A Lived Experience of Being a Mother of a Child with Depression: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry

There have been few studies that have attempted to understand the world of parents raising a child with depression. This study introduces the magnitude of the problem of childhood depression and explores what it means to be the mother of an adolescent with depression. For this study, three mothers of adolescents wit.h depression were questioned interviews were in unstructured interviews. The taped transcribed, and the resulting texts were Four core themes were analyzed using a six-stage process. extracted-maternal role, support, and grief-and reveal_ed what it was family disequilibrium, like for mothers raising a child with depression. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided the philosophical framework for this study

Neuroligins determine synapse maturation and function

Synaptogenesis, the generation and maturation of functional synapses between nerve cells, is an essential step in the development of neuronal networks in the brain. It is thought to be triggered by members of the neuroligin family of postsynaptic cell adhesion proteins, which may form transsynaptic contacts with presynaptic alpha- and beta-neurexins and have been implicated in the etiology of autism. We show that deletion mutant mice lacking neuroligin expression die shortly after birth due to respiratory failure. This respiratory failure is a consequence of reduced GABAergic/glycinergic and glutamatergic synaptic transmission and network activity in brainstem centers that control respiration. However, the density of synaptic contacts is not altered in neuroligin-deficient brains and cultured neurons. Our data show that neuroligins are required for proper synapse maturation and brain function, but not for the initial formation of synaptic contacts

CAPS facilitates filling of the rapidly releasable pool of large dense-core vesicles

Calcium-activator protein for secretion (CAPS) is a cytosolic protein that associates with large dense-core vesicles and is involved in their secretion. Mammals express two CAPS isoforms, which share a similar domain structure including a Munc13 homology domain that is believed to be involved in the priming of secretory vesicles. A variety of studies designed to perturb CAPS function indicate that CAPS is involved in the secretion of large dense-core vesicles, but where in the secretory pathway CAPS acts is still under debate. Mice in which one allele of the CAPS-1 gene is deleted exhibit a deficit in catecholamine secretion from chromaffin cells. We have examined catecholamine secretion from chromaffin cells in which both CAPS genes were deleted and show that the deletion of both CAPS isoforms causes a strong reduction in the pool of rapidly releasable chromaffin granules and of sustained release during ongoing stimulation. We conclude that CAPS is required for the adequate refilling and/or maintenance of a rapidly releasable granule pool

The effect of reducing the threshold for carbon monoxide validation of smoking abstinence - Evidence from the English Stop Smoking Services

Introduction: The most commonly used threshold of expired-air carbon monoxide (CO) concentration to validate self-reported smoking abstinence is < 10 parts per million (ppm). It has been proposed to reduce this threshold. This study examined what effect a reduction would have on short-term success rates in clinical practice. / Methods: A total of 315,718 quit attempts supported by English NHS Stop Smoking Services were included in the analysis. The proportion of 4-week quits as determined by the Russell standard (< 10 ppm) that also met lower thresholds was calculated for each unit change from < 9 ppm to < 2 ppm. Additionally, associations of established predictors with outcome were assessed in logistic regressions for selected thresholds. / Results: At < 10 ppm, 35% of quit attempts were regarded as successful. Differences for a single unit reduction increased with each reduction; small reductions had very little impact (e.g. < 8 ppm: 34.7% success), but at < 3 ppm, only 26.3% would still be regarded as successful. With the threshold reduced to < 3 ppm established predictors of cessation showed a weaker association with outcome than with the threshold at < 10 ppm suggesting an increase in error of outcome measurement. / Conclusions: Reducing the threshold for expired-air CO concentration to validate abstinence would have a minimal effect on success rates unless the threshold were reduced substantially which would likely increase error of measurement