On some educational and psychological aspects of problem solving

An attempt has been made to present an overview of various learning theories keeping in view the psychological aspect of problem solving behaviours of children and to explain the processes by which problem solving skills are acquired and applied. The four important research variables—as described by Lester (task, subject, process and instructional variables)—have been discussed and some research questions have been formulated for further research investigations in the area of problem solving.     

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence – A tool for interdisciplinary research

Trace elements have been at the focus of attention for decades with considerable emphasis on their role in biology and biomedical sciences, environmental sciences, geology, archaeology and material sciences. They comprise a large number of elements, some having essential physiological functions, whereas others are toxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic. A few even have antiproliferative and anticarciniogenic properties. The advent of various instrumental techniques and sophisticated instrumentations has made their detection to very low limits possible, making this a very important multidisciplinary study. Among these techniques the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique is being widely used for trace element detection in various fields of science. Keeping the importance of trace elements in mind, the Kolkata centre of UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research initiated several research schemes in different fields of trace element research using various techniques, EDXRF being one of the main techniques. A Xenemetrix (erstwhile Jordan Valley) EX 3600 EDXRF spectrometer is being used to carry out the research. This presentation aims to highlight some of the very recent applications of EDXRF in the study of the role of trace elements in pre-cancerous tissues, medicinal plants and also in some environmental studies.     

Nuclear quantum effects in calculated NMR shieldings of benzene; a Feynman path integral study

The Feynman path integral Monte Carlo approach has been coupled to the gauge including atomic orbital formalism in order to analyse the absolute magnetic shieldings of the benzene nuclei under the conditions of thermal equilibrium. The Hamiltonian employed in the derivation of ensemble averaged NMR quantities is of the Hartree-Fock type. The basis set used is of 6–31G quality. The spatial delocalization of the atoms leads to a deshielding of both types of benzene nuclei relative to the shieldings experienced at the minimum of the potential energy surface. This deshielding has to be traced back to bond length elongations in thermal equilibrium. The influence of the nuclear fluctuations on the NMR parameters of benzene is quantum driven up to temperatures of 400 K; classical fluctuations are of minor importance in this low-temperature window.     

Vibrational properties of vacancy in bcc transition metals using embedded atom method potentials

The embedded atom method (EAM) potentials, with the universal form of the embedding function along with the Morse form of pair potential, have been employed to determine the potential parameters for three bcc transition metals: Fe, Mo, and W, by fitting to Cauchy pressure (C ₁₂???C ₄₄)/2, shear constants $G_\textrm{v} =({C_{11} -C_{12} +3C_{44}})/5$ and C ₄₄, cohesive energy and the vacancy formation energy. The obtained potential parameters are used to calculate the phonon dispersion spectra of these metals. Large discrepancies are found between the calculated results of phonon dispersion using the EAM and the experimental phonon dispersion results. Therefore, to overcome this inadequacy of the EAM model, we employ the modified embedded atom method (MEAM) in which a modified term along with the pair potential and embedding function is added in the total energy. The phonon dispersions calculated using potential parameters obtained from the MEAM show good agreement with experimental results compared to those obtained from the EAM. Using the calculated phonons, we evaluate the local density of states of the neighbours of vacancy using the Green’s function method. The local frequency spectrum of first neighbours of vacancy in Mo shows an increase at higher frequencies and a shift towards the lower frequencies whereas in Fe and W, the frequency spectrum shows a small decrease towards higher frequency and small shift towards lower frequency. For the second neighbours of vacancy in all the three metals, the local frequency spectrum is not much different from that of the host atom. The local density of states of the neighbours of the vacancy has been used to calculate the mean square displacements and the formation entropy of vacancy. The calculated mean square displacements of the first neighbours of vacancy are found to be higher than that of the host atom, whereas it is lower for the second neighbours. The calculated results of the formation entropy of the vacancy compared well with other available results.     

Anisotropic cosmological models with bulk viscosity and particle creation in Saez–Ballester theory of gravitation

The paper deals with the study of particle creation and bulk viscosity in the evolution of spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi type-V cosmological models in the framework of Saez–Ballester theory of gravitation. Particle creation and bulk viscosity are considered as separate irreversible processes. The energy–momentum tensor is modified to accommodate the viscous pressure and creation pressure which is associated with the creation of matter out of gravitational field. A special law of variation of Hubble parameter is applied to obtain exact solutions of field equations in two types of cosmologies, one with power-law expansion and the other with exponential expansion. Cosmological model with power-law expansion has a Big-Bang singularity at time t = 0, whereas the model with exponential expansion has no finite singularity. We study bulk viscosity and particle creation in each model in four different cases. The bulk viscosity coefficient is obtained for full causal, Eckart’s and truncated theories. All physical parameters are calculated and thoroughly discussed in both models.     

The effect of finite response–time in coupled dynamical systems

The paper investigates synchronization in unidirectionally coupled dynamical systems wherein the influence of drive on response is cumulative: coupling signals are integrated over a time interval τ. A major consequence of integrative coupling is that the onset of the generalized and phase synchronization occurs at higher coupling compared to the instantaneous (τ?=?0) case. The critical coupling strength at which synchronization sets in is found to increase with τ. The systems explored are the chaotic Rössler and limit cycle (the Landau–Stuart model) oscillators. For coupled Rössler oscillators the region of generalized synchrony in the phase space is intercepted by an asynchronous region which corresponds to anomalous generalized synchronization.     

MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF DROUGHT RESILIENCE IN AGRICULTURE

Abstract. Ensuring drought resilience for farmers is an important policy concern. Yet, a quantitative treatment of the concept of drought resilience has been lacking in the literature. This paper designs a mathematical model of drought resilience to assess farmers’ survival strategies when faced with the prospect of repeated droughts. A key distinction is being made here between consecutive droughts and one‐off droughts, as it is the former, which is of most concern to farmers as well as policy makers. The mathematical model is generalized to incorporate the possibility of more than one set of a certain number of consecutive droughts occurring in the future. Findings indicate varying implications for groundwater sustainability when resilience outcomes are directly linked to the length of a farmer's drought planning horizon as well as to the planned minimum consumption during drought years.     

Anisotropic cosmological models in f (R, T) theory of gravitation

A class of non-singular bouncing cosmological models of a general class of Bianchi models filled with perfect fluid in the framework of f(R,T) gravity is presented. The model initially accelerates for a certain period of time and decelerates thereafter. The physical behaviour of the model is also studied.