The decerebrate human: associative learning

Phasic changes in cardiac reactivity to innocuous stimuli, presented in a sensory disparity paradigm, were used to evaluate habituation and learning processes in five decerebrate subjects. Three subjects showed systematic changes over trials in the pattern of cardiac response to simple auditory or visual stimuli, indicative of habituation. In addition, tests for associative learning were given after repeated presentations of two paired stimuli. The appearance of a marked cardiac orienting response, to the unpredictable omission of the second stimulus, documented the development of a conditioned association in these same three subjects. One additional subject failed to show a consistent pattern of response to the stimuli, and another demonstrated a consistent response which was not subject to habituation. Overall, these findings support the view that learning processes are not solely the product of the cerebral hemispheres, but reflect general integrative features of the human neuraxis.     

Effect of chlorine-containing pesticides on the hemolytic stability and acetylcholinesterase activity of erythrocytes

The hemolytic action of the chlorine-containing pesticides, trichloroacetic acid (TCA), pentachlorophenolate (PCP), chlorophos and pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) on red cells was studied, as were their effects on acetylcholinesterase activity and resistance of red cells to mechanical hemolysis by ultrasound. The modifying action of pesticides on red cell membranes was shown to lead to their mechanical resistance. TCA, PCP and chlorophos were found to sensitize red cells whereas PCNB to make them resistant to the mechanical action of ultrasound. The kinetic characteristics of the structural functional disorders of red cells might be used as quantitative criteria of the efficacy of the action of pesticides on the cells.     

Correlation between Weak Contact Discontinuities and the Parameters of Vortexes Arising at the Initial Stage of a Gas Jet

This paper deals with the problem on the formation of the contact surface of weak discontinuity at the initial stage of formation of a gas jet with its subsequent transformation into vortexes. The present author uses the theorem she has previously proved, which enables one to determine the eddies at points of these surfaces, and a corollary to this theorem which defines the relation of the surface curvature of weak contact discontinuity to the vorticity of a liquid particle at a given point, as well as to the velocity component of this liquid particle tangential to the surface, in order to determine the parameters of vortexes arising from the contact surface.     

Estimation of the Effect of Small Perturbations in Multivariant Calculations Using the Prizma-D Computer Program

In eigenvalue problems, in contrast to problems with a fixed source, the perturbation introduced into the system affects the distribution of the fission points of the source. The method of “small iterations on fissions” was developed to take account of this influence. This method is used together with a special method for simulating trajectories. The crux of the method is that for all variants of the problem the initial source is a source for the unperturbed variant, after which, to establish the source for each variant, iterations on fissions are performed in the second part of the computational cycle using a special method of simulation. The possibilities of using the method of “small iterations on fissions” are demonstrated with calculations performed for several problems and the comparative results are presented. __________ Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 99, No. 3, pp. 203–210, September, 2005.