Opiates and Monoaminergic Regulation of LH Release in the Rat

Monoaminergic regulation of LH release appears to be influenced by the endogenous opioid peptides. Specific opioid receptors exist within the central nervous system and are richly concentrated within the hypothalamus. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of specific opiate agonists on hypothalamic monoaminergic activity. In the first set of experiments, various opioid receptor agonists or their antagonist, naloxone, were administered intracerebroventricularly (icv) to short-term orchidectomized rats and blood samples were collected at pre-determined intervals. The animals were decapitated either at 20 minutes or at two-hours post-treatment, and the hypothalamus was surgically isolated. In the second set of experiments, rats were treated with specific opioid receptor agonists, or their antagonist, during the early afternoon of pro-oestrus prior to the preovulatory LH surge. The animals were decapitated after an interval of two hours and the brains removed. Trunk blood was collected for LH measurement by radioimmunoassay. In one group of animals, the whole hypothalamus was dissected out; in another group, specific hypothalamic regions of the hypothalamus were isolated by a micropunch technique. Homogenates of either the whole or of specific hypothalamic regions were prepared and concentrations of noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline (ADR), dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to an electrochemical detector. NA and DA turnover rates were estimated by the blockade of the synthesis of these two amines using the enzyme-blocker alpha-methyl-paratyrosine. 5-HT turnover was measured by obtaining the ratio between 5-HT and 5-HIAA. It was observed that the opiates, in general, caused a decrease in NA and 5-HT turnover and an increase in DA turnover in the hypothalamus of the short-term orchidectomized rat. The changes in hypothalamic DA turnover were not consistently associated with changes in LH levels. In the hypothalamic regions studied, opiate agonists either decreased or had no effect on NA turnover whereas the antagonist naloxone had the opposite effect. Surprisingly, DA turnover was increased by both the opiates and by their antagonist, naloxone. 5-HT turnover was significantly decreased by the opiates in most of the regions studied, but was unaffected by naloxone. In conclusion, there exists a heterogenous group of opioid receptors within the hypothalamus which modulate monoamine neurotransmitters controlling LH release

Flipped Classroom Combined with Team-Based Learning in Engaging Students in the Classroom

The success of the flipped classroom (FC) approach to teaching requires thorough preparation by the faculty member from recording lectures to preparing appropriate assessments to engage students in the classroom for deeper understanding. The design of FC combined with team‐based learning will be discussed

Teachers as Students in the Flipped Teaching Workshop

Share the three-day faculty workshop details and the results from the pre- and post-training surve

The Effect of Flipped Teaching Combined with Modified Team-Based Learning on Student Performance in Physiology

International audienceAu début du 19ème siècle, la Révolution industrielle et l’exode rural qu’elle engendre font émerger dans leur sillage de nouvelles formes de précarité et de petite délinquance dans les villes. En Europe, la Grande-Bretagne devient le théâtre de cette nouvelle réalité quelques décennies avant le continent et Mary s’inquiète du sort des enfants qu’elle voit maintenant évoluer dans les rues de Bristol. Mary Carpenter est née en 1807 dans cette ville du Pays de Galle et n’a pas encore trente ans lorsqu’elle y fonde une ragged school, une école pour les défavorisés. Elle s’y trouva confrontée à « l’attitude rebelle d’enfants sauvages et frappés par la pauvreté » (Young & Ashton, 1956, p.66) et développa un intérêt particulier pour les conditions de prise en charge des plus difficiles de ces enfants, les jeunes vagabonds et délinquants, souvent confrontés à la justice. Elle étudia les institutions mises en place dans plusieurs pays, publia un premier ouvrage en 1851, Reformatory Schools for the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes and for Juvenile Offenders, et prit part la même année à l’organisation d’une première conférence sur ce thème à Birmingham. Mary Carpenter ouvrit alors en 1853 une reformatory school (centre d’éducation fermé pour jeunes délinquant) où elle pouvait mettre ses idées à l’épreuve et fit paraître un second ouvrage sur le sujet : Juvenile Delinquents Their Condition and Treatment.À cette période, de nombreux pays s’emparent de la question pénitentiaire dans ses multiples enjeux. En témoignent l’institutionnalisation des Congrès pénitentiaires internationaux et le nombre d’hommes et de femmes venant de tout le globe qui se réunirent ainsi en douze occasions entre 1872 et 1950. Les questions relatives « à l’enfance et aux mineurs », souvent traités de manière transversale, se voient plusieurs fois consacrés les travaux d’une section. Organisation de l’enseignement scolaire et de la formation professionnelle, éducation morale et religieuse, avantages d’un accueil familial etc. sont autant de thèmes qui nourrissent les échanges des représentants internationaux, et témoignent de l’ambition éducative des acteurs.Cette communication se propose d’éclairer, à travers l’étude des actes de ces Congrès, l’évolution des idées sur la prise en charge de cette jeunesse en difficulté dans le prolongement des travaux de Mary Carpenter, saluée en ces termes un an après sa disparition lors du banquet de clôture du congrès de Stockholm (1878) : « Qu’il y ait toujours au premier rang de notre petite phalange de ces femmes telles que Mary Carpenter, l’immortelle bienfaitrice des enfants abandonnés de la société ! Que les souvenirs de sa vie […] soutiennent les forces de ses imitatrices !

The Use of Pre-recorded Lectures on Student Performance in Physiology

There has been an increase in reliance on pre-recorded lectures (PRL) as a source of learning in place of live-lectures (LL) in higher education today but whether PRL can effectively replace LL remains unknown. We tested how students performed in the exam questions when PRL replaced LL. While PRL+ group included those students who watched the video lectures, PRL- group was composed of students who either did not utilize these videos or accessed only briefly. Additional analysis involved the separation of exam questions, from both LL and PRL, into memory questions (MQ; basic factual details) and comprehension questions (CQ; requiring processing of the given information) and their comparisons. We did not find any significant difference in student performance between the LL and PRL groups as well as between LLMQ and PRL+MQ groups. However, students in the LL group performed significantly better on CQ compared to the PRL+ group (