Space and Value in the Primate Amygdala

Planning behavioral actions requires the ability to form associations between stimuli and outcomes in order to appropriately attribute value and emotional significance to the stimuli. This ability to form associations between stimuli and outcomes is also dependent on being able to attend to the stimulus in question, which generally involves honing in on its spatial location. The amygdala is a brain area that has been investigated extensively in the context of forming associations between stimuli and outcomes; however, whether the amygdala may also be important in linking spatial representations of stimuli with their value is relatively unexplored. Recent work has demonstrated that individual primate amygdala neurons reflect both the value of stimulus-outcome associations and the degree to which spatial attention is directed towards valuable stimuli. While these experiments demonstrated that amygdala neurons are selective for value and spatial information in an attentionally-demanding environment, it is still unclear whether similarly coordinated spatial and value selectivity is present in less attentionally-demanding contexts. To this end, we trained monkeys to perform trace-conditioning tasks similar to those known to induce robust value selectivity within the amygdala; our tasks differed in that we systematically manipulated the spatial location of stimuli in order to evaluate the degree of spatial selectivity in this relatively passive context. Additionally, we used two variants of the trace-conditioning task: a space-irrelevant task in which the relationship between stimuli and outcomes was not dependent on where the stimuli appeared, and a space-relevant task in which the outcome predicted by stimuli was dependent on their spatial location. We reasoned that spatial selectivity in the amygdala might be augmented when spatial variables were relevant to the task, particularly for guiding conditioned responses. This prediction was unsupported, however; amygdala neurons responded similarly in the space-irrelevant and space-relevant tasks. In each task, spatial selectivity was observed mainly around the time that that stimulus was present, and this spatial selectivity was essentially random with respect to neurons' value selectivity. These results run counter to those observed in attentionally-demanding operant tasks, where spatial selectivity was sustained and coordinated with value selectivity, therefore suggesting that spatial coding in the amygdala is task-dependent. Given the weak and unpredictable spatial selectivity in these trace-conditioning tasks, we asked: Under what degree of attentional load are robust spatial signals apparent in the amygdala? To investigate this, we trained monkeys on an operant task where a single stimulus appeared at one of two locations; monkeys had to detect a second stimulus that appeared at the same location, but at an unpredictable time. Unlike in the trace-conditioning tasks, amygdala neurons exhibited sustained spatial selectivity that was well-coordinated with value selectivity on this task. Further suggesting an influential role on attention, the response of amygdala neurons predicted trial-to-trial fluctuations in monkeys' spatial attention. Together, these results show that the amygdala participates in more than just encoding of value-related or emotional stimuli, expanding its role to include encoding of spatial features and lending support to the notion that this brain area may be involved in emotional guidance of spatial attention in physiological and pathological states

Institutional Evils, Culpable Complicity, and Duties to Engage in Moral Repair

Apology is arguably the central act of the reparative work required after wrongdoing. Claudia Card’s (1940-2015) analysis of complicity in collectively perpetrated evils moves one to ask whether apology ought to be requested of persons culpably complicit in institutional evils. To better appreciate the benefits of and barriers to apologies offered by culpably complicit wrongdoers, this article examines doctors’ complicity in a practice that meets Card’s definition of an evil, namely, the non-medically necessary, nonconsensual “normalizing” interventions performed on babies born with intersex anatomies. It argues that in this instance, the complicity of doctors is culpable on Card’s terms, and that their culpable complicity grounds rightful demands for them to apologize

The Lantern Vol. 7, No. 3, June 1939

• Commencement Sonnet • Largo Appassionato • More Sonnets to Earth • Vladimir • Abe Lincoln in Illinois • Dark Lives • Enter Mr. Smithingham II • A Character is Sketched • Sonnet • Out of the Dawn • Wistaria • Poem Without a Name • You Have Loved the Nighthttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1018/thumbnail.jp

The political economy of competitiveness and social mobility

Social mobility has become a mainstream political and media issue in recent years in the United Kingdom. This article suggests that part of the reason for this is that it can serve as a mechanism to discuss policy concerns that appear to be about social justice without questioning important aspects of neo-liberal political economy. The article charts the policy rhetoric on social mobility under both New Labour and the current Coalition Government. It is argued first that under New Labour the apparent commitment to social mobility was in fact subsumed beneath the pursuit of neo-liberal competitiveness, albeit imperfectly realised in policy. Second, the article suggests that under the Coalition Government the commitment to raising levels of social mobility has been retained and the recently published Strategy for Social Mobility promises that social mobility is what the Coalition means when it argues that the austerity programme is balanced with ‘fairness’. Third, however, the Strategy makes clear that the Coalition define social mobility in narrower terms than the previous government. It is argued here that in narrowing the definition the connection with the idea of competitiveness, while still clearly desirable for the Coalition, is weakened. Fourth, a brief analysis of the Coalition's main policy announcements provides little evidence to suggest that even the narrow definition set out in the Strategy is being seriously pursued. Fifth, the international comparative evidence suggests that any strategy aimed at genuinely raising the level of social mobility would need to give much more serious consideration to narrowing levels of inequality. Finally, it is concluded that when considered in the light of the arguments above, the Strategy for Social Mobility – and therefore ‘Fairness’ itself – is merely a discursive legitimation of the wider political economy programme of austerity

A Reverse Genetics Platform That Spans the Zika Virus Family Tree

ABSTRACT Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus discovered in 1947, has only recently caused large outbreaks and emerged as a significant human pathogen. In 2015, ZIKV was detected in Brazil, and the resulting epidemic has spread throughout the Western Hemisphere. Severe complications from ZIKV infection include neurological disorders such as Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults and a variety of fetal abnormalities, including microcephaly, blindness, placental insufficiency, and fetal demise. There is an urgent need for tools and reagents to study the pathogenesis of epidemic ZIKV and for testing vaccines and antivirals. Using a reverse genetics platform, we generated six ZIKV infectious clones and derivative viruses representing diverse temporal and geographic origins. These include three versions of MR766, the prototype 1947 strain (with and without a glycosylation site in the envelope protein), and H/PF/2013, a 2013 human isolate from French Polynesia representative of the virus introduced to Brazil. In the course of synthesizing a clone of a circulating Brazilian strain, phylogenetic studies identified two distinct ZIKV clades in Brazil. We reconstructed viable clones of strains SPH2015 and BeH819015, representing ancestral members of each clade. We assessed recombinant virus replication, binding to monoclonal antibodies, and virulence in mice. This panel of molecular clones and recombinant virus isolates will enable targeted studies of viral determinants of pathogenesis, adaptation, and evolution, as well as the rational attenuation of contemporary outbreak strains to facilitate the design of vaccines and therapeutics. IMPORTANCE Viral emergence is a poorly understood process as evidenced by the sudden emergence of Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean. Malleable reagents that both predate and span an expanding epidemic are key to understanding the virologic determinants that regulate pathogenesis and transmission. We have generated representative cDNA molecular clones and recombinant viruses that span the known ZIKV family tree, including early Brazilian isolates. Recombinant viruses replicated efficiently in cell culture and were pathogenic in immunodeficient mice, providing a genetic platform for rational vaccine and therapeutic design

Global hepatitis C elimination: an investment framework

WHO has set global targets for the elimination of hepatitis B and hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030. However, investment in elimination programmes remains low. To help drive political commitment and catalyse domestic and international financing, we have developed a global investment framework for the elimination of hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The global investment framework presented in this Health Policy paper outlines national and international activities that will enable reductions in hepatitis C incidence and mortality, and identifies potential sources of funding and tools to help countries build the economic case for investing in national elimination activities. The goal of this framework is to provide a way for countries, particularly those with minimal resources, to gain the substantial economic benefit and cost savings that come from investing in hepatitis C elimination

Innovative strategies for the elimination of viral hepatitis at a national level: a country case series

Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, but has long been neglected by national and international policymakers. Recent modelling studies suggest that investing in the global elimination of viral hepatitis is feasible and cost-effective. In 2016, all 194 member states of the World Health Organization endorsed the goal to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, but complex systemic and social realities hamper implementation efforts. This paper presents eight case studies from a diverse range of countries that have invested in responses to viral hepatitis and adopted innovative approaches to tackle their respective epidemics. Based on an investment framework developed to build a global investment case for the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030, national activities and key enablers are highlighted that showcase the feasibility and impact of concerted hepatitis responses across a range of settings, with different levels of available resources and infrastructural development. These case studies demonstrate the utility of taking a multipronged, public health approach to: (a) evidence-gathering and planning; (b) implementation; and (c) integration of viral hepatitis services into the Agenda for Sustainable Development. They provide models for planning, investment and implementation strategies for other countries facing similar challenges and resource constraints