Awareness of HIV Transmission Risks and Determinants of Sexual Behaviour: Descriptive and Multivariate Analyses among German Nursing Students.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Nursing students play a crucial role in sexual health education. Evidence suggests, however, that nursing students had several gaps in their knowledge of HIV transmission. This study investigates how nursing students in Germany assess the potential risks of spreading HIV in defined situations and which factors influence the self-expressed sexual behaviour patterns of these students. METHODS: A standardized anonymous questionnaire was administered to a sample (N=617) of nursing students in 2008 and 2013. The survey was conducted during lessons, resulting in a response rate of 100%. RESULTS: For 17.4% of the students, assistance with personal hygiene was associated with higher HIV transmission risk. Also, changing dirty linen (17.6%) and physical examination (14.1%) were also noted similarly risky. The average age of first sexual intercourse was 15.5 years and the number of lifetime sexual partners was 4.3. The higher the average number of lifetime sexual partners, the higher the likelihood to use condoms only sometimes or never (OR 1.11). Forty students reported an unintended pregnancy. The likelihood to be unintentionally pregnant was six times higher among students aged 25 years or older (OR 6.16). CONCLUSIONS: The results clearly show that students overestimated HIV transmission risks in most of the situations encountered during health services provided by nurses, but overall sexual health behaviour indicated rather less risky behaviour. Nonetheless, the relatively high rate of unintended pregnancies is quite concerning. The findings underline the need for stronger integration of HIV and sexual education in the curricula of nursing schools in Germany.

Vaccination coverage among students from a German health care college.

Health care students are at risk of acquiring and transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess their vaccination status and the influence of determining factors on their vaccination status. Unsatisfactory vaccination rates (43.8%-94.1%) and significant effects regarding age, sex, and socioeconomic status were found; therefore, there is an increased need for education and motivation for vaccinations in student training.

Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFATc4) is required for BDNF-dependent survival of adult-born neurons and spatial memory formation in the hippocampus.

New neurons generated in the adult dentate gyrus are constantly integrated into the hippocampal circuitry and activated during encoding and recall of new memories. Despite identification of extracellular signals that regulate survival and integration of adult-born neurons such as neurotrophins and neurotransmitters, the nature of the intracellular modulators required to transduce those signals remains elusive. Here, we provide evidence of the expression and transcriptional activity of nuclear factor of activated T cell c4 (NFATc4) in hippocampal progenitor cells. We show that NFATc4 calcineurin-dependent activity is required selectively for survival of adult-born neurons in response to BDNF signaling. Indeed, cyclosporin A injection and stereotaxic delivery of the BDNF scavenger TrkB-Fc in the mouse dentate gyrus reduce the survival of hippocampal adult-born neurons in wild-type but not in NFATc4(-/-) mice and do not affect the net rate of neural precursor proliferation and their fate commitment. Furthermore, associated with the reduced survival of adult-born neurons, the absence of NFATc4 leads to selective defects in LTP and in the encoding of hippocampal-dependent spatial memories. Thus, our data demonstrate that NFATc4 is essential in the regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and identify NFATc4 as a central player of BDNF-driven prosurvival signaling in hippocampal adult-born neurons.