Minimizing and maximizing a linear objective function under a fuzzy max⁡−∗\max -\ast relational equation and an inequality constraint

summary:This paper provides an extension of results connected with the problem of the optimization of a linear objective function subject to $\max-\ast$ fuzzy relational equations and an inequality constraint, where $\ast$ is an operation. This research is important because the knowledge and the algorithms presented in the paper can be used in various optimization processes. Previous articles describe an important problem of minimizing a linear objective function under a fuzzy $\max-\ast$ relational equation and an inequality constraint, where $\ast$ is the $t$-norm or mean. The authors present results that generalize this outcome, so the linear optimization problem can be used with any continuous increasing operation with a zero element where $\ast$ includes in particular the previously studied operations. Moreover, operation $\ast$ does not need to be a t-norm nor a pseudo-$t$-norm. Due to the fact that optimal solutions are constructed from the greatest and minimal solutions of a $\max-\ast$ relational equation or inequalities, this article presents a method to compute them. We note that the linear optimization problem is valid for both minimization and maximization problems. Therefore, for the optimization problem, we present results to find the largest and the smallest value of the objective function. To illustrate this problem a numerical example is provided

Unconstrained video monitoring of breathing behavior and application to diagnosis of sleep apnea

This paper presents a new real-time automated infrared video monitoring technique for detection of breathing anomalies, and its application in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. We introduce a novel motion model to detect subtle, cyclical breathing signals from video, a new 3-D unsupervised self-adaptive breathing template to learn individuals' normal breathing patterns online, and a robust action classification method to recognize abnormal breathing activities and limb movements. This technique avoids imposing positional constraints on the patient, allowing patients to sleep on their back or side, with or without facing the camera, fully or partially occluded by the bed clothes. Moreover, shallow and abdominal breathing patterns do not adversely affect the performance of the method, and it is insensitive to environmental settings such as infrared lighting levels and camera view angles. The experimental results show that the technique achieves high accuracy (94% for the clinical data) in recognizing apnea episodes and body movements and is robust to various occlusion levels, body poses, body movements (i.e., minor head movement, limb movement, body rotation, and slight torso movement), and breathing behavior (e.g., shallow versus heavy breathing, mouth breathing, chest breathing, and abdominal breathing). © 2013 IEEE

Distress and risk-taking in borderline personality disorder: An examination of neurocognitive mechanisms

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental illness characterized by high rates of engagement in distress-induced risk behavior. Unfortunately, extant laboratory-based risk paradigms have failed to account for the role of distress in precipitating risk behavior, so many questions remain about processes mechanisms that underlie this behavior. The current study examined affect as a moderator of the relationship between diagnostic status and risk behavior, as measured by a behavioral risk task, and affective and non-affective neurocognitive functioning as potential mediators of this relationship. Results indicated that individuals with BPD engaged in more risk behavior in the distress condition than in the neutral condition, whereas individuals without BPD showed a decrease in risk behavior across the two conditions. However, corresponding changes in executive functioning were not observed, suggesting the need for continued research to identify alternative mechanisms (e.g., neurocognitive, motivational) to explain this effect

The meaning of adolescent membership behavior : a qualitative approach to action research in a religious organization.

A function of organized religion thought crucial to the maintenance of society is the passing of societal values to the young. Yet membership and participation in mainline religious organizations has been in decline since the 1960\u27s, a fact attributed to teenage youth rejecting the institutional expression of religion. The assumption that religious dropout behavior is a normal process of adolescent development has limited the focus of social science research. Missing in this account is the actor\u27s subjective perspective. What is needed in order to understand the forces that govern membership behavior is an exploration of the concept structure that constitutes the psychological life space of the adolescent participant. The purpose of this study was to examine the subjective meaning of church membership from the viewpoint of eight religiously active adolescents. As the first step in an action research process in organizational development, the study utilized the long ethnographic interview as a qualitative approach to problem solving by focusing on the organizational actor\u27s inside perspective as the primary source of data. The interpretation of this data then served as the diagnostic stage of action research laying the ground work for future participatory planned change. The data in this study supported survey research that showed religious interest is strong among adolescents. The findings suggest that among church youth, both a high level of religious belief and a high level of social relationship serve as positive reinforcers in maintaining church involvement. Parents modeling religious behavior who set their children on a religious path, yet allow them to choose their own level of religious involvement in adolescence, seem to promote a process of values clarification among church youth that results in a positive religious attitude and active participation. Moreover, church youth who see a lack of tangible results in religious behavior, feel invulnerable, or have little familial support in the face of socio-economic demands for their time, are more likely to be persuaded by peer pressure than familial influence, and are more likely to disengage from religious practice

Contemporary picture of women's unemployment. Personality conditioning of unemployment and it's consequences for psychic healt

Aim. Unemployment is one of the most complex contemporary phenomena and it has not only economic but also social and psychological dimensions. Unemployment is connected with low self-esteem, depression, risk of suicide and alcohol-related diseases. Women’s unemployment has become a syndrome of our times. It turns out that gender is an important indicator in the way of coping both in work and unemployment situations. Material and Methods. According to the assumed concept women have been questioned about their plans for the future and an anticipated way of their realization. The plans have been analysed as an expression of aspirations and motivations, by means of the specially prepared questionnaire. Mind abilities have been measured by the non-verbal Ricen’s Intellect Potential Test. The “Self” concept” has been identified on the basis of the selected concepts: Locus of Control; observational self-control; the need for social approval. The research has been made in the group of 84 unemployed women. Its aim was to describe the persons’ individual potential and comparing ways of coping in the situation of long lasting (over 12 months) unemployment. Results. The results have shown that in each case the problem of individual experiencing of unemployment and coping with it, has remained in individual connection with a person’s psychological properties. It turned out that the results of the surveyed women may be categorized: in the range of pragmatism, that were characterized by high results in case of women well functioning in social situations (so called pragmatic persons) and low results characteristic of principal persons (who use strict solutions). Other distinctions have also been made: between persons with internal Locus of Control and external Locus of Control, between more and less intelligent persons and between persons with a high need of social approval (deforming one’s image) and with a low need of social approval (presenting one’s real image). Conclusion. The knowledge of individual predispositions may help to prevent severe psychic problems connected with unemployment. The questionnaires described in this article may be used as a method of early prevention. Because personality traits are rather stable, it is possible to predict on their basis the future functioning and mental health

Factors Facilitating Constructive Coping with Stress

This review focuses on coping with stress, with particular emphasis on mechanisms facilitating constructive coping with stress. An important area of contemporary research is the attempt to identify factors that make it possible to stay mentally healthy or preventing the weakening of the cognitive and social functioning. The currently prevailing approach to stress is the relational approach. According to this approach, the criterion for the occurrence of stress is the cognitive assessment of the situation made by an individual. This review presents the most recent proposals concerning the analysis of specific methods of coping with stress, in particular from the perspective of their adaptiveness. Particular attention is paid to meaningfocused coping. We also discuss the presence of positive emotions in difficult situations. Positive emotions may play many adaptive functions especially in long-term stress situations: they make it possible to rebuild physical, intellectual and social resources, and they also extend the scope of attention and action. Positive emotions may also, to a certain extent, mitigate psychological and physiological consequences of stressful events. Finally we discuss the main directions of research related to factors determining well-being and sample experiments aimed at intensifying the feeling of happiness

The High-Level Practical Overview of Open-Source Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning Solutions

This paper aims to provide a high-level overview of practical approaches to machine-learning respecting the privacy and confidentiality of customer information, which is called Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning. First, the security approaches in offline-learning privacy methods are assessed. Those focused on modern cryptographic methods, such as Homomorphic Encryption and Secure Multi-Party Computation, as well as on dedicated combined hardware and software platforms like Trusted Execution Environment - Intel® Software Guard Extensions (Intel® SGX). Combining the security approaches with different machine learning architectures leads to our Proof of Concept in which the accuracy and speed of the security solutions will be examined. The next step was exploring and comparing the Open-Source Python-based solutions for PPML. Four solutions were selected from almost 40 separate, state-of-the-art systems: SyMPC, TF-Encrypted, TenSEAL, and Gramine. Three different Neural Network architectures were designed to show different libraries’ capabilities. The POC solves the image classification problem based on the MNIST dataset. As the computational results show, the accuracy of all considered secure approaches is similar. The maximum difference between non-secure and secure flow does not exceed 1.2%. In terms of secure computations, the most effective Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning library is based on Trusted Execution Environment, followed by Secure Multi-Party Computation and Homomorphic Encryption. However, most of those are at least 1000 times slower than the non-secure evaluation. Unfortunately, it is not acceptable for a real-world scenario. Future work could combine different security approaches, explore other new and existing state-of-the-art libraries or implement support for hardware-accelerated secure computation

The need of belonging and sense of belonging versus effectiveness of coping

The aim of this research was to describe the dependence between the need for and sense of belonging and symptoms of depression vs. one’s capacity to cope effectively. Using path analysis of our data (N = 178), we found direct patterns, in which both depression symptoms and life satisfaction depend to a considerable degree on the sense of belonging. The belonging need influences, in a direct way, the coping focused on the search for social support. Undertaking active techniques of coping, including confrontation with a stressful situation and its negative controlling impact, depends on having a high level of the sense of belonging. In contrast, individuals who cope by means of taking psychoactive drugs show the symptoms of depression

The Role of Stress in Assessing Life Satisfaction and Self-Efficacy Among Prison Officers

Stress is a major public health concern. It can be observed in all aspects of life, in everyday family life and work life. The focus of this article is work-related stress. Work stress can be observed in any work environment and in all professions. As a complex condition it affects different people in different ways. The study presented in this article was done on a sample of 59 prison officers who volunteered to participate. Among those 59 participants 34 were males and 25 were females aged between 25 to 52. Each participant received a survey to collect general information about the person and included three questionnaires: The Questionnaire of Stress in the Prison Service (KSSW), Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The questionnaire took approximately 45 minutes. Results turned out to be rather surprising. Findings showedthat job stress of prison officers is not significantly correlated with the amount of time they spend among prisoners. The results also showed that being married or having a partner is not a protective factor against job stress for that sample. Results also showed that negative significant correlation between job stress and life satisfaction and job stress and self-efficacy were only found for particular subscales of KSSW not for the overall levels of stress.Further analysis of the results suggests that the very core of prison officers’ job is the most stressful factor. This is an interesting finding that may be a basis for further research for specific stressors and coping strategies that may help the officers