Effects of infraorbital nerve section on survival, growth, and suckling behaviors of developing rats.

Examined the role of tactile sensory processes by surgical section of the infraorbital nerve in Wistar rats at 17, 12, 7, and less than 1 day of postnatal age. All sectioned Ss showed anesthesia of snout, upper lip, and vibrissal pads, and severe impairment of nipple attachment for at least the 1st day after denervation. Seven-day-olds failed to recover, and all died after 3–6 days of relentless weight loss. 17-day-olds showed no weight loss after denervation if already weaned to solid food, but they lost weight for 2 days before recovering if fed solely by nursing. 12-day-olds lost weight for 3 days, and 25% failed to recover. Behavioral observations showed that denervated Ss were activated by the mother's ventrum; they probed for the nipple in the appropriate area, but failed to focus head sweeping or licking and mouthing on the nipple itself. Data show that tactile cues are necessary for normal nursing in the rat and suggest that important tactile sensorimotor adaptations may occur during the early and late phases of nursing. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On naming a giraffe a zebra: Picture naming errors across different object categories.

Two experiments examined naming to deadline for picture of objects from categories with structurally similar or dissimilar exemplars. In Exp 1, a wider range of naming errors were made for objects from structurally similar categories, consistent with those items having a broader set of structural neighbors. Also, only visual?+?semantic errors were made to structurally similar objects, whereas modal errors for some structurally dissimilar objects were either purely visual or purely semantically related to targets. In Exp 2, the names of visual?+?semantic primes occurred as perseverative responses to objects from both category types. The data fit a cascade model of picture naming, in which errors under deadline reflect the rate-limiting processes affecting naming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

DIS today [Distributed interactive simulation]

As the power and potential to create robust distributed interactive simulation (DIS) environments using the technical principles introduced by the SIMNET project gains recognition, the need for establishing standards for the implementation of these principles has grown dramatically. Initially, the interest in achieving interoperability between many disparate simulation components drove the work in developing standards. More recently, an equally important aspect for establishing standards has been to expand the market opportunities for simulation component suppliers. During the past five years, Workshops on Standards for the Interoperability of Distributed Simulations have provided the forum for establishing standards for networking dissimilar simulations to create virtual worlds in which many subjects can interact. These virtual worlds can be used for training individuals, testing equipment, prototyping products, research and development or any application involving the interaction of groups of people in a common synthetic environment     

Effect of hyperthermia on the radiosensitivity of normal and malignant cells in mice

The effect of systemic hyperthermia on the in vivo radiation response of normal and malignant mouse cells was evaluated. X-irradiation of L1210 cells and Ehrlich ascites cells at body temperatures above 41 degrees C resulted in strongly enhanced tumor cell death. The magnitude of this thermal effect increased with increasing temperatures. Hypoxic tumor cells were particularly sensitive to combined heat-radiation treatment. L1210 leukemia cells did not become resistant to the sensitizing effects of hyperthermia even after repeated heat exposures over several transplant generations. The sensitizing action of hyperthermia varied with different heating strategies. Heating before or during irradiation did not materially alter the radiation response of tumor cells. Maximal potentiation of radiation damage was achieved only when the tumorous mice were subjected to at least 20 minutes heat incubation after irradiation. LD studies on ICR mice revealed that moderate hyperthermia (41.5 degrees C) does not alter the radiation response of normal body tissues. These findings indicate that it is possible to devise hyperthermic treatment regimens that drastically enhance radiation-induced tumor cell death in vivo without reducing the radioresistance of normal tissues.     

When to separate uncertainties and when not to separate

A simple introductory example illustrates when to separate and when not to. The underlying principle is shown to also hold in situations of practical relevance. For several such situations it is discussed when, why and how to separate uncertainties. It is also pointed out how the outcome of this separation is used in practice.Subsequently the relation to the terms ‘epistemic’ and ‘aleatory’ is briefly explained.     

Developing standards for computerized psychological testing

The growth of computerized psychological testing (CPT) requires that we analyze its ethical and legal ramifications. The response of the legal community and the profession of psychology is reviewed. There are potential problems with the administration of tests by computer, especially the interpretation of computer-administered tests with norms and validity data from paper-and-pencil administrations, and the impact of computerization on certain test-taker groups and item types. Criteria for assessing the adequacy of classification systems used to assign people to interpretive statements, and the validity of computer-generated reports, are analyzed. CPT users should review reports and developers should disclose the rationale underlying interpretations. Not only the scientific merit, but also the fairness and efficiency of CPT will determine whether its potential is fully realized.     

The influence of surface structures on sputtering: Angular distribution and yield from faceted surfaces

Solid surfaces subject to energetic particle bombardment generally develop characteristic structures, which may significantly change the total and differential sputtering yield. The change is due to two competing effects, a yield-increase by an enhanced effective projectile incidence angle, and a yield-reduction by recapture of obliquely ejected particles. Both effects have been included in calculations of the sputtering yields from faceted surfaces in the regime where the plane surface yield follows a cos^−v dependence on the incidence angle. Except at very low energies, the total sputtering yield is always increased by faceting. The angular distribution function is mainly influenced at large polar angles and may significantly deviate from that of the corresponding flat surface. This has important consequences both in comparisons between experimental and theoretical distribution functions as well as in applications such as thin film production, plasma contamination, secondary ion mass spectrometry etc. EURAT0M Association.     

On surveys of expert opinion

Probabilistic risk assessments are, like most computational assessments, subject to knowledge uncertainties. Quite often experts are consulted for their opinion on the subject matter in question to bridge the corresponding gaps in the computational assessment procedure. The less to the point information available, however, the more the expert judgement depends on features that may vary considerably from expert to expert. Additionally, a number of biases are pointed out in the literature that may have serious impact on expert judgements. Some of these biases are outlined and the variation in opinions between experts is illustrated by practical examples from different engineering disciplines. With respect to the credibility and usability of PRAs to nuclear power plants it is concluded that if expert opinion is to serve as a significant quantification basis it is to enter in form of a survey of expert opinion.