Disruption to social dyadic interactions but not emotional/anxiety-related behaviour in mice with heterozygous \u27knockout\u27 of the schizophrenia risk gene neuregulin-1.

Clinical genetic studies have implicated neuregulin-1 [NRG1] as a leading susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. NRG1 is known to play a significant role in the developing brain, which is consistent with the prevailing neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Thus, the emotional and social phenotype of adult mice with heterozygous \u27knockout\u27 of transmembrane [TM]-domain NRG1 was examined further in both sexes. Emotional/anxiety-related behaviour was assessed using the elevated plus-maze and the light-dark test. Social behaviour was examined in terms of dyadic interactions between NRG1 mutants and an unfamiliar C57BL6 conspecific in a novel environment. There was no effect of NRG1 genotype on performance in either test of emotionality/anxiety. However, previous reports of hyperactivity in NRG1 mutants were confirmed in both paradigms. In the test of social interaction, aggressive following was increased in NRG1 mutants of both sexes, together with an increase in walkovers in female mutants. These findings elaborate the specificity of the NRG1 phenotype for the social rather than the emotional/anxiety-related domain. They indicate that NRG1 is involved in the regulation of reciprocal social interaction behaviour and thus suggest a putative role for NRG1 in a schizophrenia-related endophenotype

The development of an accreditation framework for continuing education activities for pharmacists.

Accreditation is the recognition that an educational activity meets certain standards. The processes for accreditation vary considerably depending on the type of activity, and currently there are differing accreditation systems in place for pharmacy continuing education (CE) across different countries. Research was carried out on a selection of these systems with the aim of developing a catalogue of accreditation approaches, and exploring the possibility of developing a common framework for the accreditation of pharmacy CE activities. Accreditation processes from the countries represented by the Global Forum on Quality Assurance of Continuing Education and Continuing Professional Development (GFQACE) were reviewed to explore the themes and patterns in them. This informed the development of a proposed accreditation framework for CE activities for pharmacists. A Delphi method over four rounds involving seven participants from each GFQACE organisation was used as a consensus building technique. Agreement was achieved on including 15 items in the framework within four stages (Input, Process, Output, and Quality Improvement). The GFQACE steering group indicated their intention to use the resultant framework as the basis for the exploration of mutual recognition of accreditation between member countries