Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements

The psychological and neurobiological processes underlying moral judgement have been the focus of many recent empirical studies1–11. Of central interest is whether emotions play a causal role in moral judgement, and, in parallel, how emotion-related areas of the brain contribute to moral judgement. Here we show that six patients with focal bilateral damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC), a brain region necessary for the normal generation of emotions and, in particular, social emotions12–14, produce an abnor- mally ‘utilitarian’ pattern of judgements on moral dilemmas that pit compelling considerations of aggregate welfare against highly emotionally aversive behaviours (for example, having to sacrifice one person’s life to save a number of other lives)7,8. In contrast, the VMPC patients’ judgements were normal in other classes of moral dilemmas. These findings indicate that, for a selective set of moral dilemmas, the VMPC is critical for normal judgements of right and wrong. The findings support a necessary role for emotion in the generation of those judgements

FoxK1 and FoxK2 in insulin regulation of cellular and mitochondrial metabolism

A major target of insulin signaling is the FoxO family of Forkhead transcription factors, which translocate from the nucleus to the cytoplasm following insulin-stimulated phosphorylation. Here we show that the Forkhead transcription factors FoxK1 and FoxK2 are also downstream targets of insulin action, but that following insulin stimulation, they translocate from the cytoplasm to nucleus, reciprocal to the translocation of FoxO1. FoxK1/FoxK2 translocation to the nucleus is dependent on the Akt-mTOR pathway, while its localization to the cytoplasm in the basal state is dependent on GSK3. Knockdown of FoxK1 and FoxK2 in liver cells results in upregulation of genes related to apoptosis and down-regulation of genes involved in cell cycle and lipid metabolism. This is associated with decreased cell proliferation and altered mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism. Thus, FoxK1/K2 are reciprocally regulated to FoxO1 following insulin stimulation and play a critical role in the control of apoptosis, metabolism and mitochondrial function

Políticas públicas de segurança alimentar e nutricional: uma análise do programa Tuia Cheia em Couto Magalhães, Tocantins

This study aimed to analyze the results of the Tuia Cheia Program (TCP), seeking to understand the role of public policies on food and nutrition security, their contributions, advances and setbacks in municipalities in the northern region of Brazil. A case study of the TCP was carried out in the municipality of Couto Magalhães, located in the northern region of Brazil, in the northeast of the state of Tocantins, which is part of the context of municipalities affected by food and nutritional insecurity. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used, with the combination of document analysis, participant observation, informal interviews and focus group.The results of the research demonstrate that the TCP contributed to the reduction of food and nutritional insecurity in the municipality of Couto Magalhães. The program served municipal public schools through the National School Feeding Program (NSFP) and demands from the local community. During the research, the importance of the TCP for food production and food security guarantee was observed. Therefore, the TCP in the city in question is in line with current legislation and complies with public policy on food and nutritional security. Finally, it is important to consider the role of farmers for the continuity of the program, as it has a well defined target audience: family farmers settled in the region.O presente trabalho teve por objetivo analisar os resultados do Programa Tuia Cheia (PTC), buscando compreender o papel das políticas públicas de segurança alimentar e nutricional, suas contribuições, avanços e retrocessos em municípios da região norte do Brasil. Foi realizado estudo de caso do PTC no município de Couto Magalhães, situado na região Norte do Brasil, ao Nordeste do estado do Tocantins, que faz parte do contexto de municípios afetados pela insegurança alimentar e nutricional. Utilizou-se das abordagens qualitativa e quantitativa, com a combinação de análise documental, observação participante, entrevistas informais e grupo focal. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que o PTC contribuiu para a diminuição da insegurança alimentar e nutricional no município de Couto Magalhães. O programa atendeu às escolas públicas municipais por meio do Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) e demandas da comunidade local. No decorrer da pesquisa se observou a importância do PTC para a produção de alimentos e garantia de segurança alimentar. Portanto, no município em pauta, o PTC está em consonância com a legislação vigente e atende à política pública de segurança alimentar e nutricional. Por fim, é importante considerar o protagonismo dos agricultores para a continuidade do programa, já que tem como público prioritário os assentados da reforma agrária da região

Not all features are created equal: Processing asymmetries between location and object features

Previous research has shown spontaneous location processing when location is not a task relevant feature and when a target is presented together with distractors. The present study investigates whether such processing can occur in the absence of distractor inhibition, and whether there is a processing asymmetry between location and an object feature. The results show that not all features are created equal. Whereas attending to an object’s color or texture led to the involuntary processing of that object’s location, attending to an object’s location did not necessarily result in the encoding of its color or texture when these nonspatial properties were not task relevant. These results add to the body of evidence demonstrating the special role of location in attentional selection. They also provide a clearer picture of the interactions among location, object features, and participants’ behavioral goals

Origens brasileiras das Ciências da Comunicação: aspectos da formação francesa nas trajetórias docentes dos primeiros PPGs

O artigo se inscreve nos estudos sobre as origens das Ciências da Comunicação no Brasil, abordando estritamente aspectos da formação francesa nas trajetórias de docentes recentemente ativos e presentes nos primeiros PPGs brasileiros. A abordagem das trajetórias docentes para investigar as origens é compatível com a metodologia de Tétu e Boure sobre as origens francesas. O campo de observaçãomapeou os PPGs de origem brasileira, a formação francesa, as áreas de origem, as teses, as linhagens de pesquisa e a atividade atual dos docentes em foco. Esse ponto de vista possibilitou inferências despretensiosas e questionamentos à epistemologia da comunicação sobre o lugar do pensamento francês nas origens brasileiras

Origens brasileiras das Ciências da Comunicação: aspectos da formação francesa nas trajetórias docentes dos primeiros PPGs

O artigo se inscreve nos estudos sobre as origens das Ciências da Comunicação no Brasil, abordando estritamente aspectos da formação francesa nas trajetórias de docentes recentemente ativos e presentes nos primeiros PPGs brasileiros. A abordagem das trajetórias docentes para investigar as origens é compatível com a metodologia de Tétu e Boure sobre as origens francesas. O campo de observaçãomapeou os PPGs de origem brasileira, a formação francesa, as áreas de origem, as teses, as linhagens de pesquisa e a atividade atual dos docentes em foco. Esse ponto de vista possibilitou inferências despretensiosas e questionamentos à epistemologia da comunicação sobre o lugar do pensamento francês nas origens brasileiras

Amifostine (wr-2721), A Cytoprotective Agent During High-dose Cyclophosphamide Treatment Of Non-hodgkin's Lymphomas: A Phase Ii Study.

Clinical trials indicate that amifostine may confer protection on various normal tissues without attenuating anti-tumor response. When administered prior to chemotherapy or radiotherapy, it may provide a broad spectrum of cytoprotection including against alkylating drugs. The mechanism of protection resides in the metabolism at normal tissue site by membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase. Toxicity of this drug is moderate with hypotension, nausea and vomiting, and hypocalcemia being observed. We report a phase II study using amifostine as a protective drug against high-dose cyclophosphamide (HDCY) (7 g/m2), used to mobilize peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) and to reduce tumor burden. We enrolled 29 patients, 22 (75. 9%) affected by aggressive and 7 (24.1%) by indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), who were submitted to 58 infusions of amifostine and compared them with a historical group (33 patients) affected by aggressive NHL and treated with VACOP-B followed by HDCY. The most important results in favor of amifostine were the reduction of intensity of cardiac, pulmonary and hepatic toxicity, and a significant reduction of frequency and severity of mucositis (P = 0. 04). None of the 29 patients died in the protected group, while in the historical group 2/33 patients died because of cardiac or pulmonary toxicity and 2 patients stopped therapy due to toxicity. Amifostine did not prevent the aplastic phase following HDCY. PBPC collection and hematological recovery were adequate in both groups. The number of CFU-GM (colony-forming units-granulocyte/macrophage) colonies and mononuclear cells in the apheresis products was significantly higher in the amifostine group (P = 0.02 and 0.01, respectively). Side effects were mild and easily controlled. We conclude that amifostine protection should be useful in HDCY to protect normal tissues, with acceptable side effects.33791-

A Robot Model of OC-Spectrum Disorders : Design Framework, Implementation and First Experiments

© 2019 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyComputational psychiatry is increasingly establishing itself as valuable discipline for understanding human mental disorders. However, robot models and their potential for investigating embodied and contextual aspects of mental health have been, to date, largely unexplored. In this paper, we present an initial robot model of obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders based on an embodied motivation-based control architecture for decision making in autonomous robots. The OC family of conditions is chiefly characterized by obsessions (recurrent, invasive thoughts) and/or compulsions (an urge to carry out certain repetitive or ritualized behaviors). The design of our robot model follows and illustrates a general design framework that we have proposed to ground research in robot models of mental disorders, and to link it with existing methodologies in psychiatry, and notably in the design of animal models. To test and validate our model, we present and discuss initial experiments, results and quantitative and qualitative analysis regarding the compulsive and obsessive elements of OC-spectrum disorders. While this initial stage of development only models basic elements of such disorders, our results already shed light on aspects of the underlying theoretical model that are not obvious simply from consideration of the model.Peer reviewe

What does touch tell us about emotions in touchscreen-based gameplay?

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ACM. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution.Nowadays, more and more people play games on touch-screen mobile phones. This phenomenon raises a very interesting question: does touch behaviour reflect the player’s emotional state? If possible, this would not only be a valuable evaluation indicator for game designers, but also for real-time personalization of the game experience. Psychology studies on acted touch behaviour show the existence of discriminative affective profiles. In this paper, finger-stroke features during gameplay on an iPod were extracted and their discriminative power analysed. Based on touch-behaviour, machine learning algorithms were used to build systems for automatically discriminating between four emotional states (Excited, Relaxed, Frustrated, Bored), two levels of arousal and two levels of valence. The results were very interesting reaching between 69% and 77% of correct discrimination between the four emotional states. Higher results (~89%) were obtained for discriminating between two levels of arousal and two levels of valence