Controlled intermittent interfacial bond concept for composite materials

Concept will enhance fracture resistance of high-strength filamentary composite without degrading its tensile strength or elastic modulus. Concept provides more economical composite systems, tailored for specific applications, and composite materials with mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, fracture strain, and fracture toughness, that can be optimized

Gen X and Digital Games: Looking back to look forward

Despite there being increased attention in recent years to older adults who actively play digital games, it seems that there has been comparatively minimal scholarly focus on the next generation of older adult gamers – Generation X gamers. Although there have been few, current audience studies that examine this population within a gaming context, a temporal perspective reveals another story. Older members of this generation were the first age cohort to be exposed to and engage in video gameplay at an early age (i.e., childhood). With the emerging popularity of video games in the 1980s, this did not escape the attention of scholars. This study provides an overview of those early studies that assessed video game use and its potential (for better or worse) among the older members Gen X. The study themes identified include: health, education, and behavior. In addition, the first studies that identified gaming characteristics of this generation in their formative years emerged in the latter half of that decade. By identifying themes in these early studies, scholars have the potential to track an entire generation’s gaming history and characteristics from childhood to present day. Ultimately, this may glean richer insight into those qualities when they become the next older generation of digital game players

Multidimensional Bosonization

Bosonization of degenerate fermions yields insight both into Landau Fermi liquids, and into non-Fermi liquids. We begin our review with a pedagogical introduction to bosonization, emphasizing its applicability in spatial dimensions greater than one. After a brief historical overview, we present the essentials of the method. Well known results of Landau theory are recovered, demonstrating that this new tool of many-body theory is robust. Limits of multidimensional bosonization are tested by considering several examples of non-Fermi liquids, in particular the composite fermion theory of the half-filled Landau level. Nested Fermi surfaces present a different challenge, and these may be relevant in the cuprate superconductors. We conclude by discussing the future of multidimensional bosonization.Comment: 91 pages, 15 eps figures, LaTeX. Minor changes to match the published versio

Examining perceptions of managers and financial advisors of a mentoring program on productivity and retention

Researchers have found that 90% of financial advisors leave the life insurance industry in first year, 68% in the second year, and 50% in the third year. Researchers have noted the importance of mentorship aimed at work attitudes, yet there is a lack of research concerning attrition and its effects on the industry. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine managers\u27 and financial advisors\u27 perception of a mentoring program on advisors productivity and retention. Social learning theory was applied as the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected from financial advisors and their managers across 13 branch offices from a major life insurance company. Data analysis included Pearson product moment, the independent t test, and analysis of variance. Specific quantitative findings indicated (a) a low but statistically significant positive correlation (r = .13) between advisors\u27 number of years of working and mentoring scores, (b) low but statistically significant negative correlation coefficient ( r = -.19) between financial advisors\u27 years of employment and productivity. The findings invite future research on the development of a mentoring program for advisors productivity and retention. The conclusion is that mentoring could be used to improve self-esteem and self-efficacy among advisors and a good applied recommendation would be that company leaders formulate policy to implement mentoring programs at all branches to improve job productivity and retention. Social change implications include opportunities for advisors to improve their job performance, thereby contributing revenue to the organization and the national economy