Do Dreams Reflect Our Culture? A Statistical Analysis On Dream Narratives,
2026
Northern Illinois University
Do Dreams Reflect Our Culture? A Statistical Analysis On Dream Narratives, Michal Kuderski
Honors Capstones
Dreams are often viewed as personal experiences, but they may also reflect cultural influences. This project investigates whether dream content varies across cultures by analyzing written dream reports from American, Japanese, and Peruvian college students using data from DreamBank.net. The study applies text analysis techniques to identify common themes and compares language patterns, including the use of ‘I’ and 'We,' to examine differences in self-focus. Statistical methods for count data are used to evaluate these patterns, along with resampling to address differences in sample size. Preliminary findings suggest that both dream themes and language use may vary by cultural …
Pyspqr: A Python Package For Density Estimation Using Deep Learning,
2026
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Pyspqr: A Python Package For Density Estimation Using Deep Learning, Cameron Eddy, Reetam Majumder
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Honors Theses
Splines are used for representing complex functions. In statistics, splines can be used for distributional shapes that are difficult to model by traditional parametric approaches. Ramsay (1) uses M-Spline bases to estimate continuous distributions. Semi-Parametric Quantile Regression (SPQR), developed by Xu and Reich (2), models conditional distributions where a neural network is used to estimate the basis function weights that depend on covariates. (3) implements a package for SPQR in R. We build on this by implementing a version of SPQR in Python with PyTorch. By using PyTorch, we can use more sophisticated deep learning architectures than those available in …
Multi-Population Sufficient Dimension Reduction,
2026
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Multi-Population Sufficient Dimension Reduction, Xuerong Meggie Wen, Yuexiao Dong, Li Xing Zhu
Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works
A novel dimension-reduction method is introduced for multi-population data. The approach conducts a joint analysis that exploits information shared across populations while accommodating population-specific effects. Unlike partial dimension reduction methods, which identify related directions across all populations, or conditional analyses conducted independently within each population, the proposed two-step procedure leverages cross-population information to enhance estimation accuracy. The methodology is demonstrated through simulations and two real-data applications.
High Throughput Phenomics Pipeline For Pulse Crop Nutritional Breeding,
2026
Clemson University
High Throughput Phenomics Pipeline For Pulse Crop Nutritional Breeding, Amod Udayanga Madurapperumage
All Dissertations
Dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) are major pulse crops valued for their high nutritional composition and importance to global food systems. Pulses are rich in carbohydrates, protein, and essential minerals, making them ideal whole foods and critical contributors to food and nutrition security. Due to these advantages, pulse breeding programs are increasingly focusing on enhancing nutritional traits, such as protein quality, amino acid balance, and micronutrient density, through the process of biofortification. However, improvement of agronomic traits remains equally essential. Characteristics such as plant height, standability, stress tolerance, …
A New Approach To Generate Combinatorial Patterns In Logical Analysis Of Data And Its Application To Predict College Retention,
2026
Florida Institute of Technology
A New Approach To Generate Combinatorial Patterns In Logical Analysis Of Data And Its Application To Predict College Retention, Salihah Ahmed E. Jaafari
Theses and Dissertations
Student retention and degree completion remain central challenges for higher-education institutions, with significant implications for student success, institutional effectiveness, and public accountability. While advances in predictive analytics have enabled earlier identification of students at risk of withdrawal, many commonly used machine learning approaches suffer from limited interpretability, constraining their practical usefulness for advising, intervention, and policy decision making. This dissertation addresses the problem of predicting student persistence by developing and evaluating optimization based, interpretable classification models within the Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) framework. Building on existing LAD formulations, this research introduces two novel pattern generation models, the Best Term …
Factors Affecting Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflicts: An Empirical Analysis,
2026
University of Connecticut - Storrs
Factors Affecting Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflicts: An Empirical Analysis, Christo D. Jamo
Honors Scholar Theses
The number of pedestrian deaths increased by 78% between 2009 and 2023, while other motor vehicle crash deaths increased by 13% in the same period [1]. To identify potential pedestrian safety measures, this study analyzed the effects of location-based demographics, pedestrian phasing type, and other physical infrastructure and behavior variables on the probability of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at signalized intersections, which is a surrogate measure of crash risk. Data were collected from 55 intersections in Connecticut, and the pedestrian-vehicle interactions were classified by severity based on the Swedish Traffic Conflict Technique: undisturbed passage, potential conflict, minor conflict, or serious conflict. Because …
Base Running: A Lost Art In Baseball,
2026
University of Mary Washington
Base Running: A Lost Art In Baseball, Ethan York
Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects
In an era of baseball dominated by home runs and launch angles, the subtle art of baserunning is often overlooked, despite its measurable impact on winning games. Baserunning Runs (BsR) addresses this gap by quantifying the number of runs a player contributes through performance on the basepaths, capturing value beyond traditional metrics like stolen bases. This study constructs multiple regression models that predict BsR for Major League Baseball (MLB) players based on baserunning-related statistics. The primary objective is to examine the association between BsR and key predictors, including stolen bases (SB), extra bases taken (EB), and sprint speed (SS), while …
Pattern Dynamics And Stochasticity Of Brain Rhythms And Spike Trains In A Tauopathy Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease,
2026
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Pattern Dynamics And Stochasticity Of Brain Rhythms And Spike Trains In A Tauopathy Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Clarissa M. Hoffman
Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)
Systems neuroscience posits that every aspect of perceived physical reality, every aspect of animal and human behavior, and every cognitive phenomenon emerges from patterns of neuronal activity. While most researchers embrace this idea, there are major difficulties in describing and analyzing these complex neuronal dynamics—spike flows produced by cells ensembles, synchronized extracellular field oscillations, and other patterns—which limits our understanding of how the activity of individual neurons and the whole-animal cognition and behavior might be connected. In particular, we lack the approaches and even the semantics for connecting the individual cell outputs and the integrated results of their activity. Current …
The Item Response Warehouse: What It Is, How To Use It, And Targets For Potential Improvements,
2026
Stanford University
The Item Response Warehouse: What It Is, How To Use It, And Targets For Potential Improvements, Savira D. Nadela, Hansol Lee, Nishka Jain, Ayaan Gupta, Xingyi Zhang, Benjamin W. Domingue
Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation | 教育测量与评估双语期刊
The Item Response Warehouse (IRW) is a repository of harmonized item response datasets designed to support secondary analysis and methodological research in psychological and educational measurement. This paper serves as a practical guide for researchers interested in using the IRW. We describe the structure of IRW datasets and the quantitative and qualitative metadata available for dataset selection, and we demonstrate how researchers can navigate the IRW website to explore and compare available tables. We further show how the IRW R and Python packages can be used to filter datasets programmatically, download response-level data, and generate standardized citations for reproducible research …
Ownership Duration In The U.S. Business Jet Market,
2026
Fort Hays State University
Ownership Duration In The U.S. Business Jet Market, Yuchen Hu
SACAD: Scholarly Activities
This study analyzes ownership duration in the U.S. business jet market using FAA registry data as of February 16, 2026 (N=12,359). The analysis reveals a structured distribution with a mean of 5.86 years and a median of 5.00 years. Crucially, retention varies by acquisition status: new aircraft owners exhibit an average hold of 7.36 years, whereas pre-owned aircraft holders show a significantly higher turnover of 5.11 years, with most resales occurring within a 3–7-year window. These findings suggest that ownership behavior is driven by structured asset management and lifecycle planning, providing a predictive framework for identifying aircraft replacement and trade-in …
Drainage Proximity And Sinkhole Occurrence In Sivrihisar (Central Turkey): A Comparative Analysis Of Linear, Poisson, And Negative Binomial Regression Models,
2026
Eskişehir Technical University, Department of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems, Eskişehir, Türkiye
Drainage Proximity And Sinkhole Occurrence In Sivrihisar (Central Turkey): A Comparative Analysis Of Linear, Poisson, And Negative Binomial Regression Models, Bilge Bingül, Emrah Pekkan, Resul Çömert
International Journal of Speleology
This study investigates the relationship between sinkhole occurrence and distance to drainage in the Sivrihisar region (Central Turkey) and evaluates the suitability of different regression approaches for modeling clustered count data in karst terrains. A comprehensive inventory of 104 sinkholes developed within the Neogene lacustrine limestones of the Akpınar Formation was compiled using official records, remote sensing analyses, and detailed field surveys. Sinkhole occurrences were analyzed relative to a drainage network derived from a high-resolution Digital Surface Model and grouped by proximity to drainage lines. Linear Regression (LM), Poisson Regression (PR), and Negative Binomial Regression (NBR) models were comparatively applied …
Complex Systems Mapping Of Fiscal Growth Dynamics At Strategic Maritime Chokepoints Using Time-Series Slopes,
2026
Binghamton University
Complex Systems Mapping Of Fiscal Growth Dynamics At Strategic Maritime Chokepoints Using Time-Series Slopes, Rahul Balamurugan, Preethi Nanjundan, Avichal Sharma
Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)
This study examines how maritime and trading states allocate public resources between defence, health, and economic growth around three strategic chokepoints the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Suez Canal. The analysis extends the classic “guns versus butter” framing by treating defence and health spending as co-evolving components of an interconnected fiscal-growth system. Using World Development Indicators data (1999-2024), trend slopes are estimated for military spending (% of GDP), healthcare spending (% of GDP), and GDP growth (annual %). Two derived indicators are computed, a defence-to-health slope ratio (military slope/health slope) and a fiscal-balance proxy (health slope …
Bayesball : A Comprehensive Framework For Predicting Ucl Injury,
2026
Belmont University
Bayesball : A Comprehensive Framework For Predicting Ucl Injury, Brady M. Pinter, Will Best Ph.D.
SPARK Symposium Presentations
Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) reconstruction, commonly referred to as Tommy John Surgery, has seen a significant rise among Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers, prompting growing interest in identifying the mechanical and performance-based factors that contribute to injury risk. While previous studies have examined these relationships using traditional frequentist approaches separately, this study combines multiple different model techniques to present a broad framework for finding significant predictors of UCL Surgery. These models include Lasso and Ridge Regression, Principal Component Regression (PCR) , Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS) , Random Forest, Multiple Linear Regression, and a Bayesian Statistical Model. Using these models, …
Saturated Hierarchical Atomic Incremental Learning (Shail): A Behavioral Learning Perspective On Staged Mastery And Saturation,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
Saturated Hierarchical Atomic Incremental Learning (Shail): A Behavioral Learning Perspective On Staged Mastery And Saturation, Ernest Fokoue
Articles
We introduce Saturated Hierarchical Atomic Incremental Learning (sHAIL), a learning paradigm in which complex tasks are approached through a sequence of simpler atomic subtasks, each mastered to saturation before progression. The central mechanism is a saturation criterion that detects when learning dynamics enter a plateau region, triggering consolidation and subsequent ascent to a higher level of task complexity. We develop a theoretical framework for sHAIL and show that it naturally gives rise to \emph{staircased convergence}: alternating phases of rapid improvement and genuine plateau. Within each level, classical convergence guarantees apply under standard smoothness conditions, while the hierarchical transitions are driven …
No Intelligence Without Statistics: The Invisible Backbone Of Artificial Intelligence,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
No Intelligence Without Statistics: The Invisible Backbone Of Artificial Intelligence, Ernest Fokoue
Articles
The rapid ascent of artificial intelligence (AI) is often portrayed as a revolution born from computer science and engineering. This narrative, however, obscures a fundamental truth: the theoretical and methodological core of AI is, and has always been, statistical. This paper systematically argues that the field of statistics provides the indispensable foundation for machine learning and modern AI. We deconstruct AI into nine foundational pillars—Inference, Density Estimation, Sequential Learning, Generalization, Representation Learning, Interpretability, Causality, Optimization, and Unification—demonstrating that each is built upon century-old statistical principles. From the inferential frameworks of hypothesis testing and estimation that underpin model evaluation, to the …
Decorrelation, Diversity, And Emergent Intelligence: The Isomorphism Between Social Insect Colonies And Ensemble Machine Learning,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
Decorrelation, Diversity, And Emergent Intelligence: The Isomorphism Between Social Insect Colonies And Ensemble Machine Learning, Ernest Fokoue, Gregory Babbitt, Yuval Levental
Articles
Social insect colonies and ensemble machine learning methods represent two of the most successful examples of decentralized information processing in nature and computation respectively. Here we develop a rigorous mathematical framework demonstrating that ant colony decision-making and random forest learning are isomorphic under a common formalism of stochastic ensemble intelligence. We show that the mechanisms by which genetically identical ants achieve functional differentiation— through stochastic response to local cues and positive feedback—map precisely onto the bootstrap aggregation and random feature subsampling that decorrelate decision trees. Using tools from Bayesian inference, multi-armed bandit theory, and statistical learning theory, we prove that …
A General Weighting Theory For Ensemble Learning: Beyond Variance Reduction Via Spectral And Geometric Structure,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
A General Weighting Theory For Ensemble Learning: Beyond Variance Reduction Via Spectral And Geometric Structure, Ernest Fokoue
Articles
Ensemble learning is traditionally justified as a variance-reduction strategy, explaining its strong performance for unstable predictors such as decision trees. This explanation, however, does not account for ensembles constructed from intrinsically stable estimators-including smoothing splines, kernel ridge regression, Gaussian process regression, and other regularized reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) methods whose variance is already tightly controlled by regularization and spectral shrinkage. This paper develops a general weighting theory for ensemble learning that moves beyond classical variance-reduction arguments. We formalize ensembles as linear operators acting on a hypothesis space and endow the space of weighting sequences with geometric and spectral constraints. …
Measuring Market Risk Through Entropic Var,
2026
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Measuring Market Risk Through Entropic Var, Dragomir Nedeltchev, Tsvetelin Zaevski
Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation with Applications
The article aims to measure the market risk beyond the basic risk measures like the Value-at-Risk (VaR) and the Expected Shortfall (ES). The Entropic Value-at-Risk is selected among the available measures based on its advantages -- it is the coherent upper bound of the VaR and ES. This risk measure is applied to the classical Black-Scholes model as well as to some more realistic ones, such as the exponential tempered stable model (the log-returns are presented by a tempered stable L\'evy process), the stochastic volatility model of Heston, its jump extension of Bates, and another stochastic volatility model but with …
Learning Ordinal Geometry: Semantic–Aware Kernels For Ordered Categorical Data,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
Learning Ordinal Geometry: Semantic–Aware Kernels For Ordered Categorical Data, Ernest Fokoue
Articles
Ordinal data arise ubiquitously in survey research, psychology, medicine, economics, and recommender systems, yet kernel methods for such data typically rely on either nominal encodings or arbitrary numeric codings. The former discards order information; the lat- ter imposes a fictitious metric structure. This paper develops a principled framework for kernel design on ordinal scales and introduces a new class of Semantic–Aware Ordinal Ker- nels (SAOK) that simultaneously capture ordinal order and semantic proximity between categories. We begin by formalizing order–preserving embeddings of finite chains and characterizing a broad family of chain distances that are conditionally negative definite. Through Schoen- berg …
On Fibonacci Ensembles: An Alternative Approach To Ensemble Learning Inspired By The Timeless Architecture Of The Golden Ratio,
2026
Rochester Institute of Technology
On Fibonacci Ensembles: An Alternative Approach To Ensemble Learning Inspired By The Timeless Architecture Of The Golden Ratio, Ernest Fokoue
Articles
Nature rarely reveals her secrets bluntly, yet in the Fibonacci sequence she grants us a glimpse of her quiet architecture of growth, harmony, and recursive stability \citep{Koshy2001Fibonacci, Livio2002GoldenRatio}. From spiral galaxies to the unfolding of leaves, this humble sequence reflects a universal grammar of balance. In this work, we introduce \emph{Fibonacci Ensembles}, a mathematically principled yet philosophically inspired framework for ensemble learning that complements and extends classical aggregation schemes such as bagging, boosting, and random forests \citep{Breiman1996Bagging, Breiman2001RandomForests, Friedman2001GBM, Zhou2012Ensemble, HastieTibshiraniFriedman2009ESL}. Two intertwined formulations unfold: (1) the use of normalized Fibonacci weights -- tempered through orthogonalization and Rao--Blackwell optimization -- …
