Background/Objectives: The possible relationship between smoking and risk of colonic diverticulosis has been suggested by recent epidemiological studies, although the results were inconsistent. This meta-analysis was conducted to summarize all available data. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases through May 2017 to identify all studies that compared the risk of colonic diverticulosis among current and former smokers versus nonsmokers. Effect estimates from each study were extracted and combined together using the random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird. Results: Of 465 potentially eligible articles, three prospective cohort studies with 130,520 participants met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The risk of colonic diverticulosis in current smokers was significantly higher than nonsmokers with the pooled risks ratio of 1.46 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-1.89). However, the risk of colonic diverticulosis in former smokers was not significantly higher than nonsmokers with the pooled risk ratio of 1.13 (95% CI, 0.88-1.44). Conclusions: A significantly increased risk of colonic diverticulosis among current smokers is demonstrated in this study.

The purpose of this project was to summarize psychotherapy outcomes for eating disorders using meta-analysis. Psychotherapy was defined as any psychosocial treatment including face-to-face therapy, self-help, and Internet approaches. All primary studies, meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria from 1980 to 2010, were included. Results suggested that individuals treated with active treatments demonstrate better outcomes than those in control conditions (d= 0.33, p <.01, 95% CI [0.19-0.46]). CBT was the most often occurring treatment in the primary studies and a small effect, favoring CBT, was found when the treatment was compared to all other active treatments (d = 0.16, p = .02, 95% CI [0.03-0.28]). Internet and self-help approaches continue to show promise with Internet treatments demonstrating superior outcomes to control conditions (d = 0.54, p <.01, 95% CI [0.19-0.90]). More research is needed to determine whether these approaches can suffice as stand-alone treatments or if they are best used in addition to already well-established approaches (i.e., individual CBT). The meta-analysis also explored whether treatment type, outcome measure, diagnosis, attrition, and diagnostic severity moderate treatment effect. Finally, the meta-analysis updated and improved upon previous meta-analyses by focusing on randomized controlled trials, including all diagnoses of eating disorder, only combining effect sizes from similar conditions, including all possible studies that meet inclusion criteria, computing and comparing effect sizes for outcome measures beyond those considered primary to eating disorder treatment, and also addressing outcomes for all brands of psychotherapy including traditional talk therapy, self-help, and Internet approaches.

Studies using animal models have found considerable evidence of neurological damage resulting from exposure to 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy). Yet, studies comparing the cognitive performance of human recreational ecstasy users to ecstasy naïve controls have produced inconsistent results. The present study is a meta-analysis of the published empirical literature on the cognitive sequelae of human recreational ecstasy use. The pooled effect size estimate for combined cognitive domains was statistically significant and moderate in size. Small to large, statistically significant aggregate effect sizes resulted for eight of the nine cognitive ability domains included in the analysis. Moderator analyses suggested that frequent ecstasy use is associated with greater cognitive impairment, cognitive impairment can occur after relatively low amounts of total lifetime cumulative use, and recovery of functioning does not occur within one year post cessation.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to disproportionately affect men who have sex with men (MSM). Gay, bisexual, and other MSM are estimated to account for two percent of the population, yet they constitute more than half of all individuals living with HIV in the United States (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2010). Collectively, both HIV-diagnosed (HIV-D) and HIV-nondiagnosed (HIV-ND) MSM report a variety of reasons for intentional and unintentional nonuse of condoms. Depending on partner status, HIV-D MSM are in the unique position of having the potential both to increase risk of infecting others with HIV and to expose themselves to further complication (e.g., superinfection) when they engage in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). HIV-ND MSM are at risk of seroconversion each time they engage in UAI with an infected partner or partner of unknown HIV status. Elucidating reasons for continued engagement in UAI specific to both HIV-D and HIV-ND MSM likely is an important step in the process of effective prevention. The current study employed meta-analytic methods to evaluate HIV-risk correlates in both HIV-D and HIV-ND MSM. In addition to several individual risk correlates, within the context of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model, Behavioral Skills variables were related to condom use in HIV-ND MSM and Motivation variables were related to condom use in both HIV-D and HIV-ND MSM. A sufficient number of studies were not available to examine Information-based risk correlates in either subgroup. Results of the present study may guide future best practice in harm reduction for both HIV-D and HIV-ND MSM

Research on the effects of downsizing has focused on several levels including the global, organization, and the individual. However, this research, at the individual level, focused specifically on the effects of downsizing on the survivors of the organization. Downsizing refers to activities undertaken by management to improve the efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of the organization by reducing the workforce size. Many researchers explain the types of response we can expect from survivors of a corporate downsizing. The possible attitudes and behaviors due to downsizing are of particular interest to managers, because managers will inevitably face a workforce at least partially staffed with survivors of downsizing activities. The purpose of this research is to give a better understanding of the effects of downsizing on survivors. This is accomplished by systematically analyzing and combining the findings of independent studies through meta-analysis. This research investigates the variables and variable relationships which represent effects of downsizing on the survivors. The individual downsizing studies are the sources of the variables used to measure behaviors and attitudes prevalent among downsizing survivors. The results of this research give a summary of the cumulated correlations for sixteen(16) variable relationships specifying the strength, direction, and the range of the correlations. These findings enable the manager to preview, in a combined sense, a certain set of downsizing survivor responses. These results support the findings reported in the independent studies and by other downsizing researchers. The studies that did not qualify for use in the meta-analysis cumulation procedures are analyzed, through the meta-analysis vote count method, and show that the majority of the survivors had experienced negative downsizing effects. Included also is an analysis of the small sample of studies done in the public versus those done in the non-public sectors that shows no real differences, due possibly to the small sample size. This research, through the use of meta-analysis, confirms the findings of the independent studies and gives more statistical reliability and confidence to the findings. / Ph. D.

One of the most challenging topics of deep learning (DL) is the analysis of temporal series in complex real-world scenarios. The majority of proposed DL methods tend to simplify such environments without considering several factors. The first part of this thesis focuses on developing video surveillance and sports analytic systems, in which obstacles, social interactions, and flow directions are relevant aspects. A DL model is then proposed to predict future paths, taking into account human interactions sharing a common memory, and favouring the most common paths through belief maps. Another model is proposed, adding the possibility to consider agents' goals. This aspect is particularly relevant in sports games where players can share objectives and tactics. Both the proposed models rely on the common hypothesis that the whole amount of labelled data is available from the beginning of the analysis, without evolving. This can be a strong simplification for most real-world scenarios, where data is available as a stream and changes over time. Thus, a theoretical model for continual learning is then developed to face problems where few data come as a stream, and labelling them is a hard task. Finally, continual learning strategies are applied to one of the most challenging scenarios for DL: financial market predictions. A collection of state-of-the-art continual learning techniques are applied to financial indicators representing temporal data. Results achieved during this PhD show how artificial intelligence algorithms can help to solve real-world problems in complex and time-evolving scenarios.

Meta-analysis of 23 between-group direct observation studies of children with ADHD and typically developing peers indicates significant deficiencies in children with ADHD's ability to pay attention in classroom settings. Comparison with 59 single case design studies of children with ADHD suggests generalizability of between-group comparisons. Weighted regression analysis determined that several methodological differences – sample characteristics, diagnostic procedures, and observational coding schema – have significant effects on observed levels of attentive behavior in the classroom. Best case estimation indicates that after accounting for these factors, children with ADHD are on-task approximately 65% of the time compared to 85% for their classroom peers. Children with ADHD were also more variable in their attentive behavior across studies. Implications for conceptual models of ADHD are discussed.

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