As neuronal activity increases in the brain, blood flow to the brain also rises to meet the increasing demands for oxygen. Sheth et al. (2004) measured blood dynamics in the somatosensory cortex of rat brains to determine whether volume increased linearly with greater neuronal activity, or whether the relationship might be nonlinear, with blood volume to the brain increasing more steeply the greater the amount of neuronal activity. They estimated that the rate at which total hemoglobin to the tissue increased with increasing neuronal activity was 1.17. A rate of 1 is expected if the relationship between the two variables is linear, whereas a value different from one indicates a nonlinear relationship. The 95% confidence interval for the rate in the population was 0.74 ≤ rate ≤ 1.59. The researchers also tested the null hypothesis that the relationship between the variables is linear (H_O: rate 1). Did their test reject the null hypothesis or not? Explain.