Individual-level Approach Research Articles

Age-Related Diversification and Specialization in the Mental Lexicon: Comparing Aggregate and Individual-Level Network Approaches.

The mental lexicon changes across the lifespan. Prior work, aggregating data among individuals of similar ages, found that the aging lexicon, represented as a network of free associations, becomes more sparse with age: degree and clustering coefficient decrease and average shortest path length increases. However, because this work is based on aggregated data, it remains to be seen whether or not individuals show a similar pattern of age-related lexical change. Here, we demonstrate how an individual-level approach can be used to reveal differences that vary systematically with age. We also directly compare this approach with an aggregate-level approach, to show how these approaches differ. Our individual-level approach follows the logic of many past approaches by comparing individual data as they are situated within population-level data. To do this, we produce a conglomerate network from population-level data and then identify how data from individuals of different ages are situated within that network. Though we find most qualitative patterns are preserved, individuals produce associates that have a higher clustering coefficient in the conglomerate network as they age. Alongside a reduction in degree, this suggests more specialized but clustered knowledge with age. Older individuals also reveal a pattern of increasing distance among the associates they produce in response to a single cue, indicating a more diverse range of associations. We demonstrate these results for three different languages: English, Spanish, and Dutch, which all show the same qualitative patterns of differences between aggregate and individual network approaches. These results reveal how individual-level approaches can be taken with aggregate data and demonstrate new insights into understanding the aginglexicon.

The Fallacy of Single Trials: The Need for Multiple Trials in Assessing Running Economy Responses in Advanced Footwear Technology.

In the quest to uncover the underlying mechanisms responsible for the performance-enhancing benefits imparted by advanced footwear technology (AFT), footwear researchers are employing an individual-level approach. In doing so, they hope to unveil individual-specific responses to AFT otherwise masked by a group-level approach. Classifying an individual's response on the basis of running economy (RE) is a logical strategy given that the intended purpose of AFT is to enhance performance; however, caution should be taken when doing so. Metabolic measurement devices are far from perfect, and given the known errors associated with metabolic measurements we would like to reiterate a suggestion first made 40years ago: when seeking to quantify the interindividual variability of improvement in RE associated with running in AFT, the best practice is to rely on a minimum of two same-day measurements of RE.

An introduction to climate change in management education: an individual-level approach

Purpose This study aims to introduce management students to climate change by providing them with an opportunity to address it in their own lives, through a class exercise. Design/methodology/approach An in-class exercise was designed, carried out and described in this study. Student teams were assigned different questions on how to address major causes of climate change. Each team did research to generate answers, and ranked their answers based on the speed of implementation. Teams reported their answers to the class. The instructor facilitated a debriefing session, during which all responses were ranked with respect to other variables, including cost savings, time savings and lifestyle fit. This exercise uses few resources and can be adapted to different time lengths and teaching/learning formats (e.g. on-ground, virtual, asynchronous online). Findings This exercise can help students to gain an understanding of climate change and its causes and complexities. Students learn how to implement a diverse set of personal actions to mitigate climate change; these can start in the present and continue throughout their lives. In addition, this exercise may help students to make the leap from individual climate change mitigation practices to organizational and societal practices, when they are in the position to do so as future leaders. Originality/value Although classes, exercises, and assignments ask management students to consider issues such as climate change at the organizational level, this individual-level exercise can allow students with limited organizational experience to engage more quickly with climate change and better understand organizational and societal implications in the future. That is, if students first understand how to address climate change in their own lives, they may more effectively transfer and apply that understanding at organizational and societal levels and ultimately synthesize solutions to address climate change in the world.

Personalized functional network mapping for autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two typical neurodevelopmental disorders that have a long-term impact on physical and mental health. ASD is usually comorbid with ADHD and thus shares highly overlapping clinical symptoms. Delineating the shared and distinct neurophysiological profiles is important to uncover the neurobiological mechanisms to guide better therapy. In this study, we aimed to establish the behaviors, functional connectome, and network properties differences between ASD, ADHD-Combined, and ADHD-Inattentive using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We used the non-negative matrix fraction method to define personalized large-scale functional networks for each participant. The individual large-scale functional network connectivity (FNC) and graph-theory-based complex network analyses were executed and identified shared and disorder-specific differences in FNCs and network attributes. In addition, edge-wise functional connectivity analysis revealed abnormal edge co-fluctuation amplitude and number of transitions among different groups. Taken together, our study revealed disorder-specific and -shared regional and edge-wise functional connectivity and network differences for ASD and ADHD using an individual-level functional network mapping approach, which provides new evidence for the brain functional abnormalities in ASD and ADHD and facilitates understanding the neurobiological basis for both disorders.

Comparative analysis of control interventions: survival analysis and individual-level SIR model approach

Comparative analysis of control interventions: survival analysis and individual-level SIR model approach

“I don’t see the whole picture of their health”: a critical ethnography of constraints to interprofessional collaboration in end-of-life conversations in primary care

ContextInterprofessional collaboration is recommended in caring for frail older adults in primary care, yet little is known about how interprofessional teams approach end-of-life (EOL) conversations with these patients.ObjectiveTo understand the factors shaping nurses’ and allied health clinicians’ involvement, or lack of involvement in EOL conversations in the primary care of frail older adults.Methods/settingA critical ethnography of a large interprofessional urban Family Health Team in Ontario, Canada. Data production included observations of clinicians in their day-to-day activities excluding direct patient care; one-to-one semi-structured interviews with clinicians; and document review. Analysis involved coding data using an interprofessional collaboration framework as well as an analysis of the normative logics influencing practice.ParticipantsInterprofessional clinicians (n = 20) who cared for mildly to severely frail patients (Clinical Frailty Scale) at the Family Health Team.ResultsFindings suggest primary care nurses and allied health clinicians have the knowledge, skills, and inclination to engage frail older adults in EOL conversations. However, the culture of the clinic prioritizes biomedical care, and normalizes nurses and allied health clinicians providing episodic task-based care, which limits the possibility for these clinicians’ engagement in EOL conversations. The barriers to nurses’ and allied health clinicians’ involvement in EOL conversations are rooted in neoliberal-biomedical ideologies that shapes the way primary care is governed and practiced.ConclusionsOur findings help to explain why taking an individual-level approach to addressing the challenge of delayed or avoided EOL conversations, is unlikely to result in practice change. Instead, primary care teams can work to critique and redevelop quality indicators and funding models in ways that promote meaningful interprofessional practice that recognize the expertise of nursing and allied health clinicians in providing high quality primary care to frail older patients, including EOL conversations.

Diabetes prevention at scale: narrative review of findings and lessons from the DIPLOMA evaluation of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in England.

The Diabetes Prevention Programme is a large-scale, England-wide behaviour change programme for people at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes. We summarise the findings of our six-year DIPLOMA evaluation of its implementation and impact and highlight insights for future programmes. Using qualitative interviews, document analysis, observation, surveys and large dataset analysis, eight interlinked work packages considered: equity of access; implementation; service delivery and fidelity; programme outcomes; comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in reducing diabetes incidence; and patient decision making and experience. Delivery of the NHS-DPP encountered barriers across many aspects of the programme, and we identified inequalities in terms of the areas, organisations and patient populations most likely to engage with the programme. There was some loss of fidelity at all stages from commissioning to participant understanding. Despite these challenges there was evidence of significant reductions in diabetes incidence at individual and population levels. The programme was cost-effective even within a short time-period. Despite the challenge of translating research evidence into routine NHS delivery at scale, our findings suggest that an individual-level approach to prevention of type 2 diabetes in a 'high-risk' population was more effective than usual care. By embedding evaluation with programme delivery and working closely with the NHS DPP team, we provided actionable insights for improving communications with potential participants, supporting primary care referral, honing the delivery model with better provider relationships and more patient choice, increasing understanding of behaviour change techniques, and enriching the educational and health coaching content.

Undeclared Danish Labor: Using the labor input method with linked individual-level tax data to estimate undeclared work in Denmark

This paper shows the advantages of an individual-level approach when estimating undeclared work using the labor input method. It shows the shortcomings of an aggregated approach, namely assuming that all workers with missing administrative data are working fully undeclared, being unable to adequately account for overtime, extreme values and not being able to detect and correct for errors in the administrative data. The paper illustrates how these shortcomings can be overcome to a large extent by using an individual-level linked dataset and yield results that are useful both for researchers and for tax authorities. It shows that the method can estimate undeclared work for the self-employed, as well as show seasonal and industry differences in undeclared labor. Denmark is used as a case study, and unlike other papers utilizing individual-level data, this paper provides detailed instruction for how a similar approach can be applied in other countries with Labor Force Survey data. The paper shows how an individual-level approach can yield results that are useful for example for tax administrations’ monitoring of undeclared work across sectors. The study uses Danish Labor Force Survey data linked with individual-level tax data, yielding estimates of undeclared work that are in line with past Danish studies of related aspects of undeclared work, namely that approximately 29% of workers have undeclared hours, 25% of wage earners and 37–39% of non-wage earners, and that the value of these hours is close to 2% of the Danish GDP.

Reducing the Negative Environmental Impact of Consumerization of IT: An Individual-Level Approach

The internet plays a pivotal role in Industry 4.0, where it provides the underlying infrastructure to support the substantial growth of digital platforms and systems to deliver a wealth of benefits. However, with the unprecedented growth of internet-based applications in recent history, the internet itself is harming the environment. Focusing on individual green motivation and willingness to pay for the green internet, this study explores one’s willingness to reduce internet usage. The study employs a survey experiment that involves 376 respondents. The results show that the most effective strategy to reduce internet usage is to incorporate extrinsic strategies and allow individuals to pay a premium for green internet services. Our work contributes to the Industry 4.0 literature by exploring how the negative environmental effects of consumerization of IT can be minimized. The findings of the study are important for technology-based businesses, policy-makers and individuals seeking to reduce the environmental damage of the internet.

Recognition of animal faces is impaired in developmental prosopagnosia

An on-going debate in psychology and neuroscience concerns the way faces and objects are represented. Domain-specific theories suggest that faces are processed via a specialised mechanism, separate from objects. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which there is a deficit in the ability to recognize conspecific (human) faces. It is unclear, however, whether prosopagnosia also affects recognition of heterospecific (animal) faces. To address this question, we compared recognition performance with human and animal faces in neurotypical controls and participants with DP. We found that DPs showed deficits in the recognition of both human and animal faces compared to neurotypical controls. In contrast to, we found no group-level deficit in the recognition of animate or inanimate non-face objects in DPs. Using an individual-level approach, we demonstrate that in 60% of cases in which face recognition is impaired, there is a concurrent deficit with animal faces. Together, these results show that DPs have a general deficit in the recognition of faces that encompass a range of configural and morphological structures.

The identification of mediating effects using genome-based restricted maximum likelihood estimation.

Mediation analysis is commonly used to identify mechanisms and intermediate factors between causes and outcomes. Studies drawing on polygenic scores (PGSs) can readily employ traditional regression-based procedures to assess whether trait M mediates the relationship between the genetic component of outcome Y and outcome Y itself. However, this approach suffers from attenuation bias, as PGSs capture only a (small) part of the genetic variance of a given trait. To overcome this limitation, we developed MA-GREML: a method for Mediation Analysis using Genome-based Restricted Maximum Likelihood (GREML) estimation. Using MA-GREML to assess mediation between genetic factors and traits comes with two main advantages. First, we circumvent the limited predictive accuracy of PGSs that regression-based mediation approaches suffer from. Second, compared to methods employing summary statistics from genome-wide association studies, the individual-level data approach of GREML allows to directly control for confounders of the association between M and Y. In addition to typical GREML parameters (e.g., the genetic correlation), MA-GREML estimates (i) the effect of M on Y, (ii) the direct effect (i.e., the genetic variance of Y that is not mediated by M), and (iii) the indirect effect (i.e., the genetic variance of Y that is mediated by M). MA-GREML also provides standard errors of these estimates and assesses the significance of the indirect effect. We use analytical derivations and simulations to show the validity of our approach under two main assumptions, viz., that M precedes Y and that environmental confounders of the association between M and Y are controlled for. We conclude that MA-GREML is an appropriate tool to assess the mediating role of trait M in the relationship between the genetic component of Y and outcome Y. Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study, we provide evidence that genetic effects on Body Mass Index (BMI), cognitive functioning and self-reported health in later life run partially through educational attainment. For mental health, we do not find significant evidence for an indirect effect through educational attainment. Further analyses show that the additive genetic factors of these four outcomes do partially (cognition and mental health) and fully (BMI and self-reported health) run through an earlier realization of these traits.

The foreign policy of the United States under the Biden Administration on the strategic competition with China: the analysis from the individual level in international relations

The United States foreign policy greatly affects the nature and evolution of the United States-China strategic competition, especially since 2017. The paper uses an individual-level analysis approach in international relations to analyze the U.S. foreign policy on the U.S.-China strategic competition under President Joe Biden. In studying the foreign policy of a country, it is equally necessary for many individuals to participate in foreign policy making or influencing. With the complicated development of an ongoing international relations phenomenon, the paper focuses on “The foreign policy of the United States under the Biden Administration on the strategic competition with China: the analysis from the individual level in international relations” to provide more multi-dimensional interpretations of how the United States reacts to the current U.S.-China strategic competition. The study delves into and analyzes individual characteristics, including personality, work experience, etc. of President Joe Biden and the implementation of the U.S. foreign policy on the strategic competition with China through various methods of international relations research, international event analysis, and especially the individual-level analysis. Research results show that despite continuing the strategies of Donald Trump on the strategic competition with China, Joe Biden deployed the softer, more cautious, and limited confrontation with China. The individual aspect is one of the factors affecting the U.S. policy making and implementing.

An individual-level approach to stress management in dentistry

An individual-level approach to stress management in dentistry

Assessment of Individual-Level Exposure to Airborne Particulate Matter during Periods of Atmospheric Thermal Inversion.

Air pollution exposure is harmful to human health and reducing it at the level of an individual requires measurements and assessments that capture the spatiotemporal variability of different microenvironments and the influence of specific activities. In this paper, activity-specific and general indoor and outdoor exposure during and after a period of high concentrations of particulate matter (PM), e.g., an atmospheric thermal inversion (ATI) in the Ljubljana subalpine basin, Slovenia, was assessed. To this end, personal particulate matter monitors (PPM) were used, worn by participants of the H2020 ICARUS sampling campaigns in spring 2019 who also recorded their hourly activities. ATI period(s) were determined based on data collected from two meteorological stations managed by the Slovenian Environmental Agency (SEA). Results showed that indoor and outdoor exposure to PM was significantly higher during the ATI period, and that the difference between mean indoor and outdoor exposure to PM was much higher during the ATI period (23.0 µg/m3) than after (6.5 µg/m3). Indoor activities generally were associated with smaller differences, with cooking and cleaning even having higher values in the post-ATI period. On the other hand, all outdoor activities had higher PM values during the ATI than after, with larger differences, mostly >30.0 µg/m3. Overall, this work demonstrated that an individual-level approach can provide better spatiotemporal resolution and evaluate the relative importance of specific high-exposure events, and in this way provide an ancillary tool for exposure assessments.

Mercury contamination level is repeatable and predicted by wintering area in a long-distance migratory seabird

The environmental presence of mercury has dramatically increased over the past century, leading to increased uptake, especially by top predators such as seabirds. Understanding the exact sources of contamination requires an individual-level approach, which is especially challenging for species that migrate. We took such an approach and located the wintering areas of 80 common terns (Sterna hirundo) through tracking, and, across years, collected feathers grown in those areas to assess their mercury levels using atomic absorption spectrometry. Although feathers of males and females did not differ in their mercury level, we found the average feather mercury level to be highest in birds wintering in the Canary Current (3.87 μg g−1), medium in birds wintering in the Guinea Current (2.27 μg g−1) and lowest in birds wintering in the Benguela Current (1.96 μg g−1). Furthermore, we found considerable inter-annual fluctuations in feather mercury levels, a within-individual repeatability of 41%, that the mercury levels of 17% of feather samples exceeded the admitted toxicity threshold of 5 μg g−1, and that the overall mean concentration of 3.4 μg g−1 exceeded that of other published reports for the species. Further studies therefore should assess whether these levels lead to individual-level carry-over effects on survival and reproductive performance.

Meta-Analysis within a Single Paper Using Individual-Participant Data: A Simpler Alternative

More researchers recognize the importance of meta-analyzing findings within a single paper (i.e., mini meta-analysis). These analyses have been primarily conducted by meta-analyzing aggregated data at the study level, particularly the effect size of each study. We highlight an alternative way of achieving the same goal by meta-analyzing data at the individual-participant level, which combines all the raw data into one dataset. We outline the procedure of conducting mini meta- analysis using the individual-level approach. In a series of 21 simulations, we compared the results between individual-level and the study-level meta-analyses in terms of the accuracy of effect size estimates, Type I errors, and Type II errors. We found that although the results are not identical, they are generally consistent, with the overall outcomes of mini meta-analyses at the individual-level being at least as good as those conducted at the study-level. We recommend more mini meta-analyses at the individual-level not only because individual-level meta-analysis has been regarded as the gold standard of meta-analysis, but also that it is a simple and convenient way to achieve the same goal.

What Helps Me Cope With Work–Family Conflict at My High-Performance Work System in India: A Thematic Analysis of Sociocultural Factors

Executive Summary This study is located in the context of high-performance work systems (HPWS) in India. Extant literature indicates that the darker side of HPWS and work intensification impact employee lives and trigger work–family conflict (WFC) experiences. With the shift in organizational focus on employee well-being, it has become imperative to understand and unpack WFC experiences of employees in the Indian sociocultural context to design effective and contextual remedial mechanisms. Responding to this need, WFC experiences of employees in Indian HPWS contexts were closely examined in this study to unpack the role of prevalent sociocultural factors. Additionally, the study explored how employees coped with these life situations. Since organizations are now beginning to work towards enhancing the well-being of employees, this study offers insights into what coping mechanisms are deliberately or inadvertently in use to evaluate their effectiveness. Studying the nature of WFCs and coping mechanisms from a sociocultural lens, this study identifies and develops four major themes. Passive acceptance of WFC, unambiguous communication, emotional and instrumental support from family, informational support at work emerged as the four significant themes discussed at length in this article. Insights generated from the discussion of these themes point overarchingly towards the highly personalized and localized, individual-level approach prevalent amongst employees of HPWS in response to WFC episodes. The discussion and conclusion sections highlight the need for well-designed and mindful organizational interventions built upon an understanding of the sociocultural factors at work to effectively mitigate the employee stress generated by the HPWS environments. This work is especially relevant in an era of pandemic-related work models, millennial workers and work intensification due to the increased digitalization of workplace practices.

Interpreting Integrity: A Qualitative Approach

There have been calls by the academic community for more efforts to conceptualize integrity using empirical works in a range of contexts, and using different methodological and theoretical approaches. Conceptualizing integrity using empirical works can be especially important since the way integrity is conceptualized can improve or hinder the way corruption is understood and may even strengthen or weaken explanations on why anti-corruption efforts tend to be unsuccessful. This study attempts to answer this call by using a case study approach to gather qualitative data on the perspectives of politicians in the Caribbean region. In-depth interviews with eight politicians in Trinidad and Tobago were conducted. The study builds on the conceptual framework of moral emotions and reciprocal altruism as posited by Haidt and aims to produce a conceptualization of integrity that reflects the meanings and ideas of the term as expressed by the research participants. The study will also attempt to explore integrity from both an individual level approach and an organizational level approach by incorporating ideas from sociological theorizing. The study ends by discussing the implications of the findings in terms of how integrity and corruption are understood.

A summary-statistics-based approach to examine the role of serotonin transporter promoter tandem repeat polymorphism in psychiatric phenotypes

In genetic studies of psychiatric disorders in the pre-genome-wide association study (GWAS) era, one of the most commonly studied loci is the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) promoter polymorphism, a 43-base-pair insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region (5-HTTLPR). The genetic association signals between 5-HTTLPR and psychiatric phenotypes, however, have been inconsistent across many studies. Since the polymorphism cannot be tested via available SNP arrays, we had previously proposed an efficient machine learning algorithm to predict the genotypes of 5-HTTLPR based on the genotypes of eight nearby SNPs, which requires access to individual-level genotype and phenotype data. To utilize the advantage of publicly available GWAS summary statistics obtained from studies with very large sample sizes, we develop a GWAS summary-statistics-based approach for testing the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) associations with various phenotypes. We first cross-verify the accuracy of the summary-statistics-based approach for 61 phenotypes in the UK Biobank. Since we observed a strong similarity between the predicted individual-level 5-HTTLPR genotype-based approach and the summary-statistics-based approach, we applied our method to the available neurobehavioral GWAS summary statistics data obtained from large-scale GWAS. We found no genome-wide significant evidence for association between 5-HTTLPR and any of the neurobehavioral traits. We did observe, however, genome-wide significant evidence for association between this locus and human adult height, BMI, and total cholesterol. Our summary-statistics-based approach provides a systematic way to examine the role of VNTRs and related types of genetic polymorphisms in disease risk and trait susceptibility of phenotypes for which large-scale GWAS summary statistics data are available.

Identifying asymptomatic spreaders of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in hospital settings

Antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AMROs) can colonize people without symptoms for long periods of time, during which these agents can spread unnoticed to other patients in healthcare systems. The accurate identification of asymptomatic spreaders of AMRO in hospital settings is essential for supporting the design of interventions against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). However, this task remains challenging because of limited observations of colonization and the complicated transmission dynamics occurring within hospitals and the broader community. Here, we study the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a prevalent AMRO, in 66 Swedish hospitals and healthcare facilities with inpatients using a data-driven, agent-based model informed by deidentified real-world hospitalization records. Combining the transmission model, patient-to-patient contact networks, and sparse observations of colonization, we develop and validate an individual-level inference approach that estimates the colonization probability of individual hospitalized patients. For both model-simulated and historical outbreaks, the proposed method supports the more accurate identification of asymptomatic MRSA carriers than other traditional approaches. In addition, in silica control experiments indicate that interventions targeted to inpatients with a high-colonization probability outperform heuristic strategies informed by hospitalization history and contact tracing.