‘Just because you can get a wheelchair in the building doesn't necessarily mean that you can still participate’: barriers to the career advancement of disabled professionals

Despite governmental efforts and organizational initiatives, the number of disabled professionals in full‐time employment is small, and the number of those occupying leadership positions remains even smaller. Past research into disability and employment has outlined a range of barriers that disabled people face in seeking and maintaining employment. Yet, not enough is known about the challenges they encounter in top ranking appointments. This article extends Ryan's and Haslam's notion of the glass cliff to help explain the precariousness experienced by a group of disabled employees in leadership positions – focusing on the nature of the positions they hold and the difficulties they encounter as they attempt to advance their careers. Using qualitative interview data the analysis draws attention to problems associated with lack of opportunity, lack of resources and lack of support. It also point to ways of making workplace cultures and organizational practices more supportive of diversity.     

A Multi-state Piecewise Exponential Model of Hospital Outcomes after Injury

To allow more accurate prediction of hospital length of stay (LOS) after serious injury or illness, a multi-state model is proposed, in which transitions from the hospitalized state to three possible outcome states (home, long-term care, or death) are assumed to follow constant rates for each of a limited number of time periods. This results in a piecewise exponential (PWE) model for each outcome. Transition rates may be affected by time-varying covariates, which can be estimated from a reference database using standard statistical software and Poisson regression. A PWE model combining the three outcomes allows prediction of LOS. Records of 259,941 injured patients from the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample were used to create such a multi-state PWE model with four time periods. Hospital mortality and LOS for patient subgroups were calculated from this model, and time-varying covariate effects were estimated. Early mortality was increased by anatomic injury severity or penetrating mechanism, but these effects diminished with time; age and male sex remained strong predictors of mortality in all time periods. Rates of discharge home decreased steadily with time, while rates of transfer to long-term care peaked at five days. Predicted and observed LOS and mortality were similar for multiple subgroups. Conceptual background and methods of calculation are discussed and demonstrated. Multi-state PWE models may be useful to describe hospital outcomes, especially when many patients are not discharged home.     

Institutionalization,Romanian Adoptions and Executive Functioning

The impact of a traumatic environment during early childhood is linked to short-term and long-term difficulties in adoptees. This study, utilizing a non-random, cross-sectional analysis of 123 children adopted from Romania, focused on executive cognitive functioning. One-third of the sample had not been institutionalized while the other two-thirds had been institutionalized for varying lengths of time from 1 month to more than 3 years, resulting in a “natural experiment” that allowed us to compare these two groups. Information from parents and teachers was obtained regarding their perception of the child’s executive functioning. Results indicate that, after many years in their adoptive families, 40% of the adoptees had physical challenges and 36% were in at least some special education classes. The best predictor of parental perception of current executive functioning was parent perception of the current parent–child relationship and not preadoptive history.     

Romanian Adoptees and Pre-adoptive Care: A Strengths Perspective

Ninety-one parents of 120 adopted Romanian children who were part of a longitudinal study were surveyed to determine perceptions of their relationships with their children, their adoption experiences, and the children’s strengths. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) was used and parents were easily able to rate their children’s emotional and behavioral strengths. Levels of parent–child relationship satisfaction were the most consistent predictors of child emotional and behavioral strength. The child’s age at the time of the survey was a significant predictor of strengths, indicating overall that younger children had more perceived strengths. Parents identified fewer strengths among children with longer histories of institutional care. The importance of a strong parent–child relationship and resilience after a history of early institutional care are discussed.     

A Bayesian compartmental model for the evaluation of 1,3-butadiene metabolism

Summary. We propose a Bayesian model for physiologically based pharmacokinetics of 1,3-butadiene (BD). BD is classified as a suspected human carcinogen and exposure to it is common, especially through cigarette smoke as well as in urban settings. The main aim of the methodology and analysis that are presented here is to quantify variability in the rates of BD metabolism by human subjects. A three-compartmental model is described, together with informative prior distributions for the population parameters, all of which represent real physiological variables. The model is described in detail along with the meanings and interpretations of the associated parameters. A four-compartment model is also given for comparison. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are described for fitting the model proposed. The model is fitted to toxicokinetic data obtained from 133 healthy subjects (males and females) from the four major racial groups in the USA, with ages ranging from 19 to 62 years. Subjects were exposed to 2 parts per million of BD for 20 min through a face mask by using a computer-controlled exposure and respiratory monitoring system. Stratification by ethnic group results in major changes in the physiological parameters. Sex and age were also tested but not found to have a significant effect.     

Evaluating the Potential for a Helicobacter pylori Drinking Water Guideline

Helicobacter pylori is a microaerophilic, gram‐negative bacterium that is linked to adverse health effects including ulcers and gastrointestinal cancers. The goal of this analysis is to develop the necessary inputs for a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) needed to develop a potential guideline for drinking water at the point of ingestion (e.g., a maximum contaminant level, or MCL) that would be protective of human health to an acceptable level of risk while considering sources of uncertainty. Using infection and gastric cancer as two discrete endpoints, and calculating dose‐response relationships from experimental data on humans and monkeys, we perform both a forward and reverse risk assessment to determine the risk from current reported surface water concentrations of H. pylori and an acceptable concentration of H. pylori at the point of ingestion. This approach represents a synthesis of available information on human exposure to H. pylori via drinking water. A lifetime risk of cancer model suggests that a MCL be set at <1 organism/L given a 5‐log removal treatment because we cannot exclude the possibility that current levels of H. pylori in environmental source waters pose a potential public health risk. Research gaps include pathogen occurrence in source and finished water, treatment removal rates, and determination of H. pylori risks from other water sources such as groundwater and recreational water.     

Social infrastructure and community economic development strategies: the case of self-development and industrial recruitment in rural Iowa

This research examines the relationship between features of community social organization and the existence of two contrasting types of economic development, self-development and industrial recruitment in rural places. Self-development is an endogenous form of development relying primarily on entrepreneurism and local resources. Industrial recruitment is an exogenous form of development that seeks outside investors and firms to locate in the community. Using data collected in a statewide sample of 99 Iowa communities, we hypothesize that social infrastructure, the group-level interactive aspects of community organizations and institutions, is more strongly related to the existence of self-development than industrial recruitment. A key finding is that social infrastructure, measured by the existence of active community organizations, businesses that support local community projects, community-wide fund-raising capacity, and extra-local linkages to peer communities and state government, is positively associated with the existence of self-development. The relationship between social infrastructure and industrial recruitment is also significant but more modest. Findings indicate that a community's social organization can be a resource for development, but may be more appropriate for endogenous development efforts than exogenous ones.     

Diversity,Social Justice,and Intersectionality Trends in C/MFT: A Content Analysis of Three Family Therapy Journals, 2004–2011

In this study, we analyzed the amount of attention given to diversity, social justice, and an intersectional approach to social inequalities over an 8‐year period (769 articles) in three family therapy journals. Overall, 28.1% of articles addressed at least one diversity issue, and a social justice framework was utilized in 48.1% of diversity articles. A systemic, intersectional approach to conceptualizing and analyzing multiple social inequalities was utilized in 17.6% of diversity articles. The most common goals addressed in diversity articles, articles using a social justice framework, and articles using an intersectional approach are also identified. Findings indicate that, despite important work being carried out, more work remains to further identify how addressing diversity issues can improve client outcomes.