Modelling children's Gear task strategy use with the Dynamic Overlapping Waves Model

The Dynamic Overlapping Waves Model (DOWM) can model strategy use in problem-solving tasks for strategies that can be construed as developmentally and hierarchically ordered (Boom, 2015). We observed children's (M age = 11 years, SD = 6 months) strategy use during a task in which they had to find the rotation direction of the last gear in a series of connected gear chains, given the rotation direction of the first gear. Using DOWM, we found that strategy use was ordered as expected, from unskilled sensorimotor strategies to abstract strategies, and from less to more efficient in terms of speed and accuracy. This order aligns with the idea that perceptual learning is central to the emergence of abstract conceptual knowledge. Moreover, the current study shows that the DOWM does not preclude forward and backward transitions and even occasional transitions that skip certain strategies in the ordering. The DOWM seems a promising tool to developmentally capture the breadth of behavioral repertoire children display when they adopt new strategies for various problem-solving tasks

Intervju: akademik Jakša Barbić

Over the past 20 years evidence has accumulated confirming the immunomodulatory role of the appendix in ulcerative colitis (UC). This led to the idea that appendectomy might alter the clinical course of established UC. The objective of this body of research is to evaluate the short-term and medium-term efficacy of appendectomy to maintain remission in patients with UC, and to establish the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of the intervention compared to standard treatment. These paired phase III multicenter prospective randomised studies will include patients over 18 years of age with an established diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and a disease relapse within 12 months prior to randomisation. Patients need to have been medically treated until complete clinical (Mayo score <3) and endoscopic (Mayo score 0 or 1) remission. Patients will then be randomised 1:1 to a control group (maintenance 5-ASA treatment, no appendectomy) or elective laparoscopic appendectomy plus maintenance treatment. The primary outcome measure is the one year cumulative UC relapse rate - defined both clinically and endoscopically as a total Mayo-score ≥5 with endoscopic subscore of 2 or 3. Secondary outcomes that will be assessed include the number of relapses per patient at 12 months, the time to first relapse, health related quality of life and treatment costs, and number of colectomies in each arm. The ACCURE and ACCURE-UK trials will provide evidence on the role and acceptability of appendectomy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and the effects of appendectomy on the disease course. NTR2883 ; ISRCTN5652301

Runge-Kutta Characterization of the Generalized Summation-by-Parts Approach in Time

This article extends the theory of dual-consistent summation-by-parts (SBP) and generalized SBP (GSBP) time-marching methods by showing that they are implicit Runge-Kutta schemes. Through this connection, the accuracy theory for the pointwise solution, as well as the solution projected to the end of each time step, is extended for nonlinear problems. Furthermore, it is shown that these minimum guaranteed order results can be superseded by leveraging the full nonlinear order conditions of Runge-Kutta methods. The connection to Runge-Kutta methods is also exploited to derive conditions under which SBP and GSBP time-marching methods associated with dense norms are nonlinearly stable. A few known and novel Runge-Kutta methods with associated GSBP operators are presented. The novel methods, all of which are L-stable and algebraically-stable, include a four-stage seventh-order fully-implicit method, a three-stage third-order diagonally-implicit method, and a fourth-order four-stage diagonally-implicit method.Comment: Withdrawn: The contents of this article has been added to arXiv:1410.0201 and published in SIAM J. Sci. Comput. (SISC), 37(6), pp. A2682-A2709, 201

The use of an analog computer in a circulation model

A brief review is given of a mathematical model of the systemic arterial tree that was developed to find a quantitative interpretation of the human longitudinal ballistocardiogram. Derivation and description are presented of an electrical analog of the left ventricle and the systemic arterial tree that has fewer limitations than the mathematical model. Electrical equivalents of blood pressures, blood flows, vascular impedances, plethysmograms, and ballistocardiogram can be easily measured as a function of time, and in absolute value. Samples of such results are reproduced and compared with data reported in the literature