Measures of ionicity of alkaline-earth oxides from the analysis of ab initio cluster wave functions

We present an analysis of the M-O chemical bonding in the binary oxides MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, and Al2O3 based on ab initio wave functions. The model used to represent the local environment of a metal cation in the bulk oxide is an MO6 cluster which also includes the effect of the lattice Madelung potential. The analysis of the wave functions for these clusters leads to the conclusion that all the alkaline-earth oxides must be regarded as highly ionic oxides; however, the ionic character of the oxides decreases as one goes from MgO, almost perfectly ionic, to BaO. In Al2O3 the ionic character is further reduced; however, even in this case, the departure from the ideal, fully ionic, model of Al3+ is not exceptionally large. These conclusions are based on three measures, a decomposition of the Mq+-Oq- interaction energy, the number of electrons associated to the oxygen ions as obtained from a projection operator technique, and the analysis of the cation core-level binding energies. The increasing covalent character along the series MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO is discussed in view of the existing theoretical models and experimental data.

The ability model of emotional intelligence: Searching for valid measures

Current measures of ability emotional intelligence (EI)--including the well-known Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)--suffer from several limitations, including low discriminant validity and questionable construct and incremental validity. We show that the MSCEIT is largely predicted by personality dimensions, general intelligence, and demographics having multiple R's with the MSCEIT branches up to .66; for the general EI factor this relation was even stronger (Multiple R = .76). As concerns the factor structure of the MSCEIT, we found support for four first-order factors, which had differential relations with personality, but no support for a higher-order global EI factor. We discuss implications for employing the MSCEIT, including (a) using the single branches scores rather than the total score, (b) always controlling for personality and general intelligence to ensure unbiased parameter estimates in the EI factors, and (c) correcting for measurement error. Failure to account for these methodological aspects may severely compromise predictive validity testing. We also discuss avenues for the improvement of ability-based tests.

Iowa Turkey Marketing Council Independent accountant’s report on applying agreed upon procedures for the period January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012.

Agreed upon procedures report on the Iowa Turkey Marketing Council for the period January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012

Synthesis of Work-Zone Performance Measures, TPF-5(081), 2013

The main objective of this synthesis was to identify and summarize how agencies collect, analyze, and report different work-zone traffic-performance measures, which include exposure, mobility, and safety measures. The researchers also examined communicating performance to the public. This toolbox provides knowledge to help state departments of transportation (DOTs), as well as counties and cities, to better address reporting of work-zone performance.

Marketing da informação: abordagem inovadora para entender o mercado e o negócio da informação

Mostra o marketing da informação como abordagem inovadora da gestão da informação e do conhecimento em unidades de informação, a partir do entendimento do mercado e do negócio da informação na área em que atuam suas organizações mantenedoras, estejam elas inseridas no setor com fins de lucro ou não. Destaca que, diante dos novos temas e da mudança de paradigmas, o marketing da informação reflete tanto a natureza mutável dos serviços de informação como as perspectivas teóricas e práticas do marketing, principalmente após o surgimento da Internet e da Web. Conclui que é importante estudar, pesquisar e desenvolver estudos sobre marketing na ciência da informação para evidenciar os benefícios da apropriação conceitual do marketing nesta área do conhecimento e dar visibilidade ao papel desempenhado pelas unidades e profissionais da informação como agentes sociais capazes de contribuir para o desenvolvimento da sociedade.

Analytical Measures of Learners' Written Interlanguage

This paper aims at reconsidering some analytical measures to best encapsulate the interlanguage, in writing, of young beginner learners of English as a foreign language in the light of previous and work-in-progress research conducted within the BAF project, and in particular, whether clause and sentence length should be best viewed as a fluency or syntactic complexity measusre or as part of a different construct. In the light of a factor analysis (Navés, forthcoming) and multivariate and correlation studies (Navés et al. 2003, Navés, 2006, Torres et al. 2006) it becomes clear that the relationship between different analytical measures is also dependent on learner¿s cognitive maturity (age) and proficiency (amount of instruction). Finally, clause and sentence length should not be viewed as either a fluency or sytactic complexity measure but as part of a different construct. It is concluded that further research using regression analysis and cluster analysis is neeed in order to identify and validate the constructs of the writing components and their measurements.

Social reciprocity measures based on dyadic discrepancies: Methodological review and software development

This paper examines statistical analysis of social reciprocity at group, dyadic, and individual levels. Given that testing statistical hypotheses regarding social reciprocity can be also of interest, a statistical procedure based on Monte Carlo sampling has been developed and implemented in R in order to allow social researchers to describe groups and make statistical decisions.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with intermediate susceptibility to vancomycin: are strict additional contact measures sufficient?

Background: A hospitalised patient infected with MRSA was found to harbour a VISA strain after 6 weeks of treatment with vancomycin. Additional contact measures were reinforced according to CDCs recommendations. We decide to evaluate if these applied control measures were effective. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of strict additional contact measures to contain the dissemination of VISA from an infected patient. Methods: All patients from the unit were screened weekly for MRSA during a 6-week period, whereas health care workers (HCW) were screened only once. Screening specimen included nose, throat, groin, and clinical specimens for patients, and only nose and throat for HCW. Broth enrichment and chromogenic agar (MRSA-select) were used for MRSA detection. All MRSA isolates were tested on Van screen plates, and growing colonies were tested for MIC of vancomycin. MIC was performed using Etest. Population analysis was done for VISA confirmation. One strain per person was typed by Double Locus Sequence Typing (based on clfB and spa sequencing). Results: 66 patients hospitalized in the same service during the 6 weeks and 55 HCW were screened for MRSA and VISA. MRSA was found in 16/66 (24%) patients and 1/55 (2%) HCW. 16/17 MRSA from patients belonged to the same genotype that the VISA strain. The remaining patient had a MRSA identical to the HCW isolate. Among the 16 MRSA isolates sharing the same genotype than the VISA strain, two showed Etests vancomycin MIC of only 4 mg/L. MIC results were confirmed by the population analysis. They were not considered as VISA, but as MRSA with increased vancomycin MICs. Both isolates were obtained from two roommates. Conclusion: Strict additional contact measures were found to be effective to contain VISA dissemination. However, the identification of two isolates with increased vancomycin MIC (4 mg/L) in two roommates raised the question of the need to routinely test this susceptibility and of adequate control measures for patients harbouring such isolates.

Cost-effective measures for diffuse load abatement in forestry

Abstract