Characteristics of Gambling Helpline Callers with Self-Reported Gambling and Alcohol Use Problems

The characteristics of problem gamblers calling the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) gambling helpline during the years 2000–2001 (n = 960) were examined based on the presence or absence of self-reported alcohol use problems. A relatively low proportion of callers reported a problem with alcohol use (173/960 or 18.0%), and of those acknowledging an alcohol use problem, the majority reported a past rather than current problem (143/173 or 82.7%). A logistic regression analysis found that, as compared with problem gamblers denying any alcohol use problems, those reporting past or current alcohol use problems were more likely to be male and more frequently acknowledged problems with more forms of gambling, suicide attempts related to gambling, arrests secondary to gambling, daily tobacco use, drug use problems, prior substance abuse treatment, and family histories positive for alcohol and drug use problems. The findings highlight the strong relationship between alcohol use problems and other substance use problems, and suggest that problem gamblers with as compared with those without alcohol use problems demonstrate greater problems in multiple areas (arrest, attempted suicide) linked by impaired impulse control.Please address correspondence to Marc N. Potenza, Director, Problem Gambling Clinic; Director, Women and Addictive Disorders Core, Women’s Health Research at Yale; Yale University School of Medicine, Connecticut Mental Health Center, Room S-104, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519. E-mail: marc.potenza@yale.edu.     

A Perspective on Problem Gambling Treatment: Issues and Challenges

Researchers face several challenges in conducting gambling treatment research. These include the impact of monetary incentives to participate, difficulty in subject recruitment, treatment ambivalence, heterogeneity of gambling behaviors among treatment samples, the role of natural recovery, the impact of intractable financial pressures, and the specification of adequate process and outcome measures. Each challenge is defined and potential resolutions suggested.     

Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Treatment Outcome Research

Few studies have evaluated the comparative efficacy, effectiveness and mode of action of specific treatment interventions, or developed evidence-based best-practice management guidelines for the treatment of problem gambling. While individual and multi-modal programmes demonstrate positive results, systematic well-designed randomised controlled studies incorporating follow-up blind assessments and standardised diagnostic and outcome measures are needed to establish long-term outcomes.     

权利保护、法律供给与"三农"问题

"三农"问题的形成有其深刻的历史渊源,其本质是一个法律问题,即如何全面有效地保障农民权利的问题.为此,解决"三农"问题必须从法律制度的构建入手,通过全面推进农村法治建设,确保农民的基本国民权利实现,从根本上消除权利的贫困,实现农村的富裕.     

我国策略教学研究的现状分析和未来发展建构

策略教学解决的是教与学策略的实践问题.我国的策略教学经历了一个从不同层次策略的教学到策略教学的条件、影响因素、模式和有效性的深化研究过程.目前主要存在理论创新、策略开发、实证拓展、推广应用和有效性标准认识等问题.今后策略教学需要创新理论体系,研究策略开发机制,系统探讨策略各成分及其影响因素之间的相互作用问题,开展策略教学的策略、模式、评价、体验、学科渗透、学段衔接、教材编制等研究.     

关键时刻关键问题上的关键决策——邓小平在解决香港问题全过程中的远见卓识

尽管在香港问题上有"一国两制"这一伟大构想,但要使英国人接受它并不是一件容易的事.这就意味着解决香港问题的谈判必将是艰巨的和曲折的.但在邓小平的领导下,通过对主权原则的强调、对过渡时期的混乱所采取的关键措施以及通过制定香港回归后所采取的能为各方面接受的政策,中国政府成功地解决了在关键时刻几乎所有关键领域的关键问题.     

Problem Gambling and Comorbid Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders Among Drug Users Recruited from Drug Treatment and Community Settings

Little is known about gambling rates of drug users recruited from drug treatment compared with those recruited from the community. We use the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) to provide lifetime prevalence estimates of problem gambling (i.e., at least one gambling problem) and DSM-III-R pathological gambling (i.e., at least four gambling problems) and describe the association between gambling and psychiatric disorders for drug users recruited from drug treatment settings (n = 512) and from the community (n = 478). We also report the relative risk of being a recreational and problem gambler in this sample. The sample was first interviewed in 1989–90 as a partof two NIDA-funded St. Louis-based studies. The prevalence of problem gambling in the overall sample was 22% and the prevalence of pathological gambling was 11%. There were no statistically significant differences in problem and pathological gambling rates for subjects recruited from drug treatment and those recruited from the community. The conditional prevalence rates, that is, the rate of problem and pathological gambling only among gamblers were 27% and 13.5%, respectively. Major findings indicate that problem gambling was associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), even after controlling for recruitment source and socio-demographic characteristics. In fact, when examining the temporal order of these disorders, we found that pathological gambling was always secondary to ASPD, occurring on average 11.4 years after the onset of ASPD. Problem gamblers, compared with everyone else, were more likely to be male, African-American, recruited from drug treatment, have ASPD and be dependent on illicit drugs. Multinomial logistic regression analysis predicted the relative risk of being a recreational and problem gambler (compared with a nongambler) in this sample according to socio-demographics, ASPD, and dependence on illicit drugs. Results imply that screening for gambling problems will need to be broad-based among drug users.     

The shortest path improvement problems under Hamming distance

In this paper, we consider the shortest path improvement problems under Hamming distance (SPIH), where the weights of edges can be modified only within given intervals. Two models are considered: the general SPIH problem and the SPIH problem with a single pair of required vertices. For the first problem, we show that it is strongly NP-hard. For the second problem, we show that even if the network is a chain network, it is still NP-hard.This paper is dedicated to Dr. Yong He.     

Exact methods in optimum disassembly sequence search for problems subject to sequence dependent costs

Disassembling complex products is formally approached via network representation and subsequent mathematical modeling, aimed at selecting a good or optimum sequence of disassembly operations. This is done via heuristics, metaheuristics or mathematical programming. In contrast with heuristics and metaheuristics, which select a near-optimum solution, mathematical programming guarantees the selection of the global optimum. This problem is relatively simple if the disassembly costs can be assumed sequence independent. In practice, however, sequence dependent disassembly costs are frequently encountered, which causes NP-completeness of the problem. Although methods, e.g., based on the two-commodity network flow approach, are available to solve this constrained asymmetric Traveling Salesperson problem rigorously, this requires the introduction of integer variables. In this paper, a modification of the two-commodity network flow approach is proposed, which reduces the number of integer variables. This is applied to product structures that can be represented by a disassembly precedence graph. It is demonstrated that use of integer variables is completely avoided by iteratively solving a binary integer linear programming problem. This appears to be more efficient than solving the corresponding integer linear programming problem. It is demonstrated, on the basis of some cases, that this method might provide the exact solution of problems with increased complexity compared to those discussed so far in the literature. This appears particularly useful for evaluating heuristic and metaheuristic approaches.     

多车型确定性动态车辆调配问题

详细地描述了多车型确定性动态车辆调配问题.建立了问题的线性规划模型,鉴于线性模型的缺点,构造一个线性函数来近似目标函数中未来时段部分,从而建立起问题的时空分解模型,把问题从时间和空间上分解为多个单时段单节点问题,并根据单时段单节点问题的特点设计简单的排序求解方法.最后给出了问题的完整求解过程,从而使问题能够得到有效解决.