Indirect Measures Research Articles

Research on the Market Positioning and Suitable Cargo Value Range of “Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe” Train Based on Data Model

Abstract A new globalization initiative for strengthening economic integration and policy coordination provides new opportunities for trade cooperation between China and countries along the route. In this paper, the normalization method is used to assign values, determine weights based on the coefficient of variation of indicators, and carry out dimensionless processing of each indicator. The degree of data dispersion is determined, the equivalent time distribution is assigned, and the time cost coefficient ratio is used as the corresponding time cost. The weighted average is used to calculate the value of goods, considering the annual holding cost coefficient. And combined with relying on indirect measures to measure the overall trade cost, randomly perturbed error proxy terms, and alternative utility function elasticity invariant. The residual variance is predicted by replacing the effect of multilateral resistance, and the data-based model of “Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe” is constructed. To verify the practicality of the model, the cargo trade results show that the total export trade of the “Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe” train has increased significantly, and the value of foreign trade exports has increased by 18.72%. The volume of China’s trade decreased by 56.1% year-on-year. The volume of “Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe” trains increased by 15.467% year-on-year. From this, we can see the strategy to promote the high-quality development of the “Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe” China-Europe train in terms of market positioning, expanding the value of import and export cargo sources and improving the service level of the train.

Comparative risk perceptions of switching to JUUL vs. continued smoking and subsequent switching away from cigarettes: a longitudinal observational study

BackgroundEvidence indicates that electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) pose lower risk than cigarettes; however, many smokers harbor misperceptions that ENDS are equally or more harmful, possibly deterring them from switching. This study examines whether comparative risk perceptions of JUUL vs. smoking are associated with subsequent switching, among smokers who recently purchased JUUL.MethodsN = 16,996 current established smokers who recently purchased a JUUL Starter Kit were followed 6 times over 12 months. Comparative risk perceptions were assessed using both direct and indirect measures (i.e., contrasting JUUL and smoking directly in questions, and deriving from separate absolute scales). Repeated-measures logistic regression examined switching across follow-up (no smoking in past 30 days) as a function of baseline risk perceptions, adjusting for demographics and baseline smoking behavior.ResultsPerceiving JUUL as less harmful than smoking was associated with higher switching rates, using both direct (e.g., adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.48 for “JUUL much less” vs. “more/much more harmful”) and indirect (AOR = 1.07, for each 10-unit increase in fraction; AOR = 1.51 for highest (6-100) vs. lowest (0 to < 1) fraction categories) comparative risk measures (all p < 0.0001). Among the subset smoking 10 + cigarettes per day, associations between risk perceptions and switching were more pronounced (AOR = 2.51 for “JUUL much less” vs. “more/much more harmful”; AOR = 1.81 for 6-100 vs. 0 to < 1 fraction, both p < 0.0001).ConclusionsSmokers who perceive JUUL as less harmful than cigarettes have higher odds of switching. Future research should examine whether messaging which aligns comparative risk perceptions with current evidence can facilitate switching, especially among heavier smokers.

Constraining Circumgalactic Turbulence with QSO Absorption Line Measurements

Our knowledge of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is mostly based on quasar absorption line measurements. These have uncovered a multiphase medium that is likely highly turbulent, but constraints of this turbulence are limited to measurements of the nonthermal width of absorption line components (b turb) and the line-of-sight velocity dispersion between components (σ LOS). Here we analyze a suite of CGM simulations to determine how well these indirect measures are related to the underlying CGM. Our simulations track the nonequilibrium evolution of all commonly observed ions and consist of two main types: small-scale simulations of regions of homogenous CGM turbulence and global simulations of inhomogenous turbulence throughout a galactic halo. From each simulation, we generate mock spectra of Si ii, Si iv, C iv, and O vi, which allow us to directly compare b turb and σ LOS to the true line-of-sight turbulence (σ 1D). In the small-scale simulations, b turb is only weakly correlated with σ 1D, likely because it measures random motions within individual warm CGM clouds, which do not sample the overall random motions. Meanwhile, σ LOS and σ 1D are strongly correlated with σ 1D ≈ σ LOS + 10 km s−1 in the densest regions we simulated, although the strength of this correlation depended weakly on the gas phase being probed. Our large-scale simulations also indicate that b turb and σ 1D are largely uncorrelated and that σ 1D ≈ σ LOS + 10 km s−1 on average, although it varies along individual sight lines. Moreover, the σ LOS distributions from our global simulations are similar to recent observations, suggesting that this quantity may provide useful constraints on circumgalactic turbulence regardless of the axis probed.

Social pleasure in daily life: A meta-analysis of experience sampling studies in schizophrenia.

Social anhedonia is considered a key feature of schizophrenia that leads to impaired social functioning. Although traditional laboratory measures assess non-current social pleasure, researchers have begun using experience sampling methods (ESM) to measure current, or consummatory, experiences of social pleasure in daily life. A recent meta-analysis examined deficits in consummatory social pleasure in schizophrenia and found vast heterogeneity in effect sizes across ESM studies. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to extend those results by testing moderators of this effect. Meta-analysis of 14 ESM studies suggests those with psychotic disorders exhibit a moderate deficit in consummatory social pleasure compared to healthy controls. Yet, this effect was significantly moderated by the type of measure used to assess social pleasure. Measures that directly assessed positive emotional experience during socialization yielded small effects that failed to reach significance; indirect measures of other social factors related to pleasure yielded large, significant effects. This suggests daily social anhedonia observed in psychotic disorders is not due to reduced experience of positive emotion. Instead, social anhedonia may be driven by other elements of social functioning. Most clinical variables did not influence effects, but there was a trend such that patient groups with lower cognitive functioning exhibited greater pleasure deficits. Inconsistent reporting across studies limited our ability to examine other real-world variables that may contribute to deficits in social pleasure. Yet, results show different ESM items used to measure social pleasure do not assess the same construct. Future research is needed to validate ESM measures and standardize protocols across studies.

Assessment of Endothelial Barrier Functions in Extra Embryonic Vasculature of Chick Embryo as an Alternative Model.

Vascular permeability, a tightly regulated process, is a direct measure of angiogenic and immune responses in the endothelium altered in several acute and chronic diseases such as sepsis, high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), ischemia, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) endotheliitis. Both endogenous and exogenous factors such as cytokines, chemokines, and hormones may affect vascular permeability. The conventional tools available for the measurement of vascular permeability in vitro and in vivo based on collagen-coated Transwell and dye-based spectrophotometric methods are indirect measures of permeability. In this chapter, we present our live in ovo protocols based on dextran-Texas red and avian chorioallantoic membrane assay developed using custom-made equipment to assess leakiness of endothelial cell barrier both in vitro and in vivo. Further, we validate this assay using different stressors such as ischemia and hypoxia known to affect endothelial barrier properties by potentiating actin stress fiber disorganization and disrupting the cell-cell junctions.

Mothers' and fathers' infant-directed speech have similar acoustic properties, but these are not associated with direct or indirect measures of word comprehension in 8-month-old infants.

Previous research on infant-directed speech (IDS) and its role in infants' language development has largely focused on mothers, with fathers being investigated scarcely. Here we examine the acoustics of IDS as compared to adult-directed speech (ADS) in Norwegian mothers and fathers to 8-month-old infants, and whether these relate to direct (eye-tracking) and indirect (parental report) measures of infants' word comprehension. Forty-five parent-infant dyads participated in the study. Parents (24 mothers, 21 fathers) were recorded reading a picture book to their infant (IDS), and to an experimenter (ADS), ensuring identical linguistic context across speakers and registers. Results showed that both mothers' and fathers' IDS had exaggerated prosody, expanded vowel spaces, as well as more variable and less distinct vowels. We found no evidence that acoustic features of parents' speech were associated with infants' word comprehension. Potential reasons for the lack of such a relationship are discussed.

Investigating mechanisms of political polarization: Perceivers spontaneously infer ideological categories from other people's behavior

AbstractWhen observing others' behavior, people routinely infer personality traits from it. Research on the correspondence bias has shown that they draw these inferences even from behavior that is situationally constrained. Moreover, these inferences often happen spontaneously, that is, when people have no intention of forming an impression. The current research investigated whether the same applies for inferences of ideological categories, such as conservative, feminist, or climate change denier. We present a series of five preregistered experiments (N = 1012) employing both direct and indirect measures from the impression formation literature. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that people deliberately, as well as spontaneously, inferred ideological categories from ideology‐implying behavioral descriptions. In Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we found these inferences to be very robust, in that they persist even when alternative reasons for the ideology‐implying behaviors are presented, suggesting that they are subject to the correspondence bias. We argue that to the extent that people attribute negative valence (affective polarization) or extreme attitudes (perceived issue polarization) to ideological categories, spontaneous inferences of these categories can serve as a precondition for a range of negative interpersonal outcomes related to political polarization.

Early lameness detection in dairy cattle based on wearable gait analysis using semi-supervised LSTM-Autoencoder

Early lameness detection is crucial to ensure the welfare and productivity of dairy cows. However, current research on early lameness identification using wearable analysis relies on the limited robustness of indirect behavioral measures, which are susceptible to individual variations and imbalances in lameness samples. In this study, we propose a semi-supervised Long short-term memory (LSTM)-Autoencoder algorithm for early lameness detection in dairy cows through time series data reconstruction. We collected gait data from all four limbs of 30 dairy cows using four IMUs. A LSTM-Autoencoder with three LSTM hidden layers was trained to learn the time series features of healthy gaits. Each gait was reconstructed, and anomaly gaits exceeding a threshold were identified by comparing reconstructed gaits with actual gaits. The gait symmetry was measured by comparing the percentage of anomaly gait between opposite limbs as an indicator of lameness severity. With a high accuracy of 97.78% and a true negative rate of 98.33%, our integrated approach outperforms traditional methods in early lameness detection and lame limb identification, enabling real-time monitoring and timely identification of lameness. The study is the first attempt at using a time series anomaly detection framework with deep learning-based gait reconstruction for lameness detection. Wearable gait analysis offers portability and real-time capabilities, providing continuous, accurate, and comprehensive gait information unaffected by lighting and field-of-view limitations. This approach holds promise for enhancing animal welfare and optimizing management practices in the dairy industry through timely identification and continuous monitoring of lameness.

Can a modified ketogenic diet be a nutritional strategy for patients with McArdle disease? Results from a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study

McArdle disease is caused by myophosphorylase deficiency leading to blocked glycogenolysis in skeletal muscle. Consequently, individuals with McArdle disease have intolerance to physical activity, muscle fatigue, and pain. These symptoms vary according to the availability of alternative fuels for muscle contraction. In theory, a modified ketogenic diet (mKD) can provide alternative fuels in the form of ketone bodies and potentially boost fat oxidation. This randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study aimed to investigate if a mKD improves exercise capacity in individuals with McArdle disease. Participants were randomized to follow a mKD (75-80% fat, 15% protein, 5-10% carbohydrates) or placebo diet (PD) first for three weeks, followed by a wash-out period, and then the opposite diet. The primary outcome was change in heart rate during constant-load cycling. Secondary outcomes included change in plasma metabolites, perceived exertion, indirect calorimetry measures, maximal exercise capacity, and patient-reported outcomes. Fifteen out of 20 patients with genetically verified McArdle disease completed all study visits, and 14 were included in the data analyses. We found that the mKD induced a metabolic shift towards increased fat oxidation (∼60% increase), and a 19-fold increase in plasma β-hydroxybutyrate (p<0.05). The mKD did not improve heart rate responses during constant-load cycling but did improve patient-reported outcomes and maximal exercise capacity (∼20% increase) compared to the PD. The mKD did not alleviate all McArdle disease-related symptoms but did induce some positive changes. To date, no satisfactory treatment options exist other than exercise training. To that end, a mKD can be a possible nutritional strategy for some individuals with McArdle disease who are motivated to undertake a restrictive diet. clinical trials.gov: NCT04044508.

COVID-19 and transport safety

ABSTRACT Transportation safety has substantially been impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, governments around the world released guidelines (e.g. stay-at-home orders), which reduced or eliminated peoples’ daily commutes. These travel restrictions introduced new safety challenges for roadways and drivers, transit riders, and pedestrians and cyclists. Many cities, states, and countries around the world reported more severe crashes despite fewer drivers on the road. Transit ridership reduced as the risk of infection with COVID-19 kept transit users away, and walking and biking became more popular as they could be done individually in open air. This paper conducts a structured critical review to summarise and discuss studies around the world on roadway, transit, and pedestrian and bicycle safety since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For roadway safety, we further review studies that examine the direct measures of safety (e.g. crash statistics and models) as well as indirect or surrogate measures (e.g. speeding, aggressive driving, and reduced seatbelt usage). Surrogate measures, although indirectly, can affect the risk of crashes and contribute to the increase in frequency and severity of crashes. Findings are documented and discussed. We then provide suggestions on potential avenues for future research. Particularly, research studies show that the rate of severe injury crashes, as well as aggressive driving (e.g. speeding) increased in most places during the travel restrictions, and continued even after these restrictions were lifted. The safety of pedestrians and bicycles has also become increasingly important due to the increase in the number of users of these modes.

Are the dark personalities sincere? Connections between the Dark Triad and the Big Three.

There are different theories and models of personality. In the antisocial area, the model used is the Dark Triad, a model of personality composed of the traits of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. The links between the Dark Triad and other general models have been widely studied; however, there is little research connecting it with the traditional, but still used, model of personality described by Eysenck (psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism). Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the connections between the Dark Triad of personality and Eysenck's personality model. Additionally, we interpret the connections between the sincerity scale of Eysenck's model and the Dark Triad. Our final sample was composed of 2385 participants who completed different personality questionnaires measuring the Dark Triad and Eysenck's model. Bivariate analyses and structural equation modelling were performed. Narcissism and Machiavellianism have positive connections with neuroticism and extraversion, whereas psychopathy is positively associated with psychoticism and negatively associated with extraversion. All the Dark Triad traits, mainly Machiavellianism, show the strongest connections with sincerity. Considering the deceptive and manipulative nature of the Dark Triad, these results would imply that these traits could be mismeasured in some contexts. However, in research conditions those people who score higher on the Dark Tetrad traits do not hide behaviours that tend to be socially undesirable, implying some degree of honesty in their answers. Further efforts to develop more objective measures, such as implicit, indirect, task-based, or forced-choice measures, should be considered.

Measures of treatment burden in dialysis: A scoping review.

Dialysis is a life-sustaining treatment for patients with advanced kidney failure, but it is extremely burdensome. Despite this, there are very few tools available to assess treatment burden within the dialysis population. To conduct a scoping review of generic and disease-specific measures of treatment burden in chronic kidney disease, and assess their suitability for use within the dialysis population. We searched CINAHL, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library for kidney disease-specific measures of treatment burden. Studies were initially included if they described the development, validation or use of a treatment burden measure or associated concept (e.g., measures of treatment satisfaction, quality of life, illness intrusiveness, disease burden etc.) in adult patients with chronic kidney disease. We also updated a previous scoping review exploring measures of treatment burden in chronic disease to identify generic treatment burden measures. One-hundred and two measures of treatment burden or associated concepts were identified. Four direct measures and two indirect measures of treatment burden were assessed, using adapted established criteria, for suitability for use within the dialysis population. The researchers outlined eight key dimensions of treatment burden: medication, financial, administrative, lifestyle, health care, time/travel, dialysis-specific factors, and health inequality. None of the measures adequately assessed all dimensions of treatment burden. Current measures of treatment burden in dialysis are inadequate to capture the spectrum of issues that matter to patients. There is a need for dialysis-specific burdens and health inequality to be assessed when exploring treatment burden to advance patient care.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a theory-based questionnaire measuring women's return-to-work beliefs after long-term sick leave for common mental disorders.

Common mental disorders (CMDs) are currently a major cause of long-term sick leave, with women being most affected. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), we aimed to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of a new questionnaire to measure women's beliefs about return to work (RTW) after long-term sick leave for CMDs. Data were collected in central Sweden from women on long-term sick leave (2- 24 months) for CMDs. The questionnaire was developed by conducting an elicitation study with 20 women and included both direct and indirect measures. Subsequently, 282 women participated in a psychometric evaluation and 35 of them in a test-retest procedure. Psychometric properties were evaluated by determining reliability (internal consistency [Cronbach's alpha] and test-retest stability [intraclass correlation coefficient]), construct validity (exploratory factor analysis) and content validity. The development resulted in 60 questionnaire items. Content validity assessment showed that the women overall found it easy to complete the questionnaire. Reliability analyses showed satisfactory results for both direct and indirect measures, with a few exceptions. Factor analyses of the indirect scales showed that items were generally in line with the TPB, but that items related to life as a whole/personal life and items related to work were separated into two different factors. The questionnaire, called the RTW Beliefs Questionnaire, showed promising results and can among women with CMDs be considered useful, especially the scales for direct measures. This questionnaire gives opportunity to identify new potential predictors for RTW.

Automatic partner attitudes: Sources, implications, and future directions

AbstractSatisfying romantic relationships offer numerous social and health benefits, making it critical to understand the trajectory of relationship satisfaction. In recent years, research has begun to examine the role of automatic processes in relationship contexts. In particular, a growing number of studies have incorporated indirect (implicit) measures developed by socio‐cognitive researchers to capture people's automatic partner attitudes—the spontaneous affective reactions toward their partner that people may at times be unable to access or unwilling to self‐report in more direct (explicit) measures like questionnaires. In this paper, we review work illustrating how automatic partner attitudes can help explain, predict, and promote both the functioning and the well‐being of romantic couples. That is, we integrate theoretical perspectives on interdependence, attachment, and attitudes to discuss empirical evidence relative to why automatic partner attitudes differ from self‐reported judgments of relationship satisfaction, how such attitudes form in the context of real‐world relationship experiences, and under which conditions they affect dyadic interactions in everyday life. Further, we identify important questions that remain unanswered and provide recommendations that may benefit future work on couples and beyond.

End-to-end digitalization factors: Challenges for Russian manufacturers

Despite clear progress in digitalization, Russia significantly lags behind global leaders in the use of digital technologies, including robots, artificial intelligence and 3D printing. In this study, we use the organizational characteristics of Russian industrial companies and the role of innovation diffusion channels to explain the digitalization factors of Russian industrial enterprises. The database is grounded on the results of a sample survey of 1.7 thousand companies; empirical estimates include the construction of logit regressions. The results of the study are mixed: digitized companies are focused on the domestic market, but are receptive to technology transfer from foreign investors, examples of other Russian and foreign companies in the industry, developments of research centers in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. The study of the relationship between digitalization and firms’ use of innovation channels has shown the importance of market incentives and flexible public innovation policy instruments. Direct government involvement as an owner in stimulating digitalization affects innovative companies using robots and 3D printing, while indirect government support measures are significant for innovative companies using artificial intelligence. This suggests that Russian companies overcome the barriers of resource constraints and organizational rigidity in different ways, and are also selectively susceptible to external incentives, which should be taken into account by the government in its policies

Change-of-Direction and Deceleration Deficits in National-Team Female Rugby Sevens Players: Interrelationships and Associations With Speed-Related Performance.

To investigate the relationships between a series of direct and indirect measures of linear and multidirectional speed performance in elite female rugby sevens players. Nineteen players from the Brazilian national team performed 40-m linear sprint and 505 change-of-direction (COD) tests on the same day. Based on the linear sprint and COD test performances, the COD deficit (CODD) and deceleration deficit (DD) were also obtained. A Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between linear sprint and COD-derived variables. Linear sprint and 505 COD velocities were not significantly associated (P > .05). Large to very large significant associations (r values ranging from .54 to .78; P < .05) were detected between linear sprint velocity for the different distances tested (10, 15, 30, and 40m) and CODD. The COD velocity presented a very large inverse significant correlation with CODD and DD (r = -.77 and -.79 respectively; P < .05). A large and significant correlation was identified between CODD and DD (r = .79; P < .05). Significant associations were observed between linear sprint and CODD, suggesting that faster players are less efficient at changing direction. No relationship was found between sprint velocity and DD, highlighting the independent nature of linear sprints and deceleration capabilities. A comprehensive and detailed analysis of multidirectional speed performance should consider not only linear sprint and COD performances but also complementary COD-derived variables such as the CODD and DD.

Initial Margin Requirements and Market Efficiency

AbstractWe examine the association between margin requirements and the market’s efficiency in incorporating firm-specific and market-level public news. Combining the Fed’s 22 changes in margin requirements with a hand-collected sample of earnings announcements between 1934 and 1975, we show that higher margin requirements induce greater delay in incorporating earnings information into prices. We draw similar conclusions when we analyze the Hou and Moskowitz (2005) price delay measure, as well as indirect measures of leverage constraints over recent years. Further tests suggest that, despite the Fed’s expressed intent to curtail excess speculation, higher margin requirements restrict trading by arbitrageurs more than noise traders.

Direct versus indirect measures of mixed emotions in predictive models: a comparison of predictive validity, multicollinearity, and the influence of confounding variables.

Mixed emotions have been assessed using both direct measures that utilize self-report questionnaires as well as indirect measures that are computed from scores of positive and negative emotions. This study provides a pre-registered methodological examination on the use of direct and indirect measures of mixed emotions in predictive models. Two samples (N = 749) were collected, and path analyses were performed to compare direct measures and indirect measures in predicting psychological conflict, receptivity, and well-being, controlling for demographics, positive emotions, and negative emotions. We also tested whether trait dialecticism, need for cognition, social desirability, or acquiescence could account for these associations. In both samples, results suggest that indirect measures may be more susceptible to multicollinearity when controlling for positive and negative emotions. Specifically, variance inflation factors (VIF) were consistently higher for indirect measures calculated using the minimum index (MIN; VIFSample-1 = 3.53; VIFSample-2 = 9.46) than direct measures (VIFSample-1 = 2.52; VIFSample-2 = 1.68). Direct measures remained consistently associated with increased conflict and reduced coherence upon controlling for positive and negative emotions, while indirect measures remained consistently associated only with increased conflict. We found little evidence that response biases explained associations between direct measures or indirect measures with each of the outcomes. Specifically, associations between mixed emotions with psychological conflict, receptivity, and well-being largely remained unchanged in models that controlled for trait dialecticism, need for cognition, social desirability, or acquiescence. Implications and recommendations based on our findings are discussed.

Is adolescence believed to be a period of greater risk taking than adulthood?

ABSTRACT Little is known about adolescents’ own beliefs regarding their level of risk taking or regarding peer influence on the latter. This is an important matter given that beliefs influence judgements and decisions. With the present study, we aimed to study adolescents’ and adults’ beliefs about adolescents’ risk taking compared to adults’ risk taking, and beliefs about peer influence on risk taking. To this end, an experimental design was used. A cross-sectional study included 56 adolescents and 43 adults, who completed a questionnaire asking about adolescents’ and adults’ risk-taking propensity and a syllogistic reasoning task designed to indirectly study these beliefs. Both direct and indirect measures indicated that adolescents perceived adolescence as a period of higher risk taking compared to adulthood, and believed peer presence to promote this effect. Adults perceived this detrimental effect of peers to be present irrespective of age. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of social representation.

Prediction of hydraulic and petrophysical parameters from indirect measurements of electrical resistivity to determine soil-water retention curve – studies in granular soils

The characterization of unsaturated soils using hydromechanical methods is an essential requirement in soil science. However, current laboratory techniques used to obtain soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curves are time-consuming. To address this issue, a method based on indirect measures (electrical resistivity/electrical conductivity) was developed to quantitatively characterize soils. A novel unsaturated semi-empirical hydrogeophysical model of soils was developed by incorporating the hydrodynamic, geophysical, and petrophysical characteristics of soils. The model assumes that the parameters influencing the variation in the volumetric water content with matric suction and electrical resistivity are the same. The electrical resistivity characteristic curve (ERCC) defines a function that correlates environmental variables, electrical resistivity, soil water status, matric suction, hydraulic and petrophysical parameters, and fluid electrical resistivity. Model validation confirmed that the proposed approach can estimate the soil water retention curve (SWRC) via the indirect measures, and the results agreed with the experimental data. This indicates that it is possible to determine the SWRC and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of soil using the described approach.