Statistics and Probability Commons^™

A Proof Of Bell's Inequality In Quantum Mechanics Using Causal Interactions, James M. Robins, Tyler J. Vanderweele, Richard D. Gill

COBRA Preprint Series

We give a simple proof of Bell's inequality in quantum mechanics which, in conjunction with experiments, demonstrates that the local hidden variables assumption is false. The proof sheds light on relationships between the notion of causal interaction and interference between particles.

Longitudinal Analysis Of Spatiotemporal Processes: A Case Study Of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Multiple Sclerosis, Russell T. Shinohara, Ciprian M. Crainiceanu, Brian S. Caffo, Daniel S. Reich

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease in which inflammatory lesions form in the brain. In many active MS lesions, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is disrupted and blood flows into white matter; this disruption may be related to morbidity and disability. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) allows quantitative study of blood flow and permeability dynamics throughout the brain. This technique involves a subject being imaged sequentially during a study visit as an intravenously administered contrast agent flows into the brain. In regions where flow is abnormal, such as white matter lesions, this allows the quantification of the BBB damage. …

Analysis And Finite Element Approximation Of A Coupled, Continuum Pipe-Flow/Darcy Model For Flow In Porous Media With Embedded Conduits, Yanzhao Cao, Max Gunzburger, Fei Hua, Xiaoming Wang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We consider the continuum Darcy/pipe flow model for flows in a porous matrix containing embedded conduits; such coupled flows are present in, e.g., karst aquifers. the mathematical well-posedness of the coupled problem as well as convergence rates of finite element approximation are established in the two-dimensional case. Computational results are also provided. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects Of Animal Diet, Manure Application Rate, And Tillage On Transport Of Microorganisms From Manure-Amended Fields, Lisa M. Durso, John Gilley, David B. Marx, Bryan Woodbury

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Manure from cattle fed distillers’ grain or corn diets was applied to fields, and the fields were subjected to rainfall simulation tests. Manure was added at three rates on till and no-till plots. Correlations between microbial transport and runoff characteristics were identified. Results indicate that diet affects phage but not bacterial transport from manure-amended fields.

A New Undergraduate Curriculum On Mathematical Biology At University Of Dayton, Muhammad Usman, Amit Singh

Mathematics Faculty Publications

The beginning of modern science is marked by efforts of pioneers to understand the natural world using a quantitative approach. As Galileo wrote, "the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics". The traditional undergraduate course curriculum is heavily focused on individual disciplines like biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics rather than interdisciplinary courses. This fragmented teaching of sciences in majority of universities leave biology outside the quantitative and mathematical approaches. The landscape of biomedical science has transformed dramatically with advances in high throughput experimental approaches, which led to the huge amount of data. The best possible approach to generate …

The Constructions Of Almost Binary Sequence Pairs And Binary Sequence Pairs With Three-Level Autocorrelation, Xiuping Peng, Chengqian Xu, Guang Li, Krishnasamy T. Arasu

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

In this letter, a new class of almost binary sequence pairs with a single zero element and three autocorrelation values is presented. The new almost binary sequence pairs are based on cyclic difference sets and difference set pairs. By applying the method to the binary sequence pairs, new binary sequence pairs with three-level autocorrelation are constructed. It is shown that new sequence pairs from our constructions are balanced or almost balanced and have optimal three-level autocorrelation when the characteristic sequences or sequence pairs of difference sets or difference set pairs are balanced or almost balanced and have optimal autocorrelations.

An Occupational-Based Experimental Study Of Collective Vs. Personal Efficacy To Encourage Sun Protective Behaviors In Head Start Preschool Teachers, Elizabeth A. Holzhauser

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancers in the United States. An analysis of literature shows that skin cancer can be partially mitigated through personal behavior changes (Glanz, Buller, & Saraiya; 2007, Canadian Centre of Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS], 2010). Currently national sun-safety educational campaigns promote sun-protective behaviors to individuals who receive exposure due to their work environment (Task Force on Community Preventive Services, 2004). Preschool teachers employed with San Bernardino County Head Start are inadvertently exposed to sunlight during mandatory recess periods posing risks to their health.

Purpose. This study evaluated two instructional …

The Application Of Dialectical Behavior Therapy To Chronic Pain Management, Jacob S. Iwaszewski

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Pain affects more than 50 million Americans annually, costs over 150 billion dollars each year in healthcare and legal expenses, and results in decreased work productivity and missed work days (Ballantyne, 2006; Boll, Raczynski, & Leviton, 2004; Thom, 2004). It is estimated that chronic pain negatively impacts 15% to 33% of the US population (Bokarius et al., 2008). Third-wave acceptance-based therapies, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), have demonstrated significant improvements in mental health functioning for a variety of populations (Carmody & Baer, 2008; Cusens, Duggan, Thome, & Burch, 2010). DBT, one of the primary treatment modalities for Borderline Personality …

Movelets: A Dictionary Of Movement, Jiawei Bai, Jeff Goldsmith, Brian Caffo, Thomas A. Glass, Ciprian M. Crainiceanu

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Recent technological advances provide researchers a way of gathering real-time information on an individual’s movement through the use of wearable devices that record acceleration. In this paper, we propose a method for identifying activity types, like walking, standing, and resting, from acceleration data. Our approach decomposes movements into short components called “movelets”, and builds a reference for each activity type. Unknown activities are predicted by matching new movelets to the reference. We apply our method to data collected from a single, three-axis accelerometer and focus on activities of interest in studying physical function in elderly populations. An important technical advantage …

Research On The Impact Of Container Freight Derivatives On Shipping, Zhenle Shen

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Shipping Derivatives Based On Risk Evaluation, Sheng Yang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Market Structure Of Port Clusters And Analysis On The Number Of Effective Competitors, Ruoqi Qian

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Process Optimization In Freight Forwarding Industry, Xiaohua Shi

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Port-City Economic Interaction Effect Between Shanghai And Yangshan Port, Yifan Xu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Liner Shipping Lane Planning From Shanghai Port To Guangzhou Port Of Shanghai Baoyin Shipping Co., Ltd, Zhujun Zhou

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Framework For Generating Data To Simulate Application Scoring, Kenneth Kennedy, Sarah Jane Delany, Brian Mac Namee

Conference papers

In this paper we propose a framework to generate artificial data that can be used to simulate credit risk scenarios. Artificial data is useful in the credit scoring domain for two reasons. Firstly, the use of artificial data allows for the introduction and control of variability that can realistically be expected to occur, but has yet to materialise in practice. The ability to control parameters allows for a thorough exploration of the performance of classification models under different conditions. Secondly, due to non-disclosure agreements and commercial sensitivities, obtaining real credit scoring data is a problematic and time consuming task. By …

Automated Systems And Methods For Testing Infrared Cameras, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

Systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide automated testing on infrared image data to detect image quality defects. For example, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, image processing algorithms are disclosed to generate an image quality metric that may be compared to one or more thresholds to perform an automated test for image quality defects. For example, the image quality metric may be compared to two thresholds to determine if the corresponding infrared sensor or infrared camera is defective or not due to image quality or requires further manual inspection by test personnel.

Comparison Of Time Series And Functional Data Analysis For The Study Of Seasonality., Jake Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Classical time series analysis has well known methods for the study of seasonality. A more recent method of functional data analysis has proposed phase-plane plots for the representation of each year of a time series. However, the study of seasonality within functional data analysis has not been explored extensively. Time series analysis is first introduced, followed by phase-plane plot analysis, and then compared by looking at the insight that both methods offer particularly with respect to the seasonal behavior of a variable. Also, the possible combination of both approaches is explored, specifically with the analysis of the phase-plane plots. The …

Some Observations On The Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, Scott S. Emerson

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

This manuscript presents some general comments about the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Even the most casual reader will gather that I am not too impressed with the scientific usefulness of the Wilcoxon test. However, the actual motivation is more to illustrate differences between parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric (distribution-free) inference, and to use this example to illustrate how many misconceptions have been propagated through a focus on (semi)parametric probability models as the basis for evaluating commonly used statistical analysis models. The document itself arose as a teaching tool for courses aimed at graduate students in biostatistics and statistics, with parts of …

The Importance Of Statistical Theory In Outlier Detection, Sarah C. Emerson, Scott S. Emerson

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

We explore the performance of the outlier-sum statistic (Tibshirani and Hastie, Biostatistics 2007 8:2--8), a proposed method for identifying genes for which only a subset of a group of samples or patients exhibits differential expression levels. Our discussion focuses on this method as an example of how inattention to standard statistical theory can lead to approaches that exhibit some serious drawbacks. In contrast to the results presented by those authors, when comparing this method to several variations of the $t$-test, we find that the proposed method offers little benefit even in the most idealized scenarios, and suffers from a number …

Effectively Selecting A Target Population For A Future Comparative Study, Lihui Zhao, Lu Tian, Tianxi Cai, Brian Claggett, L. J. Wei

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

When comparing a new treatment with a control in a randomized clinical study, the treatment effect is generally assessed by evaluating a summary measure over a specific study population. The success of the trial heavily depends on the choice of such a population. In this paper, we show a systematic, effective way to identify a promising population, for which the new treatment is expected to have a desired benefit, using the data from a current study involving similar comparator treatments. Specifically, with the existing data we first create a parametric scoring system using multiple covariates to estimate subject-specific treatment differences. …

Targeted Minimum Loss Based Estimation Of An Intervention Specific Mean Outcome, Mark J. Van Der Laan, Susan Gruber

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Targeted minimum loss based estimation (TMLE) provides a template for the construction of semiparametric locally efficient double robust substitution estimators of the target parameter of the data generating distribution in a semiparametric censored data or causal inference model based on a sample of independent and identically distributed copies from this data generating distribution (van der Laan and Rubin (2006), van der Laan (2008), van der Laan and Rose (2011)). TMLE requires 1) writing the target parameter as a particular mapping from a typically infinite dimensional parameter of the probability distribution of the unit data structure into the parameter space, 2) …

Population Intervention Causal Effects Based On Stochastic Interventions, Ivan Diaz Munoz, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Estimating the causal effect of an intervention on a population typically involves defining parameters in a nonparametric structural equation model (Pearl, 2000, NPSEM) in which the treatment or exposure is deter- ministically assigned in a static or dynamic way. We define a new causal parameter that takes into account the fact that intervention policies can result in stochastically assigned exposures. The statistical parameter that identifies the causal parameter of interest is established. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), augmented IPTW (A-IPTW), and targeted maximum likelihood estimators (TMLE) are developed. A simulation study is performed to demonstrate the properties of these …

Multiple Testing Of Local Maxima For Detection Of Peaks In Chip-Seq Data, Armin Schwartzman, Andrew Jaffe, Yulia Gavrilov, Clifford A. Meyer

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Utilizing Induced Voxel Correlation In Fmri Analysis, Daniel B. Rowe, Andrew S. Nencka

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Manova: Type I Error Rate Analysis, Christopher Dau Wei Ling

Statistics

No abstract provided.

Statistical Analysis Of Fatalities Due To Vehicle Accidents In Las Vegas, Nv, Annabelle Marie Mathis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this thesis is to investigate factors that affect the odds of having a fatality in a vehicle collision. We will be looking at characteristics of the driver that caused the accident (age, gender, behavior, actions, influences, and seat belt worn), the characteristics of the vehicle the driver drove (type of vehicle, and air bag deployment), the characteristics of the environment in which the accident occurred (weather, road condition, lighting, time of day, the day of the week, and month of the year), the characteristics of the crash (direction of accident and how many vehicles were involved), and …

A Comparison Of Spatio-Temporal Prediction Methods Of Cancer Incidence In The U.S, Michelle Hamlyn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cancer is the cause of one out of four deaths in the United States, and in 2009, researchers expected over 1.5 million new patients to be diagnosed with some form of cancer. People diagnosed with cancer, whether a common or rare type, need to undergo treatments, the amount and kind of which will depend on the severity of the cancer. So how do healthcare providers know how much funding is needed for treatment? What would better enable a pharmaceutical company to determine how much to allocate for research and development of drugs, the amount of each drug to manufacture, or …

Perceived Parent-Child Relationship And High-Risk Behaviors Among Christian College Students, Karla G. Lavin Williams

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Adolescents and young adults today are participating in high-risk behaviors such as dangerous sexual behaviors and drug and alcohol abuse at high rates. An increased incidence of negative effects associated with the aforementioned behaviors has led researchers to examine factors that influence and protect adolescents from certain devastating effects (Davis, Hendershot, George, Norris, & Heiman, 2007; Goldstein, Bamett, Pedlow, & Murphy, 2007; Hamilton, et al., 2007; Hingson, Heeren, & Winter, 2006; Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2003; Hingson, Heeren, Zakocs, Winter, & Wechsler, 2003; McCarty, et al., 2004; Mokdad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, 2004; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005; …

Impact Of An Online Support System On Health Related Quality Of Life Among Men Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer, Daniel K. Osei

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Prostate cancer is a major public health issue worldwide and a significant cause of male cancer death in the USA. Though early screening and treatment has greatly enhanced the outcome, men diagnosed with prostate cancer face problems that compromise quality of life after treatment. Online support for prostate cancer clients is a convenient way to help because it is anonymous, inexpensive, and can be used at clients’ convenience. Yet few studies have explored how these supports impact these clients. This study used a longitudinal randomized experimental design to examine the impact of online services on quality of life of prostate …