Hippocampal lesions facilitate instrumental learning with delayed reinforcement but induce impulsive choice in rats

Background  

Animals must frequently act to influence the world even when the reinforcing outcomes of their actions are delayed. Learning with action-outcome delays is a complex problem, and little is known of the neural mechanisms that bridge such delays. When outcomes are delayed, they may be attributed to (or associated with) the action that caused them, or mistakenly attributed to other stimuli, such as the environmental context. Consequently, animals that are poor at forming context-outcome associations might learn action-outcome associations better with delayed reinforcement than normal animals. The hippocampus contributes to the representation of environmental context, being required for aspects of contextual conditioning. We therefore hypothesized that animals with hippocampal lesions would be better than normal animals at learning to act on the basis of delayed reinforcement. We tested the ability of hippocampal-lesioned rats to learn a free-operant instrumental response using delayed reinforcement, and what is potentially a related ability – the ability to exhibit self-controlled choice, or to sacrifice an immediate, small reward in order to obtain a delayed but larger reward.     

Fabrication of polystyrene hollow microspheres as laser fusion targets by optimized density-matched emulsion technique and characterization

Inertial confinement fusion, frequently referred to as ICF, inertial fusion, or laser fusion, is a means of producing energy by imploding small hollow microspheres containing thermonuclear fusion fuel. Polymer microspheres, which are used as fuel containers, can be produced by solution-based micro-encapsulation technique better known as density-matched emulsion technique. The specifications of these microspheres are very rigorous, and various aspects of the emulsion hydrodynamics associated with their production are important in controlling the final product. This paper describes about the optimization of various parameters associated with density-matched emulsion method in order to improve the surface smoothness, wall thickness uniformity and sphericity of hollow polymer microspheres. These polymer microshells have been successfully fabricated in our lab, with 3–30 μm wall thickness and 50–1600 μm diameters. The sphericity and wall thickness uniformity are better than 99%. Elimination of vacuoles and high yield rate has been achieved by adopting the step-wise heating of W₁/O/W₂ emulsion for solvent removal.     

Measurements of GnE/GnM from the 2H(e-->,en-->)1H Reaction to Q2=1.45 (GeV/c)2

We report new measurements of the ratio of the electric form factor to the magnetic form factor of the neutron, G(n)(E)/G(n)(M), obtained via recoil polarimetry from the quasielastic 2H(e-->,e(')n-->)1H reaction at Q2 values of 0.45, 1.13, and 1.45 (GeV/c)(2) with relative statistical uncertainties of 7.6% and 8.4% at the two higher Q2 points, which points have never been achieved in polarization measurements.     

Iterative methods for stabilized discrete convection-diffusion problems

In this paper we study the computational cost of solving theconvection-diffusion equation using various discretization strategiesand iteration solution algorithms. The choice of discretizationinfluences the properties of the discrete solution and alsothe choice of solution algorithm. The discretizations consideredhere are stabilized low-order finite element schemes using streamlinediffusion, crosswind diffusion and shock-capturing. The latter,shock-capturing discretizations lead to nonlinear algebraicsystems and require nonlinear algorithms. We compare variouspreconditioned Krylov subspace methods including Newton-Krylovmethods for nonlinear problems, as well as several preconditionersbased on relaxation and incomplete factorization. We find thatalthough enhanced stabilization based on shock-capturing requiresfewer degrees of freedom than linear stabilizations to achievecomparable accuracy, the nonlinear algebraic systems are morecostly to solve than those derived from a judicious combinationof streamline diffusion and crosswind diffusion. Solution algorithmsbased on GMRES with incomplete block-matrix factorization preconditioningare robust and efficient.     

Syntheses and reactions of some fluorinated dienes,cyclobutenes and furans

There are many reports¹ of the pyrolysis of fluorinated organic compounds, including the defluorination of cyclic fluorocarbons over iron to give aromatic compounds. Extending this technique we have investigated the flow pyrolysis of some readily accessible unsaturated fluorocarbons, such as I, II, and III, and found these to be synthetically

useful routes to fluorinated dienes, cyclobutenes, and furans. Pyrolyses were carried out using a nitrogen flow over platinum, iron or caesium fluoride heated at 430–700°. The various products can all be rationalized in terms of intermediate allylic radicals, and the solid substrate influences which allylic radicals are formed.We are also investigating the chemistry of those now accessible compounds, such as IV, V, and VI, and some of the preliminary results are described.

For example the fluoride ion induced dimerisation of IV gave two major products VII and VIII via a particular interesting mechanism.

     

Parity of the band head at 3710 keV in 99Rh using clover detector as compton polarimeter

Clover detector has been used as a Compton polarimeter to measure the linear polarization of γ-rays produced in heavy ion fusion reaction. The polarization sensitivity of the clover detector has been measured over γ-ray energies ranging from 386 to 1368 ke V. The E1 multipolarity of the 1117 keV transition in ⁹⁹Rh has been established using this polarimeter. This has resulted in the assignment of negative parity to the band head at 3710 keV in ⁹⁹Rh.     

Angular distributions for (3,4)(Lambda)H bound states in the (3,4)He(e,e(')K+) reaction

The (3,4)(Lambda)H and (4)(Lambda)H hypernuclear bound states have been observed for the first time in kaon electroproduction on (3,4)He targets. The production cross sections have been determined at Q(2)=0.35 GeV2 and W=1.91 GeV. For either hypernucleus the nuclear form factor is determined by comparing the angular distribution of the (3,4)He(e,e(')K+)(3,4)(Lambda)H processes to the elementary cross section 1H(e,e K+)Lambda on the free proton, measured during the same experiment.