Reduced-size polarized basis sets for calculations of molecular electric properties. III. Second-row atoms

Reduced-size polarized (ZmPolX) basis sets are developed for the second-row atoms X = Si, P, S, and Cl. The generation of these basis sets follows from a simple physical model of the polarization effect of the external electric field which leads to highly compact polarization functions to be added to the chosen initial basis set. The performance of the ZmPolX sets has been investigated in calculations of molecular dipole moments and polarizabilities. Only a small deterioration of the quality of the calculated molecular electric properties has been found. Simultaneously the size of the present reduced-size ZmPolX basis sets is about one-third smaller than that of the usual polarized (PolX) sets. This reduction considerably widens the range of applications of the ZmPolX sets in calculations of molecular dipole moments, dipole polarizabilities, and related properties.

The redemption of the gaze: the crisis of observation in the "fin de siècle" and the advent of cinema

The intention of this article is not to affirm, but rather to question wether it is possible to speak of a loss of the ability to gaze in the context of the nineteenth century and especially in the context of the fin de siècle, in the bosom of the epistemological crisis that beset the Turn of the Century. And very especially, this article tries to question about the impact this crisis had, perhaps, in the birth of cinema. Is in this context that arises the work of Marey and the advent of the cinematograph of the Lumière brothers in the fin de siècle Europe, both of them showing a deep faith in a mechanical apparatus that would allow the redemption of a battered gaze. And it seems to be a dream that continues over time through the tradition of shooting the everyday life.

Artistic proposals of visual arts of Ecuador since the second half of the twentieth century to the present

This article is the result of a research that analyzes the most important artistic proposals of Visual Arts in Ecuador, since the second half of the twentieth century to the present. Through literature review and data collection held in the city of Guayaquil, we could determine their influence and impact on the circuit of contemporary art. The instruments used for data collection were depth interviews that were done to experts in the field. Like surveys of attendees at different artistic events (exhibitions, permanent exhibitions, seminars), allowed to establish the social interests of those proposals. The methodology was mixed approach, quantitative and qualitative data were used.

Hybridization of a class of "second order" models of traffic flow

Despite the simultaneous progress of traffic modelling both on the macroscopic and microscopic front, recent works [E. Bourrel, J.B. Lessort, Mixing micro and macro representation of traffic flow: a hybrid model based on the LWR theory, Transport. Res. Rec. 1852 (2003) 193–200; D. Helbing, M. Treiber, Critical discussion of “synchronized flow”, Coop. Transport. Dyn. 1 (2002) 2.1–2.24; A. Hennecke, M. Treiber, D. Helbing, Macroscopic simulations of open systems and micro–macro link, in: D. Helbing, H.J. Herrmann, M. Schreckenberg, D.E. Wolf (Eds.), Traffic and Granular Flow ’99, Springer, Berlin, 2000, pp. 383–388] highlighted that one of the most promising way to simulate efficiently traffic flow on large road networks is a clever combination of both traffic representations: the hybrid modelling. Our focus in this paper is to propose two hybrid models for which the macroscopic (resp. mesoscopic) part is based on a class of second order model [A. Aw, M. Rascle, Resurection of second order models of traffic flow?, SIAM J. Appl. Math. 60 (2000) 916–938] whereas the microscopic part is a Follow-the Leader type model [D.C. Gazis, R. Herman, R.W. Rothery, Nonlinear follow-the-leader models of traffic flow, Oper. Res. 9 (1961) 545–567; R. Herman, I. Prigogine, Kinetic Theory of Vehicular Traffic, American Elsevier, New York, 1971]. For the first hybrid model, we define precisely the translation of boundary conditions at interfaces and for the second one we explain the synchronization processes. Furthermore, through some numerical simulations we show that the waves propagation is not disturbed and the mass is accurately conserved when passing from one traffic representation to another.

Automaticity, spelling, and second language learning

This study investigated the relationship between a chronometric estimate of automaticity for the spelling of French words (Automaticity) and performance on four tests of French language attainment among a sample of Year 11 students of French as a foreign language. Fifty participants each completed a computerized test of French spelling and attainment tests in four aspects of French language learning: reading comprehension, writing fluency, oral fluency, and aural comprehension. Correlations were significant between Automaticity and performance on all four tests of French language attainment as well as on overall attainment.