scholarly journals Measurement Issues with Couple- and Family-Level Data

2013 ◽  
pp. 66-80
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Issues ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Family Level

HERITABILITY OF SINGLE PLANT YIELD AND INCIDENCE OF BLACK POD DISEASE IN COCOA

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. LOCKWOOD ◽  
F. OWUSU-ANSAH ◽  
Y. ADU-AMPOMAH
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Mass Selection ◽  
Single Plant ◽  
Plant Yield ◽  
Clone Selection ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Black Pod ◽  
Black Pod Disease

Broad sense heritabilities were estimated in three long-term cocoa clone trials in Ghana, with 20, 18 and 15 entries. They were 0.15, 0.05 and 0.15 for yield in pods per plant, and 0.26, 0.19 and 0.40 for incidence of ‘bad’ pods, mostly due to black pod disease, caused by infection with Phytophthora spp. The low heritability of single plant yield, which has been known for 80 years, has been widely overlooked in cocoa research and extension, compromising the success of clone selection programmes. The heritability of the incidence of black pod disease is high enough to justify mass selection where family level data are not available. The findings will be applied in a new large-scale programme in Ghana to select clones that are high yielding in the presence of P. megakarya.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Grazing, Erosion and Adult Aquatic Insects in Streams in Mongolia

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Barbara Hayford ◽  
◽  
Jon Gelhaus ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Multiple Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Aquatic Insect ◽  
Stream Channel ◽  
Temperature Conductivity ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Family Level

Overgrazing along stream channels in Mongolia may impact streams by increasing stream channel erosion and in-stream sediments, water temperature, pH, and conductivity. Grazing and erosion impacts may impair stream insects. The Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey sampled 250 streams during summer seasons in 2003-2006 and 2008. On-site identifi cations of aquatic insect families mostly based on collections of adults were recorded for each site, leading us to ask whether the family-level data were useful in biological assessment related to impacts and impairment from grazing and erosion. A double dendrogram based on hierarchical cluster analysis was used to fi nd patterns in sites and aquatic insect communities. Sites did not group by sampling period, but some sites did group by stream size and elevation. However, elevation was not a signifi cant predictor of variation in aquatic insect metrics. Analysis of variance was used to determine whether insect metrics and water quality variables varied signifi cantly between categories of erosion in the stream channel. Plecoptera and Diptera richness decreased with increased erosion and Percent Diptera Richness was the only aquatic insect metric to vary signifi cantly between categories of erosion along the stream channel. Water temperature, conductivity, and pH also signifi cantly increased with increased erosion. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether aquatic insect metrics could be predicted by variation in landscape, water quality and stream reach variables. Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Coleoptera richness increased with increased erosion, conductivity, and pH, but not signifi cantly. Percent Diptera Richness formed the only signifi cant model in the multiple regression analysis, with conductivity the only signifi cant predictor of variation in Percent Diptera Richness. Family-level data generated in the fi eld indicated that sampling for Trichoptera and Ephemeroptera diversity would be maximized by sampling streams undergoing intermediate levels of disturbance from grazing and erosion, that sampling for the Diptera and Plecoptera diversity would be maximized by sampling streams with less erosion and grazing, and that Diptera richness was impaired by erosion related to grazing in Mongolian streams.

scholarly journals Reliability of Taxonomic Sufficiency for Simplifying Benthic Index M-AMBI Methodology in A Heavily Polluted Estuary

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjun Li ◽  
Yi Sun ◽  
Yanbin Gu ◽  
Pengfei Xie ◽  
Yuan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Level ◽  
Biotic Index ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
Taxonomic Sufficiency ◽  
As Species ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Ecological Quality Status ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Benthic Index ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract In order to assess the ecological quality status of coastal environments in Europe, the AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and multivariate-AMBI (M-AMBI) have been developed. However, the applicability and validity of these methods worldwide remains in question, particularly for complex ecosystems such as estuaries. The present study, therefore, is an investigation of the relationship between the M-AMBI and different contamination variables in a eutrophic estuary in three seasons (i.e., spring, summer and autumn). In addition, the reliability of taxonomic sufficiency for simplifying M-AMBI operation was tested. The results showed that genus- and family-level data accurately reproduced the spatial-temporal patterns of species-level community assemblages. The M-AMBI values showed a consistent spatial distribution pattern in all sampling seasons, with a decreasing trend along the increasing distance from the estuary inlet. Furthermore, both genus- and family-level results performed nearly as well as species-level data in detecting the seasonal variations of different contaminants (i.e., nutrients and organic enrichment). The taxonomic sufficiency succeeded in this temperate ecoregion is owing to the high aggregation ratios at different taxonomic levels in all sampling events. In general, these findings suggested that application of taxonomic sufficiency based on the M-AMBI provides a simple and efficient method for evaluating variations of ecological quality in the Liaohe Estuary.

Understanding the Unequal Post-Great Recession Wealth Recovery for American Families

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sisi Zhang ◽  
Shuaizhang Feng
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Survey Of Consumer Finances ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Consumer Finances ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Family Level ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Race Ethnicity

AbstractThe wealth of US families had not returned to its prerecession level by 2013, six years after the onset of the Great Recession. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of this slow and uneven episode of wealth recovery, using family-level data from the Survey of Consumer Finances 1989–2013. Both descriptive results and regressions controlling for life cycle wealth accumulation show that families of color and less-educated families are falling behind in wealth recovery because their wealth portfolios are concentrated in housing, which has recovered very slowly. The decomposition results suggest that homeownership plays a significant role in explaining wealth disparity by race, ethnicity, and education at the mean and bottom of the wealth distribution. Understanding the uneven wealth recovery has important implications for redesigning asset-related policies and narrowing wealth gaps.

scholarly journals Diversity of Coleoptera in Maize Crops (Zea mays L.) and a Secondary Succession Area in Paraíba, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 322
Author(s):  
Angélica da Silva Salustino ◽  
Maria Ítala Alves de Souza ◽  
Ana Jéssica Soares Barbosa ◽  
Josefa Jussara Rêgo ◽  
Valdemir Ribeiro Cavalcante Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Succession ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Maize Crop ◽  
Vegetative Period ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Family ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Predatory Insects ◽  
The City

This work compares the diversity of beetles (Coleoptera) in areas of maize cultivation with fertilization (NPK) and without fertilization, and a field in secondary succession (capoeira) aiming to understand the relation of these organisms in the different systems. The study was carried out in a farm belonging to EMEPA-PB, in the city of Alagoinha, Paraíba state, Brazil, from July to August 2018. Insects were captured in Provid traps and collected every seven days during the vegetative period of the crop. The screenings were carried out at the Zoology Laboratory of the Universidade Federal da Paraiba and the specimens identified at the family level. Data were analyzed using the ANAFAU program. Ten families of beetles were found: Alleculidae, Cecindelidae, Coccinellidae, Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Cleridae, Staphylinidae, Erotylidae, Chrysomelidae, and Tenebrionidae. Five families were common in all studied areas except for Staphylinidae that was absent in the fertilized area. Beetle families classified as predatory insects were more abundant in the non-fertilized maize system and secondary succession area, except the Coccinellidae family. The families considered as maize crop pests (Scarabaeidae, Chrysomelidae, and Tenebrionidae) had higher abundance in the fertilized maize system. The Erotylidae family also showed predominance in the non-fertilized area. We conclude that there is a greater diversity of beetle in the non-fertilized maize crop when compared to the other studied areas.

Testing depth-related multivariate patterns of macrofauna on the Indian continental shelf using reduced taxonomic resolution and data transformation

2011 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.V. Joydas ◽  
R. Damodaran
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Taxonomic Resolution ◽  
Depth Gradient ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Family Level

Although taxonomic sufficiency (TS) was developed for rapid environmental assessments, it has recently been adopted to study the spatial patterns of macrobenthos in relation to natural environmental gradients. To accept TS as a routine approach in wider benthic studies, it needs to be valid for various taxa and geographically different water masses. This study examined the effects of taxonomic resolution on depth-related multivariate patterns of macrobenthic polychaetes on the western Indian continental shelf. An extensive data set based on samples collected from a wide geographical area (7°–22°N latitudes) covering a large depth gradient (30–200 m) has been analysed. Species level polychaete community data had shown a significant variation between shallow and deeper waters. Our results indicated that generic and family level data also can detect community shifts along a depth gradient in a similar way to species level data. The entire western continental margin (200 m depth) is lying in the oxygen minimum zone (dissolved oxygen <0.5 ml l−1). This study indicated that family level results were sufficient to document the correlations of low oxygen on macrobenthic polychaetes. This study also tested the effects of transformations on depth-related patterns of polychaetes. In multivariate analyses, transformations play a role in defining the balance between contributions from common and rare species in the measure of similarity of two samples. Our results showed that the type of transformations did not make any prominent differences in the multivariate analyses.

Perceived Family Resources Based on Number of Members With ADHD

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 517-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Corwin ◽  
Miriam Mulsow ◽  
Du Feng
Keyword(s):  
Family Member ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Family Stress ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Resources ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
The Impact

Objective: This study examines how the number of family members with ADHD affects other family members’ perceived resources. Method: A total of 40 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and their mothers, fathers, and adolescent siblings living in the household participated. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze family-level data from a total of 130 participants. Results: Mothers reported more resources when only the target adolescent had ADHD and more nonsupportive factors when more than one member of the family had ADHD. Fathers reported more supportive factors when only one member of the family had ADHD. Conclusion: Parents reported greater resources and strengths when only one adolescent family member had ADHD; however, family members had varying viewpoints. The ADHD Family Scale examined issues specific to ADHD, compared with general family stress and resource scales, and may be a useful tool for examining the impact of ADHD on all members of a family.

New Evidence on the Construct Validity of the ASI-3 and the Dimensional Conceptualization of Trait Anxiety Sensitivity From IRT Modeling

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph J. Kemper ◽  
Michael Hock
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Anxiety Sensitivity ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Sensitivity Index ◽  
Response Scale ◽  
Established Risk Factor ◽  
Irt Models ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Extreme Response

Abstract. Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) denotes the tendency to fear anxiety-related sensations. Trait AS is an established risk factor for anxiety pathology. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) is a widely used measure of AS and its three most robust dimensions with well-established construct validity. At present, the dimensional conceptualization of AS, and thus, the construct validity of the ASI-3 is challenged. A latent class structure with two distinct and qualitatively different forms, an adaptive form (normative AS) and a maladaptive form (AS taxon, predisposing for anxiety pathology) was postulated. Item Response Theory (IRT) models were applied to item-level data of the ASI-3 in an attempt to replicate previous findings in a large nonclinical sample (N = 2,603) and to examine possible interpretations for the latent discontinuity observed. Two latent classes with a pattern of distinct responses to ASI-3 items were found. However, classes were indicative of participant’s differential use of the response scale (midpoint and extreme response style) rather than differing in AS content (adaptive and maladaptive AS forms). A dimensional structure of AS and the construct validity of the ASI-3 was supported.

Modeling Intraindividual Variability in Three-Level Multilevel Models

Methodology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Nestler ◽  
Katharina Geukes ◽  
Mitja D. Back
Keyword(s):  
Multilevel Model ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Repeated Measurements ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

Abstract. The mixed-effects location scale model is an extension of a multilevel model for longitudinal data. It allows covariates to affect both the within-subject variance and the between-subject variance (i.e., the intercept variance) beyond their influence on the means. Typically, the model is applied to two-level data (e.g., the repeated measurements of persons), although researchers are often faced with three-level data (e.g., the repeated measurements of persons within specific situations). Here, we describe an extension of the two-level mixed-effects location scale model to such three-level data. Furthermore, we show how the suggested model can be estimated with Bayesian software, and we present the results of a small simulation study that was conducted to investigate the statistical properties of the suggested approach. Finally, we illustrate the approach by presenting an example from a psychological study that employed ecological momentary assessment.

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