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Macquarie University

16 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

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Biology

Testing Visual Sensitivity to the Speed and Direction of Motion in Lizards
Kevin L. Woo 1
1Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour, Macquarie University

Testing visual sensitivity in lizards using an operant conditioning paradigm that employs video playback of random-dot kinematograms and computer-generated invertebrates.

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Biology

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli
Kevin L. Woo 1
1Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour, Macquarie University

Computer-generated stimuli using the Jacky dragon as a model.

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Biology

Measurement Of Neuromagnetic Brain Function In Pre-school Children With Custom Sized MEG
Graciela Tesan 1, Blake W. Johnson 1, Melanie Reid 1, Rosalind Thornton 1, Stephen Crain 1
1Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University

The advent of MEG systems sized for young children opens important new opportunities to study brain development. The new system, together with a protocol that aligns experimental requirements with the capacities of children, can be used to study cognitive and language processes in healthy, awake children aged three to six.

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Behavior

The Crossmodal Congruency Task as a Means to Obtain an Objective Behavioral Measure in the Rubber Hand Illusion Paradigm
Regine Zopf 1, Greg Savage 2,3, Mark A. Williams 1,2
1Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, 2ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, 3Department of Psychology, Macquarie University

We demonstrate how an objective measure can be employed in the widely employed rubber hand illusion paradigm. This measure is obtained by modifying the well-established crossmodal congruency task. This task allows the investigation of multisensory processes which are critical for modulations of body representations as in the rubber hand illusion.

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Medicine

Measuring Ascending Aortic Stiffness In Vivo in Mice Using Ultrasound
Maggie M. Kuo 1, Viachaslau Barodka 2, Theodore P. Abraham 3, Jochen Steppan 2, Artin A. Shoukas 1, Mark Butlin 4, Alberto Avolio 4, Dan E. Berkowitz 1,2, Lakshmi Santhanam 1,2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 2Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 3Department of Medicine (Cardiology), Johns Hopkins University, 4The Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University

We describe a technique for measuring aortic stiffness from its pressure-diameter relationship in vivo in mice. Aortic diameter is recorded by ultrasound and aortic pressure is measured invasively with a solid-state pressure catheter. Blood pressure is changed incrementally and the resulting diameter is measured.

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Neuroscience

The Neuromuscular Junction: Measuring Synapse Size, Fragmentation and Changes in Synaptic Protein Density Using Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Nigel Tse 1, Marco Morsch 2, Nazanin Ghazanfari 1, Louise Cole 3, Archunan Visvanathan 1, Catherine Leamey 1, William D. Phillips 1
1Physiology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, 2Motor Neuron Disease Research Group, Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, 3Advanced Microscopy Facility, Bosch Institute, University of Sydney

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is altered in a variety of conditions that can sometimes culminate in synaptic failure. This report describes fluorescence microscope-based methods to quantify such structural changes.

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Immunology and Infection

In Vivo Assessment of Rodent Plasmodium Parasitemia and Merozoite Invasion by Flow Cytometry
Patrick M. Lelliott 1, Brendan J. McMorran 1, Simon J. Foote 1,2, Gaetan Burgio 1
1Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, 2John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University

The malaria parasite invades and replicates within red blood cells. The accurate assessment of merozoite invasion and parasitemia is therefore crucial in assessing the course of malaria infection. Here we describe a flow cytometry based protocol for the measurement of these parameters in a mouse model of malaria.

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Environment

Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes
Liette S. Waldron 1, Michael R. Gillings 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University

This protocol describes the detection of class 1 integrons and their associated gene cassettes in foodstuffs.

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Neuroscience

Visual Evoked Potential Recording in a Rat Model of Experimental Optic Nerve Demyelination
Yuyi You 1,2, Vivek K. Gupta 1, Nitin Chitranshi 1, Brittany Reedman 1, Alexander Klistorner 1,2, Stuart L. Graham 1,2
1Department of Ophthalmology, Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, 2Save Sight Institute, The University of Sydney

Focal demyelination is induced in the optic nerve using lysolecithin microinjection. Visual evoked potentials are recorded via skull electrodes implanted over the visual cortex to examine the signal conduction along the visual pathway in vivo. This protocol details the surgical procedures underlying electrode implantation and optic nerve microinjection.

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Environment

Physical Isolation of Endospores from Environmental Samples by Targeted Lysis of Vegetative Cells
Tina Wunderlin 1, Thomas Junier 2, Christophe Paul 3, Nicole Jeanneret 3, Pilar Junier 3
1Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, 2Vital-IT group, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 3Laboratory of Microbiology, University of Neuchatel

A method to single out bacterial endospores from complex microbial communities was developed to perform tailored culture or molecular studies of this group of bacteria.

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Neuroscience

Neuropharmacological Manipulation of Restrained and Free-flying Honey Bees, Apis mellifera
Eirik Søvik *1,2, Jenny A. Plath *3,4, Jean-Marc Devaud 5, Andrew B. Barron 3
1Department of Science and Mathematics, Volda University College, 2Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 3Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, 4Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 5Research Center on Animal Cognition, CNRS, Universite de Toulouse

This manuscript describes several protocols for administering pharmacological agents to honey bees, including simple noninvasive methods for free-flying bees, as well as more invasive variants that allow precise localized treatment of restrained bees.

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Neuroscience

Triggering Cell Stress and Death Using Conventional UV Laser Confocal Microscopy
Marco Morsch 1, Rowan A. W. Radford 1, Emily K. Don 1, Albert Lee 1, Elinor Hortle 1, Nicholas J. Cole 1, Roger S. Chung 1
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University

Targeted manipulations to cause directed stress or death in individual cells have been relatively difficult to accomplish. Here, a single-cell-resolution ablation approach to selectively stress and kill individual cells in cell culture and living animals is described based on a standard confocal UV laser.

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Engineering

Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction
Gwénaëlle Proust 1, Patrick Trimby 2, Sandra Piazolo 3, Delphine Retraint 4
1School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, 2Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, 3Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, 4Charles Delaunay Institute, LASMIS, UMR STMR CNRS 6281, University of Technology of Troyes

This paper provides a detailed method to characterize the microstructure of ultra-fine grained and nanocrystalline materials using a scanning electron microscope equipped with a standard electron backscatter diffraction system. Metal alloys and minerals presenting refined microstructures are analyzed using this technique, showing the diversity of its possible applications.

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Environment

Techniques for Investigating the Anatomy of the Ant Visual System
Fiorella Ramirez-Esquivel 1, Willi A. Ribi 1, Ajay Narendra 2
1Research School of Biology, Australian National University, 2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University

This article outlines a suite of techniques in light and electron microscopy to study the internal and external eye anatomy of insects. These include several traditional techniques optimized for work on ant eyes, detailed troubleshooting, and suggestions for optimization for different specimens and regions of interest.

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Neuroscience

Studying Brain Function in Children Using Magnetoencephalography
Hannah Rapaport 1,2, Robert A. Seymour 1,2,3, Paul F. Sowman 1,2, Nick Benikos 1,2, Elisabeth Stylianou 1,2, Blake W. Johnson 1,2, Stephen Crain 1,4, Wei He 1,2
1ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, 2Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, 3Aston Brain Centre, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, 4Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University

This article introduces a child-friendly research protocol designed to improve data quality by reducing head movement during pediatric magnetoencephalography (MEG). We familiarize families with the MEG environment, train children to remain still using an MEG simulator, and correct for residual head movement artefacts using a real-time head movement detection system.

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Neuroscience

Demonstrating Hairy and Glabrous Skin Innervation in a 3D Pattern Using Multiple Fluorescent Staining and Tissue Clearing Approaches
Xiaoyu Wang *1, Wanying Cao *1, Jingtao Shi *1, Xiaoning Zhang 1, Zhengyang Qu 1, Dongsheng Xu 1, Hongye Wan 1, Yangshuai Su 1, Wei He 1, Xianghong Jing 1, Wanzhu Bai 1
1Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

The thickness of tissue sections limited the morphological study of the skin innervation. The present protocol describes a unique tissue clearing technique to visualize cutaneous nerve fibers in thick 300 µm tissue sections under confocal microscopy.

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