Associative Learning Contributes to the Increased Water Intake Observed After Daily Injections of Angiotensin II

Daily injections of angiotensin II (AngII) cause a progressive increase of water intake that resembles a classically ascribed non-associative sensitization. Consistent with the presumption that the observed increase in intake was sensitization, we hypothesized that it resulted from a pharmacological interaction between AngII and its receptor. To test this hypothesis, and remove the influence of drinking itself, we implemented a delay in water access after injection of AngII (icv) on four consecutive ‘induction days,’ and then measured intake on the next day (‘test day’) when rats were allowed to drink immediately after AngII. The delay in water access effectively reduced water intake on the four induction days, and rats with longer delays in access drank less on the test day than did rats allowed to drink immediately after AngII on the induction days. Additional experiments ruled out a role for a conditioned drinking response to the injection alone, and demonstrated a lack of conditioned appetition after pairing injections of AngII with water given by intragastric catheter. Taken together, these findings suggest that the increased drinking observed after daily injections of AngII is a conditioned appetition after repeated pairings of AngII and water intake. We further conclude that repeated stimulation of the AngII receptor alone is not sufficient to drive appetition

Faith-Based Institutions, Institutional Mission, and the Public Good

Rooted in historical foundations and demonstrated by continued government financial support, one purpose of higher education is to contribute to the “public good,” or support and further social causes and human flourishing. This notion has received renewed attention in both the literature as well as in professional practice. Given the variety of institutional structures (e.g., public, private, religiously affiliated, nonprofit, and proprietary), the influence of institutional mission varies. Yet, aside from institutional leadership, an institution’s mission is potentially most significant in influencing public good. Faith-based higher education institutions often have missions that are inextricably interconnected with service and community engagement. With these missions, faith-based colleges and universities are distinctively positioned to address social issues, engage in service to the local and global community, and to involve students, faculty, and administrators in this shared purpose. These institutions are uniquely accountable and have the greatest potential in this outcome precisely because of their faith commitment that both informs and motivates their policy and practice. In this essay, the role of faith-based institutions of higher education in promoting public good is explored. In addition, an analysis of both opportunities to enhance public good, as well as obstacles and challenges faced are provided

Sex Differences in the Drinking Response to Angiotensin II (AngII): Effect of Body Weight

Sex differences in fluid intake stimulated by angiotensin II (AngII) have been reported, but the direction of the differences is inconsistent. To resolve these discrepancies, we measured water intake by male and female rats given AngII. Males drank more than females, but when intake was normalized to body weight, the sex difference was reversed. Weight-matched males and females, however, had no difference in intake. Using a linear mixed model analysis, we found that intake was influenced by weight, sex, and AngII dose. We used linear regression to disentangle these effects further. Comparison of regression coefficients revealed sex and weight differences at high doses of AngII. Specifically, after 100ng AngII, weight was a predictor of intake in males, but not in females. Next, we tested for differences in AngII-induced intake in male and females allowed to drink both water and saline. Again, males drank more water than females, but females showed a stronger preference for saline. Drinking microstructure analysis suggested that these differences were mediated by postingestive signals and more bottle switches by the females. Finally, we probed for differences in the expression of components of the renin-angiotensin system in the brains of males and females and found sex differences in several genes in discrete brain regions. These results provide new information to help understand key sex differences in ingestive behaviors, and highlight the need for additional research to understand baseline sex differences, particularly in light of the new NIH initiative to balance sex in biomedical research

Development and testing of an intervention to increase staff knowledge and confidence in responding to health anxiety in the context of cognitive decline:a pilot study

Background: Memory complaint in the absence of organic pathology is a common phenomenon accounting for up to one third of patients presenting to memory clinics. Health anxiety has been specifically linked to dementia worry and repeated presentations to the National Health Service (NHS). Providing reassurance that an individual does not have dementia appears ineffective in reducing presentations to primary and secondary care services.Aims: This study sought to evaluate and establish the effectiveness of a 1-hour pilot training workshop to enhance healthcare professionals knowledge and confidence to those with health anxiety around cognitive decline.Method: The one-session pilot training workshop was developed and informed by previous work and consultation with the 2Gether NHS Foundation Trust Memory Assessment Service staff. The training workshop was then evaluated by employing an idiosyncratic self-report questionnaire. Participants completed the questionnaire prior to and after the training workshop.Results: Pre- and post-training questionnaires revealed that the pilot training workshop was effective in increasing perceived knowledge and confidence in staff responding to patients presenting with health anxiety and co-occurring subjective memory complaints.Conclusions: The findings suggest that healthcare professionals may benefit from training in identifying and addressing health anxious individuals with subjective memory complaints. This may have implications in the provision of psychologically-informed care offered in a memory assessment service. Recommendations are made for further enhancing the effectiveness of staff training and promoting alternative service treatment pathways

We’ve Been Here Before: An Open Letter to Defy, Resist, and Build

We write this open letter in a historical moment in which President Trump has at once been described as “making America great” and “making America weak.” In this letter, we take up the position that Trump’s rise to power offers visible evidence of settler colonialism, white supremacy, and the permanence of racism. Drawing upon critical race theory and postcritical ethnography, we highlight how this radical new ‘normal’ is one that requires us, as qualitative researchers, to think carefully about our work, our practices, and the ways we navigate and come to know in the world. Specifically, we discuss how we might represent in our work structural violence that defies explanation. We thus invite readers to engage in the production of narratives that disrupt and resist seducing readers into substituting participation with consumption