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.     

OPTIMAL INVESTMENT IN THE PROTECTION OF A VULNERABLE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE

It is assumed that the probability of destruction of a biological asset by natural hazards can be reduced through investment in protection. Specifically a model, in which the hazard rate depends on both the age of the asset and the accumulated invested protection capital, is assumed. The protection capital depreciates through time and its effectiveness in reducing the hazard rate is subject to diminishing returns. It is shown how the investment schedule to maximize the expected net present value of the asset can be determined using the methods of deterministic optimal control, with the survival probability regarded as a state variable. The optimal investment pattern involves “bang-bang-singular” control. A numerical scheme for determining jointly the optimal investment policy and the optimal harvest (or replacement) age is outlined and a numerical example involving forest fire protection is given.     

首次穿过边界概率及其在金融中的应用

本文把数学和管理科学有机结合,为数学应用提出问题,得出新结果,推广了J.Michel Harrison(1985)[1]第43页的命题27,并给出了在金融中的应用.     

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.     

Stochastic analysis in life office management: applications to large annuity portfolios

The paper deals with the riskiness analysis for a large portfolio of life annuities. By means of the limiting distribution of the present value of the portfolio, in the first part of the paper a model for evaluating the investment and the projection risks is presented. In the second part, with regard to the investment risk's effects, the insolvency risk is measured considering the cumulative probability distribution function of the discounted average cost per policy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

证券投资组合的风险与收益

本文利用概率统计原理对证券的投资组合能减轻所遇的风险作了讨论 ,并介绍了如何选择投资组合可使所遇风险达到最小     

创业投资与金融体系关系的实证研究

本文实证研究了创业投资产业与金融体系的内在关系,并对目前我国以银行为中心的金融体系下发展创业投资产业提出了一些建议.     

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