Brief admission program. An alliance of inpatient care and outpatient case management

1. Brief planned and crisis admissions to an inpatient psychiatric unit are presented as a component supportive of outpatient care and case management for chronically mentally ill patients. 2. Typical patients admitted to this inpatient short-term program are those experiencing a life stress or temporary crisis; chronically mentally ill patients who cycle and experience exacerbations of their illness; and those who need to make the transition from an acute inpatient unit to community living. 3. The Brief Admission Program treats the individual's response to and the consequences of a lifelong illness and enables the patient to return to his previous level of functioning and continue necessary outpatient treatment.     

中沙关系回顾与展望

中国和沙特政治制度不同,但两国发展积极友好的关系没有障碍。目前,沙特是中国在西亚和非洲最大的贸易伙伴,两国经贸合作前景广阔。同时,中沙双方均奉行独立自主的外交政策,拥有良好的政治关系,未来在区域组织和联合国等国际舞台上将有更广泛的合作领域。     

中沙关系回顾与展望

中国和沙特政治制度不同,但两国发展积极友好的关系没有障碍.目前,沙特是中国在西亚和非洲最大的贸易伙伴,两国经贸合作前景广阔.同时,中沙双方均奉行独立自主的外交政策,拥有良好的政治关系,未来在区域组织和联合国等国际舞台上将有更广泛的合作领域.     

An Assessment of How Length of Study-Abroad Programs Influences Cross-Cultural Adaptation

Utilizing the integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation, the present study sought to examine the extent to which the length of study-abroad programs affects individuals' ethnic and cultural identification, willingness to engage in intercultural communication, intercultural communication competence, and cultural adaptation. The results of the study indicate that while length of study-abroad programs was not correlated to cultural adaptation, length of program was associated with changes in cultural and ethnic identification. Moreover, willingness to communicate with members of the host culture was associated with cultural identification as well as intercultural communication competence.     

Non-binary neighbor balance circular designs for v=2n and λ=2

Neighbor balance designs were first introduced by Rees (1967) in circular blocks for the use in serological research. Subsequently several researchers have defined the neighbor designs in different ways. In this paper, neighbor balance circular designs for (k≤v) block size are constructed for even number of treatments i.e. v=2n. No such series of designs is known in literature. Two theorems are developed for circular designs. Theorem 1 gives the non-binary circular blocks, whereas Theorem 2 generates binary circular blocks when n≤4 and non-binary blocks for n>4. In suggested designs no treatment is ever a neighbor of itself. Blocks are constructed in such a way that each treatment is a right and left neighbor of every other treatment for a fixed number of times say λ. Sizes of initial circular blocks are not same. One main guiding principle for such designs is to ensure economy in material use.     

A hybrid method to estimate the full parametric hazard model

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a hybrid method to estimate the baseline hazard for Cox proportional hazard model. In the proposed method, the nonparametric estimate of the survival function by Kaplan Meier, and the parametric estimate of the logistic function in the Cox proportional hazard by partial likelihood method are combined to estimate a parametric baseline hazard function. We compare the estimated baseline hazard using the proposed method and the Cox model. The results show that the estimated baseline hazard using hybrid method is improved in comparison with estimated baseline hazard using the Cox model. The performance of each method is measured based on the estimated parameters of the baseline distribution as well as goodness of fit of the model. We have used real data as well as simulation studies to compare performance of both methods. Monte Carlo simulations carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed hybrid method provided better estimate of the baseline in comparison with the estimated values by the Cox model.     

Media use predictors of online political efficacy among Internet users in five Arab countries

Informed by research on the uses and gratifications of the Internet for political activity, this study examines predictors of online political efficacy among Internet users in five Arab countries (N?=?4029): Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Qatar, and the U.A.E. As predicted, variables presumed to be associated with political dissidence in Arab countries – unemployment, distrust of mainstream media, young age, and feeling country is on the wrong track – were not positively associated with online political efficacy. Counter to what was hypothesized, however, Internet reliance and social media use were not strongly or consistently associated with online political efficacy in the five countries. Rather, the strongest predictors of efficacy were a belief in news media credibility, print media use (newspapers, magazines, and books), belief in the reliability of online information, and tolerance of free speech online. Findings align with some prior research on predictors of online political efficacy, but not with common presumptions of the role the Internet plays among Arab publics.     

Health Care Needs and Care Utilization Among Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Populations in New Jersey

The purpose of this study was to explore prevalent health issues, perceived barriers to seeking health care, and utilization of health care among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations in New Jersey. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 438 self-identified LGBT people. Results identified health needs, which included management of chronic diseases, preventive care for risky behaviors, mental health issues, and issues related to interpersonal violence. Barriers to seeking health care included scarceness of health professionals competent in LGBT health, inadequate health insurance coverage and lack of personal finances, and widely dispersed LGBT inclusive practices making transportation difficult. There is a need for better preparation of health care professionals who care for LGBT patients, to strengthen social services to improve access and for better integration of medical and social services.     

Non binary partially neighbor balanced designs for circular blocks

ABSTRACT

Neighbor designs are recommended for the cases where the performance of treatment is affected by the neighboring treatments as in biometrics and agriculture. In this paper we have constructed two new series of non binary partially neighbor balanced designs for v = 2n and v = 2n+1 number of treatments, respectively. The blocks in the design are non binary and circular but no treatment is ever a neighbor to itself. The designs proposed here are partially balanced in terms of nearest neighbors. No such series are known in the literature.