Description:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment integrity of Family-focused Grief Therapy (FFGT), a preventive intervention designed for families at high risk of poor functioning during palliative care and bereavement. From the 81 families participating in a randomized controlled trial (53 assigned to therapy), 28 were randomly selected for this study of treatment fidelity using the ITGT integrity measure. A total of 109 family sessions were appraised. This represented a review of 62 % of treated families, 38 % of total therapy sessions, and 87% of the 15 participating therapists. Weighted mean percentage occurences therapist behaviors permitted trends in therapy application to be observed. Inter-rater reliability using the FFGT integrity measure was satisfactory, with 88 % overall agreement. Eighty-six percent of therapists adhered faithfully to core elements of the model. Therapist competence was evidenced by a strong therapeutic alliance (94 %), affirmation of family strengths in over 90%, and focus on agreed themes in 76 % of sessions. Therapists averaged 10 grief-related questions per session, 7 on communication-related issues during assessment, 7 on conflict late in therapy, and 4 on cohesiveness across the course of therapy. Consistent application of FFGT, with attention to its low-key themes of family communication, cohesiveness, conflict resolution, and shared grief has been demonstrated. The model is generalizable when applied by family therapists. (C) 2004 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Description:
Objective: This study compared the Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). Method: Depression was assessed in 81 participants, 2 weeks post-ACS, using the BDI-II and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: The CDS had a strong concurrent validity with the BDI-II (r=.69). Cross-validation of the BDI-II and the CDS with the structured interview demonstrated the ability of both measures to detect severe symptoms. More patients were classified as depressed using the CDS. The CDS also had a significantly higher correlation with a trait anxiety measure than the BDI-II did. Conclusion: The CDS is a more suitable scale for assessing the less severe depressive symptoms typically seen in a cardiac population.
Description:
This paper presents a fuzzy-neural approach for interpretation and fusion of colour and texture features for CBIR systems. The presented approach uses fuzzy logic to interpret queries expressed in natural language such as mostly red, many green, few red for colour feature. Tamura feature is used to represent the texture of an image in the database. A term set on each Tamura feature is generated using a fuzzy clustering algorithm to pose a query in terms of natural language. The query can be expressed as a logic combination of natural language terms and Tamura feature values. A fusion of multiple queries is incorporated into the proposed approach. The performance of the technique was evaluated on Brodatz texture benchmark database and it was noticed that there was a prominent increase in the confidence factor for the images. Fusion experiments were conducted using neurofuzzy, fuzzy AND and binary AND techniques. A comparative analysis showed that fuzzy-neural approach has significantly improved the performance of CBIR system.
Description:
This paper presents a fuzzy-neural approach for interpretation and fusion of colour and texture features for CBIR systems. The presented approach uses fuzzy logic to interpret queries expressed in natural language such as mostly red, many green, few red for colour feature. Tamura feature is used to represent the texture of an image in the database. A term set on each Tamura feature is generated using a fuzzy clustering algorithm to pose a query in terms of natural language. The query can be expressed as a logic combination of natural language terms and Tamura feature values. A fusion of multiple queries is incorporated into the proposed approach. The performance of the technique was evaluated on Brodatz texture benchmark database and it was noticed that there was a prominent increase in the confidence factor for the images. Fusion experiments were conducted using neurofuzzy, fuzzy AND and binary AND techniques. A comparative analysis showed that fuzzy-neural approach has significantly improved the performance of CBIR system.
Description:
Changzhou City, underlain by a multi-layered aquifer system in Quaternary sediments in the Great Yangtze River Delta region, experienced a maximum land subsidence rate of 147 mm/year in the early 1980s due to excessive groundwater extraction. A large-scale monitoring station of 11 borehole extensometerswas established in the city in 1983 to investigate land subsidence. Nine stratawere predetermined in the Quaternary depth interval andmonitored by borehole extensometers. Presented in this paper are the long-term observations of land subsidence, strata compression and groundwater level in four aquifers from 1984 to 2002, and discussion on strata compression based on the measured data with reference to the stratigraphy, soil properties, groundwater withdrawn and literature of similar situations. The compression of strata varies significantly and is strongly influenced by groundwater drawdown in the second confined aquifer, or CA2. The groundwater level in CA2 declined from −55 m in 1981 to −76 m in 1994 and the land subsidence rate remained high. After the city government enforced restrictions on groundwater extraction in 1995, the extraction rate sharply reduced, the groundwater level in CA2 steadily recovered to −56 m until 2003, and the land subsidence rate declined to 10 mm/year in 2002. From 1984 to 2002, the land subsidence was mainly attributed to the consolidation of the thick aquitard overlying CA2. In the future, to prevent the subsidence rate from rising, it is vital to stop groundwater drawdown in aquifers.
Description:
This paper introduces and analyzes a parallel method of simulated annealing. Borrowing from genetic algorithms, an effective combination of simulated annealing and genetic algorithms, called parallel recombinative simulated annealing, is developed. This new algorithm strives to retain the desirable asymptotic convergence properties of simulated annealing, while adding the populations approach and recombinative power of genetic algorithms. The algorithm iterates a population of solutions rather than a single solution, employing a binary recombination operator as well as a unary neighborhood operator. Proofs of global convergence are given for two variations of the algorithm. Convergence behavior is examined, and empirical distributions are compared to Boltzmann distributions. Parallel recombinative simulated annealing is amenable to straightforward implementation on SIMD, MIMD, or shared-memory machines. The algorithm, implemented on the CM-5, is run repeatedly on two deceptive problems to demonstrate the added implicit parallelism and faster convergence which can result from larger population sizes.
Description:
IIntroducing a new concept of (®, ¯)-fairness, which allows for a bounded fairness compromise, so that a source is allocated a rate neither less than 0 · ® · 1, nor more than ¯ ¸ 1, times its fair share, this paper provides a framework to optimize efficiency (utilization, throughput or revenue) subject to fairness constraints in a general telecommunications network for an arbitrary fairness criterion and cost functions. We formulate a non-linear program (NLP) that finds the optimal bandwidth allocation by maximizing efficiency subject to (®, ¯)-fairness constraints. This leads to what we call an efficiency-fairness function, which shows the benefit in efficiency as a function of the extent to which fairness is compromised. To solve the NLP we use two algorithms. The first is a well known branch-and-bound-based algorithm called Lipschitz Global Optimization and the second is a recently developed algorithm called Algorithm for Global Optimization Problems (AGOP). We demonstrate the applicability of the framework to a range of example from sharing a single link to efficiency fairness issues associated with serving customers in remote communities.
Description:
IIntroducing a new concept of (®, ¯)-fairness, which allows for a bounded fairness compromise, so that a source is allocated a rate neither less than 0 · ® · 1, nor more than ¯ ¸ 1, times its fair share, this paper provides a framework to optimize efficiency (utilization, throughput or revenue) subject to fairness constraints in a general telecommunications network for an arbitrary fairness criterion and cost functions. We formulate a non-linear program (NLP) that finds the optimal bandwidth allocation by maximizing efficiency subject to (®, ¯)-fairness constraints. This leads to what we call an efficiency-fairness function, which shows the benefit in efficiency as a function of the extent to which fairness is compromised. To solve the NLP we use two algorithms. The first is a well known branch-and-bound-based algorithm called Lipschitz Global Optimization and the second is a recently developed algorithm called Algorithm for Global Optimization Problems (AGOP). We demonstrate the applicability of the framework to a range of example from sharing a single link to efficiency fairness issues associated with serving customers in remote communities.
Description:
The biological toxicity of lanthanides on marine monocellular algae was investigated. The specific objective of this research was to establish the relationship between the abundance in the seawater of lanthanides and their biological toxicities on marine monocellular algae. The results showed that all single lanthanides had similar toxic effects on Skeletonema costatum. High concentrations of lanthanides (29.04 ± 0.61
Description:
The involvement of the sport and recreation sector as a setting for health promotion is a new strategy implemented by health policy makers and strategic planners. Strategies to promote and sustain health promotion activities are important considering the risk that programs may cease after initial funding ends. This study explored the factors affecting the sustainability of a sport- and recreation-based health promotion program. A stratified sampling method was used to select four of the nine Regional Sports Assemblies (RSAs) that delivered a state-wide health promotion program funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation in Australia. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with four Executive Officers (EOs) and focus group discussions with their Boards of Management. A sustainability checklist with pre-specified dimensions (e.g. organisational setting, broader community environment, and program design and implementation) guided data collection and analysis. The results showed that the organisational. setting and the broader community environment supported program institutionalisation; whilst the design and implementation of the program worked against institutionalisation. The capacity of the organisations to generate new funds for the program was limited; the relationship between the central funding organisation and the Boards of Management was weak; and the program did not support the retention of staff. The engagement of sport and recreation organisations has potential to facilitate health promotion and public health. To enhance organisational capacity and achieve program sustainability, it is important that organisational processes, structures, and resources that support long-term health promotion practice are effectively and efficiently planned and managed. (C) 2007 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
The involvement of the sport and recreation sector as a setting for health promotion is a new strategy implemented by health policy makers and strategic planners. Strategies to promote and sustain health promotion activities are important considering the risk that programs may cease after initial funding ends. This study explored the factors affecting the sustainability of a sport- and recreation-based health promotion program. A stratified sampling method was used to select four of the nine Regional Sports Assemblies (RSAs) that delivered a state-wide health promotion program funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation in Australia. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with four Executive Officers (EOs) and focus group discussions with their Boards of Management. A sustainability checklist with pre-specified dimensions (e.g. organisational setting, broader community environment, and program design and implementation) guided data collection and analysis. The results showed that the organisational. setting and the broader community environment supported program institutionalisation; whilst the design and implementation of the program worked against institutionalisation. The capacity of the organisations to generate new funds for the program was limited; the relationship between the central funding organisation and the Boards of Management was weak; and the program did not support the retention of staff. The engagement of sport and recreation organisations has potential to facilitate health promotion and public health. To enhance organisational capacity and achieve program sustainability, it is important that organisational processes, structures, and resources that support long-term health promotion practice are effectively and efficiently planned and managed. (C) 2007 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
The conjugate duality, which states that infx∈X φ(x, 0) = maxv∈Y ' −φ∗(0,v), whenever a regularity condition on φ is satisfied, is a key result in convex anal¬ysis and optimization, where φ : X × Y → IR ∪{+∞} is a convex function, X and Y are Banach spaces, Y ' is the continuous dual space of Y and φ∗ is the Fenchel-Moreau conjugate of φ. In this paper, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the stable conjugate duality, ∗ ∗ ∈ X' inf {φ(x, 0) + x ∗(x)} = max {−φ ∗(−x ,v)}, ∀x, x∈Xv∈Y ' and obtain a new global dual regularity condition, which is much more general than the popularly known interior-point type conditions, for the conjugate duality. As a consequence we present an epigraph closure condition which is necessary and sufficient for a stable Fenchel-Rockafellar duality theorem. In the case where one of the functions involved in the duality is a polyhedral convex function, we also provide generalized interior-point conditions for the epigraph closure condition. Moreover, we show that a stable Fenchel’s duality for sublinear functions holds whenever a subdifferential sum formula for the functions holds. As applications, we give general sufficient conditions for a minimax theorem, a subdifferential composition formula and for duality results of convex programming problems.
Description:
The conjugate duality, which states that infx∈X φ(x, 0) = maxv∈Y ' −φ∗(0,v), whenever a regularity condition on φ is satisfied, is a key result in convex anal¬ysis and optimization, where φ : X × Y → IR ∪{+∞} is a convex function, X and Y are Banach spaces, Y ' is the continuous dual space of Y and φ∗ is the Fenchel-Moreau conjugate of φ. In this paper, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the stable conjugate duality, ∗ ∗ ∈ X' inf {φ(x, 0) + x ∗(x)} = max {−φ ∗(−x ,v)}, ∀x, x∈Xv∈Y ' and obtain a new global dual regularity condition, which is much more general than the popularly known interior-point type conditions, for the conjugate duality. As a consequence we present an epigraph closure condition which is necessary and sufficient for a stable Fenchel-Rockafellar duality theorem. In the case where one of the functions involved in the duality is a polyhedral convex function, we also provide generalized interior-point conditions for the epigraph closure condition. Moreover, we show that a stable Fenchel’s duality for sublinear functions holds whenever a subdifferential sum formula for the functions holds. As applications, we give general sufficient conditions for a minimax theorem, a subdifferential composition formula and for duality results of convex programming problems.