No abstract

This study used the Musical Ear Test [Wallentin, Nielsen, Friis-Olivarius, Vuust, and Vuust (2010). Learn. Indiv. Diff. 20, 188–196] to compare musical aptitude of native Japanese and Chinese speakers. Although the two groups had similar overall accuracy, they showed significant differences in subtest performance. Specifically, the Chinese speakers outperformed the Japanese counterparts on the melody subtest, but the reverse was observed on the rhythm subtest. Within-group comparisons revealed that Chinese speakers performed better on the melody subtest than the rhythm subtest, while Japanese speakers showed an opposite trend. These results indicate that native language pitch and durational patterns of the listener can have a profound effect on the perception of music melody and rhythm, respectively, reflecting language-to-music transfer of learning.

This research examines students in a first-year engineering course who receive library instruction by using a newly developed online module and attending optional in-person tutorials. It aims to evaluate the outcomes of library information literacy instruction using this module combined with in-person help. Results show a significant improvement in information literacy skills from a pre-test to a post-test. Focus group and survey data indicate that most students preferred the self-paced learning style of the online module and that the content of the module helped them to conduct library research for the course. This study also considers best practices for online library instruction. A blended instruction approach provides students with the flexibility to learn from a variety of formats at their own pace and also reduces library staff workload, especially for a large course.

The electro-mechanical sensing properties of freestanding monolayered membranes of dodecanethiol coated 7 nm gold nanoparticles (NPs) are investigated using AFM force spectroscopy and conductive AFM simultaneously. The electrical resistance of the NP membranes increases sensitively with the point-load force applied in the center of the membranes using an AFM tip. Numerical simulations of electronic conduction in a hexagonally close-packed two-dimensional (2D) array of NPs under point load-deformation are carried out on the basis of electronic transport measurements at low temperatures and strain modeling of the NP membranes by finite element analysis. These simulations, supporting AFM-based electro-mechanical measurements, attribute the high strain sensitivity of the monolayered NP membranes to the exponential dependence of the tunnel electron transport in 2D NP arrays on the strain-induced length variation of the interparticle junctions. This work thus evidences a new class of highly sensitive nano-electro-mechanical systems based on freestanding monolayered gold NP membranes.

We report on photo-current generation in freestanding monolayered gold nanoparticle membranes excited by using a focused laser beam. The absence of a substrate leads to a 50% increase of the photo-current at the surface plasmon resonance. This current is attributed to a combination of trap state dynamics and bolometric effects in a nanocomposite medium yielding a temperature rise of 40 K.