Impact Evaluation of a Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy Model in Brazilian Sexually Abused Girls

This study evaluated the impact of a cognitive behavioral group therapy model in Brazilian girls who had experienced sexual abuse. The effect of the waiting period before treatment and the enduring effectiveness of the treatment after six and 12 months were also evaluated. Forty-nine female sexual abuse victims between the ages of 9 and 16 completed instruments measuring depression, anxiety, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder before, during, and after the group therapy. The group therapy had a positive impact on their psychological functioning, significantly reducing symptoms of anxiety, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The therapeutic effects lasted six to 12 months after the treatment ended. The model proved effective for treating young female victims of sexual abuse.     

The use of population‐level data to advance interdisciplinary methodology: a cell‐through‐society sampling framework for child development research

The authors argue that population‐level data should be used to advance interdisciplinary research about community effects on early development. These data permit the identification of neighborhoods in which development patterns deviate from predictions based on local socioeconomic status (SES). So‐called ‘off‐diagonal’ places signal where researchers are likely to discover processes that either deflect the risks of low SES or dampen the salutary impact of favorable SES. Since such neighborhoods will be best understood relative to nearby ‘on‐diagonal’ neighborhoods where macro‐economic and/or public policy factors are constant, the authors present a methodology for illuminating these regional clusters. The method is deployed in British Columbia, Canada, where a team has collected developmental observations from two censuses of kindergarten children (n = 82,632). The article discusses how these clusters can be used to coordinate sampling decisions among academics representing the range of disciplines needed to study child development from cell‐through‐society, as is recommended in the literature.     

The current state of Bayesian methods in nonclinical pharmaceutical statistics: Survey results and recommendations from the DIA/ASA-BIOP Nonclinical Bayesian Working Group

The use of Bayesian methods to support pharmaceutical product development has grown in recent years. In clinical statistics, the drive to provide faster access for patients to medical treatments has led to a heightened focus by industry and regulatory authorities on innovative clinical trial designs, including those that apply Bayesian methods. In nonclinical statistics, Bayesian applications have also made advances. However, they have been embraced far more slowly in the nonclinical area than in the clinical counterpart. In this article, we explore some of the reasons for this slower rate of adoption. We also present the results of a survey conducted for the purpose of understanding the current state of Bayesian application in nonclinical areas and for identifying areas of priority for the DIA/ASA-BIOP Nonclinical Bayesian Working Group. The survey explored current usage, hurdles, perceptions, and training needs for Bayesian methods among nonclinical statisticians. Based on the survey results, a set of recommendations is provided to help guide the future advancement of Bayesian applications in nonclinical pharmaceutical statistics.     

CSR and Accounting: Drawing on Weber and Aristotle to Rethink Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

The purpose of this article is to discuss and provide an alternative, less materialist–individualist approach to interpret the four assumptions of generally accepted accounting principles: economic entity, unit measure, periodic reporting, and going concern. The article draws from and builds on arguments first developed by Weber and Aristotle to demonstrate how a materialist–individualist moral point of view influences the conventional interpretation of the four basic assumptions for generally accepted accounting principles. We then propose an ideal‐type conceptual framework upon which to critique mainstream accounting theory and to develop alternative accounting theory that balances multiple forms of well‐being (including financial, but also social, physical, spiritual, and ecological well‐being) for multiple stakeholders (including owners, employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, neighbors, future generations, and so forth).     

Societal Risk Perception Among African Villagers Without Access to the Media

The impact of the media on people's risk perception was assessed by comparing risk ratings obtained from African villagers without access to the media with risk ratings obtained from African city-dwellers with access to the media and risk ratings obtained from French participants. The overall mean risk judgment observed among the Togolese villagers was lower than the mean rating observed among the Togolese city-dwellers, and lower than the mean rating observed among the French. The linear association observed between the Togolese villagers' ratings and the Togolese city-dweller ratings and the French ratings was moderate. The impact of the media on risk perception was estimated to be an increase of about 15% of the overall mean ratings, and to about 31% of the variance of the mean ratings. This impact was independent of educational level.     

A note on influence diagnostics in AR(1) time series models

The purpose of this paper is to develop influence diagnostics for AR(1) models under the innovative and the data perturbation schemes. There are four main contributions. First, we derive analytical expressions for the slope and curvature statistics. Second, we establish a relationship between the slope and curvature showing that the standardised slope and standardised curvature are equal for the innovative perturbation scheme, and these vectors are nearly identical for several values of the autoregressive parameter, for the data perturbation scheme. Third, we present a connection between the influence statistics and the tests for outlier detection. Fourth, for the innovative perturbation scheme, we derive the asymptotic distribution of a new influence statistic, whereas for the data perturbation scheme, the distribution of the influence statistics is obtained via Monte Carlo simulation. We additionally discuss practical guidelines for the use of local influence statistics, which are illustrated on a chemical process data set.     

Usability of car stereo

Automotive sound systems vary widely in terms of functions and way of use between different brands and models what can bring difficulties and lack of consistency to the user. This study aimed to analyze the usability of car stereo commonly found in the market. Four products were analyzed by task analysis and after use reports and the results indicate serious usability issues with respect to the form of operation, organization, clarity and quality of information, visibility and readability, among others.     

Examination of computer task exposures in radiologists: a work systems approach

Radiologists are intensive computer users as they review and interpret radiological examinations using the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). Since their computer tasks require the prolonged use of pointing devices, a high prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) is reported. The first phase of this study involved conducting a Cognitive Work Analysis in conjunction with a Participatory Ergonomics approach to perform a total work system analysis. We also conducted an ergonomic survey as well as collected computer use data, specifically for the mouse and keyboard. The goal of the study was to reduce the physical exposures for radiologists. This paper presents Phase I results describing the analyses and redesign process of the radiologists tasks, training design, computer use, and selected survey results.