Statistical considerations for design and analysis of stability,comparability and formulation tests

This article considers designed experiments for stability, comparability, and formulation testing that are analyzed with regression models in which the degradation rate is a fixed effect. In this setting, we investigate how the number of lots, the number of time points and their locations affect the precision of the entities of interest, leverages of the time points, detection of non-linearity and interim analyses. This investigation shows that modifying time point locations suggested by ICH for stability studies can significantly improve these objectives. In addition, we show that estimates of precision can be biased when a regression model that assumes independent measurements is used in the presence of within-assay session correlation. This bias can lead to longer shelf life estimates in stability studies and loss of power in comparability studies. Mixed-effect models that take into account within-assay session correlation are shown to reduce this bias. The findings in this article are obtained from well known statistical theory but provide valuable practical advice to scientists and statisticians designing and interpreting these types of experiments.     

Identifying Male College Students' Perceived Health Needs,Barriers to Seeking Help,and Recommendations to Help Men Adopt Healthier Lifestyles

Abstract

Seven focus groups at a university campus were formed to identify college men's health concerns, barriers to seeking help, and recommendations to help college men adopt healthier lifestyles. Content analysis was used to identify and organize primary patterns in the focus-group data. Results of the study revealed that the college men were aware that they had important health needs but took little action to address them. The participants identified both physical and emotional health concerns. Alcohol and substance abuse were rated as the most important issues for men. The greatest barrier to seeking services was the men's socialization to be independent and conceal vulnerability. The most frequently mentioned suggestions for helping men adopt healthier lifestyles were offering health classes, providing health information call-in service, and developing a men's center. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Liberal Education and Social Welfare

The author presents the vulnerability, risk, and resilience model as a mechanism for improved content integration in the Human Behavior and the Social Environment sequence in social work education. The model demonstrates the interaction of community and social context variables with individual characteristics in the development of social work problems. The five steps in the model are (1) define the social work problem of concern, (2) identify risk and protective factors in the social context, (3) identify intrinsic vulnerability and invulnerability characteristics, (4) intersect these two, and (5) explore intervention: and prevention options. In addition, she provides a rationale and background for the model, describes the model itself, and develops an example from social work practice (adolescent substance abuse) for social work education.     

North Americans' Attitudes Toward Illegal Drugs

Public opinion polls conducted from 1969 to 2003 found a variety of opinions on the use, possession, and legalization of marijuana. Public opinion about legalizing marijuana use is increasing, but it is also increasing toward harsher penalties for those who possess a small amount of marijuana. Public opinion regarding the legalization of illegal drugs appears to be influenced by the times. The majority of Americans increasingly believe that the country has made some progress in dealing with the problems of illegal drugs, but Americans are also reporting more difficulty within their families related to marijuana. This article examines trends based in public opinion polls on the use of marijuana in the United States and Canada and discusses the social and political history of marijuana and the biophysical effects, medical uses, definitions, and previous research related to marijuana.     

Impulsivity and pathological gambling across depressive versus bipolar disorders

Impulsivity has been implicated in the development of pathological gambling (PG); sensation seeking and urgency in particular have predicted gambling pathology in undergraduate and psychiatric samples. In light of the relevance of both depressed and elevated mood to impulsivity and gambling, the components of impulsivity associated with PG across mood disorders warrants investigation. The aim of the current investigation was to examine the association between impulsivity and gambling pathology severity across depressive versus bipolar disorders. A total of 275 participants with lifetime depressive or bipolar disorder completed measures of impulsivity and gambling. Urgency was consistently associated with gambling pathology indicators; lack of perseverance was specifically associated with gambling pathology within participants with depressive disorders. Reckless action during negative mood is associated with gambling pathology across mood disorders, whereas difficulty remaining focused is associated with PG solely within depressive disorders. Impulsivity and affective comorbidity may inform current understanding of PG.     

Older family-carers' views on the future accommodation needs of relatives who have an intellectual disability

Over the past 20 years, research across the developed world has identified trends towards ageing of the population with learning/intellectual disability. Alongside is the recognition that family-carers are also ageing. Recently, the UK government has sought to identify the future housing needs of dependents with intellectual disability residing with older carers. Consequentially, a city council commissioned this qualitative study involving 28 older carers. The findings indicate a need for information about housing options, a lack of practical support and feelings of marginalisation. The conclusions suggest key roles for social services in providing proactive support and advice to family-carers, and a greater degree of joint working between social services departments and housing agencies. These resonate with similar international studies and provide the opportunity to focus on the perspectives of family-carers. Their experiences are real, and if welfare professionals are to work with people with intellectual disability and their family-carers, acknowledging their views is essential.     

The Role of Revenue‐Focused Managerial Performance Measures in Supply Chain Coordination

Many firms employ revenue‐focused managerial performance measures (RF‐MPMs) that cause managers to worry more about revenues than about costs. Although this can seemingly misalign the interests of a manager, we show that the use of such measures can help supply chain partners to overcome hold‐up issues with respect to capacity and promotion investments. We develop a game theoretic model in which two supply chain partners engage in repeated interactions in which the supplier invests in capacity and the buyer invests in demand promotion. Following the realization of demand in each period, the two firms negotiate over the output quantity and wholesale price. The novelty of our model is that we allow the owners of each firm to delegate decision‐making power and negotiating responsibility to a free‐agent manager. We characterize the conditions under which the owners of both firms employ RF‐MPMs in equilibrium and benefit from doing so. For a special case of our model, we show that for the owners of the buyer, an RF‐MPM is equivalent to a price only relational contract, and that it complements a price and quantity relational contract as a mechanism for mitigating hold‐up issues.