Decisions about decisions.

A major puzzle of decision making is how the brain decides which decision system to use at any one time. In this issue of Neuron, Lee et al. (2014) provide a theoretical, behavioral, and neurobiological account of a prefrontal reliability-based arbitration system.

Structural and optical properties of distyrylbenzene derivative thin films

In order to understand the relationship between the molecular orientation and optical properties of oligophenylenevinylene film, oriented thin films of 1,4-di(p-methoxystyryl)benzene (DSB-1) and 1,4-di(p-methoxystyryl)-2,5-dimethoxybenzene (DSB-2) were fabricated on a potassium bromide (KBr) (001) surface by the vacuum-evaporation method. The structures and optical properties of DSB films have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and polarized photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, respectively. DSB-1 molecules orient obliquely and/or parallel to the substrate surface depending on the substrate temperature. On the other hand, DSB-2 molecules tend to grow epitaxially with the molecular plane parallel to the substrate surface. The anisotropic molecular orientations represent the polarized PL. The epitaxial growth and molecular orientations observed by TEM and AFM at the local and microscopic scale are confirmed by polarized PL measurement on a macroscopic scale. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)01523-6].

Fabrication and characterization of orientation-controlled thin films of distyryl benzene derivatives

Distyryl benzene derivatives (DSB-1 and DSB-2) were deposited on a KBr (001) surface. DSB-1 molecules took two kinds of orientations depending on the substrate temperature. On the other hand, DSB-2 grew epitaxially. The longitudinal axes of DSB-2 molecules were oriented parallel to the substrate surface.

Atmospheric neutrino oscillation analysis with subleading effects in Super-Kamiokande I, II, and III

We present a search for nonzero θ13 and deviations of sin2θ23 from 0.5 in the oscillations of atmospheric neutrino data from Super-Kamiokande I, II, and III. No distortions of the neutrino flux consistent with nonzero θ13 are found and both neutrino mass hierarchy hypotheses are in agreement with the data. The data are best fit at Δm2=2.1×10-3eV2, sin2θ13=0.0, and sin2θ23=0.5. In the normal (inverted) hierarchy θ13 and Δm2 are constrained at the one-dimensional 90% C.L. to sin2θ13<0.04(0.09) and 1.9(1.7)×10 -3<Δm2<2.6(2.7)×10-3eV2. The atmospheric mixing angle is within 0.407≤sin2θ23≤0.583 at 90% C.L. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

The ocean sampling day consortium.

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world's oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits.

The ocean sampling day consortium.

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world's oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits.