Search

Chronic sleep disruption is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet mechanisms by which sleep disturbances might promote or exacerbate AD are not understood. Short-term sleep loss acutely increases hippocampal amyloid β (Aβ) in wild type (WT) mice and long-term sleep loss increases amyloid plaque in AD transgenic mouse models. Both effects can be influenced by the wake-promoting neuropeptide, hypocretin (HCRT), but whether HCRT influences amyloid accumulation independent of sleep and wake timing modulation remains unclear. Here, we induced chronic fragmentation of sleep (CFS) in WT and HCRT-deficient mice to elicit similar arousal indices, sleep bout lengths and sleep bout numbers in both genotypes. We then examined the roles of HCRT in CFS-induced hippocampal Aβ accumulation and injury. CFS in WT mice resulted in increased Aβ42 in the hippocampus along with loss of cholinergic projections and loss of locus coeruleus neurons. Mice with HCRT deficiency conferred resistance to CFS Aβ42 accumulation and loss of cholinergic projections in the hippocampus yet evidenced similar CFS-induced loss of locus coeruleus neurons. Collectively, the findings demonstrate specific roles for orexin in sleep disruption hippocampal injury.Significance statementChronic fragmentation of sleep (CFS) occurs in common conditions, including sleep apnea syndromes and chronic pain disorders, yet CFS can induce neural injury. Our results demonstrate that under conditions of sleep fragmentation, hypocretin/orexin is essential for the accumulation of amyloid-β and loss of cholinergic projections in the hippocampus observed in response to CFS yet does not influence locus coeruleus neuron response to CFS.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ltr-10.1177_13621688221096368 for The effects of Processing Instruction on the acquisition and processing of grammatical gender in German by Nick Henry in Language Teaching Research

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ltr-10.1177_13621688221096368 for The effects of Processing Instruction on the acquisition and processing of grammatical gender in German by Nick Henry in Language Teaching Research

Within UK public policy, economic impact assessment (EIA) has been a long run, mainstream staple in support of policy design, learning and assessment of the benefits to society of a policy intervention. In 2021, DCMS published its Cultural and Heritage Capital Framework in seeking to achieve its ambition for the full value of arts, culture and heritage to be recognised. Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 has sought to use an innovative approach to EIA to gain a more complete and better-grounded understanding of the benefits generated by this cultural mega-event. To support learning, development and good practice in the use of non-reductive valuation frameworks within the cultural and heritage sphere, this study introduces the EIA approach adopted by Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 and how this approach can be considered in relation to the new DCMS Cultural and Heritage Capital Framework.

Introduction Fragmented sleep occurs when there are repetitive, short interruptions of sleep, resulting in less than six hours of sleep per day. Overall, however, in the United States, sleep fragmentation is reported by 30% of employed adults. Sleep fragmentation may be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, and orexin reduction appears effective in reducing amyloid plaque formation in mice with transgenic Alzheimer's disease. Orexin is a neuropeptide that regulates arousal, wakefulness, and appetite. Thus we hypothesized that loss of orexin might also be protective against sleep disruption injury in non-Alzheimer's mice. This study aims to combine sleep fragmentation with orexin loss to see if brain health is severely reduced. Methods The 24 mice in this study were split into four groups: B6 rested, B6 sleep fragmented, orexin knockout rested, orexin knockout sleep fragmented. The sleep fragmented mice were placed on a shaker table for 10½ weeks to initiate chronic sleep loss. The mice were all perfused within five to eight months of birth, and then the brains were cryopreserved and sliced. These sections were immunolabeled with different protein antibodies using immunohistochemistry techniques. The stained brains were either analyzed through microscope stereology counts or computer image analysis. Results Two-way ANOVA analysis for tyrosine hydroxylase, ionized calcium binding adaptor, and vesicular acetylcholine transporter had p Conclusion Our results show that knocking out orexinergic neurons causes hippocampal tissue damage, dampens the functioning of synapses, and diminishes the ability of the brain to adapt through plasticity and memory. Sleep fragmentation, however, increases phagocytic activity, and harms the acetylcholine and norepinepherine neurotransmitter pathways. When combined, cell communication worsens and the blood brain barrier loses function, resemblant of neurodegenerative diseases. Support (If Any) NIH AG054104; AG064231

Supplemental material, Revised_Supplemental_Materials_for_reviewers for Cue coalitions and additivity in predictive processing: The interaction between case and prosody in L2 German by Nick Henry, Carrie N Jackson and Holger Hopp in Second Language Research

2015 is a time for opportunity. The coming years will witness the development of three inter-related international policy frameworks around sustainable development, climate change and disasters. An international policy window for climate change and development is opening up in 2015, with the coincidence of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 21 meeting to create a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the 3rd World Disaster Risk Reduction Conference on the Post-Hyogo Framework for Action, and the agreement of a new set of Sustainable Development Goals with associated financing mechanisms.\ud \ud This Policy Paper makes a case to international policy makers, national government representatives, UN agencies and other development actors for an integrative approach across these three interrelated international processes centred on strengthening the lives and livelihoods of all people across the world. We present recommendations that underpin an approach to tackling climate change impacts that highlights the critical importance in a rapidly changing world of livelihood resilience for all; and emphasizing the need for livelihood protection especially for the world’s most vulnerable.

The emphasis in cluster theory has been in explaining how and why clustering might contribute to competitive advantage for co-located firms, and hence for the economy. While firms may be encouraged to co-locate to gain from transactional, institutional and knowledge benefits, threats to economic sustainability have been associated with a deterioration of advantages and a failure to adapt, resulting in a decline of competitiveness. This thesis reconsiders industry clusters as organisational populations, suggesting a mechanism through which the population and the resource environment can adapt and survive Cluster sustainability is described as a evolutionary process in which the population and resources of the cluster adapt through the creation of new member firms. Based on an embedded case study of eight firm formation events taking place in the UK motorsport industry, the research examines how an industry cluster regenerates and reproduces itself. The concentration, complexity, and diversity of supply and demand comprising the cluster’s organisational population generate a resource environment which generates creation of new members compatible with the cluster’s knowledge architecture. New member entry depends on the absorptive capacity of the cluster, while contributing to the ability to identify, diffuse and exploit new knowledge. Sustainability of industry clusters is associated with the characteristics that support new member creation.