Computer-aided classification of human chromosomes: a review

Computer-aided imaging systems are now widely used in cytogenetic laboratories to reduce the tedium and labour-intensiveness of traditional methods of chromosome analysis. Automatic chromosome classification is an essential component of such systems, and we review here the statistical techniques that have contributed towards it. Although completely error-free classification has not been, nor is ever likely to be, achieved, error rates have been reduced to levels that are acceptable for many routine purposes. Further reductions are likely to be achieved through advances in basic biology rather than in statistical methodology. Nevertheless, the subject remains of interest to those involved in statistical classification, because of its intrinsic challenges and because of the large body of existing results with which to compare new approaches. Also, the existence of very large databases of correctly-classified chromosomes provides a valuable resource for empirical investigations of the statistical properties of classifiers.     

Global and local statistical properties of fixed-length nonparametric smoothers

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the global and local statistical properties of nonparametric smoothers subject to a priori fixed length restriction. In order to do so, we introduce a set of local statistical measures based on their weighting system shapes and weight values. In this way, the local statistical measures of bias, variance and mean square error are intrinsic to the smoothers and independent of the data to which they will be applied on. One major advantage of the statistical measures relative to the classical spectral ones is their easiness of calculation. However, in this paper we use both in a complementary manner. The smoothers studied are based on two broad classes of weighting generating functions, local polynomials and probability distributions. We consider within the first class, the locally weighted regression smoother (loess) of degree 1 and 2 (L1 and L2), the cubic smoothing spline (CSS), and the Henderson smoothing linear filter (H); and in the second class, the Gaussian kernel (GK). The weighting systems of these estimators depend on a smoothing parameter that traditionally, is estimated by means of data dependent optimization criteria. However, by imposing to all of them the condition of an equal number of weights, it will be shown that some of their optimal statistical properties are no longer valid. Without any loss of generality, the analysis is carried out for 13- and 9-term lengths because these are the most often selected for the Henderson filters in the context of monthly time series decomposition. We would like to thank an Associate Editor and an anonymous referee for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper. Financing from MURST is also gratefully acknowledged.     

Management,Competition and Professional Practice: Medicine and the Marketplace

Within the context of the creation of the internal market for health care, the paper examines the role of clinical directors, that is doctors who have retained their professional clinical positions whilst at the same time assumed roles as managers within increasingly well-defined corporate organizations providing health care. This represents considerable change from previous contexts in which doctors could always contract out of difficult managerial decisions. The role of clinical director is examined in terms of its own directorate and its involvement in contracting, co-operation and competition both within its own corporate organization and within the wider market place for health. Key issues are raised for the individuals and organization by these changes, they are discussed in terms of time, succession, managing colleagues, financial and human resources, market behaviour, support and terms of reference. These changes occasion wider discussion in terms of the challenge of coping with future demands for innovation, changes in the distribution of power within an emerging market for health care and the relationship among health care organizations, professionals and lay clients.     

Wavelets

Wavelets have aroused much interest and offer advantages in signal and image processing. Wavelets and also the wavelet transform are defined here. Their use as a vehicle for multi-resolution image analysis is discussed in the cases of one and two dimensions, and the decomposition-reconstruction algorithm is described. Some simple examples are presented to illustrate the ideas, and several applications are described. Some ideas for further reading are given.     

‘The Family’ In The Undergraduate Social Work Curriculum.**,***

The growing popularity of family therapy raises the question as to whether material on family therapy should be included in basic professional courses, or left as a more specialised area of study at the post-professional level. This paper describes how concepts and techniques of intervention from family therapy have been used in a unit on ‘Social Work with Couples and Families’ in an undergraduate degree course in Social Work.     

Externalizing Behavior Among Adopted Boys with Preadoptive Histories of Child Sexual Abuse

This study examined the severity of externalizing symptomology among adopted boys with preadoptive histories of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect/abandonment, or no abuse. The study was based on data collected across a three-year period from parents who adopted children from Florida's child welfare system. The sample consisted of 1,136 adopted boys aged 6 to 18 years. In repeated cross-sectional multivariate analyses, the results revealed that adopted boys with preadoptive child sexual abuse were prone to significantly higher levels and clinically severe externalizing symptomotology as compared to adopted boys without such histories. The findings highlight the need for postadoption services and empirically validated interventions for families adopting boys with preadoptive child sexual abuse.     

Voices from the bottom

Despite many years of poverty eradication programs in numerous countries, 25% of the world's population continues to live in poverty. In the light of this global crisis, it is clear that anti-poverty strategies have not been as successful as they should have been. This paper argues that continuing poverty may be related in part to the fact that policies developed to alleviate the problem are mainly based on monetary definitions developed by ‘experts’, rather than by the poor themselves. Thus this paper will demonstrate that expert definitions invariably neglect the more qualitative aspects and experiences of poverty. In contrast, it is argued here that the poor are the ‘real’ poverty experts and their voices should be included in the definition of poverty and the formulation of solutions. While there is increasing recognition of this latter approach in developing nations, often taking a human needs perspective, this response is only in its infancy in Australia. After a discussion of the conceptualisation of human needs, this paper reports on a small pilot study that presents the voices of 10 disadvantaged men, identifying what poverty is for them in Melbourne     

Editorial

Abstract

The Publications Committee consists of six members. Each member of the Committee will be invited to provide a guest editorial, to introduce the Committee members to the readership. The editorial will have the rubic of Publications and the AASW'. The editorial will introduce the readership to the views and beliefs of individual Committee members in relation to publications; as such it will not necessarily reflect AASW publication policy. We begin with Dr. Jim Barber.

OVER five years ago now, the Board of Directors commissioned me to conduct a review of Australian Social Workand to canvass the options for change at the November 1995 Board meeting in Canberra. I was told that there had been persistent complaints within some branches about the quality of the journal and its relevance to the membership at large.     

Anglo‐Australian and non‐Anglophone middle classes: ‘foreign accent’ and social inclusion

Building on the concept of ‘multicultural middle class’, this paper explores social inclusion of professionally educated and employed non‐Anglophone immigrants in Australia. We focus specifically on the perceptions and implications of ‘foreign accent’ in the interaction between two groups of middle‐class Australians: non‐Anglophone immigrants and Anglo‐Australians. ‘Non‐Anglophone immigrants’ are defined as those who arrived in Australia as adults, grew up speaking a language other than English, and therefore usually speak English with a ‘foreign accent’. ‘Anglo‐Australians’ are defined as people born in Australia who grew up in families/households where only English was spoken, therefore speaking with a ‘native Australian’ accent. Through a survey of a targeted sample of respondents, the two groups were asked about their intergroup communication, wider interaction (e.g., intermarriage, friendships and working together) and mutual perceptions. Our findings indicate high levels of agreement between the two groups that Anglophone/non‐Anglophone communication is minimally hindered by comprehension problems due to foreign‐accented speech and cultural differences. Although the positive picture that emerges may reflect specific experiences and attitudes of middle‐class professionals and may not be generalisable, increased contact of the 'multicultural middle class' with its Anglo‐Australian counterpart is likely to be a factor in dissociating foreign accent and negative stereotyping.