Does the PeaceBuilders Intervention Reduce Violence in Schools?

Fisher and Pulver present a brief overview and analysis of the article, Initial behavior outcomes for the PeaceBuilders Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program, originally published in Developmental Psychology. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including a discussion of the positive impacts of PeaceBuilders on student experience and teacher perception of student social competence

Does a School-Based Social Skills Program Have an Effect on Students’ Behavior and Social Skills?

Pulver and Fisher present a brief overview and analysis of the article, Social skills training in schools: An evaluation study, originally published in Adolescence. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including a discussion of the translation of positive intervention outcomes to outside of the classroom, as well as a critique based on the lack of a control group in the study

Localization of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor dependent rhythm generating modules in the Drosophila larval locomotor network

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust through an ISSF award (105621/Z/14/Z) to the University of St Andrews. It was also supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) project grant (BB/M021793) awarded to SRP, a CASE studentship awarded to J. M. (BB/M010996/1) and a donation from Kaunas Industrial Water Supply (Kauno Pramoninis Vandentiekis, Kaunas, Lithuania) in support of J. J.Mechanisms of rhythm generation h­­ave been extensively studied in motor systems that control locomotion over terrain in limbed animals; however, much less is known about rhythm generation in soft-bodied terrestrial animals. Here we explored how muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) modulated rhythm generating networks are distributed in the central nervous system (CNS) of soft-bodied Drosophila larvae. We measured fictive motor patterns in isolated CNS preparations using a combination of Ca2+ imaging and electrophysiology while manipulating mAChR signalling pharmacologically. Bath application of the mAChR agonist oxotremorine potentiated bilaterally asymmetric activity in anterior thoracic regions and promoted bursting in posterior abdominal regions. Application of the mAChR antagonist scopolamine suppressed rhythm generation in these regions and blocked the effects of oxotremorine. Oxotremorine triggered fictive forward crawling in preparations without brain lobes. Oxotremorine also potentiated rhythmic activity in isolated posterior abdominal CNS segments as well as isolated anterior brain and thoracic regions, but it did not induce rhythmic activity in isolated anterior abdominal segments. Bath application of scopolamine to reduced preparations lowered baseline Ca2+ levels and abolished rhythmic activity. Overall, these results suggest that mAChR signalling plays a role in enabling rhythm generation at multiple sites in the larval CNS. This work furthers our understanding of motor control in soft-bodied locomotion and provides a foundation for study of rhythm generating networks in an emerging genetically tractable locomotor system.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Transplant techniques for sapling mangrove trees, Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, Avicennia germinans, in Florida

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Channelrhodopsin2 Mediated Stimulation of Synaptic Potentials at Drosophila Neuromuscular Junctions

The Drosophila larval neuromuscular preparation has proven to be a useful tool for studying synaptic physiology1,2,3. Currently, the only means available to evoke excitatory junctional potentials (EJPs) in this preparation involves the use of suction electrodes. In both research and teaching labs, students often have difficulty maneuvering and manipulating this type of stimulating electrode. In the present work, we show how to remotely stimulate synaptic potentials at the larval NMJ without the use of suction electrodes. By expressing channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2) 4,5,6 in Drosophila motor neurons using the GAL4-UAS system 7, and making minor changes to a basic electrophysiology rig, we were able to reliably evoke EJPs with pulses of blue light. This technique could be of particular use in neurophysiology teaching labs where student rig practice time and resources are limited

Inexpensive methods for live imaging of central pattern generator activity in the Drosophila larval locomotor system

This work was supported by EPSRC Doctoral Training grant EP/L505079/1) and a European Research Council Grant to MCG (640012) It was also supported by a British Council GREAT Scholarship (to VS) as well as grants from the St Andrews Learning and Teaching Initiative and the McCall-McBain Foundation to SRP. This work was also supported by the open source DIY communities as described throughout the paper.Central pattern generators (CPGs) are neural networks that produce rhythmic motor activity in the absence of sensory input. CPGs produce ‘fictive’ behaviours in vitro which parallel activity seen in intact animals. CPG networks have been identified in a wide variety of model organisms and have been shown to be critical for generating rhythmic behaviours such as swimming, walking, chewing and breathing. Work with CPG preparations has led to fundamental advances in neuroscience; however, most CPG preparations involve intensive dissections and require sophisticated electrophysiology equipment, making export to teaching laboratories problematic. Here we present an integrated approach for bringing the study of locomotor CPGs in Drosophila larvae into teaching laboratories. First, we present freely available genetic constructs that enable educators to express genetically encoded calcium indicators in cells of interest in the larval central nervous system. Next, we describe how to isolate the larval central nervous system and prepare it for live imaging. We then show how to modify standard compound microscopes to enable fluorescent imaging using 3D printed materials and inexpensive optical components. Finally, we show how to use the free image analysis programme ImageJ and freely available features in the signal analysis programme DataView to analyse rhythmic CPG activity in the larval CNS. Comparison of results to those obtained on research equipment shows that signal-to-noise levels are comparable and core features of larval CPG activity can be observed. Overall, this work shows the viability of exporting live imaging experiments to low cost environments and paves the way for new teaching laboratory exercises revolving around optical imaging of CPG activity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

In Vitro and In Vivo Toxicometabolomics of the Synthetic Cathinone PCYP Studied by Means of LC-HRMS/MS

Synthetic cathinones are one important group amongst new psychoactive substances (NPS) and limited information is available regarding their toxicokinetics and -dynamics. Over the past few years, nontargeted toxicometabolomics has been increasingly used to study compound-related effects of NPS to identify important exogenous and endogenous biomarkers. In this study, the effects of the synthetic cathinone PCYP (2-cyclohexyl-1-phenyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-ethanone) on in vitro and in vivo metabolomes were investigated. Pooled human-liver microsomes and blood and urine of male Wistar rats were used to generate in vitro and in vivo data, respectively. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry using an untargeted metabolomics workflow. Statistical evaluation was performed using univariate and multivariate statistics. In total, sixteen phase I and one phase II metabolite of PCYP could be identified as exogenous biomarkers. Five endogenous biomarkers (e.g., adenosine and metabolites of tryptophan metabolism) related to PCYP intake could be identified in rat samples. The present data on the exogenous biomarker of PCYP are crucial for setting up analytical screening procedures. The data on the endogenous biomarker are important for further studies to better understand the physiological changes associated with cathinone abuse but may also serve in the future as additional markers for an intake

Indigenous Health – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - Laying Claim to a Future that Embraces Health for Us All.

Improving the health of all peoples has been a call across the globe for many decades and unfortunately remains relevant today, particularly given the large disparities in health status of peoples found around the world. Rather than differences in health, or health inequalities, we use a different term, health inequities. This is so as mere differences in health (or inequalities ) can be common in societies and do not necessarily reflect unfair social policies or practices. For example, natural ageing implies older people are more prone to illness. Yet, when differences are systematic, socially produced and unfair, these are considered health inequities. Certainly making judgments on what is systematic, socially produced and unfair, reflects value judgments and merit open debate. We are making explicit in this paper what our judgments are, and the basis for these judgment

Imaging fictive locomotor patterns in larval Drosophila.

We have established a preparation in larval Drosophila to monitor fictive locomotion simultaneously across abdominal and thoracic segments of the isolated CNS with genetically encoded Ca(2+) indicators. The Ca(2+) signals closely followed spiking activity measured electrophysiologically in nerve roots. Three motor patterns are analyzed. Two comprise waves of Ca(2+) signals that progress along the longitudinal body axis in a posterior-to-anterior or anterior-to-posterior direction. These waves had statistically indistinguishable intersegmental phase delays compared with segmental contractions during forward and backward crawling behavior, despite being ∼10 times slower. During these waves, motor neurons of the dorsal longitudinal and transverse muscles were active in the same order as the muscle groups are recruited during crawling behavior. A third fictive motor pattern exhibits a left-right asymmetry across segments and bears similarities with turning behavior in intact larvae, occurring equally frequently and involving asymmetry in the same segments. Ablation of the segments in which forward and backward waves of Ca(2+) signals were normally initiated did not eliminate production of Ca(2+) waves. When the brain and subesophageal ganglion (SOG) were removed, the remaining ganglia retained the ability to produce both forward and backward waves of motor activity, although the speed and frequency of waves changed. Bilateral asymmetry of activity was reduced when the brain was removed and abolished when the SOG was removed. This work paves the way to studying the neural and genetic underpinnings of segmentally coordinated motor pattern generation in Drosophila with imaging techniques.S.R.P. was supported by a Newton International Fellowship (Royal Society) and a Junior Fellowship (Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute). T.G.B. was supported by a Medical Research Council (UK) PhD grant. J.B. was supported by a Henry Dale Fellowship (Royal Society and Wellcome Trust). M.B. was supported by the Isaac Newton Trust.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the American Physiological Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/jn.00731.201