The impact of overweight and obesity on unemployment duration among young American workers.

Obesity has a profound effect on the working careers of Americans. Prior studies pertaining to workers in other countries report that obese women experienced longer spells of unemployment than normal weight peers. However, the effect of obesity on unemployment duration has not been studied for American workers.

Superfund cleanup time and community characteristics: A survival analysis.

This paper investigates the correlation of socioeconomic characteristics of communities close to Superfund sites with the duration of cleanup using spatial survival analysis with frailty effects. Census-tract-level data is used to achieve a more accurate representation of affected areas. We find evidence of slower cleanup in areas with higher minority population, particularly when controlling for EPA Region.

Patient support groups: A survey of United Kingdom practice, purpose and performance.

Background: Critical care survivors face physical, psychological and socio-economic burdens. Peer support is acknowledged as a way individuals can face, accept and overcome the challenges arising from a stressful event. We sought to examine the provision and benefits of peer support to critical care survivors in the UK.

Examiner training: A study of examiners making sense of norm-referenced feedback.

Examiner training has an inconsistent impact on subsequent performance. To understand this variation, we explored how examiners think about changing the way they assess. We provided comparative data to 17 experienced examiners about their assessments, captured their sense-making processes using a modified think-aloud protocol, and identified patterns by inductive thematic analysis.