Joint Analysis of Zero-heavy Longitudinal Outcomes: Models and Comparison of Study Designs

Understanding the patterns and mechanisms of the process of desistance from criminal activity is imperative for the development of effective sanctions and legal policy. Methodological challenges in the analysis of longitudinal criminal behaviour data include the need to develop methods for multivariate longitudinal discrete data, incorporating modulating exposure variables and several possible sources of zero-inflation. We develop new tools for zero-heavy joint outcome analysis which address these challenges and provide novel insights on processes related to offending patterns. Comparisons with existing approaches demonstrate the benefits of utilizing modeling frameworks which incorporate distinct sources of zeros. An additional concern in this context is heaping of self-reported counts where recorded counts are rounded to different levels of precision. Alternatively, more accurate data that is less burdensome on participants to record may be obtained by collecting information on presence/absence of events at periodic assessments. We compare these two study designs in the context of self-reported data related to criminal behaviour and provide insights on choice of design when heaping is expected. The contributions of this research work include the following: (i) Developing a general framework for joint modeling of multiple longitudinal zero-inflated count outcomes which incorporates a variety of probabilistic structures on the zero counts. (ii) Accommodating a subgroup of subjects who are not at-risk to engage in a particular outcome (iii) Incorporating the effect of a time-dependent exposure variable in settings where some outcomes are prohibited during exposure to a treatment. (iv) Illustrating the extent to which heaping of zero-inflated counts, arising from a variety of heaping mechanisms, can introduce bias, impeding the identification of important risk factors (v) Identifying situations where there is very little loss of efficiency in the analysis of presence/absence data, depending on the partition of the time for the presence/absence records and the underlying rate of events. (vi) Providing recommendations on the design of studies when heaping is a concern. (vii) Modeling of multiple longitudinal binary outcomes where a mixture model approach allows differential rates of recurrence of events, and where the underlying process generating events may resolve

Land Market Trends in South Dakota, 1941-1950

The present study covers various aspects of the farm real estate market in eight counties for a 10-year period, from January 1, 1941 to December 31, 1950. It is a continuation and expansion of the Land Market study which the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics, has been making for the past several years in the counties of Brookings, Brown, Clay and Haakon. The expansion includes the counties of Beadle, Faulk, Hand and Spink. In addition, some state-wide information covering a longer period of years has been used for background or explanatory purposes

Researching with communities: towards a leading edge theory and practice for community engagement

This project seeks to determine the extent to which complexity theory might offer the most effective means for understanding how communities can be successfully engaged in and with academic research. In the project, we adopted a case study approach, working with participants in a number of projects which had significant community engagement. These projects were all supported by the UK Beacons for Public Engagement, with which we also collaborated in our work. From the outset our research was informed by a Community Advisory Group, comprising community partners and engagement specialists. The objective of our research was to identify the initial conditions that facilitated the creation of enabling environments for community engagement. A number of the research results challenged our theoretical assumptions. Revisiting these results, we were led to develop a new way of conceptualising community engagement, which we propose to call an „engagement cycle‟. We suggest that this engagement cycle comprises a number of differential „phases‟, each of which is constituted by its own characteristic processes. This notion of an engagement cycle raises further research questions relating to the applicability of complexity theory to community engagement, as well as suggesting a number of issues that may inform the future development of the Connected Communities community engagement strategy

Researching creatively with pupils in Assessment for Learning (AfL) classrooms on experiences of participation and consultation

This paper reports on an ESRC TLRP project, Consulting Pupils on the Assessment of their Learning (CPAL). The CPAL project provides an additional theoretical perspective to the ‘educational benefits’ perspective of engaging pupil voice in learning and teaching (Rudduck et al., 2003) through its exploration of pupil rights specifically in relation to assessment issues presently on the policy agenda in the Northern Ireland context – notably Assessment for Learning (AfL). An emergent framework for assessing pupil rights, based on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Lundy, 2007), is being used to explore the ways in which AfL classroom practice creates the conditions for increased pupil participation and consultation. Pupil views on their AfL classroom experiences and participation are explored by means of a variety of pupil-centred, creative research methods that engage and stimulate pupils to observe, communicate and analyse their learning and assessment experiences and give meaning to them. This presentation highlights preliminary data based on a sample of 11-14 years pupils' experiences of participation and consultation in classrooms adopting AfL pedagogical principles, and identifies characteristics that support or inhibit pupil participation in their learning and the expression of their views about such matters

Cost of marketing livestock by truck and rail

Publication authorized March 2, 1932.Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references

The fate of bezafibrate, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin and clarithromycin in the wastewater treatment process

The progress of four pharmaceuticals (bezafibrate, carbamazepine, clarithromycin and ciprofloxacin) is followed through the treatment stages (screened sewage, settled sewage and final effluent) of a large urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) employing activated sludge treatment. Concentrations at the inlet to the WWTP are generally higher than those predicted from consideration of local pharmaceutical consumption and typical excretion data. Percentage removal efficiencies are variable (22.5 – 94.3%) with carbamazepine being the most resistant to elimination

Higher education systems and institutions, Guinea Bissau

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a small country (approximately 36,125 square kilometers) on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Senegal to the north and the Republic of Guinea-Conakry to the southeast. With a population estimated at around 1.9 million inhabitants, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 178th of the 189 countries listed in the Human Development Index of 2019. The population’s life expectancy is 57 years, the adult literacy rate is 46%, and the most recent figures on expenditure on education reveal that, in 2013, only 2.13% of its GDP was allocated to the different levels of the education system. Even though Portuguese is the official language, the majority of the population speaks Creole. Constant political instability contributes to the country’s economic difficulties. Guinea-Bissau gained its independence from Portugal in 1974 after a destructive war and PAIGC, the political party resulting from the main independence...info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio