ASMS Directory of Members: 318S-384S, Y Li-W Schulz

Estadístiques de salu

University academic staff members as gatekeepers of mental health for graduate students

Mental health challenges are six times higher in graduate students compared to the general population. Despite the strikingly high numbers, very few students seek professional help. This study aims to determine if academic staff members (ASMs) are potential gatekeepers of mental health for graduate students, as they are well-positioned to offer an initial point of contact to connect students in distress to professional help sources. A total of 125 ASMs at a large teaching and research university in Canada completed an anonymous online survey that measured multiple factors associated with being a mental health gatekeeper, such as mental health literacy, preparedness and self-efficacy, using the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS), Gatekeeper Behavior Scale (GBS) and Gatekeeper Self-Efficacy Scale (GKSES), respectively, along with demographic and professional information. Open-ended questions on types of support and/or training required were also included to understand what changes need to be adopted for ASMs’ work organization upon taking the role of a gatekeeper. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including one-way ANOVA, to compare differences among genders, academic disciplines and academic ranks. ASMs demonstrated higher mean scores in all three outcome measures: mental health literacy (M=123, SD=23), gatekeeper behavior scale (M=62, SD=21) and gatekeeper self-efficacy scale (M=37, SD=14) as compared to previous studies. There was a significant difference in mental health literacy among academic disciplines (F(2,120)=7.8, p=0.001) and academic ranks (F(3,121)=3.9, p=0.01). The findings also indicated significant differences in both preparedness (F(2,120)=5.9, p=0.003) and self-efficacy (F(2,120)=9.2, p=0.000) between academic disciplines. No difference was found between genders in any of the three outcome measures. The participants recognized the need to support students but did not feel adequately prepared to recognize mental health challenges or feel knowledgeable about how to support students. ASMs in this study revealed the need for appropriate gatekeeper training and addressed effective strategies, coping tools, and resources that the university can implement to support them. Thus, ASMs can be potential gatekeepers of mental health for graduate students if they can receive appropriate training and support from the university to help their graduate students effectively when needed

AEGIS: A MILITARY INNOVATION CASE STUDY

The threat of hypersonic missiles being employed against U.S. naval forces by adversaries like China and Russia has forced current civilian and naval leaders to reexamine fleet defense to a degree similar to efforts at the end of World War II. When confronted with the threat of kamikazes and early anti-ship cruise missiles, the Navy launched a series of programs to close the capabilities gap between adversary weapons and the lack of a credible defense. The Navy’s eventual solution, the AEGIS Weapon System, was a revolutionary synthesis of system engineering integration with novel fleet defense tactics that have served as the backbone of the Navy surface forces for over 40 years. Why did AEGIS succeed at innovating while other programs failed? This thesis will answer this question by analyzing the development of AEGIS, from program inception to the introduction of AEGIS ships in the fleet, through the four paradigms of military innovation studies. Examination of AEGIS through each paradigm found that intraservice competition and culture were instrumental in AEGIS's success, with significant implications for policymakers. This thesis concludes with recommendations on how to best orient the Navy's approach toward hypersonic missile defense in the future.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Creating a nationally representative individual and household sample for Great Britain, 1851 to 1901: the Victorian Panel Study (VPS)

'This publication is a direct result of an earlier scoping study undertaken for the ESRC's Research Resources Board which investigated the potential for creating a new longitudinal database of individuals and households for the period 1851 to 1901 - the Victorian Panel Study (VPS). The basic concept of the VPS is to create a unique longitudinal database of individuals and households for Great Britain spanning the period 1851-1901. The proposed VPS project raises a number of methodological and logistical challenges, and it is these which are the focus of this publication. The basic idea of the VPS is simple in concept. It would take as its base the individuals and households recorded in the existing ESRC-funded computerised national two per cent sample of the 1851 British census, created by Professor Michael Anderson, and trace these through subsequent registration and census information for the fifty-year period to 1901. The result would be a linked database with each census year between 1851 and 1901 in essence acting as a surrogate 'wave', associated with information from registration events that occurred between census years. Although the idea of a VPS can be expressed in this short and simple fashion, designing and planning it, together with identifying and justifying the resources necessary to create it, is a complex set of tasks, and it is these which this publication seeks to address. The primary aims and objectives of the project described in this publication were essentially as follows: to estimate the potential user demand for a VPS and examine the uses to which it may be put; to test the suitability of the existing 1851 census sample as an appropriate starting point for a VPS; to test differing sampling and methodological issues; to investigate record-linkage strategies; to investigate the relationship between the VPS and other longitudinal data projects (both contemporary and historical); and to recommend a framework and strategy for creating a full VPS. The structure and contents of this publication follow this basic project plan.' (author's abstract

S-BPM in the Wild

This is the first book to present field studies on the application of subject-oriented business process management (S-BPM). Each case presents a specific story and focuses on an essential modeling or implementation issue, and most end with implications or suggestions for further studies. Significant variables and success factors are identified that were discovered during the respective study and lead to suggesting S-BPM novelties. For each case, the authors explain step-by-step how the story develops, and provide readers guidance by detailing the respective rationale. The studies covered are clustered according to three main S-BPM themes: Part I “Business Operation Support” documents approaches to the practical development of S-BPM solutions in various application domains and organizational settings, while Part II “Consultancy and Education Support” highlights cases that can help to train readers in S-BPM modeling and knowledge acquisition for S-BPM lifecycle iterations. It also refers to architecting S-BPM solutions for application cases based on hands-on experience. Part III “Technical Execution Support” focuses on concepts for utilizing specific theories and technologies to execute S-BPM models. It also addresses how to create reference models for certain settings in the field. Lastly, the appendix covers all relevant aspects needed to grasp S-BPM modeling and apply it based on fundamental examples. Its format reconciles semantic precision with syntactic rigor.>Addressing the needs of developers, educators and practitioners, this book will help companies to learn from the experiences of first-time users and to develop systems that fit their business processes, explaining the latest key methodological and technological S-BPM developments in the fields of training, research and application

The Software Vulnerability Ecosystem: Software Development In The Context Of Adversarial Behavior

Software vulnerabilities are the root cause of many computer system security fail- ures. This dissertation addresses software vulnerabilities in the context of a software lifecycle, with a particular focus on three stages: (1) improving software quality dur- ing development; (2) pre- release bug discovery and repair; and (3) revising software as vulnerabilities are found. The question I pose regarding software quality during development is whether long-standing software engineering principles and practices such as code reuse help or hurt with respect to vulnerabilities. Using a novel data-driven analysis of large databases of vulnerabilities, I show the surprising result that software quality and software security are distinct. Most notably, the analysis uncovered a counterintu- itive phenomenon, namely that newly introduced software enjoys a period with no vulnerability discoveries, and further that this “Honeymoon Effect” (a term I coined) is well-explained by the unfamiliarity of the code to malicious actors. An important consequence for code reuse, intended to raise software quality, is that protections inherent in delays in vulnerability discovery from new code are reduced. The second question I pose is the predictive power of this effect. My experimental design exploited a large-scale open source software system, Mozilla Firefox, in which two development methodologies are pursued in parallel, making that the sole variable in outcomes. Comparing the methodologies using a novel synthesis of data from vulnerability databases, These results suggest that the rapid-release cycles used in agile software development (in which new software is introduced frequently) have a vulnerability discovery rate equivalent to conventional development. Finally, I pose the question of the relationship between the intrinsic security of software, stemming from design and development, and the ecosystem into which the software is embedded and in which it operates. I use the early development lifecycle to examine this question, and again use vulnerability data as the means of answering it. Defect discovery rates should decrease in a purely intrinsic model, with software maturity making vulnerabilities increasingly rare. The data, which show that vulnerability rates increase after a delay, contradict this. Software security therefore must be modeled including extrinsic factors, thus comprising an ecosystem

Natural language processing (NLP) for clinical information extraction and healthcare research

Introduction: Epilepsy is a common disease with multiple comorbidities. Routinely collected health care data have been successfully used in epilepsy research, but they lack the level of detail needed for in-depth study of complex interactions between the aetiology, comorbidities, and treatment that affect patient outcomes. The aim of this work is to use natural language processing (NLP) technology to create detailed disease-specific datasets derived from the free text of clinic letters in order to enrich the information that is already available. Method: An NLP pipeline for the extraction of epilepsy clinical text (ExECT) was redeveloped to extract a wider range of variables. A gold standard annotation set for epilepsy clinic letters was created for the validation of the ExECT v2 output. A set of clinic letters from the Epi25 study was processed and the datasets produced were validated against Swansea Neurology Biobank records. A data linkage study investigating genetic influences on epilepsy outcomes using GP and hospital records was supplemented with the seizure frequency dataset produced by ExECT v2. Results: The validation of ExECT v2 produced overall precision, recall, and F1 score of 0.90, 0.86, and 0.88, respectively. A method of uploading, annotating, and linking genetic variant datasets within the SAIL databank was established. No significant differences in the genetic burden of rare and potentially damaging variants were observed between the individuals with vs without unscheduled admissions, and between individuals on monotherapy vs polytherapy. No significant difference was observed in the genetic burden between people who were seizure free for over a year and those who experienced at least one seizure a year. Conclusion: This work presents successful extraction of epilepsy clinical information and explores how this information can be used in epilepsy research. The approach taken in the development of ExECT v2, and the research linking the NLP outputs, routinely collected health care data, and genetics set the way for wider research