Conditional moving linear regression: Modeling the recruitment process for ALLHAT

Effective recruitment is a prerequisite for successful execution of a clinical trial. ALLHAT, a large hypertension treatment trial (N = 42,418), provided an opportunity to evaluate adaptive modeling of recruitment processes using conditional moving linear regression. Our statistical modeling of recruitment, comparing Brownian and fractional Brownian motion, indicates that fractional Brownian motion combined with moving linear regression is better than classic Brownian motion in terms of higher conditional probability of achieving a global recruitment goal in 4-week ahead projections. Further research is needed to evaluate how recruitment modeling can assist clinical trialists in planning and executing clinical trials.     

The Subjectivity of Fairness: Managerial Discretion and Work–Life Balance

We use organizational justice theory to examine how perceptions of fairness affect the decision‐making process of line managers. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 35 Irish managers to explore how managers make organizational allocation decisions in cases where it is impractical to offer work–life balance accommodations to all employees. The findings suggest that firstly, managers construct the ‘life’ aspect of work–life balance within a heteronormative framework, where the emphasis is on caregiving and most usually parenting. Secondly, managers actively use their decision‐making powers around both formal and informal work–life balance supports to minimize injustice within their departments. By bringing together ideas about organizational justice and managerial decision‐making, we indicate how managers determine fairness through a decision‐making process narrowed by embedded gender role beliefs. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Temporary Skilled Migration to Australia: Employers' Perspectives1

With the 1996 introduction of a new visa making it easier for employers to sponsor skilled foreign workers, temporary skilled migration has become a significant component of international migration flows to Australia. This paper examines employers' reasons for sponsoring skilled workers from abroad, their modes of recruitment, the occupational skills they require, and their industry profile. We also discuss issues relating to the perception of a shortage of skilled workers, the extent that sponsoring foreign workers substitutes for investing in local training, and the role of networks in recruiting overseas workers. Many employers' now have a global view of labour recruitment. While this is understandable for multinational companies with global operations, many small businesses and public sector institutions are adopting the same strategy to obtain skilled labour which they say is in short supply in Australia. With the internationalization of the Australian economy, there is also an increasing demand for people with specialized skills and knowledge that is not available in Australia's relatively small labour market. An understanding of the demand factors motivating temporary skilled migration is crucial to effectively managing Australia's migration and labour trends.     

Effects of a multimodal exercise program in pedal dexterity and balance: study with Portuguese older adults of different contexts

This study investigated the effects of a multimodal exercise program (MEP) on pedal dexterity and balance in two groups of older adult participants (65–92 years of age) from a psychiatric hospital center (HC), a residential care home (RCH), and a daily living center (DLC). The experimental group (EG) trained three times per week for 12 months, and the control group (CG) maintained their normal activities. The Mini-Mental State Examination and the Modified Baecke Questionnaire, as well as the Pedal Dexterity and the Tinetti tests, were applied to all subjects before and after the experimental protocol. Furthermore, the foot preference was controlled using the Lateral Preference Questionnaire proposed by Coren [10]. In the EG, the results from the Pedal Dexterity test showed that both males and females from the RCH and DLC improved their performances after the MEP. In the HC, the males slightly decreased their performance with both feet, contrarily to females. Both males and females from the CG decreased their pedal dexterity performance, namely, with the non-preferred foot. Concerning the Tinetti test, the EG of both males and females from the HC, the RCH (males were better than females regarding the gender factor), and the DLC improved their balance after the MEP. In the CG, no significant effects or interactions were found for any of the context groups.     

A Longitudinal Study of Depressive Symptoms and Marijuana Use in a Sample of Inner‐City African Americans

The association between marijuana use and depressive symptoms was examined longitudinally in a sample of 622 African American youth, interviewed on six occasions, using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). We considered whether depressive symptoms predicted changes in marijuana use and vice versa from high school through the transition into young adulthood. We also examined gender differences in these behaviors over time. The results indicated that depressive symptoms predicted later marijuana use only for males. Marijuana use did not predict later depressive symptoms for females or males. These findings are consistent with a unidirectional hypothesis indicating that marijuana use may play a role as mood regulator among young males, but not among females. Research findings also indicate that females with lower depressive symptoms use more marijuana than females who report high depressive symptoms. These findings did not change even after controlling for the effects of using other substances at previous stages, school achievement, and demographics factors. These results suggest that depressive symptoms may be an antecedent of marijuana use among African American males.     

Collaborations with faith‐based social service coalitions

Based on the first national survey of faith‐based social service coalitions in the United States, this article presents data on the degree to which these nonprofit organizations collaborate with other specific organizational types, as well as the range and intensity of these collaborations. In general, faith‐based coalitions tend to collaborate most frequently with other faith‐based agencies, a pattern especially characteristic of the more religiously expressive ones. However, collaboration with non‐faith‐based organizations is also quite common. Based on seven organizational characteristics, we are able to predict which faith‐based coalitions are most likely to collaborate with different types of organizations: coalitions that have more explicitly religious policies and practices with reference to clients and staffs are less likely to participate in intense collaborations with some types of secular organizations, and consistently less likely to do so with all types of governmental agencies.