We review why and how double-hybrid density functionals have become new leading actors in the field of computational chemistry, thanks to the combination of an unprecedented accuracy together with large robustness and reliability. Similar to their predecessors, the widely employed hybrid density functionals, they are rooted in the Adiabatic Connection Method from which they emerge in a natural ...

To understand biology at the system level, we must examine the structure and dynamics of cellular and organismal function, rather than the characteristics of isolated parts of a cell or organism. Properties of systems, such as robustness, emerge as central issues, and understanding these properties may have an impact on the future of medicine. However, many breakthroughs in experimental devices...

Current U.S. policy initiatives to improve the U.S. education system, including No Child Left Behind, test-based evaluation of teachers and the promotion of competition, are misguided because they either deny or set to the side a basic body of evidence documenting that students from disadvantaged households on average perform less well in school than those from more advantaged families. Because...

The International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) was created over 40 years ago to ensure that the leprosy control work supported by its Member Associations would be more effective and would ultimately help sustain the benefits for those affected and their families. Historically, ILEP has always been at the forefront of leprosy work and has brought its support and expertise to ma...

All types of attribution based on which learners make their judgement (i.e., self efficacy), about academic success or failure or about a specific task usually affect their performance and their capabilities to deal with different realities. It is perhaps the most distinctive capability of self-reflection. Many of the cognitive theorists have defined it as a meta-cognitive capability. This judg...

The estimation of education production models used to evaluate the effect of school inputs and past skills on test scores, often called value-added models, can be biased by three main econometric issues: unobserved child characteristics, unobserved family and school characteristics and measurement error. We propose a two-step estimation technique which exploits the availability of test scores a...

For many years, our research group has been interested in the new developments of cobalt-mediated cyclizations. In this article, our recent achievements in the field of inter- and intramolecular [2 + 2 + 2] cyclizations are compiled.

In this rejoinder, we discuss substantive and methodological validity issues of large-scale assessments of trends in student achievement, commenting on the discussion paper by Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Robitzsch, Treffers, and Köller (2009). We focus on methodological challenges in deciding what to measure, how to measure it, and how to foster stability. Next, we discuss what to do with trends ...

In a study conducted at a large, public university, the author assessed the impact of course delivery method (face-to-face versus hybrid formats) on student performance and satisfaction. The study was based on the concurrent instruction of a senior-level finance course over two semesters. Student performance was based on the percent of students achieving a grade of A, B or C in the course (as o...

We present the main specifications of the newly constructed Swiss Free Electron Laser, SwissFEL, and explore its potential impact on ultrafast science. In light of recent achievements at current X-ray free electron lasers, we discuss the potential territory for new scientific breakthroughs offered by SwissFEL in Chemistry, Biology, and Materials Science, as well as nonlinear X-ray science.