Genetic Differences in Dorsal Hippocampus Acetylcholinesterase Activity Predict Contextual Fear Learning Across Inbred Mouse Strains.

Learning is a critical behavioral process that is influenced by many neurobiological systems. We and others have reported that acetylcholinergic signaling plays a vital role in learning capabilities, and it is especially important for contextual fear learning. Since cholinergic signaling is affected by genetic background, we examined the genetic relationship between activity levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the primary enzyme involved in the acetylcholine metabolism, and learning using a panel of 20 inbred mouse strains. We measured conditioned fear behavior and AChE activity in the dorsal hippocampus, ventral hippocampus, and cerebellum. Acetylcholinesterase activity varied among inbred mouse strains in all three brain regions, and there were significant inter-strain differences in contextual and cued fear conditioning. There was an inverse correlation between fear conditioning outcomes and AChE levels in the dorsal hippocampus. In contrast, the ventral hippocampus and cerebellum AChE levels were not correlated with fear conditioning outcomes. These findings strengthen the link between acetylcholine activity in the dorsal hippocampus and learning, and they also support the premise that the dorsal hippocampus and ventral hippocampus are functionally discrete

Seven HCI Grand Challenges

This article aims to investigate the Grand Challenges which arise in the current and emerging landscape of rapid technological evolution towards more intelligent interactive technologies, coupled with increased and widened societal needs, as well as individual and collective expectations that HCI, as a discipline, is called upon to address. A perspective oriented to humane and social values is adopted, formulating the challenges in terms of the impact of emerging intelligent interactive technologies on human life both at the individual and societal levels. Seven Grand Challenges are identified and presented in this article: Human-Technology Symbiosis; Human-Environment Interactions; Ethics, Privacy and Security; Well-being, Health and Eudaimonia; Accessibility and Universal Access; Learning and Creativity; and Social Organization and Democracy. Although not exhaustive, they summarize the views and research priorities of an international interdisciplinary group of experts, reflecting different scientific perspectives, methodological approaches and application domains. Each identified Grand Challenge is analyzed in terms of: concept and problem definition; main research issues involved and state of the art; and associated emerging requirements

A Generational Study of Employees' Customer Orientation: A Motivational Viewpoint in Pandemic Time

This study represents a scholarly endeavour to explore the effects of Covid-19 perceptions on customer orientation via job insecurity, burnout and workplace motivation alongside generational effects non-equivalency amongst a sample of customer service employees working in different businesses located in three countries in the MENA region. We received 752 responses composed of three generations (i.e., X, Y and Z) that were analysed mainly using Partial-Least-Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach and that included path and multigroup analyses. Our results show that intense Covid-19 perceptions have indirect adverse effects on customer orientation via a sequence of mediators comprising job insecurity, burnout and workplace motivation. Non-equivalency is spotted across generations regarding the relationships between job insecurity and burnout, burnout and motivation as well as motivation and customer orientation. Besides, intense Covid-19 perceptions act more substantially as an indirect trigger of less favourable levels of customer orientation amongst younger generations. Keywords: Covid-19, Job insecurity, Burnout, Motivation, Customer orientation, Generational differences