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Collecting Biomarkers Using Trained Interviewers. Lessons Learned from a Pilot Study

This paper reports the design and outcomes of a pilot study for the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), Understanding Society, to develop and test the feasibility of collection of biomarkers by trained non-clinical interviewers. Feasibility tests performance of procedures, that they are technically satisfactory and reasonable in relation to alternatives. The dimensions reported are recruitment and training of interviewers, completeness, acceptability and time required for data collection, and quality of the biological samples. Some comparisons are made with measures conducted by nurses in wave 2 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, Understanding Society. Biomeasures included anthropometrics, blood pressure, grip strength and the collection of saliva and dried blood spots. We implemented measurement protocols, introduced training and certification of interviewers, who then collected data from 92 participants. The study produced information about duration of collection, participation and quality of blood and saliva samples. The pilot study informs the design decisions about the biosocial component of Understanding Societ

Factors Contributing to Counselor Education Doctoral Students’ Satisfaction with Their Dissertation Chairperson

The relationship between doctoral students and their chairpersons has been linked to students’ successful completion of their dissertations and programs of study. When students fail to complete their degrees, there is a rise in attrition rates, and both programs and students suffer. The current study, based on a survey developed by the first author, was based on previous literature and themes generalized from a qualitative pilot study of recent counseling doctoral graduates regarding the selection of a dissertation chairperson. The purpose of this study was to examine factors used by students to select their chairperson and behaviors exhibited by chairpersons as predictors of overall student satisfaction with their dissertation chairperson. One-hundred thirty-three counselor education doctoral students participated in this study. Results suggest that specific selection criteria and chairperson behavior components significantly predict counseling doctoral students’ overall satisfaction with their dissertation chairpersons

Predictive Variables of Faculty Retention in the Counselor Education Field: A Gender Perspective

Faculty, especially women faculty, continue to leak from the academic pipeline. Considering the costs related to faculty turnover, researchers have recommended continued exploration of faculty experiences with occupational satisfaction and retention. Accordingly, utilizing quantitative methodology and content analysis, the authors examined the reported experiences of 218 professors in the Counselor Education field. Predictive variables related to faculty retention were identified. These variables included lack of support from administration, lack of support from colleagues, having to work harder than colleagues to be taken seriously, gender, and partner job status. Data also revealed significant differences between gender and partner job status, gender and workload variables, and gender and retention variables. These results provide information on the experiences of both men and women faculty, and highlight gender inequities in higher education

The XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray Light Curve Analysis of WR 6

We obtained four pointings of over 100 ks each of the well-studied Wolf-Rayet star WR 6 with the XMM-Newton satellite. With a first paper emphasizing the results of spectral analysis, this follow-up highlights the X-ray variability clearly detected in all four pointings. However, phased light curves fail to confirm obvious cyclic behavior on the well-established 3.766 d period widely found at longer wavelengths. The data are of such quality that we were able to conduct a search for "event clustering" in the arrival times of X-ray photons. However, we fail to detect any such clustering. One possibility is that X-rays are generated in a stationary shock structure. In this context we favor a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) and present a phenomenological model for X-rays from a CIR structure. We show that a CIR has the potential to account simultaneously for the X-ray variability and constraints provided by the spectral analysis. Ultimately, the viability of the CIR model will require both intermittent long-term X-ray monitoring of WR 6 and better physical models of CIR X-ray production at large radii in stellar winds.Comment: to appear in Ap

A frequency distributed dissipation model for canopies

Robert C. Houseago (University of Hull) conducted the data collection with assistance from University of Aberdeen students Ross Horgan and Rory Summers. The artificial vegetation flexibilities and densities were designed by Robert C. Houseago as part of his University of Hull funded PhD study on the effect of flexibility on in-canopy hydrodynamics. The University of Aberdeen wave flume experiments were supported by the European Communitys Horizon 2020 Programme through the grant to the budget of the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative HYDRALAB+, Contract no. 654110. The support of Mary Anderson Bryant and Jane Smith for providing their insight is graciously acknowledged. The support of the Coastal Structures and Wave Department of Deltares is acknowledged. This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and Deltares through the Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program (ESEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) initiative.Peer reviewedPostprin

Estimation of sensitivity and specificty of culture and Danish-mix ELISA for detection of Salmonella in swine using Bayesian methods

Both bacterial culture and serological assays, such as the Danish-mix ELISA for the detection of antibodies, are commonly used as tools for detecting and monitoring Salmonella in swine. The comparison and ultimate interpretation of results are made more difficult due to the absence of a gold standard

Study of Organizational Knowledge Retention Practices in the Utilities

One key to the successful and long-term survival of an organization involves knowledge capture and retention. The knowledge may include company secrets, lessons learned, and hard-earned best-practices that are lost, forgotten, or disorganized in the event of staff loss or early retirement. In the United States, the aging workforce poses a specific difficulty vis a vie utility workers. Many are quickly approaching retirement and operations staff are heavily impacted by this movement. Properly capturing and retaining employee’s tacit knowledge is a labor-intensive task as it is usually transferred through personal observation with demonstration, mentors, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training. Consequently, articulating the tacit knowledge of an aging workforce is a challenging and time-consuming effort without proper preparation, oversight, and application of established knowledge retention strategies. It is advantageous for an organization to have implemented a fully encompassing knowledge management (KM) system during its inception; an exit interview is not enough. The development should begin concurrently with the hiring process, thus capturing newfound knowledge early. An accessible database for critical company data aids in knowledge retention, but even proven methods cannot capture all knowledge efficiently. The system is often overburdened by an abundance of information, which results in indistinguishable lessons and outdated instructions. It is crucial to have a balanced and working system for a functioning organization, but any implementation is preferable to none. This paper examined the methods and strategies utilized to capture and retain critical information within a local utility. Current operations staff and management have provided data by completing a Knowledge Management Capability Assessment. It was determined that the utility has a low operational knowledge management capability. This process has increased the understanding of current KM strategies and provides the local utility actionable data to improve upon or develop such strategies

Age modification of the relationship between C-reactive protein and fatigue: findings from Understanding Society (UKHLS)

Background: Systemic inflammation may play a role in the development of idiopathic fatigue, that is, fatigue not explained by infections or diagnosed chronic illness, but this relationship has never been investigated in community studies including the entire adult age span. We examine the association of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) and fatigue assessed annually in a 3-year outcome period for UK adults aged 16–98. Methods: Multilevel models were used to track fatigue 7, 19, and 31 months after CRP measurement, in 10 606 UK individuals. Models accounted for baseline fatigue, demographics, health conditions diagnosed at baseline and during follow-up, adiposity, and psychological distress. Sensitivity analyses considered factors including smoking, sub-clinical disease (blood pressure, anaemia, glycated haemoglobin), medications, ethnicity, and alcohol consumption. Results: Fatigue and CRP increased with age, and women had higher values than men. CRP was associated with future self-reported fatigue, but only for the oldest participants. Thus, in those aged 61–98 years, high CRP ( > 3 mg/L) independently predicted greater fatigue 7, 19, and 31 months after CRP measurement [odds ratio for new-onset fatigue after 7 months: 1.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–2.92; 19 months: 2.25, CI 1.46–3.49; 31 months: 1.65, CI 1.07–2.54]. No significant longitudinal associations were seen for younger participants. Conclusions: Our findings support previously described CRP–fatigue associations in older individuals. However, there are clear age modifications in these associations, which may reflect a contribution of unmeasured sub-clinical disease of limited relevance to younger individuals. Further work is necessary to clarify intervening processes linking CRP and fatigue in older individuals