Dexmedetomidine prevents cortical apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. However, using higher doses of dexmedetomidine does not further increase protection against isoflurane injury in the cortex than previously observed.

SUMMARYAddiction is a complex psychiatric disorder considered to be a disease of the brain's natural reward reinforcement system. Repeated stimulation of the 'reward' pathway leads to adaptive changes in gene expression and synaptic organization that reinforce drug taking and underlie long-term changes in behaviour. The primitive nature of reward reinforcement pathways and the near universal ability of abused drugs to target the same system allow drug-associated reward and reinforcement to be studied in non-mammalian species. Zebrafish have proved to be a valuable model system for the study of vertebrate development and disease. Here we demonstrate that adult zebrafish show a dose-dependent acute conditioned place preference (CPP) reinforcement response to ethanol or nicotine. Repeated exposure of adult zebrafish to either nicotine or ethanol leads to a robust CPP response that persists following 3·weeks of abstinence and in the face of adverse stimuli, a behavioural indicator of the establishment of dependence. Microarray analysis using whole brain samples from drug-treated and control zebrafish identified 1362 genes that show a significant change in expression between control and treated individuals. Of these genes, 153 are common to both ethanol-and nicotine-treated animals. These genes include members of pathways and processes implicated in drug dependence in mammalian models, revealing conservation of neuro-adaptation pathways between zebrafish and mammals.Supplementary material available online at

Study Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a wearable sleep-tracker improves perceived sleep quality in healthy participants and to test whether wearables reliably measure sleep quantity and quality compared with polysomnography. Methods: This study included a single-center randomized crossover trial of community-based participants without medical conditions or sleep disorders. A wearable device (WHOOP, Inc.) was used that provided feedback regarding sleep information to the participant for 1 week and maintained sleep logs versus 1 week of maintained sleep logs alone. Self-reported daily sleep behaviors were documented in sleep logs. Polysomnography was performed on 1 night when wearing the wearable. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System sleep disturbance sleep scale was measured at baseline, day 7 and day 14 of study participation. Results: In 32 participants (21 women; 23.8 ± 5 years), wearables improved nighttime sleep quality (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System sleep disturbance: B = −1.69; 95% confidence interval, −3.11 to −0.27; P =.021) after adjusting for age, sex, baseline, and order effect. There was a small increase in self-reported daytime naps when wearing the device (B = 3.2; SE, 1.4; P =.023), but total daily sleep remained unchanged (P =.43). The wearable had low bias (13.8 minutes) and precision (17.8 minutes) errors for measuring sleep duration and measured dream sleep and slow wave sleep accurately (intraclass coefficient, 0.74 ± 0.28 and 0.85 ± 0.15, respectively). Bias and precision error for heart rate (bias, −0.17%; precision, 1.5%) and respiratory rate (bias, 1.8%; precision, 6.7%) were very low compared with that measured by electrocardiogram and inductance plethysmography during polysomnography. Conclusions: In healthy people, wearables can improve sleep quality and accurately measure sleep and cardiorespiratory variables.

Involvement in the facilitated peer mentoring program was associated with increased skills and academic activities for most participants. Future studies are needed to assess its applicability and success among various demographic groups in academic medicine.