Trajectories of university adjustment in the United Kingdom: Emotion management and emotional self-efficacy protect against initial poor adjustment

Little is known about individual differences in the pattern of university adjustment. This study explored longitudinal associations between emotional self-efficacy, emotion management, university adjustment, and academic achievement in a sample of first year undergraduates in the United Kingdom (N=331). Students completed measures of adjustment to university at three points during their first year at university. Latent Growth Mixture Modeling identified four trajectories of adjustment: (1) low, stable adjustment, (2) medium, stable adjustment, (3) high, stable adjustment, and (4) low, increasing adjustment. Membership of the low, stable adjustment group was predicted by low emotional self-efficacy and low emotion management scores, measured at entry into university. This group also had increased odds of poor academic achievement, even when grade at entry to university was controlled. Students who increased in adjustment had high levels of emotion management and emotional self-efficacy, which helped adaptation. These findings have implications for intervention

Monitoring and Pay: An Experiment on Employee Performance under Endogenous Supervision

We present an experimental test of a shirking model where monitoring intensity is endogenous and effort a continuous variable. Wage level, monitoring intensity and consequently the desired enforceable effort level are jointly determined by the maximization problem of the firm. As a result, monitoring and pay should be complements. In our experiment, between and within treatment variation is qualitatively in line with the normative predictions of the model under standard assumptions. Yet, we also find evidence for reciprocal behavior. Our data analysis shows, however, that it does not pay for the employer to solely rely on the reciprocity of employees

Profiles of physical, emotional and psychosocial wellbeing in the Lothian birth cohort 1936

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical, emotional, and psychosocial wellbeing are important domains of function. The aims of this study were to explore the existence of separable groups among 70-year olds with scores representing physical function, perceived quality of life, and emotional wellbeing, and to characterise any resulting groups using demographic, personality, cognition, health and lifestyle variables.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify possible groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results suggested there were 5 groups. These included High (n = 515, 47.2% of the sample), Average (n = 417, 38.3%), and Poor Wellbeing (n = 37, 3.4%) groups. The two other groups had contrasting patterns of wellbeing: one group scored relatively well on physical function, but low on emotional wellbeing (Good Fitness/ Low Spirits,n = 60, 5.5%), whereas the other group showed low physical function but relatively well emotional wellbeing (Low Fitness/Good Spirits, n = 62, 5.7%). Salient characteristics that distinguished all the groups included smoking and drinking behaviours, personality, and illness.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite there being some evidence of these groups, the results also support a largely one-dimensional construct of wellbeing in old age—for the domains assessed here—though with some evidence that some individuals have uneven profiles.</p

Distinguishing Asthma Phenotypes Using Machine Learning Approaches.

Asthma is not a single disease, but an umbrella term for a number of distinct diseases, each of which are caused by a distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanism. These discrete disease entities are often labelled as asthma endotypes. The discovery of different asthma subtypes has moved from subjective approaches in which putative phenotypes are assigned by experts to data-driven ones which incorporate machine learning. This review focuses on the methodological developments of one such machine learning technique-latent class analysis-and how it has contributed to distinguishing asthma and wheezing subtypes in childhood. It also gives a clinical perspective, presenting the findings of studies from the past 5 years that used this approach. The identification of true asthma endotypes may be a crucial step towards understanding their distinct pathophysiological mechanisms, which could ultimately lead to more precise prevention strategies, identification of novel therapeutic targets and the development of effective personalized therapies

Analytical study of strength parameters of Indian farm workers and its implication in equipment design

Rajvir Yadav1, Sahastrarashmi Pund2, N. C. Patel3, L. P. Gite4(1. Department of Farm Machinery &amp; Power, College of Agril. Engg. &amp; Tech., JAU Junagadh 362001 India; 2. R&amp;D Center, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra Ltd., Nashik, India; 3. Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh 362001 India; 4. CIAE, Nabi Baug Bhopal, India)&nbsp;Abstract: Among the recent trends in development of agricultural mechanization there are an increase in power and energy capacity of tractors, agricultural machines and equipments, an increase in their reliability and decrease in exploitation expenses and labour consumption.&nbsp; Reliability of agricultural equipments is greatly enhanced provided it is designed with due consideration to the strength parameters of target users / operators.&nbsp; Therefore, strength parameters of 105 agricultural workers (75 male and 30 female) were measured on &ldquo;strength measurement setup&rdquo; comprising load cell with digital indicator.&nbsp; The average push strength for male and female workers (with both hands in standing posture) was found to be 248.2 and 171.0 N respectively whereas the pull strength in standing posture was 232.3 and 141.7 N respectively.&nbsp; These strength parameters were found to play a significant role in design of manually operated push-pull type equipment.&nbsp; The right hand push and pull strength for male and female agricultural workers are within the range of 49.7 to 96.5 N which prominently assist in the design of joystick, gear shift lever and handle lever.&nbsp; The mean value of maximum right leg strength in sitting posture for male and female workers are 394.2 and 280.5 N respectively which are found useful in the design of clutch pedal, brake pedal, accelerator pedal, pedal operated thresher and other foot operated controls.&nbsp; Average torque strength of both hands in standing posture for male and female workers are found to be 209.93 and 117.72 N-m respectively which can be used in the design of manually operated equipment like chaff cutter, sugarcane crusher, slicer, threshers etc.&nbsp; Torque strength of preferred hand in sitting posture and hand grip torque worked out in this study for both male and female workers are found very much useful in design of hand controls such as steering, knobs, etc.&nbsp; These strength parameters are found to play a significant role in design/ modification of hand controls and foot controls on different workplaces of machines.&nbsp; The machine workplaces designed on strength parameter data are found to greatly enhance the operator&rsquo;s comfort, safety and efficiency as well.Keywords: strength and torque parameters, ergonomics, safety, agricultural equipment&nbsp;Citation: Rajvir Yadav, Sahastrarashmi Pund, N. C. Patel&nbsp; and L. P. Gite. Analytical study of strength parameters of Indian farm workers and its implication in equipment design.&nbsp; Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(2): 49-54.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp

On becoming (un)committed: A taxonomy and test of newcomer on-boarding scenarios

How does the bond between the newcomer and the organization develop over time? Process research on temporal patterns of newcomer's early commitment formation has been very scarce because theory and appropriate longitudinal research designs in this area are lacking. From extant research we extract three process-theoretical accounts regarding how the newcomer adjustment process evolves over time: (1) Learning to Love; (2) Honeymoon Hangover; and (3) High Match, Moderate Match, or Low Match. From these scenarios we develop a taxonomy of newcomer adjustment scenarios. Further, we empirically verify these different scenarios by examining naturally occurring "trajectory classes," which are found to display strengthening, weakening, or stabilizing of the employee-organization linkage. For this, we use a sample of 72 Ph. D. graduates whose organizational commitment history was recorded in their first 25 consecutive weeks of new employment. In closing, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the scenario-based approach

How environmental features and perceptions influence the perceived risks and rewards of criminal opportunities

A central tenet of the criminal decision-making literature is that perceptions of the environment shape decisions. Yet the underlying mechanisms linking environmental features to perception remain mostly untested. Those that have been tested have relied on methods that are either correlational or have limited generalizability. We aimed to fill this gap by harnessing the power of virtual reality. Using burglary as a case study, incarcerated residential burglars with varying degrees of proficiency (N = 160) explored a virtual neighborhood with houses that differed in features related to the risks and rewards of burglary. In support of our preregistered hypotheses, offenders adjust their perceptions in response to environmental features related to risks and rewards. Moreover, proficiency modifies these perceptions, with more proficient offenders believing they are less likely to get caught and seen and, as a result, more likely to break into a house. We support our statistical findings with rich data from qualitative interviews

Trajectories of peer nominated aggression: Risk status, predictors and outcomes

Developmental trajectories of peer-nominated aggression, risk factors at baseline, and outcomes were studied. Peer nominations of aggression were obtained annually from grades 1 to 3. Three developmental trajectories were identified: an early-onset/increasers trajectory with high levels of peer-nominated aggression at elementary school entry and increasing levels throughout follow-up; a moderate-persistent trajectory of aggression in which children were characterized by moderate levels of physical aggression at baseline; and a third trajectory with stable low levels of aggression. Children following the early-onset/increasers trajectory showed physical forms of aggression at baseline. Male gender and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity problems, oppositional defiant problems and poor prosocial behavior plus negative life events predicted which children would follow the early-onset/increasers trajectory of aggression. The outcomes associated with the early-onset/increaser children suggest high risk for chronically high levels of aggressive behavior. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc

Developmental links between trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from childhood to adolescence

Differences in developmental trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from ages 10 to 15 were studied. For females and for males, three trajectories of theft and of alcohol-drug use increased from 10 years to 15 years, while only the high trajectory of vandalism increased from ten to 14. All trajectories of physical violence decreased. Children who engaged in the high trajectories of vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use had a high probability of also being high in physical violence. Compared to males, females were less likely to be on the high trajectory of physical violence, and their trajectories of other antisocial behaviors were less strongly associated with high levels of physical violence. The results suggest that physical violence during pre-adolescence and adolescence has a different developmental pattern than other forms of antisocial behavior, and that its relation to these other forms of antisocial behavior differs by se

The effectiveness of Chance UK's mentoring programme in improving behavioural and emotional outcomes in primary school children with behavioural difficulties: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: There is a need to build the evidence base of early interventions to promote children's health and development in the UK. Chance UK is a voluntary sector organisation based in London that delivers a 12-month mentoring programme for primary school children identified by teachers and parents as having behavioural and emotional difficulties. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of the programme in terms of children's behaviour and emotional well-being; this is the primary outcome of the trial. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial will be conducted in which participants are randomly allocated on a dynamic basis to one of two possible arms: the intervention arm (n = 123) will be offered the mentoring programme, and the control arm (n = 123) will be offered services as usual. Outcome data will be collected at three points: pre-intervention (baseline), mid-way through the mentoring year (c.9 months after randomisation) and post- mentoring programme (c.16 months after randomisation). DISCUSSION: This study will further enhance the evidence for early intervention mentoring programmes for child behaviour and emotional well-being in the UK. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN47154925 . Retrospectively registered 9 September 2014