The Schur Factorization Property as it Applies to Subsets of the General Laguerre Polynomials

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing of Bard College

Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study

<b>Background</b>: Taller people and those with better lung function are at reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Biological mechanisms for these associations are not well understood, but both measures may be markers for early life exposures. Some studies have shown that leg length, an indicator of pre-pubertal nutritional status, is the component of height most strongly associated with CHD risk. Other studies show that height-CHD associations are greatly attenuated when lung function is controlled for. This study examines (1) the association of height and the components of height (leg length and trunk length) with CHD risk factors and (2) the relative strength of the association of height and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) with risk factors for CHD. <b>Subjects and methods</b>: Cross sectional analysis of data collected at detailed cardiovascular screening examinations of 1040 men and 1298 women aged 30–59 whose parents were screened in 1972–76. Subjects come from 1477 families and are members of the Midspan Family Study. <b>Setting</b>: The towns of Renfrew and Paisley in the West of Scotland. <b>Results</b>: Taller subjects and those with better lung function had more favourable cardiovascular risk factor profiles, associations were strongest in relation to FEV1. Higher FEV1 was associated with lower blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, fibrinogen, white blood cell count, and body mass index. Similar, but generally weaker, associations were seen with height. These associations were not attenuated in models controlling for parental height. Longer leg length, but not trunk length, was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Longer leg length was also associated with more favourable levels of cholesterol and body mass index than trunk length. <b>Conclusions</b>:These findings provide indirect evidence that measures of lung development and pre-pubertal growth act as biomarkers for childhood exposures that may modify an individual's risk of developing CHD. Genetic influences do not seem to underlie height-CHD associations

The efficacy of problem-solving treatments after deliberate self-harm: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with respect to depression, hopelessness and improvement in problems

Background. Brief problem-solving therapy is regarded as a pragmatic treatment for deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients. A recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating this approach indicated a trend towards reduced repetition of DSH but the pooled odds ratio was not statistically significant. We have now examined other important outcomes using this procedure, namely depression, hopelessness and improvement in problems. Method. Six trials in which problem-solving therapy was compared with control treatment were identified from an extensive literature review of RCTs of treatments for DSH patients. Data concerning depression, hopelessness and improvement in problems were extracted. Where relevant statistical data (e.g. standard deviations) were missing these were imputed using various statistical methods. Results were pooled using meta-analytical procedures. Results. At follow-up, patients who were offered problem-solving therapy had significantly greater improvement in scores for depression (standardized mean difference =[minus sign]0·36; 95% CI [minus sign]0·61 to [minus sign]0·11) and hopelessness (weighted mean difference =[minus sign]3·2; 95% CI [minus sign]4·0 to [minus sign]2·41), and significantly more reported improvement in their problems (odds ratio = 2·31; 95% CI 1·29 to 4·13), than patients who were in the control treatment groups. Conclusions. Problem-solving therapy for DSH patients appears to produce better results than control treatment with regard to improvement in depression, hopelessness and problems. It is desirable that this finding is confirmed in a large trial, which will also allow adequate testing of the impact of this treatment on repetition of DSH

The hazards of perception : evaluating a change blindness demonstration within a real-world driver education course

Overconfidence in one’s driving ability can lead to risky decision-making and may therefore increase the accident risk. When educating people about the risks of their driving behavior, it is all too easy for individuals to assume that the message is not meant for them and so can be ignored. In this study we developed and assessed the effect of a road safety demonstration based around the phenomenon of change blindness within a real-world Driver Awareness Course. We collected quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration in both a police-led environment (Experiment 1) and a laboratory environment (Experiment 2). We also compared the change blindness intervention to two control tasks. The results showed that participants’ self-reported ability to spot important visual changes was reduced after the change blindness demonstration in both experiments, but was not reduced after participation in the control tasks of Experiment 2. Furthermore, participants described the change blindness demonstrations positively and would recommend that they were shown more widely

Searching for suicide methods:Accessibility of information about helium as a method of suicide on the Internet

Abstract. Background: Helium gas suicides have increased in England and Wales; easy-to-access descriptions of this method on the Internet may have contributed to this rise. Aims: To investigate the availability of information on using helium as a method of suicide and trends in searching about this method on the Internet. Method: We analyzed trends in (a) Google searching (2004–2014) and (b) hits on a Wikipedia article describing helium as a method of suicide (2013–2014). We also investigated the extent to which helium was described as a method of suicide on web pages and discussion forums identified via Google. Results: We found no evidence of rises in Internet searching about suicide using helium. News stories about helium suicides were associated with increased search activity. The Wikipedia article may have been temporarily altered to increase awareness of suicide using helium around the time of a celebrity suicide. Approximately one third of the links retrieved using Google searches for suicide methods mentioned helium. Conclusion: Information about helium as a suicide method is readily available on the Internet; the Wikipedia article describing its use was highly accessed following celebrity suicides. Availability of online information about this method may contribute to rises in helium suicides. </jats:p

燒炭自殺在東亞國家的流行散佈: 趨勢分析

The Abstract Book can be viewed at: http://www.sop.org.tw/book/download/Summary2013.pdfConference Theme: Focusing on Mental Health, Life Care and Social Network in the ElderlyObjective: Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from burning barbecue charcoal reached epidemic levels in Hong Kong and Taiwan within 5 years in the early 2000s. Methods: We used data for suicides by gases other than domestic gas in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea (1995-2010), Taiwan (1995-2011), and Singapore (1996-2011) to systematically investigate the spread of this method in East Asia. Graphical and joinpoint regression analyses were used to examine suicide trends and Poisson regression analysis to study sex- and age-specific patterns. Results: In 1995/1996, charcoal-burning suicides accounted for < 1% of all suicides in all study countries, except around 5% in Japan, but they increased to account for 14%, 28%, 13%, 4.3%, and 3.4% of all suicides in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore respectively in 2010. Rises were first seen in Hong Kong in 1999, followed by Singapore in 2000, Taiwan in 2001, Japan in 2003, and South Korea in 2008. There was some evidence for an impact on overall suicide trends in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan (females), but not in Japan (males), South Korea, and Singapore. Rates of change did not differ by sex/age group in Taiwan and Hong Kong but were greatest in young people in Japan and middleaged men and young women in South Korea. Conclusion: Variations in the timing, scale and sex/age pattern of the epidemic appear to be influenced by the media reporting of charcoal-burning suicide, whilst other factors such as the characteristics of the first or first few cases, language and ulture, familiarity and accessibility with the method, and socio-economic conditions may also play a role. Strategies to limit the epidemic spread of new suicide methods include surveillance to enable the early identification of the emergence of such methods, responsible media reporting and restrictions on Internet sites giving technical information about the method

Does Restricting Pack Size of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) Reduce Suicides?

The authors discuss a new study that examined the change in deaths attributed to paracetamol poisoning in England and Wales in the six years before and after a legislated reduction in the maximum pack size