scholarly journals Asymmetrical reliability of the Alda Score favours a dichotomous representation of lithium responsiveness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Nunes ◽  
Thomas Trappenberg ◽  
Martin Alda

AbstractThe Alda score is commonly used to quantify lithium responsiveness in bipolar disorder. Most often, this score is dichotomized into “responder” and “non-responder” categories, respectively. This practice is often criticized as inappropriate, since continuous variables are thought to invariably be “more informative” than their dichotomizations. We therefore investigated the degree of informativeness across raw and dichotomized versions of the Alda score, using data from a published study of the scale’s inter-rater reliability (n=59 raters of 12 standardized vignettes each). After learning a generative model for the relationship between observed and ground truth scores (the latter defined by a consensus rating of the 12 vignettes), we show that the dichotomized scale is more robust to inter-rater disagreement than the raw 0-10 scale. Further theoretical analysis shows that when a measure’s reliability is stronger at one extreme of the continuum—a scenario which has received little-to-no statistical attention, but which likely occurs for the Alda score ≥ 7—dichotomization of a continuous variable may be more informative concerning its ground truth value, particularly in the presence of noise. Our study suggests that research employing the Alda score of lithium responsiveness should continue using the dichotomous definition, particularly when data are sampled across multiple raters.

2011 ◽  
Vol 150 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. BELASCO ◽  
S. K. GHOSH

SUMMARYThe present paper develops a mixture regression model that allows for distributional flexibility in modelling the likelihood of a semi-continuous outcome that takes on zero value with positive probability while continuous on the positive half of the real line. A multivariate extension is also developed that builds on past multivariate models by systematically capturing the relationship between continuous and semi-continuous variables, while allowing for the semi-continuous variable to be characterized by a mixture model. The flexibility associated with this model provides potential applications in many production system studies. The empirical model is shown to provide a more accurate measure of mortality rates in cattle feedlots, both independently and within a system including other performance and health factors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
Ewa Skotarczak ◽  
Anita Dobek ◽  
Krzysztof Moliński

SummaryData arranged in a two-way contingency table can be obtained as a result of many experiments in the life sciences. In some cases the categorized trait is in fact conditioned by an unobservable continuous variable, called liability. It may be interesting to know the relationship between the Pearson correlation coefficient of these two continuous variables and the entropy function measuring the corresponding relation for categorized data. After many simulation trials, a linear regression was estimated between the Pearson correlation coefficient and the normalized mutual information (both on a logarithmic scale). It was observed that the regression coefficients obtained do not depend either on the number of observations classified on a categorical scale or on the continuous random distribution used for the latent variable, but they are influenced by the number of columns in the contingency table. In this paper a known measure of dependency for such data, based on the entropy concept, is applied.


Author(s):  
Brynne D. Ovalle ◽  
Rahul Chakraborty

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Zheng ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Hang-Yue Ngo ◽  
Xiao-Yu Liu ◽  
Wengjuan Jiao

Abstract. Workplace ostracism, conceived as to being ignored or excluded by others, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. One essential topic in this area is how to reduce or even eliminate the negative consequences of workplace ostracism. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the current study assesses the relationship between workplace ostracism and its negative outcomes, as well as the moderating role played by psychological capital, using data collected from 256 employees in three companies in the northern part of China. The study yields two important findings: (1) workplace ostracism is positively related to intention to leave and (2) psychological capital moderates the effect of workplace ostracism on affective commitment and intention to leave. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for organizations and employees, along with recommendations for future research.


EMJ Radiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Pesapane

Radiomics is a science that investigates a large number of features from medical images using data-characterisation algorithms, with the aim to analyse disease characteristics that are indistinguishable to the naked eye. Radiogenomics attempts to establish and examine the relationship between tumour genomic characteristics and their radiologic appearance. Although there is certainly a lot to learn from these relationships, one could ask the question: what is the practical significance of radiogenomic discoveries? This increasing interest in such applications inevitably raises numerous legal and ethical questions. In an environment such as the technology field, which changes quickly and unpredictably, regulations need to be timely in order to be relevant.  In this paper, issues that must be solved to make the future applications of this innovative technology safe and useful are analysed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Ahmad Ghazali Ismail ◽  
Arlinah Abd Rashid ◽  
Azlina Hanif

The relationship and causality direction between electricity consumption and economic growth is an important issue in the fields of energy economics and policies towards energy use. Extensive literatures has discussed the issue, but the array of findings provides anything but consensus on either the existence of relations or direction of causality between the variables. This study extends research in this area by studying the long-run and causal relations between economic growth, electricity consumption, labour and capital based on the neo-classical one sector aggregate production technology mode using data of electricity consumption and real GDP for ASEAN from the year 1983 to 2012. The analysis is conducted using advanced panel estimation approaches and found no causality in the short run while in the long-run, the results indicate that there are bidirectional relationship among variables. This study provides supplementary evidences of relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in ASEAN.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 5199-5209
Author(s):  
Heba A. El-Khobby ◽  
Mostafa M. AbdElnaby ◽  
Abdel-Aziz Ibrahim Mahmoud HASSANIN ◽  
Abdallah D. Maziad

A development and evaluation the Cloud Computing (ClComp) of Ministry of Electricity and Energy of Egypt (MEEE) is presented in this paper. In order to be able to judge whether the ClComp of MEEE is competence, there is a need to develop criteria which performance can judged. Competency based standards and the ability to perform the activities within an occupation to the standard expected in the organization structure are presented. The key objective of Cloud Computing is to integrate Authorized Groups (AuthGs) development with the needs of the organization structures of MEEE. The ClComp of MEEE was developed jointly between the telecommunication information technology and ClComp services. Evaluation enables participant to distinguish between AuthGs centered view and a customer centered view of cloud computing of MEEE is competence evaluation. Recognize the main types of evaluation, explain the purpose of evaluation compare the approaches to cloud computing evaluation and review the relationship between the process and policy of evaluation are investigated. Microprocessor architecture presented an optimistic view of multicore scalability to develop the ClComp. Moreover this paper investigates the theoretical analysis of multiprocessor developing and scalability. The analysis was based on the laws of Amdahl's, Gustafson's, Hill's and Marty for fixed-workload condition. Moreover, challenged the difficulties to develop better cloud computing is taken into account. Also, multicore analysis of ClComp scalability, performance and power under fixed-time and memory-bound conditions are studied. These results complement existing studies and demonstrate that ClComp architectures are capable of extensive scalability and developing.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Stefani ◽  
Gabriele Prati

Research on the relationship between fertility and gender ideology revealed inconsistent results. In the present study, we argue that inconsistencies may be due to the fact that such relationship may be nonlinear. We hypothesize a U- shaped relationship between two dimensions of gender ideology (i.e. primacy of breadwinner role and acceptance of male privilege) and fertility rates. We conducted a cross-national analysis of 60 countries using data from the World Values Survey as well as the World Population Prospects 2019. Controlling for gross domestic product, we found support for a U-shaped relationship between gender ideology and fertility. Higher levels of fertility rates were found at lower and especially higher levels of traditional gender ideology, while a medium level of gender ideology was associated with the lowest fertility rate. This curvilinear relationship is in agreement with the phase of the gender revolution in which the country is located. Traditional beliefs are linked to a complementary division of private versus public sphere between sexes, while egalitarian attitudes are associated with a more equitable division. Both conditions strengthen fertility. Instead, as in the transition phase, intermediate levels of gender ideology’s support are associated with an overload and a difficult reconciliation of the roles that women have to embody (i.e. working and nurturing) so reducing fertility. The present study has contributed to the literature by addressing the inconsistencies of prior research by demonstrating that the relationship between gender ideology and fertility rates is curvilinear rather than linear.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Czarnek ◽  
Małgorzata Kossowska

In this study, we investigate the relationship between values and political beliefs and how it varies as a function of cultural context and time. In particular, we analyzed the effects of Conservation vs. Openness to change and Self-transcendence vs. Self-enhancement for cultural and economic political beliefs using data from nationally representative samples of citizens from 34 European countries from eight rounds of the European Social Survey (data spans the 2002–2016 period). We found that the effects of values on political beliefs are moderated by the Western vs. Eastern cultural context and that there is a modest round-to-round variation in the effects of values on beliefs. The relationship between Openness and cultural beliefs was negative and largely consistent across the Western and Eastern countries. Similarly, the effects of Self-enhancement were positive across these Western and Eastern countries. In contrast, the effects of Openness on economic beliefs were positive for the Eastern countries but largely weak and inconsistent for the Western countries. Finally, the effects of Self-enhancement on cultural beliefs are weak for both cultural contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ran Xiong ◽  
Ping Wei

Confucian culture has had a deep-rooted influence on Chinese thinking and behavior for more than 2,000 years. With a manually created Confucian culture database and the 2017 China floating population survey, we used empirical analysis to test the relationship between Confucian culture and individual entrepreneurial choice using data obtained from China's floating population. After using the presence and number of Confucian schools and temples, and of chaste women as instrumental variables to counteract problems of endogeneity, we found that Confucian culture had a significant role in promoting individuals' entrepreneurial decision making among China's floating population. The results showed that, compared with those from areas of China not strongly influenced by Confucian culture, individuals from areas that are strongly influenced by Confucian culture were more likely to choose entrepreneurship as their occupation choice. Our findings reveal cultural factors that affect individual entrepreneurial behavior, and also illustrate the positive role of Confucianism as a representative of the typical cultures of the Chinese nation in the 21st century.


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