The Application of Behavior Modification Techniques to Two Geriatric Patients

Behavior modification techniques were applied to the behavioral problems of two geriatric nursing home residents. For the first subject, providing reinforcement for a competing activity effectively reduced both disruptive behavior defined as requests for cigarettes, attacking a fellow resident or unauthorized removal of charts, and time spent in the hallway. Similarly, for the second subject, offering reinforcement for out-of-bed behavior had the desired effect of increasing time spent out of bed. However, positive changes in behavior failed to generalize beyond the experimental situation, possibly due to an inability to exercise adequate control over the environment. Suggestions for establishing a totally structured environment that would be ideal for optimal behavioral change were made

Perceptions of Emerging Market Foreign Direct Investment: The case of Chinese FDI in the United States

There is an ongoing debate in international business research as to how and where theory should be directed or changed to address the evolution of the internationalization process as it relates to the rise in emerging market firm activity. While all firms face challenges in any foreign venture, identifying and addressing the factors unique to emerging nation firms such as those from China is necessary for management to develop strategic plans for sustainability and for governments and investment agents to attract, encourage and aid these firms through the investment process. Through analysis of U.S managerial perceptions of Chinese foreign direct investment in the U.S., this research provides additional insight on factors affecting the internationalization process of Chinese firms in the U.S. Since the Chinese firms are deemed deficient in certain firm-specific assets in comparison to advanced counterparts, it is posited that acquiring strategic resources provides a strong motivation for investing in developed economies. This dissertation argues that the process of foreign direct investment by emerging market firms in developed economies varies from the processes presented in traditional internationalization and cannot be directly evaluated on extant theory. It also addresses the proposition that while institutional and industry factors are influences on strategic intent and entry mode, firm-specific assets play a crucial role in foreign investment. Therefore this study contributes to the international business literature by exploring and isolating factors unique to Chinese firms confirming that existing frameworks need to be extended for future empirical analysis and theory building regarding emerging market firms investing in developed economies

Connecting massive galaxies to dark matter halos in BOSS - I. Is galaxy color a stochastic process in high-mass halos?

We use subhalo abundance matching (SHAM) to model the stellar mass function (SMF) and clustering of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) "CMASS" sample at $z\sim0.5$. We introduce a novel method which accounts for the stellar mass incompleteness of CMASS as a function of redshift, and produce CMASS mock catalogs which include selection effects, reproduce the overall SMF, the projected two-point correlation function $w_{\rm p}$, the CMASS $dn/dz$, and are made publicly available. We study the effects of assembly bias above collapse mass in the context of "age matching" and show that these effects are markedly different compared to the ones explored by Hearin et al. (2013) at lower stellar masses. We construct two models, one in which galaxy color is stochastic ("AbM" model) as well as a model which contains assembly bias effects ("AgM" model). By confronting the redshift dependent clustering of CMASS with the predictions from our model, we argue that that galaxy colors are not a stochastic process in high-mass halos. Our results suggest that the colors of galaxies in high-mass halos are determined by other halo properties besides halo peak velocity and that assembly bias effects play an important role in determining the clustering properties of this sample.Comment: 22 pages. Appendix. B added. Matches the version accepted by MNRAS. Mock galaxy catalog and HOD table are available at http://www.massivegalaxies.co

Celebrities in Rehab: Who is more at risk?

Does celebrity status make people more likely to need rehab? The purpose of the current study is to better understand the trends in substance abuse rehabilitation admittance among celebrities from 2005 to 2020. The authors became interested in the topic due to its myriad implications within the clinical mental health counseling field. Popular lore indicates a positive correlation between celebrity status and substance abuse. Previous studies have covered the predictive factors of celebrity downfall, but few have gone into specific trends among rehabilitation admittance. This mixed method review is designed to further look at the specific factors in celebrity status and substance use that may be indicative of future admittance. Using a phenomenological approach, this study analyzed n= 47 celebrities who were admitted to rehabilitation centers and the relationships between various factors including the type of industry, gender, age at admittance, type of substance, death related to substance abuse, and age the individuals entered their industries. Secondary data was collected from various publicly available sources. The data is entered and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Preliminary findings suggest that musicians have the highest rate of rehabilitation admittance among all celebrity industries, that the average age of celebrities at admission is early to mid-20’s, and that the average age that they become celebrities is early adolescence. These findings are relevant to understanding celebrities’ impact on the public and the need for awareness of the risks of their lifestyles on their mental and physical health as it relates to substance abuse

Comorbid conditions explain the association between posttraumatic stress disorder and incident cardiovascular disease

Background Posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease ( CVD ). Biopsychosocial factors associated with PTSD likely account for some or all of this association. We determined whether 1, or a combination of comorbid conditions explained the association between PTSD and incident CVD . Methods and Results Eligible patients used 1 of 5 Veterans Health Affairs medical centers distributed across the United States. Data were obtained from electronic health records. At index date, 2519 Veterans Health Affairs ( VA ) patients, 30 to 70 years of age, had PTSD diagnoses and 1659 did not. Patients had no CVD diagnoses for 12 months before index date. Patients could enter the cohort between 2008 and 2012 with follow-up until 2015. Age-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were computed before and after adjusting for comorbidities. Patients were middle aged (mean=50.1 years, SD ±11.0), mostly male (87.0%), and 60% were white. The age-adjusted association between PTSD and incident CVD was significant (hazard ratio=1.41; 95% CI : 1.21-1.63). After adjustment for metabolic conditions, the association between PTSD and incident CVD was attenuated but remained significant (hazard ratio=1.23; 95% CI : 1.06-1.44). After additional adjustment for smoking, sleep disorder, substance use disorder, anxiety disorders, and depression, PTSD was not associated with incident CVD (hazard ratio=0.96; 95% CI : 0.81-1.15). Conclusions PTSD is not an independent risk factor for CVD . Physical and psychiatric conditions and smoking that co-occur with PTSD explain why this patient population has an increased risk of CVD . Careful monitoring may limit exposure to CVD risk factors and subsequent incident CVD

Intersectoral collaboration before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western Cape: implications for future whole-of-society approaches to health and wellbeing

The profound health, social and economic impacts generated by the COVID-19 pandemic have necessitated collaboration among societal actors in an unprecedented fashion, elevating the status of the health sector and positioning it to advance intersectoral action on health. This chapter reflects on intersectoral collaboration in the Western Cape prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe forms of intersectoral collaboration that emerged in response to COVID-19; how these drew from a prior formative initiative in the province, referred to as WoSA (whole-of-society approach); and the lessons and opportunities these experiences offer for future intersectoral collaboration for health and wellbeing

Enacting change through action learning: mobilizing and managing power and emotion

This paper reports on a study of how action learning facilitates the movement of knowledge between social contexts. The study involved a community organization that provides educational services related to aphasia and members of a complex continuing care (CCC) practice that received training from the agency. People with aphasia (PWA) (a disability often caused by stroke) retain inherent cognitive competence but have difficulty communicating (speaking, writing, and understanding). The agency has developed a communication technique that improves the ability of PWA to communicate. This project used action learning to introduce a reflective learning cycle into two groups: the agency project team responsible for providing the training and the CCC practice members who received the training. Research participants at both the agency and the CCC facility focused on issues of skill and capacity, and both groups credit the action learning process with introducing a helpful problem-solving cycle into the workplace. CCC participants found that the action learning set provided an emotional container for the anxieties experienced in their workplace. Agency participants found that they were able to use power differences as a way of bringing about beneficial changes