Single case experimental designs: Introduction to a special Issue of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation

This paper introduces the Special Issue of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation on Single Case Experimental Design (SCED) methodology. SCED studies have a long history of use in evaluating behavioural and psychological interventions, but in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in SCED methodology, driven in part by the development of standards for conducting and reporting SCED studies. Although there is consensus on some aspects of SCED methodology, the question of how SCED data should be analysed remains unresolved. This Special Issues includes two papers discussing aspects of conducting SCED studies, five papers illustrating use of SCED methodology in clinical practice, and nine papers that present different methods of SCED data analysis. A final Discussion paper summarises points of agreement, highlights areas where further clarity is needed, and ends with a set of resources that will assist researchers conduct and analyse SCED studies

Single-case experimental designs: Reflections on conduct and analysis

In this editorial discussion we reflect on the issues addressed by, and arising from, the papers in this Special Issue on Single Case Experimental Design (SCED) study methodology. We identify areas of consensus and disagreement regarding the conduct and analysis of SCED studies. Despite the long history of application of SCEDs in studies of interventions in clinical and educational settings, the field is still developing. There is an emerging consensus on methodological quality criteria for many aspects of SCEDs, but disagreement on what are the most appropriate methods of SCED data analysis. Our aim is to stimulate this ongoing debate and highlight issues requiring further attention from applied researchers and methodologists. In addition we offer tentative criteria to support decision making in relation to selection of analytical techniques in SCED studies. Finally, we stress that large-scale interdisciplinary collaborations, such as the current Special Issue, are necessary if SCEDs are going to play a significant role in the development of the evidence base for clinical practice

Reprint of “The Single-Case Reporting Guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016: explanation and elaboration”

There is substantial evidence that research studies reported in the scientific literature do not provide adequate information so that readers know exactly what was done and what was found. This problem has been addressed by the development of reporting guidelines which tell authors what should be reported and how it should be described. Many reporting guidelines are now available for different types of research designs. There is no such guideline for one type of research design commonly used in the behavioral sciences, the single-case experimental design (SCED). The present study addressed this gap. This report describes the Single-Case Reporting guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016, which is a set of 26 items that authors need to address when writing about SCED research for publication in a scientific journal. Each item is described, a rationale for its inclusion is provided, and examples of adequate reporting taken from the literature are quoted. It is recommended that the SCRIBE 2016 is used by authors preparing manuscripts describing SCED research for publication, as well as journal reviewers and editors who are evaluating such manuscripts.Published versio

Measurement method of optical properties of ex vivo biological tissues of rats in the near-infrared range

An optical fiber-based supercontinuum setup and a custom-made spectrophotometer that can measure spectra from 1100 to 2300 nm, are used to describe attenuation properties from different ex vivo rat tissues. Our method is able to differentiate between scattering and absorption coefficients in biological tissues. Theoretical assumptions combined with experimental measurements demonstrate that, in this infrared range, tissue attenuation and absorption can be accurately measured, and scattering can be described as the difference between both magnitudes. Attenuation, absorption, and scattering spectral coefficients of heart, brain, spleen, retina, and kidney are given by applying these theoretical and experimental methods. Light through these tissues is affected by high scattering, resulting in multiple absorption events, and longer wavelengths should be used to obtain lower attenuation values. It can be observed that the absorption coefficient has a similar behavior in the samples under study, with two main zones of absorption due to the water absorption bands at 1450 and 1950 nm, and with different absolute absorption values depending on the constituents of each tissue. The scattering coefficient can be determined, showing slight differences between retina and brain samples, and among heart, spleen and kidney tissues

Natural language processing for web browsing analytics: Challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities

In an Internet arena where the search engines and other digital marketing firms’ revenues peak, other actors still have open opportunities to monetize their users’ data. After the convenient anonymization, aggregation, and agreement, the set of websites users visit may result in exploitable data for ISPs. Uses cover from assessing the scope of advertising campaigns to reinforcing user fidelity among other marketing approaches, as well as security issues. However, sniffers based on HTTP, DNS, TLS or flow features do not suffice for this task. Modern websites are designed for preloading and prefetching some contents in addition to embedding banners, social networks’ links, images, and scripts from other websites. This self-triggered traffic makes it confusing to assess which websites users visited on purpose. Moreover, DNS caches prevent some queries of actively visited websites to be even sent. On this limited input, we propose to handle such domains as words and the sequences of domains as documents. This way, it is possible to identify the visited websites by translating this problem to a text classification context and applying the most promising techniques of the natural language processing and neural networks fields. After applying different representation methods such as TF–IDF, Word2vec, Doc2vec, and custom neural networks in diverse scenarios and with several datasets, we can state websites visited on purpose with accuracy figures over 90%, with peaks close to 100%, being processes that are fully automated and free of any human parametrizationThis research has been partially funded by the Spanish State Research Agency under the project AgileMon (AEI PID2019-104451RBC21) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under the program for the training of university lecturers (Grant number: FPU19/05678

Phylogeography of Hypostomus strigaticeps (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) inferred by mitochondrial DNA reveals its distribution in the upper Paraná River basin.

In this study, phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses of populations identified as Hypostomus strigaticeps from the upper Paraná River basin were conducted in order to test whether these different populations comprises cryptic species or structured populations and to assess their genetic variability. The sequences of the mitochondrial DNA ATP sintetase (subunits 6/8) of 27 specimens from 10 populations (one from Mogi-Guaçu River, five from Paranapanema River, three from Tietê River and one from Peixe River) were analyzed. The phylogeographic analysis showed the existence of eight haplotypes (A-H), and despite the ancestral haplotype includes only individuals from the Tietê River basin, the distribution of H. strigaticeps was not restricted to this basin. Haplotypes A, B and F were the most frequent. Haplotypes D, E, F, G, and H were present in the sub-basin of Paranapanema, two (A and B) were present in the sub-basin of the Tietê River, one (C) was exclusively distributed in the sub-basin of the Peixe River, and one (B) was also present in the sub-basin of the Grande River. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the populations of H. strigaticeps indeed form a monophyletic unit comprising two lineages: TG, with representatives from the Tietê, Mogi-Guaçu and Peixe Rivers; and PP, with specimens from the Paranapanema River. The observed degree of genetic divergence within the TG and PP lineages was 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, whereas the genetic divergence between the two lineages themselves was approximately 1%. The results of the phylogenetic analysis do not support the hypothesis of existence of crypt species and the phylogeographic analysis confirm the presence of H. strigaticeps in other sub-basins of the upper Paraná River: Grande, Peixe, and Paranapanema sub-basins

Microperimetry and Optical Coherence Tomography Changes in Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus without Retinopathy

Background: We aimed to measure and correlate inner retinal layer (IRL) thickness and macular sensitivity by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and by microperimetry, respectively, in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients (DM1) without diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: Fifty-one DM1 patients and 81 age-matched healthy subjects underwent measurement of the axial length (AL), retinal thickness in the macular ETDRS areas by swept source (SS)-OCT and macular sensitivity by microperimeter. Results: The total retinal and IRL thicknesses were thicker in the DM1 group (p < 0.05) in practically all ETDRS areas, and they had a generalized decrease in sensitivity (p < 0.05) in 9 areas between both groups. There was a significant negative correlation between retinal sensitivity and age in all areas and in visual acuity (VA) in 5 out of the 9 areas for DM1 patients. Only a mild negative correlation was observed between retinal sensitivity in the 5 degrees nasal inner (5NI) area and in IRL thickness in the temporal inner (TI) area (-0.309 with p = 0.029) in the DM1 group. Conclusion: Aging and disease evolution in DM1 patients without DR signs generate a decrease in retinal sensitivity. There was a direct relationship between retinal sensitivity and macular thickness in the DM1 group

Recensiones [Revista de Historia Económica, Año VIII, Invierno 1990, n. 1 pp. 197-224]

Carmen Mª Cremades Griñán. Economía y Hacienda Local del Concejo de Murcia en el siglo XVIII (1701-1719) (Por Carlos de la Hoz).-- Carles Manera. Comerç i capital mercantil a Mallorca, 1720-1800 (Por L. Alonso Álvarez).-- Marqués de Valle Santoro. Elementos de Economía Política con aplicación particular a España (Por Luis Perdices Blas).-- Javier Aranguren. El Ferrocarril Minero de Sierra Menera (Por Eugenio Torres Villanueva).-- Miriam Halpern Pereira. Mouzinho da Silveira. Obras (Por Eloy Fernández Clemente).-- Actas del Consejo de Ministros. Fernando VII, tomo I (1824-1825) y tomo II (1826-1827); e Irene Castells. La utopía insurreccional del liberalismo. Torrijas y las conspiraciones liberales de la década ominosa (Por Francisco Comín)).-- Manuel Girona Rubio. Minería y Siderurgia en Sagunto (1900-1936) (Por Eugenio Torres Villanueva).-- León Benelbas Tapinero y otros. Població, agricultura i energía, vol. 5 de Història Econòmica de la Catalunya Contemporània (Por Gabriel Tortella).-- Ignacio Arana Pérez. La Liga Vizcaína de Productores y la política económica de la Restauración (Por Mercedes Cabrera)Publicad

The Single-Case Reporting Guideline In BEhavioural Interventions (SCRIBE) 2016 statement

We developed a reporting guideline to provide authors with guidance about what should be reported when writing a paper for publication in a scientific journal using a particular type of research design: the single-case experimental design. This report describes the methods used to develop the Single-Case Reporting guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016. As a result of 2 online surveys and a 2-day meeting of experts, the SCRIBE 2016 checklist was developed, which is a set of 26 items that authors need to address when writing about single-case research. This article complements the more detailed SCRIBE 2016 Explanation and Elaboration article (Tate et al., 2016) that provides a rationale for each of the items and examples of adequate reporting from the literature. Both these resources will assist authors to prepare reports of single-case research with clarity, completeness, accuracy, and transparency. They will also provide journal reviewers and editors with a practical checklist against which such reports may be critically evaluated. We recommend that the SCRIBE 2016 is used by authors preparing manuscripts describing single-case research for publication, as well as journal reviewers and editors who are evaluating such manuscripts.Funding for the SCRIBE project was provided by the Lifetime Care and Support Authority of New South Wales, Australia. The funding body was not involved in the conduct, interpretation or writing of this work. We acknowledge the contribution of the responders to the Delphi surveys, as well as administrative assistance provided by Kali Godbee and Donna Wakim at the SCRIBE consensus meeting. Lyndsey Nickels was funded by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100102) and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders (CE110001021). For further discussion on this topic, please visit the Archives of Scientific Psychology online public forum at http://arcblog.apa.org. (Lifetime Care and Support Authority of New South Wales, Australia; FT120100102 - Australian Research Council Future Fellowship; CE110001021 - Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders)Published versio

Recensiones [Revista de Historia Económica Año XI Invierno 1993 n. 1 pp. 209-243]

Editada en la Universidad Carlos IIILutgardo García Fuentes. Sevilla, los vascos y América. (Las exportaciones de hierro, manufacturas metálicas en los siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII) (Por Rafael Uñarte Ayo).-- Enrique Tandeter. Coacción y mercado. La minería de la plata en el Potosí Colonial 1692-1826 (Por Zacarías Moutoukias).-- Manuel Miño Grijalva. Obrajes y tejedores en Hueva España (1700-1810) (Por Pedro Pérez Herrero).-- Luis Perdices Blas.Pablo de Olavide (1725-1803), el Ilustrado (Por Victoriano Martin Martín).-- Daniel Peribáñez Caveda. Comunicaciones y comercio marítimo en la Asturias preindustrial (1750-1850) (Por José Ramón García López).-- Vicent Llombart.Campomanes, economista y político de Carlos III (Por Luis Perdices Blas).-- M. Teresa Pérez Picazo.El mayorazgo en la historia económica de la región murciana, expansión, crisis y abolición (siglos XVIII-XIX) (Por Juan Antonio Carmona Pidal).-- Nelson Lourenço. Familia rural e industria. Mudanga social na regido de Leiria (Por Carmen Sarasúa García).-- Blanca Sánchez Alonso.La inmigración española en Argentina, siglos XIX y XX (Por José Moya).-- Gianni Toniolo.An Economic History qf Liberal Italy, 1859-1918 (Por Francesco L. Galassi).-- Albert Carreras. Estadísticas históricas de España. Siglos XIX-XX (Por Sebastian Coll Martín)Publicad