Au Ka Yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-47). / Abstract in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.1 / 摘要 --- p.2 / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.3 / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.7 / Leadership Competencies --- p.7 / Importance of Leadership Training --- p.8 / Use of Meta-Analysis --- p.9 / Meta-Analysis on Leadership Training --- p.9 / Applying Leadership Theories to Leadership Training --- p.10 / Spacing Effect --- p.12 / Methodological Rigor of Program Design --- p.13 / Hypotheses --- p.16 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- METHOD --- p.18 / Literature Search --- p.18 / Inclusion Criteria --- p.18 / Coding Procedure --- p.19 / Meta-Analysis Procedure --- p.20 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- RESULTS --- p.22 / Overall Effectiveness --- p.22 / Moderators --- p.24 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- DISCUSSION --- p.27 / Discussion on Key Findings --- p.27 / Leadership Training Is Effective in General --- p.27 / Applying Theories Can Enhance the Effectiveness --- p.28 / Spaced Distribution Outperforms Mass Distribution --- p.29 / Characteristics of Measurement May Distort the Effect Size --- p.29 / Theoretical and Practical Implications --- p.31 / Implications for Researchers --- p.31 / Implications for Practitioners --- p.32 / Limitations and Further Studies --- p.33 / What Is Leadership Training Actually? --- p.33 / Meta-Analysis Is Far From Perfect --- p.34 / REFERENCES --- p.35

Cheung Wai-leung. / "July 2002." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-129). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Background There now exist a range of efficacious options for the treatment of psychosis in mental healthcare. The importance of recovery, empowerment, dignity and choice among patients with severe mental health diagnoses are important topics in contemporary research and practice. This thesis presents a meta-analytic review followed by a randomised controlled experimental study. These address distinct but related questions which aim to further our understanding of the choices available for intervention in psychosis and whether intervention may improve the ability of psychosis patients to make those choices. Aims The first objective aimed to offer a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of social skills training (SST), which is a psychological intervention for psychosis. SST has fallen out of favour in the UK and is not widely implemented in practice. We hypothesised that SST would demonstrate superiority for the negative symptoms of psychosis. The second objective was to determine whether decision-making capacity regarding treatment among psychosis patients could be improved by the application of a brief psycho-educational intervention targeting the jumping-to-conclusions (JTC) bias, which is a commonly observed cognitive bias in psychosis. We hypothesised that the intervention would improve decision-making capacity. Methods Firstly, a series of 70 meta-analyses are presented in a systematic review assessing the efficacy of social skills training across a number of psychosis outcome domains: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, general symptoms, overall symptoms and social functioning outcomes. Secondly, a randomised controlled experimental study is presented in which 36 psychosis patients in NHS Lanarkshire and 1 in NHS Dumfries & Galloway were allocated to receive either a brief meta-cognitive training (MCT) intervention or an non-specific control presentation lecture. Capacity was assessed at baseline and post-treatment while the impact of the intervention upon capacity was estimated by ANCOVA. Mediation analyses assessed whether changes in the JTC bias mediated outcome. Findings In the meta-analytic review, SST demonstrated superiority over treatment as usual (TAU. g=0.3), active controls (g=0.2-0.3) and comparators pooled (g=0.2- 0.3) for negative symptoms; and over TAU (g=0.4) and comparators pooled (g=0.3) for general psychopathology. In the randomised controlled study, MCT demonstrated large effects on two capacity outcomes; overall capacity (d=0.96, p < .05) and appreciation (d=0.87, p < .05). Exploratory analyses suggested a mediating effect of JTC (d=0.64, p < .05). Interpretation SST demonstrates a magnitude of effect for negative symptoms similar to those commonly reported for CBT for positive symptoms and may have potential for wider implementation in mental healthcare settings. The randomised controlled study suggests that psycho-educational interventions targeting capacity have clinical utility and may be developed for implementation. Limitations included lack of blinding, no fidelity checks and inclusion based on clinical diagnosis therefore a larger randomised controlled trial addressing these limitations is warranted.

Duplication of the genome and successful mitotic cell division requires the coordinated activity of hundreds of proteins. Many are known, but a complete list of the components of the cell cycle machinery is still lacking. This thesis describes a series of data driven analyses to assemble a comprehensive list of genes induced during the human cell cycle. To start with, a meta-analysis of previous transcriptomics studies revealed a larger number of cell cycle genes consistently expressed across multiple human cell types than previously reported. Following this observation, the cell cycle transcriptome was further investigated with the generation of a new time-course microarray dataset on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) undergoing synchronised cell division. Network cluster analysis of these data identified transcripts whose expression was associated with different stages of cell cycle progression. Co-expression of these transcripts was then analysed using a complementary dataset that included genome-wide promoter expression of a wide range of human primary cells. This resulted in the identification of a core set of 545 cell cycle genes, mainly associated with G1/S to M phases, which showed a high degree of co-expression across all cell types. Expression of 75% of these genes was also found conserved in mouse, as revealed by the analysis of a new microarray experiment generated from mouse fibroblasts. Gene Ontology and motif enrichment analysis validated the list with significant enrichments for terms and transcription factor biding sites linked with cell cycle biology. Toward a better interpretation of these 545 genes, a meticulous manual annotation exercise was carried out. Unsurprisingly, the majority of these genes were known to be involved in S and M phases-associated processes, however 50 genes were functionally uncharacterised. A subset of 36 of these were then taken forward for subcellular localisation assays. These studies were performed by transfection of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293T) with GFP-tagged cDNA clones leading to the finding of four uncharacterised proteins co-localising with the centrosome, a crucial organelle for normal cell cycle progression. This thesis represents an attempt in documenting the genes actively transcribed and therefore likely involved in the processes associated with cell cycle, hence providing a comprehensive catalogue of its key components. In so doing, I have also identified a significant number of new genes likely to contribute to this central process vital in health and disease.

abstract: The occurrence of micro-and nanoplastic (MNP) debris in the environment is a research area of considerable public health concern. Various combinations of methods for extraction, isolation, and quantification of MNP have been applied but literature studies evaluating the appropriateness and efficacy of these protocols are lacking. A meta-analysis of the literature (n=134; years 2010-2017) was conducted to inventory and assess the appropriateness of methodologies employed. Some 30.6% of studies employed visual identification only, which carried a calculated misidentification error of 25.8-74.2%. An additional 6.7% of studies reported counts for particles smaller than the cutoff value of the selected collection pore size, and 9.7% of studies utilized extraction solution densities which exclude some of the polymers commonly occurring in the environments investigated. A composite value of data vulnerability of 43.3% was determined for the sample, indicating considerable weaknesses in the robustness of information available on MNP occurrence and type. Additionally, the oxidizing solutions documented in the literature frequently were deemed unsuccessful in removing interfering organic matter. Whereas nanoplastics measuring <1 µm in diameter are likely principal drivers of health risk, polymer fragments reported on in the literature are much larger, measuring 10+ µm in diameter due to lack of standardized methods. Thus, current inventories of MNP in the environmental MNP feature data quality concerns that should be addressed moving forward by using more robust and standardized techniques for sampling, processing and polymer identification to improve data quality and avoid the risk of misclassification. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

Alcohol misuse is a very common problem with high financial and personal costs. Treatment requires allocation of limited resources for optimal impact. Responsible decision making in this area should be based upon reasoned weighing of research evidence. Miller and colleagues completed a meta-analytic review of all controlled studies published before 1992 to help clinicians do just that. The coding system they employed examined methodological quality, as well as outcome, to obtain a rank­ordering of treatments that seem to have the most quality research support. The current study attempts to extend this work utilizing the same coding on studies published since 1992, and combine both databases of articles. Revised rank orderings of treatments and conclusions regarding variables related to outcomes are reported. Implications are discussed, along with limitations of this review. An upward trend in methodological quality over time was also discovered.

Often for prevention program designs, researchers are interested in understanding the processes through which a program impacts a targeted outcome. Mediation analysis assists in identifying not only how a program influences an outcome, but also which intermediate variables (i.e., mediators) cause the effects between a program and an outcome to occur. Mediation analysis explains why a program works, which is useful for program developers in creating effective prevention and intervention-based programs. To make use of mediation analysis findings for preventive intervention programs, researchers need a comprehensive understanding of the mediators between various programs and outcomes. However, a comprehensive examination into which mediators are most effective has yet to take place. This is likely due to the lack of theoretical and quantitative guidance on conducting a comprehensive comparison study for mediated effects. As such, this work establishes a framework for measuring mediated effects in a comprehensive context. This thesis establishes a framework under which to evaluate mediated effects across multiple studies, demonstrates the application of this framework, and discusses the broader implications of this approach. Identifying the most effective mediators through the proposed approach lends a valuable understanding to practitioners and policymakers about critical actions for preventing a given outcome.

The purpose of this study was to review the empirical research evidence on the effect of teacher certification on student achievement. An exploratory meta-analysis was conducted on studies that examined the effect of fully certified and less-than-fully certified teachers on student achievement. The meta-analysis focused on the areas of mathematics, science and reading and explored trends across areas of achievement, school level and research design. The study was directed towards (a) a synthesis of findings, and (b) recommendations for future research and policy decisions.The meta-analysis population consisted of five individual studies that generated twenty-seven effect size estimates. Three studies utilized either an individual level or class level of analysis and yielded twelve mean difference effect size estimates. Two studies utilized either a school or state level of analysis and yielded fifteen correlational effect size estimates. The majority of findings in mathematics favor the positive effect of fully certified teachers. In science, the findings pointed towards equivalent levels of student achievement for fully certified and less-than fully certified teachers. All the findings associated with reading favored the positive effect of fully certified teachers. It appears that certification may be more crucial to student achievement in reading and mathematics than in science. Across school levels, the overall trend suggests that full certification may be more crucial to student achievement in elementary school than middle or high school. Across levels of analysis and research design, studies that utilize an aggregate level of analysis yield a greater number of positive study outcomes than designs conducted at the individual or class level. A key finding is that given the specifications of the meta-analysis, direct evidence of the relationship between certification and student achievement is limited to five peer-reviewed, published studies. Additional findings illuminated several issues that are vital to improving the quantity and quality of research on teacher certification. Eight specific recommendations were directed towards academic researchers who plan to study the topic. Four recommendations are directed towards policy-makers at the state and federal level who are involved in setting standards and planning legislation for educator preparation.

With the growing number of older adults in the general population, there is also a concomitant rise in the number of older adults who require mental health services, making the measurement of psychological conditions in later life a priority. However, due to a lack of measures created for older adults, researchers and clinicians must often rely on measures created for younger populations. Three studies were designed to add to the field of evidence-based assessment and determine which anxiety measures possess strong evidence when used with older adults to warrant their use with this specific population. In the first study, I systematically reviewed the literature to identify the anxiety measures most commonly used with older adults. I reviewed each measure to examine its psychometric properties (e.g., internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, concurrent and discriminant validity) and the availability of age-appropriate norms in order to evaluate whether the instruments are appropriate for use with older adults. In the second study, I conducted a reliability generalization meta-analysis to estimate the mean reliability of each commonly used anxiety measure identified in the first study. Finally, in the third study, I examined whether the anxiety measures commonly used with an older population can be consistently and accurately categorized as evidence-based. The literature review and the reliability generalization study both revealed that most of the most commonly used measures lacked sufficient evidence to warrant their use with older adults. However, three measures (Beck Anxiety Inventory, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and Geriatric Mental Status Examination) showed psychometric properties sufficient to justify the use of these instruments when assessing anxiety in older adults. In addition, two measures developed specifically for older adults (Worry Scale and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory) were also found to be appropriate for use with older adults. This suggests that based on their overall level of reliability and previous psychometric evidence, both researchers and clinicians assessing anxiety in a geriatric population should consider these measures as likely to be the best currently available.

Hepatitis B is a serious global health problem with over 2 billion people infected worldwide and 350 million suffering from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Infection can lead to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounting for 320,000 deaths per year. Numerous treatments are available, but with a growing number of therapies each with considerable trade-offs, the optimal treatment strategy is not transparent. This dissertation investigates the relative efficacy of treatments for CHB and estimates the health related quality of life (HRQOL) and health utilities of mild to advanced CHB patients. A systematic review of published randomized controlled trials comparing surrogate outcomes for the first year of treatment was performed. Bayesian mixed treatment comparison meta-analysis was used to synthesize odds ratios, including 95% credible intervals and predicted probabilities of each outcome comparing all currently available treatments in HBeAg-positive and/or HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Among HBeAg-positive patients, tenofovir and entecavir were most effective, while in HBeAg-negative patients, tenofovir was the treatment of choice. Health state utilities and HRQOL for patients with CHB stratified by disease stage were elicited from patients attending tertiary care clinics at the University Health Network in Toronto. Respondents completed the standard gamble, EQ5D, Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), Short-Form 36 version-2 and a demographics survey in their preferred language of English, Cantonese or Mandarin. Patient charts were accessed to determine disease stage and co-morbidities. The study included 433 patients of which: 294 had no cirrhosis, 79 had compensated cirrhosis, 7 had decompensated cirrhosis, 23 had HCC and 30 had received liver transplants. Mean standard gamble utilities were 0.89, 0.87, 0.82, 0.84 and 0.86 for the respective disease stages. HRQOL in CHB patients was only impaired at later stages of disease. Neither chronic infection nor antiviral treatment lowered HRQOL. Patients with CHB do not experience lower HRQOL as seen in patients with hepatitis C. The next step in this area of research is to incorporate the estimates synthesized by the current studies into a decision model evaluating the cost-effectiveness of treatment to provide guidance on the optimal therapy for patients with HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB.