Academic Concerns of International Students in the US

Our purpose was to identify specific academic concerns among international students. Sixty-three international students completed the self-report survey. It was found that most academic concerns centered on faculty and advisers

Traspié entre la poesía y el cine: El caso de César Vallejo y Roy Andersson

This study attempts to illuminate some of the echoes of Vallejo’s poem “Stumbling between two stars” found on the tape Songs from the second floor of Swedish director Roy Andersson. In particular, research suggests that the filmmaker takes advantage of the existential concerns of the common person that are perceived in Vallejo’s poetry when creating static characters whose immobility becomes a hieratic tone and can be interpreted as creation of a new hagiography of the ordinary.El presente estudio intenta iluminar algunos de los ecos del poema “Traspié entre dos estrellas” de César Vallejo que se encuentran en la cinta Canciones del segundo piso del director sueco Roy Andersson. En particular, la investigación sugiere que el cineasta se aprovecha de la preocupación existencial del hombre común que se percibe en el poema vallejiano al crear personajes estáticos cuya inmovilidad cobra un tono hierático y puede interpretarse como la creación de una nueva hagiografía de lo ordinario

Electron current extraction from a permanent magnet waveguide plasma cathode

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98647/1/RevSciInstrum_82_093507.pd

Two-dimensional laser collision-induced fluorescence measurements of plasma properties near an RF plasma cathode extraction aperture

A dense plasma structure was observed to form near the extraction aperture of a helium RF plasma cathode. Laser collision-induced fluorescence was used to generate two-dimensional spatial maps of the electron density and the effective electron temperature within the structure over a range of operating conditions. The aperture plasma reached densities nearly an order of magnitude higher than the surrounding bulk plasma. The sharp spatial change in density at the plasma structure boundary suggests the presence of a double layer sheath. Higher temperature electrons were also observed at the periphery of the plasma structure. Variations in the observed plasma structure with extracted electron current were found to be consistent with reported low pressure anode spot behavior. Measurements of plasma density within and at the boundary of the structure, and the dependence of these on the current extracted across the external gap, are compared with calculations and discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98614/1/0963-0252_21_5_055030.pd

The Effects of Explicit and Implicit Cognitive Factors on the Learning Patterns in the Iowa Gambling Task

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has become a standard tool in the area of decision making, but recent studies have indicated that cognitive factors might distort the implicit learning expected from the original design of the task. This paper examines the effects of cognitive factors on the performance and learning outcomes of the IGT along two dimensions. First, the instructions for the task are manipulated to test whether more detailed information is conducive to adopting a winning strategy in the IGT. Second, procedural priming’s role is investigated by administering a pattern recognition task ahead of the IGT. The results indicate that instructional variation did not have a significant effect on learning patterns. Furthermore, the priming did not yield better results in the IGT compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the IGT is not driven by cognitive awareness of the nature of the task

Does N-2(-) exist? A coupled-cluster study

Potential energy curves of the ground-state N2 molecule and its doublet N−2 anion are calculated at the coupled-cluster level with single and double excitations and with noniterative triples [CCSD(T)] as well as with the multireference averaged-quadratic coupled-cluster (MR-AQCC) method. The N−2 anion is shown to be temporary and decays to its neutral parent plus a free electron at bond lengths shorter than ≈1.4 and larger than ≈2.5 Å. Thus, the N−2 anion exists within the 1.4⩽R(N–N)⩽2.5 Å range at the Born–Oppenheimer approximation

Using a Fork as a Hairbrush: Investigating Dual Routes to Release from Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness involves difficulty with conceptualizing creative object uses. When it obstructs problem solving, individuals must reframe their approach. We examined how different training techniques – chunk decomposition (i.e., considering an object’s basic parts and physical properties) and constraint relaxation (i.e., considering an object’s different functions) – might rely upon different routes to creative reframing. Additionally, we investigated how different forms of cognitive load interact with these dual routes. Participants learned one of three techniques. Chunk decomposition participants created object breakdown diagrams; constraint relaxation participants created object functions lists; and, free association (control) participants wrote a word that they associated with each of several concrete nouns. After training, participants attempted to solve five functional fixedness problems. E1 investigated how increasing germane cognitive load via either direct or indirect prompting affected training transfer. Experiment 2 investigated how reducing extraneous cognitive load by providing no transfer instructions and using an eye-closure strategy. Across both experiments, results supported differences in accuracy and response latency by training. However, chunk decomposition and constraint relaxation did not follow the same pattern, suggesting different mechanisms of the effect. We discuss possible applications to increase innovation in real-world domains such as education, business, and engineering