Motivation of Engineering Students to Participate in Teaching Evaluations

This study employs expectancy theory to evaluate some key factors that motivate students to participate in the teaching evaluation process. The results show that engineering students generally consider the improvement of teaching to be the most important outcome of teaching evaluations, followed by the improvement of course content and format. Making the results of evaluations available for students' decisions on course and instructor selection ranked third, while the least important use was influencing a professor's tenure, promotion, and salary raise. Students' motivation to participate in teaching evaluations is also impacted significantly by their expectation that they will be able to provide meaningful feedback.     

When viewing variations in paintings by Mondrian, aesthetic preferences correlate with pupil size.

Observers consciously prefer Mondrian's paintings in their original orientation compared with a rotated position—the “oblique effect” (Latto, Brain, & Kelly, 2000). However, this finding's premise, that all vertical–horizontal orientations of the thick black lines in Mondrian's oeuvre are preferred, overlooks the fact that the overall balance of these images is also altered when they are reoriented. Thus, balance may regulate the oblique effect, which might influence conscious aesthetic preferences. To address this issue, we explore Hess's (1965, 1972) claim that observers will unconsciously increase their pupil diameter to pleasing images and constrict it to unpleasant images. We overcame Hess's methodological limitation of not keeping his images' luminances and contrast constant across conditions by presenting eight Mondrian paintings (1921–1944) to 30 observers on a CRT for 20 s each in either their original or seven rotated positions. Simultaneously, we measured their pupil size while asking them to report how (dis)pleasing they found each image. We found both evidence for the oblique effect (where image rotation hampers preference) and a correlation between this consciously reported aesthetic preference and unconsciously derived pupil size. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological Research Online: Report of Board of Scientific Affairs' Advisory Group on the Conduct of Research on the Internet.

As the Internet has changed communication, commerce, and the distribution of information, so too it is changing psychological research. Psychologists can observe new or rare phenomena online and can do research on traditional psychological topics more efficiently, enabling them to expand the scale and scope of their research. Yet these opportunities entail risk both to research quality and to human subjects. Internet research is inherently no more risky than traditional observational, survey, or experimental methods. Yet the risks and safeguards against them will differ from those characterizing traditional research and will themselves change over time. This article describes some benefits and challenges of conducting psychological research via the Internet and offers recommendations to both researchers and institutional review boards for dealing with them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

COVID-19 pandemic dynamics in India,the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and implications for vaccination

The Delta variant is a major SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern first identified in India. To better understand COVID-19 pandemic dynamics and Delta, we use multiple datasets and model-inference to reconstruct COVID-19 pandemic dynamics in India during March 2020–June 2021. We further use the large discrepancy in one- and two-dose vaccination coverage in India (53% versus 23% by end of October 2021) to examine the impact of vaccination and whether prior non-Delta infection can boost vaccine effectiveness (VE). We estimate that Delta escaped immunity in 34.6% (95% CI: 0–64.2%) of individuals with prior wild-type infection and was 57.0% (95% CI: 37.9–75.6%) more infectious than wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Models assuming higher VE among non-Delta infection recoverees, particularly after the first dose, generated more accurate predictions than those assuming no such increases (best-performing VE setting: 90/95% versus 30/67% baseline for the first/second dose). Counterfactual modelling indicates that high vaccination coverage for first vaccine dose in India combined with the boosting of VE among recoverees averted around 60% of infections during July–mid-October 2021. These findings provide support to prioritizing first-dose vaccination in regions with high underlying infection rates, given continued vaccine shortages and new variant emergence.     

High electrical performance liquid-phase HBr oxidation gate insulator of InAlAs/InGaAs metamorphic MOS-mHEMT

The InAlAs/InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor metamorphic high electron mobility transistors (MOS-mHEMTs) were demonstrated by using liquid-phase HBr treatment technology to form a high-quality gate insulator layer. In this study, liquid-phase HBr treatment technology was used instead of traditional plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) because the proposed technology can prevent the device from plasma-induced damage. The novel HBr + ultraviolet (UV) illumination treated InGaAs provided a lower surface states such that MOS structure can be efficiently obtained. Besides, based on the atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement, the native oxides film formed by HBr + UV illumination treatment also provided a better surface roughness compared to traditional NH₄OH and only HBr treatment solutions. It is beneficial for reducing the surface traps and lowering the leakage current in MOS-mHEMTs. Based on the flicker noise and load-pull power measurement results, HBr + UV treatment mHEMT achieved a low flicker noise at high current level and the power-added efficiency can be enhanced up to 9%. Therefore, the novel liquid phase method of HBr + UV illumination treatment exhibited a highly potential for low noise microwave power device applications.     

Analysis of the diametral compression method for determining the tensile strength of transparent magnesium aluminate spinel

Attempts were made to determine the inherent tensile strength of a coarse-grained, hot-pressed magnesium aluminate spinel (MgAl₂O₄) using the diametral compression test. Thick (9.6 mm) disk specimens were machined from a large (356 mm square) plate of spinel. Two pairs of tungsten carbide (WC) platens, one with flat surfaces and the other with a 20° half-arc and radius matched to the disk diameter, were used to transfer the applied load. Specimens tested using the platens with the matched radius had strength values almost 50% higher than those tested using flat platens. Images of the fracture process captured using a high-speed camera showed that irrespective of the type of platens used, fracture consistently initiated at the loading interface, resulting in an invalid test. These results show that the diametral compression test method is not appropriate for determining the tensile strength of this spinel and it raises concerns about the applicability of the method for any advanced ceramic.     

What types of safety nets would be most efficient and effective for protecting small farmers and the poor against volatile food prices?

Smallholder farmers in dryland areas, including the Arab region, face many risks, including those relating to weather and markets. While risk taking is necessary for economic development, many risks are so severe that responses to them entail long-term losses. Social risk management is a family of tools that facilitates efficient risk management and can help eliminate risk-related poverty traps. Safety nets form an important part of the social risk management toolkit; it is therefore important to evaluate their effectiveness. This review has identified several considerations for the design and implementation of safety nets to improve food security among small-scale producers in dryland areas. The main conclusions are: safety nets must be part of an integrated risk management strategy; they should be designed to contribute to long-term agricultural growth; and more effort is needed to establish efficient risk management mechanisms prior to crises.     

Performance characterization of the dynamic programming obstacle detection algorithm.

A computer vision-based system using images from an airborne aircraft can increase flight safety by aiding the pilot to detect obstacles in the flight path so as to avoid mid-air collisions. Such a system fits naturally with the development of an external vision system proposed by NASA for use in high-speed civil transport aircraft with limited cockpit visibility. The detection techniques should provide high detection probability for obstacles that can vary from subpixels to a few pixels in size, while maintaining a low false alarm probability in the presence of noise and severe background clutter. Furthermore, the detection algorithms must be able to report such obstacles in a timely fashion, imposing severe constraints on their execution time. For this purpose, we have implemented a number of algorithms to detect airborne obstacles using image sequences obtained from a camera mounted on an aircraft. This paper describes the methodology used for characterizing the performance of the dynamic programming obstacle detection algorithm and its special cases. The experimental results were obtained using several types of image sequences, with simulated and real backgrounds. The approximate performance of the algorithm is also theoretically derived using principles of statistical analysis in terms of the signal-to-noise ration (SNR) required for the probabilities of false alarms and misdetections to be lower than prespecified values. The theoretical and experimental performance are compared in terms of the required SNR.     

Photoluminescent Arrays of Nanopatterned Monolayer MoS2

Monolayer 2D MoS₂ grown by chemical vapor deposition is nanopatterned into nanodots, nanorods, and hexagonal nanomesh using block copolymer (BCP) lithography. The detailed atomic structure and nanoscale geometry of the nanopatterned MoS₂ show features down to 4 nm with nonfaceted etching profiles defined by the BCP mask. Atomic resolution annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the nanopatterned MoS₂ has minimal large‐scale crystalline defects and enables the edge density to be measured for each nanoscale pattern geometry. Photoluminescence spectroscopy of nanodots, nanorods, and nanomesh areas shows strain‐dependent spectral shifts up to 15 nm, as well as reduction in the PL efficiency as the edge density increases. Raman spectroscopy shows mode stiffening, confirming the release of strain when it is nanopatterned by BCP lithography. These results show that small nanodots (≈19 nm) of MoS₂ 2D monolayers still exhibit strong direct band gap photoluminescence (PL), but have PL quenching compared to pristine material from the edge states. This information provides important insights into the structure–PL property correlations of sub‐20 nm MoS₂ structures that have potential in future applications of 2D electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics.