Annotation Studio: Multimedia Annotation for Students

Annotation Studio is a web-based annotation application that integrates a powerful set of textual interpretation tools behind an interface that makes using those tools intuitive for undergraduates. Building on students’ new media literacies, this Open-source application develops traditional humanistic skills including close reading, textual analysis, persuasive writing, and critical thinking. Initial features of the Annotation Studio prototype, supported by an NEH Start-Up Grant, include aligned multi-media annotation of written texts, user-defined sharing of annotations, and grouping of annotation by self-defined tags to support interpretation and argument development. The fully developed application will support annotation of image, video and audio documents; annotation visualization; export of texts with annotations; and a media repository. We will also identify best practices among faculty using Annotation Studio in a broad range of humanities classes across the country

Annotation Studio: multimedia text annotation for students

Annotation Studio will be a web-based application that actively engages students in interpreting literary texts and other humanities documents. While strengthening students' new media literacies, this open source web application will develop traditional humanistic skills including close reading, textual analysis, persuasive writing, and critical thinking. Initial features will include: 1) easy-to-use annotation tools that facilitate linking and comparing primary texts with multi-media source, variation, and adaptation documents; 2) sharable collections of multimedia materials prepared by faculty and student users; 3) multiple filtering and display mechanisms for texts, written annotations, and multimedia annotations; 4) collaboration functionality; and 5) multimedia composition tools. Products of the start-up phase will include a working prototype, feedback from students and instructors, and a white paper summarizing lessons learned

Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Signaling Plays a Limited and Subtle Role in Amygdala Physiology and Aversive Memory

Links between synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala (LA) and Pavlovian fear learning are well established. Neuropeptides including gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) can modulate LA function. GRP increases inhibition in the LA and mice lacking the GRP receptor (GRPR KO) show more pronounced and persistent fear after single-trial associative learning. Here, we confirmed these initial findings and examined whether they extrapolate to more aspects of amygdala physiology and to other forms of aversive associative learning. GRP application in brain slices from wildtype but not GRPR KO mice increased spontaneous inhibitory activity in LA pyramidal neurons. In amygdala slices from GRPR KO mice, GRP did not increase inhibitory activity. In comparison to wildtype, short- but not long-term plasticity was increased in the cortico-lateral amygdala (LA) pathway of GRPR KO amygdala slices, whereas no changes were detected in the thalamo-LA pathway. In addition, GRPR KO mice showed enhanced fear evoked by single-trial conditioning and reduced spontaneous firing of neurons in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Altogether, these results are consistent with a potentially important modulatory role of GRP/GRPR signaling in the amygdala. However, administration of GRP or the GRPR antagonist (D-Phe6, Leu-NHEt13, des-Met14)-Bombesin (6–14) did not affect amygdala LTP in brain slices, nor did they affect the expression of conditioned fear following intra-amygdala administration. GRPR KO mice also failed to show differences in fear expression and extinction after multiple-trial fear conditioning, and there were no differences in conditioned taste aversion or gustatory neophobia. Collectively, our data indicate that GRP/GRPR signaling modulates amygdala physiology in a paradigm-specific fashion that likely is insufficient to generate therapeutic effects across amygdala-dependent disorders

German Culture, Media, and Society

Studies major texts and artistic expressions by analyzing them within the larger context of German cultural history. Investigates the German enlightenment, the culture of German liberalism and its increasingly nationalistic turn in Wilhelmine Germany; explores cultural manifestations of German modernism and anti-modernism, and examines the rise of National Socialism. Readings include: Lessing, Kant, Schiller, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. Music by Mozart, Schumann, Wagner, Sch"nberg. Paintings by Friedrich, Kirchner, and Kokoschka. Films by Lang and Riefenstahl. Taught in German. Description from course home page: Dieser Kurs beleuchtet schwerpunktartig das neue Selbstbewusstsein von Minoritäten in Deutschland. Zahlreiche aktuelle Beispiele aus Film, Radio, Fernsehen und Literatur belegen den zunehmenden Beitrag dieser Gruppe zum Kultur- und Medienschaffen in Deutschland, sowie deren sich verändernde Repräsentation in den deutschen Medien. Ein zweiter Themenbereich behandelt den neuen Blick nach Osten und die aktuelle Verarbeitung der deutschen Vereinigung unter dem Stichwort Ostalgie. Jüngste Beispiele von populären Medienformen wie Hörspiel und Kurzfilm verdeutlichen die spezifischen Produktions- und Rezeptionsbedingungen in der deutschen Medienlandschaft. In einem Hörspiel-Workshop mit der deutsch-japanischen Schriftstellerin Yoko Tawada haben die Studenten außerdem die Möglichkeit die Themen des Kurses zu diskutieren sowie selbst in der Produktion zu erfahren

Germany Today: Intensive Study of German Language & Culture

Prepares students for working and living in German-speaking countries. Focus on current political, social, and cultural issues, using newspapers, journals, TV, radio broadcasts, and Web sources from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Emphasis on speaking, writing, and reading skills for professional contexts. Activities include: oral presentations, group discussions, guest lectures, and interviews with German speakers. No listeners

Exogenous GRP or GRPR antagonist did not affect expression of conditioned fear.

<p><b>A</b>) 600 ng GRP or 3000 ng GRPR antagonist (D-Phe⁶,Leu-NHEt¹³,des-Met¹⁴)-Bombesin(6–14) was infused into the amygdala of C57BL/6 mice, that were conditioned with 6 CS-US pairings as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0034963#pone-0034963-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2C</a>, 10 min prior to testing freezing in the conditioning context 24 h later. <b>B</b>) Effect of intra-amygdala infusion of 600 ng GRP 10 min prior to testing freezing in response to the CS. <b>C</b>) Location of the bilateral injection sites determined from post-hoc histological analysis.</p

GRPR KO animals showed no differences in conditioned tast aversion (CTA) or neophobia.

<p><b>A</b>) CTA was evoked by pairing a novel taste, saccharin, with a LiCl injection to induce illness the day before testing (LiCl; n = 12 mice per group). Control animals were offered the novel taste saccharin but injected with NaCl (NaCl groups; n = 11 mice per group) or given only water to drink and injected with NaCl the previous day (saccharin naive groups; n = 12 mice per group). <b>B</b>) Attenuation of neophobia and neophobia were assessed by comparing the aversion to saccharin on first exposure (saccharin naive) with the aversion shown by mice that were exposed to saccharin the previous day (NaCl). On successive days the neophobia was attenuated by repeatedly being given the chance to drink saccharin flavored water.</p

Long-term potentiation in the LA is not changed in GRPR KO mice or by agonist/antagonist application.

<p><b>A</b>) Thalamic afferents were stimulated to evoke field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in the LA. Inset shows sample averaged traces (10 sweeps) from the 10 min baseline period (black) immediately before applying the tetanus (5×100 Hz/1 s trains, 20 s inter-train interval) and 40 min after the tetanus (grey). <b>B</b>) Mean ± s.e.m. of the change in fEPSP slope in the first 2 minutes after the tetanus (PTP) and 30–40 min after the tetanus. <b>C,D</b>) As in A,B except that cortical afferents were stimulated to evoke fEPSPs in the LA. <b>E,F</b>) Cortical afferents were stimulated at 30 s intervals to evoke EPSCs recorded from LA pyramidal neurons at −70 mV with the whole-cell voltage clamp technique. After a 10 min baseline 80 stimuli at 2 Hz were paired with depolarization to 30 mV. <b>G,H</b>) Long-term potentiation of cortico-LA fEPSPs induced by 5×100 Hz/1 s trains was not affected by bath application of 1 µM (D-Phe⁶,Leu-NHEt¹³,des-Met¹⁴)-Bombesin(6–14). Reducing inhibitory inputs by addition of 5 µM picrotoxin increased LTP. <b>I,J</b>) 1 µM GRP also did not significantly affect cortico-LA LTP.</p