Slope Estimation for Bivariate Longitudinal Outcomes Adjusting for Informative Right Censoring Using Discrete Survival Model: Application to the Renal Transplant Cohort

Patients undergoing renal transplantation are prone to graft failure which causes lost of follow-up measures on their blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels. These two outcomes are measured repeatedly over time to assess renal function following transplantation. Loss of follow-up on these bivariate measures results in informative right censoring, a common problem in longitudinal data that should be adjusted for so that valid estimates are obtained. In this study, we propose a bivariate model that jointly models these two longitudinal correlated outcomes and generates population and individual slopes adjusting for informative right censoring using a discrete survival approach. The proposed approach is applied to the clinical dataset of patients who had undergone renal transplantation. A simulation study validates the effectiveness of the approach.     

Strong laws of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes: a synthesis of recent and new results

This paper surveys recent developments in the strong law of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes. We prove a generalised version of a recent strong law for Lz-mixingales, and also a new strong law for Lpmixingales. These results greatly relax the dependence and heterogeneity conditions relative to those currently cited, and introduce explicit trade-offs between dependence and heterogeneity. The results are applied to proving strong laws for near-epoch dependent functions of mixing processes. We contrast several methods for obtaining these results, including mapping directly to the mixingale properties, and applying a truncation argument.     

Cointegration modeling of fertility in the United States

This paper presents estimates of a multiple time series model of fertility, female labor force participation, women's wages, and the relative cohort size of younger to older adult males. Cointegration methods permit modeling of these nonstationary variables, yielding estimates of the long-run relation among the variables, and the dynamic response of each variable to displacements from the steady state. The estimated steady state relation between fertility and the other variables is consistent with economic models of fertility, with fertility negatively related to female wages and male relative cohort size. Fertility responds to cohort size in a manner that is consistent with Easterlin's relative income model of household behavior. Finally, both female labor market variables adjust significantly to departures from the steady state relation, implying that they cannot be treated as exogenous in time series models of fertility.     

Moment expressions and summary statistics for the complete and truncated weibull distribution

Traditionally, the moments of the Weibull distribution have been calculated using the standard Weibull (Johnson and Kotz, 1970) . This article will expand on that idea and cover the truncated cases for the standard Weibull distributions. Also, the same techniques used for the standard form will be used to derive the moment expressions for the three-parameter complete and truncated Weibull distributions. The summary statistics are then calculated from the moment expressions. Weibull moments involve the gamma and incomplete gamma functions.     

Shy but Getting By? An Examination of the Complex Links Among Shyness,Coping, and Socioemotional Functioning in Childhood

The purpose of the current study was to test a conceptual model of the mediated and moderated associations among shyness, coping strategies, and socioemotional functioning in middle childhood. Participants were 358 children (177 boys) aged 9–13 years (M = 10.16 years, SD =.95). Children completed self‐report assessments of shyness, coping style in response to a social stressor, internalizing problems, and peer difficulties. Among the results, shyness was positively associated with internalizing symptoms and negatively related to perceptions of peer difficulties. However, both of these associations were partially mediated by internalizing coping styles. Moreover, problem‐solving coping moderated these mediated pathways: among children who reported higher levels of problem‐solving coping, the associations between internalizing coping and outcomes were attenuated. Several gender differences also emerged, suggesting that problem‐solving coping may be particularly useful for shy boys. Results are discussed in terms of the complex but potentially critical role of coping in shy children's socioemotional functioning.     

Potential Selective Responding in a Parent Questionnaire Study of Post-Institutionalized Children

This study assesses selective responding in a single wave of data collection and a four-wave study. Participants were 121 parents of post-institutionalized children, identified as “never responders,” “previous responders,” or “wave 4 responders.” Parents evaluated their adopted child's family, school, peer, and behavioral adjustment. Children (47% male) were 2 to 20 years old (M = 10.79, SD = 4.59) and adopted between 5 and 54 months of age (M = 15.49, SD = 9.94). Within a single wave of data collection, no evidence suggested that selective responding contributes much bias. Over a multi-wave study, however, results may under-represent adjustment difficulties.     

Casino self‐exclusion programmes: A review of the issues 1

Abstract

Casino self‐exclusion is a procedure by which individuals can have themselves banned from entering a casino. One of the purposes of this paper is to present information about the availability and features of these programmes. A second purpose is to make recommendations about how to best operate them based on cross‐jurisdictional analysis and lessons from the addiction literature. The first section of the paper describes the typical casino self‐exclusion programme, outlining the features common to most policies. The second section provides a detailed overview of the programmes operating in Canada in order to give the reader an appreciation of the procedural variations that exist. The third section discusses the effectiveness of self‐exclusion programmes. Finally, the fourth section contains recommendations on ways to improve effectiveness. When properly implemented, self‐exclusion can be a valuable tool in helping to curb problem gambling.