The lateral hypothalamus and energy balance : facilitation and inhibition of perifornical self-stimulation by long- and short-term metabolic signals

Electrical stimulation of certain brain areas produces a robust effect that directs the animal towards obtaining more stimulation. This phenomenon is believed to result from the activation of neural circuits that direct the animal towards naturally-occurring reinforcers such as food. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is considered a particularly good site for obtaining vigorous self-stimulation in rats. There is evidence that chronic food restriction enhances the reward value of LH electrical stimulation when the electrode is positioned in the perifornical region. The objective of the present work was to characterize the forward circuitry activated by perifornical stimulation by examining the effects of long- and short-term energy balance manipulations within the same subjects. In this regards, Experiment 1 was carried out to replicate the findings that chronic food restriction facilitates perifornical self-stimulation. Experiment 2 was carried out to investigate the effect of a 48 hour period of food derivation on self-stimulation. To examine whether leptin signaling is involved in the process whereby food restriction enhances the rewarding effect of the perifornical stimulation the effect of an intraventricular infusion of leptin on self-stimulation was tested in Experiment 3

Investigation of Age-Related Incidence Patterns in Adult Cancers

One of the most commonly diagnosed illnesses in the elderly population is cancer. Despite research to explain the consistent increase in incidence rates with age, the mechanisms are largely unknown. In order to explore the patterns in age-specific cancer incidence through visualization, tables and graphs were generated via SEER*stat of incidence statistics for each reported type of cancer, including all subtypes. More specifically, data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program was used to calculate age-specific rates by sex and race/ethnicity. Patterns were compared to a general trend line of the total cancer incidence from the years 1975-2013, with a focus on incidence in the age group 85+. Results varied substantially by cancer type. We defined four patterns within the cancers: an increasing trend with increasing age; a decreasing trend in older ages, a mixed pattern (some increasing, while others decrease within the same cancer type), and a bimodal curve which included peaks in childhood/adolescence and in older age. Trends varied greatly depending on the type of cancer, the age at which the cancers were diagnosed, the sex of the individual, and the race/ethnicity of the individual. Age-specific patterns in African-American populations were particularly noteworthy and are presented separately

A Complicated Welcome: Social Workers Navigate Policy, Organizational Contexts and Socio-Cultural Dynamics Following Migration to Canada

Canada prides itself on a reputation of being a welcoming and inclusive country, promoting a collective pride in upholding a multicultural mosaic wherein a rich diversity of ethnicities, cultures and religions co-exist. A priority of the Canadian federal government is the attraction and retention of skilled foreign workers into the labour market, and social workers have been targeted for this government initiative. Alluring though this ideal picture may be, the experiences of forty-four migrant social workers who undertook their social work education outside Canada and currently practice social work in Canada suggest significant barriers on the levels of policy, organizational context and socio-cultural dynamics. On the level of policy, participants navigated processes for immigration, recognition of foreign credentials, and licensure with the provincial regulatory body. On the level of organizational context, participants faced a range of challenges in securing social work employment. On the level of socio-cultural dynamics, participants detail the many interactive subtleties experienced as they sought to ‘fit in’ in order to connect with their new colleagues and communities. Analysis draws on the concepts of institutional and embodied cultural capital as the means though which social status is differentially available for these migrant social workers, based on the ascribed value of their citizenship characteristics, educational preparation, and practice experience. These forms of capital facilitate mobility by enabling access to opportunities and the tools to acquire status and entry to a particular class, that of the social work practitioner in Canada

The menace of obesity to depression and anxiety prevalence

The incidence of depression and anxiety is amplified by obesity. Mounting evidence reveals that the psychiatric consequences of obesity stem from poor diet, inactivity, and visceral adipose accumulation. Resulting metabolic and vascular dysfunction, including inflammation, insulin and leptin resistance, and hypertension, have emerged as key risks to depression and anxiety development. Recent research advancements are exposing the important contribution of these different corollaries of obesity and their impact on neuroimmune status and the neural circuits controlling mood and emotional states. Along these lines, this review connects the clinical manifestations of depression and anxiety in obesity to our current understanding of the origins and biology of immunometabolic threats to central nervous system function and behavior. © 2021 The Author

Pharmacogenetics and Practice: Tailoring Prescribing for Safety and Effectiveness

The promise of pharmacogenomics testing, to find the right medication at the right dose for the right patient at the right time, sits at the heart of precision medicine. Identifying genetic variants that contribute to inter-patient variability in drug disposition and effect allows clinicians to select a more appropriate medication for a patient’s condition by limiting adverse drug events and maximizing beneficial effects. However, as pharmacogenomics is increasingly integrated into prevention-based healthcare, a major obstacle to effective implementation of pharmacogenomics testing is the lack of adequate knowledge of healthcare providers on interpretation of these test results

The intersection of information skills and behaviors with the steps of evidence-based practice (EBP) in local professional health programs curricula

PDF version of PPT presentation given at virtual SCC/MLA 2021 conferenc

Spontaneous neural activity changes after bariatric surgery : a resting-state fMRI study

Background: Metabolic disorders associated with obesity could lead to alterations in brain structure and function. Whether these changes can be reversed after weight loss is unclear. Bariatric surgery provides a unique oppor- tunity to address these questions because it induces marked weight loss and metabolic improvements which in turn may impact the brain in a longitudinal fashion. Previous studies found widespread changes in grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) after bariatric surgery. However, findings regarding changes in spontaneous neural activity following surgery, as assessed with the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and regional homogeneity of neural activity (ReHo), are scarce and heterogenous. In this study, we used a longitu- dinal design to examine the changes in spontaneous neural activity after bariatric surgery (comparing pre- to post-surgery), and to determine whether these changes are related to cardiometabolic variables. Methods: The study included 57 participants with severe obesity (mean BMI = 43.1 ± 4.3 kg/m 2 ) who under- went sleeve gastrectomy (SG), biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), scanned prior to bariatric surgery and at follow-up visits of 4 months ( N = 36), 12 months ( N = 29), and 24 months ( N = 14) after surgery. We examined fALFF and ReHo measures across 1022 cortical and subcor- tical regions (based on combined Schaeffer-Xiao parcellations) using a linear mixed effect model. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on T1-weighted images was also used to measure GM density in the same regions. We also used an independent sample from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to assess regional differences between individuals who had normal-weight ( N = 46) or severe obesity ( N = 46). Results: We found a global increase in the fALFF signal with greater increase within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, precuneus, inferior temporal gyrus, and visual cortex. This effect was more significant 4 months after surgery. The increase within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, temporal gyrus, and visual cortex was more limited after 12 months and only present in the visual cortex after 24 months. These increases in neural activity measured by fALFF were also significantly associated with the increase in GM density following surgery. Furthermore, the in- crease in neural activity was significantly related to post-surgery weight loss and improvement in cardiometabolic variables, such as blood pressure. In the independent HCP sample, normal-weight participants had higher global and regional fALFF signals, mainly in dorsolateral/medial frontal cortex, precuneus and middle/inferior temporal gyrus compared to the obese participants. These BMI-related differences in fALFF were associated with the in- crease in fALFF 4 months post-surgery especially in regions involved in control, default mode and dorsal attention networks. Conclusions: Bariatric surgery-induced weight loss and improvement in metabolic factors are associated with widespread global and regional increases in neural activity, as measured by fALFF signal. These findings along- side the higher fALFF signal in normal-weight participants compared to participants with severe obesity in an independent dataset suggest an early recovery in the neural activity signal level after the surgery

α/β-Hydrolase Domain 6 Deletion Induces Adipose Browning and Prevents Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

SummarySuppression of α/β-domain hydrolase-6 (ABHD6), a monoacylglycerol (MAG) hydrolase, promotes glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by pancreatic β cells. We report here that high-fat-diet-fed ABHD6-KO mice show modestly reduced food intake, decreased body weight gain and glycemia, improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and enhanced locomotor activity. ABHD6-KO mice also show increased energy expenditure, cold-induced thermogenesis, brown adipose UCP1 expression, fatty acid oxidation, and white adipose browning. Adipose browning and cold-induced thermogenesis are replicated by the ABHD6 inhibitor WWL70 and by antisense oligonucleotides targeting ABHD6. Our evidence suggests that one mechanism by which the lipolysis derived 1-MAG signals intrinsic and cell-autonomous adipose browning is via PPARα and PPARγ activation, and that ABHD6 regulates adipose browning by controlling signal competent 1-MAG levels. Thus, ABHD6 regulates energy homeostasis, brown adipose function, and white adipose browning and is a potential therapeutic target for obesity and type 2 diabetes