Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Density Estimation For Lifetime Distributions Under Semi-Parametric Random Censorship Models, Carsten Harlass

Theses and Dissertations

We derive product limit estimators of survival times and failure rates for randomly right censored data as the numerical solution of identifying Volterra integral equations by employing explicit and implicit Euler schemes. While the first approach results in some known estimators, the latter leads to a new general type of product limit estimator. Plugging in established methods to approximate the conditional probability of the censoring indicator given the observation, we introduce new semi-parametric and presmoothed Kaplan-Meier type estimators. In the case of the semi-parametric random censorship model, i.e. the latter probability belonging to some parametric family, we study the strong …

An Exponential Time Differencing Scheme With A Real Distinct Poles Rational Function For Advection-Diffusion Reaction Equations, Emmanuel Owusu Asante-Asamani

Theses and Dissertations

A second order Exponential Time Differencing (ETD) scheme for advection-diffusion reaction systems is developed by using a real distinct poles rational function for approximating the underlying matrix exponential. The scheme is proved to be second order convergent. It is demonstrated to be robust for reaction-diffusion systems with non-smooth initial and boundary conditions, sharp solution gradients, and stiff reaction terms. In order to apply the scheme efficiently to higher dimensional problems, a dimensional splitting technique is also developed. This technique can be applied to all ETD schemes and has been found, in the test problems considered, to reduce computational time by …

Nonlocal Debye-Hückel Equations And Nonlocal Linearized Poisson-Boltzmann Equations For Electrostatics Of Electrolytes, Yi Jiang

Theses and Dissertations

Dielectric continuum models have been widely applied to the study of aqueous electrolytes since the early work done by Debye and Hückel in 1910s. Traditionally, they treat the water solvent as a simple dielectric medium with a permittivity constant without considering any correlation among water molecules. In the first part of this thesis, a nonlocal dielectric continuum model is proposed for predicting the electrostatics of electrolytes caused by any external charges. This model can be regarded as an extension of the traditional Debye Hückel equation. For this reason, it is called the nonlocal Debye-Hückel equation. As one important application, this …

Longitudinal Data Models With Nonparametric Random Effect Distributions, Hartmut Jakob Stenz

Theses and Dissertations

There is the saying which says you cannot see the woods for the trees. This

thesis aims to circumvent this unfortunate situation: Longitudinal data on

tree growth, as an example of multiple observations of similar individuals

pooled together in one data set, are modeled simultaneously rather than

each individual separately. This is done under the assumption that one

model is suitable for all individuals but its parameters vary following un-

known nonparametric random effect distributions. The goal is a maximum

likelihood estimation of these distributions considering all provided data and

using basis-spline-approximations for the densities of each distribution func-

tion …