The Influence of a Proposed Margin Criterion on the Accuracy of Parallel Analysis in Conditions Engendering Underextraction

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor or principal component analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis could benefit from further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors (Pearson, Mundfrom, & Piccone, 2013). Critically, even the choice of criteria on which to evaluate factors (such as the eigenvalue at the 50th or 95th percentile) can have deleterious effects on the number of factors extracted (Peres-Neto, Jackson, & Somers, 2004). One area of parallel analysis yet to be researched is the magnitude of the difference between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue. Currently, even if the margin between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue is nominal, the factor is considered to be meaningful. As such, it may behoove researchers to enforce a higher standard, such as a greater margin between the two eigenvalues than just a simple difference. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 10% margin criterion as compared to an absolute margin. These margins were evaluated in conjunction with the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile eigenvalue criteria on a population correlation matrix designed to engender underextraction. Previous research (Matsumoto & Brown, 2017) explored the same conditions on a population correlation matrix designed to elicit overextraction. They found that the most stringent standard (99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin) was the most accurate. For the present study however, it was hypothesized that the most accurate results would be obtained from a standard less stringent than the 99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin. The results suggest that when a correlation matrix has properties which may illicit underextraction, the use of less stringent criteria may lead to greater accuracy in identifying the number of factors and that the incorporation of an additional margin criterion may not improve the accuracy of the analysis

The Influence of a Proposed Margin Criterion on the Accuracy of Parallel Analysis in Conditions Engendering Underextraction

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor or principal component analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis could benefit from further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors (Pearson, Mundfrom, & Piccone, 2013). Critically, even the choice of criteria on which to evaluate factors (such as the eigenvalue at the 50th or 95th percentile) can have deleterious effects on the number of factors extracted (Peres-Neto, Jackson, & Somers, 2004). One area of parallel analysis yet to be researched is the magnitude of the difference between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue. Currently, even if the margin between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue is nominal, the factor is considered to be meaningful. As such, it may behoove researchers to enforce a higher standard, such as a greater margin between the two eigenvalues than just a simple difference. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 10% margin criterion as compared to an absolute margin. These margins were evaluated in conjunction with the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile eigenvalue criteria on a population correlation matrix designed to engender underextraction. Previous research (Matsumoto & Brown, 2017) explored the same conditions on a population correlation matrix designed to elicit overextraction. They found that the most stringent standard (99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin) was the most accurate. For the present study however, it was hypothesized that the most accurate results would be obtained from a standard less stringent than the 99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin. The results suggest that when a correlation matrix has properties which may illicit underextraction, the use of less stringent criteria may lead to greater accuracy in identifying the number of factors and that the incorporation of an additional margin criterion may not improve the accuracy of the analysis

People Who Punish or Reward Tend to Moralize Even Conventional Behaviour

Managers who have to reward or punish others may be prone to moralizing. This can create problems because it may make the manager less tolerant of errant behavior while others in the social group, who may be wary of moralizing attitudes, may react against the manager.York's Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services and funding for faculty, graduate students, and community organizations seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. It is supported by SSHRC and CIHR grants, and by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c

Whole family-based physical activity promotion intervention: the Families Reporting Every Step to Health pilot randomised controlled trial protocol

Introduction : Family-based physical activity (PA) interventions present a promising avenue to promote children’s activity, however, high-quality experimental research is lacking. This paper describes the protocol for the FRESH (Families Reporting Every Step to Health) pilot trial, a child-led family-based PA intervention delivered online.  Methods and analysis : FRESH is a three-armed, parallel-group, randomised controlled pilot trial using a 1:1:1 allocation ratio with follow-up assessments at 8- and 52-weeks post-baseline. Families will be eligible if a minimum of one child in school Years 3-6 (aged 7-11 years) and at least one adult responsible for that child are willing to participate. Family members can take part in the intervention irrespective of their participation in the accompanying evaluation and vice versa. Following baseline assessment, families will be randomly allocated to one of three arms: (1) FRESH, (2) pedometer-only, or (3) no-intervention control. All family members in the pedometer-only and FRESH arms receive pedometers and generic PA promotion information. FRESH families additionally receive access to the intervention website; allowing participants to select step challenges to ‘travel’ to target cities around the world, log steps, and track progress as they virtually globetrot. Control families will receive no treatment. All family members will be eligible to participate in the evaluation with two follow-ups (8 and 52 weeks). Physical (e.g., fitness, blood pressure), psychosocial (e.g., social support), and behavioural (e.g., objectively-measured family PA) measures will be collected each time point. At 8-week follow-up, a mixed-methods process evaluation will be conducted (questionnaires and family focus groups) assessing acceptability of the intervention and evaluation. FRESH families’ website engagement will also be explored.  Ethics and dissemination : This study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee for the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications, conferences, and to participating families

Food Systems: Think Globally, Act Locally

The intention of this paper is to explain the evolution of food systems, which has been trending towards a singular global food system. Throughout the past century, global food systems have become increasingly integrated and resembling of a global food system, which depends upon industrial farming techniques and long-distance transport of foodstuffs. Leading the push for a singular global food system are a relatively small number of multinational corporations, called agribusiness, that control nearly all aspects of the food system. These agribusinesses have convinced governments, international organizations, and farmers that the only efficient way to provide enough food for the expanding global population is to adhere to there vision of a global food system, which is supplied by giant industrial farms that specialize in the production of monocultures. The nature of a corporation is to increase profits, not to look out for the welfare of communities, individuals or the environment, this has become evident by the destructive techniques, policies and practices that agribusinesses have implemented. There are alternatives to a corporately dominated global food system, that are healthy, environmentally friendly and sustainable. These alternatives must be further developed with support coming from international organizations, governments, corporations and most importantly, the global citizen

Investigating the accuracy of parallel analysis in underextraction conditions: A monte carlo study

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis requires further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors. Critically, even the choice of criteria on which to evaluate factors such as the eigenvalue at the 50th or 95th percentile can have deleterious effects on the number of factors extracted. One area of parallel analysis yet to be researched is the magnitude of the difference between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue. Currently, even if the margin between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue is nominal, the factor is considered to be meaningful. As such, it may behoove researchers to enforce a higher standard, such as a greater margin between the two eigenvalues than just an absolute difference. Accordingly, the purpose of this study will be to evaluate the efficacy of a 10 percent margin criterion as compared to an absolute margin. These margins will specifically be evaluated in conjunction with the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile eigenvalue criteria on a population correlation matrix which engenders underextraction. Previous research (Matsumoto & Brown, 2017) explored the same conditions on a population correlation matrix designed to cause overextraction. They found that the most stringent standard (99th percentile eigenvalue plus 10 percent margin) was the most accurate. For the present study however, we hypothesize that the most accurate results will be obtained from a standard less stringent than the 99th percentile eigenvalue plus 10 percent margin. This research has important implications for the scientific and practical application of psychometrics

Consistency is key: Intercollegiate athlete perceptions of the justice of team disciplinary decisions

Discipline and, how it is perceived, is of great consequence to organizations. Importantly, how disciplinary decisions are determined and carried out can influence the attitudes, behavior, and emotions of organizational members both positively and negatively (Ball, Trevino, & Sims, 1992). Although there is a dearth of research investigating the perceptions of those receiving punishment, it is equally important to understand the perceptions of those observing the disciplinary process. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of justice involving disciplinary decisions in an intercollegiate team sport setting. Male and female intercollegiate athletes (N = 204) provided open ended responses regarding a punishment scenario on their athletic team and their perceptions of distributive fairness to the punished athlete and teammates, perceptions of procedural fairness to the punished athlete and teammates, perceptions of justice to the fans, and whether the punishment was likely to deter future misconduct by the punished athlete and teammates. Results indicated that punishment that was in accordance with team rules was perceived as more fair to both the punished athlete and the team. The findings of this study are of importance to sports teams specifically and organizations generally in that they lay the groundwork for creating disciplinary processes which are perceived as fair in terms of their procedure and distribution

Design Optimization of a Variable-Speed Power Turbine

NASA's Rotary Wing Project is investigating technologies that will enable the development of revolutionary civil tilt rotor aircraft. Previous studies have shown that for large tilt rotor aircraft to be viable, the rotor speeds need to be slowed significantly during the cruise portion of the flight. This requirement to slow the rotors during cruise presents an interesting challenge to the propulsion system designer as efficient engine performance must be achieved at two drastically different operating conditions. One potential solution to this challenge is to use a transmission with multiple gear ratios and shift to the appropriate ratio during flight. This solution will require a large transmission that is likely to be maintenance intensive and will require a complex shifting procedure to maintain power to the rotors at all times. An alternative solution is to use a fixed gear ratio transmission and require the power turbine to operate efficiently over the entire speed range. This concept is referred to as a variable-speed power-turbine (VSPT) and is the focus of the current study. This paper explores the design of a variable speed power turbine for civil tilt rotor applications using design optimization techniques applied to NASA's new meanline tool, the Object-Oriented Turbomachinery Analysis Code (OTAC)

GPI-anchored uPAR requires Endo180 for rapid directional sensing during chemotaxis

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its receptor (uPAR) play an important role in cell guidance and chemotaxis during normal and pathological events. uPAR is GPI-anchored and the mechanism by which it transmits intracellular polarity cues across the plasma membrane during directional sensing has not been elucidated. The constitutively recycling endocytic receptor Endo180 forms a trimolecular complex with uPAR in the presence of uPA, hence its alternate name uPAR-associated protein. Here, we demonstrate that Endo180 is a general promoter of random cell migration and has a more specific function in cell chemotaxis up a uPA gradient. Endo180 expression was demonstrated to enhance uPA-mediated filopodia production and promote rapid activation of Cdc42 and Rac. Expression of a noninternalizing Endo180 mutant revealed that promotion of random cell migration requires receptor endocytosis, whereas the chemotactic response to uPA does not. From these studies, we conclude that Endo180 is a crucial link between uPA–uPAR and setting of the internal cellular compass

Failure Assessment Diagram for Titanium Brazed Joints

The interaction equation was used to predict failure in Ti-4V-6Al joints brazed with Al 1100 filler metal. The joints used in this study were geometrically similar to the joints in the brazed beryllium metering structure considered for the ATLAS telescope. This study confirmed that the interaction equation R(sub sigma) + R(sub Tau) = 1, where R(sub sigma) and R(sub Tau)are normal and shear stress ratios, can be used as conservative lower bound estimate of the failure criterion in ATLAS brazed joints as well as for construction of the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD)