Perceptions of grandparents who provide auxiliary care: value transmission and child‐rearing practices

A grounded theory qualitative study was developed to explore how grandparents perceive their role as socializing agents. Forty‐two grandparents with grandchildren aged from 6 to 12 years old participated in this study. Data were collected through focus groups, which were conducted until reaching data saturation and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Four general conclusions emerged from the study: (i) grandparents recognized the importance of getting involved in the socialization of grandchildren as supporters of parents' socializing role, and the need to adapt to social changes; (ii) they emphasized traditional value that were perceived in decline, and combination of warmth and involvement were considered the best way to help grandchildren internalize values; (iii) interaction with grandchildren helped grandparents to feel active and useful, increased their life purpose and gave them a second chance to enjoy what they could not with their own children; and (iv) grandparents also accused burden and role ambiguity. These results show the importance of developing family policies that recognize grandparents' socializing role. Also, interventions that promote strategies that enable grandparents to perform their role more successfully and to cope with possible family conflicts should be developed.     

Generalized minimum aberration mixed-level orthogonal arrays: A general approach based on sequential integer quadratically constrained quadratic programming

Orthogonal fractional factorial designs and in particular orthogonal arrays (OAs) are frequently used in many fields of application, including medicine, engineering, and agriculture. In this article, we present a methodology and an algorithm to find an OA, of given size and strength, which satisfies the generalized minimum aberration criterion. The methodology is based on the joint use of polynomial counting functions, complex coding of levels, and algorithms for quadratic optimization and puts no restriction on the number of levels of each factor.     

Rational-experiential thinking style and rational intergroup cooperation: the moderating role of intergroup conflict / Estilos de pensamiento racional-experiencial y la cooperación intergrupal racional: el rol modulador del conflicto intergrupal

Cooperative relationships between groups are difficult because of the high human capability to differentiate between in-group vs. out-group members. This obstacle exists even when the groups can obtain benefits for themselves from cooperation with other groups (rational cooperation). Based on an interactionist approach, the authors propose that personal (individual differences) and situational (conflicts) factors contribute to rational intergroup cooperation. The authors conducted a preliminary correlational study (Study 1) and an experimental investigation (Study 2). In Study 1, the authors examined, with 105 participants, the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Rational–Experiential Inventory (REI), measuring individual differences in information processing. In Study 2, the authors conducted an experimental investigation with 141 participants, testing the role of individual differences and conflict in intergroup rational cooperation. Findings of Study 1 showed that the scale has adequate psychometric properties. Results of Study 2 confirmed that the existence of both manipulated and perceived intergroup conflict reduces the magnitudes of the relationships between rational ability and rational cooperation. In addition, perceived intergroup conflict increased the magnitude of the links from experiential ability and experimental engagement to rational cooperation. Both individual differences and previous conflict have a role in predicting rational intergroup cooperation. According to the interactionist approach, personal and situational factors should be considered in the understanding of intergroup relationships.     

Territorial Impact Assessment for European regions: A methodological proposal and an application to EU transport policy

The need to engage European research and institutions in the new field of Territorial Impact Assessment, from both a methodological and a procedural perspective, was stated some years ago by the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP). The necessity of multidimensional evaluation of the likely impact of policies and programmes on the territory – understood as the dimension on which all the other relevant dimensions (economic, social, environmental and cultural) converge and with which they integrate – emerged as a natural consequence of the importance of spatial aspects in the future development of the Union and of widespread preoccupations about certain emerging spatial trends.A proposal for a TIA methodology combining logical consistency vis-à-vis the Union's present institutional and policy guidelines with operational viability is being developed and applied to Trans-European Networks policy of the EU. Territorial impact is linked to an innovative definition of the objective of “territorial cohesion” of the Treaties in terms of territorial efficiency, quality and identity.Utilising sectoral impact studies developed inside the ESPON programme and developing territorial indicators for impact, vulnerability and desirability (territorial utility functions), a multicriteria model (TEQUILA) is implemented on priority projects as defined by the Commission, and results mapped and described for the 1360 NUTS-3 regions of the Union.     

A generalized scheffé method of multiple comparisons

Standard resulrs on the extrema of quotients of quadratic forms are extended to the non-negative definite case. The maximum and the set over which it is achieved are characterized explicitly both in terms of generalized inverse matrices and generalized eigenvalues. These results become the basis of Scheffe type multiple comparisons in the usual way. To demonstrate their application to statistics with singular covariance matrices, the method is detailed for Mantel-Haenszel, Breslow, and Cox statistics. An example is presented illustrating a situation where the proposed Scheffe type comparisons may be better than the pairwise method.     

Healthcare 4.0: trends,challenges and research directions

Abstract

This paper aims at examining the trends, challenges and theoretical gaps in the implementation of Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0) based on a scoping review of the literature. For that, we searched journal articles in four widely known databases and screened the retrieved articles to obtain a publications’ portfolio. Our findings indicate that, despite the recency of the subject, research in H4.0 has been conducted in an interdisciplinary way with a diversified set of applications and functionalities. In terms of its implementation, H4.0 has been more commonly found in hospitals’ information flows, especially the ones related to healthcare treatments. The identified implementation trends, however, neglect a more holistic approach for H4.0, which originated three main research directions for this topic. Although identified as a trending topic in the area of healthcare operations management, literature on H4.0 may be viewed as randomly conceived, lacking academic alignment and practical orientation based on a grounded theory, which we aim at providing with the present study.     

A general algorithm to fit constrained DEDICOM models

The DEDICOM model is a model to analyze square tables describing asymmetric relationships among n entities. Its importance in the asymmetric multidimensional scaling literature is due to the fact that several authors showed a large class of models to be simply a constrained version of DEDICOM. A typical example is the Generalized GIPSCAL proposed by Kiers & Takane. In this paper we present a new algorithm capable to fit, in the least squares sense, any DEDICOM constrained model.