Interval Estimation of Proportion of Second-level Variance in Multi-level Modeling

Physical, behavioral and psychological research questions often relate to hierarchical data systems. Examples of hierarchical data systems include repeated measures of students nested within classrooms, nested within schools and employees nested within supervisors, nested within organizations. Applied researchers studying hierarchical data structures should have an estimate of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for every nested level in their analyses because ignoring even relatively small amounts of interdependence is known to inflate Type I error rate in single-level models. Traditionally, researchers rely upon the ICC as a point estimate of the amount of interdependency in their data. Recent methods utilizing an interval estimation of the amount of interdependency based the proportion of second-level variance between groups have been developed that avoid relying solely upon point estimates. The likelihood of committing a Type I error when using the interval estimation of the proportion of second-level variance remains unknown. The current project addressed this deficiency in knowledge utilizing simulated data to assess the accuracy of a 95% confidence interval estimation of the proportion of second-level variance (CI-PSLV). Standard errors tended to decrease as sample size increased, and the CI-PSLV captured the second level ICC in 95% of replications

Interval Estimation of Proportion of Second-level Variance in Multi-level Modeling

Physical, behavioral and psychological research questions often relate to hierarchical data systems. Examples of hierarchical data systems include repeated measures of students nested within classrooms, nested within schools and employees nested within supervisors, nested within organizations. Applied researchers studying hierarchical data structures should have an estimate of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for every nested level in their analyses because ignoring even relatively small amounts of interdependence is known to inflate Type I error rate in single-level models. Traditionally, researchers rely upon the ICC as a point estimate of the amount of interdependency in their data. Recent methods utilizing an interval estimation of the amount of interdependency based the proportion of second-level variance between groups have been developed that avoid relying solely upon point estimates. The likelihood of committing a Type I error when using the interval estimation of the proportion of second-level variance remains unknown. The current project addressed this deficiency in knowledge utilizing simulated data to assess the accuracy of a 95% confidence interval estimation of the proportion of second-level variance (CI-PSLV). Standard errors tended to decrease as sample size increased, and the CI-PSLV captured the second level ICC in 95% of replications

Finite Population Corrections for Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Models with Binary Predictors

Answering social science research questions about clustered data necessitates collecting data using sampling schemes, which may result in hierarchical data structures. Hierarchical liner modeling (HLM) techniques are required to account for the interdependency of observations due to clustering. However, traditional HLM assumes the target population is infinitely large or near enough to infinitely large for practical purposes (i.e., the sample consists of less than 5% of the target population). Often times, the assumption of an infinitely large target population may not hold. The current study was conducted in two separate phases using Monte Carlo simulation methods. First, the continuous predictors study evaluated a finite population correction (FPC) method for a few number of large clusters. The degree of relative bias in unadjusted standard error estimates exceeded .05 and was non-ignorable when the number of clusters sampled was greater than 20. The finite population correction adjusted standard error estimates exhibited acceptable levels of relative bias across most simulation conditions. However, finite population correction adjusted standard error estimates were negatively biased when the number of clusters sampled was few (i.e., 20 clusters). The continuous predictors study also examined standard error estimates from a finite population bootstrapping alternative. The finite population bootstrap estimates did not perform well and severely underestimated the empirical standard errors across all conditions. Second, the binary predictor study evaluated the efficiency of the finite population correction method for a level-2 binary predictor. Standard errors for a balanced binary predictor (i.e., binary predictors with a relatively constant 50:50 prevalence between groups) functioned similarly in terms of bias as continuous predictors. The relative bias in the finite population correction adjusted standard errors for a balanced predictor was smaller than the relative bias in unadjusted standard errors when at least 30 clusters were sampled. For a discrepant or unbalanced binary predictor (i.e., 20:80 prevalence), finite population correction adjusted standard errors were only acceptable when 60 clusters were sampled. The current study demonstrates the need for applied researchers to explicitly state their target populations, examine their sampling fraction, and consider the FPC adjustment. Doing so yields more accurate inferences for finite populations. Adviser: R.J. de Ayal

Suicide as a collective health matter in continental Central America: an analysis of consumed cases between 2010-2016

Na última década na América Central, como nas demais regiões latino-americanas, registrou-se notável incremento nos índices de mortalidade tendo como motivo de óbito o suicídio. Tal situação representa desafio hodierno para os sistemas de saúde e de assistência social centro-americanos. Nesse sentido, este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar o perfil dos casos de suicídios consumados entre 2010 e 2016, em países do trecho continental centro-americano. Para tanto, delineou-se um estudo ecológico, analítico-descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa, que analisou dados secundários disponibilizados pelo Observatorio Centroamericano y República Dominicana de la Conducta Suicida. Os dados foram tratados pela estatística descritiva, empregando medidas de dispersão (média, desvio padrão, limites inferior e superior), logo apresentadas por meio de tabelas comparativas, por meio de valores absolutos (f) e relativos (%). Os resultados obtidos apontam que o suicídio na América Central, trecho continental, é predominantemente maior em homens (76,84%); Guatemala foi a nação que mais registrou óbitos suicidas (26,13%) e Belize reportou a menor incidência (1,49%). Em relação à época do ano, houve maior número de suicídios durante o segundo trimestre dos anos verificados, ou seja, há mais mortes autoprovocadas durante os meses de abril, maio, e junho. Ressalta-se a magnitude do suicídio como problema de saúde coletiva no trecho continental da sub-região centro-americana, requisitando abordagens multidimensionais que visem entender a questão por diferentes ângulos; assim, possibilitando a proposição de intervenções interprofissionais que venham fortalecer a conscientização e a prevenção desse agravo no âmbito da saúde mental.En la última década en América Central, como en otras regiones de América Latina, ha habido un aumento notable en las tasas de mortalidad con suicidio como motivo de muerte. Esta situación representa un desafío moderno para los sistemas centroamericanos de salud y asistencia social. En este sentido, este estudio tuvo como objetivo identificar el perfil de casos de suicidios consumados entre 2010 y 2016, en países de la sección continental centroamericana. Con este fin, se diseñó un estudio ecológico, analítico-descriptivo con un enfoque cuantitativo, que analizó datos secundarios proporcionados por el Observatorio Centroamericano y República Dominicana de la Conducta Suicida. Los datos se trataron mediante estadísticas descriptivas, utilizando medidas de dispersión (media, desviación estándar, límites inferior y superior), que luego se presentaron mediante tablas comparativas, mediante valores absolutos (f) y relativos (%). Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el suicidio en América Central, un tramo continental, es predominantemente mayor en hombres (76.84%); Guatemala fue la nación con el mayor número de muertes suicidas (26.13%) y Belice reportó la menor incidencia (1.49%). Con respecto a la época del año, hubo un mayor número de suicidios durante el segundo trimestre de los años verificados, es decir, hay más muertes por autolesiones durante los meses de abril, mayo y junio. Se destaca la magnitud del suicidio como un problema de salud colectivo en el tramo continental de la subregión centroamericana, que requiere enfoques multidimensionales que tengan como objetivo comprender el problema desde diferentes ángulos; permitiendo así la proposición de intervenciones interprofesionales que fortalecerán la conciencia y la prevención de este problema en el contexto de la salud mental.In the last decade in Central America, as in other Latin American regions, there has been a notable increase in mortality rates with suicide as the reason for death. This situation represents a modern challenge for Central American health and social care systems. In this sense, this study aimed to identify the profile of cases of suicides consummated between 2010 and 2016, in countries on the Central American continental section. To this end, an ecological, analytical-descriptive study with a quantitative approach was designed, which analyzed secondary data provided by the Observatorio Centroamericano y República Dominicana de la Conducta Suicida. The data were treated by descriptive statistics, using dispersion measures (mean, standard deviation, lower and upper limits), soon presented through comparative tables, using absolute (f) and relative (%) values. The results obtained show that suicide in Central America, continental stretch, is predominantly greater in men (76.84%); Guatemala was the nation with the highest number of suicidal deaths (26.13%) and Belize reported the lowest incidence (1.49%). Regarding the time of year, there were a higher number of suicides during the second quarter of the years verified, that is, there are more self-harm deaths during the months of April, May, and June. The magnitude of suicide is highlighted as a collective health problem in the continental stretch of the Central American sub-region, requiring multidimensional approaches that aim to understand the issue from different angles; thus, enabling the proposition of interprofessional interventions that will strengthen awareness and prevention of this problem in the context of mental health

A Treatise from the Trenches: Why Are Circumcision Lawsuits So Hard to Win?

Abstract Barriers of many different types make successful circumcision-related lawsuits extremely difficult to bring. Actual cases we and others have brought show that among factors impeding progress are (1) financial risks; (2) procedural difficulties; (3) misconceptions and compassion misallocation among judges, lawyers, jury members, the media, and the general public; (4) constraints unique to circumcision lawsuits that are imposed by statutes of limitation and statutes of repose; (5) need for parental participation in lawsuits; (6) problem of damages not being atrocious enough to justify litigation; and (7) the scarcity of helpful case law. Players whose roles we will be scrutinizing include clients, lawyers, judges, juries, courts and procedures, doctors, media, and fellow activists. We will discuss the many reasons why potential plaintiffs never even make it to the filing stage. We will look at why judges and juries are starting to understand that just having a foreskin is not reason enough to have a circumcision

Utilizing Objective Drought Severity Thresholds to Improve Drought Monitoring

Drought is a prominent climatic hazard in the south-central United States. Drought severity is frequently classified using the categories established by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM). This study evaluates whether the thresholds for the standardized precipitation index (SPI) used by the USDM accurately classify drought severity. This study uses the SPI based on PRISM precipitation data from 1900 to 2015 to evaluate drought severity in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The results show that the fixed SPI thresholds for the USDM drought categories may lead to a systematic underestimation of drought severity in arid regions. To address this issue, objective drought thresholds were developed at each location by fitting a cumulative distribution function at each location to ensure that the observed frequency of drought in each severity category (D0–D4) matched the theoretical expectations of the USDM. This approach reduces the systematic biases in drought severity across the western portion of the study region. Therefore, we recommend devel-oping objective drought thresholds for each location and SPI time scale (e.g., 1, 3, and 6 months). This method can be used to develop objective drought thresholds for any drought index and climate region of interest

Terapia Comunitária Integrativa para promoção da saúde em acadêmicos de uma Universidade da Terceira Idade

It is the presentation of the results verified in the scope of mental health, based on empirical research, through the application of soft care technology conceptualized as Integrative Community Therapy (ICT) circles in an academic community of the Open University of the Third Age (UNATI) of the Western Paraná State University/Foz do Iguaçu in partnership with the Extension Project of the Federal University of Latin American Integration “Integrating UNILA with conversation circles” from 05/04/18 to 05/10/18. The study demonstrated that the psychosocial methodology developed in the ICT circles has the potential to equip participants to face the crisis of integrity, mobilizing a protected scenario to wisely appreciate the path taken in their own lives, understanding and integrating the path of other participants, confronting the experiences, as conscience, from collective experience and overcoming challenges within the same generation.Se trata de la presentación de los resultados verificados en el ámbito de la salud mental, basados en la investigación empírica, a través de la aplicación de tecnología leve de cuidado conceptualizada como círculos de Terapia Comunitaria Integradora (TIC) en una comunidad académica de la Universidad Abierta de la Tercera Edad (UNATI) de la Universidad Estatal del Oeste del Paraná/ Foz do Iguaçu en asociación con el Proyecto de Extensión de la Universidad Federal de la Integración Latinoamericana "Integrando UNILA con círculos de conversación" en el período del 04/04/18 al 05/10/18 . El estudio demostró que la metodología psicosocial desarrollada en los círculos de TIC tiene el potencial de equiparar a los participantes para enfrentar la crisis de integridad, movilizando un escenario protegido para apreciar sabiamente el camino tomado en sus propias vidas, entendiendo e integrando el camino de otros participantes, confrontando las experiencias, como conciencia, de la experiencia colectiva y la superación de desafíos dentro de la misma generación.Trata-se da apresentação dos resultados verificados no âmbito da saúde mental, a partir de pesquisa empírica, mediante a aplicação da tecnologia leve de cuidado conceituada como rodas de Terapia Comunitária Integrativa (TCI) em uma comunidade acadêmica da Universidade Aberta da Terceira Idade (UNATI) da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná/Foz do Iguaçu em parceria com o Projeto de Extensão da Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana “Integrando a UNILA com Rodas de Conversa” no período de 05/04/18 a 10/05/18. O estudo demonstrou que a metodologia psicossocial desenvolvida nas rodas de TCI tem potencial para instrumentalizar aos participantes o enfrentamento da crise da integridade, mobilizando cenário protegido para apreciar com sabedoria o caminho percorrido na própria vida, compreendendo e integrando o percurso dos demais participantes, confrontando as experiências, enquanto consciência, a partir da vivência coletiva e a superação dos desafios dentro de uma mesma geração

Saúde única, Terapia Comunitária Integrativa e covid-19: uma imersão fraternal em “um mundo, uma saúde”

In an attempt to verify the points of convergence between One Health, Integrative Community Therapy (ICT) and aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a critical essay was proposed, through a qualitative approach that aimed to bring an interdisciplinary, interprofessional and intersectoral reading on the subject. To better understand the concepts and practical aspects of One Health and ICT, it was proposed the adaptation of One Health Umbrella’s figure, with elements of the ICT. The approach of One Health and ICT in face of globalization, the aspects of its complexity and the individual and collective empowerment to reach the administrative spheres, both in the elaboration of the planning and in the definition of the protocols that, as a rule, touch the citizen's skin. Therefore, One Health and ICT are articulated around a unique and fraternal vision of life.En un intento por verificar los puntos de convergencia entre Salud Única, Terapia Comunitaria Integradora (TCI) y los aspectos de la pandemia de COVID-19, se propuso un trabajo crítico de tipo ensayo, con un enfoque cualitativo que pretendió aportar una lectura interdisciplinaria, interprofesional e intersectorial sobre el tema. Para comprender mejor los conceptos y aspectos prácticos de la Salud Única y la TCI se propuso adaptar la figura de la “Sombrilla de Salud Única” con elementos de la TCI. El enfoque de la Salud Única y la TCI frente a la globalización, los aspectos de su complejidad y el empoderamiento individual y colectivo para llegar a las esferas administrativas, tanto en la elaboración de la planificación como en la definición de los protocolos que, por regla general, tocan la piel del ciudadano. Por lo tanto, la Salud Única y la TCI se articulan en torno a una visión única y fraternal de la vida.Na tentativa de verificar os pontos de convergência entre a Saúde Única, Terapia Comunitária Integrativa (TCI) e aspectos da Pandemia de COVID-19, foi proposto um trabalho do tipo ensaio crítico, com abordagem qualitativa que teve por finalidade trazer uma leitura interdisciplinar, interprofissional e intersetorial sobre o assunto. Para melhor compreensão dos conceitos e aspectos práticos da Saúde Única e TCI foi proposta a adaptação da figura do “Guarda-Chuva da Saúde Única” com elementos da TCI. A abordagem da Saúde Única e TCI frente a globalização, os aspectos de sua complexidade e o empoderamento individual e coletivo para alcançar as esferas administrativas, tanto na elaboração do planejamento quanto na definição dos protocolos que, via de regra, tocam a pele do cidadão. Portanto, a Saúde Única e a TCI se articulam em torno de uma visão única e fraterna da vida