Relación entre el cambio basado en los centros y el cambio basado en los individuos

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicología Social y Metodología. Fecha de lectura: 21-06-2015This work consists of a review and three studies. The review focused on the available centers-based and individuals-based strategies for assessing change. As a result of this review we had to make two decisions that affected the whole work. First, among the many available statistics for quantifying the group change (centers-based approach) we decided to use some measures of effect size; for quantifying individual change (individuals-based approach) we chose some reliable change indices. Second, given that the specific way to assess the change depends decisively on the research design, we had to choose only some designs (we chose the three most common in the field of health sciences) and study the relationship between the two approaches separately for each design. In the first study we used a single group pre-post design. As a centers-based measure of change we used Cohen’s standardized difference d; as an individuals-based measure of change we used the percentage of changes (obtained from individual changes identified by the standardized individual difference and the reliable change index). After studying the relationship between the two approaches in different conditions, we found that (1) there is a relationship between the two approaches; (2) the relationship is linear and shows an excellent fit; (3) the relationship is consistently found across the various simulated conditions. In the second study we used a randomized groups design. As a centers-based measure of change we used Cohen’s standardized difference d; as an individuals-based measure of change we used the statistic called probability of superiority. After studying the relationship between the two approaches in different conditions, we found that (1) there is a relationship between the two approaches; (2) the relationship is quadratic and shows an excellent fit; (3) the relationship is consistently found across the various simulated conditions. In the third study we used a randomized groups pre-post design. As a centers-based measure of change we used the Hays’ 2 effect size estimate corresponding to the group x time interaction effect; as an individuals-based measure of change we used the net percentage of individual improvements. After studying the relationship between the two approaches in different conditions, we found that (1) there is a relationship between the two approaches; (2) the relationship is linear and shows an excellent fit; (3) the relationship is reasonably consistent across the various simulated conditions. The most interesting finding about the detected relationships is the fact that the information yielded by each approach helps completing and better understanding the information obtained with the other approach. Far from being independent, our results lead us to think that both approaches are different expressions of essentially the same information. However, reporting the percentage changes (or a similar statistic) has the advantage of being easier to understand than a number expressed in standard deviation unit

Controlling for cohort effects in accelerated longitudinal designs using continuous- and discrete-time dynamic models

Accelerated longitudinal designs (ALDs) allow examining developmental changes over a period of time longer than the duration of the study. In ALDs, participants enter the study at different ages (i.e., different cohorts), and provide measures during a time frame shorter than the total study. They key assumption is that participants from the different cohorts come from the same population and, therefore, can be assumed to share the same general trajectory. The consequences of not meeting that assumption have not been examined systematically. In this article, we propose an approach to detect and control for cohort differences in ALDs using latent change score models in both discrete and continuous time. We evaluated the effectiveness of such a method through a Monte Carlo study. Our results indicate that, in a broad set of empirically relevant conditions, both latent change score (LCS) specifications can adequately estimate cohort effects ranging from very small to very large, with slightly better performance of the continuous-time version. Across all conditions, cohort effects on the asymptotic level (d(As)) caused much larger bias than on the latent initial level (d(0)). When cohort differences were present, including them in the model led to unbiased estimates. In contrast, not including them led to tenable results only when such differences were not large (d(0) <= 1 and d(As) <= .2). Among the sampling schedules evaluated, those including at least three measurements per participant over 4 years or more led to the best performance. Based on our findings, we offer recommendations regarding study designs and data analysis.Translational Abstract In this article we propose an approach to identify and control for cohort effects in accelerated longitudinal designs. We use a simulation study to examine conditions related to sampling design, effect size of cohort effect, parameters affected by cohort effects, and modeling approach. Specifically, we extended a popular dynamic longitudinal model, the latent change score (LCS) model, specified in discrete- and continuous-time. Our findings indicate that the proposed extension is effective for detecting and controlling for cohorts effects equivalent to those documented in the literature. Specifically, both discrete and continuous-time LCS specifications that included parameters to account for existing cohort effects were able to estimate such effects in all sampling conditions, particularly those with three or more measurements per person. However, when models did not include parameters specified to account for cohort effects, the parameter estimates were recovered with bias, which depended on the size of the existing cohort effects in the data. Finally, in situations when cohort effects did not exist in the data, the models that included parameters to account for cohort effects correctly estimated them as null in most scenarios. Based on these results, when examining accelerated longitudinal designs data in which researchers suspect there might be cohort effects, we recommend using models that include parameters to account for such effects, especially LCS models in continuous time.This work was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (ref. PID2019-107570GA-I00 / AEI / doi:10.13039/501100011033), granted to EE. Funding for data collection and curation was provided by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS057156) and the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS1558585), granted to SB and E

Time-lagged associations between cognitive and cortical development from childhood to early adulthood

Throughout childhood and adolescence, humans experience marked changes in cortical structure and cognitive ability. Cortical thickness and surface area, in particular, have been associated with cognitive ability. Here we ask the question: What are the time related associations between cognitive changes and cortical structure maturation. Identifying a developmental sequence requires multiple measurements of these variables from the same individuals across time. This allows capturing relations among the variables and, thus, finding whether: (a) developmental cognitive changes follow cortical structure maturation, (b) cortical structure maturation follows cognitive changes, or (c) both processes influence each other over time. 430 children and adolescents (age range = 6.01 22.28 years) completed the WASI battery and were MRI scanned at three time points separated by ≈ 2 years (mean age t1 = 10.60, SD = 3.58, mean age t2=12.63, SD=3.62, mean age t3=14.49, SD=3.55). Latent Change Score (LCS) models were applied to quantify age related relationships among the variables of interest. Our results indicate that cortical and cognitive changes related to each other reciprocally. Specifically, the magnitude or rate of the change in each variable at any occasion and not the previous level was predictive of later changes. These results were replicated for brain regions selected according to the coordinates identified in the Basten et al.’s (2015) meta analysis, to the Parieto Frontal Integration Theory (P FIT, Jung & Haier, 2007) and to the whole cortex. Potential implications regarding brain plasticity and cognitive enhancement are discusse

Reversing downstream consequences of school hiatus on reading in disadvantaged, at-risk children

The spread of COVID-19 has led to the disruption of K-12 education for about 90% of the world's student population. The effects on children's academic development are unknown. We examined how disruption in schooling over three consecutive summers in disadvantaged minority children affects reading and whether an intensive intervention can ameliorate these effects. Our data were collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied Latent Change Score models to examine developmental trends in a longitudinal study of reading in 111 economically disadvantaged children, assessed biannually from grades 1 to 4, including 3 summers (for a total of 6 months of school hiatus). The students fell behind the normative population in their ability to understand written texts, a decrease in their relative percentile of 0.25 of a standard deviation each summer, and an effect 3-4 times greater than prior studies suggested. Compared to children in a comparison group, children who received an evidence-based intervention during the school year were better able to maintain their reading scores. These findings provide evidence that disruptions in schooling, for example, those implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, may have a significant detrimental effect on the reading abilities of disadvantaged children and that children who received a reading intervention were better able to maintain their reading scores during the hiatus. It is critical that policy makers prioritize the allocation of necessary resources to minimize the negative effects on reading this pandemic has wrought on these most disadvantaged children.Support for the work reported in this article was provided by: The Seedlings Foundation. EE was supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (ref. PID2019-107570GAI00 / AEI / doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033

Brain-intelligence relationships across childhood and adolescence: a latent-variable approach

The analysis of the relationships between cortical and intellectual development is a complex matter. Greater brain plasticity in brighter individuals has been suggested, but the associations between developmental cortical changes and variations in the general factor of intelligence (g) across time at the latent level have not been addressed. For filling this gap, here we relate longitudinal changes in g with developmental changes in cortical thickness and cortical surface area. One hundred and thirty-two children and adolescents representative of the population from the Pediatric MRI Data Repository completed the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence in three time points and MRI scans were also obtained (mean inter-registration interval » 2 yrs., age range = 6.1 to 21.3 yrs.). Longitudinal latent variable analyses revealed an increase in g scores amounting to a full standard deviation on average. Intelligence differences estimated at the latent level were significantly correlated related with cortical changes. Older individuals showed greater decrease in cortical values along with smaller increase in intelligence. Furthermore, thickness preservation in brighter individuals was observed at early adolescence (10-14 years

Extendiendo el modelo UTAUT para evaluar los factores que afectan la adopción del Big Data en empresas españolas

La implantación de técnicas de Big Data es una realidad en la toma de decisiones de marketing. Este desarrollo cuestiona qué factores afectan a las empresas en la aceptación de estas tecnologías. En respuesta, extendemos el modelo de aceptación de tecnologías UTAUT al Big Data y añadimos el riesgo percibido como inhibidor. Modelizamos mediante ecuaciones estructurales con Smart-PLS sobre una muestra de empresas que utilizan Big Data. Los resultados muestran la mayor predicción de la extensión del UTAUT planteada y el menor efecto de variables propuestas en el modelo original

Análisis sectorial del sistema de franquicia español

El objetivo del presente trabajo es realizar un análisis, desde el punto de vista del franquiciador, en dos de los principales sectores de actividad de la franquicia como son los de Hostelería y Restauración, y el de Confección, Moda y Complementos con objeto de determinar las similitudes y diferencias en el arquetipo de franquiciador de cada sector. Este análisis se hará a partir de una base datos (año 2017) de 359 franquiciadores (221 franquicias del sector de hostelería y restauración; 138 franquicias del sector de confección, moda y complementos), analizándose los años de contrato, la inversión inicial, el canon de entrada, el canon de publicidad, los royalties, los establecimientos propios y franquiciados, la población mínima necesaria, el tamaño mínimo del local y la disponibilidad de portal web. Los resultados muestran que el sector condiciona el arquetipo de franquiciador, existiendo diferencias en los dos sectores analizados

Adaptación de la distribución minorista al consumidor ecológico: el caso de España y Alemania

El objetivo de este trabajo se centra en el análisis de las diferencias de consumo ecológico en distintos mercados; para ello tratará de determinar las peculiaridades de los perfiles del consumidor verde en España, líder europeo en la producción agrícola ecológica, que puede ser considerado mercado ecológico emergente, y en Alemania, que es el mercado ecológico líder europeo. Además se pretende investigar si los minoristas adaptan sus establecimientos al nivel de importancia de la demanda de productos ecológicos. Los resultados demuestran que los perfiles no cambian demasiado en cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas, y sí lo hacen en variables más personales. Se observa que la oferta de productos ecológicos en España es menor que la de Alemania. Del mismo modo se concluye que la distribución, de forma general, es capaz de adaptar su oferta a la demanda de cada país tanto en términos de área lineal y superficie (m2) como de la variedad de productos

El sistema de franquicia español: un análisis de eficiencia

Este trabajo está centrado en el sistema de franquicia español y los sectores que lo conforman distinguiendo tres niveles de agrupación: Comercio Minorista, Hostelería/Restauración y Servicios. En primer lugar, realizamos un análisis global del sistema de franquicia español y su evolución. A continuación, se analizan y comparan las diferencias de resultados por sectores, comprobando si las diferencias son estadísticamente significativas. En tercer lugar, se muestra cuál de los dos tipos de unidades (propias o franquiciadas) empleadas por las redes de franquicias son más eficientes, mostrándose los resultados a favor de las unidades propias.This work is focused on the Spanish franchise system and the sectors that make it up, distinguishing three levels of grouping: Retail, Hotels/Restaurants and Services. First, we perform an overall analysis of the Spanish franchise system and its evolution. Next, we analyze and compare the differences of results by sector, checking if the differences are statistically significant. Third, it shows which of the two types of units (own or franchised) used by franchise networks are more efficient, showing the results in favor of the own unit

Research results applied to the field of health: how experience impacts the classroom and society

The Health Sciences Faculty of the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira has been advancing in the generation of new knowledge and has explored various fields of knowledge. This book presents four pieces of research that have a lot to do with new trends, both in the training of human talent in health, and in the way in which knowledge and technology are applied to solutions to context problems. In this case, it is important to mention the role that high-fidelity clinical simulation has been gaining in the training processes of our students, more specifically the use of theater and the “standardized patients” strategy, in the promotion of professional criteria. The positive impact of a focused training is evident, both in the conceptual development of the individual, and in the appropriation of his role as an agent of social change. The theater promotes an intentional interaction with which knowledge, skills and attitudes can be explored in a medical training process. Likewise, theater has been used as a useful tool in the introduction of therapeutic elements in hospital spaces, such as pediatric, oncology or mental health wards, promoting various ways of interacting with medical staff, or exploring personal aspects. that can improve the clinical evolution of patients. Clinical simulation also contemplates a series of technological elements that, when used for educational purposes, can also promote performance analysis of cognitive, technical, and dexterity skills. This is the case of the clinical simulation put to the service of a CPR skills analysis project, in which, through sensors and performance variables such as force, pressure or response time, they can account for advances in CPR training processes, both for university communities and for health professionals.PregradoCONTENT Introduction ....................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER ONE Project Jai Kazhirua: Actors for clinical simulation .......................................................9 Julio César Sánchez Naranjo, Heidy Yicel Mesa Arenas and Andrés Felipe Ramírez Herrera CHAPTER TWO Implementation of a flipped classroom methodology in the medical physiology course in the Faculty of Health Sciences ...................................................31 Julio César Sánchez Naranjo, Diego Fernando López Zapata, Óscar Alonso Pinzón Duque, Andrés Mauricio García Cuevas, Martha Doris Morales Medina and Samuel Eduardo Trujillo Henao CHAPTER THREE SANAR RIENDO (HEALING LAUGHTER): humor therapy for pediatric hospitalized patients.................................................................................53 Julio César Sánchez Naranjo, Heidy Yicel Mesa Arenas and Andrés Felipe Ramírez Herrera CHAPTER FOUR CPR performance characteristics of emergency teams in the city of Pereira, Colombia .....................................................................................................77 Giovanni García Castro, Yamileth Estrada Berrio, Johana Andrea Méndez Timaná, and Sandra Milena Bedoya Gaviri