Prior Studies Research Articles

Intraindividual variability in parental acceptance-rejection predicts externalizing and internalizing symptoms across childhood/adolescence in nine countries.

Parenting that is high in rejection and low in acceptance is associated with higher levels of internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) problems in children and adolescents. These symptoms develop and can increase in severity to negatively impact adolescents' social, academic, and emotional functioning. However, there are two major gaps in the extant literature: (a) nearly all prior research has focused on between-person differences in acceptance/rejection at the expense of examining intraindividual variability (IIV) across time in acceptance/rejection; and (b) no prior studies examine IIV in acceptance/rejection in diverse international samples. The present study utilized six waves of data with 1,199 adolescents' families living in nine countries from the Parenting Across Cultures study to test the hypotheses that (1) higher amounts of youth IIV in mother acceptance/rejection predict higher internalizing and (2) externalizing symptoms, and (3) that higher youth IIV in father acceptance/rejection predict higher internalizing, and (4) externalizing symptoms. Meta-analytic techniques indicated a significant, positive effect of IIV in child-reported mother and father acceptance/rejection on adolescent externalizing symptoms, and a significant positive effect of IIV in father acceptance/rejection on internalizing symptoms. The weighted effect for mother acceptance/rejection on internalizing symptoms was not statistically significant. Additionally, there was significant heterogeneity in all meta-analytic estimates. More variability over time in experiences of parental acceptance/rejection predicts internalizing and externalizing symptoms as children transition into adolescence, and this effect is present across multiple diverse samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Cytology of Deployed Military Personnel With Chronic Respiratory Symptoms From the STAMPEDE III Study.

Deployed military personnel may be at risk for developing acute and chronic lung disease. Prior studies of this patient population have revealed that unexplained exertional dyspnea is the most common diagnosis despite an extensive evaluation. There is a concern that an occult disorder may be affecting this population. This study evaluated the role for bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid analysis in the evaluation of chronic deployment-associated dyspnea. Military personnel who reported chronic respiratory symptoms were evaluated as part of the Study of Active Duty Military for Pulmonary Disease Related to Environmental Deployment Exposures III study. Participants underwent bronchoscopy with BAL as part of a standardized evaluation. A total of 308 patients with a mean age of 38 ± 8.6 years underwent bronchoscopy with BAL. BAL cell-count percentages of macrophages, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils were: 76.2 ± 17.0%, 16.3 ± 13.4%, 6.6 ± 8.9%, and 0.9 ± 3.2%, respectively. There was no clear differentiation between groups based on increases in lymphocyte counts (P = .640), although lymphocyte values were more elevated (21.4 ± 12.1%) in the interstitial lung disease category. Neutrophil counts (6.6 ± 8.9%) were elevated compared to the reported normal reference values and were increased in the isolated pulmonary function test abnormality (9.4 ± 11.6%), large airway disorder (10.0 ± 7.5%), miscellaneous (10.9 ± 20.2%), and obstructive lung disease (11.0 ± 15.6%) groups. Eosinophil counts were within normal limits (0.9 ± 3.2%) and showed no differences between groups (P = .545); asthma patients trended higher (1.6 ± 5.7%). BAL counts for the exertional dyspnea group were within normal reference values and showed no differences from the entire cohort. The addition of BAL cytology did not help differentiate those patients with unexplained dyspnea from other etiologies.

Combined and sequential exposure to prenatal second hand smoke and postnatal maternal distress is associated with cingulo-opercular global efficiency and attention problems in school-age children

BackgroundPrenatal exposure to secondhand (environmental) tobacco smoke (SHS) is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, including altered functional activation of cognitive control brain circuitry and increased attention problems in children. Exposure to SHS is more common among Black youth who are also disproportionately exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage and concomitant maternal distress. We examine the combined effects of exposure to prenatal SHS and postnatal maternal distress on the global efficiency (GE) of the brain's cingulo-opercular (CO) and fronto-parietal control (FP) networks in childhood, as well as associated attention problems. MethodsThirty-two children of non-smoking mothers followed in a prospective longitudinal birth cohort at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) completed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ages 7–9 years old. GE scores were extracted from general connectivity data collected while children completed the Simon Spatial Incompatibility functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task. Prenatal SHS was measured using maternal urinary cotinine from the third trimester; postnatal maternal distress was assessed at child age 5 using the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview (PERI-D). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) measured Attention and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) problems at ages 7–9. Linear regressions examined the interaction between prenatal SHS and postnatal maternal distress on the GE of the CO or FP networks, as well as associations between exposure-related network alterations and attention problems. All models controlled for age, sex, maternal education at prenatal visit, race/ethnicity, global brain correlation, and mean head motion. ResultsThe prenatal SHS by postnatal maternal distress interaction term associated with the GE of the CO network (β = 0.673, Bu = 0.042, t(22) = 2.427, p = .024, D = 1.42, 95% CI [0.006, 0.079], but not the FP network (β = 0.138, Bu = 0.006, t(22) = 0.434, p = .668, 95% CI [−0.022, 0.033]). Higher GE of the CO network was associated with more attention problems (β = 0.472, Bu = 43.076, t(23) = 2.780, p = .011, D = 1.74, n = 31, 95% CI [11.024, 75.128], n = 31) and ADHD risk (β = 0.436, Bu = 21.961, t(29) = 2.567, p = .018, D = 1.81, 95% CI [4.219, 39.703], n = 30). ConclusionsThese preliminary findings suggest that sequential prenatal SHS exposure and postnatal maternal distress could alter the efficiency of the CO network and increase risk for downstream attention problems and ADHD. These findings are consistent with prior studies showing that prenatal SHS exposure is associated with altered function of brain regions that support cognitive control and with ADHD problems. Our model also identifies postnatal maternal distress as a significant moderator of this association. These data highlight the combined neurotoxic effects of exposure to prenatal SHS and postnatal maternal distress. Critically, such exposures are disproportionately distributed among youth from minoritized groups, pointing to potential pathways to known mental health disparities.

A New Pathway for Tornadogenesis Exposed by Numerical Simulations of Supercells in Turbulent Environments

Abstract A simulation of a supercell storm produced for a prior study on tornado predictability is reanalyzed for the purpose of examining the fine-scale details of tornadogenesis. It is found that the formation of a tornado-like vortex in the simulation differs from how such vortices have been understood to form in previous numerical simulations. The main difference between the present simulation and past ones is the inclusion of a turbulent boundary layer in the storm’s environment in the present case, whereas prior simulations have used a laminar boundary layer. The turbulent environment contains significant near-surface vertical vorticity (ζ > 0.03 s−1 at z = 7.5 m), organized in the form of longitudinal streaks aligned with the southerly ground-relative winds. The ζ streaks are associated with corrugations in the vertical plane in the predominantly horizontal, westward-pointing environmental vortex lines; the vortex-line corrugations are produced by the vertical drafts associated with coherent turbulent structures aligned with the aforementioned southerly ground-relative winds (longitudinal coherent structures in the surface layer such as these are well known to the boundary layer and turbulence communities). The ζ streaks serve as focal points for tornadogenesis, and may actually facilitate tornadogenesis, given how near-surface ζ in the environment can rapidly amplify when subjected to the strong, persistent convergence beneath a supercell updraft. Significance Statement In high-resolution computer simulations of supercell storms that include a more realistic, turbulent environment, the means by which tornado-like vortices form differs from the mechanism identified in prior simulations using a less realistic, laminar environment. One possibility is that prior simulations develop intense vortices for the wrong reasons. Another possibility could be that tornadoes form in a wide range of ways in the real atmosphere, even within supercell storms that appear to be similar, and increasingly realistic computer simulations are finally now capturing that diversity.

Moderating Influence of Idiosyncratic Diversity on the Relationship between Accounting Ethics and Financial Reporting Quality

Purpose- The study investigates the moderating influence of idiosyncratic diversity on the relationship between accounting ethics and financial reporting quality, against the backdrop of the unending corporate collapses and their antecedent effect on the profession of accounting. Design/Methodology/Approach- The study is anchored on the positivist philosophy with a deductive research strategy. We employed theoretical triangulation having combined agency theory and resource dependency theory. The sample size of three hundred and eighty-four respondents was established using the Cochran (1977) approach for the infinite population. Primary data were collected for the study through a survey approach and analysed using the Ordinary Least Squares regression technique. Findings- The study validates the significant relationship between accounting ethics and financial reporting quality in extant literature. In addition, we found a significant moderating influence of idiosyncratic diversity on the relationship between accounting ethics and financial reporting quality. Practical implications- The study demonstrates the strategic importance of accountants of diverse nationalities in delivering quality financial reporting in Nigeria. Research limitations/implication- The research is a country-wide study of accountants in Nigeria which enhances the extensive generalization of the outcomes. Originality/value- While extant studies have mainly been preoccupied with the accounting ethics-financial reporting dynamics, the current study focuses on understanding the moderating influence of idiosyncratic diversity on the relationship between accounting ethics and financial reporting quality. In addition, the country-wide approach adopted circumvented the limitation of micro numerosity of data which has been the bane of major prior studies.

Federated Unlearning and Its Privacy Threats

Federated unlearning has emerged very recently as an attempt to realize "the right to be forgotten" in the context of federated learning. While the current literature is making efforts on designing efficient retraining or approximate unlearning approaches, they ignore the information leakage risks brought by the discrepancy between the models before and after unlearning. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive review of prior studies on federated unlearning and privacy leakage from model updating. We propose new taxonomies to categorize and summarize the state-of-the-art federated unlearning algorithms. We present our findings on the inherent vulnerability to inference attacks of the federated unlearning paradigm and summarize defense techniques with the potential of preventing information leakage. Finally, we suggest a privacy preserving federated unlearning framework with promising research directions to facilitate further studies as future work.

Alternate Day Fasting Leads to Improved Post-Stroke Motor Recovery in Mice

Background Caloric restriction promotes neuroplasticity and recovery after neurological injury. In mice, we tested the hypothesis that caloric restriction can act post-stroke to enhance training-associated motor recovery. Methods Mice were trained to perform a skilled prehension task. We then induced a photothrombotic stroke in the caudal forelimb area, after which we retrained animals on the prehension task following an 8-day delay. Mice underwent either ad libitum feeding or alternate day fasting beginning 1-day after stroke and persisting for either 7 days or the entire post-stroke training period until sacrifice. Results Prior studies have shown that post-stroke recovery of prehension can occur if animals receive rehabilitative training during an early sensitive period but is incomplete if rehabilitative training is delayed. In contrast, we show complete recovery of prehension, despite a delay in rehabilitative training, when mice underwent alternate day fasting beginning 1-day post-stroke and persisting for either 7 days or the entire post-stroke training period until sacrifice. Recovery was independent of weight loss. Stroke volumes were similar across groups. Conclusions Post-stroke caloric restriction led to recovery of motor function independent of a protective effect on stroke volume. Prehension recovery improved even after ad libitum feeding was reinstituted suggesting that the observed motor recovery was not merely a motivational response. These data add to the growing evidence that post-stroke caloric restriction can enhance recovery.

스포츠 기록 교육을 위한 기초연구

Educating about sports records in school physical education should encompass not only numbers, letters, shapes, and portraits but also the unique, creative, and diverse efforts involved in producing those records. Copyright should be an integral part of this education. This is because emphasizing the process rather than the outcome in sports education is more valid. However, in the current situation in South Korea, the theoretical concepts of copyright regarding sports records have not been systematically organized, leading to a significant lack of theoretical foundations for nurturing sports talents. Therefore, this study serves as a foundational research for sports copyright education, with the aim of organizing the content of education centered around sports records. The research employed a literature review method based on various prior studies and documents related to sports records, sports policies, and sports law. In summary, the results of the study are as follows: Firstly, records of sports athletes' achievements are categorized according to their nature, including personal information, game records, portraits, and other records. Secondly, the copyright for a player's records is conditionally recognized based on the criteria defined in copyright law.

Key performance indicators for hospital planning and construction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeThe successful implementation of hospital projects (HPs) tends to confront sundry challenges in the planning and construction (P&C) phases due to their complexity and particularity. Employing key performance indicators (KPIs) facilitates the monitoring of HPs to advance their successful delivery. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the KPIs for hospital planning and construction (HPC).Design/methodology/approachThe KPIs for HPC were identified through a systematic review. Then a comprehensive assessment of these KPIs was performed utilizing a meta-analysis method. In this process, basic statistical analysis, subgroup analysis, sensitive analysis and publication bias analysis were performed.FindingsResults indicate that all 27 KPIs identified from the literature are significant for executing HPs in P&C phases. Also, some unconventional performance indicators are crucial for implementing HPs, such as “Project monitoring effectiveness” and “Industry innovation and synergy,” as their high significance is reflected in this study. Despite the fact that the findings of meta-analysis are more trustworthy than those of individual studies, a high heterogeneity still exists in the findings. It highlights the inherent uncertainty in the construction industry. Hence, this study applied subgroup analysis to explore the underlying factors causing the high level of heterogeneity and used sensitive analysis to assess the robustness of the findings.Originality/valueThere is no consensus among the prior studies on KPIs for HPC specifically and their degree of significance. Additionally, few reviews in this field have focused on the reliability of the results. This study comprehensively assesses the KPIs for HPC and explores the variability and robustness of the results, which provides a multi-dimensional perspective for practitioners and the research community to investigate the performance of HPs during the P&C stages.

Benchmarking design-thinking as a tool for education: a systematic review and future research agenda

PurposeDesign-thinking (DT) in education has attracted significant interest from practitioners and academics, as it proffers new-age thinking to transform learning processes. This paper synthesises extant literature and identifies the current intellectual frontiers.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a systematic-literature-review was undertaken employing a robust process of selecting papers (from 1986 to 2022) by reading titles, abstracts and keywords based on a required criterion, backward–forward chaining and strict quality evaluations. Next, a bibliometric analysis was undertaken using VOSviewer. Finally, text analysis using RStudio was done to trace the implications of past work and future directions.FindingsAt first, we identify and explain 12 clusters through bibliometric coupling that include “interdisciplinary-area”, “futuristic-learning”, “design-process” and “design-education”, amongst others. We explain each of these clusters later in the text. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), management education, design and change, teacher training, entrepreneurship education and technology, digital learning, gifted education and course development) Secondly, through co-word-analysis, we identify and explain four additional clusters that include “business education and pedagogy”, “content and learning environment”, “participants and outcome” and finally, “thinking-processes”. Based on this finding, we believe that the future holds a very positive presence sentiment for design thinking and education (DT&E) in changing the 21st century learning.Research limitations/implicationsFor investigating many contemporary challenges related to DT&E, like virtual reality experiential learning, sustainability education, organisational learning and management training, etc. have been outlined.Practical implicationsAcademics may come up with new or improved courses for the implementation of DT in educational settings and policymakers may inculcate design labs in the curricula to fortify academic excellence. Managers who would employ DT in their training, development and policy design, amongst others, could end up gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace.Originality/valueThis study conducted a comprehensive review of the field, which to our limited knowledge, no prior studies have been done so far. Besides, the study also outlines interesting research questions for future research.

Revealing Novel Source of Breast Cancer Inhibitors from Seagrass Enhalus acoroides: In Silico and In Vitro Studies.

Enhalus arcoides is a highly beneficial type of seagrass. Prior studies have presented proof of the bioactivity of E. acoroides, suggesting its potential to combat cancer. Therefore, this study aims to delve deeper into E. acoroides bioactive molecule profiles and their direct biological anticancer activities potentials through the combination of in-silico and in-vitro studies. This study conducted metabolite profile analysis on E. acoroides utilizing HPLC-ESI-HRMS/MS analysis. Two extraction techniques, ethanol and hexane, were employed for the extraction process. Furthermore, the in-silico study was conducted using molecular docking simulations on the HER2, EGFR tyrosine kinase and HIF-1α protein receptor. Afterward, the antioxidant activity of E. acoroides metabolites was examined to ABTS, and the antiproliferative activity was tested using an MTT assay. An in-silico study revealed its ability to combat breast cancer by inhibiting the HER2/EGFR/HIF-1α pathway through molecular docking. In addition, the MTT assay demonstrated that higher dosages of metabolites from E. acoroides increased the effectiveness of toxicity against cancer cell lines. Additionally, the study demonstrated that the metabolites possess the ability to function as potent antioxidants, effectively inhibiting a series of carcinogenic mechanisms. Ultimately, this study showed a new approach to unveiling the E. acoroides metabolites' anticancer activity through inhibiting HER2/EGFR/HIF-1α receptors, with great cytotoxicity and a potent antioxidant property to prevent a carcinogenic cascade.

On the limits of 16S rRNA gene-based metagenome prediction and functional profiling.

Molecular profiling techniques such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics or metabolomics offer important insights into the functional diversity of the microbiome. In contrast, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, a widespread and cost-effective technique to measure microbial diversity, only allows for indirect estimation of microbial function. To mitigate this, tools such as PICRUSt2, Tax4Fun2, PanFP and MetGEM infer functional profiles from 16S rRNA gene sequencing data using different algorithms. Prior studies have cast doubts on the quality of these predictions, motivating us to systematically evaluate these tools using matched 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metagenomic datasets, and simulated data. Our contribution is threefold: (i) using simulated data, we investigate if technical biases could explain the discordance between inferred and expected results; (ii) considering human cohorts for type two diabetes, colorectal cancer and obesity, we test if health-related differential abundance measures of functional categories are concordant between 16S rRNA gene-inferred and metagenome-derived profiles and; (iii) since 16S rRNA gene copy number is an important confounder in functional profiles inference, we investigate if a customised copy number normalisation with the rrnDB database could improve the results. Our results show that 16S rRNA gene-based functional inference tools generally do not have the necessary sensitivity to delineate health-related functional changes in the microbiome and should thus be used with care. Furthermore, we outline important differences in the individual tools tested and offer recommendations for tool selection.

Developmental change in English-learning children's interpretations of salient pitch contours in word learning.

To efficiently recognize words, children learning an intonational language like English should avoid interpreting pitch-contour variation as signaling lexical contrast, despite the relevance of pitch at other levels of structure. Thus far, the developmental time-course with which English-learning children rule out pitch as a contrastive feature has been incompletely characterized. Prior studies have tested diverse lexical contrasts and have not tested beyond 30months. To specify the developmental trajectory over a broader age range, we extended a prior study (Quam & Swingley, 2010), in which 30-month-olds and adults disregarded pitch changes, but attended to vowel changes, in newly learned words. Using the same phonological contrasts, we tested 3- to 5-year-olds, 24-month-olds, and 18-month-olds. The older two groups were tested using the language-guided-looking method. The oldest group attended to vowels but not pitch. Surprisingly, 24-month-olds ignored not just pitch but sometimes vowels as well-conflicting with prior findings of phonological constraint at 24months. The youngest group was tested using the Switch habituation method, half with additional phonetic variability in training. Eighteen-month-olds learned both pitch-contrasted and vowel-contrasted words, whether or not additional variability was present. Thus, native-language phonological constraint was not evidenced prior to 30months (Quam & Swingley, 2010). We contextualize our findings within other recent work in this area.

Robust Quantification of Phosphodiesterase-4D in Monkey Brain with PET and 11C-Labeled Radioligands That Avoid Radiometabolite Contamination.

Phosphodiesterase-4D (PDE4D) has emerged as a significant target for treating neuropsychiatric disorders, but no PET radioligand currently exists for robustly quantifying human brain PDE4D to assist biomedical research and drug discovery. A prior candidate PDE4D PET radioligand, namely [11C]T1650, failed in humans because of poor time stability of brain PDE4D-specific signal (indexed by total volume of distribution), likely due to radiometabolites accumulating in brain. Its nitro group was considered to be a source of the brain radiometabolites. Methods: We selected 5 high-affinity and selective PDE4D inhibitors, absent of a nitro group, from our prior structure-activity relationship study for evaluation as PET radioligands. Results: All 5 radioligands were labeled with 11C (half-time, 20.4 min) in useful yields and with high molar activity. All displayed sizable PDE4D-specific signals in rhesus monkey brain. Notably, [11C]JMJ-81 and [11C]JMJ-129 exhibited excellent time stability of signal (total volume of distribution). Furthermore, as an example, [11C]JMJ-81 was found to be free of radiometabolites in ex vivo monkey brain, affirming that this radioligand can provide robust quantification of brain PDE4D with PET. Conclusion: Given their high similarity in structures and metabolic profiles, both [11C]JMJ-81 and [11C]JMJ-129 warrant further evaluation in human subjects. [11C]JMJ-129 shows a higher PDE4D specific-to-nonspecific binding ratio and will be the first to be evaluated.

Modeling the structure of the dayside Venusian ionosphere: Impacts of protonation and Coulomb interaction

The CO$_2$-dominated thick atmosphere of Venus coexists with an ionosphere that is mainly formed, on the dayside, via the ionization of atmospheric neutrals by solar extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray photons. Despite extensive modeling efforts that have reproduced the electron distribution reasonably well, we note two main shortcomings with respect to prior studies. The effects of protonation and Coulomb interaction are crucial to unveiling the structure and composition of the Venusian ionosphere. We evaluate the role of protonated species on the structure of the dayside Venusian ionosphere for the first time. We also evaluate the role of ion-ion Coulomb collisions, which are neglected in many existing models. Focusing on the solar minimum condition for which the effect of protonation is expected to be more prominent, we constructed a detailed one-dimensional photochemical model for the dayside Venusian ionosphere, incorporating more than 50 ion and neutral species (of which 17 are protonated species), along with the most thorough chemical network to date. We included both ion-neutral and ion-ion Coulomb collisions. Photoelectron impact processes were implemented with a two-stream kinetic model. Our model reproduces the observed electron distribution reasonably well. The model indicates that protonation tends to diverge the ionization flow into more channels via a series of proton transfer reactions along the direction of low to high proton affinities for parent neutrals. In addition, the distribution of O$_2^+$ is enhanced by protonation by a factor of nearly 2 at high altitudes, where it is efficiently produced via the reaction between O and OH$^+$. We find that Coulomb collisions influence the topside Venusian ionosphere not only directly by suppressing ion diffusion, but also indirectly by modifying ion chemistry. Two ion groups can be distinguished in terms of the effects of Coulomb collisions: one group preferentially produced at high altitudes and accumulated in the topside ionosphere, which is to be compared with another group that is preferentially produced at low altitudes and, instead, depleted in the topside ionosphere. Both protonation and Coulomb collisions have appreciable impacts on the topside Venusian ionosphere, which account for many of the significant differences in the model ion distribution between this study and early calculations.

A Role for Thyroid Testing in Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis? 32% Rate of Abnormal Values in Tested Patients.

Hypothyroidism is a known risk factor for slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), and prior studies of hypothyroid-associated SCFE have demonstrated an incidence of up to 6%. However, there is limited evidence and no formal practice guidelines regarding whether patients presenting with SCFE should undergo screening for endocrine disorders. This study aims to investigate the incidence of abnormal thyroid function studies in patients presenting with SCFE. This was a retrospective review of all patients aged 0 to 18 years treated for SCFE at a single pediatric hospital from January 2015 to July 2022. On presentation, patients' BMI, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T4, vitamin D, creatinine, BUN, and HbA1c levels were documented. Follow-up and treatment for any identified endocrinopathies were noted. In addition, the chronicity, stability, and severity of their slips were recorded. Ninety-eight patients with 106 hips were included in this study. TSH was obtained at the time of initial presentation in 66% (n=65/98) of patients. Median TSH was 2.99 (range: 0.02 to 919, std dev: 132.4). The normal reference range for our institution is 0.5 to 4.5mcIU/mL. Thirty-two percent (n=21/65) of patients with a documented TSH had an abnormal value. Of those patients who had an elevated TSH, 3 were diagnosed with clinical hypothyroidism and went on to treatment with levothyroxine (n=3/19, 16%), 2 patients had been started on levothyroxine before presentation (n=2/19, 11%), and 2 patients were followed in endocrinology clinic until their TSH levels had normalized without further intervention (n=2/19, 11%). Screening of our SCFE population revealed a 32% incidence of thyroid abnormalities which affected treatment in 24% of those patients. This is a much higher incidence of hypothyroid-associated SCFE than previously demonstrated in the literature and has prompted us to start including thyroid screening studies as a routine part of our workup for all patients with SCFE. Level III.

Predicting Student Placement in College Using Machine Learning

Abstract: The research on student placement prediction in higher education has been a focal point, addressing challenges related to balanced accuracy and generalization across diverse datasets. Prior studies grappled with issues in feature representation and interpretability. This study aims to overcome these challenges by introducing a comprehensive machine learning framework for student placement prediction, leveraging advanced techniques in exploratory data analysis, preprocessing, and model evaluation. Drawing on previous research experiences, our proposed work targets specific issues related to feature engineering, categorical variable representation, and result interpretability. The methodology employs key libraries, including NumPy, pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly, scikit-learn, WordCloud, and DateTime, for efficient data manipulation, visualization, and analysis. Ensemble learning techniques, such as Random Forest and XGBoost, along with traditional algorithms like Decision Trees and K-Nearest Neighbors, contribute to enhancing predictive accuracy and model robustness. To fine-tune the models, a Randomized Search for Hyperparameters is implemented for the XGBoost classifier, optimizing parameters like learning rate, maximum depth, minimum child weight, gamma, and colsample by tree. This approach effectively addresses overfitting and underfitting issues, maximizing overall model performance. The accuracy percentages achieved through our models represent significant advancements. For instance, the Decision Tree model achieves an accuracy of 87.74%, the Random Forest model achieves 87.60%, the XGBoost model achieves 87.60%, and the K-Nearest Neighbors model achieves 85.18%. These results underscore the effectiveness of our approach in achieving high accuracy while maintaining interpretability.

People’s preferred balance between politicians, citizens, and experts in policy-making decisions

ABSTRACT Most prior studies examining citizens’ preferences for “who should govern” assume that people prefer either politicians, citizens, or experts to exclusively influence policy decisions. Our approach posits that individuals may actually prefer a mix of these actors. Across two studies, we discovered that people indeed favour the involvement of all three actors in policy decisions, but with specific relative importance assigned to each of them. Notably, our second study clarified that which actor should have the largest say depends on the specific issue at hand, with citizens outweighing experts and politicians for ideological issues and experts outweighing citizens and politicians for technical issues. These findings are particularly relevant, given that these two actors were found to outperform each other in a different legitimacy dimension. That is, citizens’ contribution is seen most in terms of input legitimacy, whereas experts are perceived as contributing most to output legitimacy, particularly for technical issues. In contrast, politicians are considered to contribute the least to all three legitimacy dimensions. To enhance the perceived legitimacy of policy decisions among the citizenry, it becomes crucial for policymakers to embrace a more “hybrid” perspective, acknowledging the value of a more diverse collaboration between politicians, citizens, and experts.

The enigma of fraud as a unique crime and its resonance for auditing research and practice: unlearned lessons of psychological pathways to fraud

Purpose This study aims to observe people’s decisions to commit fraud. This study is important in the current time because it provides insights into the development of fraudulent intentions within individuals. Design/methodology/approach The information used in this study is derived from semi-structured interviews, conducted with 16 high-ranking officials who are employed in Indonesian local government positions. Findings The study does not have strong evidence to support prior studies assuming that situational factors or social enablers have direct effects on fraud intentions. As suggested, individual factors which are related to moral reasoning (moral judgment and rationalisation) emerge as a consequence of social enablers. The significant role of that moral reasoning is to rationalise any fraud attempt as permissible conduct. As such, when an individual is capable of legitimising his/her fraud attempt into appropriate self-judgement, s/he is more likely to engage in fraudulent behaviours. Practical implications This study offers practical prescriptions in guiding the management to develop strategies to curb fraudulent behaviours. The study suggests that moral cognitive reasoning is found to be a parameter of whether fraud is an acceptable option or not. So, an understanding of observers’ moral reasoning is helpful in predicting the likelihood of fraud within an organisation or in detecting it. Originality/value This study provides a different perspective on the psychological pathway to fraud. It becomes a complement work for the fraud triangle to explain fraudulent behaviours. Specifically, it provides crucial insights into the underlying motivations that lead individuals to accept invitations to engage in fraudulent activities.

Asymmetric role of green energy, innovation, and technology in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions: evidence from India.

The primary cause of environmental degradation, which poses a danger to the long-term viability of the ecosystem, is the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). For this reason, the Glasgow Climate Pact (COP26) established a decarbonization goal in response to this ecological concern, for which all economic players have a responsibility. India is among the participants who have a target set for them to decarbonize their economies by the year 2060 via the use of green energy and the advancement of science and innovation. Nevertheless, the asymmetrical effect of green energy, technology, and innovation on India's decarbonization program was not sufficiently explored in the prior study; hence, this research aims to fill this literature vacuum by considering India's GHG emissions from 1990 to 2020 by leveraging the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The findings reveal the asymmetric influences of variables of interest on GHG emissions during the short and long term and under positive and negative shocks. Regarding the positive shock, long-term findings demonstrate that innovation and technical know-how grow GHG emissions and accelerate environmental degradation. However, a negative shock in innovations and technological know-how is opposed to a positive shock and improving environmental conditions. Further, positive shocks in green energy boost environmental effectiveness by reducing GHG secretions in India. In contrast, the negative shock in green energy deteriorates the environment by triggering GHG releases. These factual findings compel the Indian government to prioritize green technologies in addition to green energy generation to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions and meet rising energy demands.