Reorientation-effect measurement of the first 2+ state in 12C : Confirmation of oblate deformation

A Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect measurement using the TIGRESS γ−ray spectrometer at the TRIUMF/ISAC II facility has permitted the determination of the 〈21 +‖E2ˆ‖21 +〉 diagonal matrix element in 12C from particle−γ coincidence data and state-of-the-art no-core shell model calculations of the nuclear polarizability. The nuclear polarizability for the ground and first-excited (21 +) states in 12C have been calculated using chiral NN N4LO500 and NN+3NF350 interactions, which show convergence and agreement with photo-absorption cross-section data. Predictions show a change in the nuclear polarizability with a substantial increase between the ground state and first excited 21 + state at 4.439 MeV. The polarizability of the 21 + state is introduced into the current and previous Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect analyses of 12C. Spectroscopic quadrupole moments of QS(21 +)=+0.053(44) eb and QS(21 +)=+0.08(3) eb are determined, respectively, yielding a weighted average of QS(21 +)=+0.071(25) eb, in agreement with recent ab initio calculations. The present measurement confirms that the 21 + state of 12C is oblate and emphasizes the important role played by the nuclear polarizability in Coulomb-excitation studies of light nuclei

Promoting choice and control in residential services for people with learning disabilities.

This paper discusses the gap between policy goals and practice in residential services for people with learning disabilities. Drawing on a nine month ethnographic study of three residential services, it outlines a range of obstacles to the promotion of choice and control that were routinely observed in the culture and working practices of the services. Issues discussed include conflicting service values and agendas, inspection regimes, an attention to the bigger decisions in a person's life when empowerment could more quickly and effectively be promoted at the level of everyday practice, problems of communication and interpretation and the pervasiveness of teaching. We offer a range of suggestions as to how these obstacles might be tackled

Critical periods and catastrophic interference effects in the development of self-organizing feature maps

The use of self-organizing feature maps (SOFM) in models of cognitive development has frequently been associated with explanations of critical or sensitive periods. By contrast, error-driven connectionist models of development have been linked with catastrophic interference between new knowledge and old knowledge. We introduce a set of simulations that systematically evaluate the conditions under which SOFMs demonstrate critical/sensitive periods in development versus those under which they display interference effects. We explored the relative contribution of network parameters (for example, whether learning rate and neighbourhood reduce across training), the representational resources available to the network, and the similarity between old and new knowledge in determining the functional plasticity of the maps. The SOFMs that achieved the best discrimination and topographic organization also exhibited sensitive periods in development while showing lower plasticity and hence limited interference. However, fast developing, coarser SOFMs also produced topologically organized representations, while permanently retaining their plasticity. We argue that the impact of map organization on behaviour must be interpreted in terms of the cognitive processes that the map is driving

Implicações da aplicação de fungicida na adaptabilidade e estabilidade de rendimento de grãos em aveia branca Implications of fungicide application to adaptability and stability of grain yield in oat

Vinte genótipos de aveia (Avena sativa L.), testados em 13 ambientes, foram submetidos à análise de adaptabilidade e estabilidade com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito da utilização de fungicida nestes parâmetros, através do modelo de regressão segmentado de CRUZ et al. (1989). A aplicação de fungicida afetou os parâmetros de adaptabilidade (b1), responsividade (b1+b2) e estabilidade (<img border=0 id="_x0000_i1026" src="../../../../img/revistas/cr/v34n3/a07img01.jpg">), indicando que as estimativas devam ser realizadas em separado nos ambientes com e sem fungicida. Além disso, o uso de fungicida proporcionou efeito favorável sobre a estabilidade de rendimento de grãos, sendo que quatro genótipos testados mostraram ser estáveis (UPF 19, UPF 20, OR-3 e OR-4), enquanto que na ausência de fungicida todos os genótipos revelaram instabilidade de rendimento de grãos. Entretanto, nenhuma cultivar testada evidenciou características de genótipo ideal, conforme preconizado pelo modelo adotado.<br>Twenty oat genotypes (Avena sativa L.) tested in thirteen environments were submitted to adaptability and stability analyses aiming at evaluating the effects of fungicide utilization following the segmented regression model of CRUZ et al. (1989). Fungicide application affected the parameters of adaptability (b1), responsiveness (b1 + b²) and stability (<img border=0 id="_x0000_i1028" src="../../../../img/revistas/cr/v34n3/a07img01.jpg">) indicating that estimatives must be performed individually in environments with and without fungicide. Fungicide application had a favorable effect on the stability of grain yield, inasmuch as four of the tested genotypes were shown to be stable (UPF 19, UPF 20, OR-3 e OR-4); however, all genotypes revealed instability of grain yield in the absence of fungicide. No tested cultivar showed characteristics of the ideal genotype, as predicted by the adopted model