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Determination of smoking habits of medical students in Belgrade and the factors influencing cigarette use. A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students from all study years at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, during the 2015–2016 academic session. A questionnaire, composed of four parts, was administered to all participants: 1. socio-demographic characteristics; 2. habits and lifestyle; 3. Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence; 4. the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors significantly associated with cigarette smoking. A total of 2551 subjects, which constituted 81.8% of all undergraduate medical students, participated in the survey. The prevalence of current regular smokers among medical students was 21.7%. The results obtained using the Fagerstrom tolerance scale showed that 41.8% of the students had high nicotine dependence. According to the results of a multivariate analysis, the following were the independent determinants of being a smoker: being male, grade point average of <8/10, daily coffee consumption, self-reported excessive leisure time, self-reported pressure from parents, alcohol consumption, and smokers among parents. Understanding the factors influencing tobacco use is the first step in implementing prevention strategies and can be helpful in the cessation of smoking. What is already known about this topic Previous studies showed a strong association between smoking and alcohol consumption among undergraduate medical students. There is an association between tobacco use and academic performance. Higher-income families and the parents without higher education are significantly associated with students' smoking, but these associations were not independent. What this paper adds Independent predictive factors for smoking among undergraduate medical students are being male, having smokers among parents, daily coffee consumption, self-reported excessive leisure time, self-reported pressure from parents and consumption of alcohol. Family income does not influence smoking status of students directly, but students participated in this study from the higher-income families were more likely to have smokers among parents, which were found to be an independent predictive factor. Early psychologists' cessation smoking interventions can have implications for motivating students to quit smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the process and outcomes from a five-year, community-based participatory research (CBPR) study of a community building initiative to strengthen two neighborhoods in a mid-size, Mid-Atlantic city. In addition to supporting over 50 resident-led projects during the five-year initiative, outcomes included positive changes in resident perceptions about some aspects of neighborhood safety, cleanliness, greening, and vibrancy, and in both neighborhoods respondents who were most involved with the lead community-based organizations (CBOs) reported significantly higher social capital compared to those least involved. Nevertheless, analysis of the evaluation process revealed certain data were more meaningful to stakeholders during and at the end of the initiative, and other data were less worth the effort and cost to collect. This study offers insights for how foundations and nonprofit organizations can best use their evaluation resources in small-scale community-building efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presence of one or more outliers in the observations affect inference procedure in statistical analysis. Designs robust against presence of a single outlier can be found in the literature for both regression and block design set-ups. In this paper, an attempt has been made to find a robust design in a block design set-up for the estimation of a full set of orthonormal treatment contrasts when there are more than one outlier among the observations. It appears that symmetry and balance play an important role in this study; it is seen that as we deviate from them, designs deviate from robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistency of word production contributes to carers' ability to understand children's speech. Reports of the proportion of words produced consistently by typically developing preschool children, however, vary widely from 17% to 87%. This paper examines the quantitative (consistency count) and qualitative (e.g. phonemic analysis) characteristics of word consistency in 96 children aged 36–60 months. Children named 15 pictures twice, in separate trials, in the same assessment session. The mean consistency of the production for the whole group was 82%. Older children were more consistent than younger children. Girls were more consistent than boys. Words produced correctly in one trial and in error in another may indicate resolving error patterns. Words produced in error in two different ways provided useful evidence about the nature of inconsistent word production in typically developing children. The clinical and theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of nanosilica under the influence of dispersing agents on the fresh empirical and fundamental rheological properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a complex phenomenon which has been investigated in this paper. Models to predict the rheological properties of nanosilica blended SCC are also lacking to avoiding/saving comprehensive and costly rheology laboratory trials mainly when these tests are unavailable or limited. To these ends, 315 laboratory tests were performed on 15 blended SCC mixtures, manufactured using five nanosilica dosages, 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and three dispersing superplasticizer dosages, 0.62%, 0.66%, 0.70%, by weight of cement. Fundamental rheological properties of the SCC mixes were assessed by using a rotational concrete rheometer based on the nonlinear modified Binghamian model. Results showed that SCC mixes are sensitive to nanosilica and superplasticizer admixtures producing a complex non-linear effect on their empirical and rheological properties. Based on these trends, eleven empirical models were proposed to predict the fresh empirical and rheological properties of the SCC mixes. A statistical analysis demonstrated the good fitting of the proposed models with the measured properties of SCC mixes during the laboratory trials. These models could serve for design and production of nanosilica blended SCC as alternative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation and prediction of regression models with partition forms are widely applied techniques in statistical inference and data analysis. In this paper, we consider some fundamental inference problems regarding a linear random-effects model (LREM) and its reduced models without statistical distribution assumptions for error terms. We shall present a partition form of LREM and its correctly-reduced models, introduce the consistency concepts of the LREM and its reduced models, define the predictability/estimability of unknown parameters in the LREM and its reduced models, establish the matrix equations and analytical formulas associated with best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) and best linear unbiased estimators (BLUEs) of all unknown parameter vectors in the LREM and its reduced models, and present many fundamental decomposition equalities for the BLUPs/BLUEs of all unknown parameters in the LREM and its reduced models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Foundations of Early Literacy Assessment – Northern Territory (FELA-NT) was funded, developed, and implemented as part of a strategy designed to address the English literacy learning needs of the Northern Territory's Aboriginal student population. In this paper we question whether the FELA-NT English literacy learning benchmarks are representative of remote and very remote Aboriginal students since many speak English as an Additional Language (EAL) or Dialect (EAD). Using a new data set of scores from 72 Aboriginal students from remote, very remote, and outer-regional communities on the FELA-NT, we demonstrate that it is the student's experience with Standard Australian English, not their remoteness, that impacts their early literacy development. We use this example to illustrate how current practices and policies homogenise the Australian Aboriginal student population, silencing linguistic diversity in the process. We call for clinical practitioners and educators to shift their practices to assessments and tools that recognise children and youths' diverse linguistic skills and pathways. We talk about what empowerment, participation, and inclusion might really mean in current Australian educational and clinical contexts. We argue here that we need to fundamentally rethink how we work with children with diverse language and literacy knowledge, skills, and backgrounds if we are to reduce inequalities (SDG 10), honour quality education (SDG 4), and support sustainable communities (SDG 11). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is a widely used statistical analysis technique in numerous experimental studies. The existing ANCOVA test cannot be applied when the sample is taken from a population with imprecise and uncertain data. Neutrosophic statistics will be employed when analyzing data containing uncertain observations. In this paper, we make a significant contribution by proposing a novel method for ANCOVA using neutrosophic statistics as an extension of the existing ANCOVA. This study applied the neutrosophic analysis of covariance (NANCOVA) in three different designs (neutrosophic completely randomized design (NCRD), neutrosophic randomized complete block design (NRCBD), and neutrosophic split-plot design (NSPD)). We have implemented and explained this method with numerical examples. According to our experimental results, the proposed NANCOVA method is flexible and effective in the presence of uncertainty compared to the existing method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disfluencies may reflect various mechanisms: word-finding difficulties, planning strategies, inter-individual cognitive variability, etc. In the current paper, we examined disfluency production in patients with a behavioural variant of Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (bvFTLD), compared to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy older adults. We showed that bvFTLD participants have lower speech rate and produce more incomplete utterances. However, those measures were not correlated with naming and fluency tasks. On the contrary, AD participants did not differ from healthy controls on disfluency production, but discourse measures were correlated with the participants' lexical-semantic impairment. This provides evidence for different causes of disfluency in AD and FTLD, and a distinct role of each disfluency phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across most developmental periods, males tend to drink at a higher frequency and at a higher intensity than females. In identifying the mechanism responsible for these differences, biological factors have been a prevalent focus; however, gender expression is also highlighted. The purpose of this paper is to decipher how differences in binge drinking are attributed to sex differences and gendered traits. Using data from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ADD Health) (n = 8,882), we conducted a multiple group moderation analysis to examine how differences in biological sex and gender roles in emerging adulthood predicted binge drinking. We found that binge drinking in emerging adulthood was most strongly predicted by high levels of masculinity and low levels of femininity in emerging adulthood. As masculinity decreased, alcohol use decreased. Femininity significantly moderated masculinity's association with binge drinking, primarily when masculinity was high, and this did not vary across sex after controlling for gender roles. Our findings expand sex and gender research surrounding alcohol use. For both males and females, the higher the masculinity the more frequent alcohol use, an effect of which was buffered by higher levels of femininity. Clinicians should take into consideration gender role ascription of their clients when determining the risk profile during assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, numerous studies and review papers have examined a wide range of potential risk factors in an attempt to understand adolescent smoking. In the majority of those studies, family is often regarded as an important element in the life of an adolescent. The authors investigated whether family factors such as child–parent relationship and parental educational level are predictors of adolescent smoking status in three school types using archival data. Both Spearman correlation and Chi-square test of independence were used to examine the relationships. In viewing all the school types as one, the result showed that at (rho =.148, n = 751, p < 0.05), a significant positive relationship existed between child-father relationship and adolescent smoking but not with child–mother relationship. However, in controlling for school types, the Chi-square test of independence revealed (Imam Hatip high school (X2(8) = 7.121, p > 0.05), Anadolu high school (X2(8) = 12.423, p > 0.05) and Vocational high school (X2(8) = 17.744, p < 0.05) a relationship between child–mother relationship and adolescent in Vocational high school. As to whether the influence of child–father relationship on adolescent smoking differed in terms of school types, result suggested a relationship existed in all the three school types (Imam Hatip high school (X2(8) = 30.965, p < 0.05), Anadolu high school (X2(8) = 21.241, p < 0.05), and Vocational high school (X2(8) = 30.804, p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate determinants of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, core affect regarding using telerehabilitation, and digital competencies in rehabilitation professionals in Austria and Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional paper-based and online survey was conducted before and during COVID-19, respectively, with three cohorts of rehabilitation professionals. Outcomes were the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation evaluated using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; willingness of technology use using the short scale for assessing the willingness of technology use; digital competencies and core affect using the Digital Competence Framework and semantic differential, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine predictors. Included were 603 rehabilitation professionals. Analysis revealed differences between Austria and Germany and before and during the pandemic for most outcomes. German residency, the pandemic, and a higher educational level were most important predictors of higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. The pandemic increased most aspects of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. Results confirm that rehabilitation professionals with higher degrees are more prone to adopt innovations in healthcare.Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021464) The willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is associated with external factors increasing the need for alternative rehabilitation delivery, such as COVID-19, and with financial facilitators, such as reimbursement. As the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is higher among speech and language therapists and dietitians, efforts are necessary to enhance its use in physiotherapists and occupational therapists. As a higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation was observed in younger rehabilitation professionals and those with higher education, increasing the importance of telerehabilitation in education curricula and further knowledge transfer into practice for those already working in the field seems necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An acute difficulty in wine-ratings-related research, and in calculating consensus among judges, is that each rating is one observation drawn from a latent probability distribution that is wine- and judge-specific. One observation is almost no data at all. Minimizing a weighted sum of cross entropies has been proposed as a method of estimating the shape of the latent distribution using one observation. That method was tested on 30 blind triplicate wine ratings. This article replicates that test, presents results of tests at hypothetical boundary conditions, and then presents test results for a set of 30 blind triplicate ratings published by Cicchetti [(2014, August). Blind tasting of South African wines: A tale of two methodologies (AAWE Working Paper No. 164, 15 pages)] and a set of 1599 blind triplicate ratings from the California State Fair. The test results show that the minimum cross entropy solution is substantially more accurate than the analysis of a single rating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fisher information is a fundamental concept of statistical inference and plays an important role in many areas of statistical analysis. In this paper, we obtain explicit expressions for the Fisher information matrix in ranked set sampling (RSS) from the simple linear regression model with replicated observations. It has been shown to be the sum of two matrices, one of which is the Fisher information matrix based on simple random sampling (SRS). The numerical results show that RSS provides more information than SRS when the same sample size is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many statistical analysis, a finite population may contain a large proportion of zero-and-one values that make the population distribution severely skew. Confidence intervals based on a normal approximation (NA) for such data may have low coverage probabilities. In this paper, we apply the methods of jackknife empirical likelihood (JEL) and adjusted jackknife empirical likelihood (AJEL) to discuss the confidence intervals for the mean of zero-and-one inflated population. Asymptotic distributions of the likelihood-type statistics are studied. Simulations are conducted to compare coverage probabilities with other methods under different distributions. Real data is given to illustrate the procedure of proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Iverson (2001) expanded on reliable change methodology by accounting for the variability in scores at Time 2 in the calculation of change scores. However, due to limitations in available data, an incomplete picture of variables affecting change was presented. The current paper sought to address some of these limitations and clarify the methodology for assessing reliable change. Method: Using one-year test-retest data on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) in older adults who were cognitively intact or had mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), change scores were calculated, and various models, consistent with or divergent from Iverson, were presented. Results: Across the RBANS, individuals with intact cognition tended to show less variable scores, especially at Time 2, which resulted in larger change scores than those with AD. When applied to an independent sample, different patterns of change were observed, with: (1) models that used intact data showed more cognitive change than those using AD data; (2) the model that corrected for practice effects and used intact data showed the most decline; and (3) the model that corrected for practice effects and used AD data showed the most improvement. The models that showed the strongest association in classifying independent cases as decline/stable/improve were those that used intact data and were discordant on the use of practice effects. Conclusions: Overall, findings highlight the complexity of calculating reliable change, and they lend additional caution to Iverson's original limitations. However, the use of data from individuals classified as cognitively intact and a correction for practice effects seems warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present article summarises the characteristics of Rasch's theory, providing an original metrological model for persons' measurements. Properties describing the person "as a whole" are key outcome variables in Medicine. This is particularly true in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, targeting the person's interaction with the outer world. Such variables include independence, pain, fatigue, balance, and the like. These variables can only be observed through behaviours of various complexity, deemed representative of a given "latent" person's property. So how to infer its "quantity"? Usually, behaviours (items) are scored ordinally, and their "raw" scores are summed across item lists (questionnaires). The limits and flaws of scores (i.e., multidimensionality, non-linearity) are well known, yet they still dominate the measurement in Medicine. Conclusions: Through Rasch's theory and statistical analysis, scores are transformed and tested for their capacity to respect fundamental measurement axioms. Rasch analysis returns the linear measure of the person's property ("ability") and the item's calibrations ("difficulty"), concealed by the raw scores. The difference between a person's ability and item difficulty determines the probability that a "pass" response is observed. The discrepancy between observed scores and the ideal measures (i.e., the residual) invites diagnostic reasoning. In a companion article, advanced applications of Rasch modelling are illustrated. Questionnaires' ordinal scores are poor approximations of measures. The Rasch analysis turns questionnaires' scores into interval measures, provided that its assumptions are respected. Thanks to the Rasch analysis, accurate measures of independence, pain, fatigue, cognitive capacities and other whole person's variables of paramount importance in rehabilitation are available. The current work is addressed to rehabilitation professionals looking for an introduction to interpreting published results based on Rasch analysis. The first of a series of two, the present article illustrates the most common graphic and numeric outputs found in published papers presenting the Rasch analysis of questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to research the impact of the tax system on SMEs inSerbia. A quantitative survey research was conducted, containing research questions referring to tax environment impact, its factors and incentives on growth. The sampling was purposive, and it consisted of responsible people in SMEs ( n = 117). The main attitude of our respondents and the conclusion of the research is that the level of tax bureaucracy, as well as unprofessional tax administration created an unstimulating tax environment for SMEs. Not only did this environment make no impact on gray economy and corruption reduction but also supported them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries are places where patrons find resources that can help them accomplish their information needs. One of the key elements of this need is being able to find what they are looking for. While much has been written about information seeking behavior and library wayfinding, however, there is a more fundamental argument. That is merely finding the item when the Library Management System says it should be on the shelf. In these little moments, the library has an opportunity to build a sense of trust with the patron. The patron can trust that an item that the library says is there, is there. It is also an opportunity for a library to have a small victory in a positive patron library experience. However, if the item is not there that small victory is squandered. The challenge though is large scale shelf checks for shelving integrity is cost and time prohibitive. What is needed is a quick way to determine library and catalog health. This paper will demonstrate how this can be accomplished by looking at the ILL statistics. While this may seem like a simple answer demonstrating it with statistical relationships confirms what many libraries may view as a forgone assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the nature of copula omission in Cypriot Greek individuals with Down Syndrome (DS). Previous studies on DS have attributed high rates of copula omission to an overall grammatical/inflectional impairment without offering further analysis. In order to identify relevant conditioning factors, we examined copula productions and omissions from spontaneous and elicited experimental tasks under five levels of analysis: categorial type of the predicate (nominal vs. adjectival), aspectual interpretation of the predicate (permanent vs. temporary), and a combination of these first two, as well as subject status (overt vs. covert) and experimental design (spontaneous vs. elicited). Results showed that adults with DS had significantly higher rates of copula omission than TD children. We found subject overtness to be the most reliable predictor of copula omission. A comparison of the two experimental methods of data collection also revealed a significant effect. Following an analysis based on the Unique Checking Constraint, we propose that copula omission is facilitated by the restriction that only one EPP feature (either the one in TP or the one in TopicP) can be checked. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of a distinction across a delayed vs. deviant development of the DS grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the associations between psychological factors (pain catastrophizing, pain-related anxiety, and fear of pain) and level of pain and disability in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). One hundred and two patients with CRPS were recruited from tertiary care centers with the different upper limb injuries were evaluated for pain, disability, and psychological factors. Patients completed the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) Questionnaire, Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-11), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). The associations of pain and disability with presence of these behavioral and mental health factors were examined using bivariate and multivariable analyses. These models were adjusted for age, sex, injured dominant hand, and previous surgery. A higher pain catastrophizing score (β = 0.55, p = 0.00) was associated with greater disability. A higher pain catastrophizing score (β = 0.35, p = 0.001) and female gender (β = 0.24, p = 0.01) were associated with greater pain at rest (PAR). A higher pain catastrophizing score and having a surgical history were associated with greater pain with movement (β = 0.25, p = 0.02). Scores of ≥18.5 in PCS, ≥57.5 on TSK, and ≥15.5 on DASS were associated with higher risk of experiencing pain and disability. Pain catastrophizing, female sex, and surgical intervention are associated with poor outcomes. Physiologic, psychological factors, and treatment factors interact to influence outcomes. The results of this study further validate the associations of chronic pain and disability with pain catastrophizing in patients with CRPS. The novel finding of this study is introducing cut-off scores for TSK, PCS, and DASS as a screening tool to predict pain, functional limitations. Pain catastrophizing has a vital role in the magnitude of disability and pain in patients with CRPS. The novel finding of this paper was the cut-off scores on the psychological evaluations that can enable using them as screening tool for bad outcomes in patients with CRPS. Cut off scores from different psychological evaluations can be used as a yellow flag for clinician's for detecting patients with increased risk of pain and disability. The identification of a cut-off can also have implications for implementing change in clinical practice by identifying the need for early and intensive interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers in statistical shape analysis often analyze outlines of objects. Even though these contours are infinite-dimensional in theory, they must be discretized in practice. When discretizing, it is important to reduce the number of sampling points considerably to reduce computational costs, but to not use too few points so as to result in too much approximation error. Unfortunately, determining the minimum number of points needed to achieve sufficiently approximate the contours is computationally expensive. In this paper, we fit regression models to predict these lower bounds using characteristics of the contours that are computationally cheap as predictor variables. However, least squares regression is inadequate for this task because it treats overestimation and underestimation equally, but underestimation of lower bounds is far more serious. Instead, to fit the models, we use the LINEX loss function, which allows us to penalize underestimation at an exponential rate while penalizing overestimation only linearly. We present a novel approach to select the shape parameter of the loss function and tools for analyzing how well the model fits the data. Through validation methods, we show that the LINEX models work well for reducing the underestimation for the lower bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the World Health Organization, intimate partner violence (IPV) affects 35% of women worldwide and 40% of pregnant women, often resulting in maternal and infant death and harm. Displaced persons are at higher risk of abuse compared to the general population. While few studies have explored IPV in Iraq, research from Erbil, Iraq showed nearly 60% of women reported experiencing IPV in their lifetime. No publications examining IPV among displaced women in Iraq exist. Considering the severe impacts of IPV in pregnancy and the associated risks for IPV among women in refugee camps, this paper presents the first analysis of prevalence and factors associated with lifetime IPV among displaced pregnant women in two Iraqi refugee camps. Thirteen percent of women reported experiencing any abuse and experiencing IPV was associated with receiving fewer years of schooling (p = 0.04), not having a private doctor (p = 0.002), attending the first prenatal visit during the third trimester (p = 0.03), feeling pressure to have a child (p = 0.003), knowing someone who was physically injured by their husband (p = 0.05), experiencing suicidal ideation (p = 0.02), and being worried about harming one's baby (p = 0.02). Policy and programme recommendations for screening and prevention of IPV in resource-limited settings are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the dynamical behaviour of a stochastic coronavirus (COVID-19) susceptible-infected-removed epidemic model with the inclusion of the influence of information intervention and Lévy noise. The existence and uniqueness of the model positive solution are proved. Then, we establish a stochastic threshold as a sufficient condition for the extinction and persistence in mean of the disease. Based on the available COVID-19 data, the parameters of the model were estimated and we fit the model with real statistics. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to support our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive statistical analysis of energy poverty indicators is undertaken in the present paper, in an attempt to further understand the roots and results of the problem in Greece. Specifically, time-series data sets were analysed using various objective indicators, i.e. 10%, 2M, 2M EXP, M/2, M/2 EXP, as well as subjective indicators. Chi-square tests of Independence were performed and binary logistic regression models were developed to predict energy poverty (indicators of 10%, 2M and M/2), based on critical socio-economic factors. The logit model based on the 10% indicator presented the highest performance, reaching 32%. According to this model, the types of households mostly exposed to energy poverty were single families with dependent children and households located in Macedonia, increasing the relative probability of energy poverty by 7.0 and 6.5 times per unit, respectively. The outcomes derived can help policy-makers towards designing more targeted policies for tackling energy poverty in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the associations between different types of social capital and other measures including wellbeing, school connectedness, and pragmatic language. Seventeen adolescents who were deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) from Australia and the United Kingdom completed an online survey and their results were analysed to answer research questions relating to: social capital formation in adolescents who are DHH; associations between social capital, wellbeing, pragmatics, and school connectedness; and the role of identity in social capital formation. Statistical analyses were completed to determine: bivariate correlations between variables; significant differences between the types of social capital measured; and significant differences in social capital according to identity group. Results indicate that overall, adolescents had higher Offline social capital compared to Online social capital, and higher Family social capital in comparison to Peer and Institutional social capital. Additionally, all social capital except Online social capital had strong associations with wellbeing and school connectedness measures. Students who identified as deaf had statistically significant lower levels of social capital than those who identified as hard of hearing or hearing impaired, and bicultural; however, this result may be due to the composition of this small sample. This study indicates that social capital is associated with higher levels of wellbeing and school connectedness and demonstrates that school experiences play an important role in the formation of social capital for students who are DHH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a machine-learning-based method for evaluating the internal value of talent in any organization and for evaluating the salary criteria. The study assumes the design and development of a salary predictor, based on artificial intelligence technologies, to help determine the internal value of employees and guarantee internal equity in the organization. The aim of the study is to achieve internal equity, which is a critical element a that directly affects employees' motivation. We implemented and validated the method with 130 employees and more than 70 talent acquisition cases with a Basque technology research organization during the years 2021 and 2022. The proposed method is based on statistical data assessment and machine-learning-based regression. We found that while most organizations have established variables for job evaluation as well as salary increments for staff according to their contribution to the organization, only a few employ tools to support equitable internal compensation. This study presents a successful real case of artificial intelligence applications where machine learning techniques help managers make the most equitable and least biased salary decisions possible, based on data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents models that correlate deflection basin parameters (DBP) with seed moduli, which are the input of the backcalculation processes. The models were obtained by means of statistical analyses of a set of DBPs for different pavement structures. The proposed equations showed potential and increased accuracy in the estimation of seed moduli, since these are derived from DBP-based models that consider the deflection basin geometry. To evaluate the effectiveness of the models, they were applied to pavements located in five regions of Brazil, and a good approximation between the values of the seed and backcalculated moduli was observed. Therefore, there was less computational effort in the backcalculation process, since the closeness between the values of the moduli reduced the amount of iterations required. In pavements with different structures and boundary conditions, the methodology can be used to achieve more refined results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bayesian methods are often suggested as a solution for issues encountered in small sample research, however, Bayesian methods often require informative priors to outperform classical methods in these settings. Specifying accurate priors with respect to the true value of the parameter of interest is challenging and inaccurate informative priors can have detrimental effects on conclusions from the statistical analysis. This paper proposes an objective procedure for creating informative priors for mediation analysis based on a historical data set; the only requirements for implementing the procedure are that the data from the current study constitute a representative sample from the population of interest, and that the historical and current data sets contain measures of the same covariates and independent variable, mediator, and outcome. The simulation study findings show that the proposed method leads to appropriate amount of borrowing from the historical data set, which leads to increases in precision and power when the historical data and current data are exchangeable, and does not induce bias when the historical and current studies are not exchangeable. The proposed method is illustrated using data from the project PROsetta Stone, and we provide rstan code for implementing the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of ethics education for undergraduate engineering students has been emphasized due to the manifold impacts of engineering on society. However, little is known about moral disengagement among engineering students, which could potentially lead to unethical engineering practice. Especially, it is not known how engineering students' moral disengagement changes over the course of their college studies. In this paper, we conducted a longitudinal, mixed-methods study to investigate moral disengagement among undergraduate engineering students (n = 274) using Bandura's theory of moral disengagement as a theoretical framework. We found engineering students' overall propensity to morally disengage did not change over time, but there were statistically significant differences in student responses to three mechanisms of moral disengagement. We further investigated these findings with students' interviews. Based on our results, we discuss various theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on rater effects in performance assessments has increasingly focused on rater centrality, the tendency to assign scores clustering around the rating scale's middle categories. In the present paper, we adopted Jin and Wang's (2018) extended facets modeling approach and constructed a centrality continuum, ranging from raters exhibiting strong central tendencies to raters exhibiting strong tendencies in the opposite direction (extremity). In two simulation studies, we examined three model-based centrality detection indices (rater infit statistics, residual–expected correlations, and rater threshold SDs) as well as the raw-score SD in terms of their efficiency of reconstructing the true rater centrality rank ordering. Findings confirmed the superiority of the residual–expected correlation, rater threshold SD, and raw-score SD statistics, particularly when the examinee sample size was large and the number of scoring criteria was high. By contrast, the infit statistic results were much less consistent and, under conditions of large differences between criterion difficulties, suggested erroneous conclusions about raters' central tendencies. Analyzing real rating data from a large-scale speaking performance assessment confirmed that infit statistics are unsuitable for identifying raters' central tendencies. The discussion focuses on detecting centrality effects under different facets models and the indices' implications for rater monitoring and fair performance assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the phonological system of a monolingual Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking 9-year-old girl with Down Syndrome (DS) as part of a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles of children with protracted phonological development within the framework of constraints-based nonlinear phonology. Her responses to a 100-word speech test were audio-recorded and transcribed narrowly by two native speakers. Analyses showed low accuracy for word shapes (CV sequences), primarily because of expected deletion patterns in initial weak syllables and clusters, but also reflecting inaccuracies in segment length. Vowel match was also relatively low. For consonants, she unexpectedly showed lower accuracy for stops than typically later-developing liquids and fricatives. This case study provides researchers and speech-language pathologists with broader information about expected and unexpected patterns in children with DS and protracted phonological development in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the levels and trajectories of physical rehabilitation needs across five resource-poor world regions, against global and key country-specific benchmarks. This comparative, secondary cross-region analysis uses data from the Global Burden of Diseases study 2017 [1990–2017], specifically varied metrics of the Years Lived with Disability (YLD) measure from the health conditions likely benefiting from physical rehabilitation. All the resource-poor world regions had significant increases (p < 0.01) in the absolute, relative, and percentage of physical rehabilitation needs [1990–2017]. Nonetheless, The Asia-Pacific region stood out with the greatest YLD Rates (i.e., per population size) in 2017, the greatest growth in YLD Rates since 1990 (38%), and an exponential growth in the rehabilitation-sensitive YLD Rates. The Asia-Pacific region also had the greatest portion of their YLDs coming from rehabilitation-sensitive conditions (72% in 2017), closely followed by the Latin America & Caribbean (67%). Nonetheless, in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, we observed the greatest percent increases in the portion of physical rehabilitation needs among all YLDs, out of lower initial values. An overall growth but differential patterns were observed in the evolution of physical rehabilitation needs across the resource-poor world regions. Asia-Pacific and Latin America & Caribbean regions had over than two-thirds of their non-fatal health loss arising from conditions sensitive to physical rehabilitation, and important growths in rehabilitation need indicators have been observed also for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The scale-up and strengthening of rehabilitation services and resources should be informed by needs-based data. The needs-based data from this study can inform trans-national developments and the planning of rehabilitation resources, inclusively at the world-region level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new approach for the design of an optimal fractional-order (FO) proportional integral derivative (PID) controller is proposed. The proposed approach is based on modified Ziegler Nichols technique of tuning an FOPID controller and Big Bang Big Crunch algorithm which is a soft computing technique. The proposed approach is applied to a solar tracker system, a numerical example of an FO system and is also tested on a hardware set-up of the DC servo system. The results obtained for the solar tracking example are compared with other metaheuristic search techniques as well as analytical techniques from literature. Besides this, a thorough statistical analysis of the controller parameters and time response specifications for the solar tracking system is also done. Further, performance and robustness analysis of the system is also carried out. The results convey the efficiency and powerfulness of the proposed technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the complex overlapping and interaction with exogenous influences in the processes of national policymaking by analysing a case of policy borrowing in Japan. Specifically, it explores the political circumstances under which the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was introduced to foreign language education policy at the national government level in Japan. The results suggest that the CEFR was borrowed selectively as a practical solution to achieve prolonged educational and political agendas promoted by multiple actors such as academics, the Ministry of Education (MEXT), and a group of politicians and business associations. This study moreover shows that the CEFR borrowing occurred under manifold interplays between multiple global education trends and domestic needs for Japanese citizens to acquire a practical communicative command of English to strengthen their international economic competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first-order reliability method (FORM) is regarded by most practitioners as difficult in concept and implementation, despite its merits over the deterministic approach. Another hurdle in adopting probabilistic approach is the lack of data for estimating statistical inputs. This paper first illustrates a simple reliability-based design (RBD) with respect to the rotational limit state involving two correlated random variables, to facilitate understanding of reliability analysis using FORM. It is demonstrated that RBD-via-FORM offers valuable information and insights on parametric sensitivities at its design point. An intuitive graphical perspective in the space of correlated dimensionless sensitivity indicators is explained as a complementary alternative to the perspective in the space of original random variables. The effect of parametric correlations on parametric sensitivities is also investigated. This is followed by statistical analyses of the compressibility data in the empirical Burland and Burbidge method of settlement prediction, and subsequent probabilistic analysis of the serviceability limit state (SLS) of a water storage tank which was originally designed based on Eurocode 7 (EC7). Comparisons are made between reliability analysis and EC7 design. The importance of distinguishing negative from positive reliability indices is also explained. The complementary role of RBD-via-FORM to partial factor design approach is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used a structural perspective to examine unmet healthcare needs in women at risk for eating disorders in Canada utilizing the Canadian Community Health Survey. The results revealed that body dissatisfied women had reported significantly higher unmet needs compared to body satisfied women (χ 2(1) =29.31, p <.05). Body dissatisfied women were also more likely to identify structural reasons for unmet needs. Considering the high costs associated with eating disorders, barriers creating inequitable health services need to be addressed in clinical practice, organizational structures, policy, and in research to improve treatment pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT) has recently been adapted to a number of languages – including Hungarian – by an international network of multidisciplinary aphasia researchers, the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists. In Hungarian, to date, there is no standardised test to assess people with aphasia (PWA). The aim of this paper was to evaluate psychometric properties of the Hungarian adaptation of the CAT (CAT-H) by assessing internal consistency, reliability, and validity of the test. In addition, we reiterate main challenges of the adaptation – so far only published in Hungarian – and present the main characteristics of the CAT-H. One hundred PWA, mostly with unilateral, left hemisphere stroke, and 34 healthy control participants completed the CAT-H which consists of two parts: A Cognitive Screening Test (CST) and a Language Battery (LB). Our analysis included (1) comparison of performance between PWA and control participants in all subtests; (2) assessment of inter-rater and test–retest reliability in a small group of PWA (N = 10 and N = 9, respectively) using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs); (3) assessment of construct validity by performing principal component analysis (PCA) on subtests of the CST and subtests of the LB in the aphasia group; (4) assessment of concurrent validity by calculating Spearman rank correlation coefficients between subtests of the CAT-H and subtests of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB; N = 59) and the Test for the Reception of Grammar-Hungarian (TROG-H; N = 35). Our results show that the CAT-H has good-to-excellent psychometric properties. It is able to differentiate between aphasic and non-aphasic performance and it demonstrates strong internal consistency. Moderate to high ICCs suggest good-to-excellent inter-rater and test–retest reliability for most subtests of the LB. Consistent with the English CAT, the PCA identified one component in the CST and three components in the LB. High correlations between subtests of the CAT-H and subtests of the WAB and the TROG-H suggest satisfying concurrent validity for the CAT-H. Comparable psychometric properties of the CAT-H and the original version of the CAT suggest that the Hungarian language and cultural adaptation was successful. We believe that the CAT-H will be a unique resource for rehabilitation professionals and aphasia researchers in aphasia assessment in Hungary. In addition, together with adaptations in other languages, it may provide a unique tool for cross-linguistic aphasia assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a new generalization of the negative binomial distribution arising from the Poisson-stopped sum of the Hurwitz–Lerch zeta distributions (Poisson-HLZD). The proposed generalization has much flexibility in shape (high probability at zero and long tail) as compared to other generalizations but retains computational tractability since, as a Poisson-stopped sum, it has a recurrence formula for its probabilities which facilitates its computation and applications. The flexibility of the Poisson-HLZD makes it a useful model for statistical analysis. The Poisson-HLZD is proved to have a mixed Poisson formulation and some of its probabilistic properties that are useful in determining the parameter space in estimation are derived. Its usefulness in data-fitting are compared with some well-known count frequency models. It is shown that the Poisson-HLZD fits very well for data with high zero counts or with very long tail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live animal gamma radioisotope tracing enables the monitoring of real-time contaminant uptake and retention in individual animals. It has been employed by ecotoxicologists to understand how animals respond to a variety of aquatic stressors. The use of the technique increases the complexity of the experimental design, resulting in the production of highly detailed and robust longitudinal data of individual animals. The greater complexity of the statistical models that underpin this data create risks from data being treated incorrectly. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to comprehensively evaluate the experimental design and statistical approaches employed by current aquatic live animal radiotracing studies. The experimental design of current studies was categorized into one of five design "families". Each experimental design could be described by at least one statistical model, which in turn informs a specific statistical approach. Collectively, 7% of studies provided insufficient information to determine the experimental design used, and 24% of studies undertook no formal statistical analysis of results. When the statistical approaches used in current studies were examined, in most cases the correct approach was undertaken, with only 18% of studies using a statistical approach that did not match the chosen experimental design. This review provides clear guidance on the analysis and interpretation of data collected from each experimental design and explains the advantages and disadvantages of each. Additionally, this paper identifies four key suggestions for future researchers, and provides commentary on the ethical, logistical and cost considerations associated with undertaking experiments that use live animal radiotracing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the mean change-point models based on associated sequences. Under some weak conditions, we obtain a limit distribution of CUSUM statistic which can be used to judge the mean change-mount δ n is satisfied or dissatisfied n 1 / 2 δ n = o (1). We also study the consistency of sample covariances and change-point location statistics. Based on Normality and Lognormality data, some simulations such as empirical sizes, empirical powers and convergence are presented to test our results. As an important application, we use CUSUM statistics to do the mean change-point analysis for a financial series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We agree that converting data to similar resolutions would lose some statistical information from our data. We thank gratefully Professors Wei Tu, Bei Jiang, Linglong Kong, and Professor Sudipto Banerjee for their insightful comments and discussion of our paper. The inference of the occupancy status of houses sharing one location might require more information at the individual level, which is the primary data barrier in social science. [Extracted from the article]

This study presents a method for analysing badminton matches based on the concept of perturbations. We transfer this principle to a badminton rally and describe the decisive shot, which turns a balanced situation into an advantage for one team or one player. Our paper proposes an observational system, which models the decisive shots by using four consecutive actions: impulse (the perturbation), follow-up, survival, and convert. To test the objectivity of the operationalization, independent raters analysed six matches in the singles disciplines of the 2022 World Championships. To evaluate rater agreement, Jaccard coefficient and Cohen's kappa were used. Results show an agreement in identifying impulses of J(R1, R2) =.80, while the agreement in classifying the impulse type (positive/negative) reached κ =.70. A comparison of this perturbation-based analysis and last shot analyses shows significantly different results. Direct errors usually occur in the midcourt (56.4%), whereas most negative perturbations originate from the backcourt (40.0%). In contrast to direct winners, mostly originating from a smash (45.5%), most positive perturbations are created by net shots (30.1%). We argue that our method can be complementary to common last shot analyses and provides a possibility to describe players' strengths and weaknesses in more detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically review literature on nutritional intake, nutritional status and nutritional interventions, and to study their association with short- and long-term clinical outcomes in people with a major dysvascular lower limb amputation. PubMed, Ovid, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library were searched. Studies were included if nutritional intake, nutritional status, or nutritional interventions in people with a major dysvascular lower limb amputation were analyzed. Of the 3038 unique papers identified, 30 studies were included. Methodological quality was moderate (1 study) or weak (29 studies). Limited information was available on nutritional intake (2 studies) and nutritional interventions (1 study). Nutritional intake and nutritional status were assessed by diverse methods. The percentage of people with a poor nutritional status ranged from 1% to 100%. In some studies, measures of poor nutritional status were associated with adverse short- and long-term clinical outcomes. The percentage of people with a poor nutritional status is inconclusive in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population, because of the heterogeneity of the assessment methods used. Some included studies reported a negative association between poor nutritional status and clinical outcomes. However, these results should be interpreted with caution, because of the limited quality of the studies available. Studies high in methodological quality and high in hierarchy of evidence are needed. The proportion of people with a poor nutritional status in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population is inconclusive. Poor nutritional status seems to affect clinical outcomes negatively. More uniformity in assessment of malnutrition in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key decisions in execution strategies is the choice between a passive (liquidity providing) or an aggressive (liquidity taking) order to execute a trade in a limit order book (LOB). Essential to this choice is the fill probability of a passive limit order placed in the LOB. This paper proposes a deep learning method to estimate the filltimes of limit orders posted in different levels of the LOB. We develop a novel model for survival analysis that maps time-varying features of the LOB to the distribution of filltimes of limit orders. Our method is based on a convolutional-Transformer encoder and a monotonic neural network decoder. We use proper scoring rules to compare our method with other approaches in survival analysis, and perform an interpretability analysis to understand the informativeness of features used to compute fill probabilities. Our method significantly outperforms those typically used in survival analysis literature. Finally, we carry out a statistical analysis of the fill probability of orders placed in the order book (e.g. within the bid-ask spread) for assets with different queue dynamics and trading activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extropy measure proposed by Lad, Sanfilippo, and Agro (Statistical Science 30 (1):40–58, 2015) as a dual function of Shannon entropy has received a considerable attention in the last five years. In this paper, we first show a representation for the weighted extropy of ranked set sampling in terms of quantile and density-quantile functions. Then we provide some related results including monotone properties, stochastic orders, characterizations and sharp bounds. Moreover, the so obtained results show how the weighted extropy of ranked set sampling compares with its counterpart of simple random sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether people's responses to official communications about COVID-19 could be "profiled" with respect to socio-economic-demographic and behavioral characteristics. Such profiles could enhance the effectiveness of future crisis management through the use of profile-adapted communications that maximize message comprehension. A representative web panel survey (742 respondents) was conducted across Switzerland in February 2022 to assess the population's reaction to COVID-19 communications during the pandemic. Latent profile analysis was conducted to explore if distinct profiles of reactions to the communications would emerge, and how each of them relate to conspiracy mentality and SED measures. The analyses revealed three latent profiles: "Compliant supporters" (54%), "defiant deniers" (23.6%), and "anxious skeptics" (22.4%). Respondents with high conspiracy mentality were more likely to belong to "defiant deniers" or "anxious skeptics." Each profile was characterized by distinct SED and behavioral features (discussed in the paper). The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that one communication does not work for all people. Our study evidenced three different types of respondent profiles that require profile-adapted communications for more effective crisis control. Our study is the first to profile people's responses to COVID-19 communications in a systematic, person-centered way. The results can be used for more effective future crisis management that delivers to each profile's communicative needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game-based learning (GBL) is widely utilised in various domains and continues to receive interest and attention from researchers and practitioners alike. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness, making GBL evaluation a critical undertaking. This paper proposes an integrated approach for planning and executing GBL evaluation studies and presents its application by evaluating the effectiveness of a GBL approach to improve the Arabic reading skills of migrant refugee children in an informal learning setup. The study focuses on how children's age group, learning modality preference, and prior mobile experience affect their learning, usability, and gameplay performance. A quasi-experiment with a one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with 30 children (5–10 years old) from migrant refugee backgrounds. The results show a statistically significant improvement in their reading assessment score. The results also outline a clear impact of children's age groups on their learning gain, usability score, and total levels played. Moreover, learning modality preference and prior mobile experience both had a statistically significant effect related to usability and gameplay performance parameters. However, no effect was found on learning gain. Based on the findings, some design recommendations are suggested for more inclusive design focusing on user characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that stress has contributed to employee turnover and retention problems for agencies, and at the individual level, chronic stress has been associated with coronary heart disease, anxiety, depression, and many other negative effects. In the past, the extent of stress one has felt has been measured by subjective paper-and-pencil instruments; however, recent technological advances have improved our ability to obtain accurate biofeedback assessments from wearable instruments. The Kentucky Child Welfare Workforce Wellness Initiative is the first known study to explore physiological stress in a sample (n = 32) of child welfare professionals using biometric technology (Firstbeat Bodyguard 2) and the first to report that data longitudinally over a four-month period. The study revealed that a variable associated with the strength of the Autonomic Nervous System (RMSSD) remained below the norms for a healthy population as participants experienced consistent and prolonged physiological stress. When examined relatively to the agency's lifting of COVID restrictions and returning to face-to-face service delivery, stress levels began to further rise almost to significant levels (p <.10) and the participants' ability to achieve a state of physiological relaxation significantly decreased. Future research employing biometric technology is also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent suicide has become an increasingly serious social problem in China. Bullying victimization was found to be an influential factor of suicidal tendency, but less attention has been paid to the internal mechanisms of the relationship. This paper examined the relationship between adolescents' bullying victimization and suicidal tendency, and the mediating effects of internalizing problems and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Generalized Structural Equation Model was employed to a sample of 3,575 Chinese secondary school students. Bullying victimization has a direct positive impact on adolescents' suicidal tendency, but also has an indirect impact on suicidal tendency through three paths: the independent mediating role of internalizing problems and NSSI, and the chain mediating role of internalizing problems and NSSI. The results suggested that students who are bullied tend to have a higher risk of suicidal tendency, and internalizing problems and NSSI are usually the prelude to suicidal behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]