Controversy in the allometric application of fixed- versus varying-exponent models: A statistical and mathematical perspective
✍ Scribed by Huadong Tang; Azher Hussain; Mauricio Leal; Eric Fluhler; Michael Mayersohn
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 170 KB
- Volume
- 100
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-3549
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This commentary is a reply to a recent article by Mahmood commenting on the authors' article on the use of fixed-exponent allometry in predicting human clearance. The commentary discusses eight issues that are related to criticisms made in Mahmood's article and examines the controversies (fixed-exponent vs. varying-exponent allometry) from the perspective of statistics and mathematics. The key conclusion is that any allometric method, which is to establish a power function based on a limited number of animal species and to extrapolate the resulting power function to human values (varying-exponent allometry), is infused with fundamental statistical errors.