Heritability of Stroop and flanker performance in 12-year old children

Background  

There is great interest in appropriate phenotypes that serve as indicator of genetically transmitted frontal (dys)function, such as ADHD. Here we investigate the ability to deal with response conflict, and we ask to what extent performance variation on response interference tasks is caused by genetic variation. We tested a large sample of 12-year old monozygotic and dizygotic twins on two well-known and closely related response interference tasks; the color Stroop task and the Eriksen flanker task. Using structural equation modelling we assessed the heritability of several performance indices derived from those tasks.     

The Galerkin-averaging method for nonlinear,undamped continuous systems

The analysis of initial-boundary value problems for nonlinear evolution equations with a small parameter is carried out by projection and averaging. The complications of the extension to a second order approximation is discussed and subsequently demonstrated for the perturbed Klein-Gordon equation. The difference between the case of resonance and nonresonance at first order is emphasized.     

Parametric excitation in non-linear dynamics

Consider a one-mass system with two degrees of freedom, non-linearly coupled, with parametric excitation in one direction. Assuming the internal resonance 1:2 and parametric resonance 1:2 we derive conditions for stability of the trivial solution by using both the harmonic balance method and the normal form method of averaging. If the trivial solution becomes unstable, a stable periodic solution may emerge, there are also cases where the trivial solution is stable and co-exists with a stable periodic solution; if both the trivial solution and the periodic solution(s) are unstable, we find an attracting torus with large amplitudes by a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation. The results of the harmonic balance method and averaging are compared, as well as the results on the Neimark-Sacker bifurcation obtained by the numerical software package CONTENT and by averaging. In all cases we have good agreement.     

Pretilt angle measurements on smectic A cells with chevron and tilted bookshelf layer structures

We have measured the pretilt angle induced by rubbed polymer films in a smectic A and in a nematic liquid crystalline medium using an optical phase retardation method. The pretilt angle was found to depend on the liquid crystalline phase (smectic A versus nematic) and on the smectic layer structure (chevron versus tilted-bookshelf). The occurrence of the different smectic layer structures was verified by X-ray diffraction measurements. The effect of the applied rubbing energy on the pretilt angle obtained is measured.     

Invariant Manifolds in Dissipative Dynamical Systems

Invariant manifolds like tori, spheres and cylinders play an important part in dynamical systems. In engineering, tori correspond with the important phenomenon of multi-frequency oscillations. Normal hyperbolicity guarantees the robustness of these manifolds but in many applications weaker forms of hyperbolicity present more realistic cases and interesting phenomena. We will review the theory and present a number of examples using normalization-averaging techniques.Dedicated to nonlinear scientist Ale Tondl on his 80th birthdayMathematics Subject Classifications (2000) 34C30, 34C20.     

Near-Integrability and Recurrence in FPU Chains with Alternating Masses

Journal of Nonlinear Science - An important aspect of understanding FPU chains is the existence of invariant manifolds (called “bushes”) in FPU chains. We will focus on the classical...