NMDA Receptor Modulation of Incidental Learning in Pavlovian Context Conditioning.

Rats exposed to a footshock show conditional fear when reexposed to the shock context. Immediate presentation of shock after placement in the context significantly reduces this fear. Preexposure to the context in the absence of shock, coupled with a minimum preshock interval during training, overcomes this immediate shock deficit. Because rats learn about the context during preexposure and express that learning after being reinforced, the context preexposure effect is an aversive analogue of latent learning. The authors examined the effect of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphovalerate (APV) on the facilitatory effect of context preexposure. Rats were preexposed to a chamber after APV administration. The next day they were placed in the same chamber without drug and received shock 35 s later. APV blocked the facilitatory effect of preexposure. Therefore NMDA receptors are important for contextual latent learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discrete Wavelet Transform: Architectures, Design and Performance Issues

Due to the demand for real time wavelet processors in applications such as video compression [1], Internet communications compression [2], object recognition [3], and numerical analysis, many architectures for the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) systems have been proposed. This paper surveys the different approaches to designing DWT architectures. The types of architectures depend on whether the application is 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D, as well as the style of architecture: systolic, semi-systolic, folded, digit-serial, etc. This paper presents an overview and evaluation of the architectures based on the criteria of latency, control, area, memory, and number of multipliers and adders. This paper will give the reader an indication of the advantages and disadvantages of each design.     

Value of information in remanufacturing complex products

Remanufacturing facilities usually face a trade-off between limited information about remanufacturing yields and potentially long supplier lead times. To improve production performance, these firms may attempt to acquire more timely and accurate information about remanufacturing yields or alternatively, to reduce the lead times of purchased parts. We develop four decision-making models to evaluate the impact of yield information and supplier lead time on manufacturing costs. We identify the operating conditions under which these capabilities are valuable, along with their relative impact on facility performance. Each model is formulated as an infinite horizon, stochastic dynamic program (Markov decision process). Our results indicate that the yield information is generally quite valuable, while investments in supplier responsiveness provide trivial returns to products with few parts. However, as product complexity increases with large number of target parts, the value of short lead times increases.     

A physiological perspective on the swelling properties of the mammalian corneal stroma.

PURPOSE: The present studies were designed to assess whether measurement of corneal stroma swelling in the laboratory, especially in non-physiological solutions, was associated with a measurable effect on the keratocytes. METHODS: Complete corneal stroma preparations were made from quality- and age-selected recent post-mortem cattle eyes. These were either assessed immediately or incubated in three different solutions, namely a balanced salts solution with glucose (BSSG), isotonic phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or pure water. Incubations were carried out at 37 degrees C for 9h, and repeated measures of wet mass made so that the rates and extent of swelling could be determined. After incubation, an aqueous extract was made of the stroma for measurements of the levels the enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase. RESULTS: The initial rates of swelling were lowest in BSSG, marginally faster in PBS and much faster in water. The secondary rates of swelling showed the same sequence being 10.0%/h in BSSG, 14.8%/h in PBS and 34.2%/h in water. Compared to non-incubated preparations, reductions in all three enzyme activities occurred. For LDH, these were 15% with BSSG, 40% in PBS and 80% with water. Similar results were seen with ALDH activity when comparing the three incubation solutions, while incubation in BSSG also resulted in a substantial (40%) reduction in N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity. CONCLUSIONS: When immersed in an isotonic BSSG with added glucose at 37 degrees C, the swelling of a complete bovine corneal stroma is much less than smaller pieces of stroma, and also slightly less than if isotonic PBS was used. With the use of BSSG, little or no change in cytoplasmic enzyme activities occurred, but measurable decreases were noted with PBS and very substantial decreases when water was used, indicating a toxic effect on the keratocytes. The observation that substantial decreases in a lysosomal enzyme activity could occur even with the use of BSSG indicate substantial stress is imposed on the stroma during these types of experiments. Notwithstanding, the data collectively indicate that the keratocyte cells within the collagen matrix of the stroma can be substantially damaged and this needs to be taken into account in future experiments on the true physiology of the corneal stroma.     

Application of novel extractants for actinide(III)/ lanthanide(III) separation in hollow-fibre modules

Separation tests using hollow-fibre modules were performed for the difficult selective extraction of trivalent actinides over fission lanthanides from acidic media. This article shows that with 2,6-di(5,6-dipropyl-1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)pyridine as the extractant, up to 94% americium could be extracted from 1.0 kmol/m³ HNO₃, with minimal lanthanide co-extraction. Using a synergistic mixture of bis(chlorophenyl)dithiophosphinic acid and tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide, tests were performed on extraction, lanthanide scrubbing and stripping. In the extraction test, up to 99.99% americium could be extracted from 0.5 kmol/m³ HNO₃, with approximately one third of the lanthanides being co-extracted. Mass transfer calculations using a consistent set of input data showed good agreement with the experiments.     

Efficiency improvements in US office equipment: Expected policy impacts and uncertainties

We create a business as usual scenario for office equipment electricity use from industry forecasts of equipment sales, surveys of equipment densities by building type, measured data on wattage and usage by equipment type and projected lifetimes for equipment. We then calculate electricity used by building type and equipment type for Energy Star and advanced scenarios and explore the sensitivity of these results to variations in key input parameters. According to our analysis, the Energy Star programme will save the US almost US$1 billion annually starting in the year 2000, with minimal expenditure of public funds.     

A comparison of CCS tandem overload controls

In this paper we analyse issues associated with overloads in tandem switching systems in Common Channel Signalling (CCS) networks. In particular, we examine the need for, and effectiveness of, Automatic Congestion Control (ACC), a CCS mechanism which allows a congested switching system to inform adjacent CCS nodes of its level of overload, and subsequently controls the rate at which traffic is sent to the congested node. We demonstrate the critical need for end-offices and tandem switching systems to implement some form of ACC if network performance is to be maintained during congestion, especially in tandem exchanges. In addition, we find that the presently defined ACC should be expanded to allow more levels of congestion to be reported to adjacent nodes, so that a more effective, finer grained control is produced.     

Mullite Formation by Endothermic Reaction of α-Alumina/Silica Microcomposite Particles

The formation of mullite was investigated using microcomposite powders which consist of α-alumina cores and amorphous silica coatings. Differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction showed that the mullitization reaction was endothermic. In contrast, mullite forms exothermically in samples prepared by sol-gel processing. The results are shown to be consistent with available thermodynamic data for mullite formation from different alumina and silica phases.     

Synthesis of heterocyclic metal complexes and their evaluation as marine antifoulants

4-Amino-3-thio-1,24-triazolidine (L₁) and 4-amino-5-thio-1,3,4-thiadiazole (L_II) as well as their metal complexes of the general formulae ML_I·2H₂O and ML_IICl (M; Pb(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II)) were prepared. With Sn(II), we obtained Sn(L_I)₂·2H₂O and SnL_IICl, respectively. The structures of the compounds were identified through elemental analysis, and IR and UV spectra measurements, in addition to thermal analysis in case of the metal complexes. The antifouling properties of the compounds were tested by their incorporation into paint formulations which were applied to PVC substrates and tested in water from Alexandria western harbour. When the compounds were added at 17·5% by volume, the coated panels were fouled after 3 months of immersion. The addition of 6·7% by volume of tributyltin oxide to 15·8% of the prepared compounds in one formulation elevated the paint efficiency and prevented fouling for 11 months. Paint containing solely tributyltin oxide at the same concentration was inactive against algae.