Expectations, gains, and losses in the anterior cingulate cortex.

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) participates in evaluating actions and outcomes. Little is known on how action-reward values are processed in ACC and if the context in which actions are performed influences this processing. In the present article, we report ACC unit activity of monkeys performing two tasks. The first task tested whether the encoding of reward values is co ntext dependent-that is, dependent on the size of theother rewards that are available in the current block of trials. The second task tested whether unexpected events signaling a change in reward are represented. We show that the context created by a block design (i.e., the context of possible alternative rewards) influences the encoding of reward values, even if no decision or choice is required. ACC activity encodes the relative and not absolute expected reward values. Moreover, cingulate activitysignals and evaluates when reward expectations are violated by unexpected stimuli, indicating reward gains or losses

Characterizing the active tectonics in the Oran region (Algeria) and recasting the 1790 earthquake

In this work, we reappraise the seismogenic potential of the geologic structures in the western Tell Atlas of Algeria, considered active host to moderate to low magnitude earthquakes. The direct identification of active faults is generally a difficult task in northern Algeria. The active tectonics in the Oran Plio- Quaternary age basin (Northwestern Algeria) is ana- lyzed and characterized through a morpho-structural study combining topographic, geomorphologic, geolog- ical, and neotectonic data. Folds and fault scarps affect- ing Quaternary deposits show that the region is affected by compressional deformation still active nowadays, as shown by the recorded seismic activity. Our new obser- vations enable a better understanding of the present seismotectonic context of the Oran region, particularly with regard to the magnitude and source of the 1790 Oran damaging event. The obtained result helps to shed some light on the elusive active tectonics characterizing this coastal area, and to assess regional seismic hazard, particularly in coastal zones where large seismogenic areas straddle the onshore–offshore zones.Published1549–15612T. Deformazione crostale attivaJCR Journa

Seismicity of the Algerian tell atlas and the impacts of major earthquakes

The seismicity of the Tell Atlas, which extends from the Algerian margin to the South Atlasic fault system, is related to the dynamics of Quaternary basins under an oblique NW–SE convergent stress regime, including the basins of Mleta and L’Habra in the west, Cheliff and Mitidja in the centre, and Soummam, Hodna and Guelma in the east. This seismicity is characterized by moderate to low magnitudes with strong events occurring generally once a decade. Over the last six decades, several moderate, strong and major events occurred that were associated with extensive and severe damage, such as those of El Asnam (1954, Ms 6.7; 1980, Ms 7.3), Constantine (1985, Ms 6.0), Tipasa–Chenoua (1989, Ms 6.0), Mascara (1994, Ms 6.0), Ain Temouchent (1999, Ms 5.8), Beni Ouartilane (2001, Ms 5.6), Zemmouri—Boumerdes (2003, Mw 6.8) and Laalam (2005, Ms 5.8), in addition to numerous large historical seismic events, including those that occurred in Algiers (1365 and 1716, Io = X), Oran (1790, Io = X), Mascara (1819, Io = X), Djidjelli (1856, Io = VIII) and M’sila (1885, Io = IX). This chapter presents a review of the seismicity of North Algeria and a detailed analysis of the main earthquakes that have occurred in the Tell Atlas since 1980. Finally, the impacts of several signif- icant earthquakes that occurred during the period between 1364 and 2015 are presented and discussed in terms of seismic energy.Acknowledgements This study was conducted within the scope of the MEDYNA FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES project, WP-1: Present-day Kinematics and seismic hazards, funded by the Seventh Framework European Programme. The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Instituto de Ciências da Terra da Universidade de Évora (Portugal) and the Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique (Algiers, Algeria), under contract with the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT, Portugal), PEst-OE/CTE/UI0078/2011. We would like to thank the Editors, Prof. Abderrahmane Bendaoud and Prof. Mohamed Hamoudi (Algiers University, USTHB), for their help

Noncoding RNAs in eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis and function

The ribosome, central to protein synthesis in all cells, is a complex multicomponent assembly with rRNA at its functional core. During the process of ribosome biogenesis, diverse noncoding RNAs participate in controlling the quantity and quality of this rRNA. In this Review, I discuss the multiple roles assumed by noncoding RNAs during the different steps of ribosome biogenesis and how they contribute to the generation of ribosome heterogeneity, which affects normal and pathophysiological processes.SCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A history of British seismology

The work of John Milne, the centenary of whose death is marked in 2013, has had a large impact in the development in global seismology. On his return from Japan to England in 1895, he established for the first time a global earthquake recording network, centred on his observatory at Shide, Isle of Wight. His composite bulletins, the “Shide Circulars” developed, in the twentieth century, into the world earthquake bulletins of the International Seismological Summary and eventually the International Seismological Centre, which continues to publish the definitive earthquake parameters of world earthquakes on a monthly basis. In fact, seismology has a long tradition in Britain, stretching back to early investigations by members of the Royal Society after 1660. Investigations in Scotland in the early 1840s led to a number of firsts, including the first network of instruments, the first seismic bulletin, and indeed, the first use of the word “seismometer”, from which words like “seismology” are a back-formation. This paper will present a chronological survey of the development of seismology in the British Isles, from the first written observations of local earthquakes in the seventh century, and the first theoretical writing on earthquakes in the twelfth century, up to the monitoring of earthquakes in Britain in the present day