A novel class of insecticidal alkylsulfones are potent inhibitors of vesicular acetylcholine transport.

Pyridine alkylsulfone derivatives typified by oxazosulfyl (Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd.) and compound A2 (Syngenta) represent a new class of insecticides, with potent activity against several insect orders. Whilst the MOA of this class has been attributed to interaction with the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC), here we present strong evidence that their toxicity to insects is mediated primarily through inhibition of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT).

Synthesis and insecticidal activity of N-(5-phenylpyrazin-2-yl)-benzamide derivatives: Elucidation of mode of action on chitin biosynthesis through symptomology and genetic studies.

Among the six-membered heterocycles, the pyrazine ring is poorly explored in crop protection and does not feature in any product listed in the current IRAC MoA classification. In an effort to identify new leads for internal research, we synthesized a series of N-(5-phenylpyrazin-2-yl)-benzamide derivatives and evaluated them for their insecticidal activity. N-(5-phenylpyrazin-2-yl)-benzamide derivatives 3 were prepared using an automated two-step synthesis protocol.

A reductionist paradigm for high-throughput behavioural fingerprinting in .

Understanding how the brain encodes behaviour is the ultimate goal of neuroscience and the ability to objectively and reproducibly describe and quantify behaviour is a necessary milestone on this path. Recent technological progresses in machine learning and computational power have boosted the development and adoption of systems leveraging on high-resolution video recording to track an animal pose and describe behaviour in all four dimensions. However, the high temporal and spatial resolution that these systems offer must come as a compromise with their throughput and accessibility.

The mode of action of isocycloseram: A novel isoxazoline insecticide.

Isocycloseram is a novel isoxazoline insecticide and acaricide with activity against lepidopteran, hemipteran, coleopteran, thysanopteran and dipteran pest species. Isocycloseram selectively targets the invertebrate Rdl GABA receptor at a site that is distinct to fiproles and organochlorines. The widely distributed cyclodiene resistance mutation, A301S, does not affect sensitivity to isocycloseram, either in vitro or in vivo, demonstrating the suitability of isocylsoseram to control pest infestations with this resistance mechanism.

nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits and their native interactions with insecticidal peptide toxins.

nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that represent a target for insecticides. Peptide neurotoxins are known to block nAChRs by binding to their target subunits, however, a better understanding of this mechanism is needed for effective insecticide design. To facilitate the analysis of nAChRs we used a CRISPR/Cas9 strategy to generate null alleles for all ten subunit genes in a common genetic background.

"Very much evolving": a qualitative study of the views of psychiatrists about peer support workers.

Background: Mental health services continue to develop service user involvement, including a growth in employment of peer support workers (PSWs). Despite the importance of the views and attitudes expressed by psychiatrists, this topic has not previously been studied.

Aims: To gain insight into the views and attitudes psychiatrists have about PSWs.

Imaginary Companions in Childhood: Relations to Imagination Skills and Autobiographical Memory in Adults.

The presence of a childhood imaginary companion (IC) has been proposed to reflect heightened imaginative abilities. This study hypothesized that adults who reported having a childhood IC would score higher on a task requiring the imaginative construction of visual scenes. Additionally, it was proposed that individuals who produced more vivid and detailed scenes would also report richer autobiographical memories, due to a shared reliance on imaginative abilities in construction and recollection.

Retinal determination genes function along with cell-cell signals to regulate Drosophila eye development: examples of multi-layered regulation by master regulators.

It is thought that retinal determination (RD) gene products define the response made to cell-cell signals in the field of eye development by binding to enhancers of genes that are also regulated by cell-cell signaling pathways. In Drosophila, RD genes, including eyeless, teashirt, eyes absent, dachsous, and sine oculis, are required for normal eye development and can induce ectopic eyes when mis-expressed. Characterization of the enhancers responsible for eye expression of the hedgehog, shaven, and atonal genes, as well as the dynamics of RD gene expression themselves, now suggest a multilayered network whereby transcriptional regulation by either RD genes or cell-cell signaling pathways can sometimes be indirect and mediated by other transcription factor intermediates.

Cell cycle arrest by a gradient of Dpp signaling during Drosophila eye development.

Background: The secreted morphogen Dpp plays important roles in spatial regulation of gene expression and cell cycle progression in the developing Drosophila eye. Dpp signaling is required for timely cell cycle arrest ahead of the morphogenetic furrow as a prelude to differentiation, and is also important for eye disc growth. The dpp gene is expressed at multiple locations in the eye imaginal disc, including the morphogenetic furrow that sweeps across the eye disc as differentiation initiates.

Regulation of Hh signal transduction as Drosophila eye differentiation progresses.

Differentiation of the Drosophila retina occurs as a morphogenetic furrow sweeps anteriorly across the eye imaginal disc, driven by Hedgehog secretion from photoreceptor precursors differentiating behind the furrow. A BTB protein, Roadkill, is expressed posterior to the furrow and targets the Hedgehog signal transduction component Cubitus interruptus for degradation by Cullin-3 and the proteosome. Clonal analysis and conditional mutant studies establish that roadkill transcription is activated by the EGF receptor and Ras pathway in most differentiating retinal cells, and by both EGF receptor/Ras and by Hedgehog signaling in cells that remain unspecified.

Techniques and recommendations for the inclusion of users with autism in the design of assistive technologies.

The increasing numbers of technology platforms offer opportunities to develop new visual assistive aids for people with autism. However, their involvement in the design of such aids is critical to their short-term uptake and longer term use. Using a three-round Delphi study involving seven Australian psychologists specializing in treating people with autism, the authors explored the utility of four techniques that might be implemented to involve users with autism in the design process.

A comparison of mood and quality of life among people with progressive neurological illnesses and their caregivers.

The current study was designed to investigate differences in mood and a range of QOL domains among 423 patients and 335 caregivers of people with motor neurone disease (MND), Huntington's disease (HD), Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients and caregivers completed an anonymous questionnaire that evaluated their mood (anxiety, depression, fatigue, confusion) and QOL (physical, psychological, social, environment). The results demonstrated that caregivers of people with MND and HD experienced most problems with their mood and QOL compared to caregivers of people in the other illness groups.

Retinal determination genes as targets and possible effectors of extracellular signals.

Retinal determination genes are sufficient to specify eyes in ectopic locations, raising the question of how these master regulatory genes define an eye developmental field. Genetic mosaic studies establish that expression of the retinal determination genes eyeless, teashirt, homothorax, eyes absent, sine oculis, and dachshund are each regulated by combinations of Dpp, Hh, N, Wg, and Ras signals in Drosophila. Dpp and Hh control eyeless, teashirt, sine oculis, and dachshund expression, Dpp and Ras control homothorax, and all the signaling pathways affect eyes absent expression.

The negative impact on nurses of lack of alignment of information systems with public hospital strategic goals.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the degree to which hospital information systems are aligned with hospital strategies and how they impact on nurses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine hospital staff from a range of disciplines in a large public hospital in Australia. The interviews revealed that the focus of hospital information systems on administration has meant that applications to support the patient's clinical journey have been deemed unaffordable.

Satisfaction with services among people with progressive neurological illnesses and their carers in Australia.

The current study investigated the types of support networks and services accessed by people with progressive neurological illness, as well as the assessment of the usefulness of these services. The participants were 25 people with multiple sclerosis, 15 people with motor neurone disease, 23 people with Parkinson's disease, and six people with Huntington's disease. Twenty-eight professionals who worked with people with these illnesses and 41 carers of people with these illnesses also were interviewed.

The impact of neurological illness on marital relationships.

The current study investigated the impact of neurological illness on marital relationship satisfaction. Participants numbered 423 patients and 335 carers from motor neurone disease (MND), Huntington's disease (HD), Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The results demonstrated that patients and carers with HD had a significantly lower level of relationship satisfaction and sex life satisfaction than the other three illness groups.

Work and recreational changes among people with neurological illness and their caregivers.

Background: Progressive neurological illnesses alter the health and well-being of people who experience them, and frequently lead to changes in the activities of both patients and their carers. Purpose. The current study investigated changes in work and recreational activities among people with four of these illnesses.

Spitz from the retina regulates genes transcribed in the second mitotic wave, peripodial epithelium, glia and plasmatocytes of the Drosophila eye imaginal disc.

Proliferation, differentiation, and other processes must be coordinated during the development of multi-cellular animals. A discrete and regulated cell division, the Second Mitotic Wave (SMW), occurs concomitantly with early cell fate decisions in the Drosophila developing retina. Signals from the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) are required to promote cell cycle arrest of specified cells and antagonize S-phase entry in the SMW.

A balanced evaluation perspective: picture archiving and communication system impacts on hospital workflow.

Around the world, hospitals are faced with both budget and regulatory pressures, forcing them to re-examine the way clinical practice is carried out. Proposed technologies that provide workflow enhancements include Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS); however, is PACS really effective in improving hospital workflow and the flow onto patient care, and how should this be evaluated? An acknowledged and successful approach for organizational evaluation is the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), providing the fundamental features for assessing organizations from various perspectives. In this research, the impact of PACS on the workflow of a large public hospital in Melbourne, Australia, is examined using an adapted version of the BSC.

Analyses of RAS regulation of eye development in Drosophila melanogaster.

Many aspects of Drosophila eye development depend on receptor tyrosine kinases that signal through Ras. Genetic studies and genetic screens using eye morphology and development as assays have identified major components of receptor tyrosine kinase and Ras signaling and outlined specific contributions of these components to cell fate specification and differentiation, cell survival, cell cycle progression and arrest, and cellular movements and morphology. This chapter presents a brief compendium of methods and strains that may be used to obtain overexpression or loss of function for Ras pathway genes in the eye and methods and reagents permitting initial characterization of retinal cell differentiation, death, and cell cycle behavior.

Extracellular signals responsible for spatially regulated proliferation in the differentiating Drosophila eye.

Spatially and temporally choreographed cell cycles accompany the differentiation of the Drosophila retina. The extracellular signals that control these patterns have been identified through mosaic analysis of mutations in signal transduction pathways. All cells arrest in G1 prior to the start of neurogenesis.