611 research outputs found
Development and Validation of a Sensitive Entropy-Based Measure for the Water Maze
In the water maze, mice are trained to navigate to an escape platform located below the water's surface, and spatial learning is most commonly evaluated in a probe test in which the platform is removed from the pool. While contemporary tracking software provides precise positional information of mice for the duration of the probe test, existing performance measures (e.g., percent quadrant time, platform crossings) fail to exploit fully the richness of this positional data. Using the concept of entropy (H), here we develop a new measure that considers both how focused the search is and the degree to which searching is centered on the former platform location. To evaluate how H performs compared to existing measures of water maze performance we compiled five separate databases, containing more than 1600 mouse probe tests. Random selection of individual trials from respective databases then allowed us to simulate experiments with varying sample and effect sizes. Using this Monte Carlo-based method, we found that H outperformed existing measures in its ability to detect group differences over a range of sample or effect sizes. Additionally, we validated the new measure using three models of experimentally induced hippocampal dysfunction: (1) complete hippocampal lesions, (2) genetic deletion of αCaMKII, a gene implicated in hippocampal behavioral and synaptic plasticity, and (3) a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Together, these data indicate that H offers greater sensitivity than existing measures, most likely because it exploits the richness of the precise positional information of the mouse throughout the probe test
Fragment size correlations in finite systems - application to nuclear multifragmentation
We present a new method for the calculation of fragment size correlations in
a discrete finite system in which correlations explicitly due to the finite
extent of the system are suppressed. To this end, we introduce a combinatorial
model, which describes the fragmentation of a finite system as a sequence of
independent random emissions of fragments. The sequence is accepted when the
sum of the sizes is equal to the total size. The parameters of the model, which
may be used to calculate all partition probabilities, are the intrinsic
probabilities associated with the fragments. Any fragment size correlation
function can be built by calculating the ratio between the partition
probabilities in the data sample (resulting from an experiment or from a Monte
Carlo simulation) and the 'independent emission' model partition probabilities.
This technique is applied to charge correlations introduced by Moretto and
collaborators. It is shown that the percolation and the nuclear statistical
multifragmentaion model ({\sc smm}) are almost independent emission models
whereas the nuclear spinodal decomposition model ({\sc bob}) shows strong
correlations corresponding to the break-up of the hot dilute nucleus into
nearly equal size fragments
Fetal alcohol exposure leads to abnormal olfactory bulb development and impaired odor discrimination in adult mice
Background: Children whose mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy exhibit widespread brain abnormalities and a complex array of behavioral disturbances. Here, we used a mouse model of fetal alcohol exposure to investigate relationships between brain abnormalities and specific behavioral alterations during adulthood. Results: Mice drank a 10% ethanol so
Yield scaling, size hierarchy and fluctuations of observables in fragmentation of excited heavy nuclei
Multifragmentation properties measured with INDRA are studied for single
sources produced in Xe+Sn reactions in the incident energy range 32-50 A MeV
and quasiprojectiles from Au+Au collisions at 80 A MeV. A comparison for both
types of sources is presented concerning Fisher scaling, Zipf law, fragment
size and fluctuation observables. A Fisher scaling is observed for all the
data. The pseudo-critical energies extracted from the Fisher scaling are
consistent between Xe+Sn central collisions and Au quasi-projectiles. In the
latter case it also corresponds to the energy region at which fluctuations are
maximal. The critical energies deduced from the Zipf analysis are higher than
those from the Fisher analysis.Comment: 30 pages, accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics A, references
correcte
Transition from participant to spectator fragmentation in Au+Au reaction between 60 AMeV and 150 AMeV
Using the quantum molecular dynamics approach, we analyze the results of the
recent INDRA Au+Au experiments at GSI in the energy range between 60 AMeV and
150 AMeV. It turns out that in this energy region the transition toward a
participant-spectator scenario takes place. The large Au+Au system displays in
the simulations as in the experiment simultaneously dynamical and statistical
behavior which we analyze in detail: The composition of fragments close to
midrapidity follows statistical laws and the system shows bi-modality, i.e. a
sudden transition between different fragmentation pattern as a function of the
centrality as expected for a phase transition. The fragment spectra at small
and large rapidities, on the other hand, are determined by dynamics and the
system as a whole does not come to equilibrium, an observation which is
confirmed by FOPI experiments for the same system.Comment: published versio
Beacon Virtua: A Virtual Reality Simulation Detailing the Recent and Shipwreck History of Beacon Island, Western Australia
Beacon Virtua is a project to document and virtually preserve a historically significant offshore island as a virtual reality experience. In 1629, survivors of the wreck of VOC ship Batavia took refuge on Beacon Island, Western Australia, followed by a mutiny and massacre. In the 1950s the island became the base of a successful fishing industry, and in 1963 human remains from Batavia were located. The fishing community has recently been moved off the island to protect and preserve the site and allow a thorough archaeological investigation of the island. Beacon Virtua exposes users to the history of both the shipwreck survivors and the fishing community. The project uses the virtual environment development software Unity to present a simulation of the island, with 3D models of buildings and jetties, photogrammetric 3D reconstructions of graves and other features, 360° photographic panoramas, and information on the history of the island. The experience has been made available on a wide range of different platforms including via a web-page, as part of an exhibition, and on head mounted displays (VR headsets). This chapter discusses the features included in Beacon Virtua, the storytelling techniques used in the simulation, the challenges encountered and solutions used during the project
Bimodality - a general feature of heavy ion reactions
Recently, is has been observed that events with the {\it same} total
transverse energy of light charged particles (LCP) in the quasi target region,
, show two quite distinct reaction scenarios in the
projectile domain: multifragmentation and residue production. This phenomenon
has been dubbed "bimodality". Using Quantum Molecular Dynamics calculations we
demonstrate that this observation is very general. It appears in collisions of
all symmetric systems larger than Ca and at beam energies between 50 A.MeV and
600 A.MeV and is due to large fluctuations of the impact parameter for a given
. Investigating in detail the bin in
which both scenarios are present, we find that neither the average fragment
momenta nor the average transverse and longitudinal energies of fragments show
the behavior expected from a system in statistical equilibrium, in experiment
as well as in QMD simulations. On the contrary, the experimental as well as the
theoretical results point towards a fast process. This observation questions
the conjecture that the observed bimodality is due to the coexistence of 2
phases at a given temperature in finite systems.Comment: accepted PR
Pion radii in nonlocal chiral quark model
The electromagnetic radius of the charged pion and the transition radius of
the neutral pion are calculated in the framework of the nonlocal chiral quark
model. It is shown in this model that the contributions of vector mesons to the
pion radii are noticeably suppressed in comparison with a similar contribution
in the local Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The form-factor for the process
gamma*pi+pi- is calculated for the -1 GeV^2<q^2<1.6 GeV^2. Our results are in
satisfactory agreement with experimental data.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Gross Properties and Isotopic Phenomena in Spectator Fragmentation
A systematic study of isotopic effects in the break-up of projectile
spectators at relativistic energies has been performed with the ALADiN
spectrometer at the GSI laboratory. Searching for signals of criticality in the
fragment production we have applied the model independent universal
fluctuations theory already proposed to track criticality signals in
multifragmentation to our data. The fluctuation of the largest fragment charge
and of the asymmetry of the two and three largest fragments and their bimodal
distribution have also been analysed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, IX International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus
Collisions, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 28 - September 1, 200
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