Assessing lateral thinking: validity, reliability, and universality using a novel verbal test

Lateral thinking, a key component of creative thinking, is crucial in problem-solving, scientific discovery, and everyday life. However, its assessment remains challenging due to its elusive nature. This study proposes and validates a novel verbal test to objectively measure lateral thinking. The test, consisting of triads of words with subtle associations, requires subjects to find commonalities between seemingly unrelated concepts. The study involves three groups: two student groups and one engineering group. Statistical analysis reveals that the test demonstrates validity, reliability, and representativeness. Notably, the probability distribution of the measured parameter shows low deviations from the normal law, suggesting that lateral thinking, like general intelligence, is a relatively universal personality trait. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of lateral thinking and provides a validated tool for its assessment, promoting creativity in education and various other fields

A study of temperature-related non-linearity at the metal-silicon interface

In this paper, we investigate the temperature dependencies of metal-semiconductor interfaces in an effort to better reproduce the current-voltage-temperature (IVT) characteristics of any Schottky diode, regardless of homogeneity. Four silicon Schottky diodes were fabricated for this work, each displaying different degrees of inhomogeneity; a relatively homogeneous NiV/Si diode, a Ti/Si and Cr/Si diode with double bumps at only the lowest temperatures, and a Nb/Si diode displaying extensive non-linearity. The 77–300 K IVT responses are modelled using a semi-automated implementation of Tung's electron transport model, and each of the diodes are well reproduced. However, in achieving this, it is revealed that each of the three key fitting parameters within the model display a significant temperature dependency. In analysing these dependencies, we reveal how a rise in thermal energy “activates” exponentially more interfacial patches, the activation rate being dependent on the carrier concentration at the patch saddle point (the patch's maximum barrier height), which in turn is linked to the relative homogeneity of each diode. Finally, in a review of Tung's model, problems in the divergence of the current paths at low temperature are explained to be inherent due to the simplification of an interface that will contain competing defects and inhomogeneities

Experimental study of the effect of local atomic ordering on the energy band gap of melt grown InGaAsN alloys

We present a study of melt grown dilute nitride InGaAsN layers by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The purpose of the study is to determine the degree of atomic ordering in the quaternary alloy during the epitaxial growth at near thermodynamic equilibrium conditions and its influence on band gap formation. Despite the low In concentration (~3%) the XPS data show a strong preference toward In–N bonding configuration in the InGaAsN samples. Raman spectra reveal that most of the N atoms are bonded to In instead of Ga atoms and the formation of N-centred In3Ga1 clusters. PL measurements reveal smaller optical band gap bowing as compared to the theoretical predictions for random alloy and localised tail states near the conduction band minimum

Average and extreme multi-atom Van der Waals interactions: Strong coupling of multi-atom Van der Waals interactions with covalent bonding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prediction of ligand binding or protein structure requires very accurate force field potentials – even small errors in force field potentials can make a 'wrong' structure (from the billions possible) more stable than the single, 'correct' one. However, despite huge efforts to optimize them, currently-used all-atom force fields are still not able, in a vast majority of cases, even to keep a protein molecule in its native conformation in the course of molecular dynamics simulations or to bring an approximate, homology-based model of protein structure closer to its native conformation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A strict analysis shows that a specific coupling of multi-atom Van der Waals interactions with covalent bonding can, in extreme cases, increase (or decrease) the interaction energy by about 20–40% at certain angles between the direction of interaction and the covalent bond. It is also shown that on average multi-body effects decrease the total Van der Waals energy in proportion to the square root of the electronic component of dielectric permittivity corresponding to dipole-dipole interactions at small distances, where Van der Waals interactions take place.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study shows that currently-ignored multi-atom Van der Waals interactions can, in certain instances, lead to significant energy effects, comparable to those caused by the replacement of atoms (for instance, C by N) in conventional pairwise Van der Waals interactions.</p

Photochemical Charge Separation in Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) Films Observed with Surface Photovoltage Spectroscopy

Surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) was used to probe photon induced charge separation in thin films of regioregular and regiorandom poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a function of excitation energy. Both positive and negative photovoltage signals were observed under sub-band-gap (&lt;2.0 eV) and super-band-gap (&gt;2.0 eV) excitation of the polymer. The dependence of the spectra on substrate work function, thermal annealing, film thickness, and illumination intensity was investigated, allowing the identification of interface, charge transfer (CT), and band-gap states in the amorphous and crystalline regions of the polymer films. The ability to probe these states in polymer films will aid the development and optimization of organic electronic devices such as photovoltaics (OPVs), light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and field effect transistors (OFETs). The direction and size of the observed photovoltage features can be explained using the depleted semiconductor model. © 2013 American Chemical Society

On the theorem of Filippov-Pliś and some applications

In the paper some known and new extensions of the famous theorem of Filippov (1967) and a theorem of Plis (1965) for differential inclusions are presented. We replace the Lipschitz condition on the set-valued map in the right-hand side by a weaker onesided Lipschitz (OSL), one-sided Kamke (OSK) or a continuity-like condition (CLC). We prove new Filippov-type theorems for singularly perturbed and evolution inclusions with OSL right-hand sides. In the CLC case we obtain two extended theorems, one of which implies directly the relaxation theorem. We obtain also a theorem in Banach spaces for OSK multifunctions. Some applications to exponential formulae are surveyed