Are prenatal psychological or physical stressors associated with suboptimal outcomes in neonates born to adolescent mothers?

Examined whether prenatal psychological stress and/or physical stress were associated with suboptimal neonatal outcomes in a pilot study of adolescent mothers (n=20). The results provide preliminary support for associations between prenatal psychological stress and little evidence for the association between prenatal physical stress and suboptimal neonatal outcomes.

Affective empathy deficits in aggressive children and adolescents: a critical review.

Aggressive children and adolescents are often hypothesized to have lower levels of empathy than comparable nonaggressive peers. A review of 17 studies examining the relationship between affective empathy and aggressive or delinquent behavior was conducted to determine the validity of this hypothesis. The studies offered conflicting findings, even when the measures of empathy were identical across studies.

Human Alu element retrotransposition induced by genotoxic stress.

Alu elements are found exclusively in primate species and comprise over 10% of the human genome. To better define the mechanisms responsible for Alu replication, we introduced a human Alu element into mouse cells. We report that Alu retrotransposition can be induced in mouse cells by exposure to the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide and is mediated in trans by endogenous mouse long interspersed elements (LINEs).