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Based on theories of job satisfaction and the motivating potential of professional work, we would expect public-sector professionals to express a level of satisfaction higher than that of other workers, yet this is not clearly the case. While some previous research has found that professionals have higher levels of job satisfaction than lower-level workers, other studies indicate that public-sector professionals are less satisfied than their private-sector counterparts and are no more satisfied than blue-collar workers. This study surveys local-government professionals (N = 125) in Colorado to determine their job satisfaction and their expectations of intrinsic satisfaction from work. They rated their work much higher in motivating potential than comparable groups of professionals and expressed significantly higher job satisfaction. Although most said their expectations for interesting work were more than met on the job, a major fraction expressed unmet expectations for power and authority and for recognition. The findings confirm previous research showing the importance of social relations and intrinsic factors in predicting job satisfaction but fail to support the generalization that public-sector professionals experience problematically low job satisfaction or that they find their jobs relatively low in motivating potential., Public-sector professional workers have the sort of work that everyone is supposed to want. Their tasks are varied, their work is socially significant, and they have considerable autonomy, even when [...]

Most organizations use large and complex spreadsheets that are embedded in their mission-critical processes and are used for decision-making. Identification of the various types of errors that can be present in these spreadsheets is, therefore, an important first step to creating controls that organizations can use to govern their spreadsheets. While a considerable amount of research on quantitative error taxonomies exists, there is comparatively little research concerning qualitative error taxonomies. In this paper, we propose a taxonomy for categorizing qualitative errors in spreadsheet models that offers an exploratory framework for evaluating the quality of a spreadsheet model before it is released for use by others in the organization. The classification was developed based on types of qualitative errors identified in the literature and errors committed by end-users in developing a spreadsheet model for Panko's (1996) 'Wall Problem.' A principal component analysis of the errors reveals four logical groupings thereby creating four categories of qualitative errors. The usability and limitations of the proposed taxonomy and areas for future research are discussed., Author(s): Linda Leon, Department of Finance and Computer Information Systems, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Zbigniew H. Przasnyski, Department of Finance and Computer Information Systems, Loyola Marymount University, [...]

The explosive growth of business analytics has created a high demand for individuals who can help organizations gain competitive advantage by extracting business knowledge from data. What types of jobs satisfy this demand and what types of skills should individuals possess to satisfy this huge and growing demand? The authors perform a content analysis of 958 job advertisements posted during 2014-2015 for four types of positions: business analyst, data analyst, data scientist, and data analytics manager. They use a text mining approach to identify the skills needed for these job types and identify six distinct broad competencies. They also identify the competencies unique to a particular type of job and those common to all job types. Their job type categorization provides a framework that organizations can use to inventory their existing workforce competencies in order to identify critical future human resources. It can also guide individual professionals with their career planning as well as academic institutions in assessing and advancing their business analytics curricula.

Conservatives would like Canadians to stand up in scandalized outrage over NDP interim Leader Nycole Turmel's past association with the Bloc Quebecois ('Capital Diary,' National, Aug. 22). But Canadians are [...]

There have been no previous reportsin the literature comparing the effects of hand scaling with ultrasonic debridement in furcations, or which have used dark‐field microscopy for this comparison. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of these two modes of debridement in various classes of furcations, using gingival crevicular fluid flow and dark‐field microscopy as parameters. A total of 33 furcated molars were evaluated. Results indicated that both hand scaling and ultrasonic debridement were equally effective in Class I furcations in changing the gingival fluid flow and bacterial proportions to those of a healthy state. In contrast, ultrasonic debridement was significantly more effective than hand scaling in Class II and Class III furcations in altering these parameters.

To determine the relation between spontaneous and induced ventricular arrhythmias, ambulatory electrocardiographic (Holter) monitoring and programmed electrical stimulation were performed in 48 adult patients with suspected life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Nine had no inducible arrhythmia, 11 demonstrated 1 to 2 beats of intraventricular reentry, 19 exhibited non-sustained ventricular tachycardia and 9 exhibited sustained ventricular tachycardia during electrophysiologic studies. Patients without arrhythmia inducibility had a high incidence of multiformity (56%) and bigeminy (44%), but a low incidence of either couplets (11%) or spontaneous ventricular tachycardia (11%) on Holter monitoring. An increasing incidence of all "complex" ectopic features was found with increasing degrees of ventricular inducibility. In patients with inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia, multiformity was present in 100%, bigeminy and couplets in 89% and spontaneous ventricular tachycardia in 78%. Premature ventricular complex frequency, couplet frequency and the repetition index (the ratio of couplets to premature ventricular complexes) were also found to be directly correlated with the degree of ventricular inducibility.

Several letters to the editor as presented in response to articles in the August 15, 2011 issue including "The Trouble With Too Much Democracy," by Andrew Potter, "Political Correctness Gone Mad?" and "Hey Kids, Time to Walk Slowly Past Old Stuff," by Scott Feschuk.