Complementary Roles of Hippocampus and Medial Entorhinal Cortex in Episodic Memory

Spatial mapping and navigation are figured prominently in the extant literature that describes hippocampal function. The medial entorhinal cortex is likewise attracting increasing interest, insofar as evidence accumulates that this area also contributes to spatial information processing. Here, we discuss recent electrophysiological findings that offer an alternate view of hippocampal and medial entorhinal function. These findings suggest complementary contributions of the hippocampus and medial entorhinal cortex in support of episodic memory, wherein hippocampal networks encode sequences of events that compose temporally and spatially extended episodes, whereas medial entorhinal networks disambiguate overlapping episodes by binding sequential events into distinct memories.National Institute of Mental Health Grants (MH51570, MH071702); National Science Foundation (Science of Learning Center grant SBE-0354378

Agricultural Change and Population Growth: District-Level Evidence From India

Green Revolution technologies were developed and promoted in the 1960s in response to alarm about impending famine in Asia. By boosting food supplies and fostering development, the technologies were expected to create "breathing space" for completing demographic transitions there. This paper uses District-level data from rural India on agricultural transformation (from 1961 to 1981) and on changes in human fertility (from 1971 to 1981) to examine whether they did so. In a reduced form model, female literacy and marriage rates emerged as strong fertility change determinants; effects varied by age cohort. Growth in real wages in rural areas, in part brought about by HYV technologies, accelerated fertility declines. With real wage growth effects of Green Revolution technologies controlled for, faster diffusion of wheat and rice HYV each led to faster fertility declines; greater diffusion of bajra (millet) HYV was associated with smaller fertility declines. Policy action to enhance fertility declines may be worthwhile regardless of agricultural sector goals, but policymakers should be aware of direct and indirect effects of agricultural intensification policies on human fertility.International Development, Q16, J1, Q18, D1, O3,

The impact of technical change in agriculture on human fertility: district-level evidence from India

Green Revolution technologies were developed and promoted to boost food supplies and foster development, both of which were expected to create "breathing space" for achieving demographic transitions in developing countries through lowered human fertility. Little comprehensive research, however, has been done on the effects of those technologies themselves on human fertility leaving unanswered the question of whether particular types of agricultural technologies were actually increasing, or decreasing, this demographic "breathing space." This paper uses District-level data from rural India on agricultural change (from 1961 to 1981) and changes in human fertility (from 1971 to 1981) to assess the impact of the former on the latter, with particular emphasis on high yielding (HYV) Green Revolution technologies. Modifying a conceptual framework derived from theory on the determinants of fertility, and estimating a reduced form model that explicitly accounts for endogeneity of real wage growth, we find that, while socio-cultural and demographic factors were the strongest determinants of fertility change: a) Green Revolution and related technologies did have an impact on fertility change; b) that the magnitude and direction of this impact was technology specific; and c) that the impact was only partially due to the effect of the new technologies on changes in real wage growth.Green Revolution India., Green technology., Fertility, Human India., Agricultural innovations.,

Robust Coin Flipping

Alice seeks an information-theoretically secure source of private random data. Unfortunately, she lacks a personal source and must use remote sources controlled by other parties. Alice wants to simulate a coin flip of specified bias $\alpha$, as a function of data she receives from $p$ sources; she seeks privacy from any coalition of $r$ of them. We show: If $p/2 \leq r < p$, the bias can be any rational number and nothing else; if $0 < r < p/2$, the bias can be any algebraic number and nothing else. The proof uses projective varieties, convex geometry, and the probabilistic method. Our results improve on those laid out by Yao, who asserts one direction of the $r=1$ case in his seminal paper [Yao82]. We also provide an application to secure multiparty computation.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figur

Appraisal of a semi intensive prawm farm at Kanjramkudi, Ramanathapuram

Based on background Information eind analyses of data collected, the farm appears to be a well maintained and well managed one. However, a serious disease problem was reported in a feirm about 3 km away, where the same creek water was used. Arun Aqua Farm stopped pumping water for a few days to prevent introduction of the pathogens. They were also advised to reduce feeding and operate paddle wheel aerators more frequentl

Isolation and application of marine natural products

The marine bioactive compounds or Marine natural products (MNPs) offer avenues for developing cost-effective, safe and potent novel drugs and other useful products. MNPs are organic compounds produced by microbes, sponges, seaweeds, and other marine organisms. The host organism biosynthesizes these compounds as non-primary or secondary metabolites to protect themselves and to maintain homeostasis in their environment. In the decade from 1977 to 1987, around 2500 new metabolites (MNPs) were reported from marine organisms ranging from microbes to fish. According to Dr. S.Z. Qasim, less than 1.0% of the total marine organisms have only been examined for MNPs research. Perusal of literature indicated that even the seawater has bactericidal properties. This could be attributed to the production of antibiotics by planktonic algae and bacteria respectively. Considering such vast resource, holistic approach of pharmacological research has to be given to develop potent therapeutics

Studies on the culture of Heteropneustes fossilis in cages

Emphasis is being given nowadays to increase the unit area production by way of improved intensive culture methods. To this direction, the system of culturing fish in cages has gained much importance (Natarajan, 1976)

Shrimp diseases and control

Shrimp farming has become a highly competitive and lucrative venture all along the coasts oflndia (MPEDA, 1993) and in many of the Asian countries (Subasinghe and Shariff, 1994) in the recent past. Emphasis is given to enhance the unit area production by semi-intensive and intensive shrimp culture techniques which include high density stocking, fertilising and feeding. The results of experiments on intensive culture of shrimps indicate that their production could surpass the production of crops or fish to many folds

Mandatory Securities Industry Arbitration: the Problems and the Solution

Many of the perceived problems with the securities arbitration system do not reflect deficiencies in the operation of the current system, but rather are a result of the very qualities that make arbitration attractive. For example, participants in arbitration have a limited right of appeal from arbitration awards precisely because they contractually agreed to forego judicial litigation and instead have their disputes considered in a more expeditious and less expensive forum. It is reasonable to believe that if arbitration awards were appealable for the full range of reasons for which judicial decisions may be appealed, the efficiency of the arbitration mechanism would be reduced. Disputants who find that the benefits of arbitration outweigh the sacrificed benefits of the judicial system will support arbitration. Disputants who, however, do not appreciate the benefits of arbitration will not favor the system. Prior to the McMahon and Rodriguez decision, the law applying to the enforceability of arbitration agreements generally accommodated both the interests of plaintiffs who preferred arbitration as a means of dispute resolution as well as the interests of those who did not. Subsequent to McMahon and Rodriguez, however, investors who perceived arbitration to be an unsatisfactory means of resolving disputes with their brokers generally were unable to avoid the consequences of their predispute arbitration agreements. Thus, these decisions created a new concern about the arbitration system. This concern is not a function of the inherent nature of arbitration. This new concern arises from the foreclosure of choice for investors as to whether to engage the arbitration system. Formerly, investors could choose whether to submit their claims to arbitration and, thereby, to experience the disadvantages and advantages inherent in the nature of arbitration. After McMahon and Rodriguez, investors who have entered into predispute arbitration agreements with brokers have little choice but to submit to arbitration any disputes arising out of their customer/broker relationship. This article focuses on the question of how best to respond to this mandatory arbitration and on the attendant concerns of the investing publi

Rapid methods for diagnosis of fish and shellfish pathogens

Immunoassays take advantage of the natural specificity of antibodies toward foreign objects. The immunoassays can utilize polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies in a variety of formats to provide rapid detection of infectious agents. Among these, monoclonal antibodies are favored due to their high degree of specificity