University of Alabama

About: University of Alabama is a education organization based out in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 27323 authors who have published 48609 publications receiving 1565337 citations. The organization is also known as: Alabama & Bama.

Propensity Score Matching in Accounting Research

Abstract: Propensity score matching (PSM) has become a popular technique for estimating average treatment effects (ATEs) in accounting research. In this study, we discuss the usefulness and limitations of PSM relative to more traditional multiple regression (MR) analysis. We discuss several PSM design choices and review the use of PSM in 86 articles in leading accounting journals from 2008-2014. We document a significant increase in the use of PSM from 0 studies in 2008 to 26 studies in 2014. However, studies often oversell the capabilities of PSM, fail to disclose important design choices, and/or implement PSM in a theoretically inconsistent manner. We then empirically illustrate complications associated with PSM in three accounting research settings. We first demonstrate that when the treatment is not binary, PSM tends to confine analyses to a subsample of observations where the effect size is likely to be smallest. We also show that seemingly innocuous design choices greatly influence sample composition and estimates of the ATE. We conclude with suggestions for future research considering the use of matching methods.

Regulatory focus as a mediator of the influence of initiating structure and servant leadership on employee behavior.

Abstract: In this research, the authors test a model in which the regulatory focus of employees at work mediates the influence of leadership on employee behavior. In a nationally representative sample of 250 workers who responded over 2 time periods, prevention focus mediated the relationship of initiating structure to in-role performance and deviant behavior, whereas promotion focus mediated the relationship of servant leadership to helping and creative behavior. The results indicate that even though initiating structure and servant leadership share some variance in explaining other variables, each leadership style incrementally predicts disparate outcomes after controlling for the other style and dispositional tendencies. A new regulatory focus scale, the Work Regulatory Focus (WRF) Scale, also was developed and initially validated for this study. Implications for the results and the WRF Scale are discussed.

Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program

Abstract: Summary paragraph The Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program seeks to elucidate the genetic architecture and disease biology of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders, with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The initial phases of the program focus on whole genome sequencing of individuals with rich phenotypic data and diverse backgrounds. Here, we describe TOPMed goals and design as well as resources and early insights from the sequence data. The resources include a variant browser, a genotype imputation panel, and sharing of genomic and phenotypic data via dbGaP. In 53,581 TOPMed samples, >400 million single-nucleotide and insertion/deletion variants were detected by alignment with the reference genome. Additional novel variants are detectable through assembly of unmapped reads and customized analysis in highly variable loci. Among the >400 million variants detected, 97% have frequency