An Investigation in Negative Transfer: Theory of Inhibition

Campbell and Robert (2012) found that numerical addition practice led to negative transfer on a subsequent test of numerical multiplication. Alternatively Rickard et al (2011) found negative transfer for numerical addition when participants were tested on an intermixed set of addition and subtractions problems after first practicing addition and then practicing subtraction. The present study sought to assess negative transfer by practicing participants with alphabet addition verification problems and testing the performance on alphabet multiplication verification. Ninety-five participants were split into 4 groups and given varying number of days of practice. During the test phase some multiplication verification problems included the same components as the practiced addition problems (e.g. B+3=E and Bx3=E). The results suggest that participants demonstrated significant learning of alphabet addition as well as negative transfer occurring for the alphabet multiplication problems when looking at an overall analysis. When looking at individual groups negative transfer was not seen

Characterization of Electrical Performance of Aluminum-Doped Zinc Oxide Pellets

Recently, the electronic industry has been shifting towards devices that can be controlled by touching the screen with one or more fingers. This technology is made possible by using transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a potential replacement for the most currently used TCO (indium-tin oxide) due to its comparable optical properties. However, the doping mechanisms of zinc oxide need to be understood and improved. The goal of this research was to prepare n-type, aluminum-doped ZnO. Several dopant percentages were studied to investigate the optimum concentration. The electrical properties for all doping levels improved compared to undoped ZnO

Rigorous Results In Fluid And Kinetic Models

In the following, we will consider two different physical systems and their respective PDE models. In the first chapter, we prove time decay of solutions to the Muskat equation, which describes a fluid interface between two incompressible, immiscible fluids with different densities. In \cite{JEMS} and \cite{CCGRPS}, the authors introduce the norms \|f\|_{s}\eqdef \int_{\mathbb{R}^{2}} |\xi|^{s}|\hat{f}(\xi)| \ d\xi in order to prove global existence of solutions to the Muskat problem. In this paper, for the 3D Muskat problem, given initial data $f_{0}\in H^{l}(\mathbb{R}^{2})$ for some $l\geq 3$ such that $\|f_{0}\|_{1} \u3c k_{0}$ for a constant $k_{0} \approx 1/5$, we prove uniform in time bounds of $\|f\|_{s}(t)$ for $-2 \u3c s \u3c l-1$ and assuming $\|f_{0}\|_{\nu} \u3c \infty$ we prove time decay estimates of the form $\|f\|_{s}(t) \lesssim (1+t)^{-s+\nu}$ for $0 \leq s \leq l-1$ and $-2 \leq \nu \u3c s$. These large time decay rates are the same as the optimal rate for the linear Muskat equation. We prove analogous results in 2D. In the remaining chapters, we consider sufficient conditions, called continuation criteria, for global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions to the three-dimensional relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system. In the compact momentum support setting, we prove that $\|p_{0}^{\frac{18}{5r} - 1+\beta}f\|_{L^{\infty}_{t}L^{r}_{x}L^{1}_{p}} \lesssim 1$ where $1\leq r \leq 2$ and $\beta \u3e0$ is arbitrarily small, is a continuation criteria. The previously best known continuation criteria in the compact setting is $\|p_{0}^{\frac{4}{r} - 1+\beta}f\|_{L^{\infty}_{t}L^{r}_{x}L^{1}_{p}} \lesssim 1$, where $1\leq r \u3c \infty$ and $\beta \u3e0$ is arbitrarily small, due to Kunze \cite{Kunze}. Our continuation criteria is an improvement in the $1\leq r \leq 2$ range. We also consider sufficient conditions for a global existence result to the three-dimensional relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system without compact support in momentum space. In Luk-Strain \cite{Luk-Strain}, it was shown that $\|p_{0}^{\theta}f\|_{L^{1}_{x}L^{1}_{p}} \lesssim 1$ is a continuation criteria for the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system without compact support in momentum space for $\theta \u3e 5$. We improve this result to $\theta \u3e 3$. We also build on another result by Luk-Strain in \cite{L-S}, in which the authors proved the existence of a global classical solution in the compact regime if there exists a fixed two-dimensional plane on which the momentum support of the particle density remains bounded. We prove well-posedness even if the plane varies continuously in time

On fiber diameters of continuous maps

We present a surprisingly short proof that for any continuous map $f : \mathbb{R}^n \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^m$, if $n>m$, then there exists no bound on the diameter of fibers of $f$. Moreover, we show that when $m=1$, the union of small fibers of $f$ is bounded; when $m>1$, the union of small fibers need not be bounded. Applications to data analysis are considered.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

The impact of single and multiple mergers and acquisitions on shareholders' wealth of UK bidder firms

This study investigates the impact of takeover announcements on UK acquirer shareholders’ wealth during the period 2002-2006. More specifically, it is investigated whether the impact of single acquirers on shareholders’ wealth is significantly different from the impact of multiple acquirers. Findings suggest that acquirer shareholders experience positive abnormal returns during the announcement period. Moreover, the results indicate single acquirers consistently outperform multiple acquirers when testing for deal characteristics such as: payment method (cash or equity), target status (public or private), target location (domestic or cross crosspayment method (cash or equity), target status (public or private), target location (domestic or cross-border and industry relatedness (specification or diversification). Performance declines with sequential acquisitions due to merger programme announcement hypothesis. Successful first time acquirers suffer from hubris whilst unsuccessful first time acquirers learn from their experiences suggested by the organisation learning hypothesis but go on to suffer from hubris. Acquisitions of private firms yield significant abnormal returns whereas public acquisitions reduce the value of UK acquirers. The effect of cash and equity, domestic and foreign, related and unrelated takeovers are inconclusive for the short-term windows investigated by this study