bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Between journalism universals and cultural particulars: challenges facing the development of a journalism programme in an East African context
Authors: Skjerdal Terje S
Published: March 2010

One of the main dilemmas facing journalism education across Africa is whether one can argue for a universal set of journalistic standards while at the same time maintaining a culturally sensitive journalism practice. Underlying the dilemma is the question of whether there is a need
to identify an African journalism philosophy that is normatively different from its Western counterpart. In light of a newly started MA programme in journalism at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, this article argues that rather than seeing journalistic practices as a negotiation between journalism
universals and cultural particulars they ought to be seen as the interplay between the two. Following this argument, the article calls for a rethinking and distinction of the roles of conventional news media and alternative media.
The growth and development of African media studies: perspectives from Nigeria
Authors: Salawu Abiodun
Published: March 2010

The paper discusses how Nigerian journalism education has been heavily influenced by the American model. Nigeria, being a former British colony, at first followed British models of vocational training in journalism. This is evident in the fact that the country's universities did not
initially embrace journalism and mass communication studies. Formal university-level training in journalism only started in Nigeria in 1962, with the establishment of Jackson College of Journalism at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The college later developed into the Department of Mass
Communication. Other departments/schools of journalism or mass communication have sprung up at various Nigerian universities, notably that of the University of Lagos. In the past few years, there has been an upsurge in the number of mass communication programmes across the country. The programmes,
apart from journalism, offer courses in broadcasting, public relations and advertising, among other areas. The paper also discusses how contemporary postcolonial Nigerian media education has achieved a large degree of uniformity in all the programmes as a result of initiatives taken by Nigeria's
National Universities Commission.
The democratic functions and dysfunctions of political talk radio: the case of Uganda
Authors: Mwesige Peter G
Published: March 2010

This article explores the promise and limits of Ugandan radio political talk shows as avenues of citizen participation and political competition. In particular, it examines the democratic functions and dysfunctions of political talk shows based on interpretive interrogation of data from content analysis, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with content producers and audiences. The results appear to suggest that these programmes constitute a public sphere(s) where citizens seek and acquire information, carry out dialogue and debate on collective public problems and policy, challenge holders of official power into public accountability, send feedback upward to the political system, or simply let off steam. At another level, the government, political groups and other organised interests also use the talk shows to gauge public opinion. These political elites also use these programmes as platforms for political mobilisation, campaigning and advocacy. In other words, the civic space facilitated by talk radio is open to political groups and other organised interests as well as private citizens. However, it is not all bliss in the electronic public sphere. Political talk radio also appears to peddle misinformation and distortions; to invite adulterated debate that excites and inflames rather than informs; to give the public the illusion of influence; and, arguably, to lead to political inertia. At the group level, talk radio may have created an illusion of competition to the extent that it provided voice to oppositional political groups that were otherwise not fully free to participate in the political process. What we have, then, is an imperfect public sphere but a sort of public sphere nonetheless. Implications of these developments for democratic transitions in Africa are discussed.
Picturing Zimbabwe's 2008 elections
Authors: Kabwato Chris
Published: March 2010

Elections in Africa often bring out passionate political activity that epitomize Africans' quest for genuine democracy. This visual essay presents images taken from the bitterly contested 2008 election in Zimbabwe, involving Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's longtime ruler (since 1980) and
Morgan Tsvangirai, from the Movement of Democratic Change (formed in 1999). The images presented here carry ideologies, passions and multiple messages on Zimbabwean politics and politicians. They reflect intricate relationships between the ruled and the rulers, political promises, adoration
and fallouts, together with electoral aspirations and feelings of betrayal held by ordinary voters. Altogether the visual essay captures the possibilities and limitations of the visual media in representing the choices of voters in Zimbabwe, one of Africa's most troubled democracies.
Yabis music: an instrument of social change in Nigeria
Authors: Olatunji Myke O
Published: March 2010

When the late Nigerian Afro-beat proponent, Fel Anklp-Kt (formerly known as Fel Ransome- Kt) returned from a tour of the United States of America in 1970, his music witnessed a lot of transformation. First, he discarded with his erstwhile jazz-highlife style and came up with a new style
he christened Afro-beat, a mixture of American jazz and Yorb folk music. Secondly, the content of his vocal music changed tremendously from abstract themes to day-to-day happenings among the common people in Nigeria. However, the protracted military rule in Nigeria, coupled with the large
scale embezzlement and looting of the nation's treasury (which undermined the democratic processes), as well as the promotion of large scale violence by the nation's military junta, provided a new theme for Fel's vocal music from the mid 1970s. Thus the stage was set for a new phenomenon among
Nigerian popular music; music known as the Yabis music became a site for political engagement, through which those who governed through coercion were ridiculed and their bad policies subjected to derision in several lyrics of many Nigerian popular musicians who later joined Fel in the
1980s and after. This paper examines the role and impact of Yabis music on the Nigerian music scene, as well as her political and socio-cultural milieu.
Xinhua News Agency in Africa
Authors: Xin Xin
Published: March 2010

China's growing economic influence in Africa, and in the sub-Saharan region in particular, has drawn enormous attention around the world, especially in the West. An important but as yet under-studied aspect of China's increasing presence in Africa is related to the question about whether
the party-state will exert its ideological influence on local politics and public space through media expansion in this region. Media initiatives associated with the Going abroad project have been in full swing in recent years, in parallel with the growing concern by Chinese authorities about
the mismatch between China's strong economic power and weak media influence. This paper focuses on Xinhua News Agency. Xinhua's major forms of intervention in Africa include setting up bureaux, developing news portfolio targeting African audiences, exchanging news with (or selling news wires
to) African media subscribers, and providing technical equipment and support as well as training African journalists. The first two forms of intervention have been on top of Xinhua's agenda in recent years and will be the focus of this article. The increasing presence of Xinhua in Africa sheds
some light on the debate on media imperialism and international news flows in the context of China's economic rise.
Regional identity and the politics of belonging in the consumption of Zimbabwe's vernacular tabloid newspaper, uMthunywa in Bulawayo
Authors: Mabweazara Hayes Mawindi
Published: March 2010

This article is a qualitative study of the consumption of uMthunywa, a Zimbabwean state-controlled tabloid newspaper. It focuses on its Bulawayo readers, who constitute the bulk of the paper's readership and particularly explores the meanings and relevance of its content to their
everyday lives. The study establishes that the paper constitutes a forceful alternative mediated sphere that cements a regional identity and accommodates feelings of belonging among a readership that feels disenfranchised and neglected by the power bloc. The newspaper has (re) kindled a relationship
with readers through its use of the vernacular language, isiNdebele, and the coverage of community issues that resonate with the readers' everyday lives.
Muslim minorities and media access in a predominantly Christian city: The case of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Authors: Ihejirika Walter C
Published: March 2010

Media use by religious leaders and their adherents has become one of the major issues defining religious praxis in the contemporary world. In Nigeria, this has become accentuated by the upsurge of Pentecostalism and the overriding presence of its preachers and healers on the country's
airwaves. There are a hundred and one preachers, healers, counsellors, exorcists and singers identified with this burgeoning Christian movement who buy air time on national, local and private radio and television stations to proclaim their message. Some also pay for newspaper space to publish
their messages. The most notable figures among them are: Tunde Bakare of the Later Rain Assembly, Chris Oyakilome of Christ Embassy, Matthews Ashimolowo of Kingsway International Christian Centre, Enoch Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mike Okoonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical
Mission, David Oyedepo of the Faith Tabernacle, Taiwo and Bimbo Odukoya of The Fountain of Life Church. Due to the huge profits they are bringing to the media industry, the Pentecostal movement has become a major force in the implementation of the country's media policies. It is easy for them
to bend some of the media rules and get away with it. This dominance infringes the principle of equal access to all religious organisations that is enshrined in the Broadcasting Code promulgated by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission. Against the backdrop of this Pentecostal dominance, this
article examines the problem of media access by the country's minority religious groups. A religious group could be in the minority in terms of overall size, or the number of its adherents in a given locality. We can thus have Christian minorities in Muslim dominated Northern Nigeria, and
Muslim minorities in Christian dominated Southern-Nigeria. The major questions this paper asks are: How do religious minorities in Nigeria live with their perceived exclusion from the media, and are they adopting any discernable strategies to make their presence felt? To answer these questions,
a social survey involving the use of questionnaires and interviews was conducted among Muslims living in the Christian-dominated Southern city of Port-Harcourt. The paper reflects on how the Muslim minorities in the city feel about their access to the state's broadcast media. This exercise
provides new perspectives on how the media can mitigate or exacerbate religious differences in the country.
Enskinning between extended voice and movement: somatics, touch, contact and the camera
Authors: Bonenfant Yvon
Published: March 2010

This article has two parts: a prelude, or prosaic introduction to its artistic research content, and the body of the work, which explores through metaphor, rhythmic wordplay, description, and still image, the making of the 2008 music-video-dance experiment Intimacies. The article
uses an adapted performance-writing style to explore the results of a somatic process that yoked together interests in touch, membrane and emotion, with a studio process exploring the notion of intimacy, intensity, contact and the skin. Intended as an immersive experience in the subjective
memory of a creative process, it celebrates encounter.
Breaking old habits: professional development through an embodied approach to reflective practice
Authors: Smears Elizabeth
Published: March 2010

Personal embodied experience impacts upon the way in which we present ourselves professionally. Somatic practices emerge as a way of developing an embodied awareness and a way of exploring the meaning of experience. Through narrative and reflection, this paper explores how somatic awareness
can add to professional development in areas that, historically, have been disembodied. It addresses my subjective experience of a critical incident, a cycle accident, and how it interrupted my habitual sense of embodiment. It explores how the experience presented an opportunity to visit again
my body as ground of my being and my body as first home (Halprin 2003), and to listen through silence to the layers that give way to somatic awareness. Reflection offers an opportunity to pause, and explore the space for deep engagement in what it means to be professional.
YouTube Online Video and Participatory Culture, Jean Burgess and Joshua Green, with Contributions by Henry Jenkins and John Hartley (2009)
Authors: Thomas Abigail
Published: March 2010

YouTube Online Video and Participatory Culture, JEAN BURGESS AND JOSHUA GREEN, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY HENRY JENKINS AND JOHN HARTLEY (2009) Digital Media and Society Series, UK and USA: Polity Press, 140 pp., ISBN 9780745644783, Hardback, 45.00
Digital Television in Europe, edited by Wendy van den Broeck and Jo Pierson (2008)
Authors: Bell Martin L
Published: March 2010

Digital Television in Europe, EDITED BY WENDY VAN DEN BROECK AND JO PIERSON (2008) VUBPRESS, 244 pp., ISBN 978 90 5487 541 3, Paperback, 19.95
Media and Communication Technologies, A Critical Introduction, Stephen Lax (2009)
Authors: Bell Martin L
Published: March 2010

Media and Communication Technologies, A Critical Introduction, STEPHEN LAX (2009) Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, 234 pp., ISBN-13 978-1-4039-9890-3, Paperback (also available in hardback), 18.99
Would the Real Freeview Please Stand Up?
Authors: Given Jock , Norris Paul
Published: March 2010

Freeview is the survival strategy for free-to-view TV in the digital age in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. It is mix of marketing, services and technology, and of defensive and offensive elements. The mix is different in different places:

In the UK, where the concept was launched in 2002, digital terrestrial television (DTT) became Freeview, now the most popular form of digital TV. Freeview represented a fresh strategy to relaunch DTT after the failure of the first model.

In New Zealand, where DTT started in 2008, DTT is Freeview, but Freeview was a satellite service first, appealing mainly to those with poor analogue reception. The concept was imported from the UK as the proven way to make DTT work, and deployed from the
outset by broadcasters with government backing.

In Australia, as this article was finalized in August 2009, Freeview is still mainly a marketing campaign rather than a TV service. Broadcasters have not deployed it enthusiastically to launch
the medium, but reluctantly, many years on, as part of the government-mandated push to digital switchover.

This article explores the origins and development of these three Freeviews. It provides an unusual case study of a related, though different, set of
products marketed under the same name in different countries. It also speculates about their future as television morphs into new shapes, especially encouraged by the growth of high definition, hard-drive-recording and broadband-connected receivers. Identifying both similarities and differences
across the three Freeviews, the authors conclude that although Freeview is helping to make it possible to switch off analogue services and free up spectrum for other purposes in all three countries, the national differences defy reduction to a single definition. Freeview, like television itself,
is different in these different places and is changing over time.
Power and nerves of steel or thrill of adventure and patience? An empirical study on the use of different video game genres
Authors: Schumann Christina , Schultheiss Daniel
Published: March 2010

This empirical study focuses on explaining the utilization of three video game genres first person shooters, strategy games and role-playing games and on whether different explanatory models can be established for the three genres. A model comprising the three explanatory components,
gratifications sought (GS), gratifications obtained (GO) and subjective restrictions or capacities, operationalized by the skills that players have to have for the specific genres, serves as a theoretical basis.

Data was collected by way of an online survey (N = 5,257). The results show
that GO and the capacities are particularly suited to explaining the use of video games. While GO generally seem to offer a basis for explaining the use of video games, since the dimensions power and competition and thrill of adventure do influence the use of all three genres, there were considerable
differences between the individual genres in terms of capacities. Gamers who have a high stress threshold and quick reactions, as well as a good sense of direction, tend to prefer first person shooters. The use of strategy games may be explained in terms of skills like logic and strategic
thought. On the other hand, patient gamers prefer role-playing games. The explanatory power of GS, however, proves to be extremely low. Based on these results, approaches are discussed for further research in this field.
Reviews
Authors: Johnson Matthew S. S , Knott Kevin , Sullivan Mary Elizabeth
Published: March 2010

Vicarious play: a jaunt through computer role-playing game history

Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games, Matt Barton (2008), First Edition Wellesley, MA: A K Peters, Ltd, 451pp., ISBN 978-1-56881-411-7, Hardback, $39.00 (USD).

What
else can I be? A critical evaluation of World of Warcraft

It's not real until you can tax it: how gaming, yet again, changes reality

Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun is Changing Reality, Edward Castronova (2007), First Edition New York: Palgrave MacMillan,
256pp., ISBN 1-4039-8412-3, Hardback, $24.95 (USD).

Computer. Computer. Hello ComputerThe keyboard. How quaint. Montgomery Scott, Star Trek: The Voyage Home (Nimoy et al. 1986).
Developing a methodology for corpus-based computer game studies
Authors: Carrillo Masso Isamar
Published: March 2010

Video games have become a huge success in contemporary pop culture, both as ludic devices and as narrative instruments. Because of their immense popularity they are also the didactic means in which a number of social constructs are spread and perpetuated. This is particularly true in the case ofDiabloandWorld of Warcraft, two games produced by Blizzard Entertainment Inc. This study uses a hybrid method to study both games as texts, combining Fairclough's (2003) approach to critical discourse analysis and Corpus Linguistics. The main corpus was compiled by gathering texts about the characters in these two computer games, and their accompanying visual representations, from a) official Blizzard websites and b) user-edited websites and forums. Further data was gathered through the application of a questionnaire about male and female characters in these two games to fifty participants, and by playing each game and recording in-game interactions with non-playing characters and with other players. The linguistic data was examined using a concordancer, and then analysed following Fairclough's (2003) approach. The devised methodology places a strong emphasis in the correlation between linguistic and visual data. Through this correlation and analysis it was determined that there is a strong discourse of gender difference operating within these two games.
Book Reviews
Authors: Kaul Suvir
Published: March 2010

Filming the Line of Control: The Indo-Pak Relationship through the Cinematic Lens, Meenakshi Bharat and Nirmal Kumar, eds. (2008) New Delhi: Routledge, 256 pp., 978-0415460941, Hardback.
Melbourne, Indian Popular Cinema and the Marketing of An Enviable Cosmopolitan Lifestyle
Authors: Hassam Andrew
Published: March 2010

Melbourne, like other cities that aspire to a global status, has attempted to enlist Indian popular film as a means of attracting Indian investment, business migration, tourism and international students. Key to understanding the representation of the global city in Indian popular cinema is the much-marketed concept of the cosmopolitan lifestyle, and Melbourne's distinctive trams are used strategically to link consumerism with an urban lifestyle. Nonetheless, we need to look beyond the shopping malls to the other corporate spaces of what Saskia Sassen terms the glamour zone, to the offices, hotels and apartment blocks, if we are to understand how multinational corporations not only use Indian popular cinema to promote their corporate brand but also work with government agencies to promote city brands which aspire to resemble New York or London. By viewing Indian popular cinema through its representation of Melbourne as a global city, contradictions within the apparent embrace of globalization by Indian popular cinema are thrown into relief.
Patriotism and valor are in your blood: necropolitical subjectivities in The Terrorist (1999)
Authors: Dillon Mike
Published: March 2010

This essay uses Santosh Sivan's art film The Terrorist and its portrayal of a female suicide bomber as the basis for exploring discourses on terrorism that often dismiss the explosive politics of suicide bombers as unequivocally immoral and irrational and take as a given the
notion that female combatants are subservient to patriarchal models in contexts of war. The essay draws from social theory, particularly Achille Mbembe's Necropolitics, to consider the ways in which subjectivities are marginalized and rendered invisible in violent societies, and how the suicide
bomber complicates the paradigms by which such subjectivities are deemed to be alive. The essay then moves into textual analysis of the film to consider the ways in which its art-cinema style negotiates these matters by portraying the central conflict between individual and social death that
challenge how we register the motivations behind suicide bombings and the intellectual discussions that frame them.
Slumdogs and superstars: negotiating the culture of terror
Authors: Thobani Sunera
Published: March 2010

The War on Terror has brought about a transformation of the cultural sphere as the US-led coalition propagated Islamophobic narratives, identifying Muslims as a threat to the security of nations. This article examines the blockbuster film Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle/Tandan, 2008)
as an instance in this War, revealing its cultural politics. Beginning with an examination of the key (trans)national issues raised by the film, I analyse Slumdog's representation of its two Muslim protagonists. The article ends with a discussion of how two Bollywood superstars, A.R.
Rahman and Shah Rukh Khan, have publicly negotiated their Indian/Muslim identities in relation to the film. The article draws attention to the centrality of the national in constructions of the global in the culture of terror.
Highlight: Signal Transduction and Disease
Authors: Wittinghofer Fred
Published: March 2010

No abstract available
Low-Temperature Thermo-Cycling of FINEMET and Metglas Amorphous Alloys: Last Achievements in Theory and Experiments
Authors: Zaichenko S. G. , Perov N. S. , Glezer A. M.
Published: March 2010

The novel phenomena of irreversible changes in structure and main physical properties of FINEMET and Metglas amorphous metallic alloys (AMA) after low-temperature treatment (LTT) (so called ΔT effect) are studied theoretically and experimentally. It is shown theoretically that the cooling process in AMA during LTT is achieved at a rate comparable to the rate of quenching from the melt. Arising thermo-elastic stresses cause changes in the structure of the short-range order due to the drift of metalloid atoms, which is supported by sample oscillations with the eigenfrequencies. Such homogenization of the AMA structure leads to changes in the main physical properties. The proposed physical model of the ΔT effect is verified by structural investigations and magnetic and thermo-magnetic studies of metal-metalloid and FINEMET type AMA.
Ubiquitination Acutely Regulates Presynaptic Neurotransmitter Release in Mammalian Neurons
Authors: Rinetti Gina V. , Schweizer Felix E.
Published: March 2010

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) plays a crucial role in modulating synaptic physiology both presynaptically and postsynaptically, but the regulatory mechanisms remain obscure. To determine acute effects of proteasome inhibition on neurotransmission, we performed whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings from cultured rodent hippocampal neurons. We find that proteasome inhibitors induce a strikingly fast, severalfold increase in the frequency of both miniature (mini) and spontaneous synaptic currents at excitatory and inhibitory synapses. The lack of change in mini amplitude and kinetics indicates a presynaptic site of action. This effect does not depend on increased levels of presynaptic proteins, previously suggested as proteasomal targets. Furthermore, blockade of the UPS using E1-activating enzyme inhibitors also increases mini frequency, demonstrating that accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins is not required. Overall, these data suggest that the UPS not only orchestrates protein turnover, but also dynamically regulates the activity state of presynaptic proteins, thus crucially shaping synaptic transmission.
Neuropeptide Y Suppresses Anorexigenic Output from the Ventromedial Nucleus of the Hypothalamus
Authors: Chee Melissa J. S. , Myers Martin G. , Price Christopher J. , Colmers William F.
Published: March 2010

Output from the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) is anorexigenic and is supported by the excitatory actions of leptin. The VMN is also highly sensitive to the orexigenic actions of Neuropeptide Y (NPY). We report that NPY robustly inhibits VMN neurons by hyperpolarizing them and decreasing their ability to fire action potentials. This action was mediated by Y1receptors coupled to the activation of GIRKs (G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels). Approximately 80% of VMN neurons expressing leptin receptors were sensitive to the actions of NPY, whereas 75% of NPY-sensitive neurons in VMN also responded to glucose by being uniformly inhibited by elevations in glucose. Interestingly, only ∼36% of NPY-sensitive, leptin receptor b-expressing neurons were also glucosensitive. We suggest that NPY inhibits VMN neurons that are excited by leptin, thereby arresting the anorexigenic tone exerted by VMN neurons. The results further suggest a dynamic interplay between anorexigenic and orexigenic neuromodulators within the VMN to directly affect energy balance.
Impact of Actin Filament Stabilization on Adult Hippocampal and Olfactory Bulb Neurogenesis
Authors: Kronenberg Golo , Gertz Karen , Baldinger Tina , Kirste Imke , Eckart Sarah , Yildirim Ferah , Ji Shengbo , Heuser Isabella , Schröck Helmut , Hörtnagl Heide , Sohr Reinhard , Djoufack Pierre Chryso , Jüttner René , Glass Rainer , Przesdzing Ingo , Kumar Jitender , Freyer Dorette , Hellweg Rainer , Kettenmann Helmut , Fink Klaus Benno , Endres Matthias
Published: March 2010

Rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton is essential for dynamic cellular processes. Decreased actin turnover and rigidity of cytoskeletal structures have been associated with aging and cell death. Gelsolin is a Ca2+-activated actin-severing protein that is widely expressed throughout the adult mammalian brain. Here, we used gelsolin-deficient (Gsn−/−) mice as a model system for actin filament stabilization. InGsn−/−mice, emigration of newly generated cells from the subventricular zone into the olfactory bulb was slowed.In vitro, gelsolin deficiency did not affect proliferation or neuronal differentiation of adult neural progenitors cells (NPCs) but resulted in retarded migration. Surprisingly, hippocampal neurogenesis was robustly induced by gelsolin deficiency. The ability of NPCs to intrinsically sense excitatory activity and thereby implement coupling between network activity and neurogenesis has recently been established. Depolarization-induced [Ca2+]iincreases and exocytotic neurotransmitter release were enhanced inGsn−/−synaptosomes. Importantly, treatment ofGsn−/−synaptosomes with mycotoxin cytochalasin D, which, like gelsolin, produces actin disassembly, decreased enhanced Ca2+influx and subsequent exocytotic norepinephrine release to wild-type levels. Similarly, depolarization-induced glutamate release fromGsn−/−brain slices was increased. Furthermore, increased hippocampal neurogenesis inGsn−/−mice was associated with a special microenvironment characterized by enhanced density of perfused vessels, increased regional cerebral blood flow, and increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS-III) expression in hippocampus. Together, reduced filamentous actin turnover in presynaptic terminals causes increased Ca2+influx and, subsequently, elevated exocytotic neurotransmitter release acting on neural progenitors. Increased neurogenesis inGsn−/−hippocampus is associated with a special vascular niche for neurogenesis.
Cooperation and Competition among Frontal Eye Field Neurons during Visual Target Selection
Authors: Cohen Jeremiah Y. , Crowder Erin A. , Heitz Richard P. , Subraveti Chenchal R. , Thompson Kirk G. , Woodman Geoffrey F. , Schall Jeffrey D.
Published: March 2010

The role of spike rate versus timing codes in visual target selection is unclear. We simultaneously recorded activity from multiple frontal eye field neurons and asked whether they interacted to select targets from distractors during visual search. When both neurons in a pair selected the target and had overlapping receptive fields (RFs), they cooperated more than when one or neither neuron in the pair selected the target, measured by positive spike timing correlations using joint peristimulus time histogram analysis. The amount of cooperation depended on the location of the search target: it was higher when the target was inside both neurons' RFs than when it was inside one RF but not the other, or outside both RFs. Elevated spike timing coincidences occurred at the time of attentional selection of the target as measured by average modulation of discharge rates. We observed competition among neurons with spatially non-overlapping RFs, measured by negative spike timing correlations. Thus, we provide evidence for dynamic and task-dependent cooperation and competition among frontal eye field neurons during visual target selection.
Essential Roles of Notch Signaling in Maintenance of Neural Stem Cells in Developing and Adult Brains
Authors: Imayoshi Itaru , Sakamoto Masayuki , Yamaguchi Masahiro , Mori Kensaku , Kageyama Ryoichiro
Published: March 2010

Activation of Notch signaling induces the expression of transcriptional repressor genes such asHes1, leading to repression of proneural gene expression and maintenance of neural stem/progenitor cells. However, a requirement for Notch signaling in the telencephalon was not clear, because inHes1;Hes3;Hes5triple-mutant mice, neural stem/progenitor cells are depleted in most regions of the developing CNS, but not in the telencephalon. Here, we investigated a role for Notch signaling in the telencephalon by generating tamoxifen-inducible conditional knock-out mice that lackRbpj, an intracellular signal mediator of all Notch receptors. WhenRbpjwas deleted in the embryonic brain, almost all telencephalic neural stem/progenitor cells prematurely differentiated into neurons and were depleted. WhenRbpjwas deleted in the adult brain, all neural stem cells differentiated into transit-amplifying cells and neurons. As a result, neurogenesis increased transiently, but 3 months later all neural stem cells were depleted and neurogenesis was totally lost. These results indicated an absolute requirement of Notch signaling for the maintenance of neural stem cells and a proper control of neurogenesis in both embryonic and adult brains.
Audiovisual Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Adaptation Reveals Multisensory Integration Effects in Object-Related Sensory Cortices
Authors: Doehrmann Oliver , Weigelt Sarah , Altmann Christian F. , Kaiser Jochen , Naumer Marcus J.
Published: March 2010

Information integration across different sensory modalities contributes to object recognition, the generation of associations and long-term memory representations. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation to investigate the presence of sensory integrative effects at cortical levels as early as nonprimary auditory and extrastriate visual cortices, which are implicated in intermediate stages of object processing. Stimulation consisted of an adapting audiovisual stimulus S1and a subsequent stimulus S2from the same basic-level category (e.g., cat). The stimuli were carefully balanced with respect to stimulus complexity and semantic congruency and presented in four experimental conditions: (1) the same image and vocalization for S1and S2, (2) the same image and a different vocalization, (3) different images and the same vocalization, or (4) different images and vocalizations. This two-by-two factorial design allowed us to assess the contributions of auditory and visual stimulus repetitions and changes in a statistically orthogonal manner. Responses in visual regions of right fusiform gyrus and right lateral occipital cortex were reduced for repeated visual stimuli (repetition suppression). Surprisingly, left lateral occipital cortex showed stronger responses to repeated auditory stimuli (repetition enhancement). Similarly, auditory regions of interest of the right middle superior temporal gyrus and sulcus exhibited repetition suppression to auditory repetitions and repetition enhancement to visual repetitions. Our findings of crossmodal repetition-related effects in cortices of the respective other sensory modality add to the emerging view that in human subjects sensory integrative mechanisms operate on earlier cortical processing levels than previously assumed.
Functional Organization of Vestibular Commissural Connections in Frog
Authors: Malinvaud David , Vassias Isabelle , Reichenberger Ingrid , Rössert Christian , Straka Hans
Published: March 2010

Central vestibular neurons receive substantial inputs from the contralateral labyrinth through inhibitory and excitatory brainstem commissural pathways. The functional organization of these pathways was studied by a multi-methodological approach in isolated frog whole brains. Retrogradely labeled vestibular commissural neurons were primarily located in the superior vestibular nucleus in rhombomeres 2/3 and the medial and descending vestibular nucleus in rhombomeres 5–7. Restricted projections to contralateral vestibular areas, without collaterals to other classical vestibular targets, indicate that vestibular commissural neurons form a feedforward push–pull circuitry. Electrical stimulation of the contralateral coplanar semicircular canal nerve evoked in canal-related second-order vestibular neurons (2°VN) commissural IPSPs (∼70%) and EPSPs (∼30%) with mainly (∼70%) disynaptic onset latencies. The dynamics of commissural responses to electrical pulse trains suggests mediation predominantly by tonic vestibular neurons that activate in all tonic 2°VN large-amplitude IPSPs with a reversal potential of −74 mV. In contrast, phasic 2°VN exhibited either nonreversible, small-amplitude IPSPs (∼40%) of likely dendritic origin or large-amplitude commissural EPSPs (∼60%). IPSPs with disynaptic onset latencies were exclusively GABAergic (mainly GABAAreceptor-mediated) but not glycinergic, compatible with the presence of GABA-immunopositive (∼20%) and the absence of glycine-immunopositive vestibular commissural neurons. In contrast, IPSPs with longer, oligosynaptic onset latencies were GABAergic and glycinergic, indicating that both pharmacological types of local inhibitory neurons were activated by excitatory commissural fibers. Conservation of major morpho-physiological and pharmacological features of the vestibular commissural pathway suggests that this phylogenetically old circuitry plays an essential role for the processing of bilateral angular head acceleration signals in vertebrates.
Prefrontal β2 Subunit-Containing and α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Differentially Control Glutamatergic and Cholinergic Signaling
Authors: Parikh Vinay , Ji Jinzhao , Decker Michael W. , Sarter Martin
Published: March 2010

One-second-long increases in prefrontal cholinergic activity (“transients”) were demonstrated previously to be necessary for the incorporation of cues into ongoing cognitive processes (“cue detection”). Nicotine and, more robustly, selective agonists at α4β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) enhance cue detection and attentional performance by augmenting prefrontal cholinergic activity. The present experiments determined the role of β2-containing and α7 nAChRs in the generation of prefrontal cholinergic and glutamatergic transientsin vivo. Transients were evoked by nicotine, the α4β2* nAChR agonist ABT-089 [2-methyl-3-(2-(S)-pyrrolindinylmethoxy) pyridine dihydrochloride], or the α7 nAChR agonist A-582941 [2-methyl-5-(6-phenyl-pyridazin-3-yl)-octahydro-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole]. Transients were recorded in mice lacking β2 or α7 nAChRs and in rats after removal of thalamic glutamatergic or midbrain dopaminergic inputs to prefrontal cortex. The main results indicate that stimulation of α4β2* nAChRs evokes glutamate release and that the presence of thalamic afferents is necessary for the generation of cholinergic transients. ABT-089-evoked transients were completely abolished in mice lacking β2* nAChRs. The amplitude, but not the decay rate, of nicotine-evoked transients was reduced by β2* knock-out. Conversely, in mice lacking the α7 nAChR, the decay rate, but not the amplitude, of nicotine-evoked cholinergic and glutamatergic transients was attenuated. Substantiating the role of α7 nAChR in controlling the duration of release events, stimulation of α7 nAChR produced cholinergic transients that lasted 10- to 15-fold longer than those evoked by nicotine. α7 nAChR-evoked cholinergic transients are mediated in part by dopaminergic activity. Prefrontal α4β2* nAChRs play a key role in evoking and facilitating the transient glutamatergic–cholinergic interactions that are necessary for cue detection and attentional performance.
Fenretinide Promotes Functional Recovery and Tissue Protection after Spinal Cord Contusion Injury in Mice
Authors: López-Vales Rubèn , Redensek Adriana , Skinner Thomas A. A. , Rathore Khizr I. , Ghasemlou Nader , Wojewodka Gabriella , DeSanctis Juan , Radzioch Danuta , David Samuel
Published: March 2010

The inflammatory response is thought to contribute to secondary damage after spinal cord injury (SCI). Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) play an important role in the onset and resolution of inflammation. Arachidonic acid (AA), an ω-6 PUFA, contributes to the initiation of inflammatory responses, whereas docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an ω-3 PUFA, has antiinflammatory effects. Therefore, decreasing AA and increasing DHA levels after SCI might be expected to attenuate inflammation after SCI and promote tissue protection and functional recovery. We show here that daily oral administration of fenretinide after spinal cord contusion injury led to a significant decrease in AA and an increase in DHA levels in plasma and injured spinal cord tissue. This was accompanied by a significant reduction in tissue damage and improvement in locomotor recovery. Fenretinide also reduced the expression of proinflammatory genes and the levels of oxidative stress markers after SCI. In addition,in vitrostudies demonstrated that fenretinide reduced TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α) expression by reactive microglia. These results demonstrate that fenretinide treatment after SCI can reduce inflammation and tissue damage in the spinal cord and improve locomotor recovery. These beneficial effects may be mediated via the ability of fenretinide to modulate PUFA homeostasis. Since fenretinide is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancers, this drug might be a good candidate for the treatment of acute SCI in humans.
Reconstructing Three-Dimensional Hand Movements from Noninvasive Electroencephalographic Signals
Authors: Bradberry Trent J. , Gentili Rodolphe J. , Contreras-Vidal José L.
Published: March 2010

It is generally thought that the signal-to-noise ratio, the bandwidth, and the information content of neural data acquired via noninvasive scalp electroencephalography (EEG) are insufficient to extract detailed information about natural, multijoint movements of the upper limb. Here, we challenge this assumption by continuously decoding three-dimensional (3D) hand velocity from neural data acquired from the scalp with 55-channel EEG during a 3D center-out reaching task. To preserve ecological validity, five subjects self-initiated reaches and self-selected targets. Eye movements were controlled so they would not confound the interpretation of the results. With only 34 sensors, the correlation between measured and reconstructed velocity profiles compared reasonably well to that reported by studies that decoded hand kinematics from neural activity acquired intracranially. We subsequently examined the individual contributions of EEG sensors to decoding to find substantial involvement of scalp areas over the sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the reaching hand. Using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA), we identified distributed current density sources related to hand velocity in the contralateral precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule. Furthermore, we discovered that movement variability negatively correlated with decoding accuracy, a finding to consider during the development of brain–computer interface systems. Overall, the ability to continuously decode 3D hand velocity from EEG during natural, center-out reaching holds promise for the furtherance of noninvasive neuromotor prostheses for movement-impaired individuals.
Interpassivität, oder: Warum manche Leute keine Agency haben möchten
Authors: Pfaller Robert
Published: March 2010

Das auffällige Verhalten vieler Individuen, die ihren Genuss z. B. an Geräte übertragen, besitzt eine politische Bedeutung. Seine theatralische Seite, ein Schauspiel für unbestimmt bleibende Dritte zu sein, verweist auf die in westlichen Gesellschaften aktuell bedrohte Dimension der Triangulierung. Die beliebten Mitmachinitiativen tragen unbewußt zu diesem Verlust von Öffentlichkeit bei. Die interpassive Utopie hingegen besteht in einer Gesellschaft, von der alle etwas haben können, ohne anwesend sein oder mitmachen zu müssen.
Gespür und Spannung. Zur Tektonik des Handelns
Authors: Schulze Holger
Published: March 2010

Dieser Beitrag stellt zwei Begriffe ins Zentrum der Auseinandersetzung mit handlungstheoretischen Fragen, die üblicherweise vernachlässigt werden: einerseits das individuelle Körpergespür eines oder einer Handelnden und andererseits die situative Spannung, die ein Handeln anregt oder leitet. Die Bedeutung dieser Begriffe wird am Werk des Philosophen Ulrich Pothast sowie einem Beitrag von Klaus Theweleit erläutert.
L′action, entre activité et passivité: une opposition occidentale à dépasser. Sous l′éclairage des cultures chinoise et japonaise
Authors: Melin Valérie
Published: March 2010

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Cette réflexion sur l’action, parcours dans des cultures plurielles, se propose d’en interroger l’origine, la nature et l’efficacité. L’analyse qui en découle permet de reconsidérer la dichotomie très occidentale entre activité et passivité à travers des modalités de dépassement qui nous sont offertes par les cultures chinoise et japonaise. La notion d’efficience chère à la Chine, fondée sur le non-agir, témoigne du caractère actif et performant d’une certaine passivité. La notion de pratique inscrite dans la grande tradition culturelle japonaise, pensée comme relation entre soi et le monde dans une dynamique de transformation réciproque, contribue à niveler aussi la séparation entre les deux pôles de l’action, activité et passivité.
Jugendliches Rauschtrinken als passion agency
Authors: Sting Stephan
Published: March 2010

In der Auseinandersetzung mit problemorientierten Thematisierungen aus der Perspektive der Suchtprävention wird in dem Beitrag versucht, die produktiven und sozial konstitutiven Aspekte jugendlichen Rauschtrinkens herauszuarbeiten. Rauschtrinken wird als rituelle Praxis betrachtet, die auf die Übergangsproblematik in der heutigen Gesellschaft antwortet und in der Heranwachsende spezifische, auf den Umgang mit Leidenschaften bezogene Handlungsfähigkeiten erwerben.
Wertschätzung als pädagogische Kommunikationsform im Spannungsfeld von actio und passio. Über die Paradoxieanfälligkeit von Unterricht
Authors: Clemens Iris
Published: March 2010

Die eher marginalisierte Frage der Bedeutung von Emotionen im Kontext Schule wird aufgegriffen und der Begriff der Wertschätzung als mögliche pädagogische Kommunikationsform analysiert. Dabei wird als eine Form der Beschreibung von actio und passio die systemtheoretische Unterscheidung von Handeln und Erleben eingeführt. Die internalen und externalen Zuschreibungsformen werden genutzt, um die kommunikativen Implikationen gelingender Wertschätzungsakte zu klären.
Hexis: Ritual und Haltung bei Dionysius Areopagita
Authors: Stock Wiebke-Marie
Published: March 2010

Der spätantike Philosoph und Theologe Dionysius Areopagita (~ 500), der neuplatonisches und christliches Denken wirkmächtig zusammenführte, vertritt eine ethische Theorie, in der das Konzept der hexis (Haltung, Verfassung, Charakter, Habitus) eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Der Kampf gegen Bilder und  Phantasien, die die Ausbildung der hexis hindern, ist verknüpft mit der Ausbildung des Menschen als Bild Gottes. Ohne eigene aktive Bemühung ist die erstrebte gottförmige hexis ebensowenig zu erreichen wie ohne die passive Formung durch Riten, die die hexis gestalten, stärken und zu einer gottförmigen ausbilden. Die hexis ist ein komplexes ethisches Konzept, bei dessen Entwicklung Verstand, Körper und Seele interagieren, Rituale und sinnliche Erfahrungen sich als haltungsprägend erweisen.
Macht und Ohnmacht einer lebenden Göttin  Die Kumārī im politischen Wechsel Nepals
Authors: Michaels Axel
Published: March 2010

Die Kumārī, die sogenannte lebende Göttin, in Nepal ist seit einigen Jahren wiederholt Gegenstand politischer und juristischer Auseinandersetzungen geworden. Der Aufsatz behandelt diese Konflikte, vornehmlich im Hinblick auf Fragen der komplexen Agency, die Priester, Politiker, Menschenrechtsinstitutionen, die Öffentlichkeit (Presse), die Familie der Kumārī und nicht zuletzt die Kumārī selbst beanspruchen.
Wer handelt in Trance? Zur Performanz der Geister in den Ritualen der brasilianischen Umbanda
Authors: Meyer Christian
Published: March 2010

Die Rituale der Umbanda verlangen von ihren menschlichen Medien bei der Verkörperung von Geistwesen in der Trance einerseits ein hohes Maß an spontaner performativer Kreativität, damit sie unterhaltsam sind und im multi-religiösen Brasilien Publikum anziehen. Andererseits aber fordern sie auch eine große performative Genauigkeit, damit die Geistverkörperung auch als authentisch bewertet wird. Immer wieder kommt es dazu, dass die Geistwesen allzu offensichtlich die Interessen der sie verkörpernden Medien vertreten, so dass das Publikum das menschliche Medium als Urheber von deren Taten und Worten vermutet. Dieser Gratwanderung zwischen einer glaubwürdigen Geistperformanz und deren Nutzung zum Verfolgen menschlicher Interessen wird der Aufsatz anhand einer Untersuchung des Sprechens der Geister, das paradigmatisch für agency ist, nachgehen.