Drivers under the influence of alcohol cause nearly one third of all fatal motor vehicle accidents. Ambulatory outpatient alcohol abuse treatment has been clinically shown to increase abstinence, which could decrease the chance of subsequent DWI offences. A barrier to successful completion is extended waiting periods prior to treatment engagement. The theory of patient waiting supports the longer a patient waits to begin treatment the lower the likelihood of successful completion. By exploring the impact of waiting times on DWI court mandated clients, referral courts and treatment facilities can work together to create a successful completion strategy for offenders. The research question focused on if days waiting can predict successful outpatient treatment completion in court mandated adults. The TEDS-D archival data set was used, consisting of data collected between 2006-€”2011 from federally funded substance abuse treatment centers throughout the USA. The variables time awaiting treatment, treatment level, gender, race, employment status, and age were used as controls. A logistic regression using a random sample of 4,947 participants determined days waiting was significant but weak in nature. The variables of employment status and age are stronger predictors of treatment completion. An interaction effect analysis of days waiting and age results in clients over 45 years old being significantly impacted by days waiting while younger clients are not. Court and treatment agencies can use this information to give priority intake appointments to older clients to increase chances of treatment completion.

Although the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and is available for males and females, completion of the 3-shot series in Georgia remains relatively low. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of HPV vaccination initiation and completion for male and female adolescents, ages 13 to 17 years old, in Georgia between 2013 and 2015. The theoretical foundation of the study was the structural model of health behavior which is an ecological model. Logistic regression was performed to determine if there was any relationship between the independent variables of parental knowledge, providers' recommendation, and physical access to vaccination sites, and the dependent variables of vaccination initiation and completion while controlling for and separately testing the impact of age, race, and gender. The data sets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Survey-Teen from 2013-2015 were used. There was no significant difference in HPV vaccination initiation or completion for any of the 3 years that were analyzed related to parental knowledge, as indicated by a p-value.

The prospective student who has been accepted and who fails to arrive on the college campus despite his apparent intentions presents a problem to secondary school principals as well as to college officials. Non-arrivals are common on the admissions records of every college or university. (14) Alden B. Threasher reports admissions attrition percentages ranged from 3 percent to 55 percent with averages of 27 percent to 46 percent in a study of 58 institutions grouped by type.

Dans cette thèse nous nous intéressons aux méthodes de complétion de matrices de faible rang et étudions certains problèmes reliés. Un premier ensemble de résultats visent à étendre les garanties statistiques existantes pour les modèles de complétion avec bruit additif sous-gaussiens à des distributions plus générales. Nous considérons en particulier les distributions multinationales et les distributions appartenant à la famille exponentielle. Pour ces dernières, nous prouvons l'optimalité (au sens minimax) à un facteur logarithmique près des estimateurs à pénalité norme trace. Un second ensemble de résultats concernent l'algorithme du gradient conditionnel qui est notamment utilisé pour calculer les estimateurs précédents. Nous considérons en particulier deux algorithmes de type gradient conditionnel dans le cadre de l'optimisation stochastique. Nous donnons les conditions sous lesquelles ces algorithmes atteignent les performance des algorithmes de type gradient projeté. / This thesis deals with the low rank matrix completion methods and focuses on some related problems, of both statistical and algorithmic nature. The first part of this work extends the existing statistical guarantees obained for sub-Gaussian additive noise models, to more general distributions. In particular,we provide upper bounds on the prediction error of trace norm penalized estimatorwith high probability for multinomial distributions and for distributions belonging to the exponential family. For the latter, we prove that the trace norm penalized estimators are minimax optimal up to a logarithmic factor by giving a lower bound.The second part of this work focuses on the conditionnal gradient algorithm, which is used in particular to compute previous estimators. We consider the stochastic optimization framework and gives the convergence rate of twovariants of the conditional gradient algorithm. We gives the conditions under which these algorithms match the performance of projected gradient algorithms.

The thesis is based on the recurring proposal to create a main axis Výstaviště (Anthropos) — Mendelovo náměstí — Nádraží. Foundations for the proposal are revised conceptual materials based on architectural design public tender „ Mendlovo náměstí, Urbanisticko – architektonická vyzvaná jednofázová ideová soutěž “ and architectural study created by Kuba & Pilař architekti s.r.o. The objective of the thesis is to complete important urbanistic axis and recultivation, reformalization and reconstruction of the structure and substance of the city and related public space. The task is to create a solution of given area near Mendlovo máměstí with emphasis on representative character, correlation with existing degraded city structure and objects related with in the form of renewal, modification and completion of the current block with mainly commercial and residential function and character corresponding to its central location.

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to investigate the meaning, structure and essence of the lived experiences within a Bachelor's degree completion cohort of adult learners. This study focused on adult learners who are matriculating into a postsecondary institution. The central question of this study was: What are the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived and shared experiences within a Bachelor's degree completion cohort of adult learners? The following research questions were used as a guide in the study: (1) In what ways have these shared experiences within a Bachelor's degree completion program contributed to the transformation of adult learners on the pathway to academic success? (2) In what ways do adult learners define success in higher education? (3) How have the life events of adult learners influenced their decision to return to higher education? Based on the phenomenological research design, the goal was to describe the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon (Creswell, 2007). To achieve such a goal, a phenomenological method of inquiry involves a mode of data collection and analysis that will present the participants' experiences precisely from their particular perspective. From the organization and analysis, six major themes emerged from the participant's educational journey: (1) The Catalyst, (2) Peer Support, (3) Faculty Support, (4) Family Support, (5) Beliefs of Success, and (6) The Future. Along with those six major themes were sub-themes that surfaced such as, learning communities, peer collaboration, parental roles, spouse roles, children's roles, self-awareness, and self-worth.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Under the influence of Confucianism, Taiwanese people have always emphasized family values as an essential culture. The concept of relationship completion (Byock, 1996) was embodied as the core belief for end-of-life care in Taiwan, known as the Four Expressions in Life: Love, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Farewell. The palliative care team in Taiwan advocates the Four Expressions in Life to help patients at the end of life strengthen bonds with their families. However, the traditional and conservative culture in Taiwan often impedes relationship completion. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy to facilitate relationship completion for patients at the end of life and their families, and to understand the perceptions of patients at the end of life and families about their relationship completion during music therapy. This study took a further step in exploring how the perceptions of patients at the end of life, and their families about their relationship completion during music therapy helped to explain the effects of music therapy intervention.This study employed a convergent mixed methods design in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected in parallel stages, analyzed separately, and then the findings were merged. For the quantitative phase, a convenience sample of 34 patients at end-of-life care at a large teaching hospital in southern Taiwan and 36 of their family members were recruited in a single music therapy intervention with a one-group pretest-posttest design. Measures included the “Life Completion” subscales of the Quality of Life at the End of Life (QUAL–E) survey and a single-item global QoL indicator for patients as well as the QUAL-E (Fam) survey and a question of Overall Quality of Life for family members. In the qualitative phase, a nested sample of five patients and nine family members completed the semi-structured interviews about their experiences of the music therapy sessions. There were significant differences (p<.001) between the pre and post session scores for the Life Completion subscale of the QUAL-E and between pre-post scores for the global QoL Indicator for patient participants. The results also showed a significant difference (p<.001) in the scores for the Completion subscale of the QUAL-E (family) and a significant difference (p<.001) in the scores for Overall Quality of Life for families from before music therapy session to after music therapy session. Four themes emerged from the qualitative results: music therapy provides the opportunity for exploration, music therapy provides the opportunity for connection, music therapy provides the opportunity for expression, and music therapy provides the opportunity for healing. The integrated findings suggested that music therapy facilitated relationship completion and improved quality of life for both patients and their families. The use of songs in music psychotherapy had a significant contribution to relationship completion. Song interventions can accommodate a patient's physical weakness and life-limiting obstacles at the very end of life to achieve the ultimate goal to improve quality of life, by assisting relationship completion. The results suggested that the transformative level of music therapy within a single session for end-of-life care in Taiwan is both feasible and culturally acceptable. / Music Therapy