Attitudinal acceptance of intimate partner violence among U.S. adults

Attitudinal acceptance of intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important correlate of violent behavior. This study examined acceptance of IPV using data collected from a nationally representative telephone survey of 5,238 adults. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to test for associations between sociodemographic characteristics, exposure to violence, question order, and acceptance of hitting a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend under specific circumstances. Depending on the circumstance examined, acceptance of IPV was significantly higher among participants who were male and younger than 35; were non-White; were divorced, separated, or had never married; had not completed high school; had a low household income; or were victims of violence within the past 12 months. Participants were more accepting of women hitting men; they also were consistently more likely to report tolerance of IPV if they were asked first about women hitting men rather than men hitting women. Reports of IPV tolerance need to be interpreted within the context of the survey. Efforts to change IPV attitudes can be tailored to specific IPV circumstances and subgroups, and these efforts should emphasize that the use of physical violence is unacceptable to both genders.     

Obsessive-Compulsive Features in Pathological Lottery and Scratch-Ticket Gamblers

The results of this study support the notion that pathological gamblers drawn from the community would score higher on all three scores from the YBOCS than light gamblers. Consistent with hypotheses, pathological gamblers (lottery and scratch ticket) reported more obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance behavior than the light gamblers, and also reported having more urges to engage in injurious behaviors to themselves and others. These findings provide evidence that pathological gambling falls in a spectrum or family of disorders which have obsessive-compulsive disorder at its core. These findings support McElroy, Hudson, Philips, et al.'s (1993) suggestions of similarities between OCD and Impulse Control Disorders, and extend Blaszczynski (1999) findings of overlap between pathological gamblers and OCD in a treatment population. Heavy gamblers also reported significantly more hoarding symptoms and compulsive buying than light gamblers. More research in this area may show further evidence of a spectrum of disorders with obsessive compulsive disorder at its core, and show further links between impulse control disorders (such as pathological gambling) and OCD.     

Contributions of Look Duration and Gaze Shift Patterns to Infants’ Novelty Preferences

Data from 72 infants, tested using a serial paired‐comparison paradigm, were analyzed to better understand infant novelty preferences. Infants between the ages of 15 and 26 weeks were tested in three studies with familiar stimuli displayed adjacent to novel stimuli on each trial. Differences in look duration, look number, and gaze shifts directed at novel versus familiar stimuli were assessed to measure their contributions to group and individual novelty preferences. Infants produced longer looks for novel stimuli in all three studies, and stimulus differences in look duration accounted for more than 50% of the variability in individual novelty preferences. Infants that produced more looks to novel rather than familiar stimuli did not produce overall novelty preferences unless they also looked longer at novel stimuli. Gaze shift patterns did not predict individual novelty preferences, and novel stimuli did not determine where infants looked. The infants’ visual exploration was constrained by memories for the direction of the previous look as well as by the attention‐holding features of novel stimuli.     

Statistical modeling for Bayesian extrapolation of adult clinical trial information in pediatric drug evaluation

Children represent a large underserved population of “therapeutic orphans,” as an estimated 80% of children are treated off‐label. However, pediatric drug development often faces substantial challenges, including economic, logistical, technical, and ethical barriers, among others. Among many efforts trying to remove these barriers, increased recent attention has been paid to extrapolation; that is, the leveraging of available data from adults or older age groups to draw conclusions for the pediatric population. The Bayesian statistical paradigm is natural in this setting, as it permits the combining (or “borrowing”) of information across disparate sources, such as the adult and pediatric data. In this paper, authored by the pediatric subteam of the Drug Information Association Bayesian Scientific Working Group and Adaptive Design Working Group, we develop, illustrate, and provide suggestions on Bayesian statistical methods that could be used to design improved pediatric development programs that use all available information in the most efficient manner. A variety of relevant Bayesian approaches are described, several of which are illustrated through 2 case studies: extrapolating adult efficacy data to expand the labeling for Remicade to include pediatric ulcerative colitis and extrapolating adult exposure‐response information for antiepileptic drugs to pediatrics.     

On the outer-connected domination in graphs

A set S of vertices of a graph G is an outer-connected dominating set if every vertex not in S is adjacent to some vertex in S and the subgraph induced by V?S is connected. The outer-connected domination number $\widetilde{\gamma}_{c}(G)$ is the minimum size of such a set. We prove that if δ(G)≥2 and diam?(G)≤2, then $\widetilde{\gamma}_{c}(G)\le (n+1)/2$ , and we study the behavior of $\widetilde{\gamma}_{c}(G)$ under an edge addition.     

The topology aware file distribution problem

We present theoretical results for large-file distribution on general networks of known topology (known link bandwidths and router locations). We show that the problem of distributing a file in minimum time is NP-hard in this model, and we give an O(logn) approximation algorithm, where n is the number of workstations that require the file. We also characterize our method as optimal amongst the class of “no-link-sharing” algorithms.     

Resource smoothing: A cost minimization approach

From the available literature, there seems to be no defined approach to resource smoothing exercise except those attempted by Weist (1967, Management Science, 13, B359-B377) and Burgess and Killebrew (1962, Journal of Industrial Engineering, 13, 76-83). The aim of the smoothing exercise is to achieve optimal resource usage by avoiding high peaks and deep valleys in the project resource profile. The general approach has always been to move some activities with floats in the high peak regions to be started at a later date, and as this is done, the valleys will be filled to smooth the resource profile subject of course to time constraint. If this approach is followed as it is, it would be difficult to determine optimality especially when many resources are involved. A cost minimization approach is envisaged in the present study with no limitation on the number of resource inputs. In a situation where the resources are assumed to have the same value, the cost assigned to each of them should be similar. The method follows the general concept but with a difference; cost of the activity in question is considered. The exercise is continued until all the floats are exhausted. The optimum result would then be the one with the minimum cost profile. From examples used for the evaluation, the results obtained are comparable to those of the above two researchers, and some with better results in the majority of cases.     

Constrained production lot-size model with trade-credit policy: 'A comparison geometric programming approach via Lagrange'

In this paper our main objective is to investigate a deterministic inventory production lot-size model with a permissible delay in payment under a restriction. We analyse our deterministic inventory model under a restriction which will be assumed as the average inventory level. In fact we use in our analysis two approaches: the geometric programming approach; and the Lagrange method. Then a comparison between these two approaches is performed, which is our aim. Finally we deduce some previously published works of other researchers as special cases.     

Multi-item EOQ inventory model with varying holding cost under two restrictions: A geometric programming approach

In this paper we provide a simple method to determine the inventory policy of multiple items having varying holding cost using a geometric programming approach. The varying holding cost is considered to be a continuous function of the order quantity. The EOQ inventory model with constant holding cost and the classical EOQ inventory model without constraints are derived.     

One-machine scheduling to minimize mean tardiness with minimum number tardy

In this paper the one-machine scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing the mean tardiness subject to maintaining a prescribed number of tardy jobs is analysed. An algorithm for solving this problem is presented. It is proved that the schedule generated by the proposed algorithm is indeed optimal.