Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) has become very popular in recent years, for measuring concepts that depend on different aspects and that are based on different types of relationships. PLS-PM represents a useful tool to explore relationships and to analyze the influence of the different aspects on the complex phenomenon analyzed. In particular, the use of higher-order constructs has allowed researchers to extend the application of PLS-PM to more advanced and complex models. In this work, our attention is focused on higher-order constructs that include reflective or formative relationships. Even if the dispute between formative models and reflective models is not exactly recent, it is still alive in current literature, for the most part within the context of structural equation models. This paper focuses attention on theoretical and mathematical differences between formative and reflective measurement models within the context of the PLS-PM approach. A simulation study is proposed in order to show how these approaches fit well in different modeling situations. The approaches have been compared using empirical application in a sustainability context. The findings from the simulation and the empirical application can help researchers to estimate and to use the higher-order PLS-PM approach in reflective and formative type models.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of computer-aided dental implant positions obtained with mucosal-supported templates as compared to Three-Dimensional (3D) planning. Materials and methods: One-hundred implants were inserted into 14 edentulous patients using the All-on-4/6 protocol after surgical virtual planning with RealGUIDE, 3DIEMME, and Geomagic software. After 6 months, three-dimensional neck (V) and apex (S) spatial coordinates of implants and angle inclination displacements as compared to virtual plans were evaluated. Results: The S maxilla coordinates revealed a significant discrepancy between clinical and virtual implant positions (p-value = 0.091). The V coordinates showed no significant differences (p-value = 0.71). The S (p-value = 0.017) and V (p-value = 0.038) mandible coordinates showed significant discrepancies between the clinical and virtual positions of the screws. Implant evaluation showed a 1-mm in average of the horizontal deviation in the V point and a 1.6-mm deviation in the S point. A mean 5° angular global deviation was detected. The multivariate permutation test of the S (p-value = 0.02) confirmed the difference. Greater errors in the mandible were detected as compared to the maxilla, and a higher S discrepancy was found in the posterior jaw compared to the anterior section of both the mandible and maxilla. Conclusions: Computer-aided surgery with mucosal-supported templates is a predictable procedure for implant placement. Data showed a discrepancy between the actual dental implant position as compared to the virtual plan, but this was not statistically significant. However, the horizontal and angle deviations detected indicated that flap surgery should be used to prevent implant positioning errors due to poor sensitivity and accuracy in cases of severe jaw atrophy.

Structural equation modeling (SEM), especially partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) has become a mainstream method in many fields of research. In the last years it has been increasingly disseminated in a variety of disciplines. The researchers have been promoting this new statistical methods for the evaluation of policies. Generally, policy evaluation applies evaluation principles and methods to examine the content, implementation or impact of a policy. To better understand and characterize this trend, a bibliometric study of international papers on this subject has been developed in order to describe the use of SEM and PLS-PM approaches in the policy evaluation in the almost last 20 years. A total of 450 articles from 2000 to 2020 have been selected and analyzed in order to discover the research trends in this field and the main dimensions and words related to the terms “decision making” and “SEM-PLS” approach, that are most commonly employed in the scientific literature. The research has been conducted in theWeb of Science from ISI Web of Knowledge database and Scopus database, with the aim of identifying the major themes, authors, areas, types of the sources, titles, years of publication and countries of these publications, as well as the main themes related to the two topic analyzed