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AbstractRanked set sampling (RSS) has gained significant significance in numerous practical domains, such as environmental and ecological studies, and statistical genetics. This article focuses on investigating the concept of extropy as a measure of residual uncertainty in RSS. It is devoted to discussing various monotone properties and characterization results associated with the residual extropy of RSS. Additionally, a comparative analysis is conducted between the residual extropy of RSS and its counterpart in simple random sampling. Optimal minima and maxima values for the residual extropy of RSS are determined. To further contribute to the field, a consistent estimator for the residual extropy of RSS is proposed. The effectiveness of this estimator is demonstrated through three illustrative examples, highlighting its performance in practical scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the turn of the century, there has been an increase in the frequency of chronic interstitial nephritis in agricultural communities. This is particularly evident in young farm workers from equatorial regions, where the prevalence of chronic kidney disease cannot be explained by classical risk determinants or exposure to heat stress alone. Potentially causal agents have included organic and inorganic drinking water contaminants. This review explores geographic variability in exposure to these drinking water contaminants, with an emphasis on understanding their role in kidney injury in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health Information Seeking Behavior (HISB) refers to the behavior and strategies used to attain, clarify, or confirm health information. The uptake of health information depends on system-level and individual-level factors. The purpose of the present study is to understand the sources from which Punjabi elders obtain COVID-19 vaccine-related information and their information seeking behavior. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 391 Punjabi elders aged 50+ years in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario. The survey questions included the need for COVID-19 vaccine information, the type of information sought, sources of information, and barriers to seeking information. Descriptive analysis was conducted using frequencies and percentages, and logistic regression was performed to understand the associations between participants' sociodemographic characteristics and HISB. The results suggested that Punjabi elders are more likely to use informal sources and less likely to seek information from health professionals and government health and wellness websites. The results also suggested that most participants do not cross-check their information with other sources and are more likely to cross-check the information with family/friends, compared to credible care providers, across all demographics. Ultimately, there may be a need for stakeholders to collaborate to regulate the accuracy and type of health-information that is disseminated through media, and to tailor health communication to the health information seeking behavior of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interactive, field-based course on the environmental aspects of natural water was developed as part of STEM initiatives at a comprehensive university in the United States. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation. The course is focused on two fundamental student skills, such as hydrologic field procedures and analytical methods. For field procedures, an area watershed was delineated as a natural laboratory and integrated into the course curriculum by designing creek-side learning activities. For analytical methods, instrumental setup and analysis for water and soil samples were designed to cover core concepts in hydrology. The primary goal of the course is to portray water's important role in the natural environment. Exercises are written in an interdisciplinary setting making sure that students can identify real-life environmental problems and offer realistic solutions to them. By taking part in this project, students gained new knowledge on stream gauging, groundwater simulations, ion chemistry, GIS applications, bio-pollutants, wastewater treatment, hydrologic systems, and sampling protocol. Students also gained important skills in handling state-of-the-art equipment, including ion chromatograph, spectrophotometer, sediment analyzer, data-logger, and well purging systems. Outcomes assessment indicates that students who took the new course are more efficient in data collection, compilation, and interpretation associated with the availability, movement, and impairment of natural water. They are able to think more critically about the aquatic environment and the interrelationships among its components. Overall, the students view this course as one that has improved their learning in water sciences. Hands-on activities were very useful to critically think about natural processes that impact the water environment. They better understood how field and laboratory research data are used to implement water policies.

In a recent development, a new measure of uncertainty, termed extropy, was introduced as the dual complement of Shannon entropy. This study proposes a modified extropy measure called sup-extropy. The proposed uncertainty measure is shown to be minimal value when the data follow a uniform distribution. Various fundamental properties of this measure are thoroughly examined. The joint and conditional versions of this measure are also presented. To illustrate its practical implications, highlights into its application in letter-catching experiments and information fusion analysis are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]