Propensity score methods are an important tool to help reduce confounding in non-experimental studies and produce more accurate causal effect estimates. Most propensity score methods assume that covariates are measured without error. However, covariates are often measured with error. Recent work has shown that ignoring such error could lead to bias in treatment effect estimates. In this paper, we consider an additional complication: that of differential measurement error across treatment groups, such as can occur if a covariate is measured differently in the treatment and control groups. We propose two flexible Bayesian approaches for handling differential measurement error when estimating average causal effects using propensity score methods. We consider three scenarios: systematic (i.e., a location shift), heteroscedastic (i.e., different variances), and mixed (both systematic and heteroscedastic) measurement errors. We also explore various prior choices (i.e., weakly informative or point mass) on the sensitivity parameters related to the differential measurement error. We present results from simulation studies evaluating the performance of the proposed methods and apply these approaches to an example estimating the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent drug use disorders.

The network paradigm for psychiatric disorder nosology was proposed based on the hypothesis that mental disorders are caused by networks of symptoms that are themselves causally related. Researchers have widely applied and integrated this paradigm to examine a variety of mental disorders, particularly depression. Existing studies generally focus on the correlation structure of symptoms, inferring causal relationships. Thus, presumption of causality may not be justified. The goal of this review was to examine the assumptions necessary for causal inference in network studies of depression. Specifically, we examined whether and how network studies address common violations of causal assumptions (i.e. no measurement error, exchangeability, and positivity). Of the 41 studies reviewed, five (12%) studies discussed sources of confounding unrelated to measurement error; none discussed positivity; and five conducted post-hoc analysis for measurement error. Depression network studies, in principle, are conducted under the assumption that symptom relationships are causal. Yet, in practice, studies seldomly discussed or adequately tested assumptions required to infer causality. Researchers continue to design studies that are unable to support the credibility of the network paradigm for the study of depression. There is a critical need to ensure scientific efforts cease to perpetuate problematic designs and findings to a potentially unsubstantiated paradigm.

The three-dimensional characterization of distributed particle properties in the micro- and nanometer range is essential to describe and understand highly specific separation processes in terms of selectivity and yield. Both performance measures play a decisive role in the development and improvement of modern functional materials. In this study, we mixed spherical glass particles (0.4–5.8 μm diameter) with glass fibers (diameter 10 μm, length 18–660 μm) to investigate a borderline case of maximum difference in the aspect ratio and a significant difference in the characteristic length to characterize the system over several size scales. We immobilized the particles within a wax matrix and created sample volumes suitable for computed tomographic (CT) measurements at two different magnification scales (X-ray micro- and nano-CT). Fiber diameter and length could be described well on the basis of the low-resolution micro-CT measurements on the entire sample volume. In contrast, the spherical particle system could only be described with sufficient accuracy by combining micro-CT with high-resolution nano-CT measurements on subvolumes of reduced sample size. We modeled the joint (bivariate) distribution of fiber length and diameter with a parametric copula as a basic example, which is equally suitable for more complex distributions of irregularly shaped particles. This enables us to capture the multidimensional correlation structure of particle systems with statistically representative quantities.

CVD is the most common chronic condition and the highest cause of mortality in the USA. The aim of the present work was to investigate diet and sedentary behaviour in relation to mortality in US CVD survivors. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted between 1999 and 2014 linked to the US mortality registry updated to 2015 were investigated. Multivariate adjusted Cox regression was used to derive mortality hazards in relation to sedentary behaviour and nutrient intake. A multiplicative and additive interaction analysis was conducted to evaluate how sedentariness and diet influence mortality in US CVD survivors. A sample of 2473 participants followed for a median period of 5·6 years resulted in 761 deaths, and 199 deaths were due to CVD. A monotone increasing relationship between time spent in sedentary activities and mortality risk was observed for all-cause and CVD mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1·20, 95 % CI 1·09, 1·31 and HR = 1·19, 95 % CI 1·00, 1·67, respectively). Inverse mortality risks in the range of 22–34 % were observed when comparing the highest with the lowest tertile of dietary fibre, vitamin A, carotene, riboflavin and vitamin C. Sedentariness below 360 min/d and dietary fibre and vitamin intake above the median interact on an additive scale influencing positively all-cause and CVD mortality risk. Reduced sedentariness in combination with a varied diet rich in dietary fibre and vitamins appears to be a useful strategy to reduce all-cause and CVD mortality in US CVD survivors.

This paper reports on an ultra-wideband low-noise distributed amplifier (LNDA) in a transferred-substrate InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology which exhibits a uniform low-noise characteristic over a large frequency range. To obtain very high bandwidth, a distributed architecture has been chosen with cascode unit gain cells. Each unit cell consists of two cascode-connected transistors with 500 nm emitter length and ft/fmax of ~360/492 GHz, respectively. Due to optimum line-impedance matching, low common-base transistor capacitance, and low collector-current operation, the circuit exhibits a low-noise figure (NF) over a broad frequency range. A 3-dB bandwidth from 40 to 185 GHz is measured, with an NF of 8 dB within the frequency range between 75 and 105 GHz. Moreover, this circuit demonstrates the widest 3-dB bandwidth operation among all reported single-stage amplifiers with a cascode configuration. Additionally, this work has proposed that the noise sources of the InP DHBTs are largely uncorrelated. As a result, a reliable prediction can be done for the NF of ultra-wideband circuits beyond the frequency range of the measurement equipment.

Although behavioral and experimental studies have shown links between victimization and antisocial behavior, the neural correlates explaining this link are relatively unknown. In the current study, we recruited adolescent girls from a longitudinal study that tracked youths’ reports of peer victimization experiences annually from the second through eighth grades. Based on these reports, 46 adolescents were recruited: 25 chronically victimized and 21 nonvictimized. During a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, participants completed a risk-taking task. Chronic peer victimization was associated with greater risk-taking behavior during the task and higher levels of self-reported antisocial behavior in everyday life. At the neural level, chronically victimized girls showed greater activation in regions involved in affective sensitivity, social cognition, and cognitive control, which significantly mediated victimization group differences in self-reported antisocial behavior.

Since the first description of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica in 2008, a number of well described case reports demonstrating its pathogenic role in humans have been published. Infections may be closely linked to flies, such as Wohlfahrtia magnifica, Lucilia sericata, Chrysomya megacephala or Musca domestica. These insects are potent vectors for the distribution of W. chitiniclastica causing local or systemic infections originating from wounds infested with fly larvae. However, other potential sources of transmission of W. chitiniclastica have been described such as soil or chicken meat. Infections in humans reported to date comprise wound infections, cellulitis, osteomyelitis and sepsis. This review summarizes all the literature available up to now and gives the current knowledge about this emerging human pathogen. Additionally, four patients with proven W. chitiniclastica infections treated at Dresden University Hospital between 2013 and 2015, are included. Special focus was placed on microbiological identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of the pathogen.

Nicki Crick initiated a generative line of theory and research aimed at exploring the implications of exposure to overt and relational aggression for youth development. The present study aimed to continue and expand this research by examining whether early (second grade) and increasing (second–sixth grade) levels of victimization during elementary school contributed to youths’ tendencies to move against, away from, or toward the world of peers following the transition to middle school. Youth (M age in second grade = 7.96 years, SD = 0.35; 338 girls, 298 boys) reported on their exposure to victimization and their social goals (performance-approach, performance-avoidance, or mastery). Teachers reported on youths’ exposure to victimization and their engagement in antisocial, socially helpless, and prosocial behavior. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that early and increasing levels of both overt and relational victimization uniquely contributed to multifinality in adverse developmental outcomes, predicting all three social orientations (high conflictual engagement, high disengagement, and low positive engagement). The pattern of effects was robust across sex and after adjusting for youths’ early social motivation. These findings confirm that both forms of victimization leave an enduring legacy on youths’ social health in adolescence. Given that profiles of moving against and away from the world can contribute to subsequent psychopathology, understanding and preventing this legacy is pivotal for developing effective intervention programs aimed at minimizing the effects of peer adversity.

Central to Zeldovich's attempts to understand the origin of cosmological structure was his exploration of the fluid dynamical effects in the primordial gas, and how the baryonic dark matter formed. Unfortunately microlensing searches for condensed objects in the foreground of the Magellanic Clouds were flawed by the assumption that the objects would be uniformly (Gaussian) distributed, and because the cadence of daily observations strongly disfavored detection of planet mass microlenses. But quasar microlensing showed them to exist at planetary mass at the same time that a hydro-gravitational theory predicted the planet-mass population as fossils of turbulence at the time of recombination (z = 1100; Gibson 1996, 2001). Where the population has now been detected from MACHO searches to the LMC (Sumi et al. 2011) we compare the quasar microlensing results to the recent determination of the mass distribution function measured for the planetary mass function, and show that the population can account for the baryonic dark matter.