From the Provinces to Madrid: Councillors of the Indies in the Eighteenth Century

This article examines the role and composition of the Council of the Indies in the Eighteenth Century. The author argues that during the final stages of Old Regime Spain, the Council regained its importance and prestige. After a detailed examination and evaluation of other documentary sources he concludes that the personnel ability and new world experience of members of the Council gave Madrid an extremely talented group of public officials. L’auteur examine ici le rôle et la composition du Conseil des Indes au XVIIIe siècle. Il soutient que durant les dernières étapes de l’Ancien Régime espagnol, le Conseil reconquit son importance et son prestige. Après lecture attentive et évaluation de nouvelles sources documentaires, il conclut que les capacités personnelles et l’expérience du Nouveau Monde acquise par les membres du Conseil donnèrent à Madrid un groupe de fonctionnaires de grand talent

Development and Validation of a Global Competency Framework for Preparing New Graduates for Early Career Professional Roles

Objectives: The current objectives include the development of a global competency model applicable across a wide range of jobs, industries, and geographies for university graduates entering the workplace. Method: The competency model was developed utilizing a global panel of subject matter experts and a validation survey of over 25,000 students, faculty, staff, and employers across more than 30 countries. Results: The results showed substantial consistency for the importance and criticality ratings of the competencies, with Achieving Objectives, Analyzing and Solving Problems, Adapting to Change, Communicating Orally, Learning and Self-Development, Making Decisions, Planning and Organizing, and Working Well with Others as the highest-rated competencies across regions, roles, and industries. Conclusions: The most important competencies for students entering the workforce were consistent across different jobs, different industries, and different countries. The diversity and varied experience levels of the sample provide greater generalizability than most competency modeling projects that are often idiosyncratic to specific roles, industries, subjects, or levels. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: University faculty and staff can use the results of the validation study to develop curricula and programs that will be better able to foster important competencies to ensure that their students are better prepared to enter the workplace. Although some organizations emphasize leadership as important for all professional employees, Managing the Work of Others, Leading Others, and Influencing Others were consistently rated lower in importance by employers across all roles and regions and may not be appropriate as the primary focus of skill development for new graduates

Kinetics of the Gas Phase Reactions of the Criegee Intermediate CH2OO with O3 and IO

The kinetics of the gas phase reactions of the Criegee intermediate CH2OO with O3 and IO have been studied at 296 K and 300 Torr through simultaneous measurements of CH2OO, the CH2OO precursor (CH2I2), O3, and IO using flash photolysis of CH2I2/O2/O3/N2 mixtures at 248 nm coupled to time-resolved broadband UV absorption spectroscopy. Experiments were performed under pseudo-first-order conditions with respect to O3, with the rate coefficients for reactions of CH2OO with O3 and IO obtained by fitting to the observed decays of CH2OO using a model constrained to the measured concentrations of IO. Fits were performed globally, with the ratio between the initial concentration of O3 and the average concentration of IO varied in the range 30 to 700, and gave kCH2OO+O3 = (3.6 ± 0.8) × 10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 and kCH2OO+IO = (7.6 ± 1.4) × 10-11 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 (where the errors are at the 2σ level). The magnitude of kCH2OO+O3 has a significant effect on the steady state concentration of CH2OO in chamber studies. Atmospheric implications of the results are discussed

High-power microwave radiation as an alternative insect control method for stored products.

ABSTRACT Insect mortality studies were performed with a high-power microwave source operating at a frequency of 10.6 GHz at power levels of 9-20 kW to irradiate samples of soft wite wheat, Triticum aestivum (L.), infested with maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschul-sky, and ground wheat infested with red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). These pests are common internal and external feeders in stored products, respectively. Samples at various age intervals from egg to adult were exposed. The results support the hypothesis that the insect-to-host dissipation ratio increases at frequencies >2.45 GHz. Mean mortalities 93% occurred for all ages of S. zeamais and 94% for adults and larvae of T. castaneum for mean specific input energies of 51 J/g and 53 J/g, respectively, indicating that S. zeamais is more susceptible. Extrapolating the results to the cost of treating the product in bulk volume at a busbar electric energy cost of $0.05 per kW-h (3,600 kJ) indicates a unit cost for electric energy ranging only from$0.056 per bushel of wheat infested with S. zeamais to $0.139 per hundred weight of ground wheat infested with T. castuneum

Situational judgment tests as measures of 21st century skills: Evidence across Europe and Latin America

Over the years, various governmental, employment, and academic organizations have identified a list of skills to successfully master the challenges of the 21st century. So far, an adequate assessment of these skills across countries has remained challenging. Limitations inherent in the use of self-reports (e.g., lack of self-insight, socially desirable responding, response style bias, reference group bias, etc.) have spurred on the search for methods that could complement or even substitute self-report inventories. Situational judgment tests (SJTs) have been proposed as one of the complements/alternatives to the traditional self-report inventories. SJTs are low-fidelity simulations that confront participants with multiple domain-relevant situations and request to choose from a set of predefined responses. Our objectives are twofold: (a) outlining how a combined emic-etic approach can be used for developing SJT items that can be used across geographical regions and (b) investigating whether SJT scores can be compared across regions. Our data come from Laureate International Universities (N = 5,790) and comprise test-takers from Europe and Latin America who completed five different SJTs that were developed in line with a combined emic-etic approach. Results showed evidence for metric measurement invariance across participants from Europe and Latin America for all five SJTs. Implications for the use of SJTs as measures of 21st century skills are discussed

Prevalence and Types of Drugs Used Among Hepatitis A Patients During Outbreaks Associated with Person-to-Person Transmission, Kentucky, Michigan, and West Virginia, 2016–2019

Background: People who use drugs are at increased risk for hepatitis A virus infection. Since 1996, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended hepatitis A vaccination for people who use drugs. Since 2016, the U.S. has experienced widespread hepatitis A outbreaks associated with person-to-person transmission. Purpose: To describe the prevalence of drug use, route of use, and drugs used among hepatitis A outbreak-associated patients. Methods: State outbreak and medical records were reviewed to describe the prevalence, type, and route of drug use among a random sample of 812 adult outbreak-associated hepatitis A patients from Kentucky, Michigan, and West Virginia during 2016–2019. Differences in drug-use status were analyzed by demographic and risk-factor characteristics using the χ2 test. Results: Among all patients, residents of Kentucky (55.6%), Michigan (51.1%), and West Virginia (60.1%) reported any drug use, respectively. Among patients that reported any drug use, methamphetamine was the most frequently reported drug used in Kentucky (42.3%) and West Virginia (42.1%); however, opioids were the most frequently reported drug used in Michigan (46.8%). Hepatitis A patients with documented drug use were more likely (p\u3c0.05) to be experiencing homelessness/unstable housing, have been currently or recently incarcerated, and be aged 18–39 years compared to those patients without documented drug use. Implications: Drug use was prevalent among person-to-person hepatitis A outbreak-associated patients, and more likely among younger patients and patients experiencing homelessness or incarceration. Increased hepatitis A vaccination coverage is critical to prevent similar outbreaks in the future

Dmp1 Promoter-Driven Diphtheria Toxin Receptor Transgene Expression Directs Unforeseen Effects in Multiple Tissues

Mice harbouring a dentin matrix protein 1 (Dmp1) promoter-driven human diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor (HDTR) transgene (Tg) have recently been used to attain targeted ablation of osteocytes by diphtheria toxin (DT) treatment in order to define osteocyte function. Use of these Tg mice has asserted mechano- and novel paracrine regulatory osteocyte functions. To explore osteocyte roles fully, we sought to confirm the selectivity of DT effects in these transgenic mice. However, our findings revealed incomplete DT-induced osteocyte ablation, prevalent HDTR misexpression, as well as more prominent histopathological DT-induced changes in multiple organs in Tg than in wild-type (WT) littermate mice. Mechanistic evidence for DT action, via prominent regulation of phosphorylation status of elongation factor-2 (EF-2), was also found in many non-skeletal tissues in Tg mice; indicative of direct “off-target” DT action. Finally, very rapid deterioration in health and welfare status in response to DT treatment was observed in these Tg when compared to WT control mice. Together, these data lead us to conclude that alternative models for osteocyte ablation should be sought and caution be exercised when drawing conclusions from experiments using these Tg mice alone

Conference of Microelectronics Research 2000

https://scholarworks.rit.edu/meec_archive/1009/thumbnail.jp

Compulsive Internet use and workaholism: An exploratory two-wave longitudinal study

Workaholism refers to the uncontrollable need to work and comprises working compulsively (WC) and working excessively (WE). Compulsive Internet Use (CIU), involves a similar behavioural pattern although in specific relation to Internet use. Since many occupations rely upon use of the Internet, and the lines between home and the workplace have become increasingly blurred, a self-reinforcing pattern of workaholism and CIU could develop from those vulnerable to one or the other. The present study explored the relationship between these compulsive behaviours utilizing a two-wave longitudinal study over six months. A total of 244 participants who used the Internet as part of their occupational role and were in full-time employment completed the online survey at each wave. This survey contained previously validated measures of each variable. Data were analysed using cross-lagged analysis. Results indicated that Internet usage and CIU were reciprocally related, supporting the existence of tolerance in CIU. It was also found that CIU at Time 1 predicted WC at Time 2 and that WE was unrelated to CIU. It is concluded that a masking mechanism appears a sensible explanation for the findings. Although further studies are needed, these findings encourage a more holistic evaluation and treatment of compulsive behaviours