Statistics and Probability Commons^™

Spatial Boundary Detection And Estimation Of Jet Stream As A Key Factor For Tornado Environments, Mingzeng Sun

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Understanding the impact of spatial patterns and processing features on health is a key element in public health and epidemiology fields. This thesis investigates these fundamental tasks using two approaches: high dimensional Kolmogorov-Zurbenko Adaptive smoothing and spatial boundary identification by rolling variation algorithm.

The Effect Of Maternal Dietary Habits During Pregnancy On Neonate Leptin Methylation Patterns And Gestational Age, Sean Fitzpatrick

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The health of a newborn baby is inextricably linked to the health status of its mother and in turn the mother’s diet during pregnancy. Leptin (LEP) is an adipokine hormone involved in metabolism regulation and has been linked fetal development through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). Prior work suggests that gestational epigenetic alterations the LEP gene may be sensitive to adverse exposures during pregnancy, which in turn could explain variation in neonate outcomes. However, no prior work has examined this possibility explicitly. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns of mothers during pregnancy and their …

Depression, Sensation-Seeking Behavior And Violence As Mediators Of The Association Between Childhood Adversity And Substance Use Disorder, Calvin Wong

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background:

Evaluating The Impacts Of Antidepressant Use On The Risk Of Dementia, Ran Duan

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Dementia is a clinical syndrome caused by neurodegeneration or cerebrovascular injury. Patients with dementia suffer from deterioration in memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities. Since there are no cures or disease-modifying therapies for dementia, there is much interest in identifying modifiable risk factors that may help prevent or slow the progression of cognitive decline. Medications are a common focus of this type of research.

Importantly, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 19.1% of the population aged 60 and over report taking antidepressants during 2011-2014, and this number tends to …

Toward Using High-Frequency Coastal Radars For Calibration Of S-Ais Based Ocean Vessel Tracking Models, Ben Freidrich

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Most of the world relies on ships for transportation, shipping, and tourism. Automatic Identification System messages are transmitted from ships and provide a wealth of positional data on these open ocean vessels. This data is being utilized to determine the optimal path for ships, as well as predicting where a ship may be going in the near future. It has only been in the past decade that Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) signals have been easily received with satellites (S-AIS) so there have been few studies that look at using available information and pairing it with the new abundance of ship …

Improved N-Dimensional Data Visualization From Hyper-Radial Values, Todd J. Paciencia, Trevor J. Bihl, Kenneth W. Bauer

Faculty Publications

Higher-dimensional data, which is becoming common in many disciplines due to big data problems, are inherently difficult to visualize in a meaningful way. While many visualization methods exist, they are often difficult to interpret, involve multiple plots and overlaid points, or require simultaneous interpretations. This research adapts and extends hyper-radial visualization, a technique used to visualize Pareto fronts in multi-objective optimizations, to become an n-dimensional visualization tool. Hyper-radial visualization is seen to offer many advantages by presenting a low-dimensionality representation of data through easily understood calculations. First, hyper-radial visualization is extended for use with general multivariate data. Second, a method …

Pawnee Dam Inflow Design Flood (Idf) Update And Stage-Frequency Curve Development Using Rmcrfa, Jennifer P. Christensen, Joshua J. Melliger

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Pawnee Dam is one of the ten Salt Creek Dams designed and built in the 1960s to mitigate flooding in Lincoln, Nebraska. This short paper illustrates the update of the Pawnee Dam inflow design flood (IDF) through calibration to recent high flow events and the development of its stage-frequency or hydrologic loading curve with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Risk Management Center Reservoir Frequency Analysis (RMC-RFA) model. The IDF update follows Engineering Regulation 1110-8-2, Inflow Design Flood for Dams and Reservoirs, including unit hydrograph peaking and two antecedent pool elevations. Background information on the original design of the dam …

On Cluster Robust Models, José Bayoán Santiago Calderón

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Cluster robust models are a kind of statistical models that attempt to estimate parameters considering potential heterogeneity in treatment effects. Absent heterogeneity in treatment effects, the partial and average treatment effect are the same. When heterogeneity in treatment effects occurs, the average treatment effect is a function of the various partial treatment effects and the composition of the population of interest. The first chapter explores the performance of common estimators as a function of the presence of heterogeneity in treatment effects and other characteristics that may influence their performance for estimating average treatment effects. The second chapter examines various approaches …

The Impact Of College Athletic Success On Donations And Applicant Quality, Benjamin Baumer, Andrew Zimbalist

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

For the 65 colleges and universities that participate in the Power Five athletic conferences (Pac 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, and Big 12), the football and men’s basketball teams are highly visible. While these programs generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually, very few of them turn an operating “profit.” Their existence is thus justified by the claim that athletic success leads to ancillary benefits for the academic institution, in terms of both quantity (e.g., more applications, donations, and state funding) and quality (e.g., stronger applicants, lower acceptance rates, higher yields). Previous studies provide only weak support for …

Less Is More: Beating The Market With Recurrent Reinforcement Learning, Louis Kurt Bernhard Steinmeister

Masters Theses

"Multiple recurrent reinforcement learners were implemented to make trading decisions based on real and freely available macro-economic data. The learning algorithm and different reinforcement functions (the Differential Sharpe Ratio, Differential Downside Deviation Ratio and Returns) were revised and the performances were compared while transaction costs were taken into account. (This is important for practical implementations even though many publications ignore this consideration.) It was assumed that the traders make long-short decisions in the S&P500 with complementary 3-month treasury bill investments. Leveraged positions in the S&P500 were disallowed. Notably, the Differential Sharpe Ratio and the Differential Downside Deviation Ratio are risk …

Essays On Mixture Models, Trevor R. Camper

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

When considering statistical scenarios where one can sample from populations that are not of interest for the purposes of a study, bivariate mixture models can be used to study the effect that this missampling can have on parameter estimation. In this thesis, we will examine the behavior that bivariate mixture models have on two statistical constructs: Cronbach's alpha \cite{C51}, and Spearman's rho \cite{S04}. Chapter 1 will introduce notions of mixture models and the definition of bias under mixture models which will serve as the central concept of this thesis. Chapter 2 will investigate a particular psychometric issue known as insufficient …

Canadian Hockey Leagues Game-To-Game Performance, Nick R. Riccardi

Sport Management - All Scholarship

This study examines game-to-game performance of players across the three Canadian Hockey Leagues (Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) for the 2017-2018 season. It tests the importance of factors such as rest, travel, weather conditions, and more. Data for this study were collected from each of the three CHL websites and from www.weatherunderground.com. The null hypotheses of different factors affecting performance were tested through regression models using Ordinary Least Squares. The dependent variables, used across different specifications, were on-ice performance variables such as points, goals, and penalty minutes on a per-game basis.

Combination Of Resampling Based Lasso Feature Selection And Ensembles Of Regularized Regression Models, Abhijeet R. Patil

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In high-dimensional data, the performance of various classiers is largely dependent on the selection of important features. Most of the individual classiers using existing feature selection (FS) methods do not perform well for highly correlated data. Obtaining important

features using the FS method and selecting the best performing classier is a challenging task in high throughput data. In this research, we propose a combination of resampling based least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) feature selection (RLFS)

and ensembles of regularized regression models (ERRM) capable of handling data with the high correlation structures. The ERRM boosts the prediction accuracy with …

Enrollment And Assessment Of A First-Year College Class Social Network For A Controlled Trial Of The Indirect Effect Of A Brief Motivational Intervention, Nancy P. Barnett, Melissa A. Clark, Shannon R. Kenney, Graham Diguiseppi, Matthew K. Meisel, Sara Balestrieri, Miles Q. Ott, John Light

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

Heavy drinking and its consequences among college students represent a serious public health problem, and peer social networks are a robust predictor of drinking-related risk behaviors. In a recent trial, we administered a Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) to a small number of first-year college students to assess the indirect effects of the intervention on peers not receiving the intervention. Objectives: To present the research design, describe the methods used to successfully enroll a high proportion of a first-year college class network, and document participant characteristics. Methods: Prior to study enrollment, we consulted with a student advisory group and campus stakeholders …

The Effect Of Vegetative Structure On Nest-Burrow Selection By The Western Burrowing Owl: Comparing Traditional Methods To Photogrammetry With An Unmanned Aerial System, Dylan J. Steffen

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The shortgrass prairie ecoregion in the United States has been reduced to 52% of its historical extent, contributing to reduced habitat for native species. One such species is the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia). The Western Burrowing Owl subspecies (A. c. hypugaea) is listed as a Species of Special Concern in nearly every western and midwestern state, including Kansas where it is designated as a Tier II Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Habitat destruction due to conversion to cropland, increasing use of pesticides, and reduction in burrowing mammal abundance are the primary threats that have led to …

Mefenamic Acid – Hpmc As Hg Amorphous Solid Dispersions: Dissolution Enhancement Using Hot Melt Extrusion Technology, Ashay Shukla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mefenamic acid, a BCS class II drug, displays high permeability and low solubility, thereby exhibiting a poor dissolution profile. Hence to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of Mefenamic acid, Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) technique was employed. The amorphous solid dispersion matrix exhibited enhanced dissolution with desired release characteristics. Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate succinate (AquaSolve™ HPMC-AS HG) was used as a carrier with the poloxamer (Kolliphor P407). The drug load was varied from 20% to 40% within the blend. Drug and polymers were blended using a twin shell V-blender for 10 minutes and extruded using an 11mm twin-screw co-rotating extruder (ThermoFisher Scientific, …

Dimensionality And Factorial Invariance Of Religiosity Among Christians And The Religiously Unaffiliated: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Based On The International Social Survey Programme, Carlos Miguel Lemos, Ross Joseph Gore, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

We present a study of the dimensionality and factorial invariance of religiosity for 26 countries with a Christian heritage, based on the 1998 and 2008 rounds of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Religion survey, using both exploratory and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that three factors, common to Christian and religiously unaffiliated respondents, could be extracted from our initially selected items and suggested the testing of four different three-factor models using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. For the model with the best fit and measurement invariance properties, we labeled the three resulting factors …

A Tacticians Guide To Conflict, Vol. 1: Advancing Explanations & Predictions Of Intrastate Conflict, Khaled Eid

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Intrastate conflict is an ever-evolving problem – causes, explanation, and predictions are increasingly murky as traditional methods of analysis focus on structural issues as precursors of conflict. Often times these theories do not consider the underlying meso and micro dynamics that can provide vital insights into the phenomena. Tactical decision-makers are left using models that rely on highly aggregated, country level data to create proper courses of actions (COAs) to address or predict conflict. The shortcoming is that conflicts morph quite rapidly and structural variables can struggle capture such dynamic changes. To address this some tacticians are using big data …

Neutrosophic Set Is A Generalization Of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set, Inconsistent Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set (Picture Fuzzy Set, Ternary Fuzzy Set), Pythagorean Fuzzy Set, Q-Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Set, Spherical Fuzzy Set, And N-Hyperspherical Fuzzy Set, While Neutrosophication Is A Generalization Of Regret Theory, Grey System Theory, And Three-Ways Decision (Revisited), Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this paper we prove that Neutrosophic Set (NS) is an extension of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set (IFS) no matter if the sum of single-valued neutrosophic components is < 1, or > 1, or = 1. For the case when the sum of components is 1 (as in IFS), after applying the neutrosophic aggregation operators one gets a different result from that of applying the intuitionistic fuzzy operators, since the intuitionistic fuzzy operators ignore the indeterminacy, while the neutrosophic aggregation operators take into consideration the indeterminacy at the same level as truth-membership and falsehood-nonmembership are taken. NS is also more flexible and effective because it …

Improving Access To Clean Water In Rural Ecuador: The Connection Between Willingness To Pay And Population Health, Micalea Leaska

Capstone Collection

Climate change is affecting social and environmental determinants of health through access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation systems, and access to health care services and the ability for individuals to break free from unsuitable circumstances. Ecological disturbances such as those caused by climate change can cause a shift in host vectors or a change in habitat that results in a greater likelihood of the pathogen coming in contact with humans. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and their accessibility to populations can directly impact a community’s vulnerability to diseases and limiting factors to increase economic growth. If rural …