The hippocampus, objects, and their contexts.

Rats with hippocampal aspiration lesions and controls were trained on delayed nonmatching to sample with small complex goal boxes, presented trial uniquely. A series of experiments then used pairs of large or small boxes, presented repeatedly. The lesions impaired choice accuracy when the rats were tested with large empty boxes but not when small boxes containing 3-dimensional objects were used. There was a comparable impairment when the rats were tested with pairs of large complex boxes, which contained arrays of objects, identical to those used in the smaller boxes but necessarily spaced further apart. Subsequent experiments revealed that the lesion deficit with large boxes was reduced by insertion of a continuous line of distinctive objects and eliminated by trial-unique presentation of large boxes. The results are discussed in terms of (non) spatial accounts of hippocampal function and the compensatory effects of novel object cues. We conclude that, for hippocampal rats, spatial cues, although useless, can nonetheless be profoundly disruptive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of cytotoxic entorhinal lesions and electrolytic medial septal lesions on the acquisition and retention of a spatial working memory task

This study assesses how social desirability affects responses in clinical self-report inventories. Six hundred items gathered from four normal personality questionnaires were adapted to devise a pre-experimental personality questionnaire (pre-EMHQ). Results obtained from administering Ko's Mental Health Questionnaire (KMHQ) and the pre-EMHQ to separate samples were the proportion of individuals answering "true" to each item (i.e., P(t)) and the social desirability scale value (i.e., SDSV) of each item. The Experimental Mental Health Questionnaire (EMHQ) was established from the pre-EMHQ by closely matching the P(t)s and the SDSVs of the two questionnaires. Administering the KMHQ and the EMHQ concurrently to another sample provided results for factor analysis and other statistical analyses. The SDSVs and the P(t)s for each of the KMHQ items certainly displayed a linearly increasing relation. The two sets of corresponding subscales also correlated significantly. By applying the polynomial regression analysis, the tendency to score might be expressed as a quadratic function of SDSVs. Two iterative principal-factor analyses of the two sets of subscales each resulted in two factors, and Factor 1 is similar in both the KMHQ and the EMHQ. In brief, social desirability plays a critical role in affecting responses in a clinical self-report inventory. The factors involved and suggestions proposed will be of value for further research.     

Food searching strategies of rats: Variables affecting the relative strength of stay and shift strategies.

Examined the extent to which the food searching strategies of rats are influenced by training, information about food in an initially visited site, and type of memory required for correct choices. Exp I used a discrete-trial, delayed conditional-discrimination procedure on a T-maze with 32 male Sprague-Dawley rats. Ss entered 1 arm of the maze and were given a choice between that arm (stay strategy) or the other arm (shift strategy). During the initial visit, S either consumed all the food (depletion condition) or only some of it (nondepletion condition). Ss given the shift-depletion task learned most rapidly; those given the stay-depletion task learned most slowly. Depletion increased the rate at which the shift discrimination was learned but decreased the rate at which the stay discrimination was learned. Exp II used a similar procedure with the Maier 3-table maze and 16 male albino rats; the same pattern of results was found. Exp III, conducted with 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats, required each S to learn both a win-stay and a lose-shift contingency and to use associative memory. Early in training, Ss used only a shift strategy but eventually learned the discrimination. Results indicate that the shift-stay balance is influenced by the rat's species-specific predisposition, reinforcement contingencies, amount of food in the initially visited place, and the extent to which recognition memory by itself is sufficient to solve the discrimination. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of Balanced Detection to Absorption Measurements of Trace Gases with Room-Temperature, Quasi-cw Quantum-Cascade Lasers

Distributed-feedback quantum-cascade (QC) lasers are expected to form the heart of the next-generation mid-IR laser absorption spectrometers, especially as they are applied to measurements of trace gases in a variety of environments. The incorporation of room-temperature-operable, single-mode QC lasers should result in highly compact and rugged sensors for real-world applications. We report preliminary results on the performance of a laser absorption spectrometer that uses a QC laser operating at room temperature in a quasi-cw mode in conjunction with balanced ratiometric detection. We have demonstrated sensitivities for N(2)O [10 parts in 10(6) volume-mixing ratio for a 1-m path (ppmv-m)] and NO [520 parts in 10(9) volume-mixing ratio for a 1-m path (ppbv-m)] at 5.4 mum. System improvements are described that are expected to result in a 2 orders of magnitude increase in sensitivity.     

A MEMS Singlet Oxygen Generator—Part II: Experimental Exploration of the Performance Space

This paper reports the quantitative experimental exploration of the performance space of a microfabricated singlet oxygen generator (muSOG). SOGs are multiphase reactors that mix H₂O₂, KOH, and Cl₂ to produce singlet delta oxygen, or O₂ (a). A scaled-down SOG is being developed as the pump source for a microfabricated chemical oxygen-iodine laser system because scaling down a SOG yields improved performance compared to the macroscaled versions. The performance of the muSOG was characterized using O₂ (a) yield, chlorine utilization, power in the flow, molar flow rate per unit of reactor volume, and steady-state operation as metrics. The performance of the muSOG is measured through a series of optical diagnostics and mass spectrometry. The test rig, which enables the monitoring of temperatures, pressures, and the molar flow rate of O₂ (a), is described in detail. Infrared spectra and mass spectrometry confirm the steady-state operation of the device. Experimental results reveal O₂ (a) concentrations in excess of 10¹⁷ cm^-3, O₂ (a) yield at the chip outlet approaching 80%, and molar flow rates of 02(a) per unit of reactor volume exceeding 600 times 10^-4 mol/L/s.     

Deletion of glutamate receptor-A (GluR-A) AMPA receptor subunits impairs one-trial spatial memory.

Genetically modified mice lacking the glutamate receptor A (GluR-A) subunit of the AMPA receptor (GluR-A-/- mice) display normal spatial reference memory but impaired spatial working memory (SWM). This study tested whether the SWM impairment in these mice could be explained by a greater sensitivity to within-session proactive interference. The SWM performance of GluR-A-/- and wild-type mice was assessed during nonmatching-to-place testing under conditions in which potential proactive interference from previous trials was reduced or eliminated. SWM was impaired in GluR-A-/- mice, both during testing with pseudotrial-unique arm presentations on the radial maze and when conducting each trial on a different 3-arm maze, each in a novel testing room. Experimentally naive GluR-A-/- mice also exhibited chance performance during a single trial of spontaneous alternation. This 1-trial spatial memory deficit was present irrespective of the delay between the sample information and the response choice (0 or 45 min) and the length of the sample phase (0.5 or 5 min). These results imply that the SWM deficit in GluR-A-/- mice is not due to increased susceptibility to proactive interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mapping snow cover in the pan-Arctic zone,using multi-year (1998-2001) images from optical VEGETATION sensor

Timely information on spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of snow cover in the pan-Arctic zone is needed, as snow cover plays an important role in climate, hydrology and ecological processes. Here we report estimates of snow cover in the pan-Arctic zone (north of 45° N) at 1-km spatial resolution and at a 10-day temporal interval over the period of April 1998 to December 2001, using 10-day composite images of VEGETATION sensor onboard Système Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT)-4 satellite. The results show that snow covered area (SCA) in North America (north of 45° N) increased from 1998 to 2001, while SCA in Eurasia (north of 45° N) decreased from 1998 to 2000 but increased in 2001. There were large spatial and temporal variations of snow cover in the pan-Arctic zone during 1998-2001.