Using an ANP performance management framework to manage the development of transversal competences in University degrees

Organisations are concerned about measuring the performance of the product/service they deliver to their customers. In all types of organisations, if a proper performance assessment is to be developed, it should be measured in different dimensions. At University, the new study programs include the development and assessment of transversal competences due to their importance in enhancing the abilities and improving the employability of students. The achievement of transversal competences can be assessed in different levels/stages; for example, the 1st and 2nd years of a Bachelor’s degree; the 3rd and 4th years of a Bachelor’s degree and at Master’s level. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the research into performance management in organisations to develop an approach consisting of four components (a methodology, a solid and integrated performance management framework, graphical diagrams and quantitative techniques) to assess and manage the achievement of transversal competences through the different levels of study using a consolidated approach. The proposal uses the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to model dependences and feedback among the elements of the competences.

     

Reversible Activation of Water by an Air- and Moisture-Stable Frustrated Rhodium Nitrogen Lewis Pair

[Cp*Rh(κ³N,N′,P- L )][SbF₆] (Cp*=C₅Me₅), bearing a guanidine-derived phosphano ligand L , behaves as a “dormant” frustrated Lewis pair and activates H₂ and H₂O in a reversible manner. When D₂O is employed, a facile H/D exchange at the Cp* ring takes place through sequential C(sp³)−H bond activation.     

Surface-Active Fluorinated Quantum Dots for Enhanced Cellular Uptake

Fluorescent nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, hold great potential for biomedical applications, mainly sensing and bioimaging. However, the inefficient cell uptake of some nanoparticles hampers their application in clinical practice. Here, the effect of the modification of the quantum dot surface with fluorinated ligands to increase their surface activity and, thus, enhance their cellular uptake was explored.     

Bio-Organometallic Derivatives of Antibacterial Drugs

Overuse and misuse of antibacterial drugs has resulted in bacteria resistance and in an increase in mortality rates due to bacterial infections. Therefore, there is an imperative necessity of new antibacterial drugs. Bio-organometallic derivatives of antibacterial agents offer an opportunity to discover new active antibacterial drugs. These compounds are well-characterized products and, in several examples, their antibacterial activities have been studied. Both inhibition of the antibacterial activity and strong increase in the antibiotic activity of the parent drug have been found. The synthesis of the main classes of bio-organometallic derivatives of these drugs, as well as examples of the use of structure–activity relation (SAR) studies to increase the activity and to understand the mode of action of bio-organometallic antimicrobial peptides (BOAMPs) and platensimicyn bio-organometallic mimics is presented in this article.     

Visualizing parameters from loglinear models

Summary  This paper presents a graphical display for the parameters resulting from loglinear models. Loglinear models provide a method for analyzing associations between two or several categorical variables and have become widely accepted as a tool for researchers during the last two decades. An important part of the output of any computer program focused on loglinear models is that devoted to estimation of parameters in the model. Traditionally, this output has been presented using tables that indicate the values of the coefficients, the associated standard errors and other related information. Evaluation of these tables can be rather tedious because of the number of values shown as well as their rather complicated structure, mainly when the analyst needs to consider several models before reaching a model with a good fit. Therefore, a graphical display summarizing tables of parameters could be of great help in this situation. In this paper we put forward an interactive dynamic graphical display that could be used in such fashion.     

Algorithm for the Semigroup of a Space Curve Singularity

The semigroup of values of irreducible space curve singularities is the set of intersection multiplicities among hypersurfaces and the given curve. It is an invariant of the singularity, and for plane curves it characterizes the equisingularity type considered by Zariski. For space curve singularities the semigroup of values is a numerical semigroup and it can not be computed by means of the exponents of any Puiseux parametrization, as in the plane case. We obtain an algorithm for calculating the semigroup of values of a space curve singularity, which determines the generators of the semigroup and the valuation ideals associated with the semigroup. We give a Maple version of the algorithm.     

Asymptotic properties of two interacting maps

In this paper we consider a system whose state x changes to (x) if a perturbation occurs at the time t, for . Moreover, the state x changes to the new state (x) at time t, for . It is assumed that the number of perturbations in an interval (0, t) is a Poisson process. Here and are measurable maps from a measure space into itself. We give conditions for the existence of a stationary distribution of the system when the maps and commute, and we prove that any stationary distribution is an invariant measure of these maps.     

A Note on the Morozov Principle via Lagrange Duality

Considering a general linear ill-posed equation, we explore the duality arising from the requirement that the discrepancy should take a given value based on the estimation of the noise level, as is notably the case when using the Morozov principle. We show that, under reasonable assumptions, the dual function is smooth, and that its maximization points out the appropriate value of Tikhonov’s regularization parameter. The numerical relevance of our approach is established by means of an illustrative example from nonparametric instrumental regression, a standard problem in statistics.     

Design and validation of a single sphere multi-detector neutron spectrometer based on LiF: Mg,Cu,P thermoluminescent dosemeters

This communication describes a new neutron spectrometer consisting of pairs of ⁷Li and ⁶Li based thermoluminescent dosemeters (MCP-6, MCP-7) located at selected positions within a single moderating polyethylene sphere. The spatial arrangement of the dosemeters has been designed using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code to calculate the response matrix in order to obtain a nearly isotropic response for neutrons in the energy range up to 20 MeV. A partial validation of the calculated response matrix has been performed with the calibrated ²⁴¹Am–Be neutron source at the INFN–LNF Laboratory, using the shadow cone technique.     

Weighted inequalities for some integral operators with rough kernels

In this paper we study integral operators with kernels $$K(x,y) = k_1 (x - A_1 y) \cdots k_m \left( {x - A_m y} \right),$$ $k_i \left( x \right) = {{\Omega _i \left( x \right)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\Omega _i \left( x \right)} {\left| x \right|}}} \right. \kern-0em} {\left| x \right|}}^{{n \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {n {q_i }}} \right. \kern-0em} {q_i }}}$ where Ω _i : ? ⁿ → ? are homogeneous functions of degree zero, satisfying a size and a Dini condition, A _i are certain invertible matrices, and n/q ₁ +…+n/q _m = n?α, 0 ≤ α < n. We obtain the appropriate weighted L ^p -L ^q estimate, the weighted BMO and weak type estimates for certain weights in A(p, q). We also give a Coifman type estimate for these operators.