Solar cell mounting Patent

Fabrication of solar cell banks for attaching solar cells to base members or substrate

Helping the Medicine Go Down: How a Spoonful of Mediation Can Alleviate the Problems of Medical Malpractice Litigation

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Parent training for preschool ADHD: a randomized controlled trial of specialized and generic programs

BackgroundThe New Forest Parenting Package' (NFPP), an 8-week home-based intervention for parents of preschoolers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fosters constructive parenting to target ADHD-related dysfunctions in attention and impulse control. Although NFPP has improved parent and laboratory measures of ADHD in community samples of children with ADHD-like problems, its efficacy in a clinical sample, and relative to an active treatment comparator, is unknown. The aims are to evaluate the short- and long-term efficacy and generalization effects of NFPP compared to an established clinic-based parenting intervention for treating noncompliant behavior [Helping the Noncompliant Child' (HNC)] in young children with ADHD. MethodsA randomized controlled trial with three parallel arms was the design for this study. A total of 164 3-4-year-olds, 73.8% male, meeting DSM-IV ADHD diagnostic criteria were randomized to NFPP (N=67), HNC (N=63), or wait-list control (WL, N=34). All participants were assessed at post-treatment. NFPP and HNC participants were assessed at follow-up in the next school year. Primary outcomes were ADHD ratings by teachers blind to and uninvolved in treatment, and by parents. Secondary ADHD outcomes included clinician assessments, and laboratory measures of on-task behavior and delay of gratification. Other outcomes included parent and teacher ratings of oppositional behavior, and parenting measures. (Trial name: Home-Based Parent Training in ADHD Preschoolers; Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01320098; URL: ). ResultsIn both treatment groups, children's ADHD and ODD behaviors, as well as aspects of parenting, were rated improved by parents at the end of treatment compared to controls. Most of these gains in the children's behavior and in some parenting practices were sustained at follow-up. However, these parent-reported improvements were not corroborated by teacher ratings or objective observations. NFPP was not significantly better, and on a few outcomes significantly less effective, than HNC. ConclusionsThe results do not support the claim that NFPP addresses putative dysfunctions underlying ADHD, bringing about generalized change in ADHD, and its underpinning self-regulatory processes. The findings support documented difficulties in achieving generalization across nontargeted settings, and the importance of using blinded measures to provide meaningful assessments of treatment effects

Control of a Realistic Wave Energy Converter Model using Least-Squares Policy Iteration

PublishedThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers via the DOI in this record.An algorithm has been developed for the resistive control of a non-linear model of a wave energy converter using least-squares policy iteration, which incorporates function approximation, with tabular and radial basis functions being used as features. With this method, the controller learns the optimal PTO damping coefficient in each sea state for the maximization of the mean generated power. The performance of the algorithm is assessed against two on-line reinforcement learning schemes: Q-learning and SARSA. In both regular and irregular waves, least-squares policy iteration outperforms the other strategies, especially when starting from unfavourable conditions for learning. Similar performance is observed for both basis functions, with a smaller number of radial basis functions underfitting the Q-function. The shorter learning time is fundamental for a practical application on a real wave energy converter. Furthermore, this work shows that least-squares policy iteration is able to maximize the energy absorption of a wave energy converter despite strongly non-linear effects due to its model-free nature, which removes the influence of modelling errors. Additionally, the floater geometry has been changed during a simulation to show that reinforcement learning control is able to adapt to variations in the system dynamics.This work was supported partly by the Energy Technologies Institute and the Research Councils Energy Programme (grant EP/J500847/), partly by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/J500847/1), and partly by Wave Energy Scotland

Reactive control of a two-body point absorber using reinforcement learning

In this article, reinforcement learning is used to obtain optimal reactive control of a two-body point absorber. In particular, the Q-learning algorithm is adopted for the maximization of the energy extraction in each sea state. The controller damping and stiffness coefficients are varied in steps, observing the associated reward, which corresponds to an increase in the absorbed power, or penalty, owing to large displacements. The generated power is averaged over a time horizon spanning several wave cycles due to the periodicity of ocean waves, discarding the transient effects at the start of each new episode. The model of a two-body point absorber is developed in order to validate the control strategy in both regular and irregular waves. In all analysed sea states, the controller learns the optimal damping and stiffness coefficients. Furthermore, the scheme is independent of internal models of the device response, which means that it can adapt to variations in the unit dynamics with time and does not suffer from modelling errors

Which type of parent training works best for preschoolers with comorbid ADHD and ODD? A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial comparing generic and specialized programs

The present study examined whether the presence of comorbid ODD differentially moderated the outcome of two Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) programs in a sample of preschoolers with ADHD: One designed specifically for ADHD (NFPP: New Forest Parenting Programme) and one designed primarily for ODD (HNC: Helping the Noncompliant Child). In a secondary analysis, 130 parents and their 3-4 year-old children diagnosed with ADHD were assigned to one of the two programs. 44.6 % of the children also met criteria for ODD. Significant interactions between treatment conditions (NFPP vs. HNC) and child ODD diagnosis (presence vs. absence) indicated that based on some parent and teacher reports, HNC was more effective with disruptive behaviors than NFPP but only when children had a comorbid diagnosis. Further, based on teacher report, NFPP was more effective with these behaviors when children had a diagnosis of only ADHD whereas HNC was equally effective across ADHD only and comorbid ODD diagnoses. Comorbidity profile did not interact with treatment program when parent or teacher reported ADHD symptoms served as the outcome. Implications for clinical interventions are discussed and directions for future work are provided

Child Psychosocial Adjustment and Parenting in Families Affected by Maternal HIV/AIDS

Child adjustment and parenting were examined in 23 9-through 16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were seropositive reported significantly more externalizing problems. Infected mothers reported less age-appropriate supervision/monitoring relative to non-infected mothers. Better mother-child relationship quality and less impairment in parental supervision/monitoring of age-appropriate youth behaviors were associated with fewer externalizing difficulties among the HIV-positive group only. Similarly, only among HIV-infected mothers was refraining from engaging in inconsistent disciplinary tactics associated with lower reports of internalizing and externalizing problems. These data highlight the promise of programs targeting parenting skills to prevent or ameliorate child difficulties

Parenting interventions for ADHD: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Objective. To evaluate the evidence base relating to the effectiveness of parent-administered behavioral interventions for ADHD