Social Contagion and General Diffusion Models of Adolescent Religious Transitions: A Tutorial, and EMOSA Applications.

Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA) describe behaviors that spread through social networks. Two social influence methods are represented, social contagion (one-to-one spread) and general diffusion (spread through cultural channels). Past models explain problem behaviors-smoking, drinking, sexuality, and delinquency.

Elucidation of the methanogenic potential from coalbed microbial communities amended with volatile fatty acids.

The potential for modern coalfield methanogenesis was assessed using formation water from the Illinois Basin, Powder River Basin and Cook Inlet gas field as inocula for nutrient-replete incubations amended with C1-C5 fatty acids as presumed intermediates formed during anaerobic coal biodegradation. Instead of the expected rapid mineralization of these substrates, methanogenesis was inordinately slow (∼1 μmol day-1), following long lag periods (>100 days), and methane yields typically did not reach stoichiometrically expected levels. However, a gene microarray confirmed the potential for a wide variety of microbiological functions, including methanogenesis, at all sites.

Graphical Data Analysis on the Circle: Wrap-Around Time Series Plots for (Interrupted) Time Series Designs.

Many data structures, particularly time series data, are naturally seasonal, cyclical, or otherwise circular. Past graphical methods for time series have focused on linear plots. In this article, we move graphical analysis onto the circle.

Anaerobic hydrocarbon and fatty acid metabolism by syntrophic bacteria and their impact on carbon steel corrosion.

The microbial metabolism of hydrocarbons is increasingly associated with the corrosion of carbon steel in sulfate-rich marine waters. However, how such transformations influence metal biocorrosion in the absence of an electron acceptor is not fully recognized. We grew a marine alkane-utilizing, sulfate-reducing bacterium, Desulfoglaeba alkanexedens, with either sulfate or Methanospirillum hungatei as electron acceptors, and tested the ability of the cultures to catalyze metal corrosion.

A balance beam aid for instruction in clinical diagnostic reasoning.

We describe a balance beam aid for instruction in diagnosis (BBAID) and demonstrate its potential use in supplementing the training of medical students to diagnose acute chest pain. We suggest the BBAID helps students understand the process of diagnosis because the impact of tokens (weights and helium balloons) attached to a beam at different distances from the fulcrum is analogous to the impact of evidence to the relative support for 2 diseases. The BBAID presents a list of potential findings and allows students to specify whether each is present, absent, or unknown.

The balance beam metaphor: a perspective on clinical diagnosis.

Understanding the impact of clinical findings in discriminating between possible causes of a patient's presentation is essential in clinical judgment. A balance beam is a natural physical analogue that can accurately represent the combination of several pieces of evidence with varying ability to discriminate between disease hypotheses. Calculation of Bayes' theorem using log(posterior odds) as a function of log(prior odds) and the logarithms of the evidence's likelihood ratios maps onto the physical forces affecting objects placed on a balance beam.

A statewide trial of the SafeCare home-based services model with parents in Child Protective Services.

Objectives: In this trial, we compared Child Protective Services (CPS) recidivism outcomes between the home-based SafeCare (SC) model for child neglect and comparable home-based services, but without SC modules, for parents in the CPS system across 2 quality control strategies: coached (C) and uncoached implementation. SC is a home-based behavioral skills training model designed for neglecting or maltreating parents. The study was conducted in a scaled-up, statewide implementation setting.

Effect of warming and drought on grassland microbial communities.

The soil microbiome is responsible for mediating key ecological processes; however, little is known about its sensitivity to climate change. Observed increases in global temperatures and alteration to rainfall patterns, due to anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases, will likely have a strong influence on soil microbial communities and ultimately the ecosystem services they provide. Therefore, it is vital to understand how soil microbial communities will respond to future climate change scenarios.

Bootstrapping to test for nonzero population correlation coefficients using univariate sampling.

This article proposes 2 new approaches to test a nonzero population correlation (rho): the hypothesis-imposed univariate sampling bootstrap (HI) and the observed-imposed univariate sampling bootstrap (OI). The authors simulated correlated populations with various combinations of normal and skewed variates. With alpha set=.