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In recent years, age-related changes in body composition in the elderly are attracting attention. This is associated with a decline in physical functions and an increased risk of disease development. In general, age-related changes in body composition can be minimized with appropriate exercise. However, there are no studies that investigate body parts susceptibility to aging and changes in body composition of those parts. Therefore, devising exercise programs and advising daily life while taking these into account becomes difficult. This study aims to identify body parts that are more susceptible to aging and their body composition changes. The body composition was obtained with a Direct Segmental Multi-frequency Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis using InBody770 in 8 male elderly patients who had been shortly hospitalized. Statistical hypothesis testing was used to determine whether site-specific body composition changed significantly between hospital discharge and 1 year, 1 year and 2 years, and hospital discharge and 2 years. The results showed that Lean body mass, Total Body Water, Intracellular Water, Extracellular Water in the right arm; Lean body mass and Total Body Water in the left arm and trunk are more sensitive to aging.

Context: Ankle sprains are a common injury in sports, for which use of external ankle support during rehabilitation has been suggested to improve clinical outcomes. Design: Cohort study. Methods: Thirteen soccer players experiencing acute lateral ankle sprain injury were provided a novel adaptive ankle brace or conventional ankle taping (control) as external ankle support throughout the injury rehabilitation process. All other clinical procedures were identical, and rehabilitation was supervised by the same team staff member. Time from injury to clearance to return to sport was tracked. Player experience with the ankle brace also was queried via electronic surveys. Results: The median time to return to sport was less for the Brace group (52.5 d) compared to the Control group (79.5 d), but the distributions of the 2 groups were not found to differ significantly (P =.109). Player surveys indicated they felt the brace to be comfortable or very comfortable, with better freedom of movement than other braces and the same freedom of movement as wearing no brace. All players reported wearing the brace to be the same or better experience as ankle taping. Discussion: These preliminary results indicate that the adaptive ankle brace is at least as effective as ankle taping for providing external support during the rehabilitation phase following acute lateral ankle sprain and suggest it may be a more effective ankle support solution in terms of patient compliance than conventional bracing or taping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented in which the authors emphasize the importance of integrating theory, methods, and data to enhance management research. They critique the overreliance on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and suggest using Bayesian techniques, observed power, and longitudinal data to improve causal inference and theoretical development. The editorial also advocates for employing computational models and latent mixture models to better handle theoretical precision and heterogeneity, and it encourages exploring diverse approaches to strengthen research outcomes.

Introduction Definitive management of non-compressible intra-abdominal hemorrhage (NCIAH) currently requires a surgeon and operating room capable of performing damage control surgery. In a wartime scenario or a geographically remote environment, these may not be readily available. In this study, we sought to test the safety of 2 emerging injectable hemostatic agents (CounterFlow and Fast Onset Abdominal Management, or FOAM, poloxamer component) versus normal saline control over a prolonged monitoring duration following administration by a non-surgical provider. Materials and Methods The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approved all research conducted in this study. We randomized male New Zealand white rabbits into 2 monitoring cohorts of 24 hours and 2 weeks. Each cohort contained 3 treatment groups (n  = 4 rabbits/group): CounterFlow, the testable poloxamer component of FOAM, and normal saline control. We injected each treatment intraperitoneally in the left lower abdominal quadrant. Doses were 15 mL/kg for CounterFlow, 6.3 mL/kg for the poloxamer component of FOAM, and 15 mL/kg for normal saline. We conducted all injections under isoflurane anesthesia monitored by trained veterinary staff. Animals were euthanized at each cohort end point, and a veterinary pathologist blinded to treatment type performed necropsy. The primary outcome was incidence of intra-abdominal adhesions at necropsy. Quantitatively, adhesions when present were graded by the veterinary pathologist on a 1 to 4 scale, where "1" represented adhesions involving from 1 to 25% of the examined abdomen, "2" represented from 26 to 50%, "3" represented from 51 to 75%, and "4" represented from 76 to 100%. Qualitatively, adhesions present were graded by degree ("1" = minimal, "2" = mild, "3" = moderate, and "4" = severe) and chronicity ("1" = acute, "2" = subacute, and "3" = chronic). We also drew d-dimer blood values and measured body weights for each animal. Statistical analysis included either repeated measures 2-way ANOVA or a mixed-effects model (in the case of missing data) with Geisser–Greenhouse correction. We adjusted multiple comparisons using Tukey statistical hypothesis tests. Results In the 2-week cohort, 3 CounterFlow animals showed adhesions judged to be "1" quantitatively. Qualitatively, 2 of these were assessed as "1" for degree of adhesions and the other demonstrated a "2." On the chronicity of adhesions scale, 1 animal demonstrated a "2" and 2 demonstrated a "3." No animals in other groups (FOAM and control) demonstrated adhesions. CounterFlow-treated animals showed a statistically significant rise in d-dimer values in the 24-hour cohort only. In the 2-week cohort, CounterFlow-treated animals showed a decrease in body weight at 24 hours after injection but returned to their baseline (normal) body weights at 7 days. Conclusions Findings from this study demonstrate that the tested ingredients of FOAM poloxamer component are safe for intraperitoneal injection and hold potential for further study directed toward prehospital non-compressible intra-abdominal hemorrhage management by non-surgical providers. Although CounterFlow produced abdominal adhesions in 3 of 4 rabbits in the 2-week cohort, these were determined to be "minimal" or "mild" in degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

À partir de ma clinique de sujets trans, et dans la continuité des travaux d'Esther Bick concernant la seconde peau psychique et de celle de Didier Anzieu avec le Moi-Peau et les enveloppes psychiques, je propose une nouvelle hypothèse : celle d'une seconde peau et d'un Moi-peau corsets. Ainsi, les corsets psychiques empêchent (seconde peau) ou déploient (Moi-peau) selon les réappropriations psychiques de chacun. Les perspectives psychanalytiques à propos de la peau, avec leurs constitutions développementales psycho-affectives et psychosomatiques tout le long de la vie, restent en effet contemporaines, et ce, plus particulièrement des personnes trans(genres). Ma pratique de psychologue clinicien-psychothérapeute, mes réseaux (RCP-trans) et mes recherches à partir des vécus des personnes trans(genres) m'ont amené à m'interroger à propos d'une métapsychologie du corset. J'expose ici deux situations cliniques de jeunes adultes FtoM (Female to Male) lesquels sont, entre autres situations cliniques rencontrées, particulièrement à la source de cette hypothèse. Deux situations cliniques m'ont particulièrement amené à réfléchir la qualité d'une capacité dépressive authentique, ou dépressivité, que je nomme ici tristesse fluide (sadness fluid) ou fluidité de la tristesse par analogie au gender fluid, la fluidité du genre (ce qui répond à la dysphorie de genre). Sur les plans transféro-contre-transférentiels, la transphobie et la transphilie sont à interroger comme des corsetages qui fluidifient plus ou moins la relation de soins psychiques, l'empêchent ou/et la déploient. Une armature opératoire, en lien aux travaux de l'École psychosomatique de Paris (IPSO), peut s'imposer intrapsychiquement avec un tel parcours, par la complexité et la diversité des vécus, des histoires et des ressources trouvées au sein des différents environnements du sujet. Envisager les besoins thérapeutiques des sujets trans dans leurs parcours et leurs réflexions, amène à considérer les besoins de desserrer, de dénouer certains liens psychiques avec leurs conséquences psychosomatiques. Ce décorsetage favorise une fluidité réflexive, afin que le sujet puisse évoluer avec et dans un authentique Moi-peau corset où il s'appartient. I develop my hypothesis of a two different corsets, the second skin and the ego-skin corset, which respectively prevent or deploy according to the psychic reappropriations of the subjects, specially transgender subjects. My practice as a clinical psychologist-psychotherapist and my research with transgender subjects led me to wonder about a metapsychology of the corset. I expose here two clinical cases. Two cases in particular led me to think about an authentic depressive capacity that I call here sadness-fluid or fluidity of sadness by analogy to gender-fluid, the fluidity of gender. Also, I reflect on the operative armature that can impose itself throughout the transition process, by the diversity of experiences, stories, and resources found in the subject's different environments. The therapeutic needs of trans subjects in their journeys and their reflections lead us to consider the needs to loosen, to untie certain ties. This uncorsetting favors a reflexive fluidity, so that the subject can evolve in an authentic ego-skin corset where it belongs to itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, midwifery-led birthing units are associated with favourable clinical outcomes and positive birth experiences. As part of our evaluation of Canada's first Alongside Midwifery Unit (AMU) at Markham Stouffville Hospital, we sought to explore and compare birth experiences and satisfaction among midwifery clients who gave birth on the AMU with midwifery clients who gave birth on the traditional obstetric unit prior to AMU implementation. Methods: We conducted a structured, online, cross-sectional survey of midwifery clients in the six months before, and up to 18 months after, opening of the AMU at Markham Stouffville Hospital, Ontario Canada. The survey contained validated measures of satisfaction including personal capacity and participation; perceived safety, control, and security; professional support; and satisfaction. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance were completed in SPSS. Results: A total of 193 responses were included in our analyses (pre-AMU n = 47, post-AMU n = 146). All participants had positive experiences in the four domains assessed. Compared to those who gave birth with midwives on the Labour unit, those who gave birth on the AMU indicated more positive experiences for some measures. Perceptions pertaining to being an active participant in care, to security and sense of control were more positive among those who gave birth on the AMU. Conclusion: The AMU in Ontario is associated with high levels of satisfaction during birth, particularly the perception of being actively engaged in decision making, having a sense of control and safety, and having confidence in the care provider team. Care received on the AMU does not compromise birth experiences or satisfaction and may be associated with greater autonomy and agency for the person giving birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a growing human and animal health concern around the world. When a number of studies have emphasized the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) regarding antibiotic use and resistance in humans, little attention has been paid to the veterinary sector. The aim of this study was to understand the KAP towards antibiotic use and resistance among veterinarians in Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional online based questionnaire survey was conducted from August to September 2020 among the registered veterinary practitioners. A self-administered Google form questionnaire consisting of 45 questions on knowledge, attitude and practice regarding antibiotic use and resistance was used. For statistical significance test we used Chi-square or Fisher's Exact test and logistic regression for factor analysis. Results: A total of 208 registered veterinarians participated in this study. The study involved a majority of male participants, constituting 85.1%, while 54.8% of the participants held a Masters degree. Around 52% of the veterinarians were poultry practitioners. All respondents were familiar with antimicrobials. The participants (91.4%) knew that antibiotics cannot cure viral infections, while 97.6% believed that frequent antibiotic prescriptions rendered them less effective. Participants claimed that only they were eligible to prescribe drugs for the treatment of animals, and around 80% disagreed with adding antibiotics with feed/water as a growth promoter in livestock. Of the total participants, 87% believed that a local antimicrobial guideline would be more effective than an international one. A multivariable analysis revealed that male veterinarians have 2.37 times higher knowledge regarding antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (OR = 2.37, CI = 1.01–5.59, p = 0.05). Veterinarians engaged in government services demonstrated a 2.59 times more favorable attitude towards AMU and AMR (OR = 2.59, CI = 0.99–6.73, p = 0.05). Additionally, respondents aged 31–35 were 0.45 times more likely to exhibit good practices (OR = 0.45, CI = 0.2–1.00, p = 0.05). However, gaps in practices were highlighted in our study, suggesting training deficiencies. Conclusion: The present study, for the first time conducted in Bangladesh, dictates that future interventions like academic courses, workshops, and seminars on antibiotic usage and resistance are needed to facilitate the knowledge, behavior and practice of veterinarians with regard to the rational use of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the linguistic content of the Spanish HINT and the Spanish AzBio sentence tests. The results revealed that the Spanish AzBio is linguistically more complex as compared with the Spanish HINT in terms of sentence length, complexity, and grammatical structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid globalisation in language technology and the Internet's fast expansion have brought nations and their cultures close together, and the demand for inter-language interactions has risen enormously. However, in many low-resource languages (LRL) pairings and areas, Machine Translation (MT) is still not viable because of a lack of parallel data. The challenge of MT is still unsolved. Recent studies employing monolingual datasets have shown excellent outcomes in Phrase-based Statistical MT (PBSMT) and Neural MT (NMT) systems. However, earlier researchers have demonstrated that unsupervised Statistical MT surpasses unsupervised NMT, especially for different language pairings. The study unveils the compendium of ten unsupervised SMT systems translation tasks utilizing a monolingual dataset from the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan language families; and a low-resource endangered language. The machine-translated experimental outcomes examined the system using different tokenizers and investigated them for various language pairs using different evaluation metrics for various iterations. The statistical significance of test results has been computed for each evaluation metric to check the true system quality of the translation tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate about the characteristics and advantages of quantitative and qualitative methods is decades old. In their seminal monograph, A Tale of Two Cultures (2012, ATTC), Gary Goertz and James Mahoney argue that methods and research design practices for causal inference can be distinguished as two cultures that systematically differ from each other along 25 specific characteristics. ATTC's stated goal is a description of empirical patterns in quantitative and qualitative research. Yet, it does not include a systematic empirical evaluation as to whether the 25 are relevant and valid descriptors of applied research. In this paper, we derive five observable implications from ATTC and test the implications against a stratified random sample of 90 qualitative and 90 quantitative articles published in six journals between 1990–2012. Our analysis provides little support for the two-cultures hypothesis. Quantitative methods are largely implemented as described in ATTC, whereas qualitative methods are much more diverse than ATTC suggests. While some practices do indeed conform to the qualitative culture, many others are implemented in a manner that ATTC characterizes as constitutive of the quantitative culture. We find very little evidence for ATTC's anchoring of qualitative research with set-theoretic approaches to empirical social science research. The set-theoretic template only applies to a fraction of the qualitative research that we reviewed, with the majority of qualitative work incorporating different method choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimism hypothesis claims that immigrant students do better in the Norwegian education system than their socioeconomic status would suggest, due to the strong educational aspirations that immigrant parents might have for their children. Grounded in an educational equity paradigm, this study aims to test this hypothesis by investigating direct and indirect influences on students' reading achievement, assessing both how often the students speak the language of instruction, Norwegian, at home; and the effect for students of parents' educational levels that affect parents' academic expectations and parents' help with homework. Using PIRLS 2016 data from Norway (n = 4,232, mean age 10.8), path analysis provided evidence that both students' home language and parents' educational level directly influence reading achievement. The mediating roles of parents' academic expectations and parents' help with homework on these relationships fluctuated. Thus, the data provided evidence that only partially supports the optimism hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of anticancer peptides (ACPs) is crucial, especially in the development of peptide-based cancer therapy. The classical models such as Split Amino Acid Composition (SAAC) and Pseudo Amino Acid Composition (PseAAC) lack the incorporation of feature representation. These advancements improve the predictive accuracy and efficiency of ACP identification. Thus, the effort of this research is to propose and develop an advanced framework based on feature extraction. Thus, to achieve this objective herein we propose an Extended Dipeptide Composition (EDPC) framework. The proposed EDPC framework extends the dipeptide composition by considering the local sequence environment information and reforming the CD-HIT framework to remove noise and redundancy. To measure the accuracy, we have performed several experiments. These experiments were employed using four famous machine learning (ML) algorithms named; Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), and K Nearest Neighbor (KNN). For comparisons, we have used accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, precision, recall, and F1-Score as evaluation criteria. The reliability of the proposed framework is further evaluated using statistical significance tests. As a result, the proposed EDPC framework exhibited enhanced performance than SAAC and PseAAC, where the SVM model delivered the highest accuracy of 96. 6% and significant enhancements in specificity, sensitivity, precision, and F1-score over multiple datasets. Due to the incorporation of enhanced feature representation and the incorporation of local and global sequence profiles proposed EDPC achieves higher classification performance. The proposed frameworks can deal with noise and also duplicating features. These are accompanied by a wide range of feature representations. Finally, our proposed framework can be used for clinical applications where ACP identification is essential. Future works will include extending to a larger variety of datasets, incorporating tertiary structural information, and using deep learning techniques to improve the proposed EDPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter to the editor critiques two articles on statistical guidelines. The first article challenges the misconception that large sample sizes are problematic for statistical inference, arguing that larger samples actually provide better inferences. The author also emphasizes that statistical significance should not be equated with clinical relevance. The second article addresses the use of the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, pointing out errors and misunderstandings in the article and stressing the importance of transparency and preplanned hypotheses in statistical analysis. The article highlights the need for a better understanding and application of statistical principles in research, recommending updates to statistical guidelines and providing alternative resources for readers to gain a more accurate understanding of statistical concepts. It also emphasizes the potential consequences of spreading misinformation and the importance of making thoughtful decisions based on accurate understanding of statistical principles. [Extracted from the article]

Motivation In many biomedical applications, we are confronted with paired groups of samples, such as treated versus control. The aim is to detect discriminating features, i.e. biomarkers, based on high-dimensional (omics-) data. This problem can be phrased more generally as a two-sample problem requiring statistical significance testing to establish differences , and interpretations to identify distinguishing features. The multivariate maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) test quantifies group-level differences, whereas statistically significantly associated features are usually found by univariate feature selection. Currently, few general-purpose methods simultaneously perform multivariate feature selection and two-sample testing. Results We introduce a sparse, interpretable, and optimized MMD test (SpInOpt-MMD) that enables two-sample testing and feature selection in the same experiment. SpInOpt-MMD is a versatile method and we demonstrate its application to a variety of synthetic and real-world data types including images, gene expression measurements, and text data. SpInOpt-MMD is effective in identifying relevant features in small sample sizes and outperforms other feature selection methods such as SHapley Additive exPlanations and univariate association analysis in several experiments. Availability and implementation The code and links to our public data are available at https://github.com/BorgwardtLab/spinoptmmd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates baseline patient demographics and predictors of vascular injury, blood transfusion, and compartment syndrome in patients with orthopaedic fractures secondary to GSWs at two high-volume Level I trauma centres. Methods: A retrospective chart review of all GSW-related trauma patients at two Level I trauma centres between July 2019 and September 2021 was conducted. Chi-squared and two-tailed independent t tests were used for data analysis, and logistic regression with odds ratios (OR) determined predictors of primary outcomes. Results: Among 478 GSW patients, 94 (19.7%) sustained 130 orthopaedic fractures, most commonly at the lower extremity (77.7%). Orthopaedic fracture patients showed significantly higher rates of vascular injury (29.8 vs. 4.7%, p < 0.001), transfusion (27.7 vs. 12.8%, p = 0.006), and compartment syndrome (3.2 vs. 0.3%, p = 0.011) compared to non-orthopaedic injury patients. Univariable analysis identified ankle (OR = 47.50, p < 0.001) and hip/femur fractures (OR = 5.31, p < 0.001) as predictors of vascular injury. Multivariable logistic regression revealed lower extremity vascular injury (OR = 54.69, p = 0.006) and anatomic fracture sites of the humerus (OR = 15.17, p = 0.008), clavicle/scapula (OR = 11.30, p = 0.009), and acetabulum/pelvis (OR = 7.17, p = 0.025) as predictors of blood transfusion. Univariable analysis showed lower extremity vascular injury (OR = 30.14, p = 0.007) as a predictor of compartment syndrome. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of diagnosing and managing vascular injuries and compartment syndrome in GSW-related orthopaedic fractures, emphasizing the necessity for targeted transfusion strategies in such cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial flows represent spatial interactions or movements. Mining colocation patterns of different types of flows may uncover the spatial dependences and associations among flows. Previous studies proposed a flow colocation pattern mining method and established a significance test under the null hypothesis of independence for the results. In fact, the definition of the null hypothesis is crucial in significance testing. Choosing an inappropriate null hypothesis may lead to misunderstandings about the spatial interactions between flows. In practice, the overall distribution patterns of different types of flows may be clustered. In these cases, the null hypothesis of independence will result in unconvincing results. Thus, considering the overall spatial pattern of flows, in this study, we changed the null hypothesis to random labeling to establish the statistical significance of flow colocation patterns. Furthermore, we compared and analyzed the impacts of different null hypotheses on flow colocation pattern mining through synthetic data tests with different preset patterns and situations. Additionally, we used empirical data from ride-hailing trips to show the practicality of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: During shading, the mismatch between the panels in the photovoltaic (PV) array mitigates the global maximum power (GMP). Besides, the mismatch in the irradiation levels of distinct rows of the PV array instigates multiple power peaks (MPPs) in the array characteristics. Distinguishing the local and global peaks among MPPs for tracking the GMP is highly challenging for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controllers. So, to mitigate the MPPs and enhance the GMP, array reconfiguration is preferred. Nevertheless, most existing reconfiguration techniques exhibit poor shade dispersal, distorted electrical characteristics, multiple MPPs, increased mismatch, scalability issues, etc. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a new Padovan transform‐based encryption strategy for array reconfiguration. The proposed method was evaluated for both symmetric and unsymmetrically sized arrays. Its performance has also been compared to that of 23 other strategies. The proposed reconfiguration strategy integrated with MPPT is validated experimentally using a prototype model. A nonparametric statistical hypothesis test with a p‐value of 0.05 has been used for a pairwise fair comparison study among the examined approaches. The proposed approach constantly outperforms the current methods because of its unique shade dispersion generated through intelligent reconfiguration offering the GMP improvement of 34.429%, 12.51%, 5.05%, and 37.40%, 22.93%, 16.51% for 9 × 9 and 4 × 8 PV arrays, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of functional time series, we propose a significance test to distinguish between short memory with a change point and long range dependence. The test is based on coefficients of projections onto an optimal direction that captures the dependence structure of the latent stationary functions that are not observable due to a potential change point. The optimal direction must be estimated as well. The test statistic is constructed using the local Whittle estimator applied to these coefficients. It has standard normal distribution under the null hypothesis (change point) and diverges to infinity under the alternative (long range dependence). The article includes asymptotic theory, a simulation study and an application to curve‐valued time series derived from intraday asset prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research explores the challenges and advancements in global digital administration, focusing on IoT-driven internet administration. The study proposes hypotheses on digital administration performance and offers insights of IT administration. The scholarly contribution introduces a comprehensive framework with five interconnected indicators for measuring digital administration. These indicators, aligned with hypotheses, assess the socio-economic impact of IT, incorporating complex mathematical formulations. The study utilizes empirical data from reliable sources and employs rigorous statistical analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to enhance understanding within the IT administration realm. The study examines IT governance in EU, BRICS, and MENA countries through tangible assets. Findings highlight varied resilience levels and advocate for strategic investments, emphasizing the pivotal role of IT in economic development and governance across different intervals. The analysis extends to e-IT governance, digital governance technology, and digital corporate governance technology, demonstrating their impact on socio-economic environments, business performance, and IT development in mountain areas. Within this contextual framework, the authors posit several hypotheses concerning digital administration performance: H1. A robust quality of public and private administration correlates with a strong national economy; additionally, heightened IT administration strength augments general administration – as indicated by the Value Added of IT administration tangible assets from a country (A). H2. Development influences administration in the Research-Development-Innovation (RDI) sector, with the IT part paramount importance – as indicated by the Value Added of IT administration tangible assets from a country (A). H3. Digital administration within an electronic context should foster resilience in the socio-economic environment of a country – as indicated by the Value Added of e-IT administration from a country (B). H4. Public and private administration, particularly in IT administration, operates under the auspices of technical development – as indicated by the Value Added of digital administration technology from a country (C). H5. IT administration and the overall digital administration environment exert influence on business performance – as indicated by the Value Added of digital corporate administration technology from a country (D), and additionally, the Value Added of digital corporate administration technology in the mountain area (E). Results underscore the interconnectedness of governance quality, development, resilience, and technical advancement in the evolving landscape of digital administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this current study is to assess the essential role of teacher cognitive presence within the context of the community of inquiry framework in relation to enhancing students’ academic perseverance, more specifically this type of presence influences the most students’ academic perseverance. In order to test this hypothesis, an online questionnaire was created, including the community of inquiry scale and the grit scale. A total of 529 valid and consented answers were collected. We have further analyzed the structure of the variables network with network analysis and then we have employed several sequential mediation analyses testing the impact of cognitive presence triggering events and resolution on the relationship between all the other presences and students’ academic perseverance. A circular structure has emerged in network analysis and eight significant full complementary sequential mediation analysis. Results confirm the domino effect of teacher cognitive presence triggering events and resolution on student’s grit under the community of inquiry framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granger causality is a classical and important technique for measuring predictability from one group of time series to another by incorporating information of the variables described by a full vector autoregressive (VAR) process. However, in some applications economic forecasts need to be made based on information provided merely by a portion of variates (e.g., removal of a listed stock due to halting, suspension or delisting). This requires a new formulation of forecast based on an embedded subprocess of VAR, whose theoretical properties are often difficult to obtain. To avoid the issue of identifying the VAR subprocess, we propose a computation‐based approach so that sophisticated predictions can be made by utilizing a reduced variable information set estimated from sampled data. Such estimated information set allows us to develop a suitable statistical hypothesis testing procedure for characterizing all designated Granger causal relationships, as well as a useful graphical tool for presenting the causal structure over the prediction horizon. Finally, simulated data and a real example from the stock markets are used to illustrate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is the default approach to statistical analysis and reporting in marketing and the biomedical and social sciences more broadly. Despite its default role, NHST has long been criticized by both statisticians and applied researchers, including those within marketing. Therefore, the authors propose a major transition in statistical analysis and reporting. Specifically, they propose moving beyond binary: abandoning NHST as the default approach to statistical analysis and reporting. To facilitate this, they briefly review some of the principal problems associated with NHST. They next discuss some principles that they believe should underlie statistical analysis and reporting. They then use these principles to motivate some guidelines for statistical analysis and reporting. They next provide some examples that illustrate statistical analysis and reporting that adheres to their principles and guidelines. They conclude with a brief discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of multiple bivariate correlations is often carried out by conducting simple tests to check whether each of them is significantly different from zero. In addition, pairwise differences are often judged by eye or by comparing the p‐values of the individual tests of significance despite the existence of statistical tests for differences between correlations. This paper uses simulation methods to assess the accuracy (empirical Type I error rate), power, and robustness of 10 tests designed to check the significance of the difference between two dependent correlations with overlapping variables (i.e., the correlation between X1 and Y and the correlation between X2 and Y). Five of the tests turned out to be inadvisable because their empirical Type I error rates under normality differ greatly from the nominal alpha level of .05 either across the board or within certain sub‐ranges of the parameter space. The remaining five tests were acceptable and their merits were similar in terms of all comparison criteria, although none of them was robust across all forms of non‐normality explored in the study. Practical recommendations are given for the choice of a statistical test to compare dependent correlations with overlapping variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistical significance of a clinical trial analysis result is determined by a mathematical calculation and probability based on null hypothesis significance testing. However, statistical significance does not always align with meaningful clinical effects; thus, assigning clinical relevance to statistical significance is unreasonable. A statistical result incorporating a clinically meaningful difference is a better approach to present statistical significance. Thus, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID), which requires integrating minimum clinically relevant changes from the early stages of research design, has been introduced. As a follow-up to the previous statistical round article on P values, confidence intervals, and effect sizes, in this article, we present hands-on examples of MCID and various effect sizes and discuss the terms statistical significance and clinical relevance, including cautions regarding their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional networks often guide our interpretation of spatial maps of brain–phenotype associations. However, methods for assessing enrichment of associations within networks of interest have varied in terms of both scientific rigor and underlying assumptions. While some approaches have relied on subjective interpretations, others have made unrealistic assumptions about spatial properties of imaging data, leading to inflated false positive rates. We seek to address this gap in existing methodology by borrowing insight from a method widely used in genetics research for testing enrichment of associations between a set of genes and a phenotype of interest. We propose network enrichment significance testing (NEST), a flexible framework for testing the specificity of brain–phenotype associations to functional networks or other sub‐regions of the brain. We apply NEST to study enrichment of associations with structural and functional brain imaging data from a large‐scale neurodevelopmental cohort study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical toe position at minimum toe clearance (MTC) in the swing phase is critical for walking safety. Consequently, the joints involved should be strictly controlled and coordinated to stabilize the foot at MTC. The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis framework has been used to determine the existence of synergies that stabilize relevant performance variables during walking. However, no study investigated the presence of a multi-joint synergy stabilizing the foot position at MTC and the effects of age and walking speed on this synergy. Is there a multi-joint synergy stabilizing MTC during treadmill walking? Does it depend on the persons' age and walking speed? Kinematic data from 23 young and 15 older adults were analyzed using the UCM approach. The participants walked on a treadmill at three speeds: slow, self-selected, and fast. The sagittal and frontal joint angles from the swing and stance legs and pelvis obliquity were used as motor elements and the vertical toe position at MTC was the performance variable. The variances in the joint space that affected (V ORT , 'bad' variance) and did not affect (V UCM , 'good' variance) the toe position at MTC and the synergy index (ΔV) were computed. The ΔV >0 was revealed for all subjects. Walking speed did not affect ΔV in older adults, whereas ΔV reduced with speed in young adults. ΔV was higher for older than for young adults at self-selected and fast speeds, owing to a lower V ORT in the older group. The vertical toe position at MTC was stabilized by a strong multi-joint synergy. In older adults, this synergy was stronger, as they were better at limiting V ORT than young adults. Reduced V ORT in older adults could be caused by more constrained walking, which may be associated with anxiety due to walking on a treadmill. • A multi-joint synergy (ΔV Z) stabilizes the minimum toe clearance (MTC) in walking. • ΔV Z is higher and variances (V UCM and V ORT) are lower at MTC than in the first half of swing phase. • The ΔV Z and V ORT reduced in young but not in older adults when walking in fast speed. • Older adults showed higher ΔV Z and lower V ORT than young adults. • A reduced V ORT in older adults may be a compensatory strategy adopted to constraint the MTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the GI tract. SEER is an extensive cancer database which proves useful in analyzing population trends. This analysis investigated GIST outcomes between geriatric & non‐geriatric patients. Methods: SEER*STAT 8.4.0.1 was used to extract relevant GIST data from 2000 to 2019. Geriatric age was defined as ≥70 years. Variables included age, sex, surgery, cancer‐specific death, and overall survival. Statistical tests included univariate analysis using KM survival estimate (95% confidence interval) to calculate 5‐year survival (5YS). Log‐Rank tests determined statistical significance. Multivariable Cox's PH regression estimated the geriatric hazard death ratio adjusted for sex, stage, and surgery. Results: The number of patients included was 13,579, yielding overall 5YS of 68.6% (95% CI 67.7–69.5). Cancer‐specific death was 39.11% in 2000 & 3.33% in 2019. Non‐geriatric & geriatric patient data yielded 5YS of 77.4% (76.4%–78.3%) and 53.3% (51.7%–54.8%) respectively (p < 0.0001). For no surgery/surgery, younger patient data yielded 5YS of 48.7% (45.8%–51.4%) and 83.7% (82.7%–84.7%) respectively (p < 0.0001); geriatric data yielded 5YS of 29.3% (26.5%–32.1%) and 62.8% (60.8%–64.6%) respectively (p < 0.0001). Multivariable analysis yielded a geriatric hazard death of 2.56 (2.42–2.70) (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Cancer‐specific death decreased since 2000, indicating an improvement in survival & treatment methods. Observed lower survival rates overall in the geriatric group. Surgery appeared to enhance survival rates in both groups, suggesting that surgery is an important factor in GIST survival regardless of age. Large prospective studies will help define clinical management for geriatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediation analysis intends to unveil the underlying relationship between an outcome variable and an exposure variable through one or more intermediate variables called mediators. In recent decades, research on mediation analysis has been focusing on multivariate mediation models, where the number of mediating variables is possibly of high dimension. This paper concerns high‐dimensional mediation analysis and proposes a three‐step algorithm that extracts and utilizes inter‐connectivity among candidate mediators. More specifically, the proposed methodology starts with a screening procedure to reduce the dimensionality of the initial set of candidate mediators, followed by a penalized regression model that incorporates both parameter‐ and group‐wise regularization, and ends with fitting a multivariate mediation model and identifying active mediating variables through a joint significance test. To showcase the performance of the proposed algorithm, we conducted two simulation studies in high‐dimensional and ultra‐high‐dimensional settings, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate the practical applications of the proposal using a real data set that uncovers the possible impact of environmental toxicants on women's gestational age at delivery through 61 biomarkers that belong to 7 biological pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravity field of the Earth is time-dependent due to several types of mass variations which take place on different time scales. Usually, the time-variability of the gravitational potential of the Earth is expressed by the monthly determination of a static geopotential model based on data from gravity field missions. In this paper, the variability of the potential is parameterized by a functional approach which contains a polynomial trend and periodic contributions. The respective parameters are estimated based on the monthly solutions derived from the GRACE and GRACE-FO gravity field mission up to a maximum degree of expansion n max = 96 . As a preliminary data analysis, a Fourier analysis is performed on selected potential coefficients from the available monthly solutions of the GFZ. The indicated frequency components are then used to formulate a time-dependent analytical approach to describe each Stokes coefficient's temporal behaviour. Different approaches are presented that include both polynomial and periodic components. The respective parameters for modelling the temporal variability of the coefficients are estimated in a Gauss-Markov model and tested for significance by statistical methods. Extensive comparative numerical studies are carried out between the newly generated model variants and the existing monthly GRACE, GRACE-FO and the existing time dependent EIGEN-6S4 solutions. The numerical comparisons make it clear that estimated models based on all available monthly solutions describe the essential periods very well, but such monthly events that deviate strongly from the mean behaviour of the signal show less precision in the space domain. Models that are estimated based on fourteen consecutive monthly solutions, covering one selected year, represent the amplitudes much more precise. The statements made apply to four initial data used, which are filtered to varying degrees. In particular, DDK2, DDK5 and DDK8, as well as unfiltered coefficients were used. For all the model approaches used, it can be seen that the potential coefficients contain up to about n ≈ 40 in case of DDK5 periodically signals with annual, semi-annual or quarterly, as well as Luna nodal periods and do not vary significantly beyond that degree. Only an offset can be estimated significantly for all Stokes coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the problem of testing the equality of conditional distributions of a response variable given a vector of covariates between two populations. Such a hypothesis testing problem can be motivated from various machine learning and statistical inference scenarios, including transfer learning and causal predictive inference. We develop a nonparametric test procedure inspired from the conformal prediction framework. The construction of our test statistic combines recent developments in conformal prediction with a novel choice of conformity score, resulting in a weighted rank-sum test statistic that is valid and powerful under general settings. To our knowledge, this is the first successful attempt of using conformal prediction for testing statistical hypotheses beyond exchangeability. Our method is suitable for modern machine learning scenarios where the data has high dimensionality and large sample sizes, and can be effectively combined with existing classification algorithms to find good conformity score functions. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated in various numerical examples. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we consider the problem of hypothesis testing in high-dimensional single-index models. First, we study the feasibility of applying the classical F-test to a single-index model when the dimension of covariate vector and sample size are of the same order, and derive its asymptotic null distribution and asymptotic local power function. For the ultrahigh-dimensional single-index model, we construct F-statistics based on lower-dimensional random projections of the data, and establish the asymptotic null distribution and the asymptotic local power function of the proposed test statistics for the hypothesis testing of global and partial parameters. The new proposed test possesses the advantages of having a simple structure as well as being easy to compute. We compare the proposed test with other high-dimensional tests and provide sufficient conditions under which the proposed tests are more efficient. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the finite-sample performances of the proposed tests and demonstrate that it has higher power than some existing methods in the models we consider. The application of real high-dimensional gene expression data is also provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a nonparametric test procedure based on order statistics for testing the null hypothesis of equality of two continuous distributions. The exact null distribution of the proposed test statistic is obtained using an enumeration method and a novel combinatorial argument. A recurrence relation for the probability generating function and a sequential approach for computing the mean and variance of the distribution are given. Critical values and characteristics of the distribution for selected small sample sizes are presented. For the Lehmann alternative family, the exact power function of the new test is derived, and its power performance is examined. We also study the power performance of the proposed test under the location-shift and scale-shift alternatives using Monte Carlo simulations and observe its superior performance when compared to commonly used nonparametric tests under various scenarios. A generalization of the proposed procedure for unequal sample sizes is discussed. An illustrative example and some concluding remarks are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In genomic studies, univariate analysis is commonly used to discover susceptible variants. It applies univariate regression for each variant and tests the significance of the regression coefficient or slope parameter. This strategy, however, may miss signals that are jointly detectable with other variants. Multivariate analysis is another popular approach, which tests grouped variants with a predefined group, e.g., based on a gene, pathway, or physical location. However, the power will be diminished if the modeling assumption is not suited to the data. Therefore, data-adaptive testing that relies on fewer modeling assumptions is preferable. Possible approaches include a data-adaptive test proposed by Ueki (2021), which applies to various data-adaptive regression models using a generalization of Yanai's generalized coefficient of determination. While several regression models are possible choices for the data-adaptive test, this paper focuses on the fused lasso that can count for the effect of adjacent variants and investigates its performance through comparison with other existing tests. Simulation studies demonstrate that the test using fused lasso has a high power compared to the existing tests including the univariate regression test, saturated regression test, SKAT (sequence kernel association test), burden test, SKAT-O (optimized sequence kernel association test), and the tests using lasso, ridge, and elastic net when assuming a similar effect of adjacent variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Healthcare workforce diversity is essential for increasing access and reducing racial/ethnic health disparities. We examined the growth and trends in physician assistant/associate (PA) workforce demographic composition by initial year of certification. Methods: Drawing on data from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, we aggregated gender, age (1975-2020), race/ethnicity, and underrepresented in medicine (URiM) (2000-2020). Descriptive statistics of demographics were calculated by the initial certification year and assessed for trends using the Cochran-Armitage test. Results: Analyses revealed an 11.7% annual growth rate in PAs earning initial certification and a change in gender composition (23.9% to 74.2% female) from 1975 to 2020. Between 2000 and 2020, we observed significant increases (all p<0.001) in the proportions of PAs who self-identify as Asian (5.7 percentage points), Hispanic/Latino(a) (3.5 percentage points), and multiracial (2.4 percentage points). However, there was a decline (all p<0.001) in the proportions of PAs who self-identify as Black/African American (1.2 percentage points), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.1 percentage points), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (0.1 percentage points), and other race (1.1 percentage points). Trend analyses revealed that the proportion of PAs identifying as URiM decreased over the past 21 years. Conclusion: Ongoing assessment of the PA workforce demographics is essential to track the progress and effectiveness of diversification initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive advantage (CA) hypothesis claims that multilingualism promotes the development of several basic cognitive capacities. A large number of empirical findings support this hypothesis, but recently there have also been numerous contradictory findings and methodological objections. The present paper extends the investigation of possible cognitive advantages from basic cognitive (executive) functions to broader cognitive competencies such as cognitive flexibility. A promising candidate for this is 'flexibility of goal adjustment' (FGA), a capacity of developmental regulation that solves problems through flexible adaptation processes. In a study with N = 119 monolingual and multilingual adults we found the predicted positive correlation between multilingualism and FGA. However, the mediator function of executive capacities entailed in the CA hypothesis operationalised as Stroop and flanker tasks could not be demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to describe academic self-efficacy in students of technical-professional training at a university in the south of Chile. Numerous studies have established that, in order to have autonomous and self-regulated students, it is necessary for them to be academically self-efficient and the literature shows that the teacher with a self-efficient teaching identity promotes this type of competences in the students. The research is ascribed within the positivist paradigm, with a quantitative research approach that seeks objectivity, describing, explaining, proving and/or predicting phenomena, using data collection with the purpose of testing hypotheses through statistical analysis. The design is non-experimental, since it is carried out without manipulating the variables and the situations are not intentionally provoked. Additionally, it is of a cross-sectional nature, since the data are collected at a single moment of the research, to analyze the relationship at a given time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online business (e-business) since the begging of pandemic, specially s-commerce has skyrocketed. Trust is something that makes consumers decide to shop online, and their behavior vary depending on the territory and culture. This research explores student attitudes towards the barriers that they face when shopping online in Croatia. The aim is to explore if there is a relationship between trust barriers in online shopping and online purchase intention among students. Further, to analyze whether those attitudes significantly differ between man and woman students. Also, previous researches state that a credible source influences consumer trust therefore we investigate if there is a significant relation between a credible source and the trust barriers in online shopping. Students' perception about trust barriers in online shopping were surveyed with a questionnaire in which 243 respondents participated. For testing the hypothesis descriptive statistics, Independent sample ttest, and Pearson correlation were used. Based on the analyzed data, results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the online purchase intention and trust barriers. Further, findings indicate that there is statistically significant difference between man and woman attitudes regarding trust barriers in online shopping. Also, credible source (micro influencer/celebrity) plays a significant role in the perception of trust barrier related to the inability to judge product or service quality online among participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe physical functioning after severe COVID-19-infection. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was used. Thirty-nine participants performed tests and answered questionnaires measuring physical functioning six months after hospitalisation due to COVID-19. Thirty of these participants participated in semi-structured interviews with questions regarding how they perceived their physical functioning and recovery from COVID-19 at 12 months post-hospitalisation. At six months, physical functioning measured via chair stand test and hip-worn accelerometers was lower than normal reference values. There was a reduction in breathing muscle strength. Participants estimated their functional status during different activities as lower compared to those before COVID-19-infection, measured with a patient-specific functional scale. At one year after infection, there were descriptions of a rough recovery process and remaining symptoms. Patients recovering from severe COVID-19 seem to have reduced physical functioning and activity levels, and they perceive their recovery to be slow and difficult. They experienced a lack of clinical support and contradictory advice regarding rehabilitation. Coaching in returning to physical functioning after the infection needs to be better co-ordinated and there is a need for guidelines for health professionals to avoid patients receiving contradictory advice. Coronavirus infection disease-19 (COVID-19) can have a great impact on a person's physical functioning. In the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic there were not any clear guidelines regarding rehabilitation for this group of patients. As some people with COVID-19 may have impairments in their physical functioning up to one year after leaving hospital there is a need to provide rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the likelihood ratio test (LRT) statistics for different hypothesis tests. Assuming that a random sample is from a normal population, we make the sample size n and the dimension p close to infinity and satisfy p < n − c for some 1 ≤ c ≤ 4. Based on this assumption, the moderate deviation principle (MDP) for the LRT will be given under the null hypothesis. The corresponding numerical simulation results are shown at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romans 8:20-22 is the prooftext par excellence for the hypothesis that the natural world is fallen. The basis for that hypothesis is challenged as follows: "subjected to futility" refers principally to Gen 1:26-28, not Gen 3:17-18, and must be interpreted as such; "bondage to decay" is best understood through the OT's naturalistic view of environmental phenomena; "groaning in labor pains" is not a periphrasis for animal suffering, but a personification of the creation-sin antipathy. While Paul assumes that sin can have extrinsic effects on creation, Rom 8:20-22 does not imply that creation was vitiated intrinsically by the fall, and thus the passage is fully compatible with the notion that the natural world retains the full extent of its prelapsarian integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To longitudinally investigate speech production (consonant proficiency, consonant errors and perceived velopharyngeal competence) in 17 internationally adopted (IA) children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) at three time points. Consonant proficiency (percent consonants correct, consonant inventory) and number and type of consonant errors were calculated based on blind phonetic transcriptions of words from the Swedish Test of Articulation and Nasality (SVANTE). Velopharyngeal competence was perceptually rated by three blinded experienced speech-language pathologists at the ages of 3, 5 and 7–8 years. A significant positive development of speech production was found, although most children still scored very low for consonant proficiency at the age of 7–8 compared with normative values: the median for percent consonants correct was 79.7 and many children still had persisting cleft-related and developmental consonant errors. At the age of 7–8, almost half of the children were rated as having a competent velopharyngeal function and only three as having an incompetent velopharyngeal function. Persisting speech difficulties at school age in IA children with UCLP were found in the present study, which is one of the very few longitudinal studies. Our results highlight the need for detailed follow-up of speech production in clinical settings. Speech disorders may have a severe impact on a child's intelligibility and participation with peers, and there is a need for more studies investigating the actual everyday effect of the difficulties found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Return to work and permanence in employment of women who survive breast cancer are topics that become important as incidence and survival rates increase. Self-efficacy as a modifiable element is of special interest in this process. The objective of this study is to measure the level of self-efficacy in female breast cancer survivors, according to sociodemographic, work and treatment characteristics and their relationship with return to work. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, based on a survey of breast cancer patients about their demographic and work characteristics, the return to work process, permanence in the same job and the level of work self-efficacy. Differences in the level of self-efficacy with respect to characteristics were evaluated using bivariate analyses and hypothesis statistical testing. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: One hundred and twenty-four women were included, 87.9% had returned to work, the majority (56.4%) between one and six months after treatment, 67.7% remained in the same job. Higher levels of work self-efficacy were related to a higher probability of returning to work and staying there, and a shorter time to return to work; these differences were statistically significant. Conclusion: Occupational health and risk prevention services must consider and strengthen work self-efficacy and organizational support in breast cancer survivors to achieve a successful return to work [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of task-induced involvement and time on task on incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Utilizing a 3 (task-induced involvement) 3 2 (time on task) 3 2 (post-test time) research design, three taskinduced involvement conditions were employed based on the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH): reading and gap-fill task, reading and sentence-making task, and reading and translation task, with corresponding involvement load (IL) indices of 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Two time-on-task conditions were implemented: uncontrolled time on task, where participants in different groups completed tasks with varied durations, and controlled time on task, where participants in different groups completed tasks with roughly equal durations. Five intact classes comprising 256 Chinese middle school students participated and were randomly assigned to one of five designed tasks aimed at learning 10 carefully selected target words. The results of a three-way repeated measures ANOVA indicate a significant three-way interaction effect among task-induced involvement, time on task, and post-test time, as well as a significant two-way interaction effect between task-induced involvement and time on task. These findings demonstrate that task-induced involvement and time on task interact to significantly influence both initial acquisition and retention of incidental L2 vocabulary. Specifically, under uncontrolled time conditions, tasks with higher ILs and longer durations yield better initial vocabulary gains and retention, partially supporting the ILH. Conversely, under controlled time conditions, tasks with lower ILs exhibit superior initial vocabulary gains and retention, contradicting the predictions of the ILH. Relevant implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]