Development and Validation of a Self-Reported Measure of Job Performance

Social Indicators Research - The current turbulent context in which we live in requires, more and more, that organisations focus on improving the workers’ performance. Individual performance...     

Prediction of Human Development from Environmental Indicators

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) list the objectives and targets that should be addressed to solve the global issues regarding sustainable development. They encompass the social, economic and environmental dimensions and search for solutions that are able not only to monitor but also to control the operational indicators attributed to each objective. It is expected that many of these indicators are associated to each other and the accurate understanding of these correlations allows to build predictive statistical models that can improve the monitoring and controlling of variables. It would increase the rate of success in achieving the SDG. This study tested a linear multivariate model able to predict the human development index based on environmental variables which are related to SDG 3 (health), 4 (education), 8 (sustainable economic growth and decent work) and 15 (protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems). We fitted the models using the Linear Discriminant Analysis and Best Subset Selection applied to a Linear Multivariate Regression. The model predictive ability was assessed by R² and cross-validation (CV). The results showed that exposure to unsafe sanitation, access to drinking water, tree cover loss, unsafe water quality, wastewater treatment level, and household air pollution are excellent predictors of human development index of a population, with R² = 0.94 and 10-fold CV Mean Squared Error equal to 0.0014. This tool can help stakeholders to monitor and control indicators attributed to good health and well-being, quality education, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, sustainable cities and communities and life on land sustainable development goals.     

Perceptions of the Neighborhood Environment Associated With Walking at Recommended Intensity and Volume Levels in Recreational Senior Walkers

This study examined the relationship of perceived neighborhood environment factors with recommended volume and intensity of walking in recreational senior walkers. A sample of 85 seniors used an accelerometer and completed the ALPHA questionnaire. Binomial logistic regressions were conducted to detect associations. Perceptions about traffic safety (odds ratio [OR] = 4.395; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.024; 18.866) and pleasant environment (OR = 8.718; 95% CI = 1.803; 42.149) were positively related with the achievement of 10,000 steps per day, in older women. The perception of nearby parks was positively associated with the compliance with peak 30-minutes cadence above 100, in older men (OR = 14.353; CI 95% = 1.321; 15.591). No more significant associations were found between perceptions of the neighborhood environment and walking at recommended intensity and volume levels. These results indicated that community initiatives that encourage traffic safety, pleasant environment, and parks may be a promising direction to promote walking at recommended volume and intensity in senior walkers.     

Donald Trump's discursive field: A juncture of stigma contests over race,gender, religion,and democracy

Donald Trump's election to the U.S. Presidency in 2016 qualifies as one of the more shocking events in American political history. This article reviews the literature on the social construction of Donald Trump's political career. It finds prominent ideological laminations over racism, Islamophobia, nativism, sexism, Christianity, and right‐wing populism in Trump's discursive field. This article argues that Trump's discursive field comprises a juncture of stigma contests over the moral worth of numerous collective identities including men, women, racial minorities, immigrants, Muslims, Christians, and the middle class. Such stigma contests likely exacerbate recognition gaps created by neoliberal policies. This review suggests that scholars should continue to examine the connection between Trump's political career and stigmatization. Moreover, cultural sociologists should ready themselves to track the dialectical response to Trump and to assess the lasting impact on the American normative order.     

Reference database of hematological parameters for growing and aging rats

The normal hematological values in various phases of the rat life provide a valuable guide to researchers and could be useful for experimental works. However, database information available on the literature are incomplete. Aim: This study aimed to present normal hematological parameters of young and aged rats.

Methods: Male and female rats were distributed into seven experimental groups with 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age. Blood samples taken from the tails were analyzed. Normal hematological values were determined for each age group.

Results: Rats showed a progressive weight gain with advancing age, predominantly after 3 months of life. With advancing age, differences were found on hematological parameters: some of them showed a progressive rise with age and others did not. Hemoglobin levels and hematocrit did not change while the number of circulating red blood cells suffered slight increase.

Conclusion: The present study determined the normal values for absolute and relative hematological parameters in Wistar rats from 2 to 24 months for male and female rats. The results can be used in studies of effects of aging, feeding, and medications on growing and aging rats.     

Dynamic structural models with covariates for short-term forecasting of time series with complex seasonal patterns

This work presents a framework of dynamic structural models with covariates for short-term forecasting of time series with complex seasonal patterns. The framework is based on the multiple sources of randomness formulation. A noise model is formulated to allow the incorporation of randomness into the seasonal component and to propagate this same randomness in the coefficients of the variant trigonometric terms over time. A unique, recursive and systematic computational procedure based on the maximum likelihood estimation under the hypothesis of Gaussian errors is introduced. The referred procedure combines the Kalman filter with recursive adjustment of the covariance matrices and the selection method of harmonics number in the trigonometric terms. A key feature of this method is that it allows estimating not only the states of the system but also allows obtaining the standard errors of the estimated parameters and the prediction intervals. In addition, this work also presents a non-parametric bootstrap approach to improve the forecasting method based on Kalman filter recursions. The proposed framework is empirically explored with two real time series.     

Joining forces: the benefits of integrating schools and community providers

Reforms aimed at expanding learning for low-income children must do more than add hours and days to the school year; they must push beyond the traditional boundaries of school-based learning and find ways to maximize and integrate the assets that cities, districts, and communities can offer. This article reviews research on how schools are using extended learning time to promote student engagement and achievement. A key finding is that successful efforts use partnerships with outside organizations to provide academic support and enrichment activities that build students' skills and connections with an expanded network of supportive adults. The challenge is to ensure that these partnerships are not mere add-ons, designed only to plug extracurricular holes and seen as peripheral to the core academic work of schools. They must be part of a larger system that integrates in-school and out-of-school learning and improves outcomes for youth.     

Stochastic Judgments in the AHP: The Measurement of Rank Reversal Probabilities

This paper presents a methodology for analyzing Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) rankings if the pairwise preference judgments are uncertain (stochastic). If the relative preference statements are represented by judgment intervals, rather than single values, then the rankings resulting from a traditional (deterministic) AHP analysis based on single judgment values may be reversed, and therefore incorrect. In the presence of stochastic judgments, the traditional AHP rankings may be stable or unstable, depending on the nature of the uncertainty. We develop multivariate statistical techniques to obtain both point estimates and confidence intervals of the rank reversal probabilities, and show how simulation experiments can be used as an effective and accurate tool for analyzing the stability of the preference rankings under uncertainty. If the rank reversal probability is low, then the rankings are stable and the decision maker can be confident that the AHP ranking is correct. However, if the likelihood of rank reversal is high, then the decision maker should interpret the AHP rankings cautiously, as there is a subtantial probability that these rankings are incorrect. High rank reversal probabilities indicate a need for exploring alternative problem formulations and methods of analysis. The information about the extent to which the ranking of the alternatives is sensitive to the stochastic nature of the pairwise judgments should be valuable information into the decision-making process, much like variability and confidence intervals are crucial tools for statistical inference. We provide simulation experiments and numerical examples to evaluate our method. Our analysis of rank reversal due to stochastic judgments is not related to previous research on rank reversal that focuses on mathematical properties inherent to the AHP methodology, for instance, the occurrence of rank reversal if a new alternative is added or an existing one is deleted.     

Beyond the depleting model of parenting: narratives of childrearing and change

A great deal of scholarship investigates the effects of parenting on adults who parent. While existing literature has identified the ways in which parenting affects parents adversely, we argue that more attention needs to be paid to how having children may enhance parents’ lives. Thus, we draw upon twenty-four in-depth interviews with young parents in order to investigate this process. First, we identify five ways in which parents say caregiving has changed their worldviews, relationships, and expectations, leading them to 1) erect barriers, 2) aspire for more, 3) view parenthood as a second chance, 4) hew a new path, and 5) make connections. Second, we uncover two central metaphors that parents rely on to explain the effect that having responsibility for children has had on their lives: the child as witness and the child as tether. We also point to future areas of investigation, arguing that only with an adequate understanding of what parenting does to parents can we understand what changing trends in families and inequality hold for ourselves and our futures.