Recent commentary has suggested that performance management (PM) is fundamentally “broken,” with negative feelings from managers and employees toward the process at an all-time high (Pulakos, Hanson, Arad, & Moye, 2015; Pulakos & O'Leary, 2011). In response, some high-profile organizations have decided to eliminate performance ratings altogether as a solution to the growing disenchantment. Adler et al. (2016) offer arguments both in support of and against eliminating performance ratings in organizations. Although both sides of the debate in the focal article make some strong arguments both for and against utilizing performance ratings in organizations, we believe there continue to be misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, and misinformation with respect to some of the measurement issues in PM. We offer the following commentary not to persuade readers to adopt one particular side over another but as a call to critically reconsider and reevaluate some of the assumptions underlying measurement issues in PM and to dispel some of the pervasive beliefs throughout the performance rating literature.

A consensus conference on the reasons for the undertreatment of depression was organized by the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (NDMDA) on January 17–18,1996. The target audience included health policymakers, clinicians, patients and their families, and the public at large. Six key questions were addressed: (1) Is depression undertreated in the community and in the clinic? (2) What is the economic cost to society of depression? (3) What have been the efforts in the past to redress undertreatment and how successful have they been? (4) What are the reasons for the gap between our knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of depression and actual treatment received in this country? (5) What can we do to narrow this gap? (6) What can we do immediately to narrow this gap?

How can clinicians diagnosis generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) earlier and treat it more effectively? The most successful treatment is often determined through the remission of psychic and somatic symptoms, an increase in functional capacity at work and in relationships, and how the patient handles their daily responsibilities. This monograph attempts to:

—Define GAD

—Explore psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic treatment modalities

—Identify comorbidities associated with GAD

—Understand the importance of dual uptake mechanisms in gaining remission

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have a broad range of activity in the central nervous system and can thus be expected to have multiple clinical effects. Older AEDs have been used in psychiatry for some time. Introduction of the new AEDs within the last decade has been followed by reports of their efficacy in patients who had failed the more established treatment regimens. It has become evident that drugs such as gabapentin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, zonisamide, and tiagabine have beneficial safety and cognitive profiles and appear to be well tolerated by patients. While there are an increasing amount of data available indicating that these drugs may be effective in treating certain aspects of anxiety disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder, still not enough is known about all of their potential uses. It is difficult for clinicians to evaluate and use these drugs in the absence of clinical trials. Until more studies are done to increase the evidence base for the effectiveness of these agents, we have to rely on observations from community practice and personal experiences in making treatment choices.

In August–September 2004, a cryptosporidiosis outbreak affected >250 persons who visited a California waterpark. Employees and patrons of the waterpark were affected, and three employees and 16 patrons admitted to going into recreational water while ill with diarrhoea. The median illness onset date for waterpark employees was 8 days earlier than that for patrons. A case-control study determined that getting water in one's mouth on the waterpark's waterslides was associated with illness (adjusted odds ratio 7·4, 95% confidence interval 1·7–32·2). Laboratory studies identified Cryptosporidium oocysts in sand and backwash from the waterslides' filter, and environmental investigations uncovered inadequate water-quality record keeping and a design flaw in one of the filtration systems. Occurring more than a decade after the first reported outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in swimming pools, this outbreak demonstrates that messages about healthy swimming practices have not been adopted by pool operators and the public.

We have used flow-visualization and spectral techniques to study the spatial and temporal properties of the flow that precedes the onset of weak turbulence in a fluid contained between concentric cylinders with the inner cylinder rotating (the circular Couette system). The first three flow regimes encountered as the Reynolds number is increased from zero are well-known – Couette flow, Taylor-vortex flow, and wavyvortex flow. The present study concerns the doubly periodic regime that follows the (singly periodic) wavy-vortex-flow regime. Wavy-vortex flow is characterized by a single frequency f1, which is the frequency of travelling azimuthal waves passing a point of observation in the laboratory. The doubly periodic regime was discovered in studies of power spectra several years ago, but the fluid motion corresponding to the second frequency f2 was not identified. We have found that f2 corresponds to a modulation of the azimuthal waves; the modulation can be observed visually as a periodic flattening of the wavy-vortex outflow boundaries. Moreover, in addition to the previously observed doubly periodic flow state, we have discovered 11 more doubly periodic flow states. Each state can be labelled with two integers m and k, which are simply related to physical characteristics of the flow: m is the number of azimuthal waves, and k is related to the phase angle between the modulation of successive azimuthal waves by Δϕ = 2πk/m. This expression for the phase angle was first conjectured from the flow-visualization measurements and then tested to an accuracy of 0·01π in spectral measurements. Recently Rand (1981) has used dynamical-systems concepts and symmetry considerations to derive predictions about the space–time symmetry of doubly periodic flows in circularly symmetric systems. He predicted that only flows with certain space–time symmetries should be allowed. The observed flow states are in agreement with this theory.

To control plagues of free-living mice (Mus domesticus) in Australia, a recombinant murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) expressing fertility proteins is being developed as an immunocontraceptive agent. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to monitor the transmission of two genetically variable field strains of MCMV through mouse populations after 25% of founding mice were infected with the N1 strain, followed by the G4 strain 6 weeks later. Pathogen-free wild-derived mice were released into outdoor enclosures located in northwestern Victoria (Australia). Of those mice not originally inoculated with virus, N1 DNA was detected in more than 80% of founder mice and a third of their offspring and similarly, G4 DNA was detected in 13% of founder mice and in 3% of their offspring. Thus, prior immunity to N1 did not prevent transmission of G4. This result is promising for successful transmission of an immunocontraceptive vaccine through Australian mouse populations where MCMV infection is endemic.

X-ray absorption data, obtained from Np(V) in two environmentally-related samples, show evidence of significant metal-ion reduction in the synchrotron beam. The data are presented and possible sources of reduction are discussed.

Samples of Alloy 22 were tested in solutions containing various anions in order to determine their effect on the corrosion of the alloy. It was found that Alloy 22 is relatively corrosion resistant in HCl and HNO3 at pH 1 and 160°C (general corrosion rates on the order of 10 μm/year), but more susceptible to phosphoric acid, especially under reducing conditions. The presence of fluoride raised the corrosion rate of Alloy 22 to the order 1 mm/year at pH 1, and fluoride is still active towards Alloy 22 at pH levels as high as 3.5. Samples tested in solutions of 1000xJ13 in which the pH was altered during testing showed an increase in corrosion rate over solutions of constant pH. Preliminary electrochemical tests suggest that nitrate may be an effective corrosion inhibitor in fluoride containing solutions, while sulfate is not.

The effects of chloride, sulfate, and nitrate on the fluoride ion local attack of Ti-Grade 7 (Ti-7: UNS R52400) were investigated. It was observed that a chloride: fluoride ratio of as high as 10 : 1 by mole was necessary to produce visible severe attack in immersion tests. Localized attack on Ti-7 was most severe at approximately 120°C, and at neutral pH. However, electrochemical studies detected that a narrowing of the passive region can occur at chloride: fluoride ratios as small as 1.1 : 1 by mole. The addition of sulfate did not significantly inhibit pitting or stress corrosion cracking of Ti-7 U-bends. However, the addition of nitrate is suspected to act as an effective inhibitor.

The effect of Pb, Hg, thiosulfate and sulfide on the corrosion of Alloy 22 was studied. In solutions of 1000xJ13 groundwater doped with these contaminants, disks and U-bend specimens exhibited general corrosion and pitting at pH 1, and some dissolution at pH 13. One specimen exposed to the presence of Pb cracked catastrophically. In basic media thiosulfate and sulfide caused both oxide spalling and enhanced general corrosion.

Both concentrated and dilute simulated solutions of saturated J13 and unsaturated UZ pore water were concentrated through distillation of the solutions under atmospheric pressure. It was observed that condensed vapors from the pH of J13 waters steadily rose during the distillations to a value of 10, while the pH of UZ waters remained steady until 90% of the volume of the solution had been distilled, after which the pH of the condensed vapors dropped precipitously, often below 1. Residual solutions analyzed when most of the solution had been distilled away were also found to be extremely acidic. The temperature of these residual solutions was around 144°C due to their high solute content causing boiling point elevation. All experiments were performed with the condenser open to ambient air at atmospheric pressure. The pH drop during the distillation of UZ water is attributed largely to the presence of large amounts of magnesium. Specimens of Alloy 22 tested in the residual solutions of at their boiling temperature (around 144°C) showed significant rates of general corrosion over a broad range, often approaching 1 mm/year. Similarly high corrosion rates were also observed in tests on Alloy 22 specimens in condensates obtained during the late stages of the distillation. These tests were performed either in situ at 75–80°C using a Soxhlet extractor, or in separate pressure vessels at temperatures between 90 and 130°C.