Factors Influencing Doctoral Program Completion

About half of all doctoral students who start a doctoral program do not finish it. A variety of factors internal and external to the student have been studied to determine what factors are associated with a student finishing and not finishing a doctoral program. Several factors have been identified and include both barriers and their counterpart facilitators. Barriers include a lack of motivation, not fully understanding expectations, low self-regulation, poor student-advisor fit, and a lack of social integration. Facilitators include being motivated, understanding expectations well, good student-advisor fit, and sufficient social integration. Strategies for improving doctoral program completion have been proposed that intervene on these factors and have focused on the admissions process, student preparedness, isocial integration, and faculty advisor support, but the effectiveness of such strategies has been less studied. This chapter provides an overview of what is known about facilitators of and barriers to doctoral program completion and proposed and successful strategies for improving doctoral program completion. This overview can serve as a guide for the development of evidence-based strategies for improving doctoral program completion at institutions of higher education

Four-year review of presenteeism data among employees of a large United States health care system: a retrospective prevalence study

Abstract Background Historically, in an effort to evaluate and manage the rising cost of healthcare employers assess the direct cost burden via medical health claims and measures that yield clear data. Health related indirect costs are harder to measure and are often left out of the comprehensive overview of health expenses to an employer. Presenteeism, which is commonly referred to as an employee at work who has impaired productivity due to health considerations, has been identified as an indirect but relevant factor influencing productivity and human capitol. The current study evaluated presenteeism among employees of a large United States health care system that operates in six locations over a four-year period and estimated loss productivity due to poor health and its potential economic burden. Methods The Health-Related Productivity Loss Instrument (HPLI) was included as part of an online Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) administered to employees of a large United States health care system across six locations. A total of 58 299 HRAs from 22 893 employees were completed and analyzed; 7959 employees completed the HRA each year for 4 years. The prevalence of 22 specific health conditions and their effects on productivity areas (quantity of work, quality of work, work not done, and concentration) were measured. The estimated daily productivity loss per person, annual cost per person, and annual company costs were calculated for each condition by fitting marginal models using generalized estimating equations. Intra-participant agreement in reported productivity loss across time was evaluated using κ statistics for each condition. Results The health conditions rated highest in prevalence were allergies and hypertension (high blood pressure). The conditions with the highest estimated daily productivity loss and annual cost per person were chronic back pain, mental illness, general anxiety, migraines or severe headaches, neck pain, and depression. Allergies and migraines or severe headaches had the highest estimated annual company cost. Most health conditions had at least fair intra-participant agreement (κ ≥ 0.40) on reported daily productivity loss. Conclusions Results from the current study suggested a variety of health conditions contributed to daily productivity loss and resulted in additional annual estimated costs for the health care system. To improve the productivity and well-being of their workforce, employers should consider presenteeism data when planning comprehensive wellness initiatives to curb productivity loss and increase employee health and well-being during working hours

Decline in seasonal predictability potentially destabilized Classic Maya societies

Classic Maya populations living in peri-urban states were highly dependent on seasonally distributed rainfall for reliable surplus crop yields. Despite intense study of the potential impact of decadal to centennial-scale climatic changes on the demise of Classic Maya sociopolitical institutions (750-950 CE), its direct importance remains debated. We provide a detailed analysis of a precisely dated speleothem record from Yok Balum cave, Belize, that reflects local hydroclimatic changes at seasonal scale over the past 1600 years. We find that the initial disintegration of Maya sociopolitical institutions and population decline occurred in the context of a pronounced decrease in the predictability of seasonal rainfall and severe drought between 700 and 800 CE. The failure of Classic Maya societies to successfully adapt to volatile seasonal rainfall dynamics likely contributed to gradual but widespread processes of sociopolitical disintegration. We propose that the complex abandonment of Classic Maya population centres was not solely driven by protracted drought but also aggravated by year-to-year decreases in rainfall predictability, potentially caused by a regional reduction in coherent Intertropical Convergence Zone-driven rainfall

Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein Controls Cell Migration in Response to Hydrogen Peroxide and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1*

Promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) was originally identified as part of a chromosomal translocation that contributes to the development of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Since its discovery, PML has been found to play diverse roles in different cellular processes. Notably, PML has anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity that supports its role as a tumor suppressor. We have previously shown that the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1 is able to affect cell proliferation and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-mediated cell death through modulation of the steady-state levels of PML. We have extended these studies to show that the interaction between PML and Pin1 is targeted by multiple extracellular signals in the cell. We show that H2O2 up-regulates and IGF-1 down-regulates PML expression in a Pin1-dependent manner. Interestingly, we found that H2O2- and IGF-1-mediated alteration in PML accumulation regulate MDA-MB-231 cell migration. Furthermore, we show that the control of cell migration by PML, and thus H2O2 and IGF-1, results from PML-dependent decreased expression of integrin β1 (ITGB1). Knockdown of Pin1 leads to decreased cell migration, lower levels of ITGB1 expression and resistance to IGF-1- and H2O2-induced changes in cell migration and ITGB1 expression. Taken together, our work identifies PML as a common target for H2O2 and IGF-1 and supports a novel tumor suppressive role for PML in controlling cell migration through the expression of ITGB1