University of Massachusetts Boston

About: University of Massachusetts Boston is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 6541 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 411731 citations. The organization is also known as: UMass Boston.

Cautioning Health-Care Professionals: Bereaved Persons Are Misguided Through the Stages of Grief

Abstract: Science and practice seem deeply stuck in the so-called stage theory of grief. Health-care professionals continue to "prescribe" stages. Basically, this perspective endorses the idea that bereaved people go through a set pattern of specific reactions over time following the death of a loved one. It has frequently been interpreted prescriptively, as a progression that bereaved persons must follow in order to adapt to loss. It is of paramount importance to assess stage theory, not least in view of the current status of the maladaptive "persistent complex bereavement-related disorder" as a category for further research in DSM-5. We therefore review the status and value of this approach. It has remained hugely influential among researchers as well as practitioners across recent decades, but there has also been forceful opposition. Major concerns include the absence of sound empirical evidence, conceptual clarity, or explanatory potential. It lacks practical utility for the design or allocation of treatment services, and it does not help identification of those at risk or with complications in the grieving process. Most disturbingly, the expectation that bereaved persons will, even should, go through stages of grieving can be harmful to those who do not. Following such lines of reasoning, we argue that stage theory should be discarded by all concerned (including bereaved persons themselves); at best, it should be relegated to the realms of history. There are alternative models that better represent grieving processes. We develop guidelines to enhance such a move beyond the stage approach in both theory and practice.

Healthy lifestyle and leukocyte telomere length in U.S. women.

Abstract: Context: Whether a healthy lifestyle may be associated with longer telomere length is largely unknown. Objectives: To examine healthy lifestyle practices, which are primary prevention measures against major age-related chronic diseases, in relation to leukocyte telomere length. Design and Setting: Cross-sectional analysis in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS). Participants: The population consisted of 5,862 women who participated in multiple prospective case-control studies within the NHS cohort. Z scores of leukocyte telomere length were derived within each case-control study. Based on prior work, we defined low-risk or healthy categories for five major modifiable factors assessed in 1988 or 1990: non-current smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight (body mass index in 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)), engaging in regular moderate or vigorous physical activities (>= 150 minutes/week), drinking alcohol in moderation (1 drink/week to,2 drinks/day), and eating a healthy diet (Alternate Healthy Eating Index score in top 50%). We calculated difference (%) of the z scores contrasting low-risk groups with reference groups to evaluate the association of interest. Results: Although none of the individual low-risk factors was significantly associated with larger leukocyte telomere length z scores, we observed a significant, positive relationship between the number of low-risk factors and the z scores. In comparison with women who had zero low-risk factors (1.9% of the total population) and were, therefore, considered the least healthy group, the leukocyte telomere length z scores were 16.4%, 22.1%, 28.7%, 22.6%, and 31.2% (P for trend = 0.015) higher for women who had 1 to 5 low-risk factors, respectively. Conclusions: Adherence to a healthy lifestyle, defined by major modifiable risk factors, was associated with longer telomere length in leukocytes.

Towards Scalable and Accurate Online Feature Selection for Big Data

Abstract: Feature selection is important in many big data applications. There are at least two critical challenges. Firstly, in many applications, the dimensionality is extremely high, in millions, and keeps growing. Secondly, feature selection has to be highly scalable, preferably in an online manner such that each feature can be processed in a sequential scan. In this paper, we develop SAOLA, a Scalable and Accurate On Line Approach for feature selection. With a theoretical analysis on a low bound on the pair wise correlations between features in the currently selected feature subset, SAOLA employs novel online pair wise comparison techniques to address the two challenges and maintain a parsimonious model over time in an online manner. An empirical study using a series of benchmark real data sets shows that SAOLA is scalable on data sets of extremely high dimensionality, and has superior performance over the state-of-the-art feature selection methods.

A national survey of consumer attitudes towards companies that hire people with disabilities

Abstract: Employers' negative attitudes and fears have long been a barrier to the employment of individuals with disabilities Accordingly, attitude literature on the employment of people with disabilities has focused almost exclusively on employers However, due to their influence over business practices, the successful employment of people with disabilities is also contingent on the views of the consumer This study extends previous studies that focused on the attitudes of employers, and went directly to the consumer Consumer attitudes toward companies that hire individuals with disabilities were assessed through a national public survey (N = 803) Most of the participants (75%) had direct experience with people with disabilities in a work environment Moreover, these experiences were positive All participants responded positively towards companies that are socially responsible, including 92% of consumers who felt more favorable toward those that hire individuals with disabilities The participants also had strong positive beliefs about the value and benefits of hiring people with disabilities, with 87% specifically agreeing that they would prefer to give their business to companies that hire individuals with disabilities Implications of consumer support on company hiring practices are discussed