Is math anxiety caused by a deficit in basic numerical skills? A study using numerical and non-numerical tasks

Recent research found differences between high and low anxiety adults in basic numerical tasks like Arabic number comparison and dot enumeration (Maloney et al., 2010; 2011). This led some researchers to consider that math anxiety could be motivated by a subtle deficit in processing quantities. However, most of these studies did not controlled for some relevant variables, hence the difficulties found in basic tasks could be motivated by differences in working memory or in “general” anxiety between the high and low math anxiety groups. In the present research working memory skills and trait and mood anxiety were assessed in 15 low anxiety and 15 high anxiety 6th grade students, then both groups took part in three experiments. In the first, dot comparison task, bigger effects of distance and magnitude were found in the high anxiety group. In Experiment 2, Arabic number comparison, however, the only difference between both groups was related to speed: low anxiety participants were faster. Similar differences were found in Experiment 3, in which participants were required to perform an attentional (Posner) task without numerical content. It is concluded that the relationship between performance and math anxiety is more complex than previously thought.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Introduction: The Arkhitekton

Arising from the philosophical conviction that our sense of space plays a direct role in our apprehension and construction of reality (both factual and fictional), this book investigates how conceptions of postmodern space have transformed the history of the impossible in literature. Deeply influenced by the work of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of fantastic texts in which the impossible is bound to space — space not as scene of action but as impossible element performing a fantastic transgression within the storyworld. This book conceptualizes and contextualizes this postmodern, fantastic use of space that disrupts the reader’s comfortable notion of space as objective reality in favor of the concept of space as socially mediated, constructed, and conventional. In an illustration of the transnational nature of this phenomenon, García analyzes a varied corpus of the Fantastic in the past four decades from different cultures and languages, merging literary analysis with classical questions of space related to the fields of philosophy, urban studies, and anthropology. Texts include authors such as Julio Cortázar (Argentina), John Barth (USA), J.G. Ballard (UK), Jacques Sternberg (Belgium), Fernando Iwasaki (Perú), Juan José Millás (Spain,) and Éric Faye (France). This book contributes to Literary Theory and Comparative Literature in the areas of the Fantastic, narratology, and Geocriticism and informs the continuing interdisciplinary debate on how human beings make sense of space

Teresa López-Pellisa, Patologías de la realidad virtual: Cibercultura y ciencia ficción, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid-México, 2015. ISBN: 978-84-375-0731-6. 15

Obra ressenyada: Teresa LÓPEZ-PELLISA, Patologías de la realidad virtual: Cibercultura y ciencia ficción. Madrid-México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2015

Introduction: The Arkhitekton

Arising from the philosophical conviction that our sense of space plays a direct role in our apprehension and construction of reality (both factual and fictional), this book investigates how conceptions of postmodern space have transformed the history of the impossible in literature. Deeply influenced by the work of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of fantastic texts in which the impossible is bound to space — space not as scene of action but as impossible element performing a fantastic transgression within the storyworld. This book conceptualizes and contextualizes this postmodern, fantastic use of space that disrupts the reader’s comfortable notion of space as objective reality in favor of the concept of space as socially mediated, constructed, and conventional. In an illustration of the transnational nature of this phenomenon, García analyzes a varied corpus of the Fantastic in the past four decades from different cultures and languages, merging literary analysis with classical questions of space related to the fields of philosophy, urban studies, and anthropology. Texts include authors such as Julio Cortázar (Argentina), John Barth (USA), J.G. Ballard (UK), Jacques Sternberg (Belgium), Fernando Iwasaki (Perú), Juan José Millás (Spain,) and Éric Faye (France). This book contributes to Literary Theory and Comparative Literature in the areas of the Fantastic, narratology, and Geocriticism and informs the continuing interdisciplinary debate on how human beings make sense of space

Paris and the birth of the modern fantastic during the Nineteenth century

In her article "Paris and the Birth of the Modern Fantastic during the Nineteenth Century" Patricia Garcia discusses the unprecedented growth of Europe's urban centers during the nineteenth century in relation to the realist novel and takes urban and literary Paris as a paradigm. However, nineteenth-century Paris was also to become the epicenter of another narrative form: the fantastic. Garcia's objective is to explore how the modern city fueled the development of the fantastic by combining the literary and urban angle: how do works of the fantastic write the city? What role does the modern city play in the emergence of the fantastic short story? Her argumentation is divided into two parts: the first explores how literature circulated in space while the second focuses on the representations of Paris in nineteenth-century fantastic fiction to demonstrate that with the acceleration of modernity, the fantastic became an urban form of expression

Proposed Methodology to Evaluate CO2 Capture Using Construction and DemolitionWaste

Since the Industrial Revolution, levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have been constantly growing, producing an increase in the average global temperature. One of the options for Carbon Capture and Storage is mineral carbonation. The results of this process of fixing are the safest in the long term, but the main obstacle for mineral carbonation is the ability to do it economically in terms of both money and energy cost. The present study outlines a methodological sequence to evaluate the possibility for the carbonation of ceramic construction waste (brick, concrete, tiles) under surface conditions for a short period of time. The proposed methodology includes a pre-selection of samples using the characterization of chemical and mineralogical conditions and in situ carbonation. The second part of the methodology is the carbonation tests in samples selected at 10 and 1 bar of pressure. The relative humidity during the reaction was 20 wt %, and the reaction time ranged from 24 h to 30 days. To show the e ectiveness of the proposed methodology, Ca-rich bricks were used, which are rich in silicates of calcium or magnesium. The results of this study showed that calcite formation is associated with the partial destruction of Ca silicates, and that carbonation was proportional to reaction time. The calculated capture e ciency was proportional to the reaction time, whereas carbonation did not seem to significantly depend on particle size in the studied conditions. The studies obtained at a low pressure for the total sample were very similar to those obtained for finer fractions at 10 bars. Presented results highlight the utility of the proposed methodology

Mineral carbonation of ceramic brick at low pressure and room temperature. A simulation study for a superficial CO2 store using a common clay as sealing material

This research explores the possibilities of CO2 sequestration on ceramic bricks in a short time and at surface conditions. The experiment was carried out in a specially designed reaction chamber, filled with brick wastes and sealed with common clays. The brick used were composed of quartz, wollastonite, diopside, orthoclase and anhydrite, and the common clay was a marl composed of calcite, quartz, illite, smectite and kaolinite. Experimental condition in the reaction chamber were: reaction time 5 months, pressure of CO2 0.5 bar, 4:1 solid/water ratio. The experiment was followed by XRD, XRF, BET, physical sorption by N2 and CO2, Hg porosity, TG-DTA, SEM and ICP-EOS. After the CO2 treatment, wollastonite and anhydrite were practically destroyed and some diopside and orthoclase. Calcite precipitated as new phase (up to 48 wt%), and small amount of illite was the result of orthoclase alteration. Concerning the sealing clay, the CO2 produced an increment of calcite content (from 32 to 41 wt%) and a partial destruction of smectite, particularly close to the upper part of the brick layer. These results are hopeful in relation with the possible mineral carbonation of building ceramic waste in a short time at surface conditions, and open the opportunity to use those wastes for CO2 trapping in an appropriate system, as a quarry reclamation

Teaching skills in virtual and blended learning environments

Universities are currently immersed in what is known as the process of European convergence to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The aim is to establish a standardized, compatible and flexible European university system that enables graduates and undergraduates to move easily from one institution to another within Europe. As a result of evaluation mechanisms, the system will be transparent and of high quality, which will make it attractive and competitive internationally in a globalized world. In this paper, we focus on two distance learning modes that will become more important as a result of this change in universities: e-learning and b-learning. These basically involve the virtualization of learning processes through the use of computer equipment. We carried out a qualitative study using the case study method. The results indicate that teaching staff use information and communication technology (ICT) to improve student learning. Similarly, a high percentage (78%) of lecturers use some form of digital platform as a support for teaching. In conclusion, training policies should strengthen university teachers’ skills in the use of ICT equipment, tools and resources related to blended and virtual learning

Abigail Lee Six, Spanish Vampire Fiction since 1900 : Blood Relations, Routledge, New York; Abingdon, 2019

Obra ressenyada: Abigail Lee SIX, Spanish Vampire Fiction since 1900: Blood Relations. New York: Routledge, 2019

The Internationalisation of R&D and the Knowledge Production Function

This paper considers the effect of acquisition FDI on the knowledge production function. We distinguish between acquisitions by MNEs from technologically leading countries and those behind the technological frontier. We show that both acquire similarly R&D intensive domestic firms, but there are important differences post-acquisition. Acquisitions from technologically intensive countries reduce domestic R&D effort, in favour of an increase in foreign technology transfers, which suggests complementarities in the knowledge assets of the MNE and the target firm as a reason for FDI. In contrast, consistent with technology sourcing FDI, acquisitions from non-leading countries increase internal R&D efforts.MNE, knowledge production function, acquisition FDI, knowledge complementarities, technology sourcing