Evaluating Work Keys Profiling as a Pre-Employment Assessment Tool to Increase Employee Retention

Twenty-first century changes in the nature of work, the workforce and employment practices, along with increased employer need to select employees who will have the best fit with particular jobs in order to increase return on investment, are leading employers toward greater use of pre-employment assessments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of one of those tools, the Work Keys skill assessment battery, on employment retention. Research questions centered around the effects of Work Keys testing on employment. Job applicant assessment scores and retention information were obtained from and interviews were held with 12 employers who were utilizing Work Keys. Chi-square analysis comparing employees hired with and without Work Keys scores as a factor provided statistically significant results, indicating that use of Work Keys for job applicants did increase employment retention. Additional ANOVA and chi-square analyses of Work Keys applicants\u27 test scores showed that only the Applied Mathematics assessment and CRC trio shared significant relationships with retention, and within those tests, individuals who scored in the low range of the scoring spread were least likely to retain employment. Analysis also determined that the use of additional assessments beyond the three used for the Career Readiness Certificate transportable credential significantly improved employment retention. Qualitative analysis of interview responses from employers showed that they primarily elect to use pre-employment tests in order to increase objectivity and legality in their hiring practices. Their greatest concern about the use of testing is the increased possibility of screening out individuals who might otherwise have become excellent employees. This research provides valuable information to employers in their selection and use of a testing instrument; however, further research is recommended to investigate other aspects of Work Keys, additional employment retention factors and other influences affecting corporate return on investment

Effects of inpatient energy management education and high-intensity interval training on health-related quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled superiority trial with six-month follow-up.

BACKGROUND Fatigue is one of the most frequent symptoms in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and impacts health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A multidisciplinary rehabilitation approach is recommended for the treatment of fatigue in pwMS. However, high-quality evidence exists only for unimodal interventions, such as physical therapies/exercise or energy/fatigue management programmes. The primary objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that a combination of inpatient energy management education (IEME) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is superior to a combination of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and moderate continuous training (MCT) for improving HRQoL at 6-month follow-up in fatigued pwMS. METHODS A randomized (1:1) controlled superiority trial with fatigued pwMS >18 years of age, with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≤6.5, recruited at the Valens clinic, Switzerland. Participants in the experimental group performed IEME twice and HIIT 3 times per week and those in the usual care group performed PMR twice and MCT 3 times per week, during a 3-week inpatient rehabilitation stay. Primary outcome was HRQoL (Physical and Mental Component Scales of the Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)), assessed at entry to the clinic (T0), after 3 weeks' rehabilitation (T1) and 4 (T2) and 6 (T3) months after T0. Secondary outcomes included SF-36 subscales, fatigue (Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions (FSMC)), mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), self-efficacy for performing energy conservation strategies (Self-Efficacy for Performing Energy Conservation Strategies Assessment (SEPECSA)), self-perceived competence in activities of daily living (Occupational Self Assessment (OSA)) and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen consumption (VȮ2peak)). Data were analysed using a mixed model for repeated measures approach. RESULTS A total of 106 pwMS (age (years): 49.75 (9.87), 66% female, EDSS: 4.64 (1.32)) were recruited. There were no significant group × time interaction effects in the primary and secondary outcomes. There were significant between-group differences in the pairwise comparisons of the group × time interaction in favour of the IEME + HIIT group at: (i) T1 in cardiorespiratory fitness (p = 0.011) and SEPECSA (p = 0.032); (ii) T2 in SF-36 mental health subscale (p = 0.022), HADS anxiety subscale (p = 0.014) and SEPECSA (p = 0.040); (iii) T3 in SF-36 physical functioning subscale (p = 0.012) and SEPECSA (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION IEME + HIIT was not superior to PMR + MCT regarding the effects on HRQoL (SF-36 Physical and Mental Component Scales) at 6-month follow-up in pwMS. However, there were significant between-group differences in favour of IEME + HIIT in physical functioning and mental health (SF-36 subscales), anxiety (HADS), cardiorespiratory fitness (VȮ2peak) and self-efficacy (SEPECSA) at different measurement time-points that need to be considered in clinical practice

Incorporation of organic acids in the crosslinking of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels

Abstract This work studied the incorporation of organic acids as crosslinking agents and reaction time on the properties of poly(alcohol vinyl) (PVOH) hydrogels to act as scaffold systems to compounds incorporated into agriculture systems. PVOH hydrogels crosslinked with citric and L-malic acids were prepared, and the effects of heat-treatment time, and temperature on their swelling and hygroscopic performances were investigated by FTIR, thermal analysis and swelling. Both the swelling and rate of water uptake of hydrogels decreased with increasing heat-treatment time. While the swelling decreased with heat-treatment time, the chemical crosslinking shown in FTIR increased. DSC results indicated adsorbed water in the uncrosslinked PVOH and hydrogels, and the absorbed water changed the melting point and glass transition temperature. TGA analysis showed that the incorporation of organic acids brought thermal stability. The results obtained show effective crosslinking hydrogels by L-malic acids and possibilities to use in scaffold systems and controlled release

Identifying Host Genetic Risk Factors in the Context of Public Health Surveillance for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease

Host genetic factors that modify risk of pneumococcal disease may help target future public health interventions to individuals at highest risk of disease. We linked data from population-based surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) with state-based newborn dried bloodspot repositories to identify biological samples from individuals who developed invasive pneumococcal disease. Genomic DNA was extracted from 366 case and 732 anonymous control samples. TagSNPs were selected in 34 candidate genes thought to be associated with host response to invasive pneumococcal disease, and a total of 326 variants were successfully genotyped. Among 543 European Americans (EA) (182 cases and 361 controls), and 166 African Americans (AA) (53 cases and 113 controls), common variants in surfactant protein D (SFTPD) are consistently underrepresented in IPD. SFTPD variants with the strongest association for IPD are intronic rs17886286 (allelic OR 0.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.25, 0.82], with p = 0.007) in EA and 5′ flanking rs12219080 (allelic OR 0.32, 95%CI [0.13, 0.78], with p = 0.009) in AA. Variants in CD46 and IL1R1 are also associated with IPD in both EA and AA, but with effects in different directions; FAS, IL1B, IL4, IL10, IL12B, SFTPA1, SFTPB, and PTAFR variants are associated (p≤0.05) with IPD in EA or AA. We conclude that variants in SFTPD may protect against IPD in EA and AA and genetic variation in other host response pathways may also contribute to risk of IPD. While our associations are not corrected for multiple comparisons and therefore must be replicated in additional cohorts, this pilot study underscores the feasibility of integrating public health surveillance with existing, prospectively collected, newborn dried blood spot repositories to identify host genetic factors associated with infectious diseases