Managing Prisons Through Extended Solitary Confinement: A Necessary Approach or a Signal of Prison System Failure?

In contemporary American corrections, extended solitary confinement (ESM) as a management tool has emerged as a strategy for avowedly controlling the most violent individuals and, in so doing, creating a safer prison system. We theorize that the emergence of this unique form of housing may also be viewed as a signal of prison system failure. To advance this argument, we identify how different theoretical perspectives can be used to anticipate the effects of ESM on prison system violence and order and then investigate the plausibility of this account by grounding it in analysis of qualitative data from a study of one state's prison system.

Cannabinoid CB receptors mediate the anxiolytic-like effects of monoacylglycerol lipase inhibition in a rat model of predator-induced fear.

The endocannabinoid system is a key regulator of the response to psychological stress. Inhibitors of monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL), the enzyme that deactivates the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol (2-AG), exert anxiolytic-like effects in rodent models via 2-AG-dependent activation of CB cannabinoid receptors. In the present study, we examined whether the MGL inhibitor JZL184 might modulate persistent predator-induced fear in rats, a model that captures features of human post-traumatic stress disorder.

A Multimedia Educational Module for Teaching Early Medical Neuroanatomy.

Introduction: As the global burden of neurological disorders continues to rise, physicians' need for a solid understanding of neuroanatomy is becoming more important. Traditional neuroanatomy curricula offer a limited approach to educating a diverse profile of learning styles. In an attempt to incorporate recent literature addressing diverse learning formats, we developed and evaluated two new image-based resources for the neuroscience curriculum.

Early identification of struggling learners: using prematriculation and early academic performance data.

Introduction: A perennial difficultly for remediation programmes in medical school is early identification of struggling learners so that resources and assistance can be applied as quickly as is practical. Our study investigated if early academic performance has predictive validity above and beyond pre-matriculation variables.

Methods: Using three cohorts of medical students, we used logistic regression modelling and negative binomial regression modelling to assess the strength of the relationships between measures of early academic performance and outcomes-later referral to the academic review and performance committee and total module score.