An Introduction to Psychological Statistics

This work has been superseded by Introduction to Statistics in the Psychological Sciences available from https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/25/. - We are constantly bombarded by information, and finding a way to filter that information in an objective way is crucial to surviving this onslaught with your sanity intact. This is what statistics, and logic we use in it, enables us to do. Through the lens of statistics, we learn to find the signal hidden in the noise when it is there and to know when an apparent trend or pattern is really just randomness. The study of statistics involves math and relies upon calculations of numbers. But it also relies heavily on how the numbers are chosen and how the statistics are interpreted. This work was created as part of the University of Missouri’s Affordable and Open Access Educational Resources Initiative (https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/aa/oer). The contents of this work have been adapted from the following Open Access Resources: Online Statistics Education: A Multimedia Course of Study (http://onlinestatbook.com/). Project Leader: David M. Lane, Rice University. Changes to the original works were made by Dr. Garett C. Foster in the Department of Psychological Sciences to tailor the text to fit the needs of the introductory statistics course for psychology majors at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Materials from the original sources have been combined, reorganized, and added to by the current author, and any conceptual, mathematical, or typographical errors are the responsibility of the current author

Organizational network strengthening effects on antiretroviral therapy initiation and adherence

The WHO recommends antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation immediately after HIV diagnosis. When HIV services are fragmented and poorly coordinated, initiation of ART can be delayed. MEASURE Evaluation conducted an organizational network intervention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which increased referral network density and client satisfaction in the intervention versus control networks. The objective of our study was to extend the parent study by assessing effects of network density on the speed of ART initiation and adherence to ART. Measures of client-time since HIV diagnosis, use of ART, satisfaction with HIV-related services, and adherence were obtained from cross-sectional interviews with female service recipients with HIV/AIDS at baseline (T1, 402) and at 18-month follow-up (T2, 524) and compared between network sites. We used weighted least squares estimation with probit regression techniques in a structural equation modeling framework for analyses. On average at follow-up, clients in the intervention network were more likely to have quicker ART initiation, and were initiated on ART 15 days faster than clients in the control network. Moreover, quicker ART initiation was associated with higher adherence. A unit increase in speed of ART initiation was associated with 0.5 points increase in latent adherence score in the intervention group (ρ < .05). Satisfaction with care positively predicted adherence to ART. Network density had no direct effect on ART adherence. This quasi-experiment demonstrated that increased referral network density, through improved HIV client referrals, can enhance speed of ART initiation, resulting in improved adherence. © Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018

The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the ∼120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella

The Age-Specific Cumulative Incidence of Infection with Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 Was Similar in Various Countries Prior to Vaccination

Background: During the influenza pandemic of 2009 estimates of symptomatic and asymptomatic infection were needed to guide vaccination policies and inform other control measures. Serological studies are the most reliable way to measure influenza infection independent of symptoms. We reviewed all published serological studies that estimated the cumulative incidence of infection with pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 prior to the initiation of population-based vaccination against the pandemic strain. Methodology and Principal Findings: We searched for studies that estimated the cumulative incidence of pandemic influenza infection in the wider community. We excluded studies that did not include both pre- and post-pandemic serological sampling and studies that included response to vaccination. We identified 47 potentially eligible studies and included 12 of them in the review. Where there had been a significant first wave, the cumulative incidence of pandemic influenza infection was reported in the range 16%-28% in pre-school aged children, 34%-43% in school aged children and 12%-15% in young adults. Only 2%-3% of older adults were infected. The proportion of the entire population infected ranged from 11%-18%. We re-estimated the cumulative incidence to account for the small proportion of infections that may not have been detected by serology, and performed direct age-standardisation to the study population. For those countries where it could be calculated, this suggested a population cumulative incidence in the range 11%-21%. Conclusions and Significance: Around the world, the cumulative incidence of infection (which is higher than the cumulative incidence of clinical disease) was below that anticipated prior to the pandemic. Serological studies need to be routine in order to be sufficiently timely to provide support for decisions about vaccination. © 2011 Kelly et al.published_or_final_versio

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

A consensus protocol for functional connectivity analysis in the rat brain

Task-free functional connectivity in animal models provides an experimental framework to examine connectivity phenomena under controlled conditions and allows for comparisons with data modalities collected under invasive or terminal procedures. Currently, animal acquisitions are performed with varying protocols and analyses that hamper result comparison and integration. Here we introduce StandardRat, a consensus rat functional magnetic resonance imaging acquisition protocol tested across 20 centers. To develop this protocol with optimized acquisition and processing parameters, we initially aggregated 65 functional imaging datasets acquired from rats across 46 centers. We developed a reproducible pipeline for analyzing rat data acquired with diverse protocols and determined experimental and processing parameters associated with the robust detection of functional connectivity across centers. We show that the standardized protocol enhances biologically plausible functional connectivity patterns relative to previous acquisitions. The protocol and processing pipeline described here is openly shared with the neuroimaging community to promote interoperability and cooperation toward tackling the most important challenges in neuroscience

Year-to-year variation in cone production in Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi Pine)

Seed production varies from year-to-year in most species. Factors influencing this variation can include pollination and dispersal mechanisms, seed predation and resource availability. Here we examine a long-term (12– year) photographic record of seed cone production for the Australian endemic conifer Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). Coefficient of variation (a commonly used measure of variation in seed production) was low for the two trees analysed, compared with published values for other polycarpic plants. Nevertheless, cone production decreased with increasing spring minimum temperatures (during pollination) and increased with summer total rainfall (during cone initiation). Hence, Wollemia nobilis cone production was correlated with weather, in line with the resource-matching hypothesis. Impacts of variation in cone production on the Wollemia nobilis population are likely to be buffered by the shade-tolerant, slow-growing juvenile life stage of Wollemia nobilis

Diversity depends on scale in the forests of the Central Highlands of Vietnam

Tropical forests are among the most diverse and threatened ecosystems. The montane forests in the Central Highlands of Vietnam have outstanding biodiversity and unique species, yet we know little about them. This study characterised the natural forest in Dam Rong, Ha Nung and Yok Don. We identified six discrete communities and their indicator species. The Highland Floodplain forest had tree species richness of up to 22 species/400 m2 and 70 species/ha. The lowland forests of Yok Don had three distinct communities, despite having the lowest mean species richness (5 species/400 m2), highlighting that biodiversity should be assessed at multiple scales. This study illustrates the high species richness of the forests of Vietnam, and provides an important record of tree species (including rare and threatened species). Our community determinations can be used in future conservation management planning. Keywords: Annamite mountains, Dam Rong, Dipterocarp forest, Ha Nung, Montane rainforest, Yok Do