Jackknife Estimator of Species Richness with S-PLUS

An estimate of the number of species, S , usually called species richness by ecologists, in an area is one of the basic statistics used to ascertain biological diversity. Traditionally ecologists have used the number of species observed in a sample, S_0 , to estimate S , realizing that S_0 is a lower bound for S . One alternative to S_0 is to use a nonparametric procedure such as jackknife resampling. For species richness, a closed form of the jackknife estimator is available. Typically statistical software contains only the traditional iterative form of the jackknife estimator. The purpose of this article is to propose an S-PLUS function for calculating the noniterative first order jackknife estimator of species richness and some associated plots and statistics.

Thematic Mapping in Case Conceptualization: A Test of Clinical Efficacy

Case conceptualization is a critical part of mental health treatment, often serving as the preliminary step to treatment planning, psychotherapy, assessment, and diagnosis. However, the field of psychology currently lacks an empirically-supported, standardized method of transdiagnostic and transtheoretical case conceptualization. In addition, there are multiple models of case formulation that are conflicting in definition, contain confusing protocol, lack cultural consideration, or are not applicable for all clinicians. This leaves many psychologists vulnerable to the creation of case conceptualizations that are influenced by common cognitive errors or bias. Thematic Mapping, a novel method of case formulation originated by Dr. Charles Ridley, was created in response to this need for a standardized, culturally-focused model that clinicians of any level of training, theoretical adherence, or expertise may use to facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes. This dissertation subjects Thematic Mapping to an empirical test by exposing six second-year psychology doctoral students to the model in a 14-hour workshop introduced in varying intervals across six weeks. Students’ case formulations and activities related to the Thematic Mapping process were assessed across the workshop for level of complexity, systematic process, thematic goodness-of-fit, and inclusiveness of culturally-sensitive critical client data. Results suggest that Thematic Mapping, as introduced in a workshop format, significantly improves case conceptualizations created by early-career doctoral students in all four aforementioned areas

Effect of Staff Training and Cost Support on Provision of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception in Community Health Centers

Objective To compare the proportion of women receiving same-day long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) between two different models of contraceptive provision adapted from the Contraceptive CHOICE Project. Study Design We used a controlled time-trend study design to compare 502 women receiving structured contraceptive counseling in addition to usual care (“Enhanced Care”) to 506 women receiving counseling plus healthcare provider education and cost support for LARC (“Complete CHOICE”) at three federally qualified health centers. We provided funds to health centers to ensure an “on-the-shelf” supply and no-cost LARC for uninsured women. We recorded the contraceptive method chosen after contraceptive counseling and the healthcare provider appointment as well as the contraceptive method received that day. Among women choosing LARC, we calculated proportions and performed Poisson regression with robust error variance to estimate relative risks for same-day insertion. Results Participant demographics reflected the health center populations; 69% were black, 66% had a high school diploma or less, 57% were publicly insured, and 75% reported household income less than 101% federal poverty line. There were 153 (30.5%) women in “Enhanced Care” and 273 (54.0%) in “Complete CHOICE” who chose LARC (p<0.01). Among women who chose LARC (n=426), those in “Complete CHOICE” were more likely to receive a same-day insertion, 53.8% vs. 13.7% (RRadj 4.73; 95%CI 3.20-6.98) compared to “Enhanced Care.” Conclusions A contraceptive care model that included healthcare provider education and cost support for LARC in addition to structured contraceptive counseling resulted in higher rates of same-day LARC insertion compared to contraceptive counseling and usual care alone

Historical Perspectives on the Monetary Transmission Mechanism

This paper examines changes over time in the importance of the lending channel in the transmission of monetary shocks to the real economy. We first use a simple extension of the Bernanke-Blinder model to isolate the observable factors that affect the strength of the lending channel. We then show that based on changes in the structure of banks assets, reserve requirements, and the composition of external firm finance, the lending channel should have been stronger before 1929 than during the post-World War II period, especially the first half of this period. Finally, we demonstrate that conventional indicators of the importance of the lending channel, such as the spread between the loan rate and the bond rate and the correlation between loans and output, do not show the predicted decline in the importance of lending over time. From this we conclude that either the traditional indicators are not useful measures of the strength of the lending channel or that the lending channel has not been quantitatively important in any era.

Jackknife Estimator of Species Richness with S-PLUS

An estimate of the number of species, S , usually called species richness by ecologists, in an area is one of the basic statistics used to ascertain biological diversity. Traditionally ecologists have used the number of species observed in a sample, S0 , to estimate S , realizing that S0 is a lower bound for S . One alternative to S0 is to use a nonparametric procedure such as jackknife resampling. For species richness, a closed form of the jackknife estimator is available. Typically statistical software contains only the traditional iterative form of the jackknife estimator. The purpose of this article is to propose an S-PLUS function for calculating the noniterative first order jackknife estimator of species richness and some associated plots and statistics

Witness Hide-and-Seek: Why Federal Prosecutors Should Record Pretrial Interviews

This Article pays long-overdue attention to a federal appellate court\u27s warning against playing hide-and-seek with witnesses. Specifically, prosecutors should record interviews. While courtroom cameras dominate the topic of judicial transparency, cameras can play a critical role in a sleepier corner of criminal proceedings: pretrial witness interviews. The Article first tracks the history of open judicial proceedings as a tradition of our Anglo- American jurisprudence. Next, the Article identifies the normative thread running through that history. Fairness may suffer when cameras transform public proceedings into publicized proceedings. Finally, the Article argues that this same issue of fairness applies to pretrial witness interviews. While fairness provides a reason against proceedings that are overly publicized, it provides a reason for interviews that are more public. Judicial proceedings are designed to ascertain the truth; hidden off camera, witness interviews may obscure the truth. Recording witness interviews would lift those interviews on a par with other discovery aspects of a criminal proceeding and put a welcome end to games of witness hide-and-seek

Digital Taxation Lessons From Wayfair and the U.S. States’ Responses

This article provides a detailed and structured synthesis of the discussion that took place in the context of the fireside chat event held by the WU Global Tax Policy Center at the Institute of Austrian and International Tax Law on December 17, 2018, at which Hellerstein was the guest speaker. The event was one of the initiatives of the Digital Economy Tax Network, a multi-stakeholder forum, which organized a workshop on the VAT/goods and services tax and the digital economy December 17-18, 2018, in Vienna. In this article, the authors examine the lessons that the U.S. Supreme Court\u27s Wayfair decision might offer for the global debate over how to tax the digital economy

A New Monthly Index of Industrial Production, 1884-1940

The paper derives a new monthly index of industrial production for the United States for 1884-1940. This index improves upon existing measures of industrial production by excluding indirect proxies of industrial activity, by only using component series that are consistent over time, and by not making ad hoc adjustments to the data. Analysis of the new index shows that it has more within-year volatility than conventional indexes, has relatively unimportant seasonal fluctuations, and has cyclical turning points that are grossly similar to but subtly different from existing series.