Altered dendritic spine plasticity in cocaine-withdrawn rats

金沢大学附属病院神経科精神科Chronic cocaine treatment is associated with changes in dendritic spines in the nucleus accumbens, but it is unknown whether this neuroplasticity alters the effect of a subsequent cocaine injection on spine morphology and protein content. Three weeks after daily cocaine or saline administration, neurons in the accumbens were filled with the lipophilic dye, DiI. Although daily cocaine pretreatment did not alter spine density compared with daily saline, there was a shift from smaller to larger diameter spines. During the first 2 h after an acute cocaine challenge, a bidirectional change in spine head diameter and increase in spine density was measured in daily cocainepretreated animals. In contrast, no change in spine diameter or density was elicited by a cocaine challenge in daily saline animals during the first 2 h after injection. However, spine density was elevated at 6 h after a cocaine challenge in daily saline-pretreated animals. The time-dependent profile of proteins in the postsynaptic density subfraction elicited by a cocaine challenge in daily cocaine-pretreated subjects indicated that the changes in spine diameter and density were associated with a deteriorating actin cytoskeleton and a reduction in glutamate signaling-related proteins. Correspondingly, the amplitude of field potentials in accumbens evoked by stimulating prefrontal cortex was reduced for up to 6 h after acute cocaine in daily cocaine-withdrawn animals. These data indicate that daily cocaine pretreatment dysregulates dendritic spine plasticity elicited by a subsequent cocaine injection. Copyright © 2009 Society for Neuro science

Prized Pieces of Land: The Impact of Reconstruction on African-American Land Ownership in Lower Richland County, South Carolina

This report is divided into five sections. The first section assesses the promise of Reconstruction for black South Carolinians in the years after the Civil War, and it situates thiscase study of the South Carolina Land Commission within that historical context. The second section examines in turn the seven tracts of land sold by the Land Commission in LowerRichland County. The research indicates that in two of the tracts, Hickory Hill and Hopkins, African-American families were able to purchase and retain significant acreage for well over acentury. Section three offers some concluding observations, as it presents a set of recommendations for preserving the extant properties of Lower Richland County associated withthe Land Commission sales and for interpreting this history to public audiences through museum exhibits and educational programming. The primary and secondary sources consulted in this study are listed in section four as a guide to further reading.https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/pubhist_books/1002/thumbnail.jp

Casualty of Progress : The Ward One Community and Urban Renewal, Columbia, South Carolina, 1964-1974

Casualty of Progress will examine the role of the City of Columbia, the Columbia Housing Authority, and the University of South Carolina played in the Urban Renewal Projects in Columbia, South Carolina between 1964 and 1974 that led to the displacement of a predominantly African-American neighborhood. This work will add to the current discussion on how race and government policies that are strategically used in the planning of American cities

USING A GROUP CONTINGENCY TO INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN THE SECOND LIFE CLASSROOM

Given the expanding definition of classrooms, it is important to investigate evidence-based interventions to address student behavior in various academic formats. Universities have been using Second Life (SL) learning islands to provide instruction for distance learners in a virtual online world, and this has been met with difficulties including lack of student participation. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of a class wide intervention designed to increase student participation in class discussion within courses taught via SL. It was hypothesized that by implementing an interdependent group contingency designed to increase class participation, significantly higher individual and group mean participation frequencies would be observed as compared to baseline, as measured by the number of typed discussion-related comments that are made by students during each class. A multiple baseline design across three SL university courses was used to demonstrate the impact of the intervention on participation behaviors of 106 participants. Results indicated low overall intervention effectiveness, although some promising data for individual participants was obtained. Instructors endorsed positive perceptions of the intervention, including its perceived effectiveness and ease of use. Further investigation of the application of applied behavioral analysis techniques in virtual settings is warranted, and SL classrooms offer a multitude of opportunities to do so.  Ph.D

USING A GROUP CONTINGENCY TO INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN THE SECOND LIFE CLASSROOM

Given the expanding definition of classrooms, it is important to investigate evidence-based interventions to address student behavior in various academic formats. Universities have been using Second Life (SL) learning islands to provide instruction for distance learners in a virtual online world, and this has been met with difficulties including lack of student participation. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of a class wide intervention designed to increase student participation in class discussion within courses taught via SL. It was hypothesized that by implementing an interdependent group contingency designed to increase class participation, significantly higher individual and group mean participation frequencies would be observed as compared to baseline, as measured by the number of typed discussion-related comments that are made by students during each class. A multiple baseline design across three SL university courses was used to demonstrate the impact of the intervention on participation behaviors of 106 participants. Results indicated low overall intervention effectiveness, although some promising data for individual participants was obtained. Instructors endorsed positive perceptions of the intervention, including its perceived effectiveness and ease of use. Further investigation of the application of applied behavioral analysis techniques in virtual settings is warranted, and SL classrooms offer a multitude of opportunities to do so