Are sciences essential and humanities elective? Disentangling competing claims for humanities research public value

[EN] Recent policy discourse suggests that arts and humanities research is seen as being less useful to society than other disciplines, notably in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The paper explores how this assumption s construction has been built and whether it is based upon an unfair prejudice: we argue for a prima facie case to answer in assuming that arts and humanities research s lower societal value. We identify a set of claims circulating in policy circles regarding science, technology, engineering and math- ematics research and arts and humanities research s differences. We find two groups: arts and humanities research is less useful than science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and arts and humanities research is merely differently useful. We argue that empirical analysis is necessary to disentangle which ones are true to assess whether policy-making is being based on rational and evidence-based claims. We argue that debates about public research value should recognise that humanities have different (but equally valid) kinds of societal value.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, which funded the PhD research fellowship of Julia Olmos Peñuela through the F.P.U program [AP2007- 01850]. The research fellowship took place in the framework of the HERAVALUE project, Measuring the public value of arts and humanities research, financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme, cofunded by AHRC, AKA, DASTI, ETF, FNR, FWF, HAZU, IRCHSS, MHEST, NWO, RANNIS, RCN, VR and The European Community FP7 2007-2013, under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities programme. The authors would like to thank the editors and two anonymous referees for their invaluable comments. Any errors or omissions remain the authors’ responsibilitieOlmos-Peñuela, J.; Benneworth, P.; Castro-Martínez, E. (2015). Are sciences essential and humanities elective? Disentangling competing claims for humanities research public value. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. 14(1):61-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022214534081S617814

Intracellular chloride concentration influences the GABAA receptor subunit composition

GABAA receptors (GABAARs) exist as different subtype variants showing unique functional properties and defined spatio-temporal expression pattern. The molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental expression of different GABAAR are largely unknown. The intracellular concentration of chloride ([Cl−]i), the main ion permeating through GABAARs, also undergoes considerable changes during maturation, being higher at early neuronal stages with respect to adult neurons. Here we investigate the possibility that [Cl−]i could modulate the sequential expression of specific GABAARs subtypes in primary cerebellar neurons. We show that [Cl−]i regulates the expression of α3-1 and δ-containing GABAA receptors, responsible for phasic and tonic inhibition, respectively. Our findings highlight the role of [Cl−]i in tuning the strength of GABAergic responses by acting as an intracellular messenger

Seizure-Induced Axonal Sprouting: Assessing Connections Between Injury, Local Circuits, and Epileptogenesis

Neurons and neural circuits undergo extensive structural and functional remodeling in response to seizures. Sprouting of axons in the mossy fiber pathway of the hippocampus is a prominent example of a seizure-induced structural alteration which has received particular attention because it is easily detected, is induced by intense or repeated brief seizures in focal chronic models of epilepsy, and is also observed in the human epileptic hippocampus. During the last decade the association of mossy fiber sprouting with seizures and epilepsy has been firmly established. Many anatomical features of mossy fiber sprouting have been described in considerable detail, and there is evidence that sprouting occurs in a variety of other pathways in association with seizures and injury. There is uncertainty, however, about how or when mossy fiber sprouting may contribute to hippocampal dysfunction and generation of seizures. Study of mossy fiber sprouting has provided a strong theoretical and conceptual framework for efforts to understand how seizures and injury may contribute to epileptogenesis and its consequences. It is likely that investigation of mossy fiber sprouting will continure to offer significant opportunities for insights into seizure-induced plasticity of neural circuits at molecular, cellular, and systems levels