Rats in a transparent morris water maze use elemental and configural geometry of landmarks as well as distance to the pool wall

The aim of this study is to evaluate whatare the dimensions of a panorama of discretelandmarks that a rodent will store in order toreturn to a previously visited target. Ratswere trained to locate a hidden platform in acircular pool of clouded water set within aquasi-spherical enclosure. In order to find theplatform, they had to learn the geometricrelations between the platform and asurrounding set of three discrete landmarks,highly visible through the transparent wall ofthe pool. In test trials without a platform,the array of landmarks was so manipulated as todissociate the effect of actual distance to thelandmarks, of their angular separation, and oftheir apparent dimension. Animals were shown torely equally on angular separation and apparentdimension. The role of actual distance couldnot be definitely ascertained, as animals wereshown to additionally rely on the distance tothe pool wall in order to locate theplatform.     

Function,geometry and spatial prepositions: Three experiments

In this paper the results of three experiments are reported whichaddress the issue of the relative extent to which functionalrelations versus geometric relations affect spatial language. Theexperiments examine the role of a discourse context on the useand rating of the preposition in to describe a visual scenewhere the constraint of spatial containment between figure(object located) and ground (reference object) does not hold. Allthree experiments demonstrate that in is used more andrated to be significantly more appropriate in a functionalcontext than in a no context condition. The implications of thesestudies for spatial language and spatial representation arediscussed.     

Representing a stable environment by egocentric updating and invariant representations

To represent a stable environment despite the experience of changes during self movements, one can either develop an invariant allocentric representation, or update the egocentric representations as one moves. Using a disorientation paradigm, three sets of studies investigated these mechanisms in human navigation and scene recognition. Accuracy in the configuration of multiple object localization is impaired by disorientation, an effect not due to artifacts such as memory deterioration over time, intervening physical activities, uncertainty in self position and orientation, etc., suggesting one can locate objects primarily by updating their egocentric positions as she or he moves. Disorientation also impaired the judgment of changes to a scene after viewer movements, suggesting a similar egocentric updating process. On the contrary, representation of the shape of the surroundings is invariant and persists through disorientation. The coexistence of multiple mechanisms may increase the flexibility and robustness of the system.     

Prompt effects of solar wind variations on the inner magnetosphere and midlatitude ionosphere

It is well known that the solar wind can significantly affect high-latitude ionospheric dynamics. However, the effects of the solar wind on the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are much less studied. In this paper, we report observations that large perturbations in the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are well correlated with solar wind variations. In one event, a significant (20–30%) decrease of the midlatitude ionospheric electron density over a large latitudinal range was related to a sudden drop in the solar wind pressure and a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field, and the density decrease became larger at lower latitudes. In another event, periodic perturbations in the dayside equatorial ionospheric E × B drift and electrojet were closely associated with variations in the interplanetary electric field. Since the solar wind is always changing with time, it can be a very important and common source of ionospheric perturbations at middle- and low-latitudes. The relationship between solar wind variations and significant ionospheric perturbations has important applications in space weather.     

离散事件动态系统的GSMP模型及扰动分析

对离散事件动态系统（ＤＥＤＳ）的仿真过程建立了包含中断事件集和驱动事件集的广义半马尔可夫过程（ＧＳＭＰ）模型，对参数的无穷小扰动所引起的系统状态转移时刻进行了扰动分析，最后，讨论了扰动分析所需要的可变换条件和样本性能函数的关系，并提出值得进一步研究的问题。     

2000年4月6-8日磁暴期间电离层TEC观测研究

利用北京、乌鲁木齐、武汉GPS观测数据计算的垂直总电子含量，分析了发生于2000年4月6-8日磁暴期间观测区域的电离层状态。结果表明，在4月7日北京时间0200-0700之间，在中、低纬地区出现了较弱的电离层负相暴，与前一日相比，最大TEC之差在-8TECU左右；在北京时间0700之后，在较高纬度地区开始出现强列的电离层负相暴，并且该负相暴随着时间逐渐增强；但在北京时间0700-0900之间，在低纬地区出现了电离层正相暴。在定时间内较高纬度地区的负相暴逐渐增强并向南移动而低纬地区的正相暴经历了增强到减弱的过程。     

对流层特大暴雨天气对电离层变化的影响

研究气象活动对电离层变化的影响．利用时序叠加方法，通过对1958-1998年期间发生在武汉的5次特大暴雨天气事件对武汉上空电离层变化的影响进行分析，发现：(1)特大暴雨能够引起低电离层，fbEs和，f0Es参量较明显地减小；(2)特大暴雨对电离层F区寻常波描迹的最低虚高h′F和电离层等效峰高hpF的参量也有一定影响，且随着雨量的增大这种影响作用也会增加；(3)特大暴雨对电离层其他参量影响甚弱或没有影响．本文认为，特大暴雨天气事件对电离层的影响主要来自于动力过程，特别是特大暴雨激发的或相伴的大气重力波、潮汐波和行星波等长周期大尺度过程的作用．     

1958年7月8日磁暴的电离层响应

本文用遍布全球的52个电离层垂测台站资料,研究1958年7月8日磁暴期间全球电离层扰动的发展变化;各扇区的响应特性;扰动的传播轨迹及速度等。获得以下结果:1.几大扇区的电离层扰动始于南北两极,美洲扇区除具这一特征外,其赤道地区在磁暴急始后不久,出现一个扰动中心,邻近区域的扰动受其控制。2.扰动由高纬向低纬发展,由扰动中心向外传播。3.扰动峰面几乎与地磁力线垂直,即扰动沿磁力线方向发展,其传播速度大约在150—600m/s范围。