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In this study, we used GPS-TEC measurements from six stations in East Africa located in low/equatorial latitudes to investigate medium-term ionospheric response to solar and geomagnetic circumstances during 2014-2016. Daily mean solar proxies (F10.7 and SSN) and geomagnetic activity indices (Kp and Dst) were used to determine solar and geomagnetic activity effects on ionospheric vertical Total-Electron-Content (vTEC). We have applied statistical analysis and quadratic fits with solar indices to find the type of trends, forecast vTEC, and describe the daily fluctuations of vTEC. Asab and Debark had the highest vTEC values among the six stations during the months of equinoxes in which they are located at 13.06° and 13° geographic latitudes, respectively. The highest vTEC values were 86, 80, and 75 TECU in March, October, and April 2014, respectively; 72 TECU in March and April 2015, and 70 TECU in February 2015. Within 24 hours, the magnitudes of vTEC were greater in February, March, and April 2014, 2015, and 2016 than in the remaining months. The changes in vTEC have demonstrated good agreement with the trend of solar parameters, and F10.7 has a stronger correlation with vTEC than SSN by 20%. The effects of solar activity on GPS-vTEC were positive, whereas the vTEC was disturbed during the storm's main and recovery phases, which led to positive and negative ionospheric effects, respectively. We found both linear and non-linear trends. Nevertheless, when we approximated (F10.7)² and (SSN)² coefficients, linear trends in vTEC were dominant. The anticipated and observed vTEC measurements are in moderately good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research discusses the machine component distortion problem after the hardening process. This research focuses on the inside diameter of the hole and gap width dimension changes in components. Austenite temperature, quench medium, and material thickness were examined to determine their effect on distortion. The components are made of AISI 4140 machinery steel group. Another idea in this study is to substitute the material with AISI 4340 to minimize the risk of distortion. This study used a Navy C-Ring specimen. This study applies the Design of Experiment, followed by statistical analysis with ANOVA and Response Surface optimization. The austenite temperature of 895.2°C, oil quench medium, and 8 mm thickness are the best hardening parameters for AISI 4140, which reduce inside diameter distortion up to 82.51% and reduce gap width distortion up to 78.16%. Austenite temperature of 900°C, oil cooling medium, and 8 mm thickness is the best hardening parameter for AISI 4340, which reduces inside diameter distortion by up to 62.23% and reduces gap width distortion by up to 86.61%. Material substitution of AISI 4140 with AISI 4340 can be done by considering the risk of warping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST), especially day-night LST difference (LS T d − LS T n ) , is a key variable for the stability of terrestrial ecosystems, affected by vegetation and climate change. Quantifying the contribution and feedback of vegetation and climate to LST changes is critical to developing mitigation strategies. Based on LST, Normalized vegetation index (NDVI), land use (LU), air temperature (AT) and precipitation (Pre) from 2003 to 2021, partial correlation was used to analyze the response of LST to vegetation and climate. The feedback and contribution of both to LST were further quantified by using spatial linear relationships and partial derivatives analysis. The results showed that both interannual LST (LS T y ) and LS T d − LS T n responded negatively to vegetation, and vegetation had a negative feedback effect in areas with significantly altered. Vegetation was also a major contributor to the decline of LS T d − LS T n. With the advantage of positive partial correlation area of 94.99%, AT became the main driving factor and contributor to LS T y change trend. Pre contributed negatively to both LS T y and LS T d − LS T n , with contributions of −0.004 °C/y and −0.022 °C/y, respectively. AT played a decisive role in LST warming of YRB, which was partially mitigated by vegetation and Pre. The present research contributed to the detection of LST changes and improved understanding of the driving mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masters athletes are endowed with high functional capacity, long-term health, and psychological outlook. However, their sexual activity and function are largely unknown. We investigated the influence of sustained moderate to vigorous exercise on sexual life using a model of masters athletes. A 55-item survey adapted from previous American Association of Retired People (AARP) sexuality study were distributed to masters athletes associations. The responses from 166 masters athletes were compared with AARP dataset that represented a general population. Both male and female masters athletes demonstrated more frequent sexual desire and greater involvements in different types of sexual activities (i.e., kissing or hugging, touching or caressing, sexual intercourse, oral sex, and self-stimulation; all p < 0.05). Sexual satisfaction was greater in female masters athletes than in female general population (p = 0.025), but no such group difference was observed in men. Male athletes had a lower degree of erectile dysfunction. No difference was observed in orgasm frequency between the two population groups. Age-associated decline in sexual activity was apparent in general population (p < 0.05) but absent in masters athletes. Females recorded lower engagements in partner-involved sexual behaviors than men in the general population, but no such gender difference was observed in women. The primary factor predicting improvement in sexual satisfaction was "better health for myself" (29.7%) in the general population, whereas master athletes identified "better health for partner" (23.5%). Masters athletes in general and female athletes in particular demonstrate superior sexual function, satisfaction, and behavior presumably due to their better overall health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the problem of statistical analysis of interval-valued time series data – two nonintersecting real-valued functions, representing lower and upper limits, over a period of time. Specifically, we pay attention to the two concepts of phase (or horizontal) variability and amplitude (or vertical) variability, and propose a phase-amplitude separation method. We view interval-valued time series as elements of a function (Hilbert) space and impose a Riemannian structure on it. We separate phase and amplitude variability in observed interval functions using a metric-based alignment solution. The key idea is to map an interval to a point in R 2 , view interval-valued time series as parameterized curves in R 2 , and borrow ideas from elastic shape analysis of planar curves, including PCA, to perform registration, summarization, analysis, and modeling of multiple series. The proposed phase-amplitude separation provides a new way of PCA and modeling for interval-valued time series, and enables shape clustering of interval-valued time series. We apply this framework to three different applications, including finance, meteorology and physiology, proves the effectiveness of proposed methods, and discovers some underlying patterns in the data. Experimental results on simulated data show that our method applies to the point-valued time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, anaemia prevails as a public health issue, being also a concern in Mozambique, where about two-thirds of children 6–59 months of age are affected by this condition. We carried out this study to estimate anaemia prevalence and evaluate structural determinants and haematological parameters association among children aged 6–59 months attending pediatric inpatient and outpatient services in a Quaternary Health Facility in Maputo City Province, Mozambique. We collected data from 637 inpatients or outpatients who attended pediatric consultations at the Maputo Central Hospital. The overall rate of anaemia in children aged 6–59 months was 62.2% (396/637), with 30.9% moderate anaemia (197/637), 23.9% mild anaemia (152/637), and 7.4% severe anaemia (47/637). Among our study participants, critical factors for anaemia were those concerning the age group, child´s caregiver schooling, malaria and size of the liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevention capacity of local health organisations is associated with the performance and outcomes in public health. In Colombia, where cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, there is limited knowledge about the capacity of local health departments to prevent this condition. Efforts are needed to address problems, potential solutions and expected outcomes regarding cardiovascular disease. In this study, a conceptual model for cardiovascular disease prevention capacity in Colombian local health departments was developed, a questionnaire based on this model was validated, the overall cardiovascular disease prevention capacity in a subsample of these organisations was measured, and the association between cardiovascular disease prevention capacity and political, population, and organisational factors was examined. Once the acceptable performance of the questionnaire was verified, variability in cardiovascular prevention capacity was found among a subsample of local health departments. Furthermore, this study provides primary evidence regarding the association between the size of local health departments and overall cardiovascular disease prevention capacity in Colombia. Future studies should focus on measuring this capacity on a larger scale and developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at strengthening cardiovascular prevention capacity in Colombian local jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic has led to increased food insecurity levels. This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence and determinants of food insecurity during the two-month (1 April to 1 June 2022) city-wide lockdown in Shanghai. The data was collected via an online questionnaire from 3230 adult Shanghai residents during the lockdown. Food insecurity was measured using an adapted version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Nearly 70% of participants reported being exposed to food insecurity. Using multivariable logistic regressions, we examined the associations between key correlates (i.e. age, income, lockdown-related income loss, migration, employment status, social capital, preparedness, and received social support) and overall food insecurity while adjusting for ethnicity, gender, education, household size, and marital status. Results showed that compared to local Shanghai residents, migrants (i.e, permanent migrants with Hukou (OR = 2.16), permanent migrants without Hukou (OR = 2.06), temporary migrants (OR = 2.74)), and participants with less than or greather than 50% lockdown-related income loss (OR = 2.60, OR = 3.09), were associated with higher odds of overall food insecurity. Participants with greater preparedness (OR = 0.66), greater bonding social capital (OR = 0.93), and greater bridging social capital (OR = 0.94), had lower odds of overall food insecurity. Targeted interventions are needed to enhance food resilience and health equity among vulnerable populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has a historical gap regarding information on violence against women. Herein we aimed to evaluate the association of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics with physical violence against women in Brazil, as well as the possible escalation of violence to severe patterns of violence. We analysed data from the 3rd Brazilian Household Survey on Substance Use, in 2015. The main outcomes were reporting any physical violence and being stabbed/shot in the last 12-months. Logistic regressions were fitted to assess the association between socioeconomic and demographic variables with the outcomes. We estimated 3.8 million women reported any physical violence (5.52%): 3.79% reported threats to beat/ push/kick, 1.87% threats with knife/gun, 2.49% were beaten/pushed/kicked, 0.63% were spanked/ choked, and 0.21% were stabbed/shot. The higher the severity of violence, the higher the number of types of violence experienced. The likelihood of reporting any violence was higher among women 18–24 years, without a stable partner, who were at an informal job or unemployed, and who live in urban areas. The sociodemographic characteristics associated with reporting any violence reinforce the importance of addressing gender inequalities. Evidence of escalation violence reinforces the need to protect and care for women who report any type of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International evidence suggests migrants experience significant cancer inequities. In Australia, there is limited information assessing equity for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) migrant populations, particularly in cancer prevention. Cancer inequities are often explained by individualistic, behavioural risk factors; however, scarce research has quantified or compared engagement with cancer prevention strategies. A retrospective cohort study was conducted utilising the electronic medical records at a major, quaternary hospital. Individuals were screened for inclusion in the CALD migrant or Australian born cohort. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to compare the cohorts. 523 individuals were followed (22% were CALD migrants and 78% Australian born). Results displayed that CALD migrants made up a larger proportion of infection-related cancers. Compared to Australian born, CALD migrants had lower odds of having a smoking history (OR = 0.63, CI 0.401–0.972); higher odds of 'never drinking' (OR = 3.4, CI 1.473–7.905); and lower odds of having breast cancers detected via screening (OR = 6.493, CI 2.429–17.359). Findings affirm CALD migrants' low participation in screening services but refute the assertion that CALD migrants are less engaged in positive health practices, enabling cancer prevention. Future research should examine social, environmental, and institutional processes and move beyond individualistic, behavioural explanations for cancer inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sexual and romantic satisfaction are important aspects of sexual health and wellbeing, but they have not been thoroughly investigated among transgender and gender diverse ('trans') people in Australia. Aims: To address this gap and improve sexual health and wellbeing, we assessed the sexual behavior and relationships of a national sample of trans people in Australia, and factors associated with sexual and romantic satisfaction. Methods: We conducted a national survey of trans people from Australia in October-November 2018. Results: The sample included 1,613 trans participants, of whom 353 (21.9%) were men, 397 (24.6%) were women and 863 (53.5%) were non-binary. Over 70% of the sample had been sexually active in the previous year, and 56.9% were in a relationship, but only 32.4% were satisfied with the sexual aspects and 47.1% with the romantic aspects of their lives. Sexual satisfaction was associated with younger age, being asexual, having more trans friends, more frequent sex, and using illicit drugs in the context of sexual activity. Anxiety or fear about sex was associated with less sexual satisfaction, as was being in an open relationship. Romantic satisfaction was associated with younger age, having non-binary partners, and being in a current relationship (particularly a monogamous one). Recent distress, anxiety, or fear about sex were associated with less romantic satisfaction. Conclusion: Participants reported a broad range of sexual relationships, but low levels of satisfaction with the sexual and romantic aspects of their lives. The findings underscore the importance of supportive partners, access to social support and peer networks of trans people, as well as access to mental health support and sex-positive, trans affirming counseling in sexual health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The voice signals a tremendous amount of gender cues. Transfeminine individuals report debilitating quality-of-life deficits as a result of their vocal gender dysphoria.Aims: We aimed to quantify the potential impact of this dysphoria experienced with quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), as well as associated treatments, through validated health utility measures. Methods: Peri-operative phonometric audio recordings of a consented transfeminine patient volunteer with a history of vocal gender dysphoria aided in the description of two transfeminine health states, pre- and post-vocal feminization gender dysphoria; monocular and binocular blindness were health state controls. Survey responses from general population adults rate these four health states via visual analogue scale (VAS), standard gamble (SG), and time tradeoff (TTO). Results: Survey respondents totaled 206 with a mean age of 35.8 years. Through VAS measures, these general adult respondents on average perceived a year of life with transfeminine vocal gender dysphoria as approximately three-quarters of a life-year of perfect health. Respondents also on average would have risked a 15%–20% chance of death on SG analysis and would have sacrificed 10 years of their remaining life on TTO measures to cure the condition. The QALY scores for the post-gender affirming treatments for vocal gender dysphoria (+0.09 VAS, p < 0.01) were significantly higher compared to the pretreatment state. There were no differences in the severity of these QALY scores by survey respondent's political affiliation or gender identity. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify how the general population perceives the health burden of vocal gender dysphoria experienced by transfeminine patients. Feminization treatments including voice therapy with feminization laryngoplasty appear to significantly increase health utility scores. [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]

There is evidence that childhood adversity is correlated with poor health outcomes across the lifespan. Resilience results when internal and external protective factors in childhood mitigate this relationship. However, among children on the autism spectrum, these relationships are understudied, and little is known about the characteristics and role of adversity and resilience in their in their lives. This study interprets these phenomena as experienced by autistic young adults. Initially, we conducted community engagement with five members of the autism community who advised on the research question, research design, and analysis. Subsequently, four autistic young adults, three women and one non-binary, aged 19–27, were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews via phone, video conference, and online chat. Credibility checking interviews followed data analysis. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis we identified themes related to the negative effects of adversity, including social disconnection, mental and emotional well-being, sense of self, and development into young adulthood. Resilience developed in places of refuge and identity and was evident in their transitions into young adulthood. These findings provide direction for decreasing adversity and fostering resilience in children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that the scores of the Keele STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) and the short form of Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI-9) are associated with Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with low back pain (LBP). However, it is unclear which screening tool is more associated with HRQoL in patients with LBP. To identify which SBST and CSI-9 are more related to HRQoL and investigate the association between SBST and CSI-9 scores. Cross-sectional study. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with the HRQoL using age, pain intensity, disability, SBST score, and CSI-9 score as independent variables. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was also conducted to determine the association between SBST and CSI-9 score. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score (p < 0.01, β = −0.62, VIF = 1.70) and SBST score (p < 0.01, β = −0.32, VIF = 1.86) were significant associated variables. A significant association was found between SBST and CSI-9 scores (p < 0.01, ρ = 0.47). The results showed that in patients with LBP the association of HRQoL with SBST was more substantial than with CSI-9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern scientific studies often collect datasets in the form of tensors. These datasets call for innovative statistical analysis methods. In particular, there is a pressing need for tensor clustering methods to understand the heterogeneity in the data. We propose a tensor normal mixture model approach to enable probabilistic interpretation and computational tractability. Our statistical model leverages the tensor covariance structure to reduce the number of parameters for parsimonious modeling, and at the same time explicitly exploits the correlations for better variable selection and clustering. We propose a doubly enhanced expectation–maximization (DEEM) algorithm to perform clustering under this model. Both the expectation-step and the maximization-step are carefully tailored for tensor data in order to maximize statistical accuracy and minimize computational costs in high dimensions. Theoretical studies confirm that DEEM achieves consistent clustering even when the dimension of each mode of the tensors grows at an exponential rate of the sample size. Numerical studies demonstrate favorable performance of DEEM in comparison to existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting risks of chronic diseases has become increasingly important in clinical practice. When a prediction model is developed in a cohort, there is a great interest to apply the model to other cohorts. Due to potential discrepancy in baseline disease incidences between different cohorts and shifts in patient composition, the risk predicted by the model built in the source cohort often under- or over-estimates the risk in a new cohort. In this article, we assume the relative risks of predictors are the same between the two cohorts, and propose a novel weighted estimating equation approach to recalibrating the projected risk for the targeted population through updating the baseline risk. The recalibration leverages the knowledge about survival probabilities for the disease of interest and competing events, and summary information of risk factors from the target population. We establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators. Extensive simulation demonstrate that the proposed estimators are robust, even if the risk factor distributions differ between the source and target populations, and gain efficiency if they are the same, as long as the information from the target is precise. The method is illustrated with a recalibration of colorectal cancer prediction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wald test remains ubiquitous in statistical practice despite shortcomings such as its inaccuracy in small samples and lack of invariance under reparameterization. This article develops on another but lesser-known shortcoming called the Hauck–Donner effect (HDE) whereby a Wald test statistic is no longer monotone increasing as a function of increasing distance between the parameter estimate and the null value. Resulting in an upward biased p-value and loss of power, the aberration can lead to very damaging consequences such as in variable selection. The HDE afflicts many types of regression models and corresponds to estimates near the boundary of the parameter space. This article presents several new results, and its main contributions are to (i) propose a very general test for detecting the HDE in the class of vector generalized linear models (VGLMs), regardless of the underlying cause; (ii) fundamentally characterize the HDE by pairwise ratios of Wald and Rao score and likelihood ratio test statistics for 1-parameter distributions with large samples; (iii) show that the parameter space may be partitioned into an interior encased by at least 5 HDE severity measures (faint, weak, moderate, strong, extreme); (iv) prove that a necessary condition for the HDE in a 2 by 2 table is a log odds ratio of at least 2; (v) give some practical guidelines about HDE-free hypothesis testing. Overall, practical post-fit tests can now be conducted potentially to any model estimated by iteratively reweighted least squares, especially the GLM and VGLM classes, the latter which encompasses many popular regression models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to develop infrared (IR) thermogram identification technologies to establish automatic diagnosis systems in power substations. The convolutional neural network (CNN) based methods show the highest accuracy in this field. The IR thermograms of electrical equipment are very different from general digital images, which means the present methods need further improvements. For data-driven CNN methods, it is necessary to study the characteristics of the IR data. This paper collected 11817 thermograms from substations and structured the dataset according to equipment types. The statistical features of mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis and contrast are analyzed and compared with other five image datasets. Several tricks are revealed from the analysis and tested on CNN models. Firstly, greycaling the Iron pseudo-color images extracts the temperature information and makes it possible to design models with fewer channels. The test shows it could reduce over 35% computational costs. Secondly, the sparse information of color and edges of thermograms makes it necessary to keep the original aspect ratio. The image preprocessing method of cropping shows better performance than padding and rescaling. Thirdly, the 0-1 normalization can boost the training process for about 100 epochs, which is related to the particular background of thermograms. [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]

Contact tracing is an important intervention measure to control infectious diseases. We present a new approach that borrows the edge dynamics idea from network models to track contacts included in a compartmental SIR model for an epidemic spreading in a randomly mixed population. Unlike network models, our approach does not require statistical information of the contact network, data that are usually not readily available. The model resulting from this new approach allows us to study the effect of contact tracing and isolation of diagnosed patients on the control reproduction number and number of infected individuals. We estimate the effects of tracing coverage and capacity on the effectiveness of contact tracing. Our approach can be extended to more realistic models that incorporate latent and asymptomatic compartments. [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]

To investigate interrater and intrarater agreement between physicians and medical students on heart sound classification from audio recordings, and factors predicting agreement with a reference classification. Intra- and interrater agreement study. Seventeen GPs and eight cardiologists from Norway and the Netherlands, eight medical students from Norway. Proportion of agreement and kappa coefficients for intrarater agreement and agreement with a reference classification. The proportion of intrarater agreement on the presence of any murmur was 83% on average, with a median kappa of 0.64 (range k = 0.09–0.86) for all raters, and 0.65, 0.69, and 0.61 for GPs, cardiologist, and medical students, respectively. The proportion of agreement with the reference on any murmur was 81% on average, with a median kappa of 0.67 (range 0.29–0.90) for all raters, and 0.65, 0.69, and 0.51 for GPs, cardiologists, and medical students, respectively. Distinct murmur, more than five years of clinical practice, and cardiology specialty were most strongly associated with the agreement, with ORs of 2.41 (95% CI 1.63–3.58), 2.19 (1.58–3.04), and 2.53 (1.46–4.41), respectively. We observed fair but variable agreement with a reference on heart murmurs, and physician experience and specialty, as well as murmur intensity, were the factors most strongly associated with agreement. Heart auscultation is the main physical examination of the heart, but we lack knowledge of inter- and intrarater agreement on heart sounds. • Physicians identified heart murmurs from heart sound recordings fairly reliably compared with a reference classification, and with fair intrarater agreement. • Both intrarater agreement and agreement with the reference showed considerable variation between doctors • Murmur intensity, more than five years in clinical practice, and cardiology specialty were most strongly linked to agreement with the reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student service members/veterans (SSM/V) are distinct from non-veteran students in a variety of ways, including in their cannabis use patterns and potentially their motives for cannabis use. Additionally, previous research has shown that men and women endorse different motives for their cannabis use. The present study was designed to assess whether a popular measure of cannabis use motives is invariant across veteran status and gender identity. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that cannabis motives would show invariance across SSM/V men, SSM/V women, non-veteran men, and non-veteran women (n = 1,011, SSM/V = 553) among those who indicated using cannabis at least once in their lifetime. Results from the four-group invariance testing procedure revealed metric invariance. This suggests that while the factor structure and factor loadings are invariant, there are differences at the intercept level for cannabis motives across groups. The same items load onto the same latent constructs and the strength of the items loading onto the latent factors was also the same across groups. The demonstrated invariance has implications for use in SSM/V and non-veteran clients. As this scale is brief, it could easily be used as a screening tool or used to guide intervention content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To use ultrasound (US) imaging to determine the validity and reliability of needle placement of two dry needling (DN) protocols for the lumbar multifidus (LM) in individuals with a high body mass index (BMI). Twenty-one participants with a BMI higher than 25 kg/m2 completed the study. A US scanner was used to determine the location of needle placement after a 100 mm long needle was inserted in the LM at L4 and L5 following two DN protocols for the deep LM muscle. US images were saved and viewed 6 months later to determine the intra-tester reliability. The probability of reaching the deep LM muscle was high (85–95%) at L4 and L5. Although the needle reached a bony landmark 85–100% of the time, it only reached the vertebra lamina as intended 70–75% of the time. The intra-tester reliability of needle placements based on analysis of real-time and recorded US images was poor-to-moderate. Although the bony drop may not indicate that the needle has reached the vertebra lamina as the protocol intended, reaching a bony drop is still meaningful as it coincided with reaching the LM in the majority of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Research suggests social support may protect sexual minorities from the harmful effects of victimization that undermine mental and sexual health wellness; however, this relationship has been underexplored among a diverse youth population. We examined the association between lifetime homonegative victimization, perceived stress in the last month, and resilience factors among a diverse sample of adolescent sexual minority males. Methods: Data were collected between June 2018 and April 2020 as part of the MyPEEPS Mobile study, a multi-site randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a mobile behavioral HIV prevention intervention for adolescents living in the U.S. We analyzed baseline survey data from 542 sexual minority males, aged 13–18 years. We used bivariate analyses to examine relationships among variables and multivariable linear regression models to determine if resilience factors attenuated the association between homonegative victimization and perceived stress. Results: Perceived stress was positively associated with younger age, internalized homophobia, experiencing verbal victimization, threats of being outed, and threats of physical violence. Relying on online friends for support and having good family relations both attenuated the relationship between verbal victimization and perceived stress. However, neither of these resilience factors significantly weakened the associations between perceived stress, threats of physical violence, and being outed. Conclusion: Resilience factors, including peer and family support, may play an attenuating role in the relationship between homonegative victimization and perceived stress among adolescent sexual minority males. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03167606 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) individuals do not identify with a binary gender identity. Some but not all NBGQ individuals identify as transgender, and it is currently unclear on which aspects of mental and sexual well-being NBGQ and binary transgender individuals may differ. To compare NBGQ, binary transgender and cisgender individuals on variables related to mental well-being, sexual well-being, and sexual self-concept discrepancies. We conducted an online questionnaire study in 125 transgender men, 72 transgender women, 78 NBGQ individuals, 98 cisgender men, and 107 cisgender women. For most variables, NBGQ individuals did not differ from binary transgender individuals. These two groups differed only on gender dysphoria and transgender specific body image worries, which were both lower in the NBGQ group. Compared to the cisgender group, NBGQ individuals scored higher on gender dysphoria, actual/ought sexual self-concept discrepancies, and actual/ideal sexual self-concept discrepancies, and lower on general life satisfaction and sexual esteem related to body perception. These results offer a first quantitative analysis of sexual well-being in NBGQ individuals, and highlight that – while both groups face unique challenges – NBGQ individuals encounter similar difficulties concerning mental and sexual well-being as binary transgender individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education regularly publishes interviews with notable statistics and data science educators. These interviews aim to provide insight into the development of statistics and data science education, offer a historical perspective, and humanize the field through personal anecdotes. Allan Rossman has been conducting these interviews since 2011, profiling a diverse range of individuals who have made significant contributions to the field. Taylor & Francis has made the complete set of interviews easily accessible through centralized lists. The current issue of the journal features papers on various topics, including the role of eugenics in the development of statistics and strategies for addressing this history in the classroom. [Extracted from the article]

The state of Paraná is one of the largest corn producers in Brazil, cultivating in two growing seasons. This study evaluated bivariate correlations between precipitation and the second-crop corn yield between the first 10 days of April and the first 10 days of October using spatial statistics. The spatial analysis of yield was evaluated using geostatistical models and validated by cross-validation. Spatial analysis was performed using the local indicator of spatial association and a cross-semivariogram, and the co-dispersion coefficient was used to validate the correlation between variables. Cross-validation identified the exponential model as the best fit, indicating a spatial dependence of 317.26 km. Spatial associations between municipalities were significant throughout the state of Paraná, Brazil. The cross-semivariogram allowed fitting the wave, spherical, Gaussian, and exponential models, with a spatial correlation of 37.04 to 570.38 km between the precipitations and yield. Moreover, the co-dispersion coefficient validated the correlation between the two variables for all 10-day periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional flood frequency analyses are highly affected by the number of gauged catchments and lengths of observation periods at the individual gauges. Therefore, information is unevenly distributed in the region of interest. In particular, the occurrence of single extreme floods that are observed or not observed at some gauges, depending on the observation period, may have a large impact on the regionalization. We evaluated the impact of the sample length on the regionalization of a type-specific statistical mixture-model. In a case study it is shown how the regionalization error can be reduced by more than 50% if the sample sizes increase. We compare three approaches to handling this stochastic uncertainty in regionalization. The alignment of the statistical distribution parameters to consider the impact of extreme floods proved to be most beneficial when aiming to obtain homogeneous regionalized flood quantiles for hydrologically similar regions in a region with heterogeneous observation periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential and geometric distribution are well-known continuous and discrete family of distributions with the memoryless property, respectively. The memoryless property is emphasized in introductory probability and statistics textbooks even though no distribution beyond these two families of distributions has been explored in detail. By examining the relationship between these two families of distributions, we propose a general algorithm for generating distributions with the memoryless property. Then, we show that the general algorithm uniquely determines the distribution with the memoryless property given the parameter value, and nonnegative support which contains zero and is closed under addition. Furthermore, we present a few nontrivial examples and their applications to demonstrate the richness of such distributions. [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]

In the literature of distribution theory, a vast proportion is acquired by discrete distributions and their applications in real-world phenomena. However, in a rapidly changing technological era, the data generated is becoming increasingly complex day by day, making it difficult for us to capture various aspects of this real data through existing discrete models. In view of this, we propose a new flexible discrete distribution with one parameter. Some statistical and reliability are derived. These properties can be expressed as closed-forms. One of the important virtues of this newly evolved model is that it can model not only over-dispersed, positively skewed and leptokurtic data sets, but it can also be utilized for modeling increasing, decreasing and unimodal failure rate. Various estimation approaches are utilized to estimate the model parameter. A simulation study is carried out to examine the performance of the estimators for different sample size. The flexibility of the new model for analyzing different types of data is explained by utilizing four real data sets in different fields. Finally, the proposed model can serve as an alternative model to other distributions in the existing literature for modeling positive real data in several areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One fundamental statistical question for research areas such as precision medicine and health disparity is about discovering effect modification of treatment or exposure by observed covariates. We propose a semiparametric framework for identifying such effect modification. Instead of using the traditional outcome models, we directly posit semiparametric models on contrasts, or expected differences of the outcome under different treatment choices or exposures. Through semiparametric estimation theory, all valid estimating equations, including the efficient scores, are derived. Besides doubly robust loss functions, our approach also enables dimension reduction in presence of many covariates. The asymptotic and non-asymptotic properties of the proposed methods are explored via a unified statistical and algorithmic analysis. Comparison with existing methods in both simulation and real data analysis demonstrates the superiority of our estimators especially for an efficiency improved version. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Statistics Practicum course is offered as another option besides an internship or research experience for students to fulfill a required statistics major capstone experience. This article discusses the first and fourth offering of this practicum course, which provides a unique perspective on the initial implementation of the course and its development over time. The course offers students opportunities to carry out statistical consulting projects with external clients. Students were given multiple reflection assignments throughout the course. Challenges of the projects were discussed in the reflections, which included issues of data cleaning and analysis. Students also responded to both Likert-scale and open-ended questions on an end of semester survey. These responses provided information on sentiment regarding the consulting projects and perceived usefulness of various components of the Statistics Practicum course. Both student reflection assignments and survey responses were analyzed in this study. Explanations of the thought processes that went into setting up and running the course are included. Advice and suggestions for course improvements and successful administration are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical literacy is key in this heavily polarized information age for an informed and critical citizenry to make sense of arguments in the media and society. The responsibility of developing statistical literacy is often left to the K-12 mathematics curriculum. In this article, we discuss our investigation of K-8 students' current opportunities to learn statistics created by state mathematics standards. We analyze the standards for alignment to the Guidelines for the Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE II) PreK-12 report and summarize the conceptual themes that emerged. We found that while states provide K-8 students opportunities to analyze and interpret data, they do not offer many opportunities for students to engage in formulating questions and collecting/considering data. We discuss the implications of the findings for policy makers and researchers and provide recommendations for policy makers and standards writers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely used Draw a Scientist Test was revised to focus on statistics and 110 Elementary Statistics students were asked to draw a statistician. In addition, to better understand students' drawings and have some relative comparison, 173 College Algebra students were asked to draw a mathematician. A detailed analysis of students' images and students' demographic information was conducted using descriptive statistics, categorical data analysis, logistic regressions, and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results showed that students tend to perceive statisticians and mathematicians as primarily White and male. However, female students were more likely than male students to draw a female statistician and mathematician. Two themed clusters emerged from the hierarchical cluster analysis for both the math and statistics students. We discuss the implications of the results for teaching and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case Series Syndesmotic ankle sprains can occur in up to 17% of ankle trauma and can lead to long-term disability. This study describes the management of seven patients with subacute, high-grade ankle sprains with concerns of concurrent syndesmotic strain utilizing manual therapy and rigid sports taping. Seven active duty military members with clinically diagnosed, high-grade ankle sprains and concern for syndesmotic sprain participated in this case series. All patients received multi-modal treatment consisting of manual therapy, rigid sports taping, progressive exercises, and proprioceptive training. Decrease in Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) following manual therapy and taping treatment, number of sessions before discharge, and the Global Rating of Change (GROC) at discharge were retrospectively reviewed. All patients demonstrated an immediate decrease in NPRS following treatment on average of 5 points (range, 3–8 points) with a functional asterisk sign. The improvement in pain and function was maintained until the next treatment session with a mean GROC score of +3. The mean time until recovery was 5.4 weeks (range, 1–8 weeks). A multimodal approach for patients diagnosed clinically with high-grade ankle sprains and concern for syndesmotic sprain was useful to immediately reduce pain and improve function, and improvements were maintained throughout the duration of care. This study is the first to assess a combination of manual therapy and rigid sports taping for the treatment of suspected syndesmotic ankle sprains, and more stringent research is needed to validate the findings. Therapy, 4 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine if thoracic spine manipulation (TSM) improves pain and disability in individuals with cervicogenic headache (CeH). A randomized controlled crossover trial was conducted on 48 participants (mean age: 34.4 years) with CeH symptoms. Participants were randomized to 6 sessions of TSM or no treatment (Hold) and after 4-weeks, groups crossed over. Outcomes were collected at 4, 8 and 12 weeks and included: headache disability inventory (HDI), neck disability index (NDI), and the global rating of change (GRC). Outcomes were analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model with Bonferroni correction. Odds of achieving the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) on the GRC of +4 or greater were also calculated. Scores at 4 weeks represent the only timepoint where 1 group is fully treated and other group has not received any treatment. Comparing hold to active treatment, HDI were not significantly different between groups (mean difference = 7.39, 95 CI: −4.39 to 19.18; P = 0.214) at any timepoint; the NDI was significant (mean difference = 6.90, 95 CI: 0.05 to 13.75; P = 0.048) at 4 weeks. Odds of achieving the +4 MCID on the GRC (OR = 38.0, 95 CI: 6.6 to 220.0; p < 0.001) favored TSM at 4 weeks. TSM had no effect on headache-related disability but resulted in significant improvements in neck-related disability and participant reported perceived improvement. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term impact of TSM in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transgender women of Color experience disproportionate rates of HIV, depression, and anxiety, and high rates of substance use, attempted suicide, and interpersonal verbal, physical, and sexual violence and assault. However, there are few interventions targeting transgender women of Color that address overlapping health and mental health challenges. Aims: There are two aims/research questions: (1) what are the elements of a transgendercentric model for delivering evidence based interventions and practices?, and (2) does Seeking Safety improve substance use and mental health outcomes for transgender women of Color?. Methods: We present a case study of the delivery process of Seeking Safety by Special Service for Groups/Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (SSG/APAIT), and analyze baseline and three month post program participant data (n = 81). Results: The transgender-centric model of intervention delivery consisted of multiple steps, also integrating the structural disadvantages experienced by transgender women of Color. Comparing baseline and three months after completion showed significant decrease in reported alcohol use, depression, and severe anxiety. Discussion: Transgender-centric approaches may lead to programs that significantly improve co-occurring substance use and mental health for transgender women of Color. We recommend that organizations aiming to existing programs include feedback from members of the communities that the adapted programs aim to help, and in addition, train community members to deliver the programs. The statistical results indicate that Seeking Safety, a trauma-based program with a short program delivery timeline, may show longer term effects on substance use and mental health. We recommend that programs targeting substance use and mental health for transgender women of Color should be combined with services that address disadvantage (i.e., lack of access to housing, income/employment, health care). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior research suggests transgender individuals with multiple minority statuses experience higher psychological stress compared to their singly disadvantaged counterparts, and both Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and transgender minorities experience more frequent and severe forms of discrimination than White and cisgender individuals. Aims: This study aims to examine racial/ethnic differences in gender-related discrimination and psychological distress within a sample of transgender individuals. Methods: Using data from a convenience sample of 99 self-identified transgender adults recruited through North American LGBTQ organizations, data were analyzed to determine the relationship between race/ethnicity, gender minority stress, and psychological distress. Results: When White and BIPOC participants are compared, no significant group differences were found in levels of gender discrimination or victimization. However, some individual racial/ethnic groups reported significantly higher or lower scores and results indicate that changes in reported gender minority stress are in fact positively correlated with reported psychological distress. Conclusion: This research highlights that BIPOC are a heterogeneous group; by solely examining race/ethnicity as a binary variable, studies mask potential important differences among different groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study profiled mothers whose children were admitted to hospital for malnutrition in a rural hospital in the North West province. A quantitative and cross-sectional design, using a researcher-developed questionnaire, was used to collect data from 94 mother and child pairs who were admitted to hospital for malnutrition. Stata statistical software was used to analyse the data. The ages of the mothers ranged from 17 to 48 years. Most (83%) lived in dwellings that had electricity, and 92% had running water in their households. Some 83% were not married and 97% were unemployed. Mothers between the ages of 21 and 25 years had the highest number of children with malnutrition (37%, n = 34), followed by mothers between the ages of 26 and 30 years (28%, n = 26). Severe acute malnutrition was experienced by children whose mothers were comparatively young (age group 16–20), accounting for 44.4% of malnourished children. The association between category of malnutrition and maternal age was not statistically significant. Although malnutrition of the children cuts across all maternal age groups, severe acute malnutrition tends to occur among children whose mothers are either young or relatively older, which suggests a need for specific community-based interventions among these groups of mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the production of knowledge about sexual violence in the postcolonial warscape of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with a particular eye on the politics of statistics. Over the last decade, 'hard numbers' have become central to 'knowing' sexual violence in conflict, including in DRC. Statistics depicting the exceptional scale of sexual violence in DRC were core to its making as the 'rape capital of the world'. Given the challenges of quantifying this sensitive issue, sexual violence statistics are nevertheless imbued with striking, if misleading, reliability. In this piece, I explore how sexual violence statistics in DRC are produced and consider what they can and cannot convey. Subsequently placing DRC in historical context, I highlight eerie resonances of this contemporary emphasis on sexual violence with the country's colonial past. Doing so, I join postcolonial scholars in calling attention to colonial durabilities that shape the knowledges that are not only accepted, but perhaps expected, in a region long cast under a deeply and intimately sexuo-racialised gaze. Notably, this gaze is one that depicts the 'Congolese woman' as always-already a victim, and the 'Congolese man' as always-already defined by presumed 'perpetratorhood'. Affirming the importance of such analytical vigilance vis-à-vis sexual violence statistics in particular, this article concludes by calling for concurrent authorial vigilance on the part of critical scholars. Indeed, we must ensure that efforts to complicate dominant narratives of sexual violence in DRC do not undermine, silence, or deny the experiential realities encoded in the knowledges we critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lee–Carter model is a well-known model in modeling mortality. We aim to compare three probability models (Poisson, negative binomial and binomial) based on the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) framework of the Lee–Carter model. These models are applied to mortality data for 10 selected countries (Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands and Bulgaria) and the fit of these models is assessed using the deviance statistics and standardized residuals against fitted value plot. Among these three models, the negative binomial Lee–Carter model gave the best fit based on the deviance statistics and estimates of the log of deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cash statistic, also known as the C statistic, is commonly used for the analysis of low-count Poisson data, including data with null counts for certain values of the independent variable. The use of this statistic is especially attractive for low-count data that cannot be combined, or re-binned, without loss of resolution. This paper presents a new maximum-likelihood solution for the best-fit parameters of a linear model using the Poisson-based Cash statistic. The solution presented in this paper provides a new and simple method to measure the best-fit parameters of a linear model for any Poisson-based data, including data with null counts. In particular, the method enforces the requirement that the best-fit linear model be non-negative throughout the support of the independent variable. The method is summarized in a simple algorithm to fit Poisson counting data of any size and counting rate with a linear model, by-passing entirely the use of the traditional χ 2 statistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scapular dyskinesis (SD) is a dysfunction associated with shoulder pathologies in overhead athletes and its classification is highly complex, especially in entry-level physical therapy students. This research aimed to determine the effect of a video training method on inter-rater reliability of physical therapy entry-level students with no clinical experience while performing SD ratings under 4-type, severity, and 'yes or no' criteria in overhead athletes. A total of 49 overhead athletes were evaluated by video recordings in posterior view of lifting tasks. Two entry-level students without clinical experience performed SD classifications according to previously mentioned criteria on both scapula in two separate sessions, with 1 week of difference. Data analysis was conducted based on the kappa coefficient (k) and its confidence intervals (CI). The 'yes or no' criteria present better results than the 4-type and severity criteria. In addition, a better inter-rater agreement is evidenced in the second measurement compared to the first one. Furthermore, the k coefficients reach values like those achieved by experienced evaluators. Video training settings for scapular dyskinesis rating in entry-level physical therapist students with no clinical experience allows better inter-rater reliability values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For students of probability and statistics, the Cantor distribution provides a useful example of a continuous probability distribution on the real line which cannot be obtained by integrating its derivative or indeed any density function. While usually treated as an advanced topic, we show that the basic facts about the Cantor distribution can be rigorously derived from a sequence of uniform distributions using simple geometry and recursion, together with one basic result from advanced calculus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although evidence indicates that task-shared psychological interventions can reduce mental health treatment gaps in resource-constrained settings, systemic barriers have limited their widespread implementation. Evidence on how to sustain and scale such approaches is scant. This study responds to this gap by examining the experiences of South African health managers involved in the implementation of a task-shared counselling service for Project MIND. To qualitatively describe managers' experiences of implementing the MIND programme and their insights into potential strategies for supporting sustained implementation. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) and eight in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with managers of urban and rural primary care facilities in the Western Cape province. All managers were female and 30–50 years old. FGDs and IDIs used an identical semi-structured topic guide to explore the experiences of the MIND programme and perceived barriers to sustained implementation. Normalisation process theory (NPT) guided the thematic analysis. Four themes emerged that mapped onto the NPT constructs. First, managers noted that their relational work with staff to promote support for the intervention and reduce resistance was key to facilitating implementation. Second, managers emphasised the need for staff reorientation and upskilling to foster openness to mental health practice and for adequate time for quality counselling. Third, managers underscored the importance of strengthening linkages between the health and social service sectors to facilitate delivery of comprehensive mental health services. Finally, managers recommended ongoing monitoring of the service and communication about its impacts as strategies for supporting integration into routine practice. Findings contribute to the emerging literature on strategies to support implementation of task-shared interventions in low- and middle-income countries. The findings highlight the leadership role of managers in identifying and actioning these strategies. Investing in managers' capacity to support implementation of psychological interventions is critical for scale-up of these mental health innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]