To Be or Not To Be: A Case of Recurrent Swelling Syndrome of Thoracic Duct.

Thoracic duct aneurysm is a rare entity presenting as a stable, asymptomatic, left supraclavicular swelling. We report an unusual case of a thoracic duct aneurysm in a 71-year-old woman presenting as a recurrent swelling syndrome of the left supraclavicular area associated with sporadic episodes of sharp left subcostal pain. ().

Extraosseous Ewing sarcoma arising in a chronically lymphedematous limb.

Ewing sarcoma is a highly aggressive small round cell malignant neoplasm of bone and soft tissue that typically is manifested in children and young adults. It is most commonly a primary bone tumor; however, extraosseous cases have been increasingly reported. We report a case of metastatic extraosseous Ewing sarcoma with the primary lesion occurring within a limb affected by primary lymphedema.

A Comparison of Methods for Uncovering Sample Heterogeneity: Structural Equation Model Trees and Finite Mixture Models.

Although finite mixture models have received considerable attention, particularly in the social and behavioral sciences, an alternative method for creating homogeneous groups, structural equation model trees (Brandmaier, von Oertzen, McArdle, & Lindenberger, 2013), is a recent development that has received much less application and consideration. It is our aim to compare and contrast these methods for uncovering sample heterogeneity. We illustrate the use of these methods with longitudinal reading achievement data collected as part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort.

Genetic variants specific to aging-related verbal memory: Insights from GWASs in a population-based cohort.

Verbal memory is typically studied using immediate recall (IR) and delayed recall (DR) scores, although DR is dependent on IR capability. Separating these components may be useful for deciphering the genetic variation in age-related memory abilities. This study was conducted to (a) construct individual trajectories in IR and independent aspects of delayed recall, or residualized-DR (rDR), across older adulthood; and (b) identify genetic markers that contribute to four estimated phenotypes: IR and rDR levels and changes after age 60.

Rare "Inverted" Verrucous Carcinoma (Carcinoma Cuniculatum) of the Sacrogluteal Region: Case Report and Literature Review.

A 49-year-old woman with a past history of several infundibular cysts in the head and neck region presented with a 6-month history of a nonhealing perianal abscess on a background of 13 years of chronic sacral-buttock abscesses and discharging sinuses as part of hidradenitis suppurativa. After 2 surgical procedures and inadequate healing, a wide local excision was performed. The surgical specimen revealed an extensive, infiltrating, cystic and deeply penetrating, dermal and subcutaneous neoplasm with multiple fistulous tracts extending to the skin surface.

Theory-guided exploration with structural equation model forests.

Structural equation model (SEM) trees, a combination of SEMs and decision trees, have been proposed as a data-analytic tool for theory-guided exploration of empirical data. With respect to a hypothesized model of multivariate outcomes, such trees recursively find subgroups with similar patterns of observed data. SEM trees allow for the automatic selection of variables that predict differences across individuals in specific theoretical models, for instance, differences in latent factor profiles or developmental trajectories.

Regularized Structural Equation Modeling.

A new method is proposed that extends the use of regularization in both lasso and ridge regression to structural equation models. The method is termed regularized structural equation modeling (RegSEM). RegSEM penalizes specific parameters in structural equation models, with the goal of creating easier to understand and simpler models.

Heritability of Health and Aging Limitations on Personally Desired Activities.

The aim of this study is to estimate heritability of incident limitations on personally desired activities within the eighth decade of life. We measured self-rated ability to perform ten personally desired activities in 1606 male veteran twin pairs at baseline and four years later. At follow-up, 33% of the cohort reported more limitations in desired activities.

On the Mathematical Relationship Between Latent Change Score and Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Factor Approaches: Cautions for Inferring Causal Relationship Between Variables.

The present paper focuses on the relationship between latent change score (LCS) and autoregressive cross-lagged (ARCL) factor models in longitudinal designs. These models originated from different theoretical traditions for different analytic purposes, yet they share similar mathematical forms. In this paper, we elucidate the mathematical relationship between these models and show that the LCS model is reduced to the ARCL model when fixed effects are assumed in the slope factor scores.

Using Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and random forests to analyze attrition: Results from two simulations.

In this article, we describe a recent development in the analysis of attrition: using classification and regression trees (CART) and random forest methods to generate inverse sampling weights. These flexible machine learning techniques have the potential to capture complex nonlinear, interactive selection models, yet to our knowledge, their performance in the missing data analysis context has never been evaluated. To assess the potential benefits of these methods, we compare their performance with commonly employed multiple imputation and complete case techniques in 2 simulations.

Ambient air pollution and neurotoxicity on brain structure: Evidence from women's health initiative memory study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the putative adverse effects of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5 : PM with aerodynamic diameters <2.5μm) on brain volumes in older women.

Four Dietary Items of the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) Questionnaire Form a Robust Latent Variable Measuring Healthy Eating Patterns.

Objective: Evaluate the factor structure and stability of 4 dietary items (fruit, fruit juice, vegetables, and milk) from the School Physical Activity and Nutrition questionnaire-elementary school version.

Methods: Secondary analysis of intervention data from third graders measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention (10 weeks), and 3-month follow-up. The researchers conducted structural equation modeling invariance analysis to test the stability of the factor structure of the 4 items.

Nutrition self-efficacy is unidirectionally related to outcome expectations in children.

Objective: To clarify the underlying relationship between nutrition self-efficacy and outcome expectations because the direction of the relationship (unidirectional vs bidirectional) is debated in the literature.

Methods: Secondary data analysis of a 10-week, 10-lesson school-based nutrition education intervention among 3rd grade students (N  =  952). Nutrition self-efficacy (7 items) and nutrition outcome expectations (9 items) were measured through student self-report at intervention pre- (time 1) and post- (time 2) assessments.

Loehlin's original models and model contributions.

This is a short story about John C. Loehlin who is now at the University of Texas at Austin, dealing with his original simulation models and developments, which led to his current latent variable models. This talk was initially presented at a special meeting for John before the BGA in Rhode Island, and I was very pleased to contribute.

Rationale and Applications of Survival Tree and Survival Ensemble Methods.

Classification and Regression Trees (CART), and their successors-bagging and random forests, are statistical learning tools that are receiving increasing attention. However, due to characteristics of censored data collection, standard CART algorithms are not immediately transferable to the context of survival analysis. Questions about the occurrence and timing of events arise throughout psychological and behavioral sciences, especially in longitudinal studies.

A Brief Report on the Factor Structure of the Cognitive Measures in the HRS/AHEAD Studies.

Using cognitive data from the Health and Retirement Study and Asset Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old studies that were collected between 1992 and 2004, McArdle and colleagues (2007) found that a two-factor model (episodic memory and mental status) fit better than a one-factor model. The question that was addressed in the present study was whether these results would replicate in newer cohorts of data, collected between 2006 and 2010. We also tested age, education, and gender as predictors of the identified factors.

Cohort profile: the Hawai'i Family Study of Cognition.

Intergenerational longitudinal studies over the lifespan provide valuable information for understanding the contexts and dynamic relations among cognition, family and health in adults and the elderly. The Hawai'i Family Study of Cognition (HFSC), initiated in the early 1970s, included a cohort of over 6500 individuals representing over 1800 families of parents and their offspring. The HFSC gathered data on cognitive, personality, biological and other psychosocial variables, and provided novel information on the nature of cognitive abilities, especially on family issues.

Successful emotion regulation skills application predicts subsequent reduction of symptom severity during treatment of major depressive disorder.

Objective: Deficits in emotion regulation (ER) skills are considered a putative maintaining factor for major depressive disorder (MDD) and hence a promising target in the treatment of MDD. However, to date, the association between the successful application of arguably adaptive ER skills and changes in depressive symptom severity (DSS) has yet to be investigated over the course of treatment. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to clarify reciprocal prospective associations between successful ER skills application and DSS over the course of inpatient cognitive behavioral therapy for MDD.

How representative is the ACTIVE sample? A statistical comparison of the ACTIVE sample and the HRS sample.

Objective: This research is designed to examine demographic differences between the ACTIVE sample and the larger, nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) sample.

Method: After describing some relevant demographics (age, education, sex, and race/ethnicity), we use three statistical methods to determine sample differences--logistic regression modeling (LRM), decision tree analysis (DTA), and post-stratification and raking methods. When some differences are found, we create sample weights that other researchers can use to adjust these differences.

Fighting for Intelligence: A Brief Overview of the Academic Work of John L. Horn.

John L. Horn (1928-2006) was a pioneer in multivariate thinking and the application of multivariate methods to research on intelligence and personality. His key works on individual differences in the methodological areas of factor analysis and the substantive areas of cognition are reviewed here.

Measurement Invariance of Cognitive Abilities Across Ethnicity, Gender, and Time Among Older Americans.

Objectives: The aim of this research was to test the invariance of the cognitive variables in the Health and Retirement Study/Asset Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old studies (HRS/AHEAD) across ethnicity, gender, and time.

Method: Analyses were conducted using a selected subsample of the HRS/AHEAD data set. The cognitive performance tests measuring episodic memory and mental status were used, and invariance of a two-factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel modeling for longitudinal data.