Reinvigorating performance evaluation: first steps in a local health department.

The ability of a local health department to assess and improve employee performance through an effective evaluation process is critical to overall organizational success. A constructive performance evaluation process not only provides meaningful feedback on work performance but also provides opportunities to reinforce work behaviors that support the organization's mission, to recognize exceptional work, and to guide future growth and learning. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is creating a new approach to performance evaluation that recognizes 3 distinct components of work performance: standard business practices, competencies, and standards of practice. This multidimensional perspective acknowledges that the expectations of workers are complex and that evaluations of performance are not easily captured with single-dimension assessment tools. This report describes the conceptual relationships of these 3 components and how they integrate to form a single performance evaluation process. Key elements within this structure include a base document of competencies for all workers, expanded competency sets for professional staff, role-specific duty statements for workers who perform similar work, and standards of competent practice related to the mission of units to which individuals are assigned. Key first steps are to define the terminology of performance evaluation and to create role-specific duty statements.

The quality improvement experience in a high-performing local health department: Los Angeles County.

Quality improvement in public health is a key element in the movement toward accreditation. Multiple national, state, and local initiatives are under way to define quality in a public health context and to develop tools and promising practices to support quality-improvement efforts in local health departments. Until recently, efforts to improve quality at the local level have largely focused on performance measurement to assess the relationship between inputs, outputs, and outcomes. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has developed its own unique approach to quality improvement. This approach includes focusing on three overlapping areas (professional practice, performance improvement, and public health science) that align closely with essential public health services 8 (competent worker), 9 (evaluation), and 10 (research). Broadening the focus of quality-improvement efforts to include these three areas (rather than performance improvement alone) provides additional opportunities to address key infrastructure issues that may affect the quality of services that are provided to the public and, thus, health outcomes. While the experience in Los Angeles County parallels other efforts, it includes unique elements that will be of use to public health professionals in other agencies.

Pup development and maternal behavior in captive Key Largo woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli).

This study describes the first systematic observations of maternal behavior and pup development of captive Key Largo woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli) during the first 30 days of life. Data were collected on six litters of pups born to four dams between December 2006 and July 2007. Gestations for the six litters averaged 38 days and all dams exhibited adequate maternal care postpartum. Key Largo woodrat maternal and pup behavior was generally consistent with behavior observed in other woodrat species. We observed greater pup independence from the dam and a marked change in social interactions between days 13-22. No sex differences in pup development or maternal care were observed. Activity budgets were consistent across dams and across days within the observation period. Although dams spent much of their time inactive with pups attached to their teats, the average percent of intervals with at least one pup observed attached decreased steadily during the 30-day observation period. Attachment of pups to the dams' teats did not interfere with dams' ability to forage. Feeding with pups attached and feeding following active detachment of pups were both common. Dams were observed to actively detach pups by performing a circular turning motion. This information has application for the future management of this endangered species in captivity and in the wild. Zoo Biol 27:394-405, 2008. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Conservation partnerships between Zoos and Aquariums, federal and state agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.

Partnerships are essential for the success of conservation organizations as they strive to achieve the ultimate goal of restoring and preserving biodiversity. Now is a particularly crucial time to develop partnerships owing to increasing financial constraints on all organizations and the urgent need for species recovery and habitat preservation. This study identified characteristics of successful conservation partnerships between Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited institutions and related facilities, US and international governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. One hundred and five AZA accredited zoos and aquariums or related facilities participated in the preliminary survey. Staff at 75 of those zoos and aquariums were interviewed by telephone for a follow-up survey. Respondents were asked which characteristics most contributed to the success of their past and current conservation partnerships. Data were analyzed in two ways: descriptive statistics and principal component analysis. Descriptive statistics showed that effective leadership, clear and consistent communication, and trust between partners were the top three characteristics that led to partnership success. Ineffective leadership by those in charge, lack of clear, consistent communication between partners, and unreliable or insufficient sources of funding were the top three characteristics that inhibited partnership success. Using principal component analysis, the variables for each question on the questionnaire were reduced to a smaller subset of categories. Structure, personalities, process, and commitment were the four principal components of successful conservation partnerships. The three principal components that inhibited conservation partnerships were: communication, partnership personnel, and partner inequality. Results gained from this research are sure to increase the probability of success both for conservation partnerships that have already been established and for those that may develop in the future. Zoo Biol 26:471-486, 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Siamangs (Hylobates syndactylus) and white-cheeked gibbons (Hylobates leucogenys) show few behavioral differences related to zoo attendance.

The effect of visitors on behavior and welfare of nonhuman animals in the zoo has been an active research topic during the last few decades. Although research has variously shown negative or positive impacts of zoo visitors on animals in captivity, previous primate research at Disney's Animal Kingdom suggests the importance of visual barriers in allowing animals to cope with large crowds. Examining this further, this study monitored the behavior of white-cheeked gibbons (Hylobates leucogenys) and siamangs (Hylobates syndactylus) in large, open exhibits. Behavioral data showed rates of social behavior and percentage of time engaged in solitary behavior did not differ between low and high visitor-attendance days. Both gibbons and siamangs spent more time in areas away from the public on high attendance days. Supporting previous findings, results imply visual barriers and ability to retreat from crowds may have provided these animals with choice and minimized potential negative visitor impact. Future research should focus on the relationship between attendance and actual crowds at exhibits; it should utilize multi-institutional methodologies to control for variance and look for individual and demographic differences between individuals.

Targeted stimulation of meiotic recombination.

Meiotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is initiated by programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), a process that requires the Spo11 protein. DSBs usually occur in intergenic regions that display open chromatin accessibility, but other determinants that control their frequencies and non-random chromosomal distribution remain obscure. We report that a Spo11 construct bearing the Gal4 DNA binding domain not only rescues spo11Delta spore inviability and catalyzes DSB formation at natural sites but also strongly stimulates DSB formation near Gal4 binding sites. At GAL2, a naturally DSB-cold locus, Gal4BD-Spo11 creates a recombinational hotspot that depends on all the other DSB gene functions, showing that the targeting of Spo11 to a specific site is sufficient to stimulate meiotic recombination that is under normal physiological control.