No Evidence Against the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis: A Commentary on Harrison et al.’s Meta-Analysis of Animal Personality

Harrison et al. (2021) set out to test the greater male variability hypothesis with respect to personality in non-human animals. Based on the non-significant results of their meta-analysis, they concluded that there is no evidence to support the hypothesis, and that biological explanations for greater male variability in human psychological traits should be called into question. Here, we show that these conclusions are unwarranted. Specifically: (a) in mammals, birds, and reptiles/amphibians, the magnitude of the sex differences in variability found in the meta-analysis is entirely in line with previous findings from both humans and non-human animals; (b) the generalized lack of statistical significance does not imply that effect sizes were too small to be considered meaningful, as the study was severely underpowered to detect effect sizes in the plausible range; (c) the results of the meta-analysis can be expected to underestimate the true magnitude of sex differences in the variability of personality, because the behavioral measures employed in most of the original studies contain large amounts of measurement error; and (d) variability effect sizes based on personality scores, latencies, and proportions suffer from lac of statistical validity, adding even more noise to the meta-analysis. In total, Harrison et al.’s study does nothing to disprove the greater male variability hypothesis in mammals, let alone in humans. To the extent that they are valid, the data remain compatible with a wide range of plausible scenarios.

NOM-035-STPS-2018

Looking at the structure of NOM-035-STPS-2018, there is an assumption that there are areas of opportunity to improve the implementation of the standard. Thus, the purpose of this research is to identify through a review whether there are areas of opportunity that can improve the implementation of NOM-035. For the review, articles addressing the psychosocial risk factors evaluation were selected and analyzed. Four topics of discussion were identified: impact of psychosocial risk factors, policy and regulations, management systems, and evaluation of psychosocial risk factors. Subsequently, a synthesis was made, and it was found that there are three areas of opportunity to improve NOM-035-STPS-2018: it does not have a risk management system, its instruments do not present evidence of statistical validity, and the instruments do not take into account indicators of consequence.

Four points regarding reproducibility and external statistical validity: a comment on Walter et al.

Walter et al. (2021) present phase 1–2–3 trial data that show two doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioN-Tech) Covid-19 vaccine were safe and effective in children aged 5–11 years. Given that millions of children in this age group are receiving the paediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, that there are potential risks, and that the balance of benefits over potential risks is more limited in children compared to adults due to low rates of serious disease (ATAGI 2021), gold standards ought to be applied to supporting data in terms of placebo-controlled disease endpoint efficacy trials, safety databases large enough to detect adverse events, and appropriate data sharing to enable reproduction and scrutiny of results. Four points are worthy of attention regarding the reproducibility and external statistical validity of the analysis reported in Walter et al. (2021). ‘External validity’ refers to the extent to which conclusions drawn from the data (and statistical tests thereof) are likely to correspond to, or be generalisable to, the real world (Campbell 1957). ‘Reproducibility’ refers to the ability of independent researchers to draw the same conclusions from the data (Kass et al. 2016).

Real-time and remote MCMC trace inspection with Beastiary

Bayesian phylogenetic methods have gained substantial popularity in the last decade, due to their ability to incorporate independent information and fit complex models. Most Bayesian implementations rely on Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), which in turn requires careful interpretation of the output to assess the statistical validity of any resulting inferences. Here we describe Beastiary, a package for real-time and remote inspection of log flies generated by MCMC analysis commonly utilised in Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. Beastiary is an easily deployed web-sever that can be used to summarise and visualise the output of many popular software packages including BEAST, BEAST2, RevBayes, and MrBayes. We describe the overall design and implementation of Beastiary and some typical use cases, with a particular focus on the capability of monitoring analyses from remote servers.

Interpretation of the Road and Associated Realities in the First French Translation of Mikhail Lermontov’s Novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The anthropological turn in humanitarian thought stimulated the interest in studying the linguistic personality and individual translator's style. The paper analyses that of A. A. Stolypin (Mongo), a well-known person to the specialists of Russian literature due to his relationships with Mikhail Lermontov, a famous Russian poet. The publication of Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time” became at the time a significant event in the emerging literary life of Russia marked by Western aesthetic influences. The first French translation of this emblematic novel appeared in 1843 in the Parisian newspaper “La Démocratie pacifique: journal des intérêts des gouvernements et des peuples”. It was made by mentioned above A. A. Stolypin (Mongo), the poet’s close relative and comrade-in-arms who had reasons to leave Russia for some time. The philologists have long known about this translation, but it never became the subject of a close analysis. Filling the existing gap, we aim to introduce this notable translation into scientific circulation. The present paper is part of our research project which is based on Bakhtin’s theory of the literary chronotope, since the road chronotope is a crucial component of Lermontov’s novel. Coupled with the concept of “thematic grid” by I. V. Arnold, it forms the theoretical framework for the current study. To enhance its statistical validity, we trans-formed the Russian edition of the novel and Stolypin’s French translation into digital research corpus. Through the lens of the above theoretical tools, we view the most frequent lexical units denominating the specific road realities, including those of the North Caucasus, as they are key thematic characteristics of time and place. Therefore, their interpretation may serve to evaluate the reproducibility of the “thematic grid” and reveal the nature of the most consistently repeated trаnslator’s solutions. An additional contextual analysis using the reverse translation completes the data and serves for a more detailed and contrasted illustration of the translator’s style. Our analysis reveals the existence of a certain “blurring” of the “thematic grid” in the target text generally due to the use of specification of meaning, hyponyms instead of terms with a broader meaning. But this feature of Stolypin’s translator style does not hinder the adequate recreation of the source text and allows the reader to feel the originality of the time and space in which the events, closely related to the Caucasus Mountain region, developed.

The Validity and Reliability of the Chula COVID-19 Psychosocial Home Isolation Evaluation Tool (CCPHIET)

Background: The cumulative number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant shortage of hospital beds. Many patients may not require hospitalization and can be clinically observed in home settings. However, some psychosocial factors are correlated with unsuccessful home isolation (HI), which might negatively affect the transmission control in the community. Therefore, we developed a new psychosocial screening tool (CCPHIET) for assessing HI suitability and examined its validity and reliability.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included COVID-19 patients who were deemed to be medically safe for 14 days of HI. The CCPHIET is comprised of 8 clinical domains pertinent to HI behavioral compliance and risk. We explored its statistical validity and reliability and discussed the potential utility of this tool. Results: A total of 65 COVID-19 patients participated in this study. Most patients (58.5%) were evaluated as good candidates for HI. The CCPHIET has an acceptable content validity (IOC index > 0.5), moderate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.611) and substantial to excellent inter-rater reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.944, Cohen’s kappa= 0.627).Conclusions: To compromise between strict and costly absolute institutional quarantine and the potentially unsuccessful absolute HI, the CCPHIET may help to identify good candidates for HI in mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. This psychosocial information would support the physicians in matching each patient to the most suitable setting. Therefore, safe medical care is provided, unnecessary use of medical resources is spared, and local transmission is contained.

GENETICS OF PHOBIC DISORDERS

At present time, on the basis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), several authors found linkage of phobic disorders with certain regions of chromosomes – 3q26 (agoraphobia), 14q13 (specific phobias), 16q21 (social phobias), 16q22 (social phobias) and 4q31-q34 (phobic disorders). We propose 19 genes that are localized in these regions and are expressed in the brain: PRKCI, CLDN11, EIF5A2, TNIK, CLCN3, CPE, GLRB, GRIA2, NEK1, NPY2R, NPY5R, RAPGEF2, TRIM2, SMAD1, ADGRG1, BEAN1, CDH8, DOK4 and KATNB1. Therefore, these genes may be investigated as candidate genes of phobic disorders. Various sources propose 26 potential candidate genes of phobic disorders. Finnish geneticist J. Donner carries out a meta-analysis to study the 8 most probable among them and corroborates statistical validity only for 4 genes: ALAD, CDH2, EPB41L4A and GAD1. First three genes are involved in the social phobias, and fourth is involved in whole phobic disorders. Phobias are heterogeneous and multifactorial diseases. To understand the biological mechanisms of such disorders, to create effective methods for their prevention and treatment, there are needed further intensive molecular genetic studies of these disorders on sufficiently large samples and corroborating these results by other authors.

Identification of high risk and early stage eating disorders: first validation of a digital screening tool

Background Eating disorders are amongst the deadliest of all mental disorders, however detection and early intervention rates remain extremely low. Current standardised screening questionnaires can be arduous or confronting and are ill-validated for online use, despite a universal shift to digital healthcare. The present study describes the development and pilot validation of a novel digital screening tool (the InsideOut Institute-Screener) for high risk and early stage eating disorders to drive early intervention and reduced morbidity. Methods We utilised a mixed cross-sectional and repeated measures longitudinal survey research design to assess symptom severity and recognised parameters of statistical validity. Participants were recruited through social media and traditional advertising, and through MTurk. An Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) global score of 2.3 and assessment of eating disorder behaviours was used to determine probable ED. 1346 participants aged 14–74 (mean [SE] age 26.60 [11.14] years; 73.8% female, 22.6% male) completed the survey battery. 19% were randomised to two-week follow-up for reliability analysis. Results Strong positive correlations between the IOI-S and both the EDE-Q global (rs = .88) and SCOFF (rs = .75) total score were found, providing support for the concurrent validity of the scale. Inter-item correlations were moderate to strong (rs = .46–.73). Correlations between the IOI-S and two measures of social desirability diverged, providing support for the discriminant validity of the scale. The IOI-S demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .908, ω = .910) and excellent two-week test–retest reliability (.968, 95% CI 0.959–0.975; p ≤ 0.1). The IOI-S accurately distinguished probable eating disorders (sensitivity = 82.8%, specificity = 89.7% [AUC = .944], LR+ = 8.04, LR− = 0.19) and two stepped levels of risk. Conclusions and relevance The present study provides excellent initial support for the psychometric validity of the InsideOut Institute digital screening tool, which has the potential to streamline early intervention in the hopes of reducing current high morbidity and mortality. Further validation should be undertaken in known clinical populations. Plain English Summary Eating disorders are amongst the deadliest of all mental disorders, however detection and early intervention rates remain extremely low. The present study describes the initial psychometric validation of a novel digital screening tool (the InsideOut Institute Screener) for high risk and early stage eating disorders, for self-referral and/or use in primary care. 1346 participants aged 14–74 of all genders completed a survey battery designed to assess common parameters of statistical validity. Strong support was found for the screener’s ability to accurately measure eating disorder risk and symptomatology. The screener was highly positively correlated with a well known and extensively validated long form self-report questionnaire for eating disorder symptomatology. This study is a pilot validation and the genesis of a project that aims ultimately to drive early intervention leading to reduced morbidity and mortality rates in this illness group.

Data Analysis and Power Simulations with General Linear Mixed Modelling for Psychophysical Data – A Practical, R-Based Guide

Sample size planning is not straight-forward for the complex designs that are usually employed in psychophysical (two-alternative forced-choice) experiments: characteristics such as binary response variables and nested data structures where responses may be correlated differently within participants and experimental sessions than across participants and experimental sessions make it harder to estimate the necessary number of participants and trials with traditional means. In this practical R-based guide, we first show in detail how we can simulate verisimilar psychophysical data. We then use these simulations to compare two different methods by which two-alternative forced-choice data can be analyzed: (1) the “two-step” approach, where first psychometric functions are fitted and then statistical tests are performed over the parameters of these fitted psychometric functions; (2) an approach based on Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling (GLMM) that does not require the intermediary step of fitting psychometric functions. We argue that the GLMM approach enhances statistical validity and show that it can increase statistical power. Finally, we provide a sample implementation of a simulation-based power analysis that can be used as-is for many simple designs, but is also easily adaptable for more complex designs. Overall, we show that a GLMM-based approach can be beneficial for data analysis and sample size planning for typical (two-alternative forced-choice) psychophysical designs.

On testing transitivity in online preference learning

The efficiency of state-of-the-art algorithms for the dueling bandits problem is essentially due to a clever exploitation of (stochastic) transitivity properties of pairwise comparisons: If one arm is likely to beat a second one, which in turn is likely to beat a third one, then the first is also likely to beat the third one. By now, however, there is no way to test the validity of corresponding assumptions, although this would be a key prerequisite to guarantee the meaningfulness of the results produced by an algorithm. In this paper, we investigate the problem of testing different forms of stochastic transitivity in an online manner. We derive lower bounds on the expected sample complexity of any sequential hypothesis testing algorithm for various forms of stochastic transitivity, thereby providing additional motivation to focus on weak stochastic transitivity. To this end, we introduce an algorithmic framework for the dueling bandits problem, in which the statistical validity of weak stochastic transitivity can be tested, either actively or passively, based on a multiple binomial hypothesis test. Moreover, by exploiting a connection between weak stochastic transitivity and graph theory, we suggest an enhancement to further improve the efficiency of the testing algorithm. In the active setting, both variants achieve an expected sample complexity that is optimal up to a logarithmic factor.