium can be permanently damaged by repetitive or chronic injury or disease. Identification of the mechanism by which superficial cells are produced may be important for developing strategies for urothelial repair. : Binucleated superficial cells are critical for urothelial barrier function. Wang et al. show that they derive from binucleated intermediate cells that form via incomplete cytokinesis. Both superficial and intermediate cells increase ploidy via endoreplication, a feature likely to be important for repair and response to environmental changes. Keywords: endoreplication, urothelium, polyploidy, epithelial barrier, regeneratio

Examining the roles young people fulfil in five types of cyber bullying

The roles that young people fulfil in face-to-face bullying have been well documented and there is some evidence that young people take on similar roles in cyber bullying. A person centred analytical approach was adopted to identify the roles that young people fulfil across five different types of cyber bullying assessed for up to nine media. Four hundred and forty (281 female and 154 male) 16- to 19-year-olds completed measures to assess their involvement in various types of cyber bullying and across the various media. Cluster analysis identified four distinct groups: "not involved", "rarely victim and bully", "typically victim", and "retaliator". Two thirds of the sample reported some involvement in cyber bullying. Distinct patterns emerged for each group according to the type of cyber bullying. The lack of a clear bully group and the presence of the retaliator group strengthens the growing evidence base that young people may cyber bully others as a mechanism of retaliation when they are the victim of cyber bullying