The Current State of Performance Appraisal Research and Practice: Concerns, Directions, and Implications

On the surface, it is not readily apparent how some performance appraisal research issues inform performance appraisal practice. Because performance appraisal is an applied topic, it is useful to periodically consider the current state of performance research and its relation to performance appraisal practice. This review examines the performance appraisal literature published in both academic and practitioner outlets between 1985 and 1990, briefly discusses the current state of performance appraisal practice, highlights the juxtaposition of research and practice, and suggests directions for further research

Assessment of Mortality and Smoking Rates Before and After Reduction in Community-wide Prevention Programs in Rural Maine

Importance: It is unclear whether effective population-wide interventions that reduce risk factors and improve health result in sustained benefits to a community\u27s health. If benefits do persist after a program is ended, interventions could be brief rather than maintained long term. Objective: To measure mortality and smoking rates in a rural community over decades before, during, and after prevention program reductions. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study compared smoking and mortality rates in a rural Maine county with other Maine counties over time by 5-year intervals. Multiple changes occurred between 2001 and 2015 in the physiological and behavioral risk factor reduction programs offered in the county. They included reductions in leadership, staff, institutional resources, data monitoring, and the programs themselves. Data were analyzed from May 2018 to March 2019. Intervention: Previous multifaceted interventions and outcome monitoring were withdrawn or diminished in the past decade. Main Outcomes and Measures: Smoking and age-adjusted mortality rates vs household income. Results: Reduced mortality rates in Franklin County in 1986 to 2005 reverted to those predicted by household incomes, relative to other Maine counties, by 2006 to 2015 (1986-1990 T score = -2.86 [P = .01] and 2001-2005 T score = -3.00 [P = .01] to 2006 to 2010 T score = -0.43 [P = .67] and 2011-2015 T score = -0.72 [P = .48]). Analysis of County Health Rankings data from 2010 to 2018 also showed that Franklin County\u27s outcomes have reverted to no better than predicted by socioeconomic status. The county\u27s T scores increased from -3.62 (P = .003) in 2010 to -0.41 (P = .69) in 2015 to 0.13 (P = .90) in 2018. Statewide association of income with mortality by analyses of variance showed that the R2 values have increased from the decades preceding 2000 (1976-1980, R2 = 0.21; P = .08; 1986-1990, R2 = 0.32; P = .02) to 2006 to 2010 (R2 = 0.73; P \u3c .001) and 2011 to 2015 (R2 = 0.70; P \u3c .001). Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that gains associated with population health interventions may be lost when the interventions are reduced. Adjusting outcome measures for socioeconomic status may allow quicker and more sensitive monitoring of intervention adequacy and success. The increasing trend of age-adjusted mortality in Maine and nationally to correlate inversely with incomes may warrant further community interventions, especially for poorer populations

Effort-related decision making in humanized COMT mice: Effects ofVal158Met polymorphisms and possible implications for negative symptomsin humans

Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that metabolizes catecholamines, and is crucial for clearanceof dopamine (DA) in prefrontal cortex. Val158Met polymorphism, which causes a valine (Val) to methionine(Met) substitution at codon 158, is reported to be associated with human psychopathologies in some studies. TheVal/Val variant of the enzyme results in higher dopamine metabolism, which results in reduced dopaminetransmission. Thus, it is important to investigate the relation between Val158Met polymorphisms using rodentmodels of psychiatric symptoms, including negative symptoms such as motivational dysfunction. In the presentstudy, humanized COMT transgenic mice with two genotype groups (Val/Val (Val) and Met/Met (Met) homo-zygotes) and wild-type (WT) mice from the S129 background were tested using a touchscreen effort-based choiceparadigm. Mice were trained to choose between delivery of a preferred liquid diet that reinforced panel pressingon variousfixed ratio (FR) schedules (high-effort alternative), vs. intake of pellets concurrently available in thechamber (low-effort alternative). Panel pressing requirements were controlled by varying the FR levels (FR1, 2,4, 8, 16) in ascending and descending sequences across weeks of testing. All mice were able to acquire the initialtouchscreen operant training, and there was an inverse relationship between the number of reinforcers deliveredby panel pressing and pellet intake across different FR levels. There was a significant group x FR level interactionin the ascending limb, with panel presses in the Val group being significantly lower than the WT group in FR1–8,and lower than Met in FR4. Thesefindings indicate that the humanized Val allele in mice modulates FR/pellet-choice performance, as marked by lower levels of panel pressing in the Val group when the ratio requirementwas moderately high. These studies may contribute to the understanding of the role of COMT polymorphisms innegative symptoms such as motivational dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients

Community-wide cardiovascular disease prevention programs and health outcomes in a rural county, 1970-2010

IMPORTANCE: Few comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction programs, particularly those in rural, low-income communities, have sustained community-wide interventions for more than 10 years and demonstrated the effect of risk factor improvements on reductions in morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To document health outcomes associated with an integrated, comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction program in Franklin County, Maine, a low-income rural community. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Forty-year observational study involving residents of Franklin County, Maine, a rural, low-income population of 22,444 in 1970, that used the preceding decade as a baseline and compared Franklin County with other Maine counties and state averages. INTERVENTIONS: Community-wide programs targeting hypertension, cholesterol, and smoking, as well as diet and physical activity, sponsored by multiple community organizations, including the local hospital and clinicians. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Resident participation; hypertension and hyperlipidemia detection, treatment, and control; smoking quit rates; hospitalization rates from 1994 through 2006, adjusted for median household income; and mortality rates from 1970 through 2010, adjusted for household income and age. RESULTS: More than 150,000 individual county resident contacts occurred over 40 years. Over time, as cardiovascular risk factor programs were added, relevant health indicators improved. Hypertension control had an absolute increase of 24.7% (95% CI, 21.6%-27.7%) from 18.3% to 43.0%, from 1975 to 1978; later, elevated cholesterol control had an absolute increase of 28.5% (95% CI, 25.3%-31.6%) from 0.4% to 28.9%, from 1986 to 2010. Smoking quit rates improved from 48.5% to 69.5%, better than state averages (observed - expected [O - E], 11.3%; 95% CI, 5.5%-17.7%; P \u3c .001), 1996-2000; these differences later disappeared when Maine\u27s overall quit rate increased. Franklin County hospitalizations per capita were less than expected for the measured period, 1994-2006 (O - E, -17 discharges/1000 residents; 95% CI -20.1 to -13.9; P \u3c .001). Franklin was the only Maine county with consistently lower adjusted mortality than predicted over the time periods 1970-1989 and 1990-2010 (O - E, -60.4 deaths/100,000; 95% CI, -97.9 to -22.8; P \u3c .001, and -41.6/100,000; 95% CI, -77.3 to -5.8; P = .005, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Sustained, community-wide programs targeting cardiovascular risk factors and behavior changes to improve a Maine county\u27s population health were associated with reductions in hospitalization and mortality rates over 40 years, compared with the rest of the state. Further studies are needed to assess the generalizability of such programs to other US county populations, especially rural ones, and to other parts of the world

Norms of Professional Behavior in Highly Speclalized Organizations: The Case of American Zoos and Aquariums

Three attitude dimensions are apparent among zoological managers. They concern professional ethics, organization, and responsibility toward animals. In this article, four models of the acceptance of professional norms are tested, and career-related goals are found to be the best predictors of such attitudes. Noneconomic goals seem to promote zoological professionalism, whereas entrepreneurial activities reduce support for generally accepted norms of behavior. The implications of these findings and possibilities for further research are discussed.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline