Joint modelling of longitudinal binary data and survival data

The medical costs in an ageing society substantially increase when the incidences of chronic diseases, disabilities and inability to live independently are high. Healthy lifestyles not only affect elderly individuals but also influence the entire community. When assessing treatment efficacy, survival and quality of life should be considered simultaneously. This paper proposes the joint likelihood approach for modelling survival and longitudinal binary covariates simultaneously. Because some unobservable information is present in the model, the Monte Carlo EM algorithm and Metropolis-Hastings algorithm are used to find the estimators. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed model based on the accuracy and precision of the estimates. Real data are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model.     

Efficient polynomial-time algorithms for the constrained LCS problem with strings exclusion

In this paper, we revisit a recent variant of the longest common subsequence (LCS) problem, the string-excluding constrained LCS (STR-EC-LCS) problem, which was first addressed by Chen and Chao (J Comb Optim 21(3):383–392, 2011). Given two sequences \(X\) and \(Y\) of lengths \(m\) and \(n,\) respectively, and a constraint string \(P\) of length \(r,\) we are to find a common subsequence \(Z\) of \(X\) and \(Y\) which excludes \(P\) as a substring and the length of \(Z\) is maximized. In fact, this problem cannot be correctly solved by the previously proposed algorithm. Thus, we give a correct algorithm with \(O(mnr)\) time to solve it. Then, we revisit the STR-EC-LCS problem with multiple constraints \(\{ P_1, P_2, \ldots , P_k \}.\) We propose a polynomial-time algorithm which runs in \(O(mnR)\) time, where \(R = \sum _{i=1}^{k} |P_i|,\) and thus it overthrows the previous claim of NP-hardness.     

Pilot Evaluation of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Taiwanese Children

The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Forty-six Taiwanese children age 6 to 13 were divided into one of two groups based on their school grade and then randomly assigned to a skills-based child sexual abuse prevention program who received training immediately or a waiting-list control condition who received the training after a delay. Children's self-protection skills improved regardless of age after participation in the program. The program, however, did not successfully improve children's knowledge of sexuality and safety. Although future studies should modify the program content to better target knowledge of sexuality and safety, these results are promising for a pilot of this skills-based CSA prevention program in Taiwan.     

Understanding lifetime homeless duration: investigating wave 1 findings from the Journeys Home project

The variation in the amount of time people remain homeless has important policy implications with respect to reducing long‐term homelessness and designing more effective early intervention approaches. This paper examines the factors that influence lifetime homeless duration in Australia using data from the first wave of Journeys Home, a new national survey of individuals exposed to high levels of housing insecurity that employs more rigorous sampling methods than previously used. Those at increased risk of long durations of homelessness over their lifetimes include people who had less family support in childhood, shorter work histories and lower education levels. We also find evidence supporting the idea that people who first experience homelessness at a young age are more likely to experience persistent homelessness.     

Improving Closing Task Completion in a Drugstore

A within-subject ABAB reversal design was utilized to investigate the effects of graphic feedback and goal setting on employee closing task completion. Goal setting was contingent upon baseline performance and graphic feedback was posted weekly. It was found that goal setting and graphic feedback improved employee closing task completion.     

Distribution lot-sizing models for arborescent supply chains with discrete-period variable demand

This study formulates a novel mixed-integer programming lot-sizing model for arborescent supply chains with discrete-period variable demand and then develops an efficient two-phase heuristic method, in which a combined multi-period demand ordering policy, rather than the lot-for-lot ordering policy usually assumed in previous papers, is adopted. Two important properties are introduced and used to obtain a better initial feasible solution. The good performance of the proposed heuristic method is verified through a comparison with the optimal solution method. It is also shown that the performance of the proposed combined multi-period demand ordering method is superior to that of the lot-for-lot ordering method. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to explore the impacts of changing the values of relevant parameters on the total supply chain cost, the total number of orders and the total number of opened members. Finally, a well-known logistics company in Taiwan is chosen to demonstrate the excellent performance and the aptness of the proposed ordering method.     

Young Carers,The Overlooked Caregiving Population: Introduction to a Special Issue

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal -     

Body Image and Self‐Esteem Among Adolescent Girls: Testing the Influence of Sociocultural Factors

In Western cultures, girls' self‐esteem declines substantially during middle adolescence, with changes in body image proposed as a possible explanation. Body image develops in the context of sociocultural factors, such as unrealistic media images of female beauty. In a study of 136 U.K. girls aged 11–16, experimental exposure to either ultra‐thin or average‐size magazine models lowered body satisfaction and, consequently, self‐esteem. Self‐esteem was also lower among older than among younger girls. Structural equation modeling showed that this age trend was partially accounted for by a corresponding downward trend in body satisfaction; this, in turn, was fully accounted for by upward age trends in awareness and internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, and in social comparison with media models. Results support calls for early educational interventions to help girls to deconstruct advertising and media images.     

“I Wish to be Self-Reliant”: Aspiration for Self-Reliance,Need and Life Satisfaction,and Exit Dilemma of Welfare Recipients in Hong Kong

This qualitative study explores the welfare recipients’ experiences of and attitudes toward the welfare benefit system in Hong Kong. A sample of 19 welfare recipients from six main recipient groups was interviewed, some twice. This study finds that the recipients have strong aspirations to exit the welfare benefit system. The welfare application process is painful; they are strongly stigmatized; they do not have sufficient resources to meet many of their expected needs; and, after all, they have strong ethos for self-reliance. However, they remain in the benefit system. This study looks into this paradox and the challenges facing the welfare benefit system in Hong Kong in terms of providing ontological security on the one hand and promoting self-reliance on the other.