The stress of food allergy issues in daily life

Objective: Food allergies are a growing health concern, but their implications for daily psychological functioning are unknown. This micro-longitudinal study investigated the daily frequency of food allergy issues and how this related to experiences of stress, mood and physical energy.

Design: One hundred and eight adults with physician-diagnosed food allergies completed an initial Internet survey followed by a 2-week Internet daily diary survey.

Main outcome measures: The initial survey collected socio-demographic and food allergy information. The daily survey collected information about the participants’ experiences of stress, mood, physical energy and food allergy issues during that day.

Results: Commonly experienced allergy issues included negative physical symptoms, higher food prices, anxiety about safety of food, trouble maintaining a healthy diet and anxiety/stress at social occasions. Furthermore, multilevel modelling analyses showed that stress and negative mood were significantly higher on days with more allergy issues. Older adults experienced lower positive mood and physical energy on days with more issues.

Conclusion: This is the first study to incorporate near to real-time tracking to examine the frequency of food allergy issues and the implications for daily psychological functioning. Targeting the issues we identified could reduce stress in patients with food allergies and improve their overall quality of life.     

Reevaluating the link between dispositional optimism and positive functioning using a temporally expanded perspective

Dispositional optimism is typically defined in terms of generalized positive expectancies for personal future life outcomes. Yet, multiple lines of inquiry have demonstrated fundamental interconnections among all three temporal perspectives (past, present, and future). Hence, in the present work, we examine the commonality underlying dispositional optimism and individuals’ evaluations of their past, present, and anticipated future lives. Results (n = 459; 80% female; M age = 19.68) suggest that dispositional optimism loads strongly on an underlying (latent) tendency to evaluate one’s life positively across temporal perspectives. This latent tendency was significantly associated with each Big Five personality dimension; independent of this latent tendency dispositional optimism was associated only with neuroticism. Controlling for personality dimensions, the latent tendency was predictive of positive functioning (mental health, coping, physical health, and social resources); in contrast, independent of this latent tendency dispositional optimism had no significant residual associations with any of the various functioning indicators.     

Arrow Logic and Infinite Counting

We consider arrow logics (i.e., propositional multi-modal logics having three -- a dyadic, a monadic, and a constant -- modal operators) augmented with various kinds of infinite counting modalities, such as 'much more', 'of good quantity', 'many times'. It is shown that the addition of these modal operators to weakly associative arrow logic results in finitely axiomatizable and decidable logics, which fail to have the finite base property.     

A Note on Graded Modal Logic

We introduce a notion of bisimulation for graded modal logic. Using this notion, the model theory of graded modal logic can be developed in a uniform manner. We illustrate this by establishing the finite model property and proving invariance and definability results.     

Skepticism and Epistemic Logic

This essay attempts to implement epistemic logic through a non-classical inference relation. Given that relation, an account of '(the individual) a knows that A' is constructed as an unfamiliar non-normal modal logic. One advantage to this approach is a new analysis of the skeptical argument.     

Intuitionistic Propositional Logic without 'Contraction' but with 'Reductio'

Routley-Meyer type relational complete semantics are constructed for intuitionistic contractionless logic with reductio. Different negation completions of positive intuitionistic logic without contraction are treated in a systematical, unified and semantically complete setting.     

基于阶层线性理论的多层级中介效应

本文介绍了三种常见的多层级中介效应模型, 并根据阶层线性理论和依次检验回归系数的方法, 详述了多层级中介效应的检验步骤以及中介效应量的估计方法, 在2-1-1和1-1-1中介效应模型中, 推荐采用对层1自变量按组均值中心化, 同时将组均值置于层2截距方程式的中心化方法, 以实现组间和组内中介效应的有效分离。本文还展望了多层级中介效应模型的拓展方向, 即多层级调节性中介模型和多层级结构方程模型; 以及检验方法的拓展, 即Sobel检验和置信区间检验。     

Fourier‐Motzkin elimination method in MOLP problems

This paper introduces a method for finding the non‐dominated set in criterion space of an MOLP problem based on Fourier–Motzkin Elimination. The method incorporates a procedure that eliminates decision variables from constraints and transforms a feasible region from decision space to criterion space. While avoiding characterization of the efficient set in decision space, it finds the non‐dominated set in criterion space. After the decision maker's most preferred criterion vector has been identified, the corresponding efficient solutions can be found by backward substitution. The method was implemented in MATLAB using a tabular form and computational experiments were conducted. The results indicate that although the method performs well for relatively small problems, it can be computationally intensive for larger problems. Nonetheless, the method is intuitively appealing and it provides useful insights into the geometry and theory of MOLP. As such it makes it a valuable educational tool for students of multi‐criteria decision analysis. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An interactive fuzzy satisficing method for multiobjective stochastic linear programming problems using chance constrained conditions

Two major approaches to deal with randomness or ambiguity involved in mathematical programming problems have been developed. They are stochastic programming approaches and fuzzy programming approaches. In this paper, we focus on multiobjective linear programming problems with random variable coefficients in objective functions and/or constraints. Using chance constrained programming techniques, the stochastic programming problems are transformed into deterministic ones. As a fusion of stochastic approaches and fuzzy ones, after determining the fuzzy goals of the decision maker, interactive fuzzy satisficing methods to derive a satisficing solution for the decision maker by updating the reference membership levels is presented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constrained maximum likelihood estimation of two-level covariance structure model via EM type algorithms

In this paper, the constrained maximum likelihood estimation of a two-level covariance structure model with unbalanced designs is considered. The two-level model is reformulated as a single-level model by treating the group level latent random vectors as hypothetical missing-data. Then, the popular EM algorithm is extended to obtain the constrained maximum likelihood estimates. For general nonlinear constraints, the multiplier method is used at theM-step to find the constrained minimum of the conditional expectation. An accelerated EM gradient procedure is derived to handle linear constraints. The empirical performance of the proposed EM type algorithms is illustrated by some artifical and real examples.This research was supported by a Hong Kong UCG Earmarked Grant, CUHK 4026/97H. We are greatly indebted to D.E. Morisky and J.A. Stein for the use of their AIDS data in our example. We also thank the Editor, two anonymous reviewers, W.Y. Poon and H.T. Zhu for constructive suggestions and comments in improving the paper. The assistance of Michael K.H. Leung and Esther L.S. Tam is gratefully acknowledged.