Weaker Link Research Articles

EVALUATING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ESG PRACTICES AND CORPORATE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN AMERICA: THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

A comprehensive strategy that incorporates social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and economic viability is needed to achieve sustainability in the industrial sector, a sector that is responsible for almost a quarter of all carbon emissions worldwide. Nowadays, business strategy, risk management, and long-term value creation are deemed to be critically dependent on sustainability factors. The present paper targets to examine the relationship between ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and CFP (Corporate Financial Performance) for 100 American-listed companies that operate in the Industrial sector from 2018 to 2022. The data used in this study is collected from Thomson Reuters and analyzed using STATA Software. The research reveals a strong association between CFP and ESG as a combined score. When an in-depth analysis is performed regarding the sustainability pillars with separate consideration, a positive relationship was shown between the social and environmental pillar and the financial performance, whereas a weaker link could be determined regarding the governance pillar. As such, American companies need to carefully review ESG investments to avoid bad financial outcomes and gain long-term performance

Self-compassion moderates the relationship between neuroticism and depression in junior high school students.

Neuroticism, an emotion-related personality trait, is often associated with a greater susceptibility to depression. On the other hand, self-compassion involves treating oneself in a peaceful, mindful, and friendly manner, particularly in the face of failure or frustration. The study investigated the relationship between neuroticism and depression in junior high school students, as well as the moderating role of self-compassion. A total of 757 junior high school students participated in the survey, which included the Children's Depression Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised, Short Scale for Chinese, and the Chinese version of the Self-Compassion Scale. The results revealed that neuroticism positively predicted depression, while self-compassion had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between neuroticism and depression. Specifically, higher levels of self-compassion were associated with a weaker link between neuroticism and depression. These findings suggest that interventions promoting self-compassion may be beneficial for students exhibiting neurotic tendencies.

Ethnic differences in intergenerational housing mobility in England and Wales

Abstract Home ownership is the largest component of wealth for most households and its intergenerational transmission underpins the production and reproduction of economic inequalities across generations. Yet, little is currently known about ethnic differences in the intergenerational transmission of housing tenure. In this paper, we use linked Census data covering 1971–2011 to document rates of intergenerational housing tenure mobility across ethnic groups in England and Wales. We find that while home ownership declined across all ethnic groups during this period, there were substantial differences between them. Black, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi households experienced the strongest intergenerational link between parent and child housing tenure, and Black individuals had the highest rates of downward housing mobility. In contrast, those of Indian origin had homeownership rates similar to White British families, and a weaker link between parent and child housing tenure. These patterns are likely to exacerbate existing gradients in other dimensions of ethnicity-based inequality, now and in the future.

Probing mechanical interaction of immune receptors and cytoskeleton by membrane nanotube extraction

The role of force application in immune cell recognition is now well established, the force being transmitted between the actin cytoskeleton to the anchoring ligands through receptors such as integrins. In this chain, the mechanics of the cytoskeleton to receptor link, though clearly crucial, remains poorly understood. To probe this link, we combine mechanical extraction of membrane tubes from T cells using optical tweezers, and fitting of the resulting force curves with a viscoelastic model taking into account the cell and relevant molecules. We solicit this link using four different antibodies against various membrane bound receptors: antiCD3 to target the T Cell Receptor (TCR) complex, antiCD45 for the long sugar CD45, and two clones of antiCD11 targeting open or closed conformation of LFA1 integrins. Upon disruption of the cytoskeleton, the stiffness of the link changes for two of the receptors, exposing the existence of a receptor to cytoskeleton link—namely TCR-complex and open LFA1, and does not change for the other two where a weaker link was expected. Our integrated approach allows us to probe, for the first time, the mechanics of the intracellular receptor–cytoskeleton link in immune cells.

Sulfur is in the Air: Cyanolichen Marriages and Pollution.

Cyanolichens are symbiotic organisms involving cyanobacteria and fungi (bipartite) or with the addition of an algal partner (tripartite). Cyanolichens are known for their heightened susceptibility to environmental pollution. We focus here on the impacts on cyanolichens due to rising air pollution; we are especially interested in the role of sulfur dioxide on cyanolichen biology. Cyanolichens due to air pollution including sulfur dioxide exposure, show symptomatic changes including degradation of chlorophyll, lipid membrane peroxidation, decrease in ATP production, changes in respiration rate, and alteration of endogenous auxins and ethylene production, although symptoms are known to vary with species and genotype. Sulfur dioxide has been shown to be damaging to photosynthesis but is relatively benign on nitrogen fixation which proposes as a hypothesis that the algal partner may be more in harm's way than the cyanobiont. In fact, the Nostoc cyanobiont of sulfur dioxide-susceptible Lobaria pulmonaria carries a magnified set of sulfur (alkane sulfonate) metabolism genes capable of alkane sulfonate transport and assimilation, which were only unraveled by genome sequencing, a technology unavailable in the 1950-2000 epoch, where most physiology- based studies were performed. There is worldwide a growing corpus of evidence that sulfur has an important role to play in biological symbioses including rhizobia-legumes, mycorrhizae-roots and cyanobacteria-host plants. Furthermore, the fungal and algal partners of L. pulmonaria appear not to have the sulfonate transporter genes again providing the roles of ambient-sulfur (alkanesulfonate metabolism etc.) mediated functions primarily to the cyanobacterial partner. In conclusion, we have addressed here the role of the atmospheric pollutant sulfur dioxide to tripartite cyanolichen viability and suggest that the weaker link is likely to be the photosynthetic algal (chlorophyte) partner and not the nitrogen-fixing cyanobiont.

Academic Achievement, School Absence and Self-Concept in Czech Prepubescent Children with Overweight and Obesity

Problem. The paper offers findings about selected educational aspects of children’s academic performance, examined here in terms of sociodemographic variables, BMI percentile values, cognitive test scores, weight bias internalization scale and self­ ­concept scale with an aim to detect whether and to what extent these factors contribute to children’s school results. Methods. 557 fifth graders were administered Vana’s Intelligence Test, the Piers‑Harris 2 self­‑concept questionnaire and other tools. Children’s educational aspects were assessed in terms of school Absence, Grade Point Average, and Czech and Mathematics grades, with data obtained from their most recent report cards under the Informed consent of their legal representatives and in compliance with ethical standards. Results. Prepubescent children from stronger socio­‑economic backgrounds suffer from overweight/obesity less often and perform slightly better at school. The present results suggest a link between weight bias internalization and overweight/obesity, and a somewhat weaker link between self­‑concept and overweight/obesity in the non­‑clinical population of prepubescent children. In these relationships of overweight/obese children, as in the cases of alarmingly high school absence, gender is an important variable. Multinomial logistic regression modelling the relationship between Czech and Mathematics grades and selected factors discovered that chances for a worse grade were significantly reduced by the results of Vana’s Intelligence Test in both the subjects, while the Self‑concept total score proved to be an insignificant factor. Conversely, pupils’ Czech grades were negatively influenced by increased BMI (quartile), higher Absence rate, male Gender, Presence of only one parent in the family and WBI, while in Mathematics, in addition to the above­ ­discussed, significant regressors only included Absence and Presence of only one parent. Discussions. The results of the Self‑concept total score, the level of which is generally lower in girls than in boys in the population of Czech prepubescent children, agree with other authors’ experience. The connection between the male sex and poorer performance in Czech can be partly explained by the fact that the development of speech, reading, writing and grammar is generally less complicated for school­‑age girls than boys. We can ask why a higher BMI quartile increases the chances of a worse grade only in the case of Czech language? So far, we can only speculate about the causes. In our opinion, it is possible that the impact of parents’ education on the performance of children of this age is more pronounced in the Czech language (compared to Mathematics). The other possibility of the impact of the BMI quartile on the Czech grade is the significant predominance of boys in the o/o group. On the other hand, it should be noted that this argument would not explain the o/o children’s poorer Grade Point Average score. However, we believe that the above reasons answer partially this question. Conclusion. The vulnerability of o/o girls is pronounced in some domains of Selfconcept and Weight bias internalization, while in boys it is reflected in the more frequent occurrence of high levels of Absenteeism, with the precise causes of this being still subject to speculation. In this regard, workers in the cooperating professions should pay continuous attention to strengthening the desirable aspects of education and healthy lifestyle among vulnerable groups of children. Educational aspects of overweight/obese children should therefore continue to receive increased attention.

Prawo do prawdy w postępowaniu administracyjnym i podatkowym w kontekście wznowienia postępowania na podstawie nowych dowodów

The law is of great importance as long as it serves a person, and protects the spirit and values such as justice and a sense of security. In connection with the above, the fundamental relationship between law and truth becomes. Therefore, the truth, as an essential element of the spirit of the law, acquires a special meaning in administrative procedures, where in a situation of subordinating the administered entity to the administrative entity, the individual often becomes the weaker link. Meanwhile, the analysis of individual cases clearly shows the contrast that may arise in the argumentation by administrative authorities and courts of the legitimacy and regularity of their decisions. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of the authorities and courts interpreting the same norms on the basis of specific proceedings by using mutually exclusive arguments to justify the issued decisions is a common phenomenon. This is a dangerous situation for the stability of the law. The principle of objective truth is superseded by relative truth, which depends on the interest that plays a key role in a given matter.

Moderating effect of cognitive reserve on brain integrity and cognitive performance.

Dementia syndrome is one of the most devastating conditions in older adults. As treatments to stop neurodegeneration become available, accurate and timely diagnosis will increase in importance. One issue is that cognitive performance sometimes does not match the corresponding level of neuropathology, affecting diagnostic accuracy. Cognitive reserve (CR), which can preserve cognitive function despite underlying neuropathology, explains at least some variability in cognitive performance. We examined the influence of CR proxies (education and occupational position) on the relationship between hippocampal or total gray matter volume and cognition. We used data from the Czech Brain Aging Study. Participants were clinically confirmed to be without dementia (n = 457, including subjective cognitive decline and amnestic mild cognitive impairment) or with dementia syndrome (n = 113). For participants without dementia, higher education magnified the associations between (a) hippocampal volume and executive control (b = 0.09, p = 0.033), (b) total gray matter volume and language (b = 0.12, p < 0.001), and (c) total gray matter volume and memory (b = 0.08, p = 0.018). Similarly, higher occupational position magnified the association between total gray matter volume and (a) attention/working memory (b = 0.09, p = 0.009), (b) language (b = 0.13, p = 0.002), and (c) memory (b = 0.10, p = 0.013). For participants with dementia, the associations between hippocampal (b = -0.26, p = 0.024) and total gray matter (b = -0.28, p = 0.024) volume and visuospatial skills decreased in magnitude with higher education. We found that the association between brain volume and cognitive performance varies based on CR, with greater CR related to a stronger link between brain volume and cognition before, and a weaker link after, dementia diagnosis.

Home Visitations, Referrals and Linkage by Community Health Volunteers in Supporting Maternal Health Care Services in Dadaab

Background: There is an increase in the involvement of CHVs in healthcare in low and middle-income countries and the model is being used in refugee camps to enhance access to Primary Health Care including maternal health services. This is in line with the idea of optimizing health workers roles which targeted to address critical health worker shortage, by shifting downwards certain tasks to health workers with less training, such as from nurses to Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to increase universal access to maternal healthcare. The public health adopted the community health strategy that employs CHVs in providing health care services for the refugees in Dadaab. The role of CHVs on maternal healthcare in the refugee camp has not been clearly described. Objectives: The main objective of the study was to determine the roles of community health volunteers in home visitations, referrals, and linkage to promote maternal health care services in the Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with both qualitative and quantitative methods conducted at Ifo-1 camp, in the Dadaab Refugee complex. It targeted the CHVs and some Key Informants (KIs) involved in maternal health care services. The sample size for quantitative data was 74 CHVs selected by simple random sampling while for qualitative was 5 KIs selected purposively, making the study population 79. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews; analyzed descriptively and thematically and presented in form of tables, graphs, charts, and narratives. Ethical consideration involved study approval by the University of Nairobi Kenyatta National Hospital Ethics Research and Ethics Committee; permission from relevant authorities in Dadaab and obtaining informed consent from the participants. Results: The results showed that CHVs played a significant role in promoting maternal health care through home visitation and referrals. All the CHVs provided home visit services. Majority conducted more than two visits for Antenatal Care 66 (89%) and after delivery to deliver maternal health services. All the respondents conducted referral and follow-up services where 58(78%) identified pregnant mothers for referral; 51(67%) traced defaulters. There was, however, a weaker link after discharge from antenatal care clinics and no framework for implementing home visits and referrals or community maternal healthcare. Conclusion: The CHVs are playing a significant role in promoting the uptake of maternal health services in the Dadaab refugee camp through home visitations and referrals and linkage between the health system and the refugee community. Recommendations: There is a need to establish a framework for implementing community-based maternal health to guide and support, supervise CHVs, and strengthen monitoring of maternal health services in the community. Further, there should be more involvement of the CHVs by the antenatal care (ANC) clinic after discharging antenatal mothers from the clinic to continue with care and follow-up

Variation in the link between income position and union dissolution: an analysis of couples with and without a migrant background in Belgium

ABSTRACT Despite the fact that the size and diversity of migrant populations and their descendants in Europe have increased substantially throughout the past decades, income dynamics of union dissolution have not been studied among populations with a migrant background in the European context. Using data from the Belgian Social Security Registers from 1999–2013, we estimate discrete-time event-history models of union dissolution for couples of Belgian, Southern European, Moroccan and Turkish origin. The results indicate a weaker link between household income and union dissolution among couples with a Southern European and Turkish background. Whereas couples without a migrant background experience the lowest union dissolution risks when incomes are evenly distributed, the male breadwinner model does not raise union dissolution risks of couples with a migrant background. Welfare dependency has a positive association with union dissolution among all couples but the threshold at which it raises union dissolution risks is higher for couples with a Moroccan or Turkish background.

Ideological Extremism or Far-Right Attitudes? The Role of Ideology for COVID-19 Scepticism

ABSTRACT COVID-19 sceptics view the virus as harmless (i.e., not worse than a casual flu). While political orientation appears to play a crucial role in developing these sceptical positions, previous research showed inconsistent findings on the relationship between COVID-19 related beliefs and ideological orientation: Whereas various studies find close ties between far-right attitudes and COVID-19 related beliefs, other research suggests that sceptical views are linked to extremism on both ends of the ideological spectrum. We contribute to this debate by investigating the underlying ideological foundations of COVID-19 scepticism on a more fine-grained conceptualisation and measurement of ideological orientation and by focusing on a case with a prevalence of support for parties at both ideological fringes. Using data from a representative survey conducted in the East German region of Thuringia in autumn 2020, we show a strong significant link between far-right political attitudes and COVID-19 scepticism, as well as a weaker link between extremism on both sides of the ideological spectrum and scepticism.

The Impact of Take-home Open-book Examinations due to COVID-19 among Business Students. Do Gender, Age, and Academic Skills Matter?

Due to COVID-19, numerous universities and colleges have been forced to arrange home-based exams in many countries. We know relatively little about what consequences this might have for the ranking of students based on qualifications in the various subjects. This is an important issue for administrators, educators, and others involved in planning the design of higher education. The intention of this article is to get more insight into this issue. By analysing administrative data from a Norwegian Business School, we examined the impact of moving from traditional school exams to home-based exams in 2020 due to COVID-19. The chosen methodology is the comparison of means by using t-test and standard linear regression models. The results indicate a weaker link between high school performance and achievements in business administration courses. Furthermore, home-based exams might disadvantage older students. This is useful knowledge in the judgement as to whether or not to introduce home-based exams as a permanent arrangement.

Financial Markets and Land Redistribution in 19th Century East Prussia

Abstract How did the emerging market for land in the 19th century influence land distribution in East Prussia? And how did land markets respond to the emergence of financial institutions that relied on land as collateral but also affected the ease and speed of land transfer? Focusing on the example of a specific financial institution – the East Prussian Landschaft – this paper empirically tests the hypothesis that the Landschaft credit institutes, through their provision of privileged credit, enabled noble estates to expand their landholdings. It also tests whether the existence of Landschaft-credit helped noble estates to remain in the hands of nobles and halted estate sales to the emerging bourgeoisie. The analysis combines several datasets on East Prussian landed estates in 1796, 1834 and 1882 and matches these with borrowing records of the East Prussian Landschaft from 1823 and 1829. The study finds that access to Landschaft-credit correlates positively with estate size over the 19th century, suggesting that the Landschaft credit institutes did play a role in ownership concentration. The results regarding the transfer of estates from the nobility to the bourgeoisie show a weaker link between Landschaft-credit and ownership status of estate holders.

Computational Methods in Correlated Network Manipulation and Quantum Realism

The realization of long-distance entanglement has been important in many quantum technologies, including quantum cryptography. In particular, a swapping protocol has been introduced for connecting multiple short networks to create a long-distance entangled pair. Building on previous work, this paper attempts to provide a numerical analysis of entanglement swapping of two 4-level states. While it is not always possible to have a weaker link between the two states (i.e., the optimal case), a substantial number of states satisfy the best scenario. Moreover, various numerical outcomes are shown to yield near-optimal results when a swapping protocol is applied. Recently, the subjective nature of physical reality has been discussed from the perspective of quantum theory. It is suggested that, similar to the energy and mass relation in relativity, an equivalence between mass and meaning in the mind may be derived. That is, the experience of mass may be different for observers with different mental knowledge.

The Three Parties in the Race to the Bottom: Host Governments, Home Governments and Multinational Companies

Most studies of tax competition and the race to the bottom focus on potential host countries competing for mobile capital, neglecting the role of corporate tax planning and of home governments that facilitate this planning. This neglect in part reflects the narrow view frequently taken of the policy instruments that countries have available in tax competition. For example, hightax host governments can permit income to be shifted out to tax havens as a way of attracting mobile companies. Home countries will cooperate in this shift if they think the benefit to their companies is greater than any reduction in the domestic tax base. We use various types of U.S. data, including firm level tax files, to identify the role of the three parties (host governments, home governments and multinational companies) in the evolution of tax burdens on U.S. companies abroad from 1992 to 2002. This period is of particular interest because the United States introduced regulations in 1997 that greatly simplified the use of more aggressive tax planning techniques.The evidence indicates that from 1992 to 1998 the decline in effective tax rates on U.S. companies was driven largely by host governments defending their market share. But after 1998, tax avoidance behavior seems much more important. Effective tax rates on U.S. companies had a much weaker link with local statutory tax rates. Furthermore, the disparity in the reported profitability of subsidiaries in high-tax and low-tax jurisdictions grew substantially.After 1997, there was a very large growth in intercompany payments and a parallel growth of holding company income. We attempt to estimate how much of these payments were deductible in the host country, and conclude that by 2002 the companies were saving about $7.0 billion per year by using the more aggressive planning strategies. This amounts to about 4% of foreign direct investment income and about 15% of their foreign tax burden.

Numerical Analysis in Entanglement Swapping Protocols

Entanglement has recently been one of the most essential elements in the development of various quantum technologies. In fact, a swapping protocol was introduced to create a long-distance entanglement from multiple shorter ones. Extending the previous work, this paper provides a more detailed numerical analysis to help create long-distance entanglement out of the two non-maximal three-level states. Specifically, it shows that while the protocol does not always yield optimal results, namely, the weaker link, there is a substantial number of states that yield an optimal result. Moreover, we discuss the numerical approach in showing the existence of states that provide a result close to the optimal outcome, which may be useful in realizing the long-distance entanglement used in quantum technology.

Cingulo-opercular and Cingulo-parietal Brain Networks Functional Connectivity in Pre-adolescents: Multiplicative Effects of Race, Ethnicity, and Parental Education.

A growing body of research has shown a diminished association between socioeconomic status (SES) indicators and a wide range of neuroimaging indicators for racial and ethnic minorities compared to majority groups. However, less is known about these effects for resting-state functional connectivity between various brain networks. This study investigated racial and ethnic variation in the correlation between parental education and resting-state functional connectivity between the cingulo-opercular (CO) and cingulo-parietal (CP) networks in children. This cross-sectional study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study; we analyzed the resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI) data of 8,464 American pre-adolescents between the ages of 9 and 10. The main outcome measured was resting-state functional connectivity between the CO and CP networks calculated using rsfMRI. The independent variable was parental education, which was treated as a nominal variable. Age, sex, and family marital status were the study covariates. Race and ethnicity were the moderators. Mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis, with and without interaction terms between parental education and race and ethnicity. Higher parental education was associated with higher resting-state functional connectivity between the CO and CP networks. Race and ethnicity both showed statistically significant interactions with parental education on children's resting-state functional connectivity between CO and CP networks, suggesting that the correlation between parental education and the resting-state functional connectivity was significantly weaker for Black and Hispanic pre-adolescents compared to White and non-Hispanic pre-adolescents. In line with the Minorities' Diminished Returns theory, the association between parental education and pre-adolescents resting-state functional connectivity between CO and CP networks may be weaker in Black and Hispanic children than in White and non-Hispanic children. The weaker link between parental education and brain functional connectivity for Blacks and Hispanics than for Whites and non-Hispanics may reflect racism, racialization, and social stratification that collectively minimize the returns of SES indicators, such as parental education for non-Whites, who become others in the US.

Response of Northern Hemisphere weather and climate to Arctic sea ice decline: Resolution independence in Polar Amplification Model Intercomparison Project (PAMIP) simulations

AbstractThe impact of Arctic sea ice decline on the weather and climate in mid-latitudes is still much debated, with observation suggesting a strong and models a much weaker link. In this study, we use the atmospheric model OpenIFS, in a set of model experiments following the protocol outlined in the Polar Amplification Model Intercomparison Project (PAMIP), to investigate whether the simulated atmospheric response to future changes in Arctic sea ice fundamentally depends on model resolution. More specifically, we increase the horizontal resolution of the model from 125km to 39km with 91 vertical levels; in a second step resolution is further increased to 16km with 137 levels in the vertical. The model does produce a response to sea ice decline with a weaker mid latitude Atlantic jet and increased blocking in the high latitude Atlantic, but no sensitivity to resolution can be detected with 100 members. Furthermore we find that the ensemble convergence toward the mean is not impacted by the model resolutions considered here.

An Empirical Study of Business Student Engagement with Active Teaching Strategies: A Comparison of First Year and Senior Students

The quantitative evaluation of student engagement has been difficult to achieve. This study uses Kahu’s (2013) conceptual framework to investigate the effectiveness of active teaching strategies and how they influence Business students’ engagement in a blended learning environment. First, we quantify the influence of various in-class active teaching activities and out-of-class support tools upon student engagement. The link between engagement and student outcomes in terms of academic results and personal and professional skills development is then captured in our empirical modelling. Results are compared between first year and senior students to understand significant differences in their engagement and experience. Our findings suggest that first year students display a higher propensity to utilize in-class learning activities and out-of-class support tools. This in turn, establishes a strong link with their engagement patterns. However, there is a weaker link between first year student engagement and outcomes compared to senior students. Overall, this study reinforces the usefulness of Kahu’s framework to guide curricula developments that cater for learners’ different needs.

Assessing Genders Separately in Nondiabetic Persons Regarding Links Between Insulin Resistance and Fat Mass With Elements Related to the Metabolic Syndrome

Objective Initial results gathered from previously published observations dealing with nondiabetic volunteers reveal that both the fasting blood glucose (FBG) level employed as a surrogate for insulin resistance (IR) and the amount of body fat mass (FM) correlate significantly with the strength and pathological direction of many harmful elements making up the metabolic syndrome (MS). These initial results were obtained using combined data from both females and males. How the two markers correlate with specific metabolic parameters in each gender separately was not established. Method Baseline data from more than 700 volunteers were examined mainly using correlations to compare whether the breadth of IR estimated by FBG levels and/or the accumulation of body FM on the early development and progression of many chronic metabolic derangements differ to any meaningful extent between nondiabetic females and males. Results The following significant positive correlations were found in the data on females employing either FBG or FM as independent variables regarding development of elements associated with MS: in body composition (scale weight, fat free mass [FFM]); in blood chemistries (triglycerides, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], alanine aminotransferase [ALT]); and in blood counts (white blood cells [WBC], neutrophils). Also consistent with MS, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels declined significantly. In males, findings with FBG as the independent variable differ from females in some respects. These major exceptions are lack of significant correlations with FFM and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as a weaker link with ALT. Despite a positive hsCRP linkage, a poorer response of WBC and neutrophils appeared in males when correlations were made. The latter disassociations disappeared when FM replaced FBG as the independent variable. Conclusions Progression of many chronic metabolic derangements differ only slightly in females and males.