Selecting a Portfolio of Technologies: An Application of Decision Analysis

The Department of Energy is faced with the critical and complex decision of selecting technologies for waste site remediation. This research focuses on developing a decision support tool which assists the decision maker to find an optimal portfolio. A portfolio consists of selecting the appropriate processes for a remediation site and, subsequently, selecting a technology for each process so that the decision maker's objectives are achieved. The measures supporting the objectives are risk, life-cycle cost, and time required for remediation. The model uses exponential attribute utility functions with an additive objective function. The model provides the decision maker with estimates of the cost and time distributions, and their associated utility. Cumulative frequency distributions illustrate the dominance of technology choices and the variance in the results. The model permits sensitivity analysis in the form of rainbow and tornado diagrams to display the effects of changes in the values of the input variables. Overall, the model provides a generic technology selection tool that can be used to make better informed decisions and may be easily manipulated to reflect changes in the remediation process.     

Does family support ensure the protection of children? Messages from child protection research

The history of child protection is, in many ways, a catalogue of changes arising from the political/professional interface tensions relating to a highly contentious area of public and professional policy. The latest contribution to this process is the Department of Health's 1995 publication Child Protection: Messages from Research. The overview of the studies recommends that there be a shift in resources and attitudes from an investigative approach to a family support perspective. Many local authorities have subsequently produced policies which will lead to referrals being recorded as ‘children in need’ rather than child protection. The ramifications of this change in approach are examined from the dual perspectives of policy and practice. The article suggests that while much of the change in emphasis is to be welcomed, the needs of the most severely abused children may be compromised by the new orthodoxy, as it is not based on the reality of the many problems encountered by children and professionals in child protection work. It is argued that a focus on practice issues needs to permeate all such documents. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revising Premarital Relationship Interventions for the Next Generation

In this article, we review research on contemporary social trends that influence the next generation's ability to form and sustain a healthy marriage. As a result, we argue for greater attention to premarital interventions for engaged couples to help the next generation address the potential challenges created by these trends. After we briefly review the current state of premarital education and counseling, we examine four general, interrelated social trends: individualism and commitment ambivalence, changing attitudes about marriage, premarital relationship histories, and the omnipresent media environment. In addition, we offer four general proposals corresponding to these trends that we believe will enhance the future effectiveness of premarital interventions. We urge premarital educators and counselors to evaluate their current interventions with these proposals in mind.     

The Median Versus Inequality-Adjusted GNI as Core Indicator of ‘Ordinary’ Household Living Standards in Rich Countries

Social Indicators Research - This paper first highlights the extent to which national income per head will be unreliable as an indicator of household income change over time around the middle for...     

The Democratization of Data Science Education

Abstract

Over the last three decades, data have become ubiquitous and cheap. This transition has accelerated over the last five years and training in statistics, machine learning, and data analysis has struggled to keep up. In April 2014, we launched a program of nine courses, the Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization, which has now had more than 4 million enrollments over the past five years. Here, the program is described and compared to standard data science curricula as they were organized in 2014 and 2015. We show that novel pedagogical and administrative decisions introduced in our program are now standard in online data science programs. The impact of the Data Science Specialization on data science education in the U.S. is also discussed. Finally, we conclude with some thoughts about the future of data science education in a data democratized world.     

Predictors and Moderators of Sexually Related Distress in Women with Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder

Abstract

The degree of general distress reported by women with Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD) varies greatly, which might relate to their level of anxiety or depression. A variety of medical problems also has been associated with PGAD symptoms. The current study sought to determine the most significant predictor of sexually related distress and examine possible moderators. Participants were 51 women who met the criteria for PGAD and completed an online survey. Hierarchical regression determined depression significantly predicted sexually related distress, but anxiety and stress measures did not. Erotophobia and perceived partner support did not moderate the relationship between depression and sexually related distress. Greater numbers of concomitant medical diagnoses were significantly correlated with sexually related distress. The results indicate that PGAD is experienced by women as sexually distressing. As we continue to learn more about PGAD, a biopsychosocial treatment approach to PGAD, including psychotherapy would seem warranted.     

The Mental Health Impacts of Successive Disasters: Examining the Roles of Individual and Community Resilience Following a Tornado and COVID-19

Clinical Social Work Journal - Prior research has found that exposure to natural hazards and infectious disease are associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Less studied are the ways that...     

On statistical tests of functional connectome fingerprinting

Fingerprinting of functional connectomes is an increasingly standard measure of reproducibility in functional magnetic resonance imaging connectomics. In such studies, one attempts to match a subject's first session image with their second, in a blinded fashion, in a group of subjects measured twice. The number or percentage of correct matches is usually reported as a statistic, which is then used in permutation tests. Despite the simplicity and increasing popularity of such procedures, the soundness of the statistical tests, the power, and the factors impacting the test are unstudied. In this article, we investigate the statistical tests of matching based on exchangeability assumption in the fingerprinting analysis. We show that a nearly universal Poisson(1) approximation applies for different matching schemes. We theoretically investigate the permutation tests and explore the issue that the test is overly sensitive to uninteresting directions in the alternative hypothesis, such as clustering due to familial status or demographics. We perform a numerical study on two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) resting‐state datasets, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). These datasets are instructive, as the HCP includes technical replications of long scans and includes monozygotic and dizygotic twins, as well as non‐twin siblings. In contrast, the BLSA study incorporates more typical length resting‐state scans in a longitudinal study. Finally, a study of single regional connections is performed on the HCP data.     

The Process of Facilitating Case Formulations in Relational Clinical Supervision

This paper explores the supervisory process in relation to the ongoing challenge of developing (and re-developing) a case formulation. We adopt a relational approach to clinical practice and correspondingly to the supervisory domain. We argue that a relational approach to clinical practice firmly fits with social work values, including authenticity, mutuality and collaboration. We address typical challenges inherent in attaining and maintaining a relational formulation in the supervisory relationship.