Making Professional Decisions in Research: Measurement and Key Predictors

The professional decision-making in research (PDR) measure was administered to 400 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded and industry-funded investigators, along with measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, compliance disengagement, impulsivity, work stressors, knowledge of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and socially desirable response tendencies. Negative associations were found for the PDR and measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, and compliance disengagement, while positive associations were found for the PDR and RCR knowledge and positive urgency, an impulsivity subscale. PDR scores were not related to socially desirable responding, or to measures of work stressors and the remaining impulsivity subscales. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, lower moral disengagement scores, higher RCR knowledge, and identifying the United States as one’s nation of origin emerged as key predictors of stronger performance on the PDR. The implications of these findings for understanding the measurement of decision-making in research and future directions for research and RCR education are discussed.     

Efficient heterogeneous sampling for stochastic simulation with an illustration in health care applications

In modeling disease transmission, contacts are assumed to have different infection rates. A proper simulation must model the heterogeneity in the transmission rates. In this article, we present a computationally efficient algorithm that can be applied to a population with heterogeneous transmission rates. We conducted a simulation study to show that the algorithm is more efficient than other algorithms for sampling the disease transmission in a subset of the heterogeneous population. We use a valid stochastic model of pandemic influenza to illustrate the algorithm and to estimate the overall infection attack rates of influenza A (H1N1) in a Canadian city.     

The Development of Cross-Cultural Talent

正I believe that there are many different elements to an outstanding education today.But the element that may be the most new,the most different from what constituted an outstanding education in the past,is the need to help today’s talents to become cross-cultural talents.     

Modeling the Adenoma and Serrated Pathway to Colorectal CAncer (ASCCA)

Several colorectal cancer (CRC) screening models have been developed describing the progression of adenomas to CRC. Currently, there is increasing evidence that serrated lesions can also develop into CRC. It is not clear whether screening tests have the same test characteristics for serrated lesions as for adenomas, but lower sensitivities have been suggested. Models that ignore this type of colorectal lesions may provide overly optimistic predictions of the screen‐induced reduction in CRC incidence. To address this issue, we have developed the Adenoma and Serrated pathway to Colorectal CAncer (ASCCA) model that includes the adenoma‐carcinoma pathway and the serrated pathway to CRC as well as characteristics of colorectal lesions. The model structure and the calibration procedure are described in detail. Calibration resulted in 19 parameter sets for the adenoma‐carcinoma pathway and 13 for the serrated pathway that match the age‐ and sex‐specific adenoma and serrated lesion prevalence in the COlonoscopy versus COlonography Screening (COCOS) trial, Dutch CRC incidence and mortality rates, and a number of other intermediate outcomes concerning characteristics of colorectal lesions. As an example, we simulated outcomes for a biennial fecal immunochemical test screening program and a hypothetical one‐time colonoscopy screening program. Inclusion of the serrated pathway influenced the predicted effectiveness of screening when serrated lesions are associated with lower screening test sensitivity or when they are not removed. To our knowledge, this is the first model that explicitly includes the serrated pathway and characteristics of colorectal lesions. It is suitable for the evaluation of the (cost)effectiveness of potential screening strategies for CRC.     

Work-related drinking and processes of social integration and marginalization in two Norwegian workplaces

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of drinking in two Norwegian workplaces, focusing on how the drinking may contribute to both social integration and marginalization of employees. The two workplaces were a division of a multinational oil company and a public library both located in one of Norway's larger cities. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork, including using participant observation, qualitative interviews, and brief surveys. Work-related drinking was found to be common in both workplaces and played a significant role in a wide range of social situations in the twilight zone between normal working hours and leisure. Drinking was regulated by dominant workplace alcohol cultural ideals, but also involved opposition to these ideals. The results of this study have demonstrated that different forms of drinking (and non-drinking) may lead to both social integration and marginalization – or even exclusion of groups of employees or individual employees.     

Impact of physical activity and sedentary behaviour on fall risks in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

The objective of this work was to summarise and evaluate the evidence showing that physical activity is a protector factor as regards falls in older people. Relevant studies were identified through a systematic search in the MEDLINE and Cochrane Library, under the keywords of accidental fall/numerical data and risk factors, and with the bibliographies of retrieved papers. The combined odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval] for physical activity was 0.75 [0.64, 0.88] with moderate heterogeneity (I ²?=?33%). For fall injury, it was 0.59 [0.47, 0.74] and, for falls in general, it rose to 0.94 [0.76, 1.17] with nil heterogeneity. The combined OR for sedentary factors was 1.14 [1.10, 1.82] with moderate heterogeneity (I ²?=?36%). Regular physical activity in daily life yields significant reduction in falls in older people, especially falls with injuries.     

How Similar Are Cohabitation and Marriage? Legal Approaches to Cohabitation across Western Europe

Although cohabitation and childbearing within cohabitation have increased in Europe over recent decades, the variation across Europe remains remarkably wide. Most studies on union formation have not explicitly addressed the role of state policies in the development of cohabitation or discussed how countries have responded to changes in union formation by passing legislation. Here we discuss historical and theoretical issues relevant to the relationship between state policies and union formation and describe policies relating to cohabitation and marriage in nine Western European countries. Drawing on secondary sources and legal documents, we examine the quantity of regulations that mention cohabitation and the approach to cohabitation in 19 policy dimensions. We then place the countries along a continuum, from those that have equalized cohabitation and marriage to those that only regulate marriage. As a whole, this overview raises questions about the changing institution of marriage, as well as the increasing institutionalization of cohabitation.     

Inference for Weibull distribution under adaptive Type-I progressive hybrid censored competing risks data

In this paper, a competing risks model is considered under adaptive type-I progressive hybrid censoring scheme (AT-I PHCS). The lifetimes of the latent failure times have Weibull distributions with the same shape parameter. We investigate the maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters. Bayes estimates of the parameters are obtained based on squared error and LINEX loss functions under the assumption of independent gamma priors. We propose to apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to carry out a Bayesian estimation procedure and in turn calculate the credible intervals. To evaluate the performance of the estimators, a simulation study is carried out.