"Teaching is a political act," argues teacher-turned-politician John Waldron. And it's going to take more organizing to rescue public education.

This poem pays tribute to the more than 400 teachers, principals, bus drivers, custodians, and other staff members we have lost to the pandemic so far.

Convinced that the show must go on, many high school theater troupes are turning to livestreamed productions, outdoor performances, and radio plays.

Consistent, science-based messaging is crucial, but the new administration still faces political headwinds and a skeptical public.

Most New Jersey students get schooled in the arts, but time devoted to the subject has been dwindling.

Pandemic-inflicted budget cuts have cost thousands of educators their jobs. Here’s how that’s playing out in five districts around the country.

Nephron Pharmaceuticals, a drug manufacturing company in West Columbia, S.C., recently hired 650 current and retired teachers through a new program designed to provide educators with additional income.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis is renewing a political trend that had fallen dormant: calling for the end of the use of the shared standards.

Thousands of Indiana teachers are scrambling to begin renewing their professional teaching licenses before new rules that state lawmakers approved this spring take effect July 1.

In Arkansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin, educators and advocates will be on this year's ballot for governor, a position that will inevitably have an outsized role in shaping education policy.

With their state’s caucuses the first official marker in the 2020 presidential contest, Iowa teenagers are in a unique position to observe and participate.

Shea Weber gets inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after an impressive career.

Kenzie Lalonde will become the first woman play-by-play announcer for an NHL team's TV broadcasts in Canada. Reactions and endorsements have poured in.

Zack Ostapchuk returns to Belleville after posting one assist in six games with the big club.

Poile, Nashville's first-ever general manager who retired in 2023, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside former Predators captain Shea Weber.

From time to time, but not very often, former special-teams coordinators become NFL head coaches.

Pandemic-inflicted budget cuts have cost thousands of educators their jobs. Here’s how that’s playing out in five districts around the country.

Marie Pino, who taught generations of children in her Navajo community, died at 67. She had lost one of her sons, a school basketball coach, to coronavirus-related illness just weeks before; her husband, an emergency medical coordinator and pastor, died of the illness shortly after she did.

David Schuler, the superintendent of Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, Ill., has been named 2018 National Superintendent of the Year.

In the aftermath of this spring's teacher protests, more educators are running for state office—and the National Education Association is seizing on the political moment.

Evdokia Menelaou
Aug 8, 2012; 32:10925-10939
BehavioralSystemsCognitive

α-Neurexins are essential and highly expressed presynaptic cell-adhesion molecules that are frequently linked to neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Despite their importance, how the elaborate extracellular sequences of α-neurexins contribute to synapse function is poorly understood. We recently characterized the presynaptic gain-of-function phenotype caused by a missense mutation in an evolutionarily conserved extracellular sequence of neurexin-3α (A687T) that we identified in a patient diagnosed with profound intellectual disability and epilepsy. The striking A687T gain-of-function mutation on neurexin-3α prompted us to systematically test using mutants whether the presynaptic gain-of-function phenotype is a consequence of the addition of side-chain bulk (i.e., A687V) or polar/hydrophilic properties (i.e., A687S). We used multidisciplinary approaches in mixed-sex primary hippocampal cultures to assess the impact of the neurexin-3α^A687 residue on synapse morphology, function and ligand binding. Unexpectedly, neither A687V nor A687S recapitulated the neurexin-3α A687T phenotype. Instead, distinct from A687T, molecular replacement with A687S significantly enhanced postsynaptic properties exclusively at excitatory synapses and selectively increased binding to neuroligin-1 and neuroligin-3 without changing binding to neuroligin-2 or LRRTM2. Importantly, we provide the first experimental evidence supporting the notion that the position A687 of neurexin-3α and the N-terminal sequences of neuroligins may contribute to the stability of α-neurexin–neuroligin-1 trans-synaptic interactions and that these interactions may specifically regulate the postsynaptic strength of excitatory synapses.

Abnormal neuronal morphological features, such as dendrite branching, axonal branching, and spine density, are thought to contribute to the symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, the role and molecular mechanisms of aberrant neuronal morphology in the regulation of mood disorders remain poorly characterized. Here, we show that neuritin, an activity-dependent protein, regulates the axonal morphology of serotonin neurons. Male neuritin knock-out (KO) mice harbored impaired axonal branches of serotonin neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex and basolateral region of the amygdala (BLA), and male neuritin KO mice exhibited depressive and anxiety-like behaviors. We also observed that the expression of neuritin was decreased by unpredictable chronic stress in the male mouse brain and that decreased expression of neuritin was associated with reduced axonal branching of serotonin neurons in the brain and with depressive and anxiety behaviors in mice. Furthermore, the stress-mediated impairments in axonal branching and depressive behaviors were reversed by the overexpression of neuritin in the BLA. The ability of neuritin to increase axonal branching in serotonin neurons involves fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling, and neuritin contributes to FGF-2-mediated axonal branching regulation in vitro. Finally, the oral administration of an FGF inhibitor reduced the axonal branching of serotonin neurons in the brain and caused depressive and anxiety behaviors in male mice. Our results support the involvement of neuritin in models of stress-induced depression and suggest that neuronal morphological plasticity may play a role in controlling animal behavior.

The GluN3A subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) plays an established role in synapse development, but its contribution to neural circuits in the adult brain is less clear. Recent work has demonstrated that in select cell populations, GluN3A assembles with GluN1 to form GluN1/GluN3A receptors that are insensitive to glutamate and instead serve as functional excitatory glycine receptors (eGlyRs). Our understanding of these eGlyRs, and how they contribute to intrinsic excitability and synaptic communication within relevant networks of the developing and the mature brain, is only beginning to be uncovered. Here, using male and female mice, we demonstrate that GluN3A subunits are enriched in the adult ventral hippocampus (VH), where they localize to synaptic and extrasynaptic sites and can assemble as functional eGlyRs on CA1 pyramidal cells. GluN3A expression was barely detectable in the adult dorsal hippocampus (DH). We also observed a high GluN2B content in the adult VH, characterized by slow NMDAR current decay kinetics and a high sensitivity to the GluN2B-containing NMDAR antagonist ifenprodil. Interestingly, the GluN2B enrichment in the adult VH was dependent on GluN3A as GluN3A deletion accelerated NMDAR decay and reduced ifenprodil sensitivity in the VH, suggesting that GluN3A expression can regulate the balance of conventional NMDAR subunit composition at synaptic sites. Lastly, we found that GluN3A knock-out also enhanced both NMDAR-dependent calcium influx and NMDAR-dependent long-term potentiation in the VH. Together, these data reveal a novel role for GluN3A and eGlyRs in the control of ventral hippocampal circuits in the mature brain.

Experience- and activity-dependent transcription is a candidate mechanism to mediate development and refinement of specific cortical circuits. Here, we demonstrate that the activity-dependent transcription factor myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) is required in both presynaptic layer (L) 4 and postsynaptic L2/3 mouse (male and female) somatosensory (S1) cortical neurons for development of this specific synaptic connection. While postsynaptic deletion of Mef2c weakens L4 synaptic inputs, it has no effect on inputs from local L2/3, contralateral S1, or the ipsilateral frontal/motor cortex. Similarly, homozygous or heterozygous deletion of Mef2c in presynaptic L4 neurons weakens L4 to L2/3 excitatory synaptic inputs by decreasing presynaptic release probability. Postsynaptic MEF2C is specifically required during an early postnatal, experience-dependent, period for L4 to L2/3 synapse function, and expression of transcriptionally active MEF2C (MEF2C-VP16) rescues weak L4 to L2/3 synaptic strength in sensory-deprived mice. Together, these results suggest that experience- and/or activity-dependent transcriptional activation of MEF2C promotes development of L4 to L2/3 synapses. Additionally, MEF2C regulates the expression of many pre- and postsynaptic genes in postnatal cortical neurons. Interestingly, MEF2C was necessary for activity-dependent expression of many presynaptic genes, including those that function in transsynaptic adhesion and neurotransmitter release. This work provides mechanistic insight into the experience-dependent development of specific cortical circuits.

The early polygraph machine was considered the most scientific way to detect deception—but that was a myth

Senior staff at FAO yesterday briefed a delegation of five U.S. Senators on FAO’s work on resilience, nutrition, fisheries, climate change, [...]

Social protection and decent jobs are cornerstones of agrifood systems transformation, but they require strong political commitment

From soil to soup (Smithsonian.com). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/passion-for-tomatoes.html

Credit: David Marshall, University of Bristol

Take a walk through jazz history with pianist John Eaton as he recollects his career of the past five decades (Meredith Bragg)

Richard Saul Wurman, the founder of the popular speaker series, shares his ideas for how to make learning more interesting

The southern widow's Maryland house was a crucial stop on the escape route for assassin John Wilkes Booth the night he shot the president. Read more about Abraham Lincoln at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/life-of-lincoln.html

Atlantic staff writer Frank Foer interviews Damion Thomas about athletes moving from a position of apathy to engagement

From the Americas to Europe then back again, there's more to the potato than meets the eyes.

Forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley discusses the skeletal specimens in a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum (Meredith Bragg). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/meet-the-scientist-who-reads-bones-40315000/

The grassroots organization, Nihon Hidankyo, was lauded for "demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again"

The bone, described two decades after its discovery, suggests the species might have grown up to 20 percent bigger than other terror birds

The insect eggshell is a multifunctional structure with several important roles, including generating an entry point for sperm via the micropyle before oviposition, serving as an oviposition substrate attachment surface, and functioning as a protective layer during embryo development. Eggshell proteins play major roles in eggshell tanning and hardening following oviposition and provide molecular cues that define dorsal–ventral axis formation. Precise eggshell formation during ovarian follicle maturation is critical for normal embryo development and the synthesis of a defective eggshell often gives rise to inviable embryos. Therefore, simple and accurate methods for identifying eggshell proteins will facilitate our understanding of the molecular pathways regulating eggshell formation and the mechanisms underlying normal embryo development. This protocol describes how to isolate and enrich eggshells from mature oocytes of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and how to extract their eggshell proteins for liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) proteomic analysis. Although this methodology was developed for studying mosquito eggshells, it may be applicable to eggs from a variety of insects. Mosquitoes are ideal model organisms for this study as their ovarian follicle development and eggshell formation are meticulously regulated by blood feeding and their follicles develop synchronously throughout oogenesis in a time-dependent manner.

Newspaper editor Horace Greeley unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facility

Before fitness influencers made getting your steps in a trend, pedestrianism had the nation on their feet

Medical student Samuel Bonne had read everything he could to prepare for his group's dissection of a cadaver. But after the first cut, he left with lingering questions about what it means to lead a good life and die with dignity.

Saskatchewan's police watchdog is investigating an incident that led to the suspension of five Saskatoon police officers and a sixth officer is also off work because of an unrelated incident.

The final election results are in for the 2024 Saskatchewan election, which received a higher vote turnout than 2020. The NDP's April ChiefCalf won Saskatoon-Westview. And Saskatchewan Party’s Ken Cheveldayoff was re-elected in Saskatoon-Willowgrove.

We've heard what the candidates want to do about community safety in Saskatoon. Here's what the people already doing the work say the new mayor and council should do after the civic election.