Inmate Sincerity via Community Reentry

While numerous states have programs within their prisons, community reentry-to-society is a topical area of focus. These programs require little operational funding but have a direct impact on rehabilitation of inmates. Reentry often involves outside volunteers who share invaluable lessons with inmates. With the use of precious correctional resources at issue perpetually, this study is important in examining the validity of a portion of the reentry application forms used in an Arkansas state reentry program. Findings should be of use to corrections officials, researchers and those with any interest in rehabilitation

CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

Direct Adjustment of Obesity Estimates in the Colorado BMI Monitoring System

Background: In the Colorado BMI Monitoring System, electronic health record body mass index (BMI) data from participating health care organizations are provided to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and combined to establish BMI estimates at the census tract level. This system provides estimates with more geographic specificity than national surveys; however, population representativeness is a limitation. Data are sampled from all members of five health care organizations, and selection bias is possible. Methods: We applied direct adjustment based on gender, race/ethnicity and age to estimate BMI and overweight/obesity prevalence estimates. To avoid limiting to complete case data, missing race/ethnicity data were imputed using hot decking based on census tract, gender and age classes. Raking, an iterative method of marginal weight adjustment, was used to create sample weights used in direct adjustment estimates by census tract. Hot decking and raking were performed using modified SAS macros developed by Abt Associates (Cambridge, MA). Results: Processes were developed on one site’s 2012–2014 data (N = 479,960) and are being tested on all site data at CDPHE. Missing race was imputed for 13.2% of members and failed on only 0.1%. Individual weights were generated through raking for 99.5% of individuals with a recent BMI measurement. For 658 of 668 Denver-metro census tracts, crude and adjusted estimates were similar (Pearson R = 0.981, P \u3c 0.01), and the median absolute difference in crude versus adjusted adult obesity prevalence estimates was 0.05 (interquartile range: -0.54–0.80). Conclusion: It is feasible to apply direct standardization to large data systems with many geographic units. Imputation via hot decking is appealing because it has been used in large government and public health surveys, it is effective using a limited set of demographic variables, and it provides a reasonable estimate of variable distribution by drawing from observed values. Raking is an advantageous weighting method in direct adjustment because it avoids empty or small cell size and only requires population-marginal demographic group estimates. Overall, adjusting census tract obesity prevalence estimates modified values slightly (the majority of absolute difference of crude and adjusted was within 1% in either direction), and adjusted estimates created more conservative confidence limits

Direct Adjustment of Obesity Estimates in the Colorado BMI Monitoring System

Background: In the Colorado BMI Monitoring System, electronic health record body mass index (BMI) data from participating health care organizations are provided to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and combined to establish BMI estimates at the census tract level. This system provides estimates with more geographic specificity than national surveys; however, population representativeness is a limitation. Data are sampled from all members of five health care organizations, and selection bias is possible. Methods: We applied direct adjustment based on gender, race/ethnicity and age to estimate BMI and overweight/obesity prevalence estimates. To avoid limiting to complete case data, missing race/ethnicity data were imputed using hot decking based on census tract, gender and age classes. Raking, an iterative method of marginal weight adjustment, was used to create sample weights used in direct adjustment estimates by census tract. Hot decking and raking were performed using modified SAS macros developed by Abt Associates (Cambridge, MA). Results: Processes were developed on one site’s 2012–2014 data (N = 479,960) and are being tested on all site data at CDPHE. Missing race was imputed for 13.2% of members and failed on only 0.1%. Individual weights were generated through raking for 99.5% of individuals with a recent BMI measurement. For 658 of 668 Denver-metro census tracts, crude and adjusted estimates were similar (Pearson R = 0.981, P \u3c 0.01), and the median absolute difference in crude versus adjusted adult obesity prevalence estimates was 0.05 (interquartile range: -0.54–0.80). Conclusion: It is feasible to apply direct standardization to large data systems with many geographic units. Imputation via hot decking is appealing because it has been used in large government and public health surveys, it is effective using a limited set of demographic variables, and it provides a reasonable estimate of variable distribution by drawing from observed values. Raking is an advantageous weighting method in direct adjustment because it avoids empty or small cell size and only requires population-marginal demographic group estimates. Overall, adjusting census tract obesity prevalence estimates modified values slightly (the majority of absolute difference of crude and adjusted was within 1% in either direction), and adjusted estimates created more conservative confidence limits

Overview of recent results from the Advanced Toroidal Facility

An overview of recent experimental results from the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) is presented. Beam-heated plasmas with {bar n}{sub e} of 10{sup 20} m{sup {minus}3} and {tau}{sub E}{asterisk} of {approx}20 ms have been achieved. Thermal collapse of the plasmas is mitigated by wall conditioning and particle fueling. Confinement time scales positively with density and magnetic field, offsetting deterioration with power. Results fit the LHD scaling and the drift wave turbulence scaling. Bootstrap currents observed during ECH agree with neoclassical theory in magnitude and parameter dependences. Fast reciprocating Langmuir probe measurements show that edge fluctuations in ATF have many similarities to those in the TEXT tokamak. The location of {tilde B} instabilities has shifted outward in radius, consistent with the broader pressure profiles. 14 refs., 6 figs

Gender and age at drinking onset affect voluntary alcohol consumption but neither the alcohol deprivation effect nor the response to stress in mice.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest that initiation of alcohol drinking at an early age is associated with an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder later in life. Nevertheless, relatively few studies using animal models have investigated the relationship between age of onset of drinking and ethanol drinking patterns in adulthood. Besides age at drinking onset, other factors such as gender could also affect the pattern of development of alcohol consumption. In rodents, many studies have shown that females drink more than males. However, even if it is assumed that hormonal changes occurring at puberty could explain these differences, only one study performed in rats has investigated the emergence of sex-specific alcohol drinking patterns in adolescence and the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The aim of the present study was to compare the acquisition of voluntary alcohol consumption, relapse-like drinking (the Alcohol Deprivation Effect-ADE) and stress-induced alcohol drinking in male and female outbred mice that acquired alcohol consumption during adolescence or adulthood. METHODS: Separate groups of naive female and male WSC-1 mice aged +/- 28 days (adolescents) or +/-70 days (adults) were given ad libitum access to water and 6% ethanol solution for 8 weeks (1st to 8th week) before undergoing a 2-week deprivation phase (9th and 10th week). After the deprivation period, 2-bottle preference testing (ethanol vs. water) resumed for 3 weeks (11th to 13th). During the 13th week, all animals were subjected to restraint stress for 2 consecutive days. RESULTS: Over the entire time course of the experiment, ethanol intake and preference increased in females (both adults and adolescents). Adolescent animals (both females and males) showed a transient increase in alcohol consumption and preference compared to adults. However, by the end of continuous alcohol exposure (when all mice were adults), ethanol intake was not affected by age at drinking onset. A deprivation phase was followed by a rise in ethanol intake (ADE) that was not affected by sex or age. Finally, stress did not alter alcohol self-administration either during or after its occurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Emergence of greater alcohol consumption in adult females does not seem to be limited to a specific developmental period (i.e., puberty). Age of voluntary drinking onset (adolescence vs. adulthood) does not affect eventual alcohol intake in adult WSC-1 mice and does not modify the transient increase in ethanol consumption after alcohol deprivation