Solution of differential equations by application of transformation groups

Report applies transformation groups to the solution of systems of ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations. Lies theorem finds an integrating factor for appropriate invariance group or groups can be found and can be extended to partial differential equations

Application of group and transformation theory to the solution of ordinary and partial differential equations Final report, 17 Jan. 1967 - 16 Jan. 1968

Application of transformation groups to solution of partial differential equation

Application of group and transformation theory to the solution of ordinary and partial differential equations Final report

Lie transformation group for solution of partial differential equation

Cubierta laminar de hormigón pretensado

Para la central panificadora de la casa Langendorf, de Los Angeles, California, se ha construido un edificio industrial de unos 52 x 111 m en planta y 8 m de altura. Los muros y pilares que soportan la cubierta son de hormigón armado ordinario, mientras que aquélla se ha pretensado transversalmente, y, además, el hormigón empleado en su construcción es de tipo ligero, cuyos áridos, de origen esquistoso, han sufrido un proceso previo, en el que aumentan de volumen y se recubren de una capa envolvente de un material cerámico que vitrifica superficialmente. Estos áridos tratados son productos de la casa Rocklite Products Co., de Ventura (California)

Endogenous fantasy and learning in digital games.

Many people believe that educational games are effective because they motivate children to actively engage in a learning activity as part of playing the game. However, seminal work by Malone (1981), exploring the motivational aspects of digital games, concluded that the educational effectiveness of a digital game depends on the way in which learning content is integrated into the fantasy context of the game. In particular, he claimed that content which is intrinsically related to the fantasy will produce better learning than that which is merely extrinsically related. However, this distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic (or endogenous and exogenous) fantasy is a concept that has developed a confused standing over the following years. This paper will address this confusion by providing a review and critique of the empirical and theoretical foundations of endogenous fantasy, and its relevance to creating educational digital games. Substantial concerns are raised about the empirical basis of this work and a theoretical critique of endogenous fantasy is offered, concluding that endogenous fantasy is a misnomer, in so far as the "integral and continuing relationship" of fantasy cannot be justified as a critical means of improving the effectiveness of educational digital games. An alternative perspective on the intrinsic integration of learning content is described, incorporating game mechanics, flow and representations

What do young athletes implicitly understand about psychological skills?

One reason sport psychologists teach psychological skills is to enhance performance in sport; but the value of psychological skills for young athletes is questionable because of the qualitative and quantitative differences between children and adults in their understanding of abstract concepts such as mental skills. To teach these skills effectively to young athletes, sport psychologists need to appreciate what young athletes implicitly understand about such skills because maturational (e.g., cognitive, social) and environmental (e.g., coaches) factors can influence the progressive development of children and youth. In the present qualitative study, we explored young athletes’ (aged 10–15 years) understanding of four basic psychological skills: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and relaxation. Young athletes (n = 118: 75 males and 43 females) completed an open-ended questionnaire to report their understanding of these four basic psychological skills. Compared with the older youth athletes, the younger youth athletes were less able to explain the meaning of each psychological skill. Goal setting and mental imagery were better understood than self-talk and relaxation. Based on these findings, sport psychologists should consider adapting interventions and psychoeducational programs to match young athletes’ age and developmental level

Development of a novel diagnostic test for detection of bovine viral diarrhea persistently infected animals using hair

The purpose of this study was to determine whether manually plucked hairs might serve as an alternative sample for a quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) testing. Twenty three, 1~3 week old, non-bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) vaccinated calves, found to be positive for BVDV by immunohistochemical staining, were selected and hairs were manually plucked from the ear. qRT-PCR was performed on samples consisting of more than 30 hairs (30~100) and whole blood. All 23 animals were positive for the virus by qRT-PCR performed on the whole blood and when samples of more than 30 hairs were assayed. Additionally, qRT-PCR was performed on groups of 10 and 20 hairs harvested from 7 out of 23 immunohistochemical staining-positive calves. When groups of 20 and 10 hairs were tested, 6 and 4 animals, respectively, were positive for the virus

Chemically bound gold nanoparticle arrays on silicon: assembly, properties and SERS study of protein interactions

A highly reproducible and facile method for formation of ordered 2 dimensional arrays of CTAB protected 50 nm gold nanoparticles bonded to silicon wafers is described. The silicon wafers have been chemically modified with long-chain silanes terminated with thiol that penetrate the CTAB bilayer and chemically bind to the underlying gold nanoparticle. The silicon wafer provides a reproducibly smooth, chemically functionalizable and non-fluorescent substrate with a silicon phonon mode which may provide a convenient internal frequency and intensity calibration for vibrational spectroscopy. The CTAB bilayer provides a potentially biomimetic environment for analyte, yet allows a sufficiently small nanoparticle separation to achieve a significant electric field enhancement. The arrays have been characterized using SEM and Raman spectroscopy. These studies reveal that the reproducibility of the arrays is excellent both between batches (< 10% RSD) and across a single batch (< 5% RSD). The arrays also exhibit good stability, and the effect of temperature on the arrays was also investigated. The interaction of protein and amino acid with the nanoparticle arrays was investigated using Raman microscopy to investigate their potential in bio-SERS spectroscopy. Raman of phenylalanine and the protein bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, BPTI were studied using 785 nm excitation, coincident with the surface plasmon absorbance of the array. The arrays exhibit SERS enhancements of the order of 2.6 x 104 for phenylalanine, the standard deviation on the relative intensity of the 1555 cm-1 mode of phenylalanine is less than 10% for 100 randomly distributed locations across a single substrate and less than 20% between different substrates. Significantly, comparisons of the Raman spectra of the protein and phenlyalanine in solution and immobilized on the nanoparticle arrays indicates that the protein is non-randomly orientated on the arrays. Selective SERS enhancements suggest that aromatic residues penetrate through the bilayer inducing conformational changes in the protein

From the cell membrane to the nucleus: unearthing transport mechanisms for Dynein

Mutations in the motor protein cytoplasmic dynein have been found to cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and severe intellectual disabilities in humans. In mouse models, neurodegeneration is observed. We sought to develop a novel model which could incorporate the effects of mutations on distance travelled and velocity. A mechanical model for the dynein mediated transport of endosomes is derived from first principles and solved numerically. The effects of variations in model parameter values are analysed to find those that have a significant impact on velocity and distance travelled. The model successfully describes the processivity of dynein and matches qualitatively the velocity profiles observed in experiments

Comparison of embedded and added motor imagery training in patients after stroke: Results of a randomised controlled pilot trial

Copyright @ 2012 Schuster et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Motor imagery (MI) when combined with physiotherapy can offer functional benefits after stroke. Two MI integration strategies exist: added and embedded MI. Both approaches were compared when learning a complex motor task (MT): ‘Going down, laying on the floor, and getting up again’. Methods: Outpatients after first stroke participated in a single-blinded, randomised controlled trial with MI embedded into physiotherapy (EG1), MI added to physiotherapy (EG2), and a control group (CG). All groups participated in six physiotherapy sessions. Primary study outcome was time (sec) to perform the motor task at pre and post-intervention. Secondary outcomes: level of help needed, stages of MT-completion, independence, balance, fear of falling (FOF), MI ability. Data were collected four times: twice during one week baseline phase (BL, T0), following the two week intervention (T1), after a two week follow-up (FU). Analysis of variance was performed. Results: Thirty nine outpatients were included (12 females, age: 63.4 ± 10 years; time since stroke: 3.5 ± 2 years; 29 with an ischemic event). All were able to complete the motor task using the standardised 7-step procedure and reduced FOF at T0, T1, and FU. Times to perform the MT at baseline were 44.2 ± 22s, 64.6 ± 50s, and 118.3 ± 93s for EG1 (N = 13), EG2 (N = 12), and CG (N = 14). All groups showed significant improvement in time to complete the MT (p < 0.001) and degree of help needed to perform the task: minimal assistance to supervision (CG) and independent performance (EG1+2). No between group differences were found. Only EG1 demonstrated changes in MI ability over time with the visual indicator increasing from T0 to T1 and decreasing from T1 to FU. The kinaesthetic indicator increased from T1 to FU. Patients indicated to value the MI training and continued using MI for other difficult-to-perform tasks. Conclusions: Embedded or added MI training combined with physiotherapy seem to be feasible and benefi-cial to learn the MT with emphasis on getting up independently. Based on their baseline level CG had the highest potential to improve outcomes. A patient study with 35 patients per group could give a conclusive answer of a superior MI integration strategy.The research project was partially funded by the Gottfried und Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation