Two-Sided Matching with Endogenous Preferences

We modify the stable matching problem by allowing agents' preferences to depend on the endogenous actions of agents on the other side of the market. Conventional matching theory results break down in the modified setup. In particular, every game that is induced by a stable matching mechanism (e.g., the Gale-Shapley mechanism) may have equilibria that result in matchings that are not stable with respect to the agents' endogenous preferences. However, when the Gale-Shapley mechanism is slightly modified, every equilibrium of its induced game results in a pairwise stable matching with respect to the endogenous preferences as long as they satisfy a natural reciprocity property

No One Likes to Be Second Choice

A decision maker is interested in appointing one individual from a group of candidates to a public position with an exogenous wage. He must decide in what order to approach them. Candidates who are more valuable to the decision maker are less likely to be available. The candidates' preferences have a social component: each candidate finds the position more attractive if he is highly ranked by the decision maker (relative to the other candidates). However, the decision maker's preferences are his private information. As a result, candidates infer the decision maker's evaluation of them based on the number of candidates who have previously turned him down. The main result is that when the number of candidates is suficiently large, all of the candidates reject the decision maker's offers, including those whom he most values. Moreover, the decision maker's payoff is not monotonic in the number of candidates

No One Likes to Be Second Choice

A decision maker wishes to fill a vacancy with a fixed wage. Candidates who are more valuable to the decision maker are less likely to be available. The candidates suffer a disutility from filling the position when they are ranked low on the decision maker’s preference list. However, the decision maker’s preferences are his private information. Therefore, the candidates infer the decision maker’s preference list from information revealed by the number of failed offers. We explore the adverse effect of the social component in the candidates’ preferences on the decision maker’s ability to recruit a suitable candidate

O ensino de química através do aplicativo “química na mão - cinética : uma apostila interativa ao alcance do aluno

Estudos indicam que alunos apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem no estudo de Cinética Química. As atuais demandas de ensino e aprendizagem consideram as tecnologias digitais, acessíveis a professores e alunos, como importantes recursos educacionais. O uso das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) no processo educacional desperta o interesse do aluno e cria uma atitude positiva em relação à aprendizagem. Para tanto, foi criado o produto educacional Química na Mão - Cinética, um aplicativo desenvolvido para o sistema operacional Android através da plataforma MIT APP INVENTOR. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é descrever as etapas que levaram à construção deste aplicativo. A sua criação justifica-se pela indisponibilidade de aplicativos gratuitos em português para o ensino de Cinética Química. O aplicativo visa proporcionar a construção de conhecimentos em conceitos sobre Cinética Química e Catalisadores para que o aluno possa assumir uma postura mais autônoma no seu processo de aprendizagem. Foi desenvolvido para funcionar como uma cartilha interativa, de uso intuitivo, sem internet. Os conteúdos são explicados por meio de textos, imagens, vídeos com experimentos e quizzes que testam os conhecimentos adquiridos. A versão final do Química na Mão - Cinética foi ajustada e aprimorada considerando a análise da versão inicial do aplicativo. Além disso, para o uso em sala de aula, sugere-se uma sequência didática.Several studies indicate that chemical kinetics is perceived by students as one of the most difficult subjects in chemistry courses. The current demands of teaching and learning consider digital technologies, accessible to teachers and students, as important educational resources. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the educational process awakens student interest and creates a positive attitude towards learning. Therefore, the educational product, Química na Mão - Cinética, was created, an Android system application using the MIT APP INVENTOR platform. The main objective of this work is to describe the steps that led to the construction of this application. Its creation is justified by the unavailability of free applications in Portuguese for teaching Chemical Kinetics. The application aims to provide the construction of knowledge in concepts about Chemical Kinetics and Catalysts so that the student can assume a more autonomous position in their learning process. It was developed to work as an interactive booklet, intuitive to use, without the internet. The contents are explained through texts, images, videos with experiments, and quizzes that test the acquired knowledge. The final version of Química na Mão – Cinética was adjusted and improved considering the analysis of the initial version of the application carried out with the students. For use in the classroom, a didactic sequence is suggested

I am a critical thinker: exploring the relationship between self-concept and critical thinking ability

Critical thinking is an academically coveted skill important to all areas of education (Halpern, 1998). The ability to think critically requires an individual to question and possibly reject accepted ideals and authorities. A strong self-concept may play an important role in this process. The present study hypothesized a positive relationship between total self-concept and critical thinking ability. An additional purpose of this study was to explore whether self-concept accounted for more of the variance in critical thinking than other correlates of the ability, such as metacognition (Halpern, 1998; Magno, 2010) and openness to experience (Clifford, Boufal, & Kurtz, 2004). The hypothesis was supported; total self-concept significantly and positively correlated with the total score of critical thinking. Regression analyses revealed self-concept was a better predictor of critical thinking, accounting for 19.2% more variance in critical thinking than metacognition and openness to experience. Overall, the results suggest that nourishing students\u27 self-concept may support their ability to think critically

Sulfur and oxygen isotope insight into microbial sulfur metabolism

Dissimilatory microbial sulfate reduction (MSR) is a process where microbes utilize sulfate as an electron acceptor to oxidize organic matter in anoxic environments. In modern marine sediments, MSR is responsible for over half of the anoxic oxidation of organic matter. In addition, the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is coupled largely to MSR in marine sediments, in a process called sulfate-driven AOM, preventing the Earth’s oceans from becoming a major source of this potent greenhouse gas to the surface. The aim of this thesis was to elucidate the pathways of MSR coupled to organic matter oxidation and AOM by using a largely geochemical approach; specifically the chemical and isotope (C, S, O) variation in pure-culture sulfate reducing bacteria and sedimentary pore fluid profiles. I use this data to better understand how sulfate is involved in different diagenetic processes. The most powerful tool that used was the combined measurement and modeling of sulfur and oxygen isotopes in sulfate (δ18OSO4 and δ34SSO4, respectively), which enabled me to model how sulfate is recycled within pure cultures as well as the natural environment