A Conversation with Monroe Sirken

Born January 11, 1921 in New York City, Monroe Sirken grew up in a suburb of Pasadena, California. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in sociology at UCLA in 1946 and 1947, and a Ph.D. in 1950 in sociology with a minor in mathematics at the University of Washington in 1950 where Professor Z. W. Birnbaum was his mentor and thesis advisor. As a Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Social Science Research Council, Monroe spent 1950--1951 at the Statistics Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley and the Office of the Assistant Director for Research, U.S. Bureau of the Census in Suitland, Maryland. Monroe visited the Census Bureau at a time of great change in the use of sampling and survey methods, and decided to remain. He began his government career there in 1951 as a mathematical statistician, and moved to the National Office of Vital Statistics (NOVS) in 1953 where he was an actuarial mathematician and a mathematical statistician. He has held a variety of research and administrative positions at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and he was the Associate Director, Research and Methodology and the Director, Office of Research and Methodology until 1996 when he became a senior research scientist, the title he currently holds. Aside from administrative responsibilities, Monroe's major professional interests have been conducting and fostering survey and statistical research responsive to the needs of federal statistics. His interest in the design of rare and sensitive population surveys led to the development of network sampling which improves precision by linking multiple selection units to the same observation units. His interest in fostering research on the cognitive aspects of survey methods led to the establishment of permanent questionnaire design research laboratories, first at NCHS and later at other federal statistical agencies here and abroad.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-STS245 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

The Tyrant Father : Leslie Stephen and Masculine Influences on Virginia Woolf and her Novel, To the Lighthouse

This paper examines the volatile yet nurturing relationship between Virginia Woolf and her father, Leslie Stephen. It specifically considers the effects of three male “tyrants” in Woolf’s childhood, including not only her father but also her two half-brothers, who abused her sexually. Analysis of the dynamics of these relationships provides insight into Woolf’s lifelong battle with mental illness and helps us to understand the complicated relationships she had as an adult with men and women. In her letters, diaries, and memoir essays, Woolf reveals how she drew from her own experiences of childhood to write her most famous novel, To the Lighthouse. The fictional Ramsay family may be seen as a portrait of the actual Stephen family. Virginia Woolf herself can be seen in several characters—in James, in Cam, and in Lily. This paper demonstrates that Woolf not only drew from her personal life as she wrote the novel, but also shows that by writing it, she was able to free herself from some unresolved feelings about her parents, especially her demanding father

The Expanded Role of School Administrators and Governing Boards in First Amendment Student Speech Disputes: Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser

At the close of the 1986 Term the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion which expanded the authority of school administrators and governing boards in the area of first amendment student speech disputes. In Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, the Court held that school authorities could discipline a student for giving a speech during a high school assembly which contained a sexual innuendo. Bethel School District represents a new direction by the Supreme Court in analyzing student speech conflicts. The Court\u27s opinion is a departure from a protective first amendment analysis to one which permits local governing boards to set the standard in their own school district

The Expanded Role of School Administrators and Governing Boards in First Amendment Student Speech Disputes: Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser

At the close of the 1986 Term the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion which expanded the authority of school administrators and governing boards in the area of first amendment student speech disputes. In Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, the Court held that school authorities could discipline a student for giving a speech during a high school assembly which contained a sexual innuendo. Bethel School District represents a new direction by the Supreme Court in analyzing student speech conflicts. The Court\u27s opinion is a departure from a protective first amendment analysis to one which permits local governing boards to set the standard in their own school district

THE ROLE OF CANNABIDIOL IN THE INFLAMMATORY PROCESS AND ITS PROPERTIES AS AN ALTERNATIVE THERAPY – A REVIEW (META-ANALYSIS)

Abstract Cannabis has been used as a medicinal plant for thousands of years in Asia. Numerous physical, psychological, and emotional benefits have been attributed to cannabis since its first reported use in 2,600 BC in a Chinese pharmacopoeia. Recent years have seen a resurgence in interest in the therapeutic potential of compounds derived from these plants, mainly the non-psychoactive compound cannabidiol (CBD). In this way, we seek to evaluate, through this present study, what has been published about CBD in the Pubmed / Medline database in the last two years (2019/2020) in relation to anxiety, depression, panic attack and dementia, as well as therapeutic dosages, results with significant values, side effects and others reported in the studies found.  The results were distributed in 4 tables. In the first, the types of publication were reported; in the second, the proposal for evaluation; in the third, the results with significance evaluated; and in the fourth the doses used. Although the majority of studies found are in the form of a review (55.3%), several studies in humans have shown promising results with the use of CBD in therapies. The treatments for anxiety and stress with CBD were the most evident accounting for 37.8% of the total studies found in table 2. The relationship of CBD in metabolic processes as inflammatory markers, activator of specific nuclear receptors and protein modulations was the second most evident item na tabela 2 with 11,1%. Cognitive processes and depression appear comes in sequence with 8.9% both. The results of significance values found in this study demonstrated a good acceptance in the treatment with CBD regarding anxiety and stress. With 70.6% of positive results in table 3, CBD appears as a promising option in the treatment of anxiety, stress and similar behaviors. Regarding depression, the results were slightly lower. With 66.6% positive results, depression can also be treated with CBD as an alternative therapy option. In dose used CBD administration are extremely diverse. The doses ranged from 25mg to 800mg depending on the time of administration and also the purpose of the therapy. Although the results presented in this study are promising, we need more information to be able to position ourselves on the efficiency of CBD in proposed treatments

Confidence Intervals for Prevalence Estimates from Complex Surveys with Imperfect Assays

We present several related methods for creating confidence intervals to assess disease prevalence in variety of survey sampling settings. These include simple random samples with imperfect tests, weighted sampling with perfect tests, and weighted sampling with imperfect tests, with the first two settings considered special cases of the third. Our methods use survey results and measurements of test sensitivity and specificity to construct melded confidence intervals. We demonstrate that our methods appear to guarantee coverage in simulated settings, while competing methods are shown to achieve much lower than nominal coverage. We apply our method to a seroprevalence survey of SARS-CoV-2 in undiagnosed adults in the United States between May and July 2020.Comment: 45 pages, 35 figure