Statistical models

This study presents the effects of environmental pollution on the quality of domestic roof-harvested rainwater (DRHRW) using fuzzy comprehensive assessment (FCA). Seven metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, Fe, Ca, and Mg) and six water-quality parameters (Acidity, PO4 (3-), SO4 (2-), NO3 (-) , Cl(-), and pH) were investigated in DRHRW sampled from 12 sampling points each from Ibadan (residential) and Lagos (industrial) environments, Nigeria. The results of these parameters were formulated into membership function fuzzy matrices based on four contamination classifications of high, marginal, low, and poor qualities using regulatory limits as criteria. The products membership function matrices and weight matrices generated indices that classified the degree of anthropogenic activity impact on the sites. Results of FCA classified the DRHRW from residential environment as between high and marginal quality, whereas DRHRW from industrial environment is classified between marginal and low quality. Lead ...

Each complex network (or class of networks) presents specific topological features which characterize its connectivity and highly influence the dynamics of processes executed on the network. The analysis, discrimination, and synthesis of complex networks therefore rely on the use of measurements capable of expressing the most relevant topological features. This article presents a survey of such measurements. It includes general considerations about complex network characterization, a brief review of the principal models, and the ...

ANN model could be a suitable alternative for modeling and predicting bivariate binary responses when the presuppositions of statistical models are not met in actual data. In addition, using optimization methods, such as hybrid ANN-GA model, could improve precision of ANN model.

The recent international credit crisis has highlighted the significant exposure that banks and insurers, especially mono-line credit insurers, have to residential house price risk. This paper provides an assessment of risk models for residential property for applications in banking and insurance including pricing, risk management, and portfolio management. Risk factors and heterogeneity of house price returns are assessed at a postcode-level for house prices in the major capital city of Sydney, Australia, over the period 1979 to 2011.

We have carried out statistical analyses and computer simulations of helical kinks for TM helices in the PDBTM database. About 59 % of 1562 TM helices showed a significant kink, and 38 % of these kinks are associated with prolines in a range of ±4 residues. Our analyses show that helical kinks are more populated in the central region of helices, particularly in the range of 1-3 residues away from the helix center. Among 1,053 helical kinks analyzed, 88 % of kinks are bends (change in helix axis without loss of helical character) and 12 % are disruptions (change in helix axis and loss of helical character). It is found that proline residues tend to cause larger kink angles in helical bends, while this effect is not observed in helical disruptions. A further analysis of these kinked helices suggests that a kinked helix usually has 1-2 broken backbone hydrogen bonds with the corresponding N-O distance in the range of 4.2-8.7 Å, whose distribution is sharply peaked at 4.9 Å followed by ...

The natural history of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-defined biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer (PCa) after definitive local therapy is highly variable. Validated prediction models for PCa-specific mortality (PCSM) in this population are needed for treatment decision-making and clinical trial design. To develop and validate a nomogram to predict the probability of PCSM from the time of BCR among men with rising PSA levels after radical prostatectomy. Between 1987 and 2011, 2254 men treated by radical prostatectomy at one of five high-volume hospitals experienced BCR, defined as three successive PSA rises (final value >0.2 ng/ml), single PSA >0.4 ng/ml, or use of secondary therapy administered for detectable PSA >0.1 ng/ml. Clinical information and follow-up data were modeled using competing-risk regression analysis to predict PCSM from the time of BCR. Radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer and subsequent PCa BCR. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PCSM. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The 10-yr PCSM and mortality from competing causes was 19% (95% confidence interval [CI] 16-21%) and 17% (95% CI 14-19%), respectively. A nomogram predicting PCSM for all patients had an internally validated concordance index of 0.774. Inclusion of PSA doubling time (PSADT) in a nomogram based on standard parameters modestly improved predictive accuracy (concordance index 0.763 vs 0.754). Significant parameters in the models were preoperative PSA, pathological Gleason score, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion, time to PCa BCR, PSA level at PCa BCR, and PSADT (all…

Yersinia pestis invaded the continental United States in 1900 and subsequently became established in wild rodent populations in several western states, traversing 2,250 km in approximately 40 years. However, the specific path of the eastward expansion of plague into the United States is poorly understood. We directly calculated velocities of disease spread and performed trend-surface analyses on spatio-temporally unique plague cases to clarify the route and speed of the initial spread of plague eastward. Velocities of disease spread were then analyzed using multiple linear regression models to identify environmental features that significantly impacted the rate of spread. Between one and three introductions of plague along the Pacific coast were observed, after which plague traveled from 45 to 87 km/year. In all regression models, the coast ranges of California were associated with slower spread, and the Southern Rockies were associated with a significant increase in the rate of dis...

Moral disengagement processes are cognitive self-justification processes of transgressive actions that have been hypothesized to be learned and socialized within social contexts. The current study aimed at investigating socialization of moral disengagement by friends in two developmentally different age groups, namely late childhood (age: 9-10 years; n = 133, 42.9 % girls) and early adolescence (age: 11-14 years; n = 236, 40.6 % girls) over a 1-year period. Specifically, the current study examined whether similarity in moral disengagement between friends was the result of friends' influence or friend selection. Moreover, gender (42 % girls), individual bullying behavior, and perceived popularity status were examined as potential moderators of socialization for moral disengagement within friendship networks. Self-report measures were used to assess moral disengagement, sociometric questions and a peer-nomination scale for friendship networks and bullying behavior, respectively. L...

This study examined whether a particular type of therapy (Broad Target Speech Recasts, BTSR) was superior to a contrast treatment in facilitating speech comprehensibility in conversations of students with Down syndrome who began treatment with initially high verbal imitation. We randomly assigned 51 5- to 12-year-old students to either BTSR or a contrast treatment. Therapy occurred in hour-long 1-to-1 sessions in students' schools twice per week for 6 months. For students who entered treatment just above the sample average in verbal-imitation skill, BTSR was superior to the contrast treatment in facilitating the growth of speech comprehensibility in conversational samples. The number of speech recasts mediated or explained the BTSR treatment effect on speech comprehensibility. Speech comprehensibility is malleable in school-age students with Down syndrome. BTSR facilitates comprehensibility in students with just above the sample average level of verbal imitation prior to treatme...

In the present study, Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships were developed for predicting ready biodegradability of approximately 200 heterogeneous fragrance materials. Two classification methods, Classification And Regression Tree (CART) and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), were applied to perform the modeling. The models were validated with multiple external prediction sets, and the structural applicability domain was verified by the leverage approach. The best models had good sensitivity (internal ≥ 80%; external ≥ 68%), specificity (internal ≥ 80%; external 73%), and overall accuracy (≥ 75%). Results from the comparison with BIOWIN global models, based on group contribution method, show that specific models developed in the present study perform better in prediction than BIOWIN6, in particular for the correct classification of not readily biodegradable fragrance materials. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Advanced Computational Intelligence: An International Journal (ACII) is a quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of computational intelligence. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced computational intelligence concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas.

The mechanisms explaining the co-existence of asthma, eczema and rhinitis (allergic multimorbidity) are largely unknown. We investigated the mechanisms underlying multimorbidity between three main allergic diseases at a molecular level by identifying the proteins and cellular processes that are common to them. An in silico study based on computational analysis of the topology of the protein interaction network was performed in order to characterize the molecular mechanisms of multimorbidity of asthma, eczema and rhinitis. As a first step, proteins associated to either disease were identified using data mining approaches, and their overlap was calculated. Secondly, a functional interaction network was built, allowing to identify cellular pathways involved in allergic multimorbidity. Finally, a network-based algorithm generated a ranked list of newly predicted multimorbidity-associated proteins. Asthma, eczema and rhinitis shared a larger number of associated proteins than expected by...

Qualitative microbiological measurement methods in which the measurement results are either 0 (microorganism not detected) or 1 (microorganism detected) are discussed. The performance of such a measurement method is described by its probability of detection as a function of the contamination (CFU/g or CFU/mL) of the test material, or by the LOD(p), i.e., the contamination that is detected (measurement result 1) with a specified probability p. A complementary log-log model was used to statistically estimate these performance characteristics. An intralaboratory experiment for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in various food matrixes illustrates the method. The estimate of LOD50% is compared with the Spearman-Kaerber method.

Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is an analyser-based x-ray imaging method that produces separate images depicting the projected x-ray absorption and refractive properties of an object. Because the imaging model of DEI does not account for ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering (USAXS), the images produced in DEI can contain artefacts and inaccuracies in medical imaging applications. In this work, we investigate an extended DEI method for concurrent reconstruction of three images that depict an object's projected x-ray absorption, refraction and USAXS properties. The extended DEI method can be viewed as an implementation of the recently proposed multiple-image radiography paradigm. Validation studies are conducted by use of computer-simulated and synchrotron measurement data.

— The Quality assurance is the process of checking whether products meet customer belief. It is a process-driven approach with specific steps to help define and attain goals. Quality assurance denotes to the policies, attitudes, actions and measures fundamental to ensure that quality is being maintained and greater.[1] Aims to evaluate the institutions of higher education based on comprehensive quality standards that have been grown for each member of teaching in higher education institutions. Accreditation refers to an decision of whether an institution qualifies for a certificate status. QA in education has not been fully achieved. It is of the view that except conscious and serious effort is made to evolve environment specific technologies to deploy IT tools in educational administration, manual form for pursuing QA programmers may not yield desirable results.[2] The purpose of this paper is to determine the state of research in a review of quality assurance in higher education institutions based on a review of the academic literature.

This article reviews the current small-area variation analysis (SAVA) approach to population-based rates of surgery, and describes a new method for ascertaining variance based on the beta-binomial probability distribution of small-area rates. The critical review of the current SAVA approach focuses (1) on how incidence rates are calculated, and (2) on how the significance of the observed magnitude between the largest and smallest rates (i.e., the external quotient) is ascertained. While reducing the problems of calculating rates by considering only certain operative procedures, the new method addresses the current inadequacies of ascertaining significant differences among small areas. Not only does it correctly assess likelihood of an extermal quotient, it also can determine the particular area's rate, producing an unlikely extermal quotient. The method evaluates the probability that the observed magnitude of the extremal quotient is due solely to chance and study design effects...