Guest Editorial Production Planning and Control in other Industries

This paper provides an excursion into various scheduling problems arising in the manufacturing environment and possible approaches that can be taken to solve them. It reviews the research in production scheduling from the perspective of designing and operating a production system and examines the research strategies adopted to find the solution of the practical problems. This review is in the form of the paradigms that evolved during the twentieth century and shows the transition in theory and practice of each paradigm. It covers the fundamental frameworks of scheduling theory, outlining various approaches that can be taken to solve (optimally or approximately) such problems, and the difficulties arising in their practical use. Subsequently, an iterative scheduling process is suggested as an extension of existing paradigms to solve practical production scheduling problems and to bridge the gap between theory and practice in production scheduling and control.     

The Eating Disorders NOS Diagnostic Profile Among College Women

Abstract

The authors examined a proposed profile of eating-related behaviors, associated features, developmental issues, and help-seeking behavior among college women, using an eating disorder response program. The most common symptom scenario was a pattern of regular binge eating, together with daily exercise and occasional purging. The most common associated features were distressing or dysfunctional overconcern about body image and self-esteem, usually with day-to-day stress and intermittent depression. The women who fit this pattern also presented developmental issues of perfectionism, conflictual relationships with parents, and struggles for independence; and they tended to be ambivalent about seeking services. Implications for practice, including the need to develop a framework for eating disorder responses on campus that includes preventive programs and developmental interventions to target emerging and moderate concerns are discussed; limitations and the preliminary nature of the findings are explicated.     

Conflicts of Interest in Academic Research: Policies,Processes, and Attitudes

Few studies have examined academic researchers' understandings of or attitudes toward conflict of interest policies even though these understandings and attitudes represent a crucial component of both compliance and educational efforts. This study reports the results of a large-scale, cross-sectional survey of research faculty at the nine campuses of the University of California regarding their understandings of and attitudes toward campus conflict of interest policies. We gathered information on their general assessments of investigators with financial ties to industry sponsors and reactions to the process of implementing conflict of interest policies at their respective campuses. We surveyed 1,971 faculty members from the nine-campus University of California system and had 779 responses (39% response rate). The sampled faculty were in the ten departments with the most number of financial disclosures at each campus. We utilized the WebSurveyor software to create a secure, online, 21-item survey. Our study reveals faculty with complex, sometimes contradictory, feelings about academic-industry relationships and highlights perceived gaps in policy and process. Most respondents were concerned about unlimited financial relationships, but a sizable number also viewed campus policies as irrelevant. Some expressed considerable anger over the process of policy implementation, rejecting the policies on the basis of professional and individual self-determination and moral integrity. Our study suggests the need for renewed efforts to encourage awareness of the relevance of conflict of interest policies for all faculty, new efforts to increase understanding of the situational nature of conflicts of interest, and a reexamination of the processes of policy implementation at the campus level.     

Contraceptive use patterns within females' first sexual relationships: the role of relationships, partners, and methods

This study used the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to assess whether characteristics of females' sexual partners, relationships, and choice of contraceptive methods were associated with contraceptive use patterns within their first sexual relationship. White, black, and Hispanic females under age 25 (N=915) provided retrospective information on sexual activity and contraceptive use for first sexual relationships that occurred between 1991 and 1995. Females with older sexual partners and with same race/ethnicity partners (among Hispanics) had reduced odds of ever using contraception and/or uninterrupted use. Longer sexual relationships were associated with higher odds of ever using contraception but lower odds of uninterrupted use. Females who were older at first sex, who used hormonal methods (among whites), or who switched to more effective methods during their first sexual relationships had higher odds of ever using contraception and/or uninterrupted use. In contrast, switching to less effective methods during a first sexual relationship was associated with reduced odds of uninterrupted use.     

A use-and-transformation model for evaluating public R&D: illustrations from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) research

Evaluating federally funded research and development (R&D) presents unique challenges to both federal science agencies and evaluators. Often focusing only on outcome evaluative measures (such as productivity or economic value) can shortchange the true value of the federal investment. For example, program directors at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) talk about the "value added" of the new interdisciplinary science centers that they have funded-and they hope to be able to capture how funding can generate increased capacity for new cutting-edge research in the future. The purpose of this paper is to present a use-and-transformation model for evaluating public R&D, which explicitly focuses on measuring capacity-based metrics for evaluation instead of outcome-based metrics. The theory for the model presented here explicitly uses the concept of a Knowledge Value Collective that was introduced by Bozeman and Rogers [Bozeman, B., & Rogers, J. D. (2002). A churn model of scientific knowledge value: Internet researchers as a knowledge value collective. Research Policy, 31(5), 769-794; Rogers, J. D., & Bozeman, B. (2001). "Knowledge value alliances": An alternative to the R&D project focus in evaluation. Science Technology & Human Values, 26(1), 23-55].     

Rhetoric and Reality of Economic Self-sufficiency Among Rural,Low-Income Mothers: A Longitudinal Study

This study examined the contributions of maternal labor force participation and marital status on economic self-sufficiency over time for rural mothers. Data were from 174 rural families participating in three waves of data collection in Rural Families Speak. χ ² and multiple logistic regression were utilized. Results revealed only one-third of mothers moved toward economic self-sufficiency over three years. Maternal education, employment status, and weekly work hours were associated with improved economic well-being. Compared to single-parent families, unmarried-couple and married-couple families had increased odds of improving economically. In an analysis of all mothers with partners, married or unmarried, martial status was not significant in economic improvement. Findings suggest the role of marriage in welfare reform for rural families should be reconsidered.