Investigating Effects of Tolerance-Intolerance of Ambiguity and the Teaching of Public Relations Writing: A Quasi-Experiment

An exploratory, quasi-experiment found that students\u27 individual levels of tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity (TIA), along with a portfolio grading teaching technique, mitigated their views of public relations and their evaluations of their experiences in the public relations writing course. Students with low TIA who had portfolio grading for writing assignments were least likely to think their grades reflected the amount of work they put into the course. Students with high TIA were more likely to think public relations problems were simple to solve and they better appreciated instructors who introduced new viewpoints. In general, students who wrote assignments for a predominant “class client” instead of multiple class clients had a better course experience and felt they learned more about public relations practice, while students who wrote assignments for multiple clients thought their grades more accurately reflected their work. This study also found the AT-20 measure of tolerance of ambiguity stable and moderately reliable compared with measures used in earlier TIA studies

Combined synchrotron X-ray diffraction, dilatometry and electrical resistivity in situ study of phase transformations in a Ti2AlNb alloy

International audienc

From Aardvark to Zebra: A New Millennium Analysis of Theory Development in Public Relations Academic Journals

In a replication and extension of a 1984 study by Ferguson to investigate the status of theory building by public relations scholars, 748 abstracts or articles published in Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research and its predecessor, Public Relations Research Annual, since their inceptions through the year 2000, were subjected to content analysis. Nearly 20% of articles analyzed were found to have contributed to theory development in public relations, compared to only 4% in Ferguson\u27s study. Theory was most prevalent in articles about excellence/symmetry, public relationships, ethics and social responsibility, crisis response, critical-cultural, feminism/diversity, and international topics. These and interdisciplinary influences are expected to continue to contribute to ever more theory building in public relations. Proportionally, Public Relations Research Annual made the greatest contributions to theory development, followed by Journal of Public Relations Research, although Public Relations Review published the greatest number of articles contributing to theory development. Public Relations Review and Journal of Public Relations Research published comparable numbers of articles regarding excellence theory, public relationships, and crisis response theory. However, Public Relations Review published far more articles on theories about academic versus applied research, ethics/social responsibility, international and role theory than Journal of Public Relations Research. Conversely, Journal of Public Relations Research published more content about situational theory and gender/diversity theories than Public Relations Review. The most prolific authors contributing to theory development were James E. Grunig, Robert L. Heath, Larissa Schneider Grunig, W. Timothy Coombs, and John A. Ledingham

Microstructure-oxidation resistance relationship in Ti3AlC2 MAX phase

International audienceSpark Plasma Sintering and Hot Isostatic Pressing were used to synthesize coarse-grained and fine-grained Ti3AlC2 specimens. Moreover, Spark Plasma Sintering processing parameters were modified in order to vary the TiC, Al2O3 and TixAly impurity and the porosity contents in the fine-grained samples. The influence of the Ti3AlC2 microstructure on the oxidation resistance was assesed. It is demonstrated that the grain size can drastically modify the oxidation resistance. The higher density of grain boundaries, in fine-grained specimens, increases the number of Al diffusion paths and leads to the formation of a protective alumina scale. In coarse-grained sample, Al diffusion is the rate limiting step of the α−Al2O3 formation and TiO2 is formed simultaneously to alumina. TiC impurities and porosity are demonstrated to be detrimental to the oxidation resistance in the 800 °C–1000 °C temperature range by favouring TiO2 formation. Finally, it is also shown that, for fine-grained specimens, the oxide scale grows very slowly for oxidation times in the range 20–40 days

Compact cesium beam frequency standard: improvement of the frequency stability towards the 10-12 tau-1/2 level

International audienc

Operation of a compact cesium beam tube: how to improve the stability towards the 10-12 tau-1/2 level

International audienc

Compact cesium beam frequency standard: improvement of the frequency stability towards the 10-12 tau-1/2 level

International audienc