Puerto rican drug users’ experiences of physical and sexual abuse: Comparisons based on sexual identities

This study integrates the results of quantitative and qualitative methods to elucidate the association between sexual identity and physical and sexual abuse among Puerto Rican drug users. A structured questionnaire was administered to 800 subjects in New York and 399 in Puerto Rico. A total of 93 subjects (7.9%) self‐identified as homosexual or bisexual. Gay males were significantly more likely than heterosexual males to report first occurrence of physical abuse by a family member in childhood. Both gay and bisexual males were more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to report first experiencing unwanted sex in childhood and intimate partner physical abuse later in life. Lesbians were more likely than female heterosexuals to report unwanted sex in childhood. Qualitative data were collected through in‐depth life histories with 21 subjects and suggest that gay and lesbian subjects perceive antihomosexual prejudice on the part of family members as one cause of childhood physical and sexual abuse.     

Activity patterns and temporal niche partitioning of dogs and medium-sized wild mammals in urban parks of Xalapa,Mexico

Urban Ecosystems - Free-ranging domestic dogs are the world most common exotic carnivore species that could negatively interact with the native wildlife as predators, competitors, and disease...     

Bivariate exponential-type distributions with linear regression

Let Xbe a bivariate exponential-type random vector (BIDLIKAR, PATIL (1968)), than it is proved:

1. If P(X ≥0) = 1 is valid, then Xhas linear regression to both directions if and only if Xpossesses a symmetric Γ-distribution.

2. Xpossesses linear regression to both directions with constant regression coefficients (independent of the parameter vector ? of the exponential-type distribution (BIDLIKAR, PATIL (1968)) if and only if Xis normal distributed.     

R–estimation of normed bivariate density functions

Normed bivariate density funtions were introduced by HOEFFDING (1940/41). In the present paper estimators for normed bivariate ranks and on a FOURIER series expansion in LEGENDRE polynomials. The estimation of normed bivarate density functions under positive dependence is also described     

A plug-in technique in nonparametric regression with dependence

The problem addressed is that of smoothing parameter selection in kernel nonparametric regression in the fixed design regression model with dependent noise. An asymptotic expression of the optimum bandwidth parameter has been obtained in recent studies, where this takes the form h = C ₀ n ^?1/5. This paper proposes to use a plug-in methodology, in order to obtain an optimum estimation of the bandwidth parameter, through preliminary estimation of the unknown value of C ₀.     

Applying kaizen to the schedule in a concurrent environment

Not only ETO (Engineering to Order), but even serial production industry should know how to deal with projects and their schedule: plant commissioning, shutdown, introducing new products and similar circumstances should be managed with adequate planning and resource allocation techniques to create a schedule useful in decision making during the execution. The current complex reality, with evolving technologies and fierce pressure to reach the market as soon as possible, pushes the project managers to use more advanced techniques than waterfall planning, such as agile or lean. It also requires them to take a holistic view and manage concurrent tasks in complex projects. The contributions of this paper are two: the proposal to control specific parallel groups of waterfall activities under uncertain environments, which can lead to iterations and reworks, as a single concurrent Activity Managed by Kanban Methods (AMKM). This activity can be subsequently embedded into traditional scheduling approaches as CPM-PERT. The second contribution is the feasibility of its application in industrial environments due to the affordability of simulation software. Two use cases are shown as evidence. It is not a disruptive proposal, but a kaizen action based on very mature technologies. Finally, it is suggested some improvements to be implemented in Project Management Software due to this ‘kaizen’ proposal.     

Your work may be killing you! Workaholism,sleep problems and cardiovascular risk

This study tests the relationships between workaholism (i.e. working excessively and compulsively), sleep problems and cardiovascular risk in 537 employees from five Spanish hospitals. Four types of worker (i.e. workaholics, positive workers, compulsive workers and hard workers) were distinguished, and their health indicators were compared. The results showed that workaholics experienced significantly more sleep problems (i.e. morning tiredness, sleeping while driving and sleeping fewer hours both on weekdays and at weekends, with poorer quality), had higher relative risk scores, and consumed more caffeine and alcohol than the other patterns of worker (positive, compulsive and hard workers). Further analyses revealed that sleep problems fully mediated the relationship between workaholism (i.e. working excessively and compulsively) and cardiovascular risk. The study emphasizes the fact that being a workaholic might be a significant risk factor for having sleep problems and cardiovascular disease.     

Therapeutic residential care in Spain. Population treated and therapeutic coverage

Therapeutic residential care (TRC) is the name given to specialized children's homes for treating cases with severe emotional and behavioural problems that have been placed in residential care. A recent international review has revealed great diversity in the referral criteria of cases and in the models of intervention carried out. The goal of this study is to describe the population treated in these types of facilities in Spain and the therapeutic coverage given. The sample is made up of 215 young people in children's homes, of whom 93 are in TRC. The cases referred to TRC have been in residential care for less time but have gone through a greater number of placements. These young people also exhibit more problems of drug use, and there is a larger percentage of clinical‐range cases in the Child Behaviour Checklist scales of attention problems and aggressive behaviour. Nevertheless, the results of logistic regression indicate that the only variables that significantly increase the probability of being referred to TRC are drug use and changes of care placements. With regard to therapeutic care, there is a higher percentage in the TRC group receiving psychiatric care, and the sessions are also more frequent.