Academic maturity of students in an extended programme in mathematics

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the students who are registered in the University of Pretoria’s academic development programme, named the Four-year Programme (FYP). The programme was introduced as a gateway for students who are underprepared but have the potential to succeed and then continue their studies into the mainstream science programmes. Our research focuses on measuring the change in the academic maturity of these students. In the theoretical framework that we developed, academic maturity is subdivided into two components namely non-subject based maturity and subject based maturity (mathematical maturity). This paper focuses on measuring non-subject based academic maturity. The survey used for this purpose is called the Student Academic Readiness Survey (STARS), taken at the beginning of the year and after the first semester respectively. The results of the surveys are compared to measure the change in students’ views. Results show that in all constructs there is a surprising decline in students’ perceptions regarding their own abilities over the first semester at university. We use the Dunning–Kruger effect to explain this unexpected decline, in that students seem to develop a more realistic view of their own maturity, which in itself can be seen as a growth in academic maturity.     

西部开发中能源配置模型的研究

开发西部丰富的能源资源,解决东部地区能源紧缺的矛盾,是东西部经济合作、优势互补、东西联动双赢战略研究的一项重要课题.在国家投资主体和市场经济条件下,以能源消费效益最大为目标,建立了基于边际效益均衡的能源空间配置优化模型;兼顾经济效益与环境效益的能源部门配置优化模型.结果显示,各地区、部门要获得更多的能源,就必须提高能源的使用效率,提高能源消费的边际效益,降低污染排放水平.     

A new rule of vibration sampling for predicting acoustical radiation from rectangular plates

Structural surface velocity distribution is often used to predict structural borne sound radiation. However the sampling interval of velocity should be chosen carefully to increase the prediction accuracy and to reduce the system cost. In this paper, several factors affecting the sampling interval are theoretically analyzed and discussed for a vibrating baffled rectangular plate. A new rule for the determination of the sampling interval is formulated. Using this rule, the results from both numerical simulations and experiments may be explained well.     

Photoluminescence linewidth broadening due to alloy/thickness fluctuation of CdxZn1 − xSe/ZnSe triple quantum wells

Photoluminescence (PL) linewidth broadening of Cd_xZn_{1 − x}Se/ZnSe triple quantum wells, grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), has been investigated. Various quantum well (QW) samples have been prepared with different QW thickness and composition (Cd-composition). Measured and calculated PL linewidth are compared. Both composition and thickness fluctuations are considered for the calculation with the parameters such as the volume of exciton, nominal thickness and composition of QWs. Surface roughness measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to estimate the interface roughness. Results show that when Cd-composition increases additional linewidth broadening due to Zn/Cd interdiffusion is enhanced.     

Designing an effective federal biomass program

This article addresses two questions: Has the effectiveness of the US governments federal research and development (R&;D) spending suffered from the post-1980 strategic change from freely shared and publicly owned to privately owned scientific advances? What criteria would a federal R&;D program use to design a strategy that most effectively enhances the well-being of farmers and rural communities? Several studies found that the pre-1980 US Department of Agriculture research strategy was very effective. No comparable studies have analyzed the comparative effectiveness of the post-1980 strategy of restricting access to the results of public research. Recent experience and several analytical studies suggest that to significantly enhance the health of rural economies from an expanded use of plant matter as an industrial material, federal policy should channel scientific and engineering research into small- and medium-sized production and processing technologies and should encourage farmer-owned, value-added enterprises.     

Investigation of annealing effects on the structural, magnetic and transport properties of Co/GaAs(0 0 1) thin films

Present paper deals with the structural, magnetic and transport studies of as-deposited as well as annealed Co/GaAs(0 0 1) thin film at different temperatures. The X-ray diffraction measurements show oriented growth of as-deposited Co film in the hcp (0 0 2) direction. However, the sample annealed at higher temperatures shows formation of ternary Co₂GaAs phase at the interface. Corresponding magnetic and transport measurements show decrement in magnetization and resistivity with annealing temperatures. The observed reductions in magnetization and resistivity values are mainly attributed to the formation of ternary Co₂GaAs phase at the interface.     

Structural and magnetic properties of RF sputtered FePt/Fe multilayers

Series of [FePt(4min)/Fe(t_Fe)]₁₀ multilayers have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering and post-annealing in order to optimize their magnetic properties by structural designs. The structure, surface morphology, composition and magnetic properties of the deposited films have been characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It is found that after annealing at temperatures above 500 °C, FePt phase undergoes a phase transition from disordered FCC to ordered FCT structure, and becomes a hard magnetic phase. X-ray diffraction studies on the series of [FePt/Fe]_n multilayer with varying Fe layer thickness annealed at 500 and 600 °C show that lattice constants change with Fe layer thickness and annealing temperature. Both lattice constants a and c are smaller than those of standard ones, and lattice constant a decreases as Fe layer deposition time increases. Only a slight increase in grain size was observed as Fe layer decreased in samples annealed at 500 °C. However, the increase in grain size is large in samples annealed at 600 °C. The coercivities of [FePt/Fe]_n multilayers decrease with Fe layer deposition time, and the energy product (BH)_max reaches a maximum in the samples with Fe layer deposition time of 3 min. Comparison of magnetic properties with structure showed an almost linear relationship between the lattice constant a and the coercivities of the FePt phase.     

BELENE nuclear power plant numerical and experimental bedrock,layers and surface signals

An investigation of BELENE Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) free field signal is presented in the current study. An SH wave propagation trough multilayer geological media in the region is considered. An original structural model of the geological column has been developed. The investigated layers are isotropic, with constant depth and skyline parallel. The SH rays are with an arbitrary angle as far as the layers are concerned. The seismic SH waves have been generated by a special detonation device. The main results of the study are graphically illustrated. A comparison between the original BELENE NPP experimental and the numerical surface (free field) signals (obtained by the formulated direct problem) for the investigated geological column has been carried out and its results are hereby shown.     

Dynamic Model of R&D,Spillovers, and Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria

Using an infinite-horizon two-player differential game, we derive and compare Bertrand and Cournot equilibria for a differentiated duopoly engaging in the process of R&D competition. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, Bertrand competition is more efficient if either R&D productivity is low or products are very different. Second, Cournot competition is more efficient provided that R&D productivity is high, products are close substitutes, and spillovers are not close to zero. This last result is different from what has been obtained in the literature. Hence, this shows that considering a dynamic model and more general investment costs does have an impact on the efficiency results.     

Li(AlxCo1-x)O2晶体中Co3+电子态的变化及对结构演化的影响

研究了应用于锂二次电池正极的新型高能量密度存贮材料Li(AlxCo1-x)O2 (x=01—05)的磁性.发现Al3+的掺杂可导致Co3+中d电子自旋态发生变化，即有部分d电子进入高自旋态.伴随Co3+中电子状态的改变，材料结构演化也发生了相应变化，表现为c/a比增大明显减缓，较好地解释了材料结构对Vegard定律的正偏离.这对材料的微观结构与性能设计具有重要意义. 关键词： 锂电池材料 Li（AlxCo1-x）O2 磁性 自旋态 结构演化