Bayes Factor Analysis Research Articles

Characterizing Depth Electrode Coverage in Stereoelectroencephalography on Seizure Onset Zone Localization and Seizure Outcomes

Introduction: The number of intracranial depth electrodes implanted in stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) investigations is primarily driven by the preimplantation hypothesis about SOZ location. Targeting is not standardized and highly variable between centers. Whether some of these electrodes may prove redundant, or target low-yield areas too frequently, is uncertain. Methods: We identified a retrospective multi-institutional cohort implanted with depth electrodes for iEEG monitoring between 2003 and 2022. We collected preoperative clinical features and iEEG investigation parameters, including the number of depth electrodes and contacts implanted. We built a propensity-matched cohort with respect to these covariates and evaluated outcomes, which included (1) the likelihood of SOZ localization, (2) complications, and (3) seizure-free outcomes as a function of electrode contact coverage. In addition, we aimed to identify brain regions commonly explored in conjunction with each other and identify the likelihood of a region being implicated in initial electroclinical seizure onset. Results: One hundred and sixty-seven patients were followed for a median of 3.8 (range 2, 18) years after SEEG. Propensity-matched cohorts demonstrated that a higher number of implanted contacts were associated with a greater likelihood of proceeding to treatment, but were not associated with SOZ localization, seizure freedom (Engel I), favorable seizure outcomes (Engel I/II), or complications, per Bayes factor analysis. Lateral orbitofrontal, supramarginal, posterior cingulate, inferior parietal, and inferior temporal areas were least likely to be implicated in initial electrographic onset, whereas hippocampus, caudal middle frontal, pericalcarine, and parahippocampal areas were most likely when controlling for electrode coverage. Conclusions: SEEG effectively localizes the SOZ in both lesional and non-lesional etiologies, and clinicians are generally optimizing the electrode coverage for hypothetical SOZ localization, leading to further therapeutic surgeries that may confer seizure freedom. Nevertheless, several areas are possibly being explored despite low likelihood (<2.5%) of participation within the SOZ.

A cautionary note against selective applications of the Bayes factor.

Bayes factor analysis becomes increasingly popular, among other reasons, because it allows to provide evidence for the null hypothesis, which is not easily possible with the traditional frequentist approach. A conceivable strategy that apparently takes favorable aspects of both approaches on board is to use traditional frequentist analyses first and to support theoretically interesting nil effects by Bayesian analyses thereafter. Here, we asked whether such a selective application of Bayesian analyses to only nonsignificant effects of foregoing frequentist analyses creates bias. In two simulation studies, we observed that such selective application of Bayesian analyses, in fact, severely overestimates evidence in favor of the null hypotheses, when a true population effect exists. While this bias can be attenuated by using more informative priors in the Bayesian analyses, we recommend to not apply such selective combination of analytical approaches, but instead to use either frequentist or Bayesian analyses consistently. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The implication of ADRA2A and AVPRIB gene variants in the aetiology of stress-related bipolar disorder

ObjectiveBipolar disorder is a complex and severe mental illness characterised by manic and depressive episodes that can be triggered and exacerbated by psychosocial, environmental, and biological stressors. Genetic variations are a risk factor for bipolar disorder. However, the identification of the exact gene variants and genotypes remains complex. This study, therefore, aims to identify the potential association between genotypes of analysed single nucleotide polymorphisms and the presence of a stressor in bipolar disorder patients. MethodWe analysed 114 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from bipolar and stress-related candidate genes in 550 patients with bipolar disorders (60.36 % females and 39.64 % male). We compared SNPs of patients reporting the presence (40.73 %) or absence of stressors (59.27 %) before the first episode using the Persons Chi-square test and Bayes Factor t-test. The genotyping of 114 SNPs was done using TaqMan assays. Statistical analysis was done using Statistica 13.3 software (StatSoft Poland, Krakow, Poland), R programming, and G*Power statistics. ResultWe found significant differences in genotype distribution (p < 0.05) in 6 polymorphisms (AVPRIB/rs28536160, FKBP4/rs2968909, ADRA2A/rs3750625, 5HTR2A/rs6311, 5HTR2A/rs6313, and GLCCI1/rs37972) when comparing BD patient with and without stressor with a small effect of d = 0.2. Of these, two gene variants (ADRA2A/rs3750625/AC and AVPRIB/rs28536160/CT) with minor alleles formed an association with the presence of a stressor prior to the disease onset and favoured the alternative hypothesis using Bayes Factor Analysis t-test for hypothesis testing. ConclusionThis study presents a novel association of ADRA2A/rs3750625/AC and AVPR1B/rs28536160/CT gene variants in stress-related bipolar disorder with the AC genotype of ADRA2A/rs3750625 constituting a risk genotype and CT of AVPR1B/rs28536160 constituting a protective genotype. However, further functional analysis is required to fully understand their clinical and biological significance and interaction.

Characterization of antiseizure medications effects on the EEG neurodynamic by fractal dimension.

An important challenge in epilepsy is to define biomarkers of response to treatment. Many electroencephalography (EEG) methods and indices have been developed mainly using linear methods, e.g., spectral power and individual alpha frequency peak (IAF). However, brain activity is complex and non-linear, hence there is a need to explore EEG neurodynamics using nonlinear approaches. Here, we use the Fractal Dimension (FD), a measure of whole brain signal complexity, to measure the response to anti-seizure therapy in patients with Focal Epilepsy (FE) and compare it with linear methods. Twenty-five drug-responder (DR) patients with focal epilepsy were studied before (t1, named DR-t1) and after (t2, named DR-t2) the introduction of the anti-seizure medications (ASMs). DR-t1 and DR-t2 EEG results were compared against 40 age-matched healthy controls (HC). EEG data were investigated from two different angles: frequency domain-spectral properties in δ, θ, α, β, and γ bands and the IAF peak, and time-domain-FD as a signature of the nonlinear complexity of the EEG signals. Those features were compared among the three groups. The δ power differed between DR patients pre and post-ASM and HC (DR-t1 vs. HC, p < 0.01 and DR-t2 vs. HC, p < 0.01). The θ power differed between DR-t1 and DR-t2 (p = 0.015) and between DR-t1 and HC (p = 0.01). The α power, similar to the δ, differed between DR patients pre and post-ASM and HC (DR-t1 vs. HC, p < 0.01 and DR-t2 vs. HC, p < 0.01). The IAF value was lower for DR-t1 than DR-t2 (p = 0.048) and HC (p = 0.042). The FD value was lower in DR-t1 than in DR-t2 (p = 0.015) and HC (p = 0.011). Finally, Bayes Factor analysis showed that FD was 195 times more likely to separate DR-t1 from DR-t2 than IAF and 231 times than θ. FD measured in baseline EEG signals is a non-linear brain measure of complexity more sensitive than EEG power or IAF in detecting a response to ASMs. This likely reflects the non-oscillatory nature of neural activity, which FD better describes. Our work suggests that FD is a promising measure to monitor the response to ASMs in FE.

Exploring the impact of microlensing on gravitational wave signals: Biases, population characteristics, and prospects for detection

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigate the impact of microlensing on gravitational wave (GW) signals in the LIGO−Virgo sensitivity band. Microlensing caused by an isolated point lens, with (redshifted) mass ranging from MLz ∈ (1, 105) M⊙ and impact parameter y ∈ (0.01, 5), can result in a maximum mismatch of $\sim 30~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ with their unlensed counterparts. When y &amp;lt; 1, it strongly anticorrelates with the luminosity distance enhancing the detection horizon and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Biases in inferred source parameters are assessed, with in-plane spin components being the most affected intrinsic parameters. The luminosity distance is often underestimated, while sky-localization and trigger times are mostly well-recovered. Study of a population of microlensed signals due to an isolated point lens primarily reveals: (i) using unlensed templates during the search causes fractional loss (20 per cent to 30 per cent) of potentially identifiable microlensed signals; (ii) the observed distribution of y challenges the notion of its high improbability at low values (y ≲ 1), especially for y ≲ 0.1; (iii) Bayes factor analysis of the population indicates that certain region in MLz − y parameter space have a higher probability of being detected and accurately identified as microlensed. Notably, the microlens parameters for the most compelling candidate identified in previous microlensing searches, GW200208_130117, fall within a 1σ range of the aforementioned higher probability region. Identifying microlensing signatures from MLz &amp;lt; 100 M⊙ remains challenging due to small microlensing effects at typical SNR values. Additionally, we also examined how microlensing from a population of microlenses influences the detection of strong lensing signatures in pairs of GW events, particularly in the posterior-overlap analysis.

Constraints on Phase Transitions in Neutron Star Matter

Recent inference results of the sound velocity in the cores of neutron stars are summarized. Implications for the equation of state and the phase structure of highly compressed baryonic matter are discussed. In view of the strong constraints imposed by the heaviest known pulsars, the equation of state must be very stiff in order to ensure the stability of these extreme objects. This required stiffness limits the possible appearance of phase transitions in neutron star cores. For example, a Bayes factor analysis quantifies strong evidence for squared sound velocities cs2&gt;0.1 in the cores of 2.1 solar-mass and lighter neutron stars. Only weak first-order phase transitions with a small phase coexistence density range Δρ/ρ&lt;0.2 (at the 68% level) in a Maxwell construction still turn out to be possible within neutron stars. The central baryon densities in even the heaviest neutron stars do not exceed five times the density of normal nuclear matter. In view of these data-based constraints, much discussed issues such as the quest for a phase transition towards restored chiral symmetry and the active degrees of freedom in cold and dense baryonic matter, are reexamined.

Number Agreement Attraction in Czech Comprehension: Negligible Facilitation Effects

Abstract Number agreement attraction in comprehension has been extensively studied in various languages and it has been claimed that attraction effects are generally present across languages. In this paper, four experiments on Czech are presented, each examining a different structure. The Bayesian hierarchical models and Bayes factor analysis pointed towards no agreement attraction effects in three of the experiments. Only in one experiment an effect interpretable as signaling agreement attraction was observed. Its size, however, was so small that it did not translate into a clear preference for models with agreement attraction. The data from the four experiments were further compared to available data from several other languages (English, Armenian, Arabic, and Spanish). The emerging picture is that in Czech, agreement attraction effects are negligible in size if they appear at all. This presents a serious challenge to current theoretical explanations of agreement attraction effects.

The new big is small: Leveraging knowledge from small trials for rare disease drug development: Blarcamesine for Rett syndrome.

Big data in drug development may not satisfactorily address the demands of precision medicine in a rare disease population, making the use of smaller clinical trials necessary. Consequently, the use of innovative design and analysis of these clinical trials using model-informed approaches have become indispensable. This requires informative exposure-outcome analysis, together with formal statistical analysis, which should include the strength of evidence for a study outcome. We demonstrate how knowledge can be gained, with supporting strength of evidence, from a small (data) clinical trial with a low dose of blarcamesine in the treatment of Rett syndrome. Based on a small data paradigm, pharmacometrics item response theory modelling and Bayes factor analysis were used to demonstrate the efficacy of blarcamesine in Rett syndrome.

Spatial attention is not affected by alpha or beta transcranial alternating current stimulation: A registered report

Using Electroencephalography (EEG) an event-related change in alpha activity has been observed over primary sensory cortices during the allocation of spatial attention. This is most prominent during top-down, or endogenous, attention, and nearly absent in bottom-up, or exogenous orienting. These changes are highly lateralised, such that an increase in alpha power is seen ipsilateral to the attended region of space and a decrease is seen contralaterally. Whether these changes in alpha oscillatory activity are causally related to attentional resources, or to perceptual processes, or are simply epiphenomenal, is unknown. If alpha oscillations are indicative of a causal mechanism whereby attention is allocated to a region of space, it remains an open question as to whether this is driven by ipsilateral increases or contralateral decreases in alpha power. This preregistered report set out to test these questions. To do so, we used transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to modulate alpha activity in the somatosensory cortex whilst measuring performance on established tactile attention paradigms. All participants completed an endogenous and exogenous tactile attention task in three stimulation conditions; alpha, sham and beta. Sham and beta stimulation operated as controls so that any observed effects could be attributed to alpha stimulation specifically. We replicated previous behavioural findings in all stimulation conditions showing a facilitation of cued trials in the endogenous task, and inhibition of return in the exogenous task. However, these were not affected by stimulation manipulations. Using Bayes-factor analysis we show strong support for the null hypotheses – that the manipulation of Alpha by tACS does not cause changes in tactile spatial attention. This well-powered study, conducted over three separate days, is an important contribution to the current debate regarding the efficiency of brain stimulation.

Not surgical technique, but etiology, contralateral MRI, prior surgery, and side of surgery determine seizure outcome after pediatric hemispherotomy.

We aimed to assess determinants of seizure outcome following pediatric hemispherotomy in a contemporary cohort. We retrospectively analyzed the seizure outcomes of 457 children who underwent hemispheric surgery in five European epilepsy centers between 2000 and 2016. We identified variables related to seizure outcome through multivariable regression modeling with missing data imputation and optimal group matching, and we further investigated the role of surgical technique by Bayes factor (BF) analysis. One hundred seventy seven children (39%) underwent vertical and 280 children (61%) underwent lateral hemispherotomy. Three hundred forty-four children (75%) achieved seizure freedom at a mean follow-up of 5.1 years (range 1 to 17.1). We identified acquired etiology other than stroke (odds ratio [OR] 4.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-18.0), hemimegalencephaly (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1-7.3), contralateral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings (OR 5.5, 95% CI 2.7-11.1), prior resective surgery (OR 5.0, 95% CI 1.8-14.0), and left hemispherotomy (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-3.9) as significant determinants of seizure recurrence. We found no evidence of an impact of the hemispherotomy technique on seizure outcome (the BF for a model including the hemispherotomy technique over the null model was 1.1), with comparable overall major complication rates for different approaches. Knowledge about the independent determinants of seizure outcome following pediatric hemispherotomy will improve the counseling of patients and families. In contrast to previous reports, we found no statistically relevant difference in seizure-freedom rates between the vertical and horizontal hemispherotomy techniques when accounting for different clinical features between groups.

A Better Reconciliation of Hubble Tension in the Dark Energy Scalar Field

Hubble tension between the local measurement and global observation has been a key problem in cosmology. In this paper, we consider the quintessence scalar field, phantom field and quintom field as the dark energy to reconcile this problem. Different from most previous work, we start from the dimensionless equation of state (w) of dark energy, not a parameterization of potential. The combined analysis shows that observational data sets favor Hubble constant , which can reconcile Hubble tension within 1.20σ. We also perform a Bayes factor analysis using the MCEvidence code, and confirm that the phantom scalar field is still the most effective. To investigate the reason of Hubble tension, we analyze the density parameter. The comparison shows that the scalar fields provide a slightly larger Ω b h 2 and smaller Ω c h 2 than the standard ΛCDM model. We finally analyze a possible reason of Hubble tension from the kinematic acceleration . We find an interesting physical phenomenon. The acceleration in these scalar fields are similar as the ΛCDM model at about redshift z > 0.5. However, they increase and deviate from each other at low redshift, especially in the near future. Only the in phantom scalar field will decrease in the future.

Allometric Indexing of Left Ventricular Mass in Echocardiography: Differences Between Men and Women

Background: As echocardiographic left ventricular mass does not scale linearly with body surface area, indexing of left ventricular mass to height raised to the power exponent b has been proposed (‘allometric indexing’). Pooling data from males and females has been reported to lead to a higher value of b than when each sex is considered separately. We wished to determine if this is due to within-sex clustering, as this would change both how optimal b should be determined and how indexing should be performed. Methods: Echocardiograms were performed in rigorously screened healthy subjects (96 men, 133 women), and b was calculated as the relationship between left ventricular mass and body height. Results: Clustering was detected within men and women through analysis of regression model residuals, violating assumptions of independence. A hierarchical model was built to allow for clustering, and compared with treating males and females as separate populations using Bayesian regression. Bayes factor analysis showed greatest credibility of the clustered model with optimal b determined as 1.64 (0.68–2.82) and 0.96 (0.17–1.73) in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: Data from men and women are best suited to multilevel modelling, and b should therefore not be estimated after pooling. This indicates that allometric indexing may require sex-specific values either for the power exponent or for any subsequently derived reference ranges.

Can You Hear What's Coming? Failure to Replicate ERP Evidence for Phonological Prediction.

Prediction-based theories of language comprehension assume that listeners predict both the meaning and phonological form of likely upcoming words. In alleged event-related potential (ERP) demonstrations of phonological prediction, prediction-mismatching words elicit a phonological mismatch negativity (PMN), a frontocentral negativity that precedes the centroparietal N400 component. However, classification and replicability of the PMN has proven controversial, with ongoing debate on whether the PMN is a distinct component or merely an early part of the N400. In this electroencephalography (EEG) study, we therefore attempted to replicate the PMN effect and its separability from the N400, using a participant sample size (N = 48) that was more than double that of previous studies. Participants listened to sentences containing either a predictable word or an unpredictable word with/without phonological overlap with the predictable word. Preregistered analyses revealed a widely distributed negative-going ERP in response to unpredictable words in both the early (150-250 ms) and the N400 (300-500 ms) time windows. Bayes factor analysis yielded moderate evidence against a different scalp distribution of the effects in the two time windows. Although our findings do not speak against phonological prediction during sentence comprehension, they do speak against the PMN effect specifically as a marker of phonological prediction mismatch. Instead of an PMN effect, our results demonstrate the early onset of the auditory N400 effect associated with unpredictable words. Our failure to replicate further highlights the risk associated with commonly employed data-contingent analyses (e.g., analyses involving time windows or electrodes that were selected based on visual inspection) and small sample sizes in the cognitive neuroscience of language.

Genome-Wide Interaction Study of Late-Onset Asthma With Seven Environmental Factors Using a Structured Linear Mixed Model in Europeans.

Asthma is among the most common chronic diseases worldwide, creating a substantial healthcare burden. In late-onset asthma, there are wide global differences in asthma prevalence and low genetic heritability. It has been suggested as evidence for genetic susceptibility to asthma triggered by exposure to multiple environmental factors. Very few genome-wide interaction studies have identified gene-environment (G×E) interaction loci for asthma in adults. We evaluated genetic loci for late-onset asthma showing G×E interactions with multiple environmental factors, including alcohol intake, body mass index, insomnia, physical activity, mental status, sedentary behavior, and socioeconomic status. In gene-by-single environment interactions, we found no genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms. However, in the gene-by-multi-environment interaction study, we identified three novel and genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms: rs117996675, rs345749, and rs17704680. Bayes factor analysis suggested that for rs117996675 and rs17704680, body mass index is the most relevant environmental factor; for rs345749, insomnia and alcohol intake frequency are the most relevant factors in the G×E interactions of late-onset asthma. Functional annotations implicate the role of these three novel loci in regulating the immune system. In addition, the annotation for rs117996675 supports the body mass index as the most relevant environmental factor, as evidenced by the Bayes factor value. Our findings help to understand the role of the immune system in asthma and the role of environmental factors in late-onset asthma through G×E interactions. Ultimately, the enhanced understanding of asthma would contribute to better precision treatment depending on personal genetic and environmental information.

Sample Size Determination for Bayesian Hierarchical Models Commonly Used in Psycholinguistics

We discuss an important issue that is not directly related to the main theses of the van Doorn et al. (Computational Brain and Behavior, 2021) paper, but which frequently comes up when using Bayesian linear mixed models: how to determine sample size in advance of running a study when planning a Bayes factor analysis. We adapt a simulation-based method proposed by Wang and Gelfand (Statistical Science 193–208, 2002) for a Bayes factor-based design analysis, and demonstrate how relatively complex hierarchical models can be used to determine approximate sample sizes for planning experiments.

Retrieval effects of observationally acquired stimulus-response bindings in participants with high and low autistic traits.

The present study sought to use a paradigm that allows the study of mental representations of observed actions. We investigated whether retrieval of observationally acquired stimulus-response bindings are impaired in participants with high (compared with low) autistic traits. In an extreme group comparison, participants with high versus low autistic traits worked through an observational SR binding and a standard SR binding task (to control for general deficits in cognitive performance). As expected, groups did not differ with regard to retrieval of transient bindings between stimuli and self-performed responses (standard SR binding & retrieval effects). Against our expectations, the same was true for the retrieval of observationally acquired SR bindings, which was of comparable magnitude in both high and low autistic trait groups. Bayes Factor analysis indicates that our evidence for this null finding has to be regarded as weak evidence. Our findings provide tentative evidence against the view that imitative effects are reduced (hypo-imitation) or increased (hyper-imitation) when autistic trait expression is high. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Analysis of 567,758 randomized controlled trials published over 30 years reveals trends in phrases used to discuss results that do not reach statistical significance.

The power of language to modify the reader's perception of interpreting biomedical results cannot be underestimated. Misreporting and misinterpretation are pressing problems in randomized controlled trials (RCT) output. This may be partially related to the statistical significance paradigm used in clinical trials centered around a P value below 0.05 cutoff. Strict use of this P value may lead to strategies of clinical researchers to describe their clinical results with P values approaching but not reaching the threshold to be "almost significant." The question is how phrases expressing nonsignificant results have been reported in RCTs over the past 30 years. To this end, we conducted a quantitative analysis of English full texts containing 567,758 RCTs recorded in PubMed between 1990 and 2020 (81.5% of all published RCTs in PubMed). We determined the exact presence of 505 predefined phrases denoting results that approach but do not cross the line of formal statistical significance (P < 0.05). We modeled temporal trends in phrase data with Bayesian linear regression. Evidence for temporal change was obtained through Bayes factor (BF) analysis. In a randomly sampled subset, the associated P values were manually extracted. We identified 61,741 phrases in 49,134 RCTs indicating almost significant results (8.65%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.58% to 8.73%). The overall prevalence of these phrases remained stable over time, with the most prevalent phrases being "marginally significant" (in 7,735 RCTs), "all but significant" (7,015), "a nonsignificant trend" (3,442), "failed to reach statistical significance" (2,578), and "a strong trend" (1,700). The strongest evidence for an increased temporal prevalence was found for "a numerical trend," "a positive trend," "an increasing trend," and "nominally significant." In contrast, the phrases "all but significant," "approaches statistical significance," "did not quite reach statistical significance," "difference was apparent," "failed to reach statistical significance," and "not quite significant" decreased over time. In a random sampled subset of 29,000 phrases, the manually identified and corresponding 11,926 P values, 68,1% ranged between 0.05 and 0.15 (CI: 67. to 69.0; median 0.06). Our results show that RCT reports regularly contain specific phrases describing marginally nonsignificant results to report P values close to but above the dominant 0.05 cutoff. The fact that the prevalence of the phrases remained stable over time indicates that this practice of broadly interpreting P values close to a predefined threshold remains prevalent. To enhance responsible and transparent interpretation of RCT results, researchers, clinicians, reviewers, and editors may reduce the focus on formal statistical significance thresholds and stimulate reporting of P values with corresponding effect sizes and CIs and focus on the clinical relevance of the statistical difference found in RCTs.

Effects of Sentence Output Tasks on EFL Vocabulary Learning from a Bayesian Perspective

This article builds on the growing line of inquiry into the relative effectiveness of different tasks for vocabulary learning. Specifically, the study compares the efficacy of several sentence output tasks in EFL vocabulary learning through reading. To this end, evidence was weighed for one hypothesis over the alternative from a Bayesian perspective rather than in light of the commonly used null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), which depends heavily on the <i>p</i> values for statistical conclusions. Ninety-one EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of three word-focused sentence output tasks (i.e., L2-L1 translating, paraphrasing and writing), and were subsequently tested on their initial learning and retention of newly-encountered EFL words. Both Bayes factor analysis and Bayesian parameter estimation were employed to find evidence for task effects. With respect to initial word learning, moderate evidence was in favor of no difference between translating and paraphrasing, whilst weak evidence in favor of no difference between translating and writing as well as between paraphrasing and writing. For pedagogical purposes, no good evidence was for or against task effects. Regarding word retention, moderate evidence supported no task difference, and all the tasks fared equally well pedagogically. The results partially support the involvement load hypothesis and are discussed in terms of task difficulty, context generation and semantic elaboration.

Bayesian based similarity assessment of nanomaterials to inform grouping

Nanoforms can be manufactured in plenty of variants by differing their physicochemical properties and toxicokinetic behaviour which can affect their hazard potential. To avoid testing of each single nanomaterial and nanoform variation and subsequently save resources, grouping and read-across strategies are used to estimate groups of substances, based on carefully selected evidence, that could potentially have similar human health and environmental hazard impact. A novel computational similarity method is presented aiming to compare dose-response curves and identify sets of similar nanoforms. The suggested method estimates the statistical model that best fits the data by leveraging pairwise Bayes Factor analysis to compare pairs of curves and evaluate whether each of the nanoforms is sufficiently similar to all other nanoforms. Pairwise comparisons to benchmark materials are used to define threshold similarity values and set the criteria for identifying groups of nanoforms with comparatively similar toxicity. Applications to use case data are shown to demonstrate that the method can support grouping hypotheses linked to a certain hazard endpoint and route of exposure.

How much do we orient? A systematic approach to auditory distraction.

Data on orienting and habituation to irrelevant sound can distinguish between task-specific and general accounts of auditory distraction: Distractors either disrupt specific cognitive processes (e.g., Jones, 1993; Salamé & Baddeley, 1982), or remove more general-purpose attentional resources from any attention-demanding task (e.g., Cowan, 1995). Tested here is the prediction that there is no further auditory distraction effect on immediate serial recall with increments in the number of distractors beyond the "changing-state point" of two discrete distractors. A Bayes factor analysis refutes this nil hypothesis: This prediction, a key element of the strong changing-state hypothesis, is shown to be less likely than two competing alternatives. Quantitative predictions for distraction as a function of the number of distracters are derived for an orienting-response (OR) and a stimulus-mismatch (SMM) hypothesis, representing general and task-specific accounts respectively. The data are shown to be more likely under the SMM hypothesis. Prospects for a parametric account of auditory distraction are considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).