Molecular-Genetic Mechanisms of Memory Formation in Mouse Models of Neurodevelopmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders are a significant and expanding global health crisis. Many individuals affected by these disorders have social and cognitive symptoms represent significant sources of ongoing disability that are refractory to available treatment options. The search for cures and therapies for disorders fundamentally requires an understanding of the core neuropathology and insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms at work. In this dissertation, I describe experiments that we performed to explore molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying memory impairment and enhancement in mice. Synaptic structural proteins form a critical and adjustable framework that supports recruitment of neurotransmitter receptors and facilitates signal transduction. In Chapter 2, we explored a role for the autism-related gene Protocadherin 10 (Pcdh10) as a key regulator of dendritic spine morphology and synapse elimination. We found that mice with reduced PCDH10 have deficits in amygdala function, including impairments in conditioned fear, social interactions and gamma synchrony, as well as increased density of immature filopodia-type spines. In the second part of this dissertation, we showed that the co-repressor SIN3A is a negative regulator of memory formation. In Chapter 3, we demonstrated that reducing levels of SIN3A enhances in long-term memory and hippocampal synaptic plasticity, and increases expression of Homer1, a gene encoding a post-synaptic density protein that regulates signaling through metabotropic glutamate receptors. In Chapter 4, we identified contextual fear deficits in transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase in forebrain neurons. These results expand our understanding of molecular mechanisms of memory formation, and identify new therapeutic targets for improving cognitive function

Introduction: Capitalist Crisis Poetry: Lyric Encounters with Neoliberalism in the Twenty-First Century

This introductory chapter explores the lyric’s potential as an active agent of change and offers an overview of contemporary discourses on the status of poetry in late capitalist contexts. Our approach synthesizes recent theoretical, philosophical, and poetic scholarship to facilitate a more comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the numerous aesthetic and conceptual agendas of twenty-first-century lyric writing. We re-theorize the nexus between lyric poetry, politics, and neoliberal capitalism in order to think through the ways in which different poetic forms as well as lyric language and practices shape, transform, or resist political and capitalist discourses—but also to reflect on how the lyric and the theory of the lyric have themselves been shaped by these discourses. We propose lyricism as a compelling analytical tool with which to grasp effective and affective dynamics of poetic production and reception, and as a space where the poem can resist simple classification and straightforward commodification. In taking seriously interventionist strategies employed in poetry to tackle the crises triggered or exacerbated by neoliberal capitalism, this chapter is a springboard for contemporary poetics interested in readings of poetry beyond a reductive analysis that focuses either solely on formal features or on content. It is thus of immediate relevance to literary and cultural studies, as well as the social and political sciences

Competitividad internacional de la cadena de vinos finos de la Argentina

p.149-157Se analizó la cadena de los vinos finos en la Argentina, con el objetivo de conocer los factores que hacen a la creciente competitividad de las exportaciones. En primer lugar, se calculó la distribución de la superficie plantada entre los productores primarios, se relevó el grado de concentración de las bodegas y se efectuó un análisis descriptivo de la distribución en el mercado interno y de las exportaciones. En segundo lugar, se elaboró un análisis FODA (Fortalezas, Oportunidades, Debilidades y Amenazas) de la cadena, particularmente enfocado a su desempeño en el mercado externo, con el fin de sugerir estrategias para mejorar la competitividad internacional de la cadena de vinos finos. Asimismo, a partir de la información relevada, se elaboró una aproximación cuantitativa al concepto de competitividad a través del índice de ventajas comparativas relevadas de Bela Ballasa. Por último, se resalta que el concepto de competitividad involucra un abordaje sistémico de la cadena, comprendiendo el estudio de distintos niveles de análisis, que deben ser considerados en conjunto para una mejor aproximación

Zirkulierende Bildformeln zwischen Ost und West: Politiken des Populären und 'Shakespeare: the animated tales'

Hannah Schoch untersucht in „Zirkulierende Bildformeln zwischen Ost und West“ die medienkulturelle Konstellation der Animationsserie The Animated Shakespeare (1992–1994), die – während des Zusammenbruchs des sowjetischen Regimes – durch eine Zusammenarbeit zwischen der BBC, der walisischen Filmproduktionsfirma S4C und dem Animationsstudio Soyuzmultfilm entstand. Dabei wird zum einen das komplexe Netz von textuellen, medialen, kulturellen, politischen und wissenschaftlichen Politiken, in deren Interaktionsfeld dieses Werk der Populärkultur verstrickt ist, ausgelegt. Zum anderen wird von Schoch herausgearbeitet, wie die (Selbst-)Positionierung der Serie insbesondere über paradoxe Doppelstrategien von Aneignung und Verfremdung, Hegemonie und Subversion, Universalanspruch und spezifisch Lokalem geschieht. Dafür wird vorgeschlagen, mit der Metapher der Auslegeordnung zu arbeiten, auch als grundsätzlichem Versuch, der Frage nachzugehen, in welcher Form es überhaupt möglich ist, dem Anliegen einer Politik des Populären gerecht zu werden. Schochs These ist, dass deren Verstrickungen vom Werk selbst schon immer mitreflektiert werden; dass es als Kunstwerk sich selbst stets darüber befragt, was die Konsequenzen dieser medienkulturellen Konstellationen sind, und dieses Wissen um seine ganze diskursive Komplexität im Kontext der sie produzierenden und rezipierenden Gesellschaften mitträgt. Gleichzeitig ist es als Werk der Kunst, im Gegensatz zu Wissenschaft oder Philosophie, bereit, darauf immer wieder unterschiedliche Antworten zu geben, eben weil es sich in einem stets veränderlichen System bewegt, mit dem es selbst in Wechselwirkung steht

Grasping the Complicity and Multiplicity of Hamilton: An American Musical: Genre Circulation and the Politics of Pop Culture Pedagogy

This article argues that one of the best ways to chart the complexity of Hamilton’s cultural reverberations is via the analytical lens of genre. Indeed, many of the (academic) controversies surrounding the musical are related to an unease with how its pop culture genres intersect with cultural, historical, and political meaning-making processes. At stake is the ongoing dynamics between the complicity and the multiplicity of the aesthetic product—between the confirmation of (genre) expectations and mythical narratives on the one hand, and innovation and intervention, on the other. Specifically, this article considers the pedagogic role that genres play for Hamilton: the musical has not only been lauded by instructors across the U.S. for use in their classrooms, but the creators of the musical have themselves reinforced the pedagogic angle both as a marketing tool and as part of what they see as their social and political commitment. Consequently, this essay draws on a transdisciplinary conception of genre that has emerged in the last three decades to test its affordances for tracing the socio-political efficacy of pop culture works