157 research outputs found
Lutheran Social Services service learning project
Background: Lutheran Social Services (LSS) is an organization whose mission is to “express the love of Christ for all people through service that inspires hope, changes lives, and builds community.” A significant part of what they do involves leading afterschool activities that promote the learning of specific academic and life skills. Those learning objectives are as stated as follows: (1) working together, (2) communication, (3) following instructions, and (4) personal boundaries. As liberal arts students, we provide external perspectives regarding ways to enhance their four learning objectives.
Because they have our help in developing new leisure activities for their students, the LSS staff has more time at their disposal to focus on improving other aspects of the program. Our help in creating exciting new games was also useful simply because they were novel experiences for the children, coming from different sources than what they were used to; that is, the kids had the opportunity to experience various games they may not have played before. Additionally, the staff gained a new perspective on different follow-up discussion questions for the children after every game. Overall, our goal was to help make LSS a more fun and productive site in any way we were able to achieve. Those games help make the site an empowering setting by allowing the kids to participate in activities and share power in group activities. They also get to have fun doing it. The facility is a converted house. The project came about because the LSS staff needed different viewpoints on how to accomplish their learning objectives for their kids. They reported that it was great for the kids to experience new games from different standpoints.
Though our intervention was implemented at the Sauk Rapids LSS site, almost all of our work came from home. The project was designed for about 15 children aged 9 to 13 who were enrolled in Lutheran Social Services’ afterschool Kid’s Resiliency Program (KRP). The children had either mental disabilities or learning disorders. They all have different interests and abilities; therefore, we created a host of different games in an attempt to satisfy all their needs. We visited the site to meet the staff and visually assess our population’s needs
On the evaluation formula for Jack polynomials with prescribed symmetry
The Jack polynomials with prescribed symmetry are obtained from the
nonsymmetric polynomials via the operations of symmetrization,
antisymmetrization and normalization. After dividing out the corresponding
antisymmetric polynomial of smallest degree, a symmetric polynomial results. Of
interest in applications is the value of the latter polynomial when all the
variables are set equal. Dunkl has obtained this evaluation, making use of a
certain skew symmetric operator. We introduce a simpler operator for this
purpose, thereby obtaining a new derivation of the evaluation formula. An
expansion formula of a certain product in terms of Jack polynomials with
prescribed symmetry implied by the evaluation formula is used to derive a
generalization of a constant term identity due to Macdonald, Kadell and Kaneko.
Although we don't give the details in this work, the operator introduced here
can be defined for any reduced crystallographic root system, and used to
provide an evaluation formula for the corresponding Heckman-Opdam polynomials
with prescribed symmetry.Comment: 18 page
Long-Term Evolution and Revival Structure of Rydberg Wave Packets for Hydrogen and Alkali-Metal Atoms
This paper begins with an examination of the revival structure and long-term
evolution of Rydberg wave packets for hydrogen. We show that after the initial
cycle of collapse and fractional/full revivals, which occurs on the time scale
, a new sequence of revivals begins. We find that the structure of
the new revivals is different from that of the fractional revivals. The new
revivals are characterized by periodicities in the motion of the wave packet
with periods that are fractions of the revival time scale . These
long-term periodicities result in the autocorrelation function at times greater
than having a self-similar resemblance to its structure for times
less than . The new sequence of revivals culminates with the
formation of a single wave packet that more closely resembles the initial wave
packet than does the full revival at time , i.e., a superrevival
forms. Explicit examples of the superrevival structure for both circular and
radial wave packets are given. We then study wave packets in alkali-metal
atoms, which are typically used in experiments. The behavior of these packets
is affected by the presence of quantum defects that modify the hydrogenic
revival time scales and periodicities. Their behavior can be treated
analytically using supersymmetry-based quantum-defect theory. We illustrate our
results for alkali-metal atoms with explicit examples of the revival structure
for radial wave packets in rubidium.Comment: To appear in Physical Review A, vol. 51, June 199
On boson algebras as Hopf algebras
Certain types of generalized undeformed and deformed boson algebras which
admit a Hopf algebra structure are introduced, together with their Fock-type
representations and their corresponding -matrices. It is also shown that a
class of generalized Heisenberg algebras including those algebras including
those underlying physical models such as that of Calogero-Sutherland, is
isomorphic with one of the types of boson algebra proposed, and can be
formulated as a Hopf algebra.Comment: LaTex, 18 page
Atomic Supersymmetry, Rydberg Wave Packets, and Radial Squeezed States
We study radial wave packets produced by short-pulsed laser fields acting on
Rydberg atoms, using analytical tools from supersymmetry-based quantum-defect
theory. We begin with a time-dependent perturbative calculation for
alkali-metal atoms, incorporating the atomic-excitation process. This provides
insight into the general wave packet behavior and demonstrates agreement with
conventional theory. We then obtain an alternative analytical description of a
radial wave packet as a member of a particular family of squeezed states, which
we call radial squeezed states. By construction, these have close to minimum
uncertainty in the radial coordinates during the first pass through the outer
apsidal point. The properties of radial squeezed states are investigated, and
they are shown to provide a description of certain aspects of Rydberg atoms
excited by short-pulsed laser fields. We derive expressions for the time
evolution and the autocorrelation of the radial squeezed states, and we study
numerically and analytically their behavior in several alkali-metal atoms. Full
and fractional revivals are observed. Comparisons show agreement with other
theoretical results and with experiment.Comment: published in Physical Review
Îł-Tocotrienol suppresses prostate cancer cell proliferation and invasion through multiple-signalling pathways
Tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) has demonstrated antiproliferative effect on prostate cancer (PCa) cells. To elucidate this anticancer property in PCa cells, this study aimed, first, to identify the most potent isomer for eliminating PCa cells; and second, to decipher the molecular pathway responsible for its activity. Results showed that the inhibitory effect of Îł-tocotrienol was most potent, which resulted in induction of apoptosis as evidenced by activation of pro-caspases and the presence of sub-G1 cell population. Examination of the pro-survival genes revealed that the Îł-tocotrienol-induced cell death was associated with suppression of NF-ÎşB, EGF-R and Id family proteins (Id1 and Id3). Meanwhile, Îł-tocotrienol treatment also resulted in the induction of JNK-signalling pathway and inhibition of JNK activity by a specific inhibitor (SP600125) was able to partially block the effect of Îł-tocotrienol. Interestingly, Îł-tocotrienol treatment led to suppression of mesenchymal markers and the restoration of E-cadherin and Îł-catenin expression, which was associated with suppression of cell invasion capability. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was observed when cells were co-treated with Îł-tocotrienol and Docetaxel. Our results suggested that the antiproliferative effect of Îł-tocotrienol act through multiple-signalling pathways, and demonstrated for the first time the anti-invasion and chemosensitisation effect of Îł-tocotrienol against PCa cells
Prediction of organic combined sewer sediment release and transport
Accurate predictions of sediment loads released by sewer overflow discharges are important for being
able to provide protection to vulnerable receiving waters. These predictions are sensitive to the
estimated sediment characteristics and on the site-conditions of in-pipe deposit formation. Their
application without a detailed analysis and understanding of the “initial conditions” under which in-
sewer deposits were formed normally results in very poor estimations. In this study, in-sewer sediment
samples deposited during dry-periods in a combined sewer system were collected, and their properties
assessed. Parameters in the sediment transport relationship first proposed by Skipworth for in-pipe
deposits were estimated based on simulating the in-pipe deposit formation conditions in laboratory
erosion tests. The measured parameters were then used to simulate sediment transport through a small
combined sewer network for a number of rain events for which rainfall, hydraulic and water quality
data were available. Results showed that the model of Skipworth can provide good predictions of the
sediment loads released from such in-sewer deposits. The experimentally-derived calibration
parameters used with Skipworth’s model allowed for a realistic simulation of the in-sewer sediment
behaviour and so can be used to accurately estimate the sediment load released from combined sewer
systems during rainfall events
Abnormal Dosage Compensation of Reporter Genes Driven by the Drosophila Glass Multiple Reporter (GMR) Enhancer-Promoter
In Drosophila melanogaster the male specific lethal (MSL) complex is required for upregulation of expression of most X-linked genes in males, thereby achieving X chromosome dosage compensation. The MSL complex is highly enriched across most active X-linked genes with a bias towards the 3′ end. Previous studies have shown that gene transcription facilitates MSL complex binding but the type of promoter did not appear to be important. We have made the surprising observation that genes driven by the glass multiple reporter (GMR) enhancer-promoter are not dosage compensated at X-linked sites. The GMR promoter is active in all cells in, and posterior to, the morphogenetic furrow of the developing eye disc. Using phiC31 integrase-mediated targeted integration, we measured expression of lacZ reporter genes driven by either the GMR or armadillo (arm) promoters at each of three X-linked sites. At all sites, the arm-lacZ reporter gene was dosage compensated but GMR-lacZ was not. We have investigated why GMR-driven genes are not dosage compensated. Earlier or constitutive expression of GMR-lacZ did not affect the level of compensation. Neither did proximity to a strong MSL binding site. However, replacement of the hsp70 minimal promoter with a minimal promoter from the X-linked 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene did restore partial dosage compensation. Similarly, insertion of binding sites for the GAGA and DREF factors upstream of the GMR promoter led to significantly higher lacZ expression in males than females. GAGA and DREF have been implicated to play a role in dosage compensation. We conclude that the gene promoter can affect MSL complex-mediated upregulation and dosage compensation. Further, it appears that the nature of the basal promoter and the presence of binding sites for specific factors influence the ability of a gene promoter to respond to the MSL complex
Late, not early mismatch responses to changes in frequency are reduced or deviant in children with dyslexia: an event-related potential study
Sensory theories of developmental dyslexia: three challenges for research.
Recent years have seen the publication of a range of new theories suggesting that the basis of dyslexia might be sensory dysfunction. In this Opinion article, the evidence for and against several prominent sensory theories of dyslexia is closely scrutinized. Contrary to the causal claims being made, my analysis suggests that many proposed sensory deficits might result from the effects of reduced reading experience on the dyslexic brain. I therefore suggest that longitudinal studies of sensory processing, beginning in infancy, are required to successfully identify the neural basis of developmental dyslexia. Such studies could have a powerful impact on remediation.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG at http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v16/n1/abs/nrn3836.html
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