A MOS-based Dynamic Memetic Differential Evolution Algorithm for Continuous Optimization: A Scalability Test

Continuous optimization is one of the areas with more activity in the field of heuristic optimization. Many algorithms have been proposed and compared on several benchmarks of functions, with different performance depending on the problems. For this reason, the combination of different search strategies seems desirable to obtain the best performance of each of these approaches. This contribution explores the use of a hybrid memetic algorithm based on the multiple offspring framework. The proposed algorithm combines the explorative/exploitative strength of two heuristic search methods that separately obtain very competitive results. This algorithm has been tested with the benchmark problems and conditions defined for the special issue of the Soft Computing Journal on Scalability of Evolutionary Algorithms and other Metaheuristics for Large Scale Continuous Optimization Problems. The proposed algorithm obtained the best results compared with both its composing algorithms and a set of reference algorithms that were proposed for the special issue

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Culturally Adapted Evidence-Based Treatment for Latino Youth With ADHD

Objective: To advance our knowledge about the most effective way to treat Latino youth with ADHD, the current feasibility and pilot study compared a culturally adapted evidence-based treatment (CAT) for ADHD to standard evidence-based treatment (EBT). Method: Following a comprehensive ADHD assessment, 61 Latino families of school-aged children (mean age of 8 years) were randomly assigned to either CAT or standard EBT (i.e., parent management training). Results: CAT outperformed standard EBT when examining homework completion and mother-reported treatment satisfaction. Apart from two trends favoring CAT, CAT and EBT both resulted in significant improvements in parent- and teacher-reported ADHD symptoms and functional impairment, as well as mother- and father-reported parental functioning. Conclusion: CAT outperformed standard EBT when examining several engagement and acceptability outcomes. CAT and EBT were equally effective when examining traditional treatment outcomes, which is impressive considering the robustness of standard EBT, especially when delivered by culturally competent staff

Measuring Subjective Wellbeing in Developing Countries.

The paper explores the conceptual and methodological issues entailed in using subjective measures of well-being in developing countries. In the first part I define, situate and contrast subjective quality of life (QoL), subjective well-being (SWB), and well-being. I also look at the conceptual and methodological shortcomings of subjective measures of well-being and suggest ways of overcoming these by combining different approaches. I then explore how an expanded concept of subjective quality of life fits into the theoretical framework of the UK-based Well-being in Developing Countries study (or WeD), specifically how it plans to produce a new, “development-related” profile of quality of life, drawing on the methodology of the WHOQOL group (1995; 1998)

Translation and validation of the Dutch version of the Effective Consumer Scale (EC-17)

PURPOSE: The Effective Consumer Scale (EC-17) measures the skills of musculoskeletal patients in managing their own healthcare. The objectives of this study were to translate the EC-17 into Dutch and to further evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: The EC-17 was translated and cognitively pretested following cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. Two hundred and thirty-eight outpatients (52 % response rate) with osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia completed the EC-17 along with other validated measures. Three weeks later, 101 patients completed the EC-17 again. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional structure of the scale. The items adequately fit the Rasch model and only one item demonstrated differential item functioning. Person reliability was high (0.92), but item difficulty levels tended to cluster around the middle of the scale, and measurement precision was highest for moderate and lower levels of skills. The scale demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.71), and correlations with other measures were largely as expected. CONCLUSION: The results supported the validity and reliability of the Dutch version of the EC-17, but suggest that the scale is best targeted at patients with relatively low levels of skills. Future studies should further examine its sensitivity to change in a clinical trial specifically aimed at improving effective consumer skills

Community-Based Participatory Research to Adapt Health Measures for Use by People with Developmental Disabilities

Background: People with developmental disabilities (DD) are often not included as participants in research owing to a variety of ethical and practical challenges. One major challenge is that traditional measurements instruments may not be accessible to people with DD. Participatory research approaches promise to increase the participation of marginalized communities in research, but few partnerships have successfully used such approaches to conduct quantitative studies people with DD. Objective: To use a community-based participatory search (CBPR) approach to create an accessible, computer-assisted survey about violence and health in people with DD, and to psychometrically test adapted health instruments. Methods: Our academic-community partnership, composed of academic researchers, people with DD, and supporters, collaboratively selected and modified data collection instruments, conducted cognitive interviews and pilot tests, and then administered the full survey to 350 people with DD. Results: Although team members sometimes had opposing accommodation needs and adaption recommendations, academic and community partners were able to work together successfully to adapt instruments to be accessible to participants with a wide range of DD. Results suggest the adapted health instruments had strong content validity and all but one had good to excellent internal consistency reliability (alpha, 0.81-0.94). The majority of participants (75%) responded that all or most of the questions were easy to understand. Conclusions: Researchers should consider using participatory approaches to adapting instruments so people with DD can be validly included in research

An Analysis of a Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithm by means of its Phylogenetic Information

The study conducted in this work analyses the interactions between different Evolutionary Algorithms when they are hybridized. For this purpose, the phylogenetic tree of the best solution reported by the hybrid algorithm is reconstructed, and the relationships among the ancestors of this solution are established. For each of these ancestors, the evolutionary techniques that generated that solution and the fitness increment introduced compared to its parents are recorded. The study reveals a structured interaction among the different evolutionary techniques that makes the hybrid algorithm to outperform each of its composing algorithms when executed individually. The Multiple Offspring Sampling framework has been used to develop the Hybrid EA studied in this work and the experiments have been conducted on the well-known CEC 2005 Benchmark for continuous optimizatio

Environmental governance: Participatory, multi-level - and effective?

Current international and European Union environmental policies increasingly promote collaborative and participatory decision-making on appropriate and multiple governance levels as a means to attain more sustainable policies and a more effective and lasting policy implementation. The entailed shifts of geographical scale of governance can be exemplified by the EU Water Framework Directive in that higher-level policies are devolved not only to the member states but to local collaborative decision-making bodies on natural as opposed to territorial scales. To date, empirical evidence and theoretical considerations have remained ambiguous about the environmental outcomes of such modes of governance. At the same time, the relationship between multi-level governance and non-state actor involvement remains a largely uncharted terrain. Accordingly, a twofold research agenda is mapped out: How does public participation work in different governance contexts? And what potential do multi-level governance environments have to foster the effectiveness of participatory governance? Drawing on scholarly literature on multi-level governance, policy implementation, public participation and complex systems, we develop five sets of hypotheses on how the number of policy levels and geographical rescaling affect citizen participation, actor interests and policy outcomes. We present empirical results based on a comparative meta-analysis of 47 case studies in environmental governance in North America and the EU, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. --Civic participation,multi-level governance,re-scaling,policy implementation,institutional fit,meta-analysis,case survey

Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology in Aging Combat Veterans: The Direct and Buffering Effects of Stress and Social Support

AbstractThe literature has reported that some older veterans are still distressed by memories of traumatic experiences decades after wartime military service. Recent research has suggested that posttraumatic stress symptoms may appear or reappear during late life in survivors of past trauma and that stress associated with age-related changes may intensify this phenomenon. This dissertation research examined the relationship between past combat exposure and posttraumatic stress symptomatology in community-dwelling veterans of World War II and the Korean War. The risk factor of perceived stress and the protective factor of perceived social support were examined for their potential to exacerbate or mitigate this relationship. The study also investigated the effect of past combat exposure and the role of the moderating variables on health-related quality of life. A secondary aim of the research was to assess the direct effect of perceived stress and perceived social support on the outcome variables.The results indicated that past combat exposure was positively associated with experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms in World War II and Korean War veterans. Perceived stress was found to significantly exacerbate this relationship. Direct effect relationships were found between perceived stress and both posttraumatic stress symptomatology and health-related quality of life. The mean number of posttraumatic stress symptoms experienced by participants at the symptomatic level was five. The most frequent symptom experienced was sleep disturbance, the second was becoming upset at reminders of the traumatic experience. Increased levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms were found in veterans who were not married, living in an urban area, and diagnosed with depression

Development and Psychometric Analysis of The Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale (PPPNBS)

Aim To (1) develop and psychometrically test the Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale, which measures patient perceptions of empowering nurse behaviours during hospitalization; and (2) refine to a shorter, more useful form, for measurement in clinical settings. Background Although patient empowerment has been promoted as a way to engage patients in chronic illness care, there is not a measure reported by patients as recipients of empowering nurse behaviours during hospitalization. Design Psychometric evaluation of construct and predictive validity, reliability and item reduction. Method Data gathered during hospitalization and six weeks postdischarge between April 2012 - August 2014 were used to determine the validity and reliability of the long and short-form Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale in a sample of 395 chronically ill medical and surgical adult patients. Results The long and short-form Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale demonstrated strong reliability and convergent validity with pre-discharge 13-item Patient Activation Measure scores. Both forms of the Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale predicted postdischarge 13-item Patient Activation Measure scores and the long-form predicted physical health status. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated improved model fit for the short-form instrument when compared with the long-form fit. The short-form Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale explained 98% of the variance of the long-form Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale. Conclusion The results provide evidence supporting reliability and validity of both forms. While the scales measure patient reports and not direct observation of empowering nurse behaviours, incorporating patients\u27 experiences as recipients of care is necessary to validate the contribution of nursing care to patients\u27 engagement in chronic illness management