Statistics and Probability Commons^™

Spatial Analysis Of Passenger Vehicle Use And Ownership And Its Impact On The Sustainability Of Highway Infrastructure Funding, Matthew Volovski

Open Access Dissertations

Across the United States, the sustainability of highway funding is at risk due to increasing need and uncertainty in the factors that drive revenue. Past studies on highway funding sustainability have identified that the root cause of changing highway revenue are the shifts in social demographics and economic characteristics. Unfortunately, from the revenue perspective (the focus of this dissertation), the ability of previous research to account for these factors has been rather limited in two ways; first, the inability to accurately assess current regional vehicle use (a typical prerequisite for statistical modeling of highway revenues) due to difficulties associated with …

Identifying Locations Of Active Corrosion Growth From Successive In-Line Inspections, Tom Bubenik, William V. Harper, Pam Moreno, Steven Polasik

Mathematics Faculty Scholarship

The integrated approach covered by this paper identifies corrosion activity using a combination of statistics, inspection-signal comparisons, and engineering analyses. The approach relies on an understanding of ILI and the mechanisms that cause corrosion and its growth. Pipeline operators can use the approach to calculate remaining lives, prioritize repairs and mitigation, and extend reassessment intervals. This process is collectively known as statistically-active corrosion.

Voc Emissions From Beef Feedlot Pen Surfaces As Affected By Within-Pen Location, Moisture And Temperature, Bryan L. Woodbury, John E. Gilley, David B. Parker, David B. Marx, Roger A. Eigenberg

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the effects of pen location, moisture, and temperature on emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from surface materials obtained from feedlot pens where beef cattle were fed a diet containing 30% wet distillers grain plus solubles. Surface materials were collected from the feed trough (bunk), drainage, and raised areas (mounds) within three feedlot pens. The surface materials were mixed with water to represent dry, wet, or saturated conditions and then incubated at temperatures of 5, 15, 25 and 35 C. A wind tunnel and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer were used to collect and quantify …

Derivation And Validation Of The Friction, Gravitational, And Air Forces Encountered During Installation Of Fiber Optic Cable, Faheed Olayemi Owokoniran

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper presents an introduction to fiber optic cable and the fiber optic communication system. An important phase in the supply of this new technology is to transport the fiber optic cable to the vicinity of service. Cable pulling and cable blowing - laminar flow; piston type - are the two main methods of installing fiber optic cable. Both methods of installation have limiting factors that need to be evaluated in order to perform a successful installation. The limiting factors for laminar type cable blowing are further discussed in this paper. A method was proposed to determine the forces - …

Key Factors Driving Personnel Downsizing In Multinational Military Organizations, Ilksen Gorkem, Resit Unal, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Although downsizing has long been a topic of research in traditional organizations, there are very few studies of this phenomenon in military contexts. As a result, we have little understanding of the key factors that drive personnel downsizing in military setting. This study contributes to our understanding of key factors that drive personnel downsizing in military organizations and whether those factors may differ across NATO nations’ cultural clusters. The theoretical framework for this study was built from studies in non-military contexts and adapted to fit the military environment.

This research relies on historical data from one of the largest multinational …

Patient Populations, Clinical Associations, And System Efficiency In Healthcare Delivery System, Yazhuo Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The efforts to improve health care delivery usually involve studies and analysis of patient populations and healthcare systems. In this dissertation, I present the research conducted in the following areas: identifying patient groups, improving treatments for specific conditions by using statistical as well as data mining techniques, and developing new operation research models to increase system efficiency from the health institutes’ perspective. The results provide better understanding of high risk patient groups, more accuracy in detecting disease’ correlations and practical scheduling tools that consider uncertain operation durations and real-life constraints.

A Customer Choice Modeling Framework For Assortment Planning Of Configurable Products In Automotive Industry, Farah Dubaisi

Wayne State University Theses

Due to the increased competition in the auto industry, proliferation of the vehicle models and increased customer need for choice and customization, it has become more critical than ever to offer a variety of features and customization flexibility while at the same time restraining and, even better, cutting down the costs. Product complexity, in the automotive industry, can be measured by the size of the assortment offered, i.e., set of vehicle configurations a customer can choose from (e.g., for a given model of a brand). While complexity fosters growth with increased alignment of product characteristics and customer needs, it results …

Developing An Automated Forecasting Framework For Predicting Operation Room Block Time, Azad Sadr Haghighi

Wayne State University Theses

Operating rooms are the most important part of the hospitals, since they have highest influence on financial state of the hospital. Because of high uncertainty in surgery cases demands and their durations, the scheduling of the surgeries becomes a very challenging and critical issue in hospitals. One of the most common approaches to overcome this uncertainty is applying block times which is the time intervals allocated to surgery groups in the hospital. Assigning sufficient amount of the time to each block, is very important, since overestimating lead to wasting resources and on the other hand underestimation causes the overtime staffing …

Diffuse Optical Measurements Of Head And Neck Tumor Hemodynamics For Early Prediction Of Chemo-Radiation Therapy Outcomes, Lixin Dong

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Chemo-radiation therapy is a principal modality for the treatment of head and neck cancers, and its efficacy depends on the interaction of tumor oxygen with free radicals. In this study, we adopted a novel hybrid diffuse optical instrument combining a commercial frequency-domain tissue oximeter (Imagent) and a custom-made diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) flowmeter, which allowed for simultaneous measurements of tumor blood flow and blood oxygenation. Using this hybrid instrument we continually measured tumor hemodynamic responses to chemo-radiation therapy over the treatment period of 7 weeks. We also explored monitoring dynamic tumor hemodynamic changes during radiation delivery. Blood flow data analysis …

Space-Based Relative Multitarget Tracking, Keith Allen Legrand

Masters Theses

"Access to space has expanded dramatically over the past decade. The growing popularity of small satellites, specifically cubesats, and the following launch initiatives have resulted in exponentially growing launch numbers into low Earth orbit. This growing congestion in space has punctuated the need for local space monitoring and autonomous satellite inspection. This work describes the development of a framework for monitoring local space and tracking multiple objects concurrently in a satellite's neighborhood. The development of this multitarget tracking systems has produced collateral developments in numerical methods, relative orbital mechanics, and initial relative orbit determination.

This work belongs to a class …

Uncertainty Quantification Of Turbulence Model Closure Coefficients For Transonic Wall-Bounded Flows, John Anthony Schaefer

Masters Theses

"The goal of this work was to quantify the uncertainty and sensitivity of commonly used turbulence models in Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes codes due to uncertainty in the values of closure coefficients for transonic, wall-bounded flows and to rank the contribution of each coefficient to uncertainty in various output flow quantities of interest. Specifically, uncertainty quantification of turbulence model closure coefficients was performed for transonic flow over an axisymmetric bump at zero degrees angle of attack and the RAE 2822 transonic airfoil at a lift coefficient of 0.744. Three turbulence models were considered: the Spalart-Allmaras Model, Wilcox (2006) k-ω Model, and the …

Steam Flooding Screening And Eor Prediction By Using Clustering Algorithm And Data Visualization, Na Zhang

Masters Theses

"Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques are vitally important in the oil industry because these techniques could not only extend the life of wells, but also produce 10% to 30% additional oil from the reservoir. However, selecting the most suitable EOR techniques for unknown reservoirs is not easy for decision making. Based on literature, EOR screening criteria could help to find the best candidates for unknown projects, which is classified into two categories: conventional EOR screening and advanced EOR screening. In this research, an artificial intelligent (AI) method, hierarchical clustering algorithm, is adapted to analyze both steam flooding projects and worldwide …

Statistical Engineering: A Causal-Stochastic Modeling Research Update, Teddy Steven Cotter

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In the ASEM-IAC 2012, Cotter (2012) summarized prior works that led to the proposal for statistical engineering, identified the gaps in knowledge that statistical engineering needs to address, explored additional gaps in knowledge not addressed in the prior works, set forth a working definition of and body of knowledge for statistical engineering, and set forth proposals of potential systems contributions the Engineering Management profession could make toward the development of statistical engineering. In 2014, the ASQ Statistics Division, DOT&E, NASA, and IDA co-sponsored a Statistical Engineering Agreement to jointly research development of the discipline of statistical engineering. The statistics community …

Evaluation Of The Signature Molecular Descriptor With Blosum62 And An All-Atom Description For Use In Sequence Alignment Of Proteins, Lindsay M. Aichinger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Project focused on a few aspects of this topic. The second is comparing the molecular signature kernels to three of the BLOSUM matrices (30, 62, and 90) to test the accuracy of the mathematical model. The kernel matrix was manipulated in order to improve the relationship by focusing on side groups and also by changing how the structure was represented in the matrix by increasing the initial height distance from the central atom (Height 1 and Height 2 included).

There were multiple design constraints for this project. The first was the comparison with the BLOSUM matrices (30, 62, …

Computational Intelligence Based Complex Adaptive System-Of-Systems Architecture Evolution Strategy, Siddharth Agarwal

Doctoral Dissertations

The dynamic planning for a system-of-systems (SoS) is a challenging endeavor. Large scale organizations and operations constantly face challenges to incorporate new systems and upgrade existing systems over a period of time under threats, constrained budget and uncertainty. It is therefore necessary for the program managers to be able to look at the future scenarios and critically assess the impact of technology and stakeholder changes. Managers and engineers are always looking for options that signify affordable acquisition selections and lessen the cycle time for early acquisition and new technology addition. This research helps in analyzing sequential decisions in an evolving …

Investigation Of Robust Optimization And Evidence Theory With Stochastic Expansions For Aerospace Applications Under Mixed Uncertainty, Harsheel R. Shah

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the primary objectives of this research is to develop a method to model and propagate mixed (aleatory and epistemic) uncertainty in aerospace simulations using DSTE. In order to avoid excessive computational cost associated with large scale applications and the evaluation of Dempster Shafer structures, stochastic expansions are implemented for efficient UQ. The mixed UQ with DSTE approach was demonstrated on an analytical example and high fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of transonic flow over a RAE 2822 airfoil.

Another objective is to devise a DSTE based performance assessment framework through the use of quantification of margins and …

Predicting Scenarios For Successful Autodissemination Of Pyriproxyfen By Malaria Vectors From Their Resting Sites To Aquatic Habitats; Description And Simulation Analysis Of A Field-Parameterizable Model, Samson Sifael Kiware, George F. Corliss, Stephen Merrill, Dickson W. Lwetoijera, Gregor J. Devine, Silas Majambere, Gerry F. Killeen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Large-cage experiments indicate pyriproxifen (PPF) can be transferred from resting sites to aquatic habitats by Anopheles arabiensis - malaria vector mosquitoes to inhibit emergence of their own offspring. PPF coverage is amplified twice: (1) partial coverage of resting sites with PPF contamination results in far higher contamination coverage of adult mosquitoes because they are mobile and use numerous resting sites per gonotrophic cycle, and (2) even greater contamination coverage of aquatic habitats results from accumulation of PPF from multiple oviposition events.

Methods and Findings

Deterministic mathematical models are described that use only field-measurable input parameters and capture the biological …

The Simulation & Evaluation Of Surge Hazard Using A Response Surface Method In The New York Bight, Michael H. Bredesen

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric features, such as tropical cyclones, act as a driving mechanism for many of the major hazards affecting coastal areas around the world. Accurate and efficient quantification of tropical cyclone surge hazard is essential to the development of resilient coastal communities, particularly given continued sea level trend concerns. Recent major tropical cyclones that have impacted the northeastern portion of the United States have resulted in devastating flooding in New York City, the most densely populated city in the US. As a part of national effort to re-evaluate coastal inundation hazards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency used the Joint Probability Method …

Reliability-Based Design And Acceptance Protocol For Driven Piles, Joseph Jabo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current use of the Arkansas Standard Specifications for Highway Construction Manuals (2003, 2014) for driven pile foundations faces various limitations which result in designs of questionable reliability. These specifications are based on the Allowable Stress Design method (ASD), cover a wide range of uncertainties, do not take into account pile and soil types, and were developed for general use. To overcome these challenges it is deemed necessary to develop a new design and acceptance protocol for driven piles. This new protocol incorporates locally calibrated RLFD resistance factors for accounting for local design and construction experiences and practices, as well …

Security Analysis On Network Systems Based On Some Stochastic Models, Xiaohu Li

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Due to great effort from mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists, network science has attained rapid development during the past decades. However, because of the complexity, most researches in this area are conducted only based upon experiments and simulations, it is critical to do research based on theoretical results so as to gain more insight on how the structure of a network affects the security. This dissertation introduces some stochastic and statistical models on certain networks and uses a k-out-of-n tolerant structure to characterize both logically and physically the behavior of nodes. Based upon these models, we draw several illuminating results …

Comparison Of Individual And Moving Range Chart Combinations To Individual Charts In Terms Of Arl After Designing For A Common “All Ok” Arl, Dewi Rahardja

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

In some process monitoring situations, consecutive measurements are spaced widely apart in time, making monitoring process aim and spread difficult. This study uses three cases to compare the effectiveness of two such monitoring schemes, i.e., the X chart alone (X-only chart) and the Individuals and Moving Range Chart Combination (X/MR chars), in terms of Average Run Length (ARL) after designing for a common “all OK” (in-control) ARL. The study finds that X chart alone is sufficient (and hence, recommended) in detecting changes in all the 3 cases: changes in the process mean, changes in the process standard deviation, and changes …

Application Of Bayesian Networks In Consumer Service Industry, Yuan Gao

Open Access Theses

Gao, Yuan. M.S.I.E., Purdue University. December 2014. Application of Bayesian Networks in Consumer Service Industry. Major professor: Vincent G. Duffy The purpose of the present study is to explore the application of Bayesian networks in the consumer service industry to model causal relationships within complex risk factor structures using aggregate data. An analysis of the Hawaii tourism market was conducted to find out how visitor characteristics affect their behavior and experience as consumers during the trips, and influence the tourism market outcomes represented by measurable factors. Two hypotheses were proposed regarding the use of aggregate data and the influence of …

Probabilistic Uncertainty Quantification And Experiment Design For Nonlinear Models: Applications In Systems Biology, Vu Cao Duy Thien Dinh

Open Access Dissertations

Despite the ever-increasing interest in understanding biology at the system level, there are several factors that hinder studies and analyses of biological systems. First, unlike systems from other applied fields whose parameters can be effectively identified, biological systems are usually unidentifiable, even in the ideal case when all possible system outputs are known with high accuracy. Second, the presence of multivariate bifurcations often leads the system to behaviors that are completely different in nature. In such cases, system outputs (as function of parameters/inputs) are usually discontinuous or have sharp transitions across domains with different behaviors. Finally, models from systems biology …

The Selecting And Risk Analysis Of Temporary Anchor Positions In The Port Area Of Qinhuangdao, Shangying Zhang

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

An Eigenvector-Based Test For Local Stationarity Applied To Array Processing, Jorge Quijano, Lisa M. Zurk

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In sonar array processing, a challenging problem is the estimation of the data covariance matrix in the presence of moving targets in the water column, since the time interval of data local stationarity is limited. This work describes an eigenvector-based method for proper data segmentation into intervals that exhibit local stationarity, providing data-driven higher bounds for the number of snapshots available for computation of time-varying sample covariance matrices. Application of the test is illustrated with simulated data in a horizontal array for the detection of a quiet source in the presence of a loud interferer.

Surface Reconstruction Using Differential Invariant Signatures, Sophors Khut

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

This thesis addresses the problem of reassembling a broken surface. Three di- mensional curve matching is used to determine shared edges of broken pieces. In practice, these pieces may have different orientation and position in space, so edges cannot be directly compared. Instead, a differential invariant signature is used to make the comparison. A similarity score between edge signatures determines if two pieces share an edge. The Procrustes algorithm is applied to find the translations and rotations that best fit shared edges. The method is implemented in Matlab, and tested on a broken spherical surface.

Poisson Distributed Individuals Control Charts With Optimal Limits, Negin Enayaty Ahangar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The conventional method used in attribute control charts is the Shewhart three sigma limits. The implicit assumption of the Normal distribution in this approach is not appropriate for skewed distributions such as Poisson, Geometric and Negative Binomial. Normal approximations perform poorly in the tail area of the these distributions. In this research, a type of attribute control chart is introduced to monitor the processes that provide count data. The economic objective of this chart is to minimize the cost of its errors which is determined by the designer. This objective is a linear function of type I and II errors. …

A Metaevaluation Of Energy Efficiency Evaluations, Brandy Brown

Dissertations

This study systematically reviews the methodological characteristics of energy efficiency evaluations and uses metaevaluation to assess its quality. Metaevaluation is used to systematically assess the quality of evaluation products, confirm that evaluations deliver sound findings and conclusions, are useful to the client, are credible, are ethically conducted, and are done as cost-effective as possible. The results of this study show that the ability to accurately assess evaluation for methodological quality using evaluations reports as a primary data source depends on the presence of detailed descriptions of evaluation methods. Furthermore, the study suggests that methodological variations of energy efficiency evaluations coalesce …

Reliability-Based Progressive Collapse And Redundancy Analysis Of Bridge Systems, Feng Miao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Highway bridges like most structural systems are usually designed on a member by member basis and little consideration is provided to the effect of a local failure on system safety. There are concerns that some systems optimized to meet code-specified member design criteria may not provide sufficient levels of structural redundancy to withstand a possible local failure. In fact, a local failure of one structural element may result in the failure of another element creating a chain reaction that might progress throughout the whole structure or a major portion of it leading to a catastrophic collapse. Several recent catastrophic structural …

Safety Effect Of Missouri's Strategic Highway Safety Plan: Missouri's Blueprint For Safer Roadways, Mojtaba A. Mohammadi, V. A. Samaranayake, Ghulam H. Bham

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study systematically evaluated the changes in motor vehicle crashes that occurred on the Missouri Interstate highway system following the implementation of the Missouri Strategic Highway Safety Plan (MSHSP) between 2004 and 2007. The MSHSP implemented crash injury reduction strategies in enforcement, education, engineering, and public policy. Empirical Bayesian methods were commonly used to evaluate the effects of any change in safety as a result of countermeasures. This paper presents a simple new approach to evaluating the effects of Missouri's safety plans on roadway crashes. For crash data associated with traffic and roadway characteristics, negative binomial regression models were developed …