Cholinergic Neurotransmission In Partial Limbic Seizures

Partial limbic seizures impair consciousness, but the mechanism of impairment is not known. Most views hold that structures necessary for consciousness are disrupted by overexcitation from spread of seizure activity. Against this view, we hypothesize that partial limbic seizures cause pathological long-range inhibition of cortical activity. Using a rat model for partial limbic seizures, we demonstrate BOLD fMRI signal increases in the hippocampal seizure focus, but decreases in arousal promoting regions such as the thalamus and midbrain tegmentum. Second, direct single unit recordings from cholinergic neurons in two arousal nuclei, the basal forebrain and the pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei, demonstrate suppressed firing during seizures. Finally, using enzyme-based amperometry, we probe levels of the arousal neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the cortex and thalamus and observe decreased cholinergic neurotransmission during seizures. These findings demonstrate that an arousal center is suppressed during partial limbic seizures and suggest that decreased arousal may lead to impaired consciousness

School Libraries Serving Rural Communities in China: The Evergreen Model

This article presents a case study of Evergreen school libraries in the northwestern region of China, with a focus on their innovative approaches to community services and strategies of reaching out to local town residents and villagers. The data gathered for the case study included patron/school librarian interviews, observation of brainstorming by school librarians and principals, and analysis of library use data gathered from project schools. In view of known issues identified from existing literature, this study attempts to identify factors that potentially contribute to a school library\u27s success or failure in serving its local community

Income Disparity and Economic Growth: Evidence from China

This paper carries out a pilot empirical study on how income inequality affects growth and the macro economy by means of incorporating panel data information into a macro-econometric model. China is used as the pilot field. Provincial urban and rural household data are used to construct inequality measures, which are then used to augment household consumption equations in the ADB China model. Model simulations are performed to study the effect of inequality on GDP growth and its sectoral components. Results show that inequality is a robust explanatory variable of consumption and that the way inequality develops over time carries certain negative consequences on GDP and sectoral growth.Income inequality, Growth, Econometric model, China