DePaul University

About: DePaul University is a education organization based out in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 5658 authors who have published 11562 publications receiving 295257 citations.

Oxford house: a review of research and implications for substance abuse recovery and community research.

Abstract: After treatment for substance abuse, whether it is in hospital-based treatment programs, therapeutic communities, or recovery homes, many patients return to former high-risk environments or stressful family situations. Returning to these settings without a network of people to support abstinence increases chances of a relapse. As a consequence, substance abuse recidivism following treatment is high for both men and women. Alternative approaches need to be explored, and there are some promising types of recovery homes. From a public health perspective, a series of studies conducted at DePaul University suggests that one type of recovery home for alcohol abuse recovery has much potential. For example, within this self-help communal living setting, recovering alcoholics were able to maintain employment, thereby reducing their need for government subsidies. Maintaining employment for recovering alcoholics may promote increased personal responsibility, which may impact self-efficacy beliefs. These pilot studies, then, raised both theoretical and practical issues needing further evaluation.

Fossil marine vertebrates from the lowermost greenhorn limestone (upper cretaceous: middle cenomanian) in southeastern colorado

Abstract: Fossiliferous deposits of the Greenhorn Limestone (Upper Cretaceous) are found on the Comanche National Grassland in southeastern Colorado. The lowest portion of the Greenhorn Limestone, the base of the Lincoln Limestone Member, contains calcarenite beds rich in disarticulated remains of marine vertebrates. We examined the composition of the vertebrate paleofauna from one particular location (Tobe locality) through surface collecting and acid solution of rocks. The paleofauna is taxonomically diverse, consisting of 22 chondrichthyans, at least 15 osteichthyan fishes, and six aquatic reptiles. Molluscan taxa indicate that the basal Lincoln Limestone in southeastern Colorado was deposited sometime between middle Middle Cenomanian (ca. 95 Ma) and late Middle Cenomanian (ca. 94.7 Ma), and the composition of the vertebrate fauna (primarily chondrichthyan taxa) agrees with this interpretation. The Tobe locality was situated far from the shorelines of the Western Interior Seaway, with relatively high-energy waves impinging upon the seafloor, concentrating biogenic remains. Fossil remains within the calcarenite appear to have undergone minor time-averaging, based upon erosional rounding and breakage present in numerous specimens. Nevertheless, the deposit contains one of the best representative Middle Cenomanian vertebrate communities so far described from the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Considering that the paleofauna consists of taxa diverse in size, morphology, and inferred ecology, the trophic structure of the paleocommunity was probably complex.

Social Competence in Children with Chronic Illness: A Meta-analytic Review

Abstract: Objective To conduct a meta-analysis of social competence in children with a chronic illness. Methods The meta-analysis included 57 studies comparing levels of social competence in children with chronic illness to those of children without chronic illness. A random effects model was used to calculate overall effect, subgroup, and meta-regression analyses. Results Overall, the meta-analysis calculated 90 unique outcomes, producing a summary standardized mean difference of d ¼� 0.44, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) � 0.52 to � 0.36 indicating a medium overall effect for decrease social competence. Chronic illness, measure, and informant moderated social competence outcomes. Conclusions The impact of chronic illness on youth varied by individual child factors (e.g., gender, chronic illness type) and by measurement features such as informant and measure type. The current study demonstrates a need for further research of the assessment of social competence and has implications for the development of social skills programs for children with chronic illness.

Approximating labelled Markov processes

Abstract: Labelled Markov processes are probabilistic versions of labelled transition systems. In general, the state space of a labelled Markov process may be a continuum. In this paper, we study approximation techniques for continuousstate labelled Markov processes.We show that the collection of labelled Markov processes carries a Polish-space structure with a countable basis given by finite-state Markov chains with rational probabilities: thus permitting the approximation of quantitative observations (e.g., an integral of a continuous function) of a continuous-state labelled Markov process by the observations on finite-state Markov chains. The primary technical tools that we develop to reach these results are • A variant of a finite-model theorem for the modal logic used to characterize bisimulation, and • an isomorphism between the poset of Markov processes (ordered by simulation) with the ω-continuous dcpo Proc (defined as the solution of the recursive domain equation Proc = ΠL PPr(Proc)). The isomorphism between labelled Markov processes and Proc can be independently viewed as a full-abstraction result relating an operational (labelled Markov process) and a denotational (Proc) model and yields a logic complete for reasoning about simulation for continuous-state processes.