Family, Food, Nation, and Economy: Attachment to China and the Return (or Not) of Chinese Graduate Students in the Sciences and Engineering

For our project we sought to identify the meanings that male graduate students in the sciences and engineering mobilize when making plans for after they graduate. We conducted eight interviews and found that these students considered aspects such as family, food, nation, and economy when formulating their future plans. In particular, it appears that, now that China's economy is more similar to that of the United States, these students are allowed to reconsider values they have long held but were unable to make their priority. Furthermore, it also appears that there may be two groups among male graduate students in the sciences and engineering, if not graduate students in general -- those who return to China because they are attached to it and those who stay in the United States because they are not.unpublishe

Line Sources in Brans-Dicke Theory of Gravity

We investigate how the gravitational field generated by line sources can be characterized in Brans-Dicke theory of gravity. Adapting an approach previously developed by Israel who solved the same problem in general relativity we show that in Brans-Dicke theory's case it is possible to work out the field equations which relate the energy-momentum tensor of the source to the scalar field, the coupling constant $\omega$ and the extrinsic curvature of a tube of constant geodesic radius centered on the line in the limit when the radius shrinks to zero. In this new scenario two examples are considered and an account of the Gundlach and Ortiz solution is included. Finally, a brief discussion of how to treat thin shells in Brans-Dicke theory is given.Comment: 21 pages, RevTex; added a discussion on the Gundlach and Ortiz solutio

The neural correlates of phonological short-term memory: A repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Neuropsychological reports and activation studies by means of positron emission tomography anti functional magnetic resonance imaging have suggested that the neural correlates of phonological short-term memory are located in the left hemisphere, with Brodmann's area (BA) 40 being, responsible for short-term storage and BA 44 for articulatory rehearsal. However, a careful review of the literature on the role of left BA 40 shows that the data are equivocal. We tested We hypotheses by means of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Participants performed four tasks: two phonological judgements, thought to require only articulatory rehearsal Without the contribution of short-term storage digit span, which involves both short-term storage and articudlatory rehearsal: and a pattern span, this last heing the control task. The sites of stimulation were left BA 40. left BA 44 anti the electrode location V-W plus a baseline without TMS. Reaction times increased and accuracy decreased in the case of the phonological judgement and digit span after stimulation of both left sites, suggesting that BA 40, in addition to BA 44. is involved in phonological judgements. Possible explanations are discussed, namely, the possibility that (i) the neural correlates of rehearsal are not limited to BA and (ii) phonological judgements invlove processes other than rehearsal. We also consider the effects of using different tasks and responses to resolve some of the descrepancies in the literature