Biographical data in employment selection: Can validities be made generalizable?

The hypothesis was examined that organizational specificity of biodata validity results from the methods typically used to select and key items. In this study, items were initially screened for job relevance, keying was based on large samples from multiple organizations, and items were retained only if they showed validity across organizations. Cross-validation was performed on approximately 11,000 first-line supervisors in 79 organizations. The resulting validities were meta-analyzed across organizations, age levels, sex, and levels of education, supervisory experience, and company tenure. In all cases, validities were generalizable. Validities were also stable across time and did not appear to stem from measurement of knowledge, skills, or abilities acquired through job experience. Finally, these results provide additional evidence against the hypothesis of situational specificity of validities, the first large-sample evidence in a noncognitive domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some optimal policies for management of wildlife

Using a linear programming model, we present some numerical results on optimal policies for management of wildlife populations. The results suggest that simultaneous harvest and addition to the herd is not generally economical.In this paper, we develop a model to control harvested wildlife populations. Some numerical results on optimal policies for control are presented. These results suggest that simultaneous harvesting and addition to the herd may be less preferred than either a harvest or addition policy alone.     

Six-layer lamination of a new dry film negative-tone photoresist for fabricating complex 3D microfluidic devices

We present a new epoxy-based negative-tone dry film photoresist (DFR) for fabricating multilayer microfluidic devices using a lamination process combined with a standard photolithography technology. As proof-of-concept, a complex 3D-hydrodynamic focusing device was produced via a six-layer lamination process of 33 µm-thick DFR layers. The bonding strength of the new DFR was tested on silicon, glass, and titanium substrates, respectively. A maximum bonding strength of 37 MPa was obtained for the dry film photoresist laminated on glass. No leakage was found, and burst tests proved excellent robustness and sealing reliability of the microchannels.     

Adherence rates to ferric citrate as compared to active control in patients with end stage kidney disease on dialysis

Introduction: Oral phosphate binders are the main stay of treatment of hyperphosphatemia. Adherence rates to ferric citrate, a recently approved phosphate binder, are unknown. Methods: We conducted a post‐hoc analysis to evaluate whether adherence rates were different for ferric citrate vs. active control in 412 subjects with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) who were randomized to ferric citrate vs. active control (sevelamer carbonate and/or calcium acetate). Adherence was defined as percent of actual number of pills taken to total number of pills prescribed. Findings: There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity, and age between the ferric citrate and active control groups. Baseline phosphorus, calcium, and parathyroid hormone levels were similar. Mean (SD) adherence was 81.4% (17.4) and 81.7% (15.9) in the ferric citrate and active control groups, respectively (P = 0.88). Adherence remained similar between both groups after adjusting for gender, race/ethnicity, age, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetic nephropathy (mean [95% CI]: 81.4% [78.2, 84.6] and 81.5% [77.7, 85.2] for ferric citrate and active control, respectively). Gender, race/ethnicity, age, and diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy did not influence adherence to the prescribed phosphate binder. Subjects with CVD had lower adherence rates to phosphate binder; this was significant only in the active control group. Discussion: Adherence rates to the phosphate binder, ferric citrate, were similar to adherence rates to active control. Similar adherence rates to ferric citrate are notable since tolerance to active control was an entry criteria and the study was open label. Gender, race/ethnicity, nor age influenced adherence.     

The np Chart with Guaranteed In‐control Average Run Lengths

We evaluate the in‐control performance of the np‐control chart with estimated parameter conditional on the Phase I sample. We then apply the bootstrap method to adjust the control chart limits to guarantee the desired in‐control average run length (ARL₀) value in the monitoring stage. The adjusted limits ensure that the ARL₀ would take a value greater than the desired value (say, B ) with a certain specified probability, that is, Pr(ARL ₀ > B ) = 1 ? ρ . The results indicate that adjusting control limits is not always necessary. We present a method to design control charts such that in control and out of control run lengths are guaranteed with pre specified probabilities. This method is an improvement of the classical statistical design approach employing constraints on in control and out of control ARL because, with this approach, there is a substantial probability that the actual run length in control may be too small. In addition, using the ARL approach may result in an actual out of control run length that is too large. Some numerical examples illustrate the efficacy of this design method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Molecular approaches to study probiotic bacteria

Functional foods comprising probiotic bacteria are receiving increasing attention from the scientific community and science funding agencies [1]. An essential aspect relating to the functionality of probiotic-based foods is to develop molecular methods to determine the presence, activity and viability of probiotic bacteria in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract [2]. The GI tract is composed of a complex ecosystem of various microbial habitats colonized by numerous different commensal micro-organisms. This indigenous gut microbiota is essential to the overall health of the host by performing important physiological functions. In particular, they protect against pathogenic bacteria and drive the development of the immune system during neonatal life. Further metabolic activities of the GI microbiota that beneficially affect the host include continued degradation of food components, vitamin production, and production of short chain fatty acids that feed the colonic mucosa. It is clear that factors such as diet, sickness, stress, or medication can result in loss of well-being of the host, and it is assumed that some of these symptoms are due to perturbation of what is termed the normal balance of the gut microbiota. Knowledge of the structure and function of the standard microbiota, and its response to diet, genetic background and lifetime of the host must be taken into account when designing probiotic-based functional foods. The application of molecular techniques for detection and identification of microbes has provided a major breakthrough in the analysis of microbial ecosystems and their function [3]. The successful application and further potential of these molecular methods to study probiotic bacteria and their impact on the standard GI microbiota is discussed below.