Spike rate inference from mouse spinal cord calcium imaging data.

Unlabelled: Calcium imaging is a key method to record the spiking activity of identified and genetically targeted neurons. However, the observed calcium signals are only an indirect readout of the underlying electrophysiological events (single spikes or bursts of spikes) and require dedicated algorithms to recover the spike rate. These algorithms for spike inference can be optimized using ground truth data from combined electrical and optical recordings, but it is not clear how such optimized algorithms perform on cell types and brain regions for which ground truth does not exist.

Dynamic diversity is the answer to proxy failure.

We argue that a diverse and dynamic pool of agents mitigates proxy failure. Proxy modularity plays a key role in the ongoing production of diversity. We review examples from a range of scales.

Dorsal column and root stimulation at Aβ-fiber intensity activate superficial dorsal horn glutamatergic and GABAergic populations.

Neurostimulation therapies are frequently used in patients with chronic pain conditions. They emerged from Gate Control Theory (GCT), which posits that Aβ-fiber activation recruits superficial dorsal horn (SDH) inhibitory networks to "close the gate" on nociceptive transmission, resulting in pain relief. However, the efficacy of current therapies is limited, and the underlying circuits remain poorly understood.

Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons of the Spinal Cord Superficial Dorsal Horn Diverge in Their Somatosensory Responses and Plasticity .

The superficial dorsal horn (SDH) of the spinal cord represents the first site of integration between innocuous and noxious somatosensory stimuli. According to gate control theory, diverse populations of excitatory and inhibitory interneurons within the SDH are activated by distinct sensory afferents, and their interplay determines the net nociceptive output projecting to higher pain centers. Although specific SDH cell types are ill defined, numerous classifications schemes find that excitatory and inhibitory neurons fundamentally differ in their morphology, electrophysiology, neuropeptides, and pain-associated plasticity; yet little is known about how these neurons respond over a range of natural innocuous and noxious stimuli.

Mental Health Clinician Community Clergy Collaboration to Address Moral Injury Symptoms: A Feasibility Study.

Moral injury (MI) symptoms (guilt, shame, isolation) can be associated with military experiences. While a degree of overlap is recognized between MI and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, MI symptoms do not always respond to evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Mental Health Clinician Community Chaplain Collaboration (MC4) was delivered by community clergy to address MI symptoms through facilitation of forgiveness and community reintegration.

Mental Health Clinician and Community Clergy Collaboration to Address Moral Injury in Veterans and the Role of the Veterans Affairs Chaplain.

Moral injury in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder includes symptoms of guilt and shame, and these symptoms are often not responsive to evidence-based mental health treatments. Clergy provide a pathway for relieving the guilt and shame. However, there is a long history of mistrust between clergy and mental health clinicians and not enough Veterans Health Administration chaplains to meet this need.

The Morality of Disordered Eating and Recovery in Southern Italy.

Scholars have traced the processes through which moral subjectivities are constituted in culturally meaningful ways through eating disorders and recovery practices, demonstrating how subjective meanings of eating disorders and recovery from them are imbued with moral undertones and become meaningful ways of existing within specific historical and cultural contexts. Drawing on ethnographic insights and interviews with young women with disordered eating histories in southern Italy, we show how suffering from eating disorders and recovery from them enables women to retool their identities and craft moral selves. We draw attention to the value of medical anthropology in the care and comprehension of well-being of girls and women suffering from disordered eating.

TARP γ-2 Is Required for Inflammation-Associated AMPA Receptor Plasticity within Lamina II of the Spinal Cord Dorsal Horn.

In the brain, transmembrane AMPAR regulatory proteins (TARPs) critically influence the distribution, gating, and pharmacology of AMPARs, but the contribution of these auxiliary subunits to AMPAR-mediated signaling in the spinal cord remains unclear. We found that the Type I TARP γ-2 (stargazin) is present in lamina II of the superficial dorsal horn, an area involved in nociception. Consistent with the notion that γ-2 is associated with surface AMPARs, CNQX, a partial agonist at AMPARs associated with Type I TARPs, evoked whole-cell currents in lamina II neurons, but such currents were severely attenuated in γ-2-lacking () mice.

Using Community Advisory Boards to Build Partnerships and Develop Peer-Led Services for Rural Student Veterans.

Background: The Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA)/Student Partnership for Rural Veterans (VSP) built partnerships between institutional (health services researchers, VA chaplains) and community groups to develop veteran-to-veteran services on college campuses.

Objectives: Describe challenges and lessons learned in year 1 of the VSP project at six campuses in rural Arkansas.

Methods: Researchers leveraged established community advisory boards (CABs) to develop veteran-to-veteran services.

The Religious and Spiritual Dimensions of Cutting Down and Stopping Cocaine Use: A Qualitative Exploration Among African Americans in the South.

This study qualitatively examines the religious and spiritual dimensions of cutting down and stopping cocaine use among African Americans in rural and urban areas of Arkansas. The analyses compare and contrast the narrative data of 28 current cocaine users living in communities where the Black church plays a fundamental role in the social and cultural lives of many African Americans, highlighting the ways that participants used religious symbols, idiomatic expression, and Biblical scriptures to interpret and make sense of their substance-use experiences. Participants drew on diverse religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, including participation in organized religion, reliance on a personal relationship with God, and God's will to cut down and stop cocaine use.

Building partnerships with rural Arkansas faith communities to promote veterans' mental health: lessons learned.

Background: The Mental Health-Clergy Partnership Program established partnerships between institutional (Department of Veterans' Affairs [VA] chaplains, mental health providers) and community (local clergy, parishioners) groups to develop programs to assist rural veterans with mental health needs.

Objectives: Describe the development, challenges, and lessons learned from the Mental Health-Clergy Partnership Program in three Arkansas towns between 2009 and 2012.

Methods: Researchers identified three rural Arkansas sites, established local advisory boards, and obtained quantitative ratings of the extent to which partnerships were participatory.

The pew versus the couch: relationship between mental health and faith communities and lessons learned from a VA/clergy partnership project.

The history of the relationship between religion and mental health is one of commonality, conflict, controversy, and distrust. An awareness of this complex relationship is essential to clinicians and clergy seeking to holistically meet the needs of people in our clinics, our churches, and our communities. Understanding this relationship may be particularly important in rural communities.

AMPA receptor-dependent, light-evoked D-serine release acts on retinal ganglion cell NMDA receptors.

NMDA receptor (NMDAR) activation requires coincident binding of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and a coagonist, either glycine or D-serine. Changes in NMDAR currents during neural transmission are typically attributed to glutamate release against a steady background of coagonist, excluding the possibility of coagonist release. AMPA receptor (AMPAR) stimulation evokes D-serine release, but it is unknown whether this is a physiological phenomenon capable of influencing synaptic responses.

Serine racemase deletion abolishes light-evoked NMDA receptor currents in retinal ganglion cells.

Glycine and/or D-serine are obligatory coagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). Serine racemase, the D-serine-synthesizing enzyme, is expressed by astrocytes and Müller cells of the retina, but little is known about its role in retinal signalling. In this study, we utilize a serine racemase knockout (SRKO) mouse to explore the contribution of D-serine to inner-retinal function.

AMPA receptor mediated D-serine release from retinal glial cells.

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) co-agonist D-serine is important in a number of different processes in the CNS, ranging from synaptic plasticity to disease states, including schizophrenia. D-serine appears to be the major co-agonist acting on retinal ganglion cell NMDA receptors, but the cell type from which it originates and whether its release can be modulated by activity are unknown. In this study, we utilized a mutant mouse line with elevated d-serine to investigate this question.

Bird pollination of Canary Island endemic plants.

The Canary Islands are home to a guild of endemic, threatened bird-pollinated plants. Previous work has suggested that these plants evolved floral traits as adaptations to pollination by flower specialist sunbirds, but subsequently, they appear to have co-opted generalist passerine birds as sub-optimal pollinators. To test this idea, we carried out a quantitative study of the pollination biology of three of the bird-pollinated plants, Canarina canariensis (Campanulaceae), Isoplexis canariensis (Veronicaceae) and Lotus berthelotii (Fabaceae), on the island of Tenerife.