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Modeling incomplete longitudinal and cross-sectional data using latent growth structural models.

In this paper we describe some mathematical and statistical models for identifying and dealing with changes over age. We concentrate specifically on the use of a latent growth structural equation model approach to deal with issues of: (1) latent growth models of change, (2) differences in longitudinal and cross-sectional results, and (3) differences due to longitudinal attrition. This is a methodological paper using simulated data, but we base our models on practical and conceptual principles of modeling change in developmental psychology. Our results illustrate both benefits and limitations using structural models to analyze incomplete longitudinal data.

Aging

Applications of covariance structure modeling in psychology: cause for concern?

Methods of covariance structure modeling are frequently applied in psychological research. These methods merge the logic of confirmatory factor analysis, multiple regression, and path analysis within a single data analytic framework. Among the many applications are estimation of disattenuated correlation and regression coefficients, evaluation of multitrait-multimethod matrices, and assessment of hypothesized causal structures. Shortcomings of these methods are commonly acknowledged in the mathematical literature and in textbooks. Nevertheless, serious flaws remain in many published applications. For example, it is rarely noted that the fit of a favored model is identical for a potentially large number of equivalent models. A review of the personality and social psychology literature illustrates the nature of this and other problems in reported applications of covariance structure models.

Analysis of Variance

[Latent structure model of physicians' opinions on National Health Insurance].

The purpose of this study is to construct the latent structure models of physicians' opinions on National Health Insurance (NHI). The data for the analysis came from a mail survey of 1619 physicians in January of 1990. Five latent structure models were established as follows: Structure 1. Physicians' viewpoint on NHI. Hospital physicians: Steady, 69%; Turn-Over, 26%; Career-change, 5%. Clinic physicians: Steady-with Insurance Contract, 55%; Steady-without Insurance Contract, 41%; Career-Change, 4%. Structure 2. Physicians' expected impact of NHI. Hospital physicians: Pessimistic, 45%; Disadvantaged, 38%; Constant, 17%. Clinic physicians: Pessimistic, 72%; Constant, 12%; Ambitious, 16%. Structure 3. Physicians' expected workload change due to the implement of NHI. Hospital physicians: Decreasing, 30%; No-Change, 18%; Increasing, 52%. Clinic physicians: Decreasing, 30%; Non-Change, 23%; Increasing, 48%. Structure 4. Ideal practice pattern. Hospital physicians: Traditional, 47%; Transitional, 42%; Practice Abandoned, 12%. Clinic physicians: Traditional, 20%; Transitional, 21%; Rural-Orientated 59%. Structure 5. Expected payment methods for physicians. Hospital physicians: Credentiality-Specialty-based, 44%; Specialty-Equal Pay-based, 11%; Equal Pay-Specialty-based, 42%; Equal Pay-Credentiality-based, 4%. Clinic physicians: Credentiality-based, 24%; Mixed, 11%; Equal Service-Equal Pay-based, 60%; Urbanization Level-based, 5%.

Attitude of Health Personnel

[An analysis of health related behavior using interpretive structural modeling].

In order for people to know about and to adopt and maintain healthy living practices, 1) a theoretical overview regarding factors associated with health behavior, and 2) an understanding of the actual pattern of behavior in given situations are needed. While theoretical models are helpful in providing a perspective, these models are not practical enough for understanding actual patterns of behavior. In the present study, the ISM (Interpretive Structural Modeling) method was utilized to understand the actual pattern of health related behaviors. The ISM method is used in systems engineering for structurally modeling complex systems. In this study, the ISM method was applied to grasp the structure of coping behavior in the case of fever caused by a common cold under the following two conditions; i) a simplified situation using eight elementary behaviors, and ii) a more complicated situation using more than eight elementary behaviors. i) Subjects were 30 students of public health nursing. The sequence of eight elementary behaviors was determined by paired comparisons using the ISM matrix. The microcomputer made a network diagram of elementary behaviors. The 30 diagrams, none of which were the same, were classified into three types: 1) simple linear (7 subjects), 2) one junction (12 subjects), 3) two or more junctions (11 subjects). After the experiment, subjects were instructed to evaluate the validity of the ISM method. More than 80 percent of the subjects rated the ISM method as effective in increasing their cognition of the hierarchical structure of health related behaviors. ii) Two subjects (A and B) were instructed to come up with as many possible coping behaviors as they could imagine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Health Behavior

A three-dimensional motion model of loads on the lumbar spine: I. Model structure.

Traditionally most biomechanical models that are used to estimate the loading experienced by the spine during work focus on static, two-dimensional representations of the work. However, most work tasks impose loads on the lumbar spine under dynamic, three-dimensional conditions. The objective of this study was to describe the structure and logic of a model that is capable of producing estimates of spine loading under three-dimensional motion conditions. This model is intended for use primarily under laboratory conditions. The model was designed initially for workplace simulation in which the trunk is moving under symmetric and asymmetric constant velocity lifting conditions. Future embellishments may enable the model to be used under free dynamic conditions. The model predicts lumbar spine compression, shear, and torsional forces as well as trunk torque production continuously throughout the exertion. This information may be compared with spine tolerance limits so that the risk of causing a vertebral end-plate microfracture by workplace requirements could be determined.

Biomechanical Phenomena

Structural models for the metal centers in the nitrogenase molybdenum-iron protein.

Structural models for the nitrogenase FeMo-cofactor and P-clusters are proposed based on crystallographic analysis of the nitrogenase molybdenum-iron (MoFe)-protein from Azotobacter vinelandii at 2.7 angstrom resolution. Each center consists of two bridged clusters; the FeMo-cofactor has 4Fe:3S and 1Mo:3Fe:3S clusters bridged by three non-protein ligands, and the P-clusters contain two 4Fe:4S clusters bridged by two cysteine thiol ligands. Six of the seven Fe sites in the FeMo-cofactor appear to have trigonal coordination geometry, including one ligand provided by a bridging group. The remaining Fe site has tetrahedral geometry and is liganded to the side chain of Cys alpha 275. The Mo site exhibits approximate octahedral coordination geometry and is liganded by three sulfurs in the cofactor, two oxygens from homocitrate, and the imidazole side chain of His alpha 442. The P-clusters are liganded by six cysteine thiol groups, two which bridge the two clusters, alpha 88 and beta 95, and four which singly coordinate the remaining Fe sites, alpha 62, alpha 154, beta 70, and beta 153. The side chain of Ser beta 188 may also coordinate one iron. The polypeptide folds of the homologous alpha and beta subunits surrounding the P-clusters are approximately related by a twofold rotation that may be utilized in the binding interactions between the MoFe-protein and the nitrogenase Fe-protein. Neither the FeMo-cofactor nor the P-clusters are exposed to the surface, suggesting that substrate entry, electron transfer, and product release must involve a carefully regulated sequence of interactions between the MoFe-protein and Fe-protein of nitrogenase.

Azotobacter vinelandii

Nucleotide sequence of Citrus limon 26S rRNA gene and secondary structure model of its RNA.

The complete nucleotide sequence of Citrus limon 26S rDNA has been determined. The sequence has been aligned with large ribosomal RNA (L-rRNA) sequences of Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Oryza sativa. Nine extensive expansion segments in dicot 26S rRNA relative to E. coli 23S rRNA have been identified and compared with analogous segments of monocot, yeast, amphibian and human L-rRNAs. A secondary structure model for lemon 26S rRNA has been derived based on the refined model of E. coli 23S rRNA. It has been compared with other eukaryotic L-rRNAs models in terms of location of functionally important regions. Origin and evolution of L-rRNA expansion segments are discussed.

Base Sequence

Structure models for DNA in filamentous viruses with phosphates near the center.

DNA structure models deduced from X-ray and physicochemical data for Pfl, Xf, and fd viruses have two antiparallel chains wound in helices of approximately 15 A pitch with the phosphates near the structure axes and the bases directed outward. The models, which differ for each virus, are used to interpret ultraviolet absorbance and fluorescence data in terms of DNA protein interactions.

DNA, Viral

Structural models for the cell surface lipooligosaccharides of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Haemophilus influenzae.

A structural model is proposed for the surface glycolipids, or lipooligosaccharides (LOS), of gram-negative pathogenic bacteria that colonize human mucosae, e.g. Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Haemophilus influenzae. The development of this model has involved analysis of a series of pyocin-resistant mutants with altered LOS and other recent immunochemical and structural data. A comprehensive approach to determining the necessary structural data has been constructed that utilizes liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry, methylation analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance. To prepare purified oligosaccharides for these analyses, chromatographic and chemical techniques have been developed that include high-pH anion-exchange chromatography of underivatized oligosaccharides and reverse-phase chromatography after derivatization with hydrazino alkyl benzoates. The proposed LOS model has several unique features that distinguish it from models developed for the lipopolysaccharides of enteric bacteria. This information should lead to an understanding of the unique structure/function relationship of LOS and to the development of carbohydrate-based vaccines.

Chromatography, Gel

Alcohol advertising, consumption and abuse: a covariance-structural modelling look at Strickland's data.

Re-analysis employing covariance-structural models was conducted on Strickland's (1983) survey data on 772 drinking students from Grades 7, 9 and 11. These data bear on the relations among alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, association with drinking peers and exposure to televised alcohol advertising. Whereas Strickland used a just-identified model which, therefore, could not be tested for goodness of fit, our re-analysis tested several alternative models, which could be contradicted by the data. One model did fit his data particularly well. Its major implications are as follows: (1) Symptomatic consumption, negative consequences and self-rated severity of alcohol-related problems apparently reflect a common underlying factor, namely alcohol abuse. (2) Use of alcohol to relieve distress and frequency of intoxication, however, appear not to reflect abuse, although frequent intoxication contributes substantially to it. (3). Alcohol advertising affects consumption directly and abuse indirectly, although peer association has far greater impact on both consumption and abuse. These findings are interpreted as lending little support to further restrictions on advertising.

Adolescent

A structural model for the genome of echovirus 22.

We have proposed previously that the structural model for the echovirus 22 genome is a single-stranded RNA molecule that has folded back upon itself to form a stable "hairpin" at the 5'-terminus. The vRNA of echovirus 22 has been characterized further by digestion with selective ribonucleases, electrophoresis in composite gels, hydrodynamic studies in density gradients of Cs2SO4 and sucrose, thermal denaturation and 3'-terminal ribonucleotide analysis. Based on these observations, the genome of echovirus 22 is a single-stranded RNA molecule having a region of secondary structure located at the 5'-terminus that may be characterized as a snapback hairpin with hydrogen-bonded base-pairing. In addition, a VPg-like protein is attached (presumably to the 5'-end of the RNA) and the 3'-terminus contains a polyadenylic acid tract [poly (A)].

Carrier Proteins

Terminating a macromolecular helix. Structural model for the minor proteins of bacteriophage M13.

Analysis of the results of X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and s sequence studies of filamentous bacteriophage M13 are used to construct structural models for the minor proteins gp7 and gp9 at the end of the virus assembled first, and a portion of gp6 at the end of the virus that binds host. Comparison of the sequence of the major coat protein, gp8, with those of gp7, gp9 and gp6 indicates that significant portions of these three proteins have sequences similar to that of gp8. Assuming that sequence similarity is indicative of structural similarity, gp7, gp9 and portions of gp6 are modeled based on what is known about the structure of gp8. These molecular models are analyzed to predict the packing of the minor proteins with the terminal gp8 proteins (the last gp8 proteins at either end of the helix). This analysis indicates that the gp8 proteins integrated into the virus first may have a structure distinct from those in the body of the virus particle. The gp8 proteins at the end assembled last appear to have a conformation very similar to that of the integral coat proteins. These models place specific constraints on models for the process of viral assembly.

Amino Acid Sequence

Uncertainties in pharmacokinetic modeling for perchloroethylene. I. Comparison of model structure, parameters, and predictions for low-dose metabolism rates for models derived by different authors.

In recent years physiologically based pharmacokinetic models have come to play an increasingly important role in risk assessment for carcinogens. The hope is that they can help open the black box between external exposure and carcinogenic effects to experimental observations, and improve both high-dose to low-dose and interspecies projections of risk. However, to date, there have been only relatively preliminary efforts to assess the uncertainties in current modeling results. In this paper we compare the physiologically based pharmacokinetic models (and model predictions of risk-related overall metabolism) that have been produced by seven different sets of authors for perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene). The most striking conclusion from the data is that most of the differences in risk-related model predictions are attributable to the choice of the data sets used for calibrating the metabolic parameters. Second, it is clear that the bottom-line differences among the model predictions are appreciable. Overall, the ratios of low-dose human to bioassay rodent metabolism spanned a 30-fold range for the six available human/rat comparisons, and the seven predicted ratios of low-dose human to bioassay mouse metabolism spanned a 13-fold range. (The greater range for the rat/human comparison is attributable to a structural assumption by one author group of competing linear and saturable pathways, and their conclusion that the dangerous saturable pathway constitutes a minor fraction of metabolism in rats.) It is clear that there are a number of opportunities for modelers to make different choices of model structure, interpretive assumptions, and calibrating data in the process of constructing pharmacokinetic models for use in estimating "delivered" or "biologically effective" dose for carcinogenesis risk assessments. We believe that in presenting the results of such modeling studies, it is important for researchers to explore the results of alternative, reasonably likely approaches for interpreting the available data--and either show that any conclusions they make are relatively insensitive to particular interpretive choices, or to acknowledge the differences in conclusions that would result from plausible alternative views of the world.

Animals

Nucleotide sequence of bovine herpesvirus type 1 glycoprotein gIII, a structural model for gIII as a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, and implications for the homologous glycoproteins of other herpesviruses.

The gene encoding bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) glycoprotein gIII was mapped, cloned, and sequenced. The gene is situated between map units 0.122 and 0.135 and encodes a predicted protein of 521 amino acids. The identity of the sequenced gene has been verified previously by expression of immunologically authentic recombinant BHV-1 gIII (Fitzpatrick et al. (1988) J. Virol. 62, 4239-4248). Comparison of the BHV-1 gIII amino acid sequence with the homologous glycoproteins of other alphaherpesviruses revealed significant homology in the carboxy-terminal half of the molecules, including six invariant cysteine residues. A 96 amino acid domain with significant homology to class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen constant domains was identified in the conserved carboxy-terminal half of BHV-1 gIII. This domain is flanked by two other similarly sized domains which may be related to other immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily domains. These homologies support a model for the structure of BHV-1 gIII as a new member of the Ig superfamily. Elements of the model may be applicable to the homologous glycoproteins of other herpesviruses and relevant to the immunobiology of herpesvirus infections.

Amino Acid Sequence

Finite element dynamic structural model of the human thorax for chest impact response and injury studies.

The component model modal synthesis technique has been successfully adapted to the finite element structural dynamic model of the human thorax for chest impact response and injury studies. The complete thorax was modeled as an assembly of a thorax module with viscera subsystems. The module was further subdivided into rib components. Major model development was conducted at the component level to provide cost saving and modeling flexibility. The results show that the thorax can be successfully treated as a linear system. A two-step procedure was developed to obtain viscera response. The analysis results of THORAX III, a first cut thorax model, were favorably compared with Kroell-Nahum cadaver experiments. The sensitivity of the chest response due to variation in input pulse shape and peak force were analyzed. The pulse shape can affect the force-deflection relationships while peak force affects the peak response. Further sensitivity studies and experiments are proposed.

Biomechanical Phenomena

Building structural models of peptides: a semi-automatic software.

We present a software package that allows the construction and display of structural models of proteins starting from the amino acid sequence written in the one-letter code of standard data bank format. The software includes a very fast and efficient algorithm aimed at finding the global energy minimum of the potential function describing the molecular interactions. The whole package is conceived to have maximum flexibility. Completely automatic procedures are envisaged for standard problems. For non-standard problems, the construction procedure can be interactively adopted to meet with different options.

Algorithms

A structural model examining the relationship between physical child abuse, sexual victimization, and marijuana/hashish use in delinquent youth: a longitudinal study.

A structural model of the relationships among physical abuse and sexual victimization experiences, marijuana/hashish use (measured by self-report and urine test data) and self-reported delinquent behavior (theft crimes, index offenses, crimes against persons, drug sales and total delinquency) over time was tested in a longitudinal study of juvenile detainees. The hypothesized model was supported by the data. Theoretical, research and policy implications of the results are drawn.

Adolescent

A covariance structure model test of antecedents of adolescent alcohol misuse and a prevention effort.

As part of an alcohol misuse prevention evaluation, questionnaires were administered to 4,157 junior high school students to determine levels of alcohol misuse, exposure to peer use and misuse of alcohol, susceptibility to peer pressure, internal health locus of control, and self-esteem. A conceptual model of the antecedents of adolescent alcohol misuse and the effectiveness of a prevention effort was tested using covariance structure modeling techniques. The factor loadings for the model were all moderate to high, indicating that the observed variables served well as measurement instruments for the latent variables. The hypothesized structural relationships among the latent variables of alcohol misuse, exposure to peer use and misuse of alcohol, susceptibility to peer pressure, internal health locus of control, and self-esteem were supported by the data. The full model explained 45 percent of the variance in alcohol misuse in the analysis based on the total sample. The direct effect of the intervention on alcohol misuse was small but significant in the hypothesized direction. The direct effects of the intervention on susceptibility to peer pressure and internal health locus of control were not significant. The model was tested separately for groups of students who had high versus low scores on susceptibility to peer pressure in order to test the interaction between susceptibility to peer pressure and exposure to peer use and misuse of alcohol. The percentage of variance accounted for in alcohol misuse did not increase upon testing the model separately for students who had high versus low scores on susceptibility to peer pressure. Observed differences in the significance of the parameter estimates between the high and low susceptibility to peer pressure groups suggest that different approaches to the design and evaluation of substance abuse prevention programs may be necessary for different subgroups of students.

Alcoholism