title: General Anaesthetic Modulation of Memory-Related Gene Expression in the Cerebral Cortex

authors: Bell, Laura Maree

subjects: Anaesthetic

abstract: General anaesthetics have been widely used in a clinical setting, having remained one of the most important drugs in medicine for their role in enabling major surgical procedures to be carried out. One of the fundamental outcomes of an anaesthetic is amnesia, as this prevents patient recall of events surrounding surgery. The hippocampal region of the mammalian brain has been investigated for its role in memory formation, however the cerebral cortex also has recognised importance in memory consolidation and storage processes. General anaesthetics cause widespread neurochemical changes in the brain and the disruption to memory consolidation processes is likely to involve alteration to the expression patterns of memory-related genes. The aim of this research was to investigate the cerebrocortical gene expression pattern of five memory-related genes, Arc, Bdnf, CaMKIIα, Gjd2 and Grin1 during exposure to anaesthesia induced by sevoflurane, isoflurane and propofol. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to analyse expression of the individual mRNA transcripts and REST© software was used to carry out statistical analysis of the mRNA expression of each gene of interest. Our research demonstrated that Bdnf was significantly down-regulated by sevoflurane at t=2 hours and t=4 hours and propofol at t=2 hours (p<0.05). Up-regulation of Arc after a four exposure to propofol was also observed but no change in Arc was found at the other time points. There was no change in the expression of CaMKIIα, Gjd2 or Grin1 during sevoflurane- or propofol- induced anaesthesia. We recommend analysis of other Bdnf transcript variants in the mouse brain during anaesthesia, as well as levels of the BDNF protein to further validate these results.

text: General Anaesthetic Modulation of Memory-Related Gene Expression in the Cerebral Cortex General anaesthetics have been widely used in a clinical setting, having remained one of the most important drugs in medicine for their role in enabling major surgical procedures to be carried out. One of the fundamental outcomes of an anaesthetic is amnesia, as this prevents patient recall of events surrounding surgery. The hippocampal region of the mammalian brain has been investigated for its role in memory formation, however the cerebral cortex also has recognised importance in memory consolidation and storage processes. General anaesthetics cause widespread neurochemical changes in the brain and the disruption to memory consolidation processes is likely to involve alteration to the expression patterns of memory-related genes. The aim of this research was to investigate the cerebrocortical gene expression pattern of five memory-related genes, Arc, Bdnf, CaMKIIα, Gjd2 and Grin1 during exposure to anaesthesia induced by sevoflurane, isoflurane and propofol. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to analyse expression of the individual mRNA transcripts and REST© software was used to carry out statistical analysis of the mRNA expression of each gene of interest. Our research demonstrated that Bdnf was significantly down-regulated by sevoflurane at t=2 hours and t=4 hours and propofol at t=2 hours (p<0.05). Up-regulation of Arc after a four exposure to propofol was also observed but no change in Arc was found at the other time points. There was no change in the expression of CaMKIIα, Gjd2 or Grin1 during sevoflurane- or propofol- induced anaesthesia. We recommend analysis of other Bdnf transcript variants in the mouse brain during anaesthesia, as well as levels of the BDNF protein to further validate these results.

year: 2015

title: SOPHYA: a system for digital management of ordered physical document collections

authors: Jervis, Matthew Geoffrey

subjects: computer science

abstract: In recent years several systems have been developed to integrate the management of physical and digital documents and artefacts. These systems, which often rely on technologies such as RFID, generally detect the location of a digitally tagged item within a collection, with varying degrees of location sensitivity, ranging from a room to a smaller container such as a filing cabinet or briefcase. Despite their obvious value, such systems are not capable of detecting the precise location and ordering of individual items within the managed collection of items. In this paper we present the second generation of our earlier prototype system, called SOPHYA, which utilises a wired technology to allow management and retrieval of documents and artefacts within ordered collections.

text: SOPHYA: a system for digital management of ordered physical document collections In recent years several systems have been developed to integrate the management of physical and digital documents and artefacts. These systems, which often rely on technologies such as RFID, generally detect the location of a digitally tagged item within a collection, with varying degrees of location sensitivity, ranging from a room to a smaller container such as a filing cabinet or briefcase. Despite their obvious value, such systems are not capable of detecting the precise location and ordering of individual items within the managed collection of items. In this paper we present the second generation of our earlier prototype system, called SOPHYA, which utilises a wired technology to allow management and retrieval of documents and artefacts within ordered collections.

year: 2010

title: Responsive socio-cultural contexts: Supporting five year olds to become literate in a second language.

authors: Berryman, Mere

subjects: bilingual learners

abstract: Learning one's own indigenous language and culture as a second language learner within formal mainstream education settings can pose many challenges, especially for students who have been raised in the dominant first language and who are just beginning school. This paper discusses a Māori language resource used by a Māori immersion teacher to respond to these challenges. This resource utilises community support to develop students' phonological awareness while simultaneously increasing their oral language. This study shows that within a relatively short period of time, students' phonological knowledge improved along with their confidence and ability to speak in Māori. With these skills they were then able to progress more successfully to becoming literate in Māori, their second language.

text: Responsive socio-cultural contexts: Supporting five year olds to become literate in a second language. Learning one's own indigenous language and culture as a second language learner within formal mainstream education settings can pose many challenges, especially for students who have been raised in the dominant first language and who are just beginning school. This paper discusses a Māori language resource used by a Māori immersion teacher to respond to these challenges. This resource utilises community support to develop students' phonological awareness while simultaneously increasing their oral language. This study shows that within a relatively short period of time, students' phonological knowledge improved along with their confidence and ability to speak in Māori. With these skills they were then able to progress more successfully to becoming literate in Māori, their second language.

year: 2012