Virtual student-led neuroscience conferencing: a UK multicentre prospective study investigating delegate outcomes and delivery mode.

BACKGROUND: Clinical neuroscience training programmes are becoming increasingly competitive to enter. UK university neuroscience societies act as a local environment for students to develop their career interests and provide portfolio building opportunities through hosting events such as annual conferences. Recently there has been a transition to more of these events being held online yet the impact of this, if any, remains unclear. This prospective study aimed to identify the impact of student-led neuroscience conferences on delegates and examine attitudes towards an online delivery approach. METHODS: Multi-centre prospective survey study using pre-conference, post-conference, and 6-month post-conference online questionnaires distributed at 6 virtual student-led neuroscience conferences in 2021. The questionnaires had five-domains: demographics, career aspirations, academic skillsets, an educational manipulation check (EMC) and mode of delivery preference. RESULTS: Nine hundred twenty-four surveys were completed across 559 conference attendances. 79.9% of delegates were medical students. Interest in a neuroscience career (p < 0.001), preparedness to undertake research (p < 0.001) and presentation (p < 0.001), as well as EMC scores (p < 0.001) increased immediately post conference. Most participants at 6 months post-attendance had completed an academic project (71.9%) or presentation (50.9%), although 88.8% were lost to follow up. Online format was preferred (65%) with reasons including elimination of travel and access to home facilities whilst lack of face-to-face interaction and engagement were recognised limitations. CONCLUSION: UK student-led online neuroscience conferences play a role in developing knowledge and may facilitate career interest, academic skillset and longer term portfolio building. A hybrid virtual and in-person experience would offer an ideal solution to future conferencing, providing options promoting engagement and interactivity whilst advocating sustainability, accessibility and widening participation.

Changes in corneal collagen architecture during mouse postnatal development.

PURPOSE: To characterize changes in corneal collagen arrangement during mouse postnatal development. METHODS: Small-angle X-ray scatter patterns were gathered from the centers of 32 excised mice corneas aged between postnatal days 10 (before eye opening) and 28 (onset of sexual maturity). These were analyzed to produce measurements of the average separation distance between corneal collagen fibrils. Changes in the predominant orientation of corneal collagen and its relative distribution during the same developmental period were determined using wide-angle X-ray scatter data collected at 0.2-mm intervals over the entire cornea and limbal region of each specimen. RESULTS: Collagen interfibrillar spacing decreased in the days leading up to eye opening (61.3 +/- 2.9 nm at day 10 to 45.5 +/- 4.5 nm at day 14), after which it remained constant. However, changes in collagen orientation and distribution occurred throughout the entire developmental period. After eye opening at day 12, collagen alignment gradually increased in the peripheral cornea and limbus. By day 28, an annulus of highly aligned collagen surrounded the cornea. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in corneal thickness before and after eye opening are not caused by widespread alterations in the collagen fibrillar array but are more likely caused by expansion and contraction of regions devoid of regularly arranged collagen. The postnatal development of a corneal annulus of collagen, thought to play a role in stabilizing the curvature of the cornea, may be triggered by visual factors.

Vasopressin does not mediate hypersensitivity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis during chronic stress.

The hypothesis that vasopressin (VP) becomes the main mediator of pituitary corticotroph responsiveness during chronic hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activation was tested by examining the effect of pharmacologic VP receptor blockade on the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone responses of 14-day repeatedly restrained rats. In spite of the increased vasopressinergic activity, repeatedly restrained rats showed lower ACTH and corticosterone responses to 10 min white noise compared with handled controls. These responses were unchanged by injection of the nonpeptide-selective V1b receptor antagonist SSR149415 i.v., 1 h before noise application. In contrast to noise stress, plasma ACTH responses to i.p. hypertonic saline injection were enhanced in the repeatedly restrained rats compared with handled controls, but responses were also unaffected by SSR149415 administered orally, daily 1 h before restraint. Since SSR149415 effectiveness was low, we used minipump infusion of the peptide V1 receptor antagonist, dGly[Phaa1,D-tyr(et), Lys, Arg]VP (V1-Ant) for 14 days, which effectively blocked ACTH responses to exogenous VP. Chronic V1-Ant infusion reduced plasma ACTH responses to i.p. hypertonic saline in handled controls but not in repeatedly restrained rats. These data suggest that the increased vasopressinergic activity characteristic of chronic stress plays roles other than mediating the hypersensitivity of the HPA axis to a novel stress.

Comparative study of fibrillar collagen arrangement in the corneas of primates and other mammals.

This study is a comparative study of the relationship between corneal structure, morphology, and function in a range of mammalian species. X-ray scattering patterns were gathered at regular spatial intervals over the excised cornea (and in most cases also the scleral rim) of humans, marmosets, horses, cows, pigs, rabbits, and mice. All patterns were analyzed to produce quantitative information regarding the predominant orientation of fibrillar collagen throughout the tissue. The predominant direction of corneal collagen varies between mammals. This variation is not related to the size, shape, or thickness of the cornea or the frequency with which the animal blinks. A relationship does, however, appear to exist between corneal collagen arrangement and visual acuity. An excess of collagen directed toward one or both sets of opposing rectus muscles is a feature of animals that have an intermediate to high level of visual acuity. There is a significant variation in the arrangement of corneal collagen between different mammalian species. This finding may be related to differences in the frequency of action and the forces generated by the various extraocular muscles during eye movement and image fixation.