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Sample records for statistically complete samples

  1. New complete sample of identified radio sources. Part 2. Statistical study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soltan, A.

    1978-01-01

    Complete sample of radio sources with known redshifts selected in Paper I is studied. Source counts in the sample and the luminosity - volume test show that both quasars and galaxies are subject to the evolution. Luminosity functions for different ranges of redshifts are obtained. Due to many uncertainties only simplified models of the evolution are tested. Exponential decline of the liminosity with time of all the bright sources is in a good agreement both with the luminosity- volume test and N(S) realtion in the entire range of observed flux densities. It is shown that sources in the sample are randomly distributed in scales greater than about 17 Mpc. (author)

  2. Statistical calculation of complete events in medium-energy nuclear collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Randrup, J.

    1984-01-01

    Several heavy-ion accelerators throughout the world are presently able to deliver beams of heavy nuclei with kinetic energies in the range from tens to hundreds of MeV per nucleon, the so-called medium or intermediate energy range. At such energies a large number of final channels are open, each consisting of many nuclear fragments. The disassembly of the collision system is expected to be a very complicated process and a detailed dynamical description is beyond their present capability. However, by virtue of the complexity of the process, statistical considerations may be useful. A statistical description of the disassembly yields the least biased expectations about the outcome of a collision process and provides a meaningful reference against which more specific dynamical models, as well as the data, can be discussed. This lecture presents the essential tools for formulating a statistical model for the nuclear disassembly process. The authors consider the quick disassembly (explosion) of a hot nuclear system, a so-called source, into multifragment final states, which complete according to their statistical weight. First some useful notation is introduced. Then the expressions for exclusive and inclusive distributions are given and the factorization of an exclusive distribution into inclusive ones is carried out. In turn, the grand canonical approximation for one-fragment inclusive distributions is introduced. Finally, it is outlined how to generate a statistical sample of complete final states. On this basis, a model for statistical simulation of complete events in medium-energy nuclear collisions has been developed

  3. Small Sample Statistics for Incomplete Nonnormal Data: Extensions of Complete Data Formulae and a Monte Carlo Comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savalei, Victoria

    2010-01-01

    Incomplete nonnormal data are common occurrences in applied research. Although these 2 problems are often dealt with separately by methodologists, they often cooccur. Very little has been written about statistics appropriate for evaluating models with such data. This article extends several existing statistics for complete nonnormal data to…

  4. Statistical Analysis Of Tank 19F Floor Sample Results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, S.

    2010-01-01

    Representative sampling has been completed for characterization of the residual material on the floor of Tank 19F as per the statistical sampling plan developed by Harris and Shine. Samples from eight locations have been obtained from the tank floor and two of the samples were archived as a contingency. Six samples, referred to in this report as the current scrape samples, have been submitted to and analyzed by SRNL. This report contains the statistical analysis of the floor sample analytical results to determine if further data are needed to reduce uncertainty. Included are comparisons with the prior Mantis samples results to determine if they can be pooled with the current scrape samples to estimate the upper 95% confidence limits (UCL95%) for concentration. Statistical analysis revealed that the Mantis and current scrape sample results are not compatible. Therefore, the Mantis sample results were not used to support the quantification of analytes in the residual material. Significant spatial variability among the current scrape sample results was not found. Constituent concentrations were similar between the North and South hemispheres as well as between the inner and outer regions of the tank floor. The current scrape sample results from all six samples fall within their 3-sigma limits. In view of the results from numerous statistical tests, the data were pooled from all six current scrape samples. As such, an adequate sample size was provided for quantification of the residual material on the floor of Tank 19F. The uncertainty is quantified in this report by an UCL95% on each analyte concentration. The uncertainty in analyte concentration was calculated as a function of the number of samples, the average, and the standard deviation of the analytical results. The UCL95% was based entirely on the six current scrape sample results (each averaged across three analytical determinations).

  5. Sampling, Probability Models and Statistical Reasoning Statistical

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 1; Issue 5. Sampling, Probability Models and Statistical Reasoning Statistical Inference. Mohan Delampady V R Padmawar. General Article Volume 1 Issue 5 May 1996 pp 49-58 ...

  6. Statistical distribution sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, E. S.

    1975-01-01

    Determining the distribution of statistics by sampling was investigated. Characteristic functions, the quadratic regression problem, and the differential equations for the characteristic functions are analyzed.

  7. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF TANK 18F FLOOR SAMPLE RESULTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harris, S.

    2010-09-02

    Representative sampling has been completed for characterization of the residual material on the floor of Tank 18F as per the statistical sampling plan developed by Shine [1]. Samples from eight locations have been obtained from the tank floor and two of the samples were archived as a contingency. Six samples, referred to in this report as the current scrape samples, have been submitted to and analyzed by SRNL [2]. This report contains the statistical analysis of the floor sample analytical results to determine if further data are needed to reduce uncertainty. Included are comparisons with the prior Mantis samples results [3] to determine if they can be pooled with the current scrape samples to estimate the upper 95% confidence limits (UCL{sub 95%}) for concentration. Statistical analysis revealed that the Mantis and current scrape sample results are not compatible. Therefore, the Mantis sample results were not used to support the quantification of analytes in the residual material. Significant spatial variability among the current sample results was not found. Constituent concentrations were similar between the North and South hemispheres as well as between the inner and outer regions of the tank floor. The current scrape sample results from all six samples fall within their 3-sigma limits. In view of the results from numerous statistical tests, the data were pooled from all six current scrape samples. As such, an adequate sample size was provided for quantification of the residual material on the floor of Tank 18F. The uncertainty is quantified in this report by an upper 95% confidence limit (UCL{sub 95%}) on each analyte concentration. The uncertainty in analyte concentration was calculated as a function of the number of samples, the average, and the standard deviation of the analytical results. The UCL{sub 95%} was based entirely on the six current scrape sample results (each averaged across three analytical determinations).

  8. Statistical sampling method for releasing decontaminated vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lively, J.W.; Ware, J.A.

    1996-01-01

    Earth moving vehicles (e.g., dump trucks, belly dumps) commonly haul radiologically contaminated materials from a site being remediated to a disposal site. Traditionally, each vehicle must be surveyed before being released. The logistical difficulties of implementing the traditional approach on a large scale demand that an alternative be devised. A statistical method (MIL-STD-105E, open-quotes Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributesclose quotes) for assessing product quality from a continuous process was adapted to the vehicle decontamination process. This method produced a sampling scheme that automatically compensates and accommodates fluctuating batch sizes and changing conditions without the need to modify or rectify the sampling scheme in the field. Vehicles are randomly selected (sampled) upon completion of the decontamination process to be surveyed for residual radioactive surface contamination. The frequency of sampling is based on the expected number of vehicles passing through the decontamination process in a given period and the confidence level desired. This process has been successfully used for 1 year at the former uranium mill site in Monticello, Utah (a CERCLA regulated clean-up site). The method forces improvement in the quality of the decontamination process and results in a lower likelihood that vehicles exceeding the surface contamination standards are offered for survey. Implementation of this statistical sampling method on Monticello Projects has resulted in more efficient processing of vehicles through decontamination and radiological release, saved hundreds of hours of processing time, provided a high level of confidence that release limits are met, and improved the radiological cleanliness of vehicles leaving the controlled site

  9. Statistical Symbolic Execution with Informed Sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filieri, Antonio; Pasareanu, Corina S.; Visser, Willem; Geldenhuys, Jaco

    2014-01-01

    Symbolic execution techniques have been proposed recently for the probabilistic analysis of programs. These techniques seek to quantify the likelihood of reaching program events of interest, e.g., assert violations. They have many promising applications but have scalability issues due to high computational demand. To address this challenge, we propose a statistical symbolic execution technique that performs Monte Carlo sampling of the symbolic program paths and uses the obtained information for Bayesian estimation and hypothesis testing with respect to the probability of reaching the target events. To speed up the convergence of the statistical analysis, we propose Informed Sampling, an iterative symbolic execution that first explores the paths that have high statistical significance, prunes them from the state space and guides the execution towards less likely paths. The technique combines Bayesian estimation with a partial exact analysis for the pruned paths leading to provably improved convergence of the statistical analysis. We have implemented statistical symbolic execution with in- formed sampling in the Symbolic PathFinder tool. We show experimentally that the informed sampling obtains more precise results and converges faster than a purely statistical analysis and may also be more efficient than an exact symbolic analysis. When the latter does not terminate symbolic execution with informed sampling can give meaningful results under the same time and memory limits.

  10. IR Observations of a Complete Unbiased Sample of Bright Seyfert Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malkan, Matthew; Bendo, George; Charmandaris, Vassilis; Smith, Howard; Spinoglio, Luigi; Tommasin, Silvia

    2008-03-01

    IR spectra will measure the 2 main energy-generating processes by which galactic nuclei shine: black hole accretion and star formation. Both of these play roles in galaxy evolution, and they appear connected. To obtain a complete sample of AGN, covering the range of luminosities and column-densities, we will combine 2 complete all-sky samples with complementary selections, minimally biased by dust obscuration: the 116 IRAS 12um AGN and the 41 Swift/BAT hard Xray AGN. These galaxies have been extensively studied across the entire EM spectrum. Herschel observations have been requested and will be synergistic with the Spitzer database. IRAC and MIPS imaging will allow us to separate the nuclear and galactic continua. We are completing full IR observations of the local AGN population, most of which have already been done. The only remaining observations we request are 10 IRS/HIRES, 57 MIPS-24 and 30 IRAC pointings. These high-quality observations of bright AGN in the bolometric-flux-limited samples should be completed, for the high legacy value of complete uniform datasets. We will measure quantitatively the emission at each wavelength arising from stars and from accretion in each galactic center. Since our complete samples come from flux-limited all-sky surveys in the IR and HX, we will calculate the bi-variate AGN and star formation Luminosity Functions for the local population of active galaxies, for comparison with higher redshifts.Our second aim is to understand the physical differences between AGN classes. This requires statistical comparisons of full multiwavelength observations of complete representative samples. If the difference between Sy1s and Sy2s is caused by orientation, their isotropic properties, including those of the surrounding galactic centers, should be similar. In contrast, if they are different evolutionary stages following a galaxy encounter, then we may find observational evidence that the circumnuclear ISM of Sy2s is relatively younger.

  11. Effects of (α,n) contaminants and sample multiplication on statistical neutron correlation measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dowdy, E.J.; Hansen, G.E.; Robba, A.A.; Pratt, J.C.

    1980-01-01

    The complete formalism for the use of statistical neutron fluctuation measurements for the nondestructive assay of fissionable materials has been developed. This formalism includes the effect of detector deadtime, neutron multiplicity, random neutron pulse contributions from (α,n) contaminants in the sample, and the sample multiplication of both fission-related and background neutrons

  12. 42 CFR 402.109 - Statistical sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... or caused to be presented. (b) Prima facie evidence. The results of the statistical sampling study, if based upon an appropriate sampling and computed by valid statistical methods, constitute prima... § 402.1. (c) Burden of proof. Once CMS or OIG has made a prima facie case, the burden is on the...

  13. Contributions to sampling statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Conti, Pier; Ranalli, Maria

    2014-01-01

    This book contains a selection of the papers presented at the ITACOSM 2013 Conference, held in Milan in June 2013. ITACOSM is the bi-annual meeting of the Survey Sampling Group S2G of the Italian Statistical Society, intended as an international  forum of scientific discussion on the developments of theory and application of survey sampling methodologies and applications in human and natural sciences. The book gathers research papers carefully selected from both invited and contributed sessions of the conference. The whole book appears to be a relevant contribution to various key aspects of sampling methodology and techniques; it deals with some hot topics in sampling theory, such as calibration, quantile-regression and multiple frame surveys, and with innovative methodologies in important topics of both sampling theory and applications. Contributions cut across current sampling methodologies such as interval estimation for complex samples, randomized responses, bootstrap, weighting, modeling, imputati...

  14. Statistical literacy and sample survey results

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAlevey, Lynn; Sullivan, Charles

    2010-10-01

    Sample surveys are widely used in the social sciences and business. The news media almost daily quote from them, yet they are widely misused. Using students with prior managerial experience embarking on an MBA course, we show that common sample survey results are misunderstood even by those managers who have previously done a statistics course. In general, they fare no better than managers who have never studied statistics. There are implications for teaching, especially in business schools, as well as for consulting.

  15. Statistical sampling approaches for soil monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brus, D.J.

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes three statistical sampling approaches for regional soil monitoring, a design-based, a model-based and a hybrid approach. In the model-based approach a space-time model is exploited to predict global statistical parameters of interest such as the space-time mean. In the hybrid

  16. Statistical aspects of food safety sampling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jongenburger, I.; Besten, den H.M.W.; Zwietering, M.H.

    2015-01-01

    In food safety management, sampling is an important tool for verifying control. Sampling by nature is a stochastic process. However, uncertainty regarding results is made even greater by the uneven distribution of microorganisms in a batch of food. This article reviews statistical aspects of

  17. Audit sampling: A qualitative study on the role of statistical and non-statistical sampling approaches on audit practices in Sweden

    OpenAIRE

    Ayam, Rufus Tekoh

    2011-01-01

    PURPOSE: The two approaches to audit sampling; statistical and nonstatistical have been examined in this study. The overall purpose of the study is to explore the current extent at which statistical and nonstatistical sampling approaches are utilized by independent auditors during auditing practices. Moreover, the study also seeks to achieve two additional purposes; the first is to find out whether auditors utilize different sampling techniques when auditing SME´s (Small and Medium-Sized Ente...

  18. Measuring radioactive half-lives via statistical sampling in practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorusso, G.; Collins, S. M.; Jagan, K.; Hitt, G. W.; Sadek, A. M.; Aitken-Smith, P. M.; Bridi, D.; Keightley, J. D.

    2017-10-01

    The statistical sampling method for the measurement of radioactive decay half-lives exhibits intriguing features such as that the half-life is approximately the median of a distribution closely resembling a Cauchy distribution. Whilst initial theoretical considerations suggested that in certain cases the method could have significant advantages, accurate measurements by statistical sampling have proven difficult, for they require an exercise in non-standard statistical analysis. As a consequence, no half-life measurement using this method has yet been reported and no comparison with traditional methods has ever been made. We used a Monte Carlo approach to address these analysis difficulties, and present the first experimental measurement of a radioisotope half-life (211Pb) by statistical sampling in good agreement with the literature recommended value. Our work also focused on the comparison between statistical sampling and exponential regression analysis, and concluded that exponential regression achieves generally the highest accuracy.

  19. Statistical benchmark for BosonSampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walschaers, Mattia; Mayer, Klaus; Buchleitner, Andreas; Kuipers, Jack; Urbina, Juan-Diego; Richter, Klaus; Tichy, Malte Christopher

    2016-01-01

    Boson samplers—set-ups that generate complex many-particle output states through the transmission of elementary many-particle input states across a multitude of mutually coupled modes—promise the efficient quantum simulation of a classically intractable computational task, and challenge the extended Church–Turing thesis, one of the fundamental dogmas of computer science. However, as in all experimental quantum simulations of truly complex systems, one crucial problem remains: how to certify that a given experimental measurement record unambiguously results from enforcing the claimed dynamics, on bosons, fermions or distinguishable particles? Here we offer a statistical solution to the certification problem, identifying an unambiguous statistical signature of many-body quantum interference upon transmission across a multimode, random scattering device. We show that statistical analysis of only partial information on the output state allows to characterise the imparted dynamics through particle type-specific features of the emerging interference patterns. The relevant statistical quantifiers are classically computable, define a falsifiable benchmark for BosonSampling, and reveal distinctive features of many-particle quantum dynamics, which go much beyond mere bunching or anti-bunching effects. (fast track communication)

  20. Statistical conditional sampling for variable-resolution video compression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Wong

    Full Text Available In this study, we investigate a variable-resolution approach to video compression based on Conditional Random Field and statistical conditional sampling in order to further improve compression rate while maintaining high-quality video. In the proposed approach, representative key-frames within a video shot are identified and stored at full resolution. The remaining frames within the video shot are stored and compressed at a reduced resolution. At the decompression stage, a region-based dictionary is constructed from the key-frames and used to restore the reduced resolution frames to the original resolution via statistical conditional sampling. The sampling approach is based on the conditional probability of the CRF modeling by use of the constructed dictionary. Experimental results show that the proposed variable-resolution approach via statistical conditional sampling has potential for improving compression rates when compared to compressing the video at full resolution, while achieving higher video quality when compared to compressing the video at reduced resolution.

  1. Statistical sampling techniques as applied to OSE inspections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, J.J.; Cote, R.W.

    1987-01-01

    The need has been recognized for statistically valid methods for gathering information during OSE inspections; and for interpretation of results, both from performance testing and from records reviews, interviews, etc. Battelle Columbus Division, under contract to DOE OSE has performed and is continuing to perform work in the area of statistical methodology for OSE inspections. This paper represents some of the sampling methodology currently being developed for use during OSE inspections. Topics include population definition, sample size requirements, level of confidence and practical logistical constraints associated with the conduct of an inspection based on random sampling. Sequential sampling schemes and sampling from finite populations are also discussed. The methods described are applicable to various data gathering activities, ranging from the sampling and examination of classified documents to the sampling of Protective Force security inspectors for skill testing

  2. Comparison of statistical sampling methods with ScannerBit, the GAMBIT scanning module

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, Gregory D. [University of California, Physics and Astronomy Department, Los Angeles, CA (United States); McKay, James; Scott, Pat [Imperial College London, Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, London (United Kingdom); Farmer, Ben; Conrad, Jan [AlbaNova University Centre, Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Stockholm (Sweden); Stockholm University, Department of Physics, Stockholm (Sweden); Roebber, Elinore [McGill University, Department of Physics, Montreal, QC (Canada); Putze, Antje [LAPTh, Universite de Savoie, CNRS, Annecy-le-Vieux (France); Collaboration: The GAMBIT Scanner Workgroup

    2017-11-15

    We introduce ScannerBit, the statistics and sampling module of the public, open-source global fitting framework GAMBIT. ScannerBit provides a standardised interface to different sampling algorithms, enabling the use and comparison of multiple computational methods for inferring profile likelihoods, Bayesian posteriors, and other statistical quantities. The current version offers random, grid, raster, nested sampling, differential evolution, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and ensemble Monte Carlo samplers. We also announce the release of a new standalone differential evolution sampler, Diver, and describe its design, usage and interface to ScannerBit. We subject Diver and three other samplers (the nested sampler MultiNest, the MCMC GreAT, and the native ScannerBit implementation of the ensemble Monte Carlo algorithm T-Walk) to a battery of statistical tests. For this we use a realistic physical likelihood function, based on the scalar singlet model of dark matter. We examine the performance of each sampler as a function of its adjustable settings, and the dimensionality of the sampling problem. We evaluate performance on four metrics: optimality of the best fit found, completeness in exploring the best-fit region, number of likelihood evaluations, and total runtime. For Bayesian posterior estimation at high resolution, T-Walk provides the most accurate and timely mapping of the full parameter space. For profile likelihood analysis in less than about ten dimensions, we find that Diver and MultiNest score similarly in terms of best fit and speed, outperforming GreAT and T-Walk; in ten or more dimensions, Diver substantially outperforms the other three samplers on all metrics. (orig.)

  3. 318-MHz variability of complete samples of extragalactic radio sources. II

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dennison, B.; Broderick, J.J.; Ledden, J.E.; O'Dell, S.L.; Condon, J.J.

    1981-01-01

    We report the remainder of two- and three-epoch 318-MHz observations of extragalactic sources in samples complete to 3 Jy at 1400 MHz and 1 Jy at 5000 MHz. From analysis of this low-frequency variability survey, we find that steep-spectrum (α> or =0.5) sources do not appear to vary, but about 40% of all flat-spectrum (α<0.5) sources exhibit low-frequency variability exceeding 8% over approx.5 yr. Among the flat-spectrum sources, those with inverted spectra show the largest fractional variations. We also find that the incidence of low-frequency variability is strongly correlated with the determination that a source is an optically violent variable. These statistical properties are consistent with models invoking relativistic beaming of radio and optical emission

  4. Developing Students' Reasoning about Samples and Sampling Variability as a Path to Expert Statistical Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garfield, Joan; Le, Laura; Zieffler, Andrew; Ben-Zvi, Dani

    2015-01-01

    This paper describes the importance of developing students' reasoning about samples and sampling variability as a foundation for statistical thinking. Research on expert-novice thinking as well as statistical thinking is reviewed and compared. A case is made that statistical thinking is a type of expert thinking, and as such, research…

  5. Applied statistical designs for the researcher

    CERN Document Server

    Paulson, Daryl S

    2003-01-01

    Research and Statistics Basic Review of Parametric Statistics Exploratory Data Analysis Two Sample Tests Completely Randomized One-Factor Analysis of Variance One and Two Restrictions on Randomization Completely Randomized Two-Factor Factorial Designs Two-Factor Factorial Completely Randomized Blocked Designs Useful Small Scale Pilot Designs Nested Statistical Designs Linear Regression Nonparametric Statistics Introduction to Research Synthesis and "Meta-Analysis" and Conclusory Remarks References Index.

  6. A course in mathematical statistics and large sample theory

    CERN Document Server

    Bhattacharya, Rabi; Patrangenaru, Victor

    2016-01-01

    This graduate-level textbook is primarily aimed at graduate students of statistics, mathematics, science, and engineering who have had an undergraduate course in statistics, an upper division course in analysis, and some acquaintance with measure theoretic probability. It provides a rigorous presentation of the core of mathematical statistics. Part I of this book constitutes a one-semester course on basic parametric mathematical statistics. Part II deals with the large sample theory of statistics — parametric and nonparametric, and its contents may be covered in one semester as well. Part III provides brief accounts of a number of topics of current interest for practitioners and other disciplines whose work involves statistical methods. Large Sample theory with many worked examples, numerical calculations, and simulations to illustrate theory Appendices provide ready access to a number of standard results, with many proofs Solutions given to a number of selected exercises from Part I Part II exercises with ...

  7. HICOSMO - X-ray analysis of a complete sample of galaxy clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellenberger, G.; Reiprich, T.

    2017-10-01

    Galaxy clusters are known to be the largest virialized objects in the Universe. Based on the theory of structure formation one can use them as cosmological probes, since they originate from collapsed overdensities in the early Universe and witness its history. The X-ray regime provides the unique possibility to measure in detail the most massive visible component, the intra cluster medium. Using Chandra observations of a local sample of 64 bright clusters (HIFLUGCS) we provide total (hydrostatic) and gas mass estimates of each cluster individually. Making use of the completeness of the sample we quantify two interesting cosmological parameters by a Bayesian cosmological likelihood analysis. We find Ω_{M}=0.3±0.01 and σ_{8}=0.79±0.03 (statistical uncertainties) using our default analysis strategy combining both, a mass function analysis and the gas mass fraction results. The main sources of biases that we discuss and correct here are (1) the influence of galaxy groups (higher incompleteness in parent samples and a differing behavior of the L_{x} - M relation), (2) the hydrostatic mass bias (as determined by recent hydrodynamical simulations), (3) the extrapolation of the total mass (comparing various methods), (4) the theoretical halo mass function and (5) other cosmological (non-negligible neutrino mass), and instrumental (calibration) effects.

  8. Illustrating Sampling Distribution of a Statistic: Minitab Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, H. Dean; Evans, Marc A.

    2008-01-01

    Understanding the concept of the sampling distribution of a statistic is essential for the understanding of inferential procedures. Unfortunately, this topic proves to be a stumbling block for students in introductory statistics classes. In efforts to aid students in their understanding of this concept, alternatives to a lecture-based mode of…

  9. Calculating Confidence, Uncertainty, and Numbers of Samples When Using Statistical Sampling Approaches to Characterize and Clear Contaminated Areas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Piepel, Gregory F.; Matzke, Brett D.; Sego, Landon H.; Amidan, Brett G.

    2013-04-27

    This report discusses the methodology, formulas, and inputs needed to make characterization and clearance decisions for Bacillus anthracis-contaminated and uncontaminated (or decontaminated) areas using a statistical sampling approach. Specifically, the report includes the methods and formulas for calculating the • number of samples required to achieve a specified confidence in characterization and clearance decisions • confidence in making characterization and clearance decisions for a specified number of samples for two common statistically based environmental sampling approaches. In particular, the report addresses an issue raised by the Government Accountability Office by providing methods and formulas to calculate the confidence that a decision area is uncontaminated (or successfully decontaminated) if all samples collected according to a statistical sampling approach have negative results. Key to addressing this topic is the probability that an individual sample result is a false negative, which is commonly referred to as the false negative rate (FNR). The two statistical sampling approaches currently discussed in this report are 1) hotspot sampling to detect small isolated contaminated locations during the characterization phase, and 2) combined judgment and random (CJR) sampling during the clearance phase. Typically if contamination is widely distributed in a decision area, it will be detectable via judgment sampling during the characterization phrase. Hotspot sampling is appropriate for characterization situations where contamination is not widely distributed and may not be detected by judgment sampling. CJR sampling is appropriate during the clearance phase when it is desired to augment judgment samples with statistical (random) samples. The hotspot and CJR statistical sampling approaches are discussed in the report for four situations: 1. qualitative data (detect and non-detect) when the FNR = 0 or when using statistical sampling methods that account

  10. Pierre Gy's sampling theory and sampling practice heterogeneity, sampling correctness, and statistical process control

    CERN Document Server

    Pitard, Francis F

    1993-01-01

    Pierre Gy's Sampling Theory and Sampling Practice, Second Edition is a concise, step-by-step guide for process variability management and methods. Updated and expanded, this new edition provides a comprehensive study of heterogeneity, covering the basic principles of sampling theory and its various applications. It presents many practical examples to allow readers to select appropriate sampling protocols and assess the validity of sampling protocols from others. The variability of dynamic process streams using variography is discussed to help bridge sampling theory with statistical process control. Many descriptions of good sampling devices, as well as descriptions of poor ones, are featured to educate readers on what to look for when purchasing sampling systems. The book uses its accessible, tutorial style to focus on professional selection and use of methods. The book will be a valuable guide for mineral processing engineers; metallurgists; geologists; miners; chemists; environmental scientists; and practit...

  11. Constrained statistical inference: sample-size tables for ANOVA and regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonard eVanbrabant

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Researchers in the social and behavioral sciences often have clear expectations about the order/direction of the parameters in their statistical model. For example, a researcher might expect that regression coefficient beta1 is larger than beta2 and beta3. The corresponding hypothesis is H: beta1 > {beta2, beta3} and this is known as an (order constrained hypothesis. A major advantage of testing such a hypothesis is that power can be gained and inherently a smaller sample size is needed. This article discusses this gain in sample size reduction, when an increasing number of constraints is included into the hypothesis. The main goal is to present sample-size tables for constrained hypotheses. A sample-size table contains the necessary sample-size at a prespecified power (say, 0.80 for an increasing number of constraints. To obtain sample-size tables, two Monte Carlo simulations were performed, one for ANOVA and one for multiple regression. Three results are salient. First, in an ANOVA the needed sample-size decreases with 30% to 50% when complete ordering of the parameters is taken into account. Second, small deviations from the imposed order have only a minor impact on the power. Third, at the maximum number of constraints, the linear regression results are comparable with the ANOVA results. However, in the case of fewer constraints, ordering the parameters (e.g., beta1 > beta2 results in a higher power than assigning a positive or a negative sign to the parameters (e.g., beta1 > 0.

  12. The application of statistical and/or non-statistical sampling techniques by internal audit functions in the South African banking industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.P. van der Nest

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the use by internal audit functions of audit sampling techniques in order to test the effectiveness of controls in the banking sector. The article focuses specifically on the use of statistical and/or non-statistical sampling techniques by internal auditors. The focus of the research for this article was internal audit functions in the banking sector of South Africa. The results discussed in the article indicate that audit sampling is still used frequently as an audit evidence-gathering technique. Non-statistical sampling techniques are used more frequently than statistical sampling techniques for the evaluation of the sample. In addition, both techniques are regarded as important for the determination of the sample size and the selection of the sample items

  13. Finite-sample instrumental variables inference using an asymptotically pivotal statistic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bekker, P; Kleibergen, F

    2003-01-01

    We consider the K-statistic, Kleibergen's (2002, Econometrica 70, 1781-1803) adaptation of the Anderson-Rubin (AR) statistic in instrumental variables regression. Whereas Kleibergen (2002) especially analyzes the asymptotic behavior of the statistic, we focus on finite-sample properties in, a

  14. The Bologna complete sample of nearby radio sources. II. Phase referenced observations of faint nuclear sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liuzzo, E.; Giovannini, G.; Giroletti, M.; Taylor, G. B.

    2009-10-01

    Aims: To study statistical properties of different classes of sources, it is necessary to observe a sample that is free of selection effects. To do this, we initiated a project to observe a complete sample of radio galaxies selected from the B2 Catalogue of Radio Sources and the Third Cambridge Revised Catalogue (3CR), with no selection constraint on the nuclear properties. We named this sample “the Bologna Complete Sample” (BCS). Methods: We present new VLBI observations at 5 and 1.6 GHz for 33 sources drawn from a sample not biased toward orientation. By combining these data with those in the literature, information on the parsec-scale morphology is available for a total of 76 of 94 radio sources with a range in radio power and kiloparsec-scale morphologies. Results: The fraction of two-sided sources at milliarcsecond resolution is high (30%), compared to the fraction found in VLBI surveys selected at centimeter wavelengths, as expected from the predictions of unified models. The parsec-scale jets are generally found to be straight and to line up with the kiloparsec-scale jets. A few peculiar sources are discussed in detail. Tables 1-4 are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  15. A Third Moment Adjusted Test Statistic for Small Sample Factor Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Johnny; Bentler, Peter M

    2012-01-01

    Goodness of fit testing in factor analysis is based on the assumption that the test statistic is asymptotically chi-square; but this property may not hold in small samples even when the factors and errors are normally distributed in the population. Robust methods such as Browne's asymptotically distribution-free method and Satorra Bentler's mean scaling statistic were developed under the presumption of non-normality in the factors and errors. This paper finds new application to the case where factors and errors are normally distributed in the population but the skewness of the obtained test statistic is still high due to sampling error in the observed indicators. An extension of Satorra Bentler's statistic is proposed that not only scales the mean but also adjusts the degrees of freedom based on the skewness of the obtained test statistic in order to improve its robustness under small samples. A simple simulation study shows that this third moment adjusted statistic asymptotically performs on par with previously proposed methods, and at a very small sample size offers superior Type I error rates under a properly specified model. Data from Mardia, Kent and Bibby's study of students tested for their ability in five content areas that were either open or closed book were used to illustrate the real-world performance of this statistic.

  16. Statistical sampling for holdup measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picard, R.R.; Pillay, K.K.S.

    1986-01-01

    Nuclear materials holdup is a serious problem in many operating facilities. Estimating amounts of holdup is important for materials accounting and, sometimes, for process safety. Clearly, measuring holdup in all pieces of equipment is not a viable option in terms of time, money, and radiation exposure to personnel. Furthermore, 100% measurement is not only impractical but unnecessary for developing estimated values. Principles of statistical sampling are valuable in the design of cost effective holdup monitoring plans and in qualifying uncertainties in holdup estimates. The purpose of this paper is to describe those principles and to illustrate their use

  17. A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BRIGHT SWIFT LONG GAMMA-RAY BURSTS. I. SAMPLE PRESENTATION, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION AND EVOLUTION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salvaterra, R.; Campana, S.; Vergani, S. D.; Covino, S.; D'Avanzo, P.; Fugazza, D.; Ghirlanda, G.; Ghisellini, G.; Melandri, A.; Sbarufatti, B.; Tagliaferri, G.; Nava, L.; Flores, H.; Piranomonte, S.

    2012-01-01

    We present a carefully selected sub-sample of Swift long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that is complete in redshift. The sample is constructed by considering only bursts with favorable observing conditions for ground-based follow-up searches, which are bright in the 15-150 keV Swift/BAT band, i.e., with 1-s peak photon fluxes in excess to 2.6 photons s –1 cm –2 . The sample is composed of 58 bursts, 52 of them with redshift for a completeness level of 90%, while another two have a redshift constraint, reaching a completeness level of 95%. For only three bursts we have no constraint on the redshift. The high level of redshift completeness allows us for the first time to constrain the GRB luminosity function and its evolution with cosmic times in an unbiased way. We find that strong evolution in luminosity (δ l = 2.3 ± 0.6) or in density (δ d = 1.7 ± 0.5) is required in order to account for the observations. The derived redshift distributions in the two scenarios are consistent with each other, in spite of their different intrinsic redshift distributions. This calls for other indicators to distinguish among different evolution models. Complete samples are at the base of any population studies. In future works we will use this unique sample of Swift bright GRBs to study the properties of the population of long GRBs.

  18. A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BRIGHT SWIFT LONG GAMMA-RAY BURSTS. I. SAMPLE PRESENTATION, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION AND EVOLUTION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salvaterra, R. [INAF, IASF Milano, via E. Bassini 15, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Campana, S.; Vergani, S. D.; Covino, S.; D' Avanzo, P.; Fugazza, D.; Ghirlanda, G.; Ghisellini, G.; Melandri, A.; Sbarufatti, B.; Tagliaferri, G. [INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Saint Lucia) (Italy); Nava, L. [SISSA, via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste (Italy); Flores, H. [Laboratoire GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS-UMR8111, Univ. Paris-Diderot 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon (France); Piranomonte, S., E-mail: ruben@lambrate.inaf.it [INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Rome (Italy)

    2012-04-10

    We present a carefully selected sub-sample of Swift long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that is complete in redshift. The sample is constructed by considering only bursts with favorable observing conditions for ground-based follow-up searches, which are bright in the 15-150 keV Swift/BAT band, i.e., with 1-s peak photon fluxes in excess to 2.6 photons s{sup -1} cm{sup -2}. The sample is composed of 58 bursts, 52 of them with redshift for a completeness level of 90%, while another two have a redshift constraint, reaching a completeness level of 95%. For only three bursts we have no constraint on the redshift. The high level of redshift completeness allows us for the first time to constrain the GRB luminosity function and its evolution with cosmic times in an unbiased way. We find that strong evolution in luminosity ({delta}{sub l} = 2.3 {+-} 0.6) or in density ({delta}{sub d} = 1.7 {+-} 0.5) is required in order to account for the observations. The derived redshift distributions in the two scenarios are consistent with each other, in spite of their different intrinsic redshift distributions. This calls for other indicators to distinguish among different evolution models. Complete samples are at the base of any population studies. In future works we will use this unique sample of Swift bright GRBs to study the properties of the population of long GRBs.

  19. The outlier sample effects on multivariate statistical data processing geochemical stream sediment survey (Moghangegh region, North West of Iran)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghanbari, Y.; Habibnia, A.; Memar, A.

    2009-01-01

    In geochemical stream sediment surveys in Moghangegh Region in north west of Iran, sheet 1:50,000, 152 samples were collected and after the analyze and processing of data, it revealed that Yb, Sc, Ni, Li, Eu, Cd, Co, as contents in one sample is far higher than other samples. After detecting this sample as an outlier sample, the effect of this sample on multivariate statistical data processing for destructive effects of outlier sample in geochemical exploration was investigated. Pearson and Spear man correlation coefficient methods and cluster analysis were used for multivariate studies and the scatter plot of some elements together the regression profiles are given in case of 152 and 151 samples and the results are compared. After investigation of multivariate statistical data processing results, it was realized that results of existence of outlier samples may appear as the following relations between elements: - true relation between two elements, which have no outlier frequency in the outlier sample. - false relation between two elements which one of them has outlier frequency in the outlier sample. - complete false relation between two elements which both have outlier frequency in the outlier sample

  20. Sampling methods to the statistical control of the production of blood components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Seghatchian, Jerard; Caldeira, Beatriz; Santos, Paula; Castro, Rosa; Fernandes, Teresa; Xavier, Sandra; de Sousa, Gracinda; de Almeida E Sousa, João Paulo

    2017-12-01

    The control of blood components specifications is a requirement generalized in Europe by the European Commission Directives and in the US by the AABB standards. The use of a statistical process control methodology is recommended in the related literature, including the EDQM guideline. The control reliability is dependent of the sampling. However, a correct sampling methodology seems not to be systematically applied. Commonly, the sampling is intended to comply uniquely with the 1% specification to the produced blood components. Nevertheless, on a purely statistical viewpoint, this model could be argued not to be related to a consistent sampling technique. This could be a severe limitation to detect abnormal patterns and to assure that the production has a non-significant probability of producing nonconforming components. This article discusses what is happening in blood establishments. Three statistical methodologies are proposed: simple random sampling, sampling based on the proportion of a finite population, and sampling based on the inspection level. The empirical results demonstrate that these models are practicable in blood establishments contributing to the robustness of sampling and related statistical process control decisions for the purpose they are suggested for. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. On the simultaneous analysis of several complete samples: the V/Vsub(max) and Vsub(e)/Vsub(a) variables, with applications to quasars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avni, Y.; Bahcall, J.N.

    1979-01-01

    Methods for applying the V/Vsub(max) variable when several complete samples are analyzed simultaneously are derived. A new, related, variable Vsub(e)/Vsub(a), which is superior to V/Vsub(max) when sufficient observational data are available, is introduced. It is shown that statistically independent complete samples can be generated from partially overlapping samples such that each observed object appears only once in the analysis. These methods make it possible to combine the information from different complete samples, and to make an efficient use of all available data. Illustrative examples for quasars are given. It is shown how the generalized V/Vsub(max) and Vsub(e)/Vsub(a) can be used to find the amount of cosmological evolution of quasars and its associated range of uncertainty. This range of uncertainty is of fundamental importance for theories of quasars and for their cosmological implications. It is also given, for the first time, the formal justification of the V/Vsub(max) (and Vsub(e)/Vsub(a)) test, using a variable-sample-size formalism that allows for the total number of objects in the sample to be a random variable. (author)

  2. Multivariate statistics high-dimensional and large-sample approximations

    CERN Document Server

    Fujikoshi, Yasunori; Shimizu, Ryoichi

    2010-01-01

    A comprehensive examination of high-dimensional analysis of multivariate methods and their real-world applications Multivariate Statistics: High-Dimensional and Large-Sample Approximations is the first book of its kind to explore how classical multivariate methods can be revised and used in place of conventional statistical tools. Written by prominent researchers in the field, the book focuses on high-dimensional and large-scale approximations and details the many basic multivariate methods used to achieve high levels of accuracy. The authors begin with a fundamental presentation of the basic

  3. Direct comparison of observed magnitude-redshift relations in complete galaxy samples with systematic predictions of alternative redshift-distance laws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Segal, I.E.

    1989-01-01

    The directly observed average apparent magnitude (or in one case, angular diameter) as a function of redshift in each of a number of large complete galaxy samples is compared with the predictions of hypothetical redshift-distance power laws, as a systematic statistical question. Due account is taken of observational flux limits by an entirely objective and reproducible optimal statistical procedure, and no assumptions are made regarding the distribution of the galaxies in space. The laws considered are of the form z varies as r p , where r denotes the distance, for p = 1, 2 and 3. The comparative fits of the various redshift-distance laws are similar in all the samples. Overall, the cubic law fits better than the linear law, but each shows substantial systematic deviations from observation. The quadratic law fits extremely well except at high redshifts in some of the samples, where no power law fits closely and the correlation of apparent magnitude with redshift is small or negative. In all cases, the luminosity function required for theoretical prediction was estimated from the sample by the non-parametric procedure ROBUST, whose intrinsic neutrality as programmed was checked by comprehensive computer simulations. (author)

  4. The Role of the Sampling Distribution in Understanding Statistical Inference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipson, Kay

    2003-01-01

    Many statistics educators believe that few students develop the level of conceptual understanding essential for them to apply correctly the statistical techniques at their disposal and to interpret their outcomes appropriately. It is also commonly believed that the sampling distribution plays an important role in developing this understanding.…

  5. Weighted statistical parameters for irregularly sampled time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rimoldini, Lorenzo

    2014-01-01

    Unevenly spaced time series are common in astronomy because of the day-night cycle, weather conditions, dependence on the source position in the sky, allocated telescope time and corrupt measurements, for example, or inherent to the scanning law of satellites like Hipparcos and the forthcoming Gaia. Irregular sampling often causes clumps of measurements and gaps with no data which can severely disrupt the values of estimators. This paper aims at improving the accuracy of common statistical parameters when linear interpolation (in time or phase) can be considered an acceptable approximation of a deterministic signal. A pragmatic solution is formulated in terms of a simple weighting scheme, adapting to the sampling density and noise level, applicable to large data volumes at minimal computational cost. Tests on time series from the Hipparcos periodic catalogue led to significant improvements in the overall accuracy and precision of the estimators with respect to the unweighted counterparts and those weighted by inverse-squared uncertainties. Automated classification procedures employing statistical parameters weighted by the suggested scheme confirmed the benefits of the improved input attributes. The classification of eclipsing binaries, Mira, RR Lyrae, Delta Cephei and Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum stars employing exclusively weighted descriptive statistics achieved an overall accuracy of 92 per cent, about 6 per cent higher than with unweighted estimators.

  6. The Complete Local Volume Groups Sample - I. Sample selection and X-ray properties of the high-richness subsample

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Sullivan, Ewan; Ponman, Trevor J.; Kolokythas, Konstantinos; Raychaudhury, Somak; Babul, Arif; Vrtilek, Jan M.; David, Laurence P.; Giacintucci, Simona; Gitti, Myriam; Haines, Chris P.

    2017-12-01

    We present the Complete Local-Volume Groups Sample (CLoGS), a statistically complete optically selected sample of 53 groups within 80 Mpc. Our goal is to combine X-ray, radio and optical data to investigate the relationship between member galaxies, their active nuclei and the hot intra-group medium (IGM). We describe sample selection, define a 26-group high-richness subsample of groups containing at least four optically bright (log LB ≥ 10.2 LB⊙) galaxies, and report the results of XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of these systems. We find that 14 of the 26 groups are X-ray bright, possessing a group-scale IGM extending at least 65 kpc and with luminosity >1041 erg s-1, while a further three groups host smaller galaxy-scale gas haloes. The X-ray bright groups have masses in the range M500 ≃ 0.5-5 × 1013 M⊙, based on system temperatures of 0.4-1.4 keV, and X-ray luminosities in the range 2-200 × 1041 erg s-1. We find that ∼53-65 per cent of the X-ray bright groups have cool cores, a somewhat lower fraction than found by previous archival surveys. Approximately 30 per cent of the X-ray bright groups show evidence of recent dynamical interactions (mergers or sloshing), and ∼35 per cent of their dominant early-type galaxies host active galactic nuclei with radio jets. We find no groups with unusually high central entropies, as predicted by some simulations, and confirm that CLoGS is in principle capable of detecting such systems. We identify three previously unrecognized groups, and find that they are either faint (LX, R500 < 1042 erg s-1) with no concentrated cool core, or highly disturbed. This leads us to suggest that ∼20 per cent of X-ray bright groups in the local universe may still be unidentified.

  7. [Effect sizes, statistical power and sample sizes in "the Japanese Journal of Psychology"].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzukawa, Yumi; Toyoda, Hideki

    2012-04-01

    This study analyzed the statistical power of research studies published in the "Japanese Journal of Psychology" in 2008 and 2009. Sample effect sizes and sample statistical powers were calculated for each statistical test and analyzed with respect to the analytical methods and the fields of the studies. The results show that in the fields like perception, cognition or learning, the effect sizes were relatively large, although the sample sizes were small. At the same time, because of the small sample sizes, some meaningful effects could not be detected. In the other fields, because of the large sample sizes, meaningless effects could be detected. This implies that researchers who could not get large enough effect sizes would use larger samples to obtain significant results.

  8. Comparison of pure and 'Latinized' centroidal Voronoi tessellation against various other statistical sampling methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Romero, Vicente J.; Burkardt, John V.; Gunzburger, Max D.; Peterson, Janet S.

    2006-01-01

    A recently developed centroidal Voronoi tessellation (CVT) sampling method is investigated here to assess its suitability for use in statistical sampling applications. CVT efficiently generates a highly uniform distribution of sample points over arbitrarily shaped M-dimensional parameter spaces. On several 2-D test problems CVT has recently been found to provide exceedingly effective and efficient point distributions for response surface generation. Additionally, for statistical function integration and estimation of response statistics associated with uniformly distributed random-variable inputs (uncorrelated), CVT has been found in initial investigations to provide superior points sets when compared against latin-hypercube and simple-random Monte Carlo methods and Halton and Hammersley quasi-random sequence methods. In this paper, the performance of all these sampling methods and a new variant ('Latinized' CVT) are further compared for non-uniform input distributions. Specifically, given uncorrelated normal inputs in a 2-D test problem, statistical sampling efficiencies are compared for resolving various statistics of response: mean, variance, and exceedence probabilities

  9. Complete removal of a breast mass by US-guided mammotome biopsy: histologic assessment by marginal sampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Youn Jeong; Choi, Hye Young; Moon, Byung In; Lee, Shi Nae

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess whether the complete removal of a breast mass using ultrasound (US) guided mammotome biopsy was successful using a marginal biopsy after insuring the total visual excision of the breast mass on US images. The relationship of complete breast mass removal, and the hematoma, mass size and shape were also evaluated. A US guided mammotome biopsy was performed in a total of 136 cases in 133 patients, with marginal biopsies also added when the complete removal of breast mass had been identified by sonography. The results of the marginal biopsies were serially dividing into three groups, as follows: group I were the cases in the initial 6 months, group II after the initial 6 months and group III having undergone two marginal biopsies. The marginal biopsies were performed in four directions around the probe, with 'marginal positivity' defined as the same histopathological findings to that of the main mass in at least one direction. A statistical analysis was also used to evaluate between the marginal positivity and the hematoma, mass size and shape. The marginal positivities of groups I, II and III were 48.8, 29.4 and 45.5%, respectively. The marginal positivity of those with a lobular shaped mass was significantly higher (ρ = 0.0121) than those with round or oval shaped masses (61.5 vs 33.7 vs 50%), but showed no statistical relationship with hematoma size of the lesions. Although the lesions were removed by US using a US-guided mammotome biopsy, many residual lesions were still histologically present in the marginal samplings, especially in the lobular shaped masse

  10. Effect of model choice and sample size on statistical tolerance limits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duran, B.S.; Campbell, K.

    1980-03-01

    Statistical tolerance limits are estimates of large (or small) quantiles of a distribution, quantities which are very sensitive to the shape of the tail of the distribution. The exact nature of this tail behavior cannot be ascertained brom small samples, so statistical tolerance limits are frequently computed using a statistical model chosen on the basis of theoretical considerations or prior experience with similar populations. This report illustrates the effects of such choices on the computations

  11. Speeding Up Non-Parametric Bootstrap Computations for Statistics Based on Sample Moments in Small/Moderate Sample Size Applications.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elias Chaibub Neto

    Full Text Available In this paper we propose a vectorized implementation of the non-parametric bootstrap for statistics based on sample moments. Basically, we adopt the multinomial sampling formulation of the non-parametric bootstrap, and compute bootstrap replications of sample moment statistics by simply weighting the observed data according to multinomial counts instead of evaluating the statistic on a resampled version of the observed data. Using this formulation we can generate a matrix of bootstrap weights and compute the entire vector of bootstrap replications with a few matrix multiplications. Vectorization is particularly important for matrix-oriented programming languages such as R, where matrix/vector calculations tend to be faster than scalar operations implemented in a loop. We illustrate the application of the vectorized implementation in real and simulated data sets, when bootstrapping Pearson's sample correlation coefficient, and compared its performance against two state-of-the-art R implementations of the non-parametric bootstrap, as well as a straightforward one based on a for loop. Our investigations spanned varying sample sizes and number of bootstrap replications. The vectorized bootstrap compared favorably against the state-of-the-art implementations in all cases tested, and was remarkably/considerably faster for small/moderate sample sizes. The same results were observed in the comparison with the straightforward implementation, except for large sample sizes, where the vectorized bootstrap was slightly slower than the straightforward implementation due to increased time expenditures in the generation of weight matrices via multinomial sampling.

  12. Sampling stored product insect pests: a comparison of four statistical sampling models for probability of pest detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Statistically robust sampling strategies form an integral component of grain storage and handling activities throughout the world. Developing sampling strategies to target biological pests such as insects in stored grain is inherently difficult due to species biology and behavioral characteristics. ...

  13. Improving Statistics Education through Simulations: The Case of the Sampling Distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Earley, Mark A.

    This paper presents a summary of action research investigating statistics students' understandings of the sampling distribution of the mean. With four sections of an introductory Statistics in Education course (n=98 students), a computer simulation activity (R. delMas, J. Garfield, and B. Chance, 1999) was implemented and evaluated to show…

  14. Comparing Simulated and Theoretical Sampling Distributions of the U3 Person-Fit Statistic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emons, Wilco H. M.; Meijer, Rob R.; Sijtsma, Klaas

    2002-01-01

    Studied whether the theoretical sampling distribution of the U3 person-fit statistic is in agreement with the simulated sampling distribution under different item response theory models and varying item and test characteristics. Simulation results suggest that the use of standard normal deviates for the standardized version of the U3 statistic may…

  15. Effect of the absolute statistic on gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, Dougu

    2017-06-01

    Gene-set enrichment analysis and its modified versions have commonly been used for identifying altered functions or pathways in disease from microarray data. In particular, the simple gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods have been heavily used for datasets with only a few sample replicates. The biggest problem with this approach is the highly inflated false-positive rate. In this paper, the effect of absolute gene statistic on gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods is systematically investigated. Thus far, the absolute gene statistic has merely been regarded as a supplementary method for capturing the bidirectional changes in each gene set. Here, it is shown that incorporating the absolute gene statistic in gene-sampling gene-set analysis substantially reduces the false-positive rate and improves the overall discriminatory ability. Its effect was investigated by power, false-positive rate, and receiver operating curve for a number of simulated and real datasets. The performances of gene-set analysis methods in one-tailed (genome-wide association study) and two-tailed (gene expression data) tests were also compared and discussed.

  16. Completely X-symmetric S-matrices corresponding to theta functions and models of statistical mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chudnovsky, D.V.; Chudnovsky, G.V.

    1981-01-01

    We consider general expressions of factorized S-matrices with Abelian symmetry expressed in terms of theta-functions. These expressions arise from representations of the Heisenberg group. New examples of factorized S-matrices lead to a large class of completely integrable models of statistical mechanics which generalize the XYZ-model of the eight-vertex model. (orig.)

  17. THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY QUASAR LENS SEARCH. IV. STATISTICAL LENS SAMPLE FROM THE FIFTH DATA RELEASE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Shin, Min-Su; Kayo, Issha; Fukugita, Masataka; Strauss, Michael A.; Gott, J. Richard; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Morokuma, Tomoki; Becker, Robert H.; Gregg, Michael D.; White, Richard L.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Chiu, Kuenley; Johnston, David E.; Clocchiatti, Alejandro; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.; Frieman, Joshua A.

    2010-01-01

    We present the second report of our systematic search for strongly lensed quasars from the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From extensive follow-up observations of 136 candidate objects, we find 36 lenses in the full sample of 77,429 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 5. We then define a complete sample of 19 lenses, including 11 from our previous search in the SDSS Data Release 3, from the sample of 36,287 quasars with i Λ = 0.84 +0.06 -0.08 (stat.) +0.09 -0.07 (syst.) assuming a flat universe, which is in good agreement with other cosmological observations. We also report the discoveries of seven binary quasars with separations ranging from 1.''1 to 16.''6, which are identified in the course of our lens survey. This study concludes the construction of our statistical lens sample in the full SDSS-I data set.

  18. Soft X-Ray Observations of a Complete Sample of X-Ray--selected BL Lacertae Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perlman, Eric S.; Stocke, John T.; Wang, Q. Daniel; Morris, Simon L.

    1996-01-01

    We present the results of ROSAT PSPC observations of the X-ray selected BL Lacertae objects (XBLs) in the complete Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EM MS) sample. None of the objects is resolved in their respective PSPC images, but all are easily detected. All BL Lac objects in this sample are well-fitted by single power laws. Their X-ray spectra exhibit a variety of spectral slopes, with best-fit energy power-law spectral indices between α = 0.5-2.3. The PSPC spectra of this sample are slightly steeper than those typical of flat ratio-spectrum quasars. Because almost all of the individual PSPC spectral indices are equal to or slightly steeper than the overall optical to X-ray spectral indices for these same objects, we infer that BL Lac soft X-ray continua are dominated by steep-spectrum synchrotron radiation from a broad X-ray jet, rather than flat-spectrum inverse Compton radiation linked to the narrower radio/millimeter jet. The softness of the X-ray spectra of these XBLs revives the possibility proposed by Guilbert, Fabian, & McCray (1983) that BL Lac objects are lineless because the circumnuclear gas cannot be heated sufficiently to permit two stable gas phases, the cooler of which would comprise the broad emission-line clouds. Because unified schemes predict that hard self-Compton radiation is beamed only into a small solid angle in BL Lac objects, the steep-spectrum synchrotron tail controls the temperature of the circumnuclear gas at r ≤ 1018 cm and prevents broad-line cloud formation. We use these new ROSAT data to recalculate the X-ray luminosity function and cosmological evolution of the complete EMSS sample by determining accurate K-corrections for the sample and estimating the effects of variability and the possibility of incompleteness in the sample. Our analysis confirms that XBLs are evolving "negatively," opposite in sense to quasars, with Ve/Va = 0.331±0.060. The statistically significant difference between the values for X

  19. Nomogram for sample size calculation on a straightforward basis for the kappa statistic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Hyunsook; Choi, Yunhee; Hahn, Seokyung; Park, Sue Kyung; Park, Byung-Joo

    2014-09-01

    Kappa is a widely used measure of agreement. However, it may not be straightforward in some situation such as sample size calculation due to the kappa paradox: high agreement but low kappa. Hence, it seems reasonable in sample size calculation that the level of agreement under a certain marginal prevalence is considered in terms of a simple proportion of agreement rather than a kappa value. Therefore, sample size formulae and nomograms using a simple proportion of agreement rather than a kappa under certain marginal prevalences are proposed. A sample size formula was derived using the kappa statistic under the common correlation model and goodness-of-fit statistic. The nomogram for the sample size formula was developed using SAS 9.3. The sample size formulae using a simple proportion of agreement instead of a kappa statistic and nomograms to eliminate the inconvenience of using a mathematical formula were produced. A nomogram for sample size calculation with a simple proportion of agreement should be useful in the planning stages when the focus of interest is on testing the hypothesis of interobserver agreement involving two raters and nominal outcome measures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Causality in Statistical Power: Isomorphic Properties of Measurement, Research Design, Effect Size, and Sample Size

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Eric Heidel

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Statistical power is the ability to detect a significant effect, given that the effect actually exists in a population. Like most statistical concepts, statistical power tends to induce cognitive dissonance in hepatology researchers. However, planning for statistical power by an a priori sample size calculation is of paramount importance when designing a research study. There are five specific empirical components that make up an a priori sample size calculation: the scale of measurement of the outcome, the research design, the magnitude of the effect size, the variance of the effect size, and the sample size. A framework grounded in the phenomenon of isomorphism, or interdependencies amongst different constructs with similar forms, will be presented to understand the isomorphic effects of decisions made on each of the five aforementioned components of statistical power.

  1. Statistical analyses to support guidelines for marine avian sampling. Final report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinlan, Brian P.; Zipkin, Elise; O'Connell, Allan F.; Caldow, Chris

    2012-01-01

    Interest in development of offshore renewable energy facilities has led to a need for high-quality, statistically robust information on marine wildlife distributions. A practical approach is described to estimate the amount of sampling effort required to have sufficient statistical power to identify species-specific “hotspots” and “coldspots” of marine bird abundance and occurrence in an offshore environment divided into discrete spatial units (e.g., lease blocks), where “hotspots” and “coldspots” are defined relative to a reference (e.g., regional) mean abundance and/or occurrence probability for each species of interest. For example, a location with average abundance or occurrence that is three times larger the mean (3x effect size) could be defined as a “hotspot,” and a location that is three times smaller than the mean (1/3x effect size) as a “coldspot.” The choice of the effect size used to define hot and coldspots will generally depend on a combination of ecological and regulatory considerations. A method is also developed for testing the statistical significance of possible hotspots and coldspots. Both methods are illustrated with historical seabird survey data from the USGS Avian Compendium Database. Our approach consists of five main components: 1. A review of the primary scientific literature on statistical modeling of animal group size and avian count data to develop a candidate set of statistical distributions that have been used or may be useful to model seabird counts. 2. Statistical power curves for one-sample, one-tailed Monte Carlo significance tests of differences of observed small-sample means from a specified reference distribution. These curves show the power to detect "hotspots" or "coldspots" of occurrence and abundance at a range of effect sizes, given assumptions which we discuss. 3. A model selection procedure, based on maximum likelihood fits of models in the candidate set, to determine an appropriate statistical

  2. Statistical characterization of a large geochemical database and effect of sample size

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, C.; Manheim, F.T.; Hinde, J.; Grossman, J.N.

    2005-01-01

    The authors investigated statistical distributions for concentrations of chemical elements from the National Geochemical Survey (NGS) database of the U.S. Geological Survey. At the time of this study, the NGS data set encompasses 48,544 stream sediment and soil samples from the conterminous United States analyzed by ICP-AES following a 4-acid near-total digestion. This report includes 27 elements: Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, Ti, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, La, Li, Mn, Nb, Nd, Ni, Pb, Sc, Sr, Th, V, Y and Zn. The goal and challenge for the statistical overview was to delineate chemical distributions in a complex, heterogeneous data set spanning a large geographic range (the conterminous United States), and many different geological provinces and rock types. After declustering to create a uniform spatial sample distribution with 16,511 samples, histograms and quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plots were employed to delineate subpopulations that have coherent chemical and mineral affinities. Probability groupings are discerned by changes in slope (kinks) on the plots. Major rock-forming elements, e.g., Al, Ca, K and Na, tend to display linear segments on normal Q-Q plots. These segments can commonly be linked to petrologic or mineralogical associations. For example, linear segments on K and Na plots reflect dilution of clay minerals by quartz sand (low in K and Na). Minor and trace element relationships are best displayed on lognormal Q-Q plots. These sensitively reflect discrete relationships in subpopulations within the wide range of the data. For example, small but distinctly log-linear subpopulations for Pb, Cu, Zn and Ag are interpreted to represent ore-grade enrichment of naturally occurring minerals such as sulfides. None of the 27 chemical elements could pass the test for either normal or lognormal distribution on the declustered data set. Part of the reasons relate to the presence of mixtures of subpopulations and outliers. Random samples of the data set with successively

  3. Getting complete genomes from complex samples using nanopore sequencing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Rasmus Hansen; Karst, Søren Michael; Albertsen, Mads

    Short read sequencing and metagenomic binning workflows have made it possible to extract bacterial genome bins from environmental microbial samples containing hundreds to thousands of different species. However, these genome bins often do not represent complete genomes, as they are mostly...... fragmented, incomplete and often contaminated with foreign DNA and with no robust strategies to validate the quality. The value of these `draft genomes` have limited, lasting value to the scientific community, as gene synteny is broken and the uncertainty of what is missing. The genetic material most often...... missed is important multi-copy and/or conserved marker genes such as the 16S rRNA gene, as sequence micro-heterogeneity prevents assembly of these genes in the de novo assembly. We demonstrate that using nanopore long reads it is now possible to overcome these issues and make complete genomes from...

  4. Statistical sampling strategies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andres, T.H.

    1987-01-01

    Systems assessment codes use mathematical models to simulate natural and engineered systems. Probabilistic systems assessment codes carry out multiple simulations to reveal the uncertainty in values of output variables due to uncertainty in the values of the model parameters. In this paper, methods are described for sampling sets of parameter values to be used in a probabilistic systems assessment code. Three Monte Carlo parameter selection methods are discussed: simple random sampling, Latin hypercube sampling, and sampling using two-level orthogonal arrays. Three post-selection transformations are also described: truncation, importance transformation, and discretization. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are summarized

  5. Statistical sampling and modelling for cork oak and eucalyptus stands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paulo, M.J.

    2002-01-01

    This thesis focuses on the use of modern statistical methods to solve problems on sampling, optimal cutting time and agricultural modelling in Portuguese cork oak and eucalyptus stands. The results are contained in five chapters that have been submitted for publication

  6. Gene coexpression measures in large heterogeneous samples using count statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Y X Rachel; Waterman, Michael S; Huang, Haiyan

    2014-11-18

    With the advent of high-throughput technologies making large-scale gene expression data readily available, developing appropriate computational tools to process these data and distill insights into systems biology has been an important part of the "big data" challenge. Gene coexpression is one of the earliest techniques developed that is still widely in use for functional annotation, pathway analysis, and, most importantly, the reconstruction of gene regulatory networks, based on gene expression data. However, most coexpression measures do not specifically account for local features in expression profiles. For example, it is very likely that the patterns of gene association may change or only exist in a subset of the samples, especially when the samples are pooled from a range of experiments. We propose two new gene coexpression statistics based on counting local patterns of gene expression ranks to take into account the potentially diverse nature of gene interactions. In particular, one of our statistics is designed for time-course data with local dependence structures, such as time series coupled over a subregion of the time domain. We provide asymptotic analysis of their distributions and power, and evaluate their performance against a wide range of existing coexpression measures on simulated and real data. Our new statistics are fast to compute, robust against outliers, and show comparable and often better general performance.

  7. Automated statistical modeling of analytical measurement systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacobson, J.J.

    1992-01-01

    The statistical modeling of analytical measurement systems at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) has been completely automated through computer software. The statistical modeling of analytical measurement systems is one part of a complete quality control program used by the Remote Analytical Laboratory (RAL) at the ICPP. The quality control program is an integration of automated data input, measurement system calibration, database management, and statistical process control. The quality control program and statistical modeling program meet the guidelines set forth by the American Society for Testing Materials and American National Standards Institute. A statistical model is a set of mathematical equations describing any systematic bias inherent in a measurement system and the precision of a measurement system. A statistical model is developed from data generated from the analysis of control standards. Control standards are samples which are made up at precise known levels by an independent laboratory and submitted to the RAL. The RAL analysts who process control standards do not know the values of those control standards. The object behind statistical modeling is to describe real process samples in terms of their bias and precision and, to verify that a measurement system is operating satisfactorily. The processing of control standards gives us this ability

  8. Statistical Methods and Tools for Hanford Staged Feed Tank Sampling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fountain, Matthew S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Brigantic, Robert T. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Peterson, Reid A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2013-10-01

    This report summarizes work conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to technically evaluate the current approach to staged feed sampling of high-level waste (HLW) sludge to meet waste acceptance criteria (WAC) for transfer from tank farms to the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The current sampling and analysis approach is detailed in the document titled Initial Data Quality Objectives for WTP Feed Acceptance Criteria, 24590-WTP-RPT-MGT-11-014, Revision 0 (Arakali et al. 2011). The goal of this current work is to evaluate and provide recommendations to support a defensible, technical and statistical basis for the staged feed sampling approach that meets WAC data quality objectives (DQOs).

  9. Differences between Lab Completion and Non-Completion on Student Performance in an Online Undergraduate Environmental Science Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corsi, Gianluca

    2011-12-01

    Web-based technology has revolutionized the way education is delivered. Although the advantages of online learning appeal to large numbers of students, some concerns arise. One major concern in online science education is the value that participation in labs has on student performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between lab completion and student academic success as measured by test grades, scientific self-confidence, scientific skills, and concept mastery. A random sample of 114 volunteer undergraduate students, from an online Environmental Science program at the American Public University System, was tested. The study followed a quantitative, non-experimental research design. Paired sample t-tests were used for statistical comparison between pre-lab and post-lab test grades, two scientific skills quizzes, and two scientific self-confidence surveys administered at the beginning and at the end of the course. The results of the paired sample t-tests revealed statistically significant improvements on all post-lab test scores: Air Pollution lab, t(112) = 6.759, p virtual reality platforms and digital animations. Future research is encouraged to investigate possible correlations between socio-demographic attributes and academic success of students enrolled in online science programs in reference to lab completion.

  10. Statistical sampling applied to the radiological characterization of historical waste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaffora Biagio

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The evaluation of the activity of radionuclides in radioactive waste is required for its disposal in final repositories. Easy-to-measure nuclides, like γ-emitters and high-energy X-rays, can be measured via non-destructive nuclear techniques from outside a waste package. Some radionuclides are difficult-to-measure (DTM from outside a package because they are α- or β-emitters. The present article discusses the application of linear regression, scaling factors (SF and the so-called “mean activity method” to estimate the activity of DTM nuclides on metallic waste produced at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN. Various statistical sampling techniques including simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified and authoritative sampling are described and applied to 2 waste populations of activated copper cables. The bootstrap is introduced as a tool to estimate average activities and standard errors in waste characterization. The analysis of the DTM Ni-63 is used as an example. Experimental and theoretical values of SFs are calculated and compared. Guidelines for sampling historical waste using probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling are finally given.

  11. Exploring the Connection Between Sampling Problems in Bayesian Inference and Statistical Mechanics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohorille, Andrew

    2006-01-01

    The Bayesian and statistical mechanical communities often share the same objective in their work - estimating and integrating probability distribution functions (pdfs) describing stochastic systems, models or processes. Frequently, these pdfs are complex functions of random variables exhibiting multiple, well separated local minima. Conventional strategies for sampling such pdfs are inefficient, sometimes leading to an apparent non-ergodic behavior. Several recently developed techniques for handling this problem have been successfully applied in statistical mechanics. In the multicanonical and Wang-Landau Monte Carlo (MC) methods, the correct pdfs are recovered from uniform sampling of the parameter space by iteratively establishing proper weighting factors connecting these distributions. Trivial generalizations allow for sampling from any chosen pdf. The closely related transition matrix method relies on estimating transition probabilities between different states. All these methods proved to generate estimates of pdfs with high statistical accuracy. In another MC technique, parallel tempering, several random walks, each corresponding to a different value of a parameter (e.g. "temperature"), are generated and occasionally exchanged using the Metropolis criterion. This method can be considered as a statistically correct version of simulated annealing. An alternative approach is to represent the set of independent variables as a Hamiltonian system. Considerab!e progress has been made in understanding how to ensure that the system obeys the equipartition theorem or, equivalently, that coupling between the variables is correctly described. Then a host of techniques developed for dynamical systems can be used. Among them, probably the most powerful is the Adaptive Biasing Force method, in which thermodynamic integration and biased sampling are combined to yield very efficient estimates of pdfs. The third class of methods deals with transitions between states described

  12. Statistical sampling plans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaech, J.L.

    1984-01-01

    In auditing and in inspection, one selects a number of items by some set of procedures and performs measurements which are compared with the operator's values. This session considers the problem of how to select the samples to be measured, and what kinds of measurements to make. In the inspection situation, the ultimate aim is to independently verify the operator's material balance. The effectiveness of the sample plan in achieving this objective is briefly considered. The discussion focuses on the model plant

  13. Comparing simulated and theoretical sampling distributions of the U3 person-fit statistic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Emons, W.H.M.; Meijer, R.R.; Sijtsma, K.

    2002-01-01

    The accuracy with which the theoretical sampling distribution of van der Flier's person-.t statistic U3 approaches the empirical U3 sampling distribution is affected by the item discrimination. A simulation study showed that for tests with a moderate or a strong mean item discrimination, the Type I

  14. The Statistics of Radio Astronomical Polarimetry: Disjoint, Superposed, and Composite Samples

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Straten, W. van [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 (Australia); Tiburzi, C., E-mail: willem.van.straten@aut.ac.nz [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)

    2017-02-01

    A statistical framework is presented for the study of the orthogonally polarized modes of radio pulsar emission via the covariances between the Stokes parameters. To accommodate the typically heavy-tailed distributions of single-pulse radio flux density, the fourth-order joint cumulants of the electric field are used to describe the superposition of modes with arbitrary probability distributions. The framework is used to consider the distinction between superposed and disjoint modes, with particular attention to the effects of integration over finite samples. If the interval over which the polarization state is estimated is longer than the timescale for switching between two or more disjoint modes of emission, then the modes are unresolved by the instrument. The resulting composite sample mean exhibits properties that have been attributed to mode superposition, such as depolarization. Because the distinction between disjoint modes and a composite sample of unresolved disjoint modes depends on the temporal resolution of the observing instrumentation, the arguments in favor of superposed modes of pulsar emission are revisited, and observational evidence for disjoint modes is described. In principle, the four-dimensional covariance matrix that describes the distribution of sample mean Stokes parameters can be used to distinguish between disjoint modes, superposed modes, and a composite sample of unresolved disjoint modes. More comprehensive and conclusive interpretation of the covariance matrix requires more detailed consideration of various relevant phenomena, including temporally correlated subpulse modulation (e.g., jitter), statistical dependence between modes (e.g., covariant intensities and partial coherence), and multipath propagation effects (e.g., scintillation and scattering).

  15. TRAN-STAT, Issue No. 3, January 1978. Topics discussed: some statistical aspects of compositing field samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, R.O.

    1978-01-01

    Some statistical aspects of compositing field samples of soils for determining the content of Pu are discussed. Some of the potential problems involved in pooling samples are reviewed. This is followed by more detailed discussions and examples of compositing designs, adequacy of mixing, statistical models and their role in compositing, and related topics

  16. Comparing simulated and theoretical sampling distributions of the U3 person-fit statistic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Emons, Wilco H.M.; Meijer, R.R.; Sijtsma, Klaas

    2002-01-01

    The accuracy with which the theoretical sampling distribution of van der Flier’s person-fit statistic U3 approaches the empirical U3 sampling distribution is affected by the item discrimination. A simulation study showed that for tests with a moderate or a strong mean item discrimination, the Type I

  17. National Statistical Commission and Indian Official Statistics*

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    IAS Admin

    a good collection of official statistics of that time. With more .... statistical agencies and institutions to provide details of statistical activities .... ing several training programmes. .... ful completion of Indian Statistical Service examinations, the.

  18. STATISTICAL LANDMARKS AND PRACTICAL ISSUES REGARDING THE USE OF SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING IN MARKET RESEARCHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CODRUŢA DURA

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The sample represents a particular segment of the statistical populationchosen to represent it as a whole. The representativeness of the sample determines the accuracyfor estimations made on the basis of calculating the research indicators and the inferentialstatistics. The method of random sampling is part of probabilistic methods which can be usedwithin marketing research and it is characterized by the fact that it imposes the requirementthat each unit belonging to the statistical population should have an equal chance of beingselected for the sampling process. When the simple random sampling is meant to be rigorouslyput into practice, it is recommended to use the technique of random number tables in order toconfigure the sample which will provide information that the marketer needs. The paper alsodetails the practical procedure implemented in order to create a sample for a marketingresearch by generating random numbers using the facilities offered by Microsoft Excel.

  19. Subclinical delusional ideation and appreciation of sample size and heterogeneity in statistical judgment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galbraith, Niall D; Manktelow, Ken I; Morris, Neil G

    2010-11-01

    Previous studies demonstrate that people high in delusional ideation exhibit a data-gathering bias on inductive reasoning tasks. The current study set out to investigate the factors that may underpin such a bias by examining healthy individuals, classified as either high or low scorers on the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI). More specifically, whether high PDI scorers have a relatively poor appreciation of sample size and heterogeneity when making statistical judgments. In Expt 1, high PDI scorers made higher probability estimates when generalizing from a sample of 1 with regard to the heterogeneous human property of obesity. In Expt 2, this effect was replicated and was also observed in relation to the heterogeneous property of aggression. The findings suggest that delusion-prone individuals are less appreciative of the importance of sample size when making statistical judgments about heterogeneous properties; this may underpin the data gathering bias observed in previous studies. There was some support for the hypothesis that threatening material would exacerbate high PDI scorers' indifference to sample size.

  20. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. IV. Statistical Lens Sample from the Fifth Data Release

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Inada, Naohisa; /Wako, RIKEN /Tokyo U., ICEPP; Oguri, Masamune; /Natl. Astron. Observ. of Japan /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Shin, Min-Su; /Michigan U. /Princeton U. Observ.; Kayo, Issha; /Tokyo U., ICRR; Strauss, Michael A.; /Princeton U. Observ.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; /UC, Berkeley /Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst. Astron.; Morokuma, Tomoki; /Natl. Astron. Observ. of Japan; Becker, Robert H.; /LLNL, Livermore /UC, Davis; White, Richard L.; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; /Ohio State U.; Gregg, Michael D.; /LLNL, Livermore /UC, Davis /Exeter U.

    2010-05-01

    We present the second report of our systematic search for strongly lensed quasars from the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From extensive follow-up observations of 136 candidate objects, we find 36 lenses in the full sample of 77,429 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 5. We then define a complete sample of 19 lenses, including 11 from our previous search in the SDSS Data Release 3, from the sample of 36,287 quasars with i < 19.1 in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2, where we require the lenses to have image separations of 1 < {theta} < 20 and i-band magnitude differences between the two images smaller than 1.25 mag. Among the 19 lensed quasars, 3 have quadruple-image configurations, while the remaining 16 show double images. This lens sample constrains the cosmological constant to be {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} = 0.84{sub -0.08}{sup +0.06}(stat.){sub -0.07}{sup + 0.09}(syst.) assuming a flat universe, which is in good agreement with other cosmological observations. We also report the discoveries of 7 binary quasars with separations ranging from 1.1 to 16.6, which are identified in the course of our lens survey. This study concludes the construction of our statistical lens sample in the full SDSS-I data set.

  1. Sample Size Requirements for Assessing Statistical Moments of Simulated Crop Yield Distributions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lehmann, N.; Finger, R.; Klein, T.; Calanca, P.

    2013-01-01

    Mechanistic crop growth models are becoming increasingly important in agricultural research and are extensively used in climate change impact assessments. In such studies, statistics of crop yields are usually evaluated without the explicit consideration of sample size requirements. The purpose of

  2. Statistical Sampling For In-Service Inspection Of Liquid Waste Tanks At The Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, S.

    2011-01-01

    Savannah River Remediation, LLC (SRR) is implementing a statistical sampling strategy for In-Service Inspection (ISI) of Liquid Waste (LW) Tanks at the United States Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. As a component of SRS's corrosion control program, the ISI program assesses tank wall structural integrity through the use of ultrasonic testing (UT). The statistical strategy for ISI is based on the random sampling of a number of vertically oriented unit areas, called strips, within each tank. The number of strips to inspect was determined so as to attain, over time, a high probability of observing at least one of the worst 5% in terms of pitting and corrosion across all tanks. The probability estimation to determine the number of strips to inspect was performed using the hypergeometric distribution. Statistical tolerance limits for pit depth and corrosion rates were calculated by fitting the lognormal distribution to the data. In addition to the strip sampling strategy, a single strip within each tank was identified to serve as the baseline for a longitudinal assessment of the tank safe operational life. The statistical sampling strategy enables the ISI program to develop individual profiles of LW tank wall structural integrity that collectively provide a high confidence in their safety and integrity over operational lifetimes.

  3. A cost-saving statistically based screening technique for focused sampling of a lead-contaminated site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moscati, A.F. Jr.; Hediger, E.M.; Rupp, M.J.

    1986-01-01

    High concentrations of lead in soils along an abandoned railroad line prompted a remedial investigation to characterize the extent of contamination across a 7-acre site. Contamination was thought to be spotty across the site reflecting its past use in battery recycling operations at discrete locations. A screening technique was employed to delineate the more highly contaminated areas by testing a statistically determined minimum number of random samples from each of seven discrete site areas. The approach not only quickly identified those site areas which would require more extensive grid sampling, but also provided a statistically defensible basis for excluding other site areas from further consideration, thus saving the cost of additional sample collection and analysis. The reduction in the number of samples collected in ''clean'' areas of the site ranged from 45 to 60%

  4. Ecotoxicology statistical sampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saona, G.

    2012-01-01

    This presentation introduces to general concepts in toxicology sample designs such as the distribution of organic or inorganic contaminants, a microbiological contamination, and the determination of the position in an eco toxicological bioassays ecosystem.

  5. Survey of statistical and sampling needs for environmental monitoring of commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eberhardt, L.L.; Thomas, J.M.

    1986-07-01

    This project was designed to develop guidance for implementing 10 CFR Part 61 and to determine the overall needs for sampling and statistical work in characterizing, surveying, monitoring, and closing commercial low-level waste sites. When cost-effectiveness and statistical reliability are of prime importance, then double sampling, compositing, and stratification (with optimal allocation) are identified as key issues. If the principal concern is avoiding questionable statistical practice, then the applicability of kriging (for assessing spatial pattern), methods for routine monitoring, and use of standard textbook formulae in reporting monitoring results should be reevaluated. Other important issues identified include sampling for estimating model parameters and the use of data from left-censored (less than detectable limits) distributions

  6. Perceived racial discrimination in health care, completion of standard diabetes services, and diabetes control among a sample of American Indian women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, Kelly L; Lambert, William E; Fu, Rongwei; Jacob, Michelle; Harding, Anna K

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine perceived experiences of racial discrimination (perceived discrimination) in health care and its associations with completing standards of care for diabetes management and diabetes control. This cross-sectional study included 200 adult American Indian (AI) women with type 2 diabetes from 4 health care facilities located on tribal reservations in the Pacific Northwest. Participants completed a survey, and medical records were abstracted. Logistic regression was completed to assess associations. Sixty-seven percent of AI women reported discrimination during their lifetime of health care. After adjusting for patient characteristics, perceived discrimination was significantly associated with lower rates of dental exam; checks for blood pressure, creatinine, and total cholesterol; and pneumococcal vaccination. The association between perceived discrimination and total number of diabetes services completed was not statistically significant. Perceived discrimination was associated with having A1C values above target levels for diabetes control in unadjusted and adjusted models, but no association was observed for blood pressure or total cholesterol. In our sample of AI women with diabetes, two-thirds reported experiencing racial discrimination in their health care experience. Those reporting perceived discrimination completed fewer diabetes services and therefore may be at increased risk for comorbidities of diabetes. This finding supports the continued need for culturally responsive health care and programs of diabetes education to recognize perceived discrimination and its potential to impact success in self-management and services utilization. © 2014 The Author(s).

  7. Structured Matrix Completion with Applications to Genomic Data Integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Tianxi; Cai, T Tony; Zhang, Anru

    2016-01-01

    Matrix completion has attracted significant recent attention in many fields including statistics, applied mathematics and electrical engineering. Current literature on matrix completion focuses primarily on independent sampling models under which the individual observed entries are sampled independently. Motivated by applications in genomic data integration, we propose a new framework of structured matrix completion (SMC) to treat structured missingness by design. Specifically, our proposed method aims at efficient matrix recovery when a subset of the rows and columns of an approximately low-rank matrix are observed. We provide theoretical justification for the proposed SMC method and derive lower bound for the estimation errors, which together establish the optimal rate of recovery over certain classes of approximately low-rank matrices. Simulation studies show that the method performs well in finite sample under a variety of configurations. The method is applied to integrate several ovarian cancer genomic studies with different extent of genomic measurements, which enables us to construct more accurate prediction rules for ovarian cancer survival.

  8. Two sample Bayesian prediction intervals for order statistics based on the inverse exponential-type distributions using right censored sample

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.M. Mohie El-Din

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, two sample Bayesian prediction intervals for order statistics (OS are obtained. This prediction is based on a certain class of the inverse exponential-type distributions using a right censored sample. A general class of prior density functions is used and the predictive cumulative function is obtained in the two samples case. The class of the inverse exponential-type distributions includes several important distributions such the inverse Weibull distribution, the inverse Burr distribution, the loglogistic distribution, the inverse Pareto distribution and the inverse paralogistic distribution. Special cases of the inverse Weibull model such as the inverse exponential model and the inverse Rayleigh model are considered.

  9. CAN'T MISS--conquer any number task by making important statistics simple. Part 2. Probability, populations, samples, and normal distributions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, John P

    2003-01-01

    Healthcare quality improvement professionals need to understand and use inferential statistics to interpret sample data from their organizations. In quality improvement and healthcare research studies all the data from a population often are not available, so investigators take samples and make inferences about the population by using inferential statistics. This three-part series will give readers an understanding of the concepts of inferential statistics as well as the specific tools for calculating confidence intervals for samples of data. This article, Part 2, describes probability, populations, and samples. The uses of descriptive and inferential statistics are outlined. The article also discusses the properties and probability of normal distributions, including the standard normal distribution.

  10. Getting complete genomes from complex samples using nanopore sequencing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Rasmus Hansen; Karst, Søren Michael; Albertsen, Mads

    Background Short read DNA sequencing and metagenomic binning workflows have made it possible to extract bacterial genome bins from environmental microbial samples containing hundreds to thousands of different species. However, these genome bins often do not represent complete genomes......, as they are mostly fragmented, incomplete and often contaminated with foreign DNA. The value of these `draft genomes` have limited, lasting value to the scientific community, as gene synteny is broken and there is some uncertainty of what is missing1. The genetic material most often missed is important multi......-copy and/or conserved marker genes such as the 16S rRNA gene, as sequence micro-heterogeneity prevents assembly of these genes in the de novo assembly. However, long read sequencing technologies are emerging promising an end to fragmented genome assemblies2. Experimental design We extracted DNA from a full...

  11. Supporting Students to Develop Concepts Underlying Sampling and to Shuttle Between Contextual and Statistical Spheres

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bakker, A.; Dierdorp, A.; Maanen, J.A. van; Eijkelhof, H.M.C.

    2012-01-01

    To stimulate students’ shuttling between contextual and statistical spheres, we based tasks on professional practices. This article focuses on two tasks to support reasoning about sampling by students aged 16-17. The purpose of the tasks was to find out which smaller sample size would have been

  12. Complete super-sample lensing covariance in the response approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barreira, Alexandre; Krause, Elisabeth; Schmidt, Fabian

    2018-06-01

    We derive the complete super-sample covariance (SSC) of the matter and weak lensing convergence power spectra using the power spectrum response formalism to accurately describe the coupling of super- to sub-survey modes. The SSC term is completely characterized by the survey window function, the nonlinear matter power spectrum and the full first-order nonlinear power spectrum response function, which describes the response to super-survey density and tidal field perturbations. Generalized separate universe simulations can efficiently measure these responses in the nonlinear regime of structure formation, which is necessary for lensing applications. We derive the lensing SSC formulae for two cases: one under the Limber and flat-sky approximations, and a more general one that goes beyond the Limber approximation in the super-survey mode and is valid for curved sky applications. Quantitatively, we find that for sky fractions fsky ≈ 0.3 and a single source redshift at zS=1, the use of the flat-sky and Limber approximation underestimates the total SSC contribution by ≈ 10%. The contribution from super-survey tidal fields to the lensing SSC, which has not been included in cosmological analyses so far, is shown to represent about 5% of the total lensing covariance on multipoles l1,l2 gtrsim 300. The SSC is the dominant off-diagonal contribution to the total lensing covariance, making it appropriate to include these tidal terms and beyond flat-sky/Limber corrections in cosmic shear analyses.

  13. Statistical issues in reporting quality data: small samples and casemix variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaslavsky, A M

    2001-12-01

    To present two key statistical issues that arise in analysis and reporting of quality data. Casemix variation is relevant to quality reporting when the units being measured have differing distributions of patient characteristics that also affect the quality outcome. When this is the case, adjustment using stratification or regression may be appropriate. Such adjustments may be controversial when the patient characteristic does not have an obvious relationship to the outcome. Stratified reporting poses problems for sample size and reporting format, but may be useful when casemix effects vary across units. Although there are no absolute standards of reliability, high reliabilities (interunit F > or = 10 or reliability > or = 0.9) are desirable for distinguishing above- and below-average units. When small or unequal sample sizes complicate reporting, precision may be improved using indirect estimation techniques that incorporate auxiliary information, and 'shrinkage' estimation can help to summarize the strength of evidence about units with small samples. With broader understanding of casemix adjustment and methods for analyzing small samples, quality data can be analysed and reported more accurately.

  14. Statistical evaluation of the data obtained from the K East Basin Sandfilter Backwash Pit samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welsh, T.L.

    1994-01-01

    Samples were obtained from different locations from the K Each Sandfilter Backwash Pit to characterize the sludge material. These samples were analyzed chemically for elements, radionuclides, and residual compounds. The analytical results were statistically analyzed to determine the mean analyte content and the associated variability for each mean value

  15. Discrimination of handlebar grip samples by fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy analysis and statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeyu Lin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the authors presented a study on the discrimination of handlebar grip samples, to provide effective forensic science service for hit and run traffic cases. 50 bicycle handlebar grip samples, 49 electric bike handlebar grip samples, and 96 motorcycle handlebar grip samples have been randomly collected by the local police in Beijing (China. Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR was utilized as analytical technology. Then, target absorption selection, data pretreatment, and discrimination of linked samples and unlinked samples were chosen as three steps to improve the discrimination of FTIR spectrums collected from different handlebar grip samples. Principal component analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve were utilized to evaluate different data selection methods and different data pretreatment methods, respectively. It is possible to explore the evidential value of handlebar grip residue evidence through instrumental analysis and statistical treatments. It will provide a universal discrimination method for other forensic science samples as well.

  16. Time Series, Stochastic Processes and Completeness of Quantum Theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kupczynski, Marian

    2011-01-01

    Most of physical experiments are usually described as repeated measurements of some random variables. Experimental data registered by on-line computers form time series of outcomes. The frequencies of different outcomes are compared with the probabilities provided by the algorithms of quantum theory (QT). In spite of statistical predictions of QT a claim was made that it provided the most complete description of the data and of the underlying physical phenomena. This claim could be easily rejected if some fine structures, averaged out in the standard descriptive statistical analysis, were found in time series of experimental data. To search for these structures one has to use more subtle statistical tools which were developed to study time series produced by various stochastic processes. In this talk we review some of these tools. As an example we show how the standard descriptive statistical analysis of the data is unable to reveal a fine structure in a simulated sample of AR (2) stochastic process. We emphasize once again that the violation of Bell inequalities gives no information on the completeness or the non locality of QT. The appropriate way to test the completeness of quantum theory is to search for fine structures in time series of the experimental data by means of the purity tests or by studying the autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation functions.

  17. Cosmological implications of a large complete quasar sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segal, I E; Nicoll, J F

    1998-04-28

    Objective and reproducible determinations of the probabilistic significance levels of the deviations between theoretical cosmological prediction and direct model-independent observation are made for the Large Bright Quasar Sample [Foltz, C., Chaffee, F. H., Hewett, P. C., MacAlpine, G. M., Turnshek, D. A., et al. (1987) Astron. J. 94, 1423-1460]. The Expanding Universe model as represented by the Friedman-Lemaitre cosmology with parameters qo = 0, Lambda = 0 denoted as C1 and chronometric cosmology (no relevant adjustable parameters) denoted as C2 are the cosmologies considered. The mean and the dispersion of the apparent magnitudes and the slope of the apparent magnitude-redshift relation are the directly observed statistics predicted. The C1 predictions of these cosmology-independent quantities are deviant by as much as 11sigma from direct observation; none of the C2 predictions deviate by >2sigma. The C1 deviations may be reconciled with theory by the hypothesis of quasar "evolution," which, however, appears incapable of being substantiated through direct observation. The excellent quantitative agreement of the C1 deviations with those predicted by C2 without adjustable parameters for the results of analysis predicated on C1 indicates that the evolution hypothesis may well be a theoretical artifact.

  18. DWPF Sample Vial Insert Study-Statistical Analysis of DWPF Mock-Up Test Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, S.P.

    1997-01-01

    This report is prepared as part of Technical/QA Task Plan WSRC-RP-97-351 which was issued in response to Technical Task Request HLW/DWPF/TTR-970132 submitted by DWPF. Presented in this report is a statistical analysis of DWPF Mock-up test data for evaluation of two new analytical methods which use insert samples from the existing HydragardTM sampler. The first is a new hydrofluoric acid based method called the Cold Chemical Method (Cold Chem) and the second is a modified fusion method.Both new methods use the existing HydragardTM sampler to collect a smaller insert sample from the process sampling system. The insert testing methodology applies to the DWPF Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) and the Melter Feed Tank (MFT) samples. Samples in small 3 ml containers (Inserts) are analyzed by either the cold chemical method or a modified fusion method. The current analytical method uses a HydragardTM sample station to obtain nearly full 15 ml peanut vials. The samples are prepared by a multi-step process for Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis by drying, vitrification, grinding and finally dissolution by either mixed acid or fusion. In contrast, the insert sample is placed directly in the dissolution vessel, thus eliminating the drying, vitrification and grinding operations for the Cold chem method. Although the modified fusion still requires drying and calcine conversion, the process is rapid due to the decreased sample size and that no vitrification step is required.A slurry feed simulant material was acquired from the TNX pilot facility from the test run designated as PX-7.The Mock-up test data were gathered on the basis of a statistical design presented in SRT-SCS-97004 (Rev. 0). Simulant PX-7 samples were taken in the DWPF Analytical Cell Mock-up Facility using 3 ml inserts and 15 ml peanut vials. A number of the insert samples were analyzed by Cold Chem and compared with full peanut vial samples analyzed by the current methods. The remaining inserts were analyzed by

  19. TOWARD COMPLETE STATISTICS OF MASSIVE BINARY STARS: PENULTIMATE RESULTS FROM THE CYGNUS OB2 RADIAL VELOCITY SURVEY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobulnicky, Henry A.; Lundquist, Michael J.; Burke, Jamison; Chapman, James; Keller, Erica; Lester, Kathryn; Rolen, Emily K.; Topel, Eric; Bhattacharjee, Anirban; Smullen, Rachel A.; Álvarez, Carlos A. Vargas; Runnoe, Jessie C.; Dale, Daniel A.; Brotherton, Michael M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82070 (United States); Kiminki, Daniel C., E-mail: chipk@uwyo.edu, E-mail: jburke2@swarthmore.edu, E-mail: jc6380@mcla.edu, E-mail: kelle22e@mtholyoke.edu, E-mail: kvl214@lehigh.edu, E-mail: emily.k.rolen@vanderbilt.edu, E-mail: topel@stolaf.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

    2014-08-01

    We analyze orbital solutions for 48 massive multiple-star systems in the Cygnus OB2 association, 23 of which are newly presented here, to find that the observed distribution of orbital periods is approximately uniform in log P for P < 45 days, but it is not scale-free. Inflections in the cumulative distribution near 6 days, 14 days, and 45 days suggest key physical scales of ≅0.2, ≅0.4, and ≅1 A.U. where yet-to-be-identified phenomena create distinct features. No single power law provides a statistically compelling prescription, but if features are ignored, a power law with exponent β ≅ –0.22 provides a crude approximation over P = 1.4-2000 days, as does a piece-wise linear function with a break near 45 days. The cumulative period distribution flattens at P > 45 days, even after correction for completeness, indicating either a lower binary fraction or a shift toward low-mass companions. A high degree of similarity (91% likelihood) between the Cyg OB2 period distribution and that of other surveys suggests that the binary properties at P ≲ 25 days are determined by local physics of disk/clump fragmentation and are relatively insensitive to environmental and evolutionary factors. Fully 30% of the unbiased parent sample is a binary with period P < 45 days. Completeness corrections imply a binary fraction near 55% for P < 5000 days. The observed distribution of mass ratios 0.2 < q < 1 is consistent with uniform, while the observed distribution of eccentricities 0.1 < e < 0.6 is consistent with uniform plus an excess of e ≅ 0 systems. We identify six stars, all supergiants, that exhibit aperiodic velocity variations of ∼30 km s{sup –1} attributed to atmospheric fluctuations.

  20. Organochlorine contaminants in complete clutches of Morelet's crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) eggs from Belize

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Ted H. [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6160 (United States); Canas, Jaclyn E. [Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States); Rainwater, Thomas R. [Institute of Environmental and Human Health, PO Box 764, Jefferson, TX 75657 (United States); Platt, Steven G. [Department of Math and Science, Oglala Lakota College, 490 Piya Wiconi Road, Kyle, SD, 57752 (United States); McMurry, Scott T. [Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States); Anderson, Todd A. [Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States)]. E-mail: todd.anderson@ttu.edu

    2006-11-15

    Seven complete clutches of Morelet's crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) eggs were collected in northern Belize and examined for organochlorine (OC) pesticide residues. The primary OC detected, p,p-DDE, was found in every egg analyzed (n = 175). Other OCs detected included p,p-DDT, p,p-DDD, methoxychlor, aldrin, and endosulfan I. Concentrations of individual OCs ranged from 4 ppb (ng chemical/g egg wet weight) to greater than 500 ppb. A statistical evaluation of p,p-DDE levels in three complete clutches was used to derive the minimum number of eggs needed from a clutch to precisely determine the mean p,p-DDE concentration representative of that clutch. Sample sizes of 8 (80% confidence level) and 11 (90% confidence level) were determined to yield an accurate estimate of contaminant levels in a full clutch of eggs. The statistically recommended sample size of 11 eggs (at 90% confidence level) was successfully tested on the four additional clutches. -- Sampling the non-viable eggs of a clutch can provide a statistically reasonable estimation of both the organochlorine contaminant distribution and concentrations in that clutch.

  1. Statistical sampling plan for the TRU waste assay facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beauchamp, J.J.; Wright, T.; Schultz, F.J.; Haff, K.; Monroe, R.J.

    1983-08-01

    Due to limited space, there is a need to dispose appropriately of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory transuranic waste which is presently stored below ground in 55-gal (208-l) drums within weather-resistant structures. Waste containing less than 100 nCi/g transuranics can be removed from the present storage and be buried, while waste containing greater than 100 nCi/g transuranics must continue to be retrievably stored. To make the necessary measurements needed to determine the drums that can be buried, a transuranic Neutron Interrogation Assay System (NIAS) has been developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory and can make the needed measurements much faster than previous techniques which involved γ-ray spectroscopy. The previous techniques are reliable but time consuming. Therefore, a validation study has been planned to determine the ability of the NIAS to make adequate measurements. The validation of the NIAS will be based on a paired comparison of a sample of measurements made by the previous techniques and the NIAS. The purpose of this report is to describe the proposed sampling plan and the statistical analyses needed to validate the NIAS. 5 references, 4 figures, 5 tables

  2. Statistics and sampling in transuranic studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eberhardt, L.L.; Gilbert, R.O.

    1980-01-01

    The existing data on transuranics in the environment exhibit a remarkably high variability from sample to sample (coefficients of variation of 100% or greater). This chapter stresses the necessity of adequate sample size and suggests various ways to increase sampling efficiency. Objectives in sampling are regarded as being of great importance in making decisions as to sampling methodology. Four different classes of sampling methods are described: (1) descriptive sampling, (2) sampling for spatial pattern, (3) analytical sampling, and (4) sampling for modeling. A number of research needs are identified in the various sampling categories along with several problems that appear to be common to two or more such areas

  3. Statistical methods for detecting differentially abundant features in clinical metagenomic samples.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Robert White

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Numerous studies are currently underway to characterize the microbial communities inhabiting our world. These studies aim to dramatically expand our understanding of the microbial biosphere and, more importantly, hope to reveal the secrets of the complex symbiotic relationship between us and our commensal bacterial microflora. An important prerequisite for such discoveries are computational tools that are able to rapidly and accurately compare large datasets generated from complex bacterial communities to identify features that distinguish them.We present a statistical method for comparing clinical metagenomic samples from two treatment populations on the basis of count data (e.g. as obtained through sequencing to detect differentially abundant features. Our method, Metastats, employs the false discovery rate to improve specificity in high-complexity environments, and separately handles sparsely-sampled features using Fisher's exact test. Under a variety of simulations, we show that Metastats performs well compared to previously used methods, and significantly outperforms other methods for features with sparse counts. We demonstrate the utility of our method on several datasets including a 16S rRNA survey of obese and lean human gut microbiomes, COG functional profiles of infant and mature gut microbiomes, and bacterial and viral metabolic subsystem data inferred from random sequencing of 85 metagenomes. The application of our method to the obesity dataset reveals differences between obese and lean subjects not reported in the original study. For the COG and subsystem datasets, we provide the first statistically rigorous assessment of the differences between these populations. The methods described in this paper are the first to address clinical metagenomic datasets comprising samples from multiple subjects. Our methods are robust across datasets of varied complexity and sampling level. While designed for metagenomic applications, our software

  4. Orthodontic Treatment Completion and Discontinuation in a Rural Sample from North Central Appalachia in the USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris A. Martin

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundOrthodontics has inherent demands, requiring regular appointments and active patient engagement, but relatively little is established in regard to rates of completion of treatment and possible factors affecting successful completion. These factors may be particularly important for cultural minority groups, such as those in rural Appalachia, given the environmental, social, and economic complexities affecting access to and utilization of treatment.Design and methodsA naturalistic study design was employed, using retrospective data from a rural outpatient general dental office in July 2012. Chart abstraction yielded 219 (55.3% female orthodontic patients (M age = 11.0 [3.7]. Chi-square tests for independence were conducted for categorical dependent variables. For continuous variables, t-tests were conducted. A logistic multivariate regression analysis was conducted to predict completion/non-completion of treatment, with age, gender, distance traveled, type of malocclusion, and payment type as predictors.ResultsOverall, 49.8% of this sample successfully completed orthodontic treatment. Greater successful conclusion of treatment was found in self-pay patients (i.e., 74% versus those whose care was funded through Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (i.e., 34% or through private insurance (i.e., 36%. Age, gender, and distance to the office from home had no association relative to successful completion of treatment, although average one-way distance to travel for care was considerable (i.e., 38.8 miles.ConclusionRate of successful orthodontic treatment completion was low in this rural sample. Treatment outcome was related to the form of payment for services, with self-pay associated with the highest rate of successful completion.

  5. Statistical assessment of fish behavior from split-beam hydro-acoustic sampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKinstry, Craig A.; Simmons, Mary Ann; Simmons, Carver S.; Johnson, Robert L.

    2005-01-01

    Statistical methods are presented for using echo-traces from split-beam hydro-acoustic sampling to assess fish behavior in response to a stimulus. The data presented are from a study designed to assess the response of free-ranging, lake-resident fish, primarily kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to high intensity strobe lights, and was conducted at Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Northern Washington State. The lights were deployed immediately upstream from the turbine intakes, in a region exposed to daily alternating periods of high and low flows. The study design included five down-looking split-beam transducers positioned in a line at incremental distances upstream from the strobe lights, and treatments applied in randomized pseudo-replicate blocks. Statistical methods included the use of odds-ratios from fitted loglinear models. Fish-track velocity vectors were modeled using circular probability distributions. Both analyses are depicted graphically. Study results suggest large increases of fish activity in the presence of the strobe lights, most notably at night and during periods of low flow. The lights also induced notable bimodality in the angular distributions of the fish track velocity vectors. Statistical/SUMmaries are presented along with interpretations on fish behavior

  6. A Complete Color Normalization Approach to Histopathology Images Using Color Cues Computed From Saturation-Weighted Statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xingyu; Plataniotis, Konstantinos N

    2015-07-01

    In digital histopathology, tasks of segmentation and disease diagnosis are achieved by quantitative analysis of image content. However, color variation in image samples makes it challenging to produce reliable results. This paper introduces a complete normalization scheme to address the problem of color variation in histopathology images jointly caused by inconsistent biopsy staining and nonstandard imaging condition. Method : Different from existing normalization methods that either address partial cause of color variation or lump them together, our method identifies causes of color variation based on a microscopic imaging model and addresses inconsistency in biopsy imaging and staining by an illuminant normalization module and a spectral normalization module, respectively. In evaluation, we use two public datasets that are representative of histopathology images commonly received in clinics to examine the proposed method from the aspects of robustness to system settings, performance consistency against achromatic pixels, and normalization effectiveness in terms of histological information preservation. As the saturation-weighted statistics proposed in this study generates stable and reliable color cues for stain normalization, our scheme is robust to system parameters and insensitive to image content and achromatic colors. Extensive experimentation suggests that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art normalization methods as the proposed method is the only approach that succeeds to preserve histological information after normalization. The proposed color normalization solution would be useful to mitigate effects of color variation in pathology images on subsequent quantitative analysis.

  7. Planck/SDSS Cluster Mass and Gas Scaling Relations for a Volume-Complete redMaPPer Sample

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jimeno, Pablo; Diego, Jose M.; Broadhurst, Tom; De Martino, I.; Lazkoz, Ruth

    2018-04-01

    Using Planck satellite data, we construct Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) gas pressure profiles for a large, volume-complete sample of optically selected clusters. We have defined a sample of over 8,000 redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), within the volume-complete redshift region 0.100 trend towards larger break radius with increasing cluster mass. Our SZ-based masses fall ˜16% below the mass-richness relations from weak lensing, in a similar fashion as the "hydrostatic bias" related with X-ray derived masses. Finally, we derive a tight Y500-M500 relation over a wide range of cluster mass, with a power law slope equal to 1.70 ± 0.07, that agrees well with the independent slope obtained by the Planck team with an SZ-selected cluster sample, but extends to lower masses with higher precision.

  8. Sparse Power-Law Network Model for Reliable Statistical Predictions Based on Sampled Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander P. Kartun-Giles

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available A projective network model is a model that enables predictions to be made based on a subsample of the network data, with the predictions remaining unchanged if a larger sample is taken into consideration. An exchangeable model is a model that does not depend on the order in which nodes are sampled. Despite a large variety of non-equilibrium (growing and equilibrium (static sparse complex network models that are widely used in network science, how to reconcile sparseness (constant average degree with the desired statistical properties of projectivity and exchangeability is currently an outstanding scientific problem. Here we propose a network process with hidden variables which is projective and can generate sparse power-law networks. Despite the model not being exchangeable, it can be closely related to exchangeable uncorrelated networks as indicated by its information theory characterization and its network entropy. The use of the proposed network process as a null model is here tested on real data, indicating that the model offers a promising avenue for statistical network modelling.

  9. Statistical Reporting Errors and Collaboration on Statistical Analyses in Psychological Science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veldkamp, Coosje L S; Nuijten, Michèle B; Dominguez-Alvarez, Linda; van Assen, Marcel A L M; Wicherts, Jelte M

    2014-01-01

    Statistical analysis is error prone. A best practice for researchers using statistics would therefore be to share data among co-authors, allowing double-checking of executed tasks just as co-pilots do in aviation. To document the extent to which this 'co-piloting' currently occurs in psychology, we surveyed the authors of 697 articles published in six top psychology journals and asked them whether they had collaborated on four aspects of analyzing data and reporting results, and whether the described data had been shared between the authors. We acquired responses for 49.6% of the articles and found that co-piloting on statistical analysis and reporting results is quite uncommon among psychologists, while data sharing among co-authors seems reasonably but not completely standard. We then used an automated procedure to study the prevalence of statistical reporting errors in the articles in our sample and examined the relationship between reporting errors and co-piloting. Overall, 63% of the articles contained at least one p-value that was inconsistent with the reported test statistic and the accompanying degrees of freedom, and 20% of the articles contained at least one p-value that was inconsistent to such a degree that it may have affected decisions about statistical significance. Overall, the probability that a given p-value was inconsistent was over 10%. Co-piloting was not found to be associated with reporting errors.

  10. DWPF Sample Vial Insert Study-Statistical Analysis of DWPF Mock-Up Test Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harris, S.P. [Westinghouse Savannah River Company, AIKEN, SC (United States)

    1997-09-18

    This report is prepared as part of Technical/QA Task Plan WSRC-RP-97-351 which was issued in response to Technical Task Request HLW/DWPF/TTR-970132 submitted by DWPF. Presented in this report is a statistical analysis of DWPF Mock-up test data for evaluation of two new analytical methods which use insert samples from the existing HydragardTM sampler. The first is a new hydrofluoric acid based method called the Cold Chemical Method (Cold Chem) and the second is a modified fusion method.Either new DWPF analytical method could result in a two to three fold improvement in sample analysis time.Both new methods use the existing HydragardTM sampler to collect a smaller insert sample from the process sampling system. The insert testing methodology applies to the DWPF Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) and the Melter Feed Tank (MFT) samples.The insert sample is named after the initial trials which placed the container inside the sample (peanut) vials. Samples in small 3 ml containers (Inserts) are analyzed by either the cold chemical method or a modified fusion method. The current analytical method uses a HydragardTM sample station to obtain nearly full 15 ml peanut vials. The samples are prepared by a multi-step process for Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis by drying, vitrification, grinding and finally dissolution by either mixed acid or fusion. In contrast, the insert sample is placed directly in the dissolution vessel, thus eliminating the drying, vitrification and grinding operations for the Cold chem method. Although the modified fusion still requires drying and calcine conversion, the process is rapid due to the decreased sample size and that no vitrification step is required.A slurry feed simulant material was acquired from the TNX pilot facility from the test run designated as PX-7.The Mock-up test data were gathered on the basis of a statistical design presented in SRT-SCS-97004 (Rev. 0). Simulant PX-7 samples were taken in the DWPF Analytical Cell Mock

  11. A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlacky, David C; Lukacs, Paul M; Blakesley, Jennifer A; Skorkowsky, Robert C; Klute, David S; Hahn, Beth A; Dreitz, Victoria J; George, T Luke; Hanni, David J

    2017-01-01

    Monitoring is an essential component of wildlife management and conservation. However, the usefulness of monitoring data is often undermined by the lack of 1) coordination across organizations and regions, 2) meaningful management and conservation objectives, and 3) rigorous sampling designs. Although many improvements to avian monitoring have been discussed, the recommendations have been slow to emerge in large-scale programs. We introduce the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program designed to overcome the above limitations. Our objectives are to outline the development of a statistically defensible sampling design to increase the value of large-scale monitoring data and provide example applications to demonstrate the ability of the design to meet multiple conservation and management objectives. We outline the sampling process for the IMBCR program with a focus on the Badlands and Prairies Bird Conservation Region (BCR 17). We provide two examples for the Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri) in BCR 17 demonstrating the ability of the design to 1) determine hierarchical population responses to landscape change and 2) estimate hierarchical habitat relationships to predict the response of the Brewer's sparrow to conservation efforts at multiple spatial scales. The collaboration across organizations and regions provided economy of scale by leveraging a common data platform over large spatial scales to promote the efficient use of monitoring resources. We designed the IMBCR program to address the information needs and core conservation and management objectives of the participating partner organizations. Although it has been argued that probabilistic sampling designs are not practical for large-scale monitoring, the IMBCR program provides a precedent for implementing a statistically defensible sampling design from local to bioregional scales. We demonstrate that integrating conservation and management objectives with rigorous statistical

  12. A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David C Pavlacky

    Full Text Available Monitoring is an essential component of wildlife management and conservation. However, the usefulness of monitoring data is often undermined by the lack of 1 coordination across organizations and regions, 2 meaningful management and conservation objectives, and 3 rigorous sampling designs. Although many improvements to avian monitoring have been discussed, the recommendations have been slow to emerge in large-scale programs. We introduce the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR program designed to overcome the above limitations. Our objectives are to outline the development of a statistically defensible sampling design to increase the value of large-scale monitoring data and provide example applications to demonstrate the ability of the design to meet multiple conservation and management objectives. We outline the sampling process for the IMBCR program with a focus on the Badlands and Prairies Bird Conservation Region (BCR 17. We provide two examples for the Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri in BCR 17 demonstrating the ability of the design to 1 determine hierarchical population responses to landscape change and 2 estimate hierarchical habitat relationships to predict the response of the Brewer's sparrow to conservation efforts at multiple spatial scales. The collaboration across organizations and regions provided economy of scale by leveraging a common data platform over large spatial scales to promote the efficient use of monitoring resources. We designed the IMBCR program to address the information needs and core conservation and management objectives of the participating partner organizations. Although it has been argued that probabilistic sampling designs are not practical for large-scale monitoring, the IMBCR program provides a precedent for implementing a statistically defensible sampling design from local to bioregional scales. We demonstrate that integrating conservation and management objectives with rigorous

  13. Statistical Estimators Using Jointly Administrative and Survey Data to Produce French Structural Business Statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brion Philippe

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Using as much administrative data as possible is a general trend among most national statistical institutes. Different kinds of administrative sources, from tax authorities or other administrative bodies, are very helpful material in the production of business statistics. However, these sources often have to be completed by information collected through statistical surveys. This article describes the way Insee has implemented such a strategy in order to produce French structural business statistics. The originality of the French procedure is that administrative and survey variables are used jointly for the same enterprises, unlike the majority of multisource systems, in which the two kinds of sources generally complement each other for different categories of units. The idea is to use, as much as possible, the richness of the administrative sources combined with the timeliness of a survey, even if the latter is conducted only on a sample of enterprises. One main issue is the classification of enterprises within the NACE nomenclature, which is a cornerstone variable in producing the breakdown of the results by industry. At a given date, two values of the corresponding code may coexist: the value of the register, not necessarily up to date, and the value resulting from the data collected via the survey, but only from a sample of enterprises. Using all this information together requires the implementation of specific statistical estimators combining some properties of the difference estimators with calibration techniques. This article presents these estimators, as well as their statistical properties, and compares them with those of other methods.

  14. New Hybrid Monte Carlo methods for efficient sampling. From physics to biology and statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akhmatskaya, Elena; Reich, Sebastian

    2011-01-01

    We introduce a class of novel hybrid methods for detailed simulations of large complex systems in physics, biology, materials science and statistics. These generalized shadow Hybrid Monte Carlo (GSHMC) methods combine the advantages of stochastic and deterministic simulation techniques. They utilize a partial momentum update to retain some of the dynamical information, employ modified Hamiltonians to overcome exponential performance degradation with the system’s size and make use of multi-scale nature of complex systems. Variants of GSHMCs were developed for atomistic simulation, particle simulation and statistics: GSHMC (thermodynamically consistent implementation of constant-temperature molecular dynamics), MTS-GSHMC (multiple-time-stepping GSHMC), meso-GSHMC (Metropolis corrected dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method), and a generalized shadow Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, GSHmMC (a GSHMC for statistical simulations). All of these are compatible with other enhanced sampling techniques and suitable for massively parallel computing allowing for a range of multi-level parallel strategies. A brief description of the GSHMC approach, examples of its application on high performance computers and comparison with other existing techniques are given. Our approach is shown to resolve such problems as resonance instabilities of the MTS methods and non-preservation of thermodynamic equilibrium properties in DPD, and to outperform known methods in sampling efficiency by an order of magnitude. (author)

  15. Evaluating the effect of disturbed ensemble distributions on SCFG based statistical sampling of RNA secondary structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scheid Anika

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past years, statistical and Bayesian approaches have become increasingly appreciated to address the long-standing problem of computational RNA structure prediction. Recently, a novel probabilistic method for the prediction of RNA secondary structures from a single sequence has been studied which is based on generating statistically representative and reproducible samples of the entire ensemble of feasible structures for a particular input sequence. This method samples the possible foldings from a distribution implied by a sophisticated (traditional or length-dependent stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG that mirrors the standard thermodynamic model applied in modern physics-based prediction algorithms. Specifically, that grammar represents an exact probabilistic counterpart to the energy model underlying the Sfold software, which employs a sampling extension of the partition function (PF approach to produce statistically representative subsets of the Boltzmann-weighted ensemble. Although both sampling approaches have the same worst-case time and space complexities, it has been indicated that they differ in performance (both with respect to prediction accuracy and quality of generated samples, where neither of these two competing approaches generally outperforms the other. Results In this work, we will consider the SCFG based approach in order to perform an analysis on how the quality of generated sample sets and the corresponding prediction accuracy changes when different degrees of disturbances are incorporated into the needed sampling probabilities. This is motivated by the fact that if the results prove to be resistant to large errors on the distinct sampling probabilities (compared to the exact ones, then it will be an indication that these probabilities do not need to be computed exactly, but it may be sufficient and more efficient to approximate them. Thus, it might then be possible to decrease the worst

  16. Statistics & probaility for dummies

    CERN Document Server

    Rumsey, Deborah J

    2013-01-01

    Two complete eBooks for one low price! Created and compiled by the publisher, this Statistics I and Statistics II bundle brings together two math titles in one, e-only bundle. With this special bundle, you'll get the complete text of the following two titles: Statistics For Dummies, 2nd Edition  Statistics For Dummies shows you how to interpret and critique graphs and charts, determine the odds with probability, guesstimate with confidence using confidence intervals, set up and carry out a hypothesis test, compute statistical formulas, and more. Tra

  17. Statistical Methods in Assembly Quality Management of Multi-Element Products on Automatic Rotor Lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pries, V. V.; Proskuriakov, N. E.

    2018-04-01

    To control the assembly quality of multi-element mass-produced products on automatic rotor lines, control methods with operational feedback are required. However, due to possible failures in the operation of the devices and systems of automatic rotor line, there is always a real probability of getting defective (incomplete) products into the output process stream. Therefore, a continuous sampling control of the products completeness, based on the use of statistical methods, remains an important element in managing the quality of assembly of multi-element mass products on automatic rotor lines. The feature of continuous sampling control of the multi-element products completeness in the assembly process is its breaking sort, which excludes the possibility of returning component parts after sampling control to the process stream and leads to a decrease in the actual productivity of the assembly equipment. Therefore, the use of statistical procedures for continuous sampling control of the multi-element products completeness when assembled on automatic rotor lines requires the use of such sampling plans that ensure a minimum size of control samples. Comparison of the values of the limit of the average output defect level for the continuous sampling plan (CSP) and for the automated continuous sampling plan (ACSP) shows the possibility of providing lower limit values for the average output defects level using the ACSP-1. Also, the average sample size when using the ACSP-1 plan is less than when using the CSP-1 plan. Thus, the application of statistical methods in the assembly quality management of multi-element products on automatic rotor lines, involving the use of proposed plans and methods for continuous selective control, will allow to automating sampling control procedures and the required level of quality of assembled products while minimizing sample size.

  18. Chemometric and Statistical Analyses of ToF-SIMS Spectra of Increasingly Complex Biological Samples

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berman, E S; Wu, L; Fortson, S L; Nelson, D O; Kulp, K S; Wu, K J

    2007-10-24

    Characterizing and classifying molecular variation within biological samples is critical for determining fundamental mechanisms of biological processes that will lead to new insights including improved disease understanding. Towards these ends, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used to examine increasingly complex samples of biological relevance, including monosaccharide isomers, pure proteins, complex protein mixtures, and mouse embryo tissues. The complex mass spectral data sets produced were analyzed using five common statistical and chemometric multivariate analysis techniques: principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA), and decision tree analysis by recursive partitioning. PCA was found to be a valuable first step in multivariate analysis, providing insight both into the relative groupings of samples and into the molecular basis for those groupings. For the monosaccharides, pure proteins and protein mixture samples, all of LDA, PLSDA, and SIMCA were found to produce excellent classification given a sufficient number of compound variables calculated. For the mouse embryo tissues, however, SIMCA did not produce as accurate a classification. The decision tree analysis was found to be the least successful for all the data sets, providing neither as accurate a classification nor chemical insight for any of the tested samples. Based on these results we conclude that as the complexity of the sample increases, so must the sophistication of the multivariate technique used to classify the samples. PCA is a preferred first step for understanding ToF-SIMS data that can be followed by either LDA or PLSDA for effective classification analysis. This study demonstrates the strength of ToF-SIMS combined with multivariate statistical and chemometric techniques to classify increasingly complex biological samples

  19. Examination of statistical noise in SPECT image and sampling pitch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takaki, Akihiro; Soma, Tsutomu; Murase, Kenya; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Murakami, Tomonori; Kawakami, Kazunori; Teraoka, Satomi; Kojima, Akihiro; Matsumoto, Masanori

    2008-01-01

    Statistical noise in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) image was examined for its relation with total count and with sampling pitch by simulation and phantom experiment to obtain their projection data under defined conditions. The former SPECT simulation was performed on assumption of a virtual, homogeneous water column (20 cm diameter) as an absorbing mass. In the latter, used were 3D-Hoffman brain phantom (Data Spectrum Corp.) filled with 370 MBq of 99m Tc-pertechnetate solution and a facing 2-detector SPECT machine with a low-energy/high-resolution collimator, E-CAM (Siemens). Projected data by the two methods were reconstructed through the filtered back projection to make each transaxial image. The noise was evaluated by vision, by their root mean square uncertainty calculated from average count and standard deviation (SD) in the region of interest (ROI) defined in reconstructed images and by normalized mean squares calculated from the difference between the reference image obtained with common sampling pitch to and all of obtained slices of, the simulation and phantom. As a conclusion, the pitch was recommended to be set in the machine as to approximating the value calculated by the sampling theorem, though the projection counts per one angular direction were smaller with the same total time of data acquisition. (R.T.)

  20. Assessing Understanding of Sampling Distributions and Differences in Learning amongst Different Learning Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beeman, Jennifer Leigh Sloan

    2013-01-01

    Research has found that students successfully complete an introductory course in statistics without fully comprehending the underlying theory or being able to exhibit statistical reasoning. This is particularly true for the understanding about the sampling distribution of the mean, a crucial concept for statistical inference. This study…

  1. Statistical energy as a tool for binning-free, multivariate goodness-of-fit tests, two-sample comparison and unfolding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aslan, B.; Zech, G.

    2005-01-01

    We introduce the novel concept of statistical energy as a statistical tool. We define statistical energy of statistical distributions in a similar way as for electric charge distributions. Charges of opposite sign are in a state of minimum energy if they are equally distributed. This property is used to check whether two samples belong to the same parent distribution, to define goodness-of-fit tests and to unfold distributions distorted by measurement. The approach is binning-free and especially powerful in multidimensional applications

  2. Etiological factors correlated with temporomandibular disorder in complete denture wearers: a comparative analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Alexandre Zavanelli

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to make a comparative evaluation of the prevalence of temporomandibular disorder in complete denturewearers, with regard to the etiological factors, such as gender, age, and complete dentures clinical conditions, according to the anamnestic(Ai and clinical (Di dysfunction index, developed by Helkimo.Methods: The randomized sample was composed of 90 institutionalized patients and bimaxillary complete denture wearers, with a mean ageof 67.2 years, who were included in this study. The collected data were tabulated and the Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square statistical tests were applied, at the level of significance of 5% (p<0.05.Results: Statistically significant difference in the prevalence of temporomandibular disorder was observed with regard to the ages of the current complete dentures, free-way space, wear of the occlusal surfaces of the artificial teeth, and the conditions of retention and stability of the maxillary and mandibular complete dentures, according to both the indexes. Conclusion: The patients who wore complete dentures in adequate clinical conditions presented fewer signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorder than the patients who wore complete dentures in poor clinical conditions.

  3. Sample Reuse in Statistical Remodeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-08-01

    as the jackknife and bootstrap, is an expansion of the functional, T(Fn), or of its distribution function or both. Frangos and Schucany (1987a) used...accelerated bootstrap. In the same report Frangos and Schucany demonstrated the small sample superiority of that approach over the proposals that take...higher order terms of an Edgeworth expansion into account. In a second report Frangos and Schucany (1987b) examined the small sample performance of

  4. Optimal design of sampling and mapping schemes in the radiometric exploration of Chipilapa, El Salvador (Geo-statistics)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balcazar G, M.; Flores R, J.H.

    1992-01-01

    As part of the knowledge about the radiometric surface exploration, carried out in the geothermal field of Chipilapa, El Salvador, its were considered the geo-statistical parameters starting from the calculated variogram of the field data, being that the maxim distance of correlation of the samples in 'radon' in the different observation addresses (N-S, E-W, N W-S E, N E-S W), it was of 121 mts for the monitoring grill in future prospectus in the same area. Being derived of it an optimization (minimum cost) in the spacing of the field samples by means of geo-statistical techniques, without losing the detection of the anomaly. (Author)

  5. Statistical theory and inference

    CERN Document Server

    Olive, David J

    2014-01-01

    This text is for  a one semester graduate course in statistical theory and covers minimal and complete sufficient statistics, maximum likelihood estimators, method of moments, bias and mean square error, uniform minimum variance estimators and the Cramer-Rao lower bound, an introduction to large sample theory, likelihood ratio tests and uniformly most powerful  tests and the Neyman Pearson Lemma. A major goal of this text is to make these topics much more accessible to students by using the theory of exponential families. Exponential families, indicator functions and the support of the distribution are used throughout the text to simplify the theory. More than 50 ``brand name" distributions are used to illustrate the theory with many examples of exponential families, maximum likelihood estimators and uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimators. There are many homework problems with over 30 pages of solutions.

  6. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cabalin, L.M.; Gonzalez, A. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain); Ruiz, J. [Department of Applied Physics I, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain); Laserna, J.J., E-mail: laserna@uma.e [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain)

    2010-08-15

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s{sup -1}. Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  7. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabalín, L. M.; González, A.; Ruiz, J.; Laserna, J. J.

    2010-08-01

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s - 1 . Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  8. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cabalin, L.M.; Gonzalez, A.; Ruiz, J.; Laserna, J.J.

    2010-01-01

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s -1 . Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  9. A Preliminary Study on Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis with Statistic Method: Uncertainty Analysis with Cross Section Sampling from Lognormal Distribution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Myung Sub; Kim, Song Hyun; Kim, Jong Kyung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Jae Man [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-10-15

    The uncertainty evaluation with statistical method is performed by repetition of transport calculation with sampling the directly perturbed nuclear data. Hence, the reliable uncertainty result can be obtained by analyzing the results of the numerous transport calculations. One of the problems in the uncertainty analysis with the statistical approach is known as that the cross section sampling from the normal (Gaussian) distribution with relatively large standard deviation leads to the sampling error of the cross sections such as the sampling of the negative cross section. Some collection methods are noted; however, the methods can distort the distribution of the sampled cross sections. In this study, a sampling method of the nuclear data is proposed by using lognormal distribution. After that, the criticality calculations with sampled nuclear data are performed and the results are compared with that from the normal distribution which is conventionally used in the previous studies. In this study, the statistical sampling method of the cross section with the lognormal distribution was proposed to increase the sampling accuracy without negative sampling error. Also, a stochastic cross section sampling and writing program was developed. For the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, the cross section sampling was pursued with the normal and lognormal distribution. The uncertainties, which are caused by covariance of (n,.) cross sections, were evaluated by solving GODIVA problem. The results show that the sampling method with lognormal distribution can efficiently solve the negative sampling problem referred in the previous studies. It is expected that this study will contribute to increase the accuracy of the sampling-based uncertainty analysis.

  10. A Preliminary Study on Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis with Statistic Method: Uncertainty Analysis with Cross Section Sampling from Lognormal Distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Myung Sub; Kim, Song Hyun; Kim, Jong Kyung; Noh, Jae Man

    2013-01-01

    The uncertainty evaluation with statistical method is performed by repetition of transport calculation with sampling the directly perturbed nuclear data. Hence, the reliable uncertainty result can be obtained by analyzing the results of the numerous transport calculations. One of the problems in the uncertainty analysis with the statistical approach is known as that the cross section sampling from the normal (Gaussian) distribution with relatively large standard deviation leads to the sampling error of the cross sections such as the sampling of the negative cross section. Some collection methods are noted; however, the methods can distort the distribution of the sampled cross sections. In this study, a sampling method of the nuclear data is proposed by using lognormal distribution. After that, the criticality calculations with sampled nuclear data are performed and the results are compared with that from the normal distribution which is conventionally used in the previous studies. In this study, the statistical sampling method of the cross section with the lognormal distribution was proposed to increase the sampling accuracy without negative sampling error. Also, a stochastic cross section sampling and writing program was developed. For the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, the cross section sampling was pursued with the normal and lognormal distribution. The uncertainties, which are caused by covariance of (n,.) cross sections, were evaluated by solving GODIVA problem. The results show that the sampling method with lognormal distribution can efficiently solve the negative sampling problem referred in the previous studies. It is expected that this study will contribute to increase the accuracy of the sampling-based uncertainty analysis

  11. Parameter sampling capabilities of sequential and simultaneous data assimilation: II. Statistical analysis of numerical results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fossum, Kristian; Mannseth, Trond

    2014-01-01

    We assess and compare parameter sampling capabilities of one sequential and one simultaneous Bayesian, ensemble-based, joint state-parameter (JS) estimation method. In the companion paper, part I (Fossum and Mannseth 2014 Inverse Problems 30 114002), analytical investigations lead us to propose three claims, essentially stating that the sequential method can be expected to outperform the simultaneous method for weakly nonlinear forward models. Here, we assess the reliability and robustness of these claims through statistical analysis of results from a range of numerical experiments. Samples generated by the two approximate JS methods are compared to samples from the posterior distribution generated by a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, using four approximate measures of distance between probability distributions. Forward-model nonlinearity is assessed from a stochastic nonlinearity measure allowing for sufficiently large model dimensions. Both toy models (with low computational complexity, and where the nonlinearity is fairly easy to control) and two-phase porous-media flow models (corresponding to down-scaled versions of problems to which the JS methods have been frequently applied recently) are considered in the numerical experiments. Results from the statistical analysis show strong support of all three claims stated in part I. (paper)

  12. Statistical mechanics for a class of quantum statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isakov, S.B.

    1994-01-01

    Generalized statistical distributions for identical particles are introduced for the case where filling a single-particle quantum state by particles depends on filling states of different momenta. The system of one-dimensional bosons with a two-body potential that can be solved by means of the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz is shown to be equivalent thermodynamically to a system of free particles obeying statistical distributions of the above class. The quantum statistics arising in this way are completely determined by the two-particle scattering phases of the corresponding interacting systems. An equation determining the statistical distributions for these statistics is derived

  13. Exact distributions of two-sample rank statistics and block rank statistics using computer algebra

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wiel, van de M.A.

    1998-01-01

    We derive generating functions for various rank statistics and we use computer algebra to compute the exact null distribution of these statistics. We present various techniques for reducing time and memory space used by the computations. We use the results to write Mathematica notebooks for

  14. TRAN-STAT: statistics for environmental studies, Number 22. Comparison of soil-sampling techniques for plutonium at Rocky Flats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, R.O.; Bernhardt, D.E.; Hahn, P.B.

    1983-01-01

    A summary of a field soil sampling study conducted around the Rocky Flats Colorado plant in May 1977 is preseted. Several different soil sampling techniques that had been used in the area were applied at four different sites. One objective was to comparethe average 239 - 240 Pu concentration values obtained by the various soil sampling techniques used. There was also interest in determining whether there are differences in the reproducibility of the various techniques and how the techniques compared with the proposed EPA technique of sampling to 1 cm depth. Statistically significant differences in average concentrations between the techniques were found. The differences could be largely related to the differences in sampling depth-the primary physical variable between the techniques. The reproducibility of the techniques was evaluated by comparing coefficients of variation. Differences between coefficients of variation were not statistically significant. Average (median) coefficients ranged from 21 to 42 percent for the five sampling techniques. A laboratory study indicated that various sample treatment and particle sizing techniques could increase the concentration of plutonium in the less than 10 micrometer size fraction by up to a factor of about 4 compared to the 2 mm size fraction

  15. Quantification of integrated HIV DNA by repetitive-sampling Alu-HIV PCR on the basis of poisson statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Spiegelaere, Ward; Malatinkova, Eva; Lynch, Lindsay; Van Nieuwerburgh, Filip; Messiaen, Peter; O'Doherty, Una; Vandekerckhove, Linos

    2014-06-01

    Quantification of integrated proviral HIV DNA by repetitive-sampling Alu-HIV PCR is a candidate virological tool to monitor the HIV reservoir in patients. However, the experimental procedures and data analysis of the assay are complex and hinder its widespread use. Here, we provide an improved and simplified data analysis method by adopting binomial and Poisson statistics. A modified analysis method on the basis of Poisson statistics was used to analyze the binomial data of positive and negative reactions from a 42-replicate Alu-HIV PCR by use of dilutions of an integration standard and on samples of 57 HIV-infected patients. Results were compared with the quantitative output of the previously described Alu-HIV PCR method. Poisson-based quantification of the Alu-HIV PCR was linearly correlated with the standard dilution series, indicating that absolute quantification with the Poisson method is a valid alternative for data analysis of repetitive-sampling Alu-HIV PCR data. Quantitative outputs of patient samples assessed by the Poisson method correlated with the previously described Alu-HIV PCR analysis, indicating that this method is a valid alternative for quantifying integrated HIV DNA. Poisson-based analysis of the Alu-HIV PCR data enables absolute quantification without the need of a standard dilution curve. Implementation of the CI estimation permits improved qualitative analysis of the data and provides a statistical basis for the required minimal number of technical replicates. © 2014 The American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

  16. Finite-sample instrumental variables Inference using an Asymptotically Pivotal Statistic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bekker, P.; Kleibergen, F.R.

    2001-01-01

    The paper considers the K-statistic, Kleibergen’s (2000) adaptation ofthe Anderson-Rubin (AR) statistic in instrumental variables regression.Compared to the AR-statistic this K-statistic shows improvedasymptotic efficiency in terms of degrees of freedom in overidentifiedmodels and yet it shares,

  17. A preliminary study on identification of Thai rice samples by INAA and statistical analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kongsri, S.; Kukusamude, C.

    2017-09-01

    This study aims to investigate the elemental compositions in 93 Thai rice samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and to identify rice according to their types and rice cultivars using statistical analysis. As, Mg, Cl, Al, Br, Mn, K, Rb and Zn in Thai jasmine rice and Sung Yod rice samples were successfully determined by INAA. The accuracy and precision of the INAA method were verified by SRM 1568a Rice Flour. All elements were found to be in a good agreement with the certified values. The precisions in term of %RSD were lower than 7%. The LODs were obtained in range of 0.01 to 29 mg kg-1. The concentration of 9 elements distributed in Thai rice samples was evaluated and used as chemical indicators to identify the type of rice samples. The result found that Mg, Cl, As, Br, Mn, K, Rb, and Zn concentrations in Thai jasmine rice samples are significantly different but there was no evidence that Al is significantly different from concentration in Sung Yod rice samples at 95% confidence interval. Our results may provide preliminary information for discrimination of rice samples and may be useful database of Thai rice.

  18. Finite-sample instrumental variables inference using an asymptotically pivotal statistic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bekker, Paul A.; Kleibergen, Frank

    2001-01-01

    The paper considers the K-statistic, Kleibergen’s (2000) adaptation of the Anderson-Rubin (AR) statistic in instrumental variables regression. Compared to the AR-statistic this K-statistic shows improved asymptotic efficiency in terms of degrees of freedom in overidenti?ed models and yet it shares,

  19. CONFIDENCE LEVELS AND/VS. STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS TESTING IN STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ILEANA BRUDIU

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Estimated parameters with confidence intervals and testing statistical assumptions used in statistical analysis to obtain conclusions on research from a sample extracted from the population. Paper to the case study presented aims to highlight the importance of volume of sample taken in the study and how this reflects on the results obtained when using confidence intervals and testing for pregnant. If statistical testing hypotheses not only give an answer "yes" or "no" to some questions of statistical estimation using statistical confidence intervals provides more information than a test statistic, show high degree of uncertainty arising from small samples and findings build in the "marginally significant" or "almost significant (p very close to 0.05.

  20. Exploring Factors Related to Completion of an Online Undergraduate-Level Introductory Statistics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Johnson, Glenn

    2017-01-01

    Data were collected from 353 online undergraduate introductory statistics students at the beginning of a semester using the Goals and Outcomes Associated with Learning Statistics (GOALS) instrument and an abbreviated form of the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS). Data included a survey of expected grade, expected time commitment, and the…

  1. Adaptive sampling rate control for networked systems based on statistical characteristics of packet disordering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jin-Na; Er, Meng-Joo; Tan, Yen-Kheng; Yu, Hai-Bin; Zeng, Peng

    2015-09-01

    This paper investigates an adaptive sampling rate control scheme for networked control systems (NCSs) subject to packet disordering. The main objectives of the proposed scheme are (a) to avoid heavy packet disordering existing in communication networks and (b) to stabilize NCSs with packet disordering, transmission delay and packet loss. First, a novel sampling rate control algorithm based on statistical characteristics of disordering entropy is proposed; secondly, an augmented closed-loop NCS that consists of a plant, a sampler and a state-feedback controller is transformed into an uncertain and stochastic system, which facilitates the controller design. Then, a sufficient condition for stochastic stability in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) is given. Moreover, an adaptive tracking controller is designed such that the sampling period tracks a desired sampling period, which represents a significant contribution. Finally, experimental results are given to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Statistics of galaxy warps in the HDF North and South

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reshetnikov, [No Value; Battaner, E; Combes, F; Jimenez-Vicente, J

    We present a statistical study of the presence of galaxy warps in the Hubble deep fields. Among a complete sample of 45 edge-on galaxies above a diameter of 1."3, we find 5 galaxies to be certainly warped and 6 galaxies as good candidates. In addition, 4 galaxies reveal a characteristic U-warp.

  3. Mapping cell populations in flow cytometry data for cross‐sample comparison using the Friedman–Rafsky test statistic as a distance measure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Chiaowen; Liu, Mengya; Stanton, Rick; McGee, Monnie; Qian, Yu

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fluorescence‐based single‐cell experimental technology that is routinely applied in biomedical research for identifying cellular biomarkers of normal physiological responses and abnormal disease states. While many computational methods have been developed that focus on identifying cell populations in individual FCM samples, very few have addressed how the identified cell populations can be matched across samples for comparative analysis. This article presents FlowMap‐FR, a novel method for cell population mapping across FCM samples. FlowMap‐FR is based on the Friedman–Rafsky nonparametric test statistic (FR statistic), which quantifies the equivalence of multivariate distributions. As applied to FCM data by FlowMap‐FR, the FR statistic objectively quantifies the similarity between cell populations based on the shapes, sizes, and positions of fluorescence data distributions in the multidimensional feature space. To test and evaluate the performance of FlowMap‐FR, we simulated the kinds of biological and technical sample variations that are commonly observed in FCM data. The results show that FlowMap‐FR is able to effectively identify equivalent cell populations between samples under scenarios of proportion differences and modest position shifts. As a statistical test, FlowMap‐FR can be used to determine whether the expression of a cellular marker is statistically different between two cell populations, suggesting candidates for new cellular phenotypes by providing an objective statistical measure. In addition, FlowMap‐FR can indicate situations in which inappropriate splitting or merging of cell populations has occurred during gating procedures. We compared the FR statistic with the symmetric version of Kullback–Leibler divergence measure used in a previous population matching method with both simulated and real data. The FR statistic outperforms the symmetric version of KL‐distance in distinguishing

  4. Mapping cell populations in flow cytometry data for cross-sample comparison using the Friedman-Rafsky test statistic as a distance measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Chiaowen; Liu, Mengya; Stanton, Rick; McGee, Monnie; Qian, Yu; Scheuermann, Richard H

    2016-01-01

    Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fluorescence-based single-cell experimental technology that is routinely applied in biomedical research for identifying cellular biomarkers of normal physiological responses and abnormal disease states. While many computational methods have been developed that focus on identifying cell populations in individual FCM samples, very few have addressed how the identified cell populations can be matched across samples for comparative analysis. This article presents FlowMap-FR, a novel method for cell population mapping across FCM samples. FlowMap-FR is based on the Friedman-Rafsky nonparametric test statistic (FR statistic), which quantifies the equivalence of multivariate distributions. As applied to FCM data by FlowMap-FR, the FR statistic objectively quantifies the similarity between cell populations based on the shapes, sizes, and positions of fluorescence data distributions in the multidimensional feature space. To test and evaluate the performance of FlowMap-FR, we simulated the kinds of biological and technical sample variations that are commonly observed in FCM data. The results show that FlowMap-FR is able to effectively identify equivalent cell populations between samples under scenarios of proportion differences and modest position shifts. As a statistical test, FlowMap-FR can be used to determine whether the expression of a cellular marker is statistically different between two cell populations, suggesting candidates for new cellular phenotypes by providing an objective statistical measure. In addition, FlowMap-FR can indicate situations in which inappropriate splitting or merging of cell populations has occurred during gating procedures. We compared the FR statistic with the symmetric version of Kullback-Leibler divergence measure used in a previous population matching method with both simulated and real data. The FR statistic outperforms the symmetric version of KL-distance in distinguishing equivalent from nonequivalent cell

  5. Determination of Sr-90 in milk samples from the study of statistical results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otero-Pazos Alberto

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The determination of 90Sr in milk samples is the main objective of radiation monitoring laboratories because of its environmental importance. In this paper the concentration of activity of 39 milk samples was obtained through radiochemical separation based on selective retention of Sr in a cationic resin (Dowex 50WX8, 50-100 mesh and subsequent determination by a low-level proportional gas counter. The results were checked by performing the measurement of the Sr concentration by using the flame atomic absorption spectroscopy technique, to finally obtain the mass of 90Sr. From the data obtained a statistical treatment was performed using linear regressions. A reliable estimate of the mass of 90Sr was obtained based on the gravimetric technique, and secondly, the counts per minute of the third measurement in the 90Sr and 90Y equilibrium, without having to perform the analysis. These estimates have been verified with 19 milk samples, obtaining overlapping results. The novelty of the manuscript is the possibility of determining the concentration of 90Sr in milk samples, without the need to perform the third measurement in the equilibrium.

  6. Effect of the Target Motion Sampling Temperature Treatment Method on the Statistics and Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viitanen, Tuomas; Leppänen, Jaakko

    2014-06-01

    Target Motion Sampling (TMS) is a stochastic on-the-fly temperature treatment technique that is being developed as a part of the Monte Carlo reactor physics code Serpent. The method provides for modeling of arbitrary temperatures in continuous-energy Monte Carlo tracking routines with only one set of cross sections stored in the computer memory. Previously, only the performance of the TMS method in terms of CPU time per transported neutron has been discussed. Since the effective cross sections are not calculated at any point of a transport simulation with TMS, reaction rate estimators must be scored using sampled cross sections, which is expected to increase the variances and, consequently, to decrease the figures-of-merit. This paper examines the effects of the TMS on the statistics and performance in practical calculations involving reaction rate estimation with collision estimators. Against all expectations it turned out that the usage of sampled response values has no practical effect on the performance of reaction rate estimators when using TMS with elevated basis cross section temperatures (EBT), i.e. the usual way. With 0 Kelvin cross sections a significant increase in the variances of capture rate estimators was observed right below the energy region of unresolved resonances, but at these energies the figures-of-merit could be increased using a simple resampling technique to decrease the variances of the responses. It was, however, noticed that the usage of the TMS method increases the statistical deviances of all estimators, including the flux estimator, by tens of percents in the vicinity of very strong resonances. This effect is actually not related to the usage of sampled responses, but is instead an inherent property of the TMS tracking method and concerns both EBT and 0 K calculations.

  7. Municipal solid waste composition: Sampling methodology, statistical analyses, and case study evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edjabou, Maklawe Essonanawe; Jensen, Morten Bang; Götze, Ramona; Pivnenko, Kostyantyn; Petersen, Claus; Scheutz, Charlotte; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Tiered approach to waste sorting ensures flexibility and facilitates comparison of solid waste composition data. • Food and miscellaneous wastes are the main fractions contributing to the residual household waste. • Separation of food packaging from food leftovers during sorting is not critical for determination of the solid waste composition. - Abstract: Sound waste management and optimisation of resource recovery require reliable data on solid waste generation and composition. In the absence of standardised and commonly accepted waste characterisation methodologies, various approaches have been reported in literature. This limits both comparability and applicability of the results. In this study, a waste sampling and sorting methodology for efficient and statistically robust characterisation of solid waste was introduced. The methodology was applied to residual waste collected from 1442 households distributed among 10 individual sub-areas in three Danish municipalities (both single and multi-family house areas). In total 17 tonnes of waste were sorted into 10–50 waste fractions, organised according to a three-level (tiered approach) facilitating comparison of the waste data between individual sub-areas with different fractionation (waste from one municipality was sorted at “Level III”, e.g. detailed, while the two others were sorted only at “Level I”). The results showed that residual household waste mainly contained food waste (42 ± 5%, mass per wet basis) and miscellaneous combustibles (18 ± 3%, mass per wet basis). The residual household waste generation rate in the study areas was 3–4 kg per person per week. Statistical analyses revealed that the waste composition was independent of variations in the waste generation rate. Both, waste composition and waste generation rates were statistically similar for each of the three municipalities. While the waste generation rates were similar for each of the two housing types (single

  8. Municipal solid waste composition: Sampling methodology, statistical analyses, and case study evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edjabou, Maklawe Essonanawe, E-mail: vine@env.dtu.dk [Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Jensen, Morten Bang; Götze, Ramona; Pivnenko, Kostyantyn [Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Petersen, Claus [Econet AS, Omøgade 8, 2.sal, 2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Scheutz, Charlotte; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard [Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark)

    2015-02-15

    Highlights: • Tiered approach to waste sorting ensures flexibility and facilitates comparison of solid waste composition data. • Food and miscellaneous wastes are the main fractions contributing to the residual household waste. • Separation of food packaging from food leftovers during sorting is not critical for determination of the solid waste composition. - Abstract: Sound waste management and optimisation of resource recovery require reliable data on solid waste generation and composition. In the absence of standardised and commonly accepted waste characterisation methodologies, various approaches have been reported in literature. This limits both comparability and applicability of the results. In this study, a waste sampling and sorting methodology for efficient and statistically robust characterisation of solid waste was introduced. The methodology was applied to residual waste collected from 1442 households distributed among 10 individual sub-areas in three Danish municipalities (both single and multi-family house areas). In total 17 tonnes of waste were sorted into 10–50 waste fractions, organised according to a three-level (tiered approach) facilitating comparison of the waste data between individual sub-areas with different fractionation (waste from one municipality was sorted at “Level III”, e.g. detailed, while the two others were sorted only at “Level I”). The results showed that residual household waste mainly contained food waste (42 ± 5%, mass per wet basis) and miscellaneous combustibles (18 ± 3%, mass per wet basis). The residual household waste generation rate in the study areas was 3–4 kg per person per week. Statistical analyses revealed that the waste composition was independent of variations in the waste generation rate. Both, waste composition and waste generation rates were statistically similar for each of the three municipalities. While the waste generation rates were similar for each of the two housing types (single

  9. Statistical mechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Schwabl, Franz

    2006-01-01

    The completely revised new edition of the classical book on Statistical Mechanics covers the basic concepts of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics. In addition to a deductive approach to equilibrium statistics and thermodynamics based on a single hypothesis - the form of the microcanonical density matrix - this book treats the most important elements of non-equilibrium phenomena. Intermediate calculations are presented in complete detail. Problems at the end of each chapter help students to consolidate their understanding of the material. Beyond the fundamentals, this text demonstrates the breadth of the field and its great variety of applications. Modern areas such as renormalization group theory, percolation, stochastic equations of motion and their applications to critical dynamics, kinetic theories, as well as fundamental considerations of irreversibility, are discussed. The text will be useful for advanced students of physics and other natural sciences; a basic knowledge of quantum mechan...

  10. Sampling artifacts in measurement of elemental and organic carbon: Low-volume sampling in indoor and outdoor environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, David A.; Norris, Gary A.

    Experiments were completed to determine the extent of artifacts from sampling elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) under sample conditions consistent with personal sampling. Two different types of experiments were completed; the first examined possible artifacts from oils used in personal environmental monitor (PEM) impactor plates, and the second examined artifacts from microenvironmental sampling using different sampling media combinations (quartz, Teflon, XAD denuder, and electrostatic precipitator). The effectiveness of front and backup filters was evaluated for most sampling configurations. Mean total carbon concentrations from sampling configurations using impactor oils were not statistically different from the control case (using a sharp cut cyclone). Three microenvironments were tested (kitchen, library, and ambient); carbon concentrations were highest in the kitchen using a front quartz filter (mean OC of 16.4 μg m -3). The lowest front quartz filter concentrations were measured in the library using XAD denuders (mean OC of 3.6 μg m -3). Denuder removal efficiencies (average of 82% for total carbon) were lower compared with previous ambient studies and may indicate that indoor sources influenced denuder efficiency during sample collection. The highest carbon concentrations from backup quartz filters were measured using the Teflon-quartz combination.

  11. Sample Size and Statistical Conclusions from Tests of Fit to the Rasch Model According to the Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Model (Rumm) Program in Health Outcome Measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagell, Peter; Westergren, Albert

    Sample size is a major factor in statistical null hypothesis testing, which is the basis for many approaches to testing Rasch model fit. Few sample size recommendations for testing fit to the Rasch model concern the Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Models (RUMM) software, which features chi-square and ANOVA/F-ratio based fit statistics, including Bonferroni and algebraic sample size adjustments. This paper explores the occurrence of Type I errors with RUMM fit statistics, and the effects of algebraic sample size adjustments. Data with simulated Rasch model fitting 25-item dichotomous scales and sample sizes ranging from N = 50 to N = 2500 were analysed with and without algebraically adjusted sample sizes. Results suggest the occurrence of Type I errors with N less then or equal to 500, and that Bonferroni correction as well as downward algebraic sample size adjustment are useful to avoid such errors, whereas upward adjustment of smaller samples falsely signal misfit. Our observations suggest that sample sizes around N = 250 to N = 500 may provide a good balance for the statistical interpretation of the RUMM fit statistics studied here with respect to Type I errors and under the assumption of Rasch model fit within the examined frame of reference (i.e., about 25 item parameters well targeted to the sample).

  12. Multiparametric statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Serdobolskii, Vadim Ivanovich

    2007-01-01

    This monograph presents mathematical theory of statistical models described by the essentially large number of unknown parameters, comparable with sample size but can also be much larger. In this meaning, the proposed theory can be called "essentially multiparametric". It is developed on the basis of the Kolmogorov asymptotic approach in which sample size increases along with the number of unknown parameters.This theory opens a way for solution of central problems of multivariate statistics, which up until now have not been solved. Traditional statistical methods based on the idea of an infinite sampling often break down in the solution of real problems, and, dependent on data, can be inefficient, unstable and even not applicable. In this situation, practical statisticians are forced to use various heuristic methods in the hope the will find a satisfactory solution.Mathematical theory developed in this book presents a regular technique for implementing new, more efficient versions of statistical procedures. ...

  13. Statistical sampling methods for soils monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ann M. Abbott

    2010-01-01

    Development of the best sampling design to answer a research question should be an interactive venture between the land manager or researcher and statisticians, and is the result of answering various questions. A series of questions that can be asked to guide the researcher in making decisions that will arrive at an effective sampling plan are described, and a case...

  14. Clinical supervision reflected in a Danish DPCCQ sample

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jan; Jacobsen, Claus Haugaard

    Core Questionnaire (DPCCQ) has only few questions on supervision. To rectify this limitation, a recent Danish version of the DPCCQ included two new sections on supervision, one focusing on supervisees and another on supervisors and their supervisory training. This paper presents our initial findings...... on giving and receiving clinical supervision as reported by therapists in Denmark. Method: Currently, the Danish sample consists of 350 clinical psychologist doing psychotherapy who completed DPCCQ. Data are currently being prepared for statistical analysis. Results: This paper will focus primarily...... on describing the amount and type of supervision received and given by the sample. Findings from these descriptive statistics will be compared within the sample across demographic parameters such as age and sex, and professional characteristics such as career level, theoretical preferences, type of clients...

  15. Statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Hayslett, H T

    1991-01-01

    Statistics covers the basic principles of Statistics. The book starts by tackling the importance and the two kinds of statistics; the presentation of sample data; the definition, illustration and explanation of several measures of location; and the measures of variation. The text then discusses elementary probability, the normal distribution and the normal approximation to the binomial. Testing of statistical hypotheses and tests of hypotheses about the theoretical proportion of successes in a binomial population and about the theoretical mean of a normal population are explained. The text the

  16. MULTI-LEVEL SAMPLING APPROACH FOR CONTINOUS LOSS DETECTION USING ITERATIVE WINDOW AND STATISTICAL MODEL

    OpenAIRE

    Mohd Fo'ad Rohani; Mohd Aizaini Maarof; Ali Selamat; Houssain Kettani

    2010-01-01

    This paper proposes a Multi-Level Sampling (MLS) approach for continuous Loss of Self-Similarity (LoSS) detection using iterative window. The method defines LoSS based on Second Order Self-Similarity (SOSS) statistical model. The Optimization Method (OM) is used to estimate self-similarity parameter since it is fast and more accurate in comparison with other estimation methods known in the literature. Probability of LoSS detection is introduced to measure continuous LoSS detection performance...

  17. The Completeness Theorem of Godel

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    GENERAL I ARTICLE. The Completeness Theorem of Godel. 2. Henkin's Proof for First Order Logic. S M Srivastava is with the. Indian Statistical,. Institute, Calcutta. He received his PhD from the Indian Statistical. Institute in 1980. His research interests are in descriptive set theory. I Part 1. An Introduction to Math- ematical ...

  18. HICOSMO - cosmology with a complete sample of galaxy clusters - I. Data analysis, sample selection and luminosity-mass scaling relation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellenberger, G.; Reiprich, T. H.

    2017-08-01

    The X-ray regime, where the most massive visible component of galaxy clusters, the intracluster medium, is visible, offers directly measured quantities, like the luminosity, and derived quantities, like the total mass, to characterize these objects. The aim of this project is to analyse a complete sample of galaxy clusters in detail and constrain cosmological parameters, like the matter density, Ωm, or the amplitude of initial density fluctuations, σ8. The purely X-ray flux-limited sample (HIFLUGCS) consists of the 64 X-ray brightest galaxy clusters, which are excellent targets to study the systematic effects, that can bias results. We analysed in total 196 Chandra observations of the 64 HIFLUGCS clusters, with a total exposure time of 7.7 Ms. Here, we present our data analysis procedure (including an automated substructure detection and an energy band optimization for surface brightness profile analysis) that gives individually determined, robust total mass estimates. These masses are tested against dynamical and Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) derived masses of the same clusters, where good overall agreement is found with the dynamical masses. The Planck SZ masses seem to show a mass-dependent bias to our hydrostatic masses; possible biases in this mass-mass comparison are discussed including the Planck selection function. Furthermore, we show the results for the (0.1-2.4) keV luminosity versus mass scaling relation. The overall slope of the sample (1.34) is in agreement with expectations and values from literature. Splitting the sample into galaxy groups and clusters reveals, even after a selection bias correction, that galaxy groups exhibit a significantly steeper slope (1.88) compared to clusters (1.06).

  19. STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF SMALL SCALE MIXING DEMONSTRATION SAMPLING AND BATCH TRANSFER PERFORMANCE - 12093

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    GREER DA; THIEN MG

    2012-01-12

    The ability to effectively mix, sample, certify, and deliver consistent batches of High Level Waste (HLW) feed from the Hanford Double Shell Tanks (DST) to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) presents a significant mission risk with potential to impact mission length and the quantity of HLW glass produced. DOE's Tank Operations Contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has previously presented the results of mixing performance in two different sizes of small scale DSTs to support scale up estimates of full scale DST mixing performance. Currently, sufficient sampling of DSTs is one of the largest programmatic risks that could prevent timely delivery of high level waste to the WTP. WRPS has performed small scale mixing and sampling demonstrations to study the ability to sufficiently sample the tanks. The statistical evaluation of the demonstration results which lead to the conclusion that the two scales of small DST are behaving similarly and that full scale performance is predictable will be presented. This work is essential to reduce the risk of requiring a new dedicated feed sampling facility and will guide future optimization work to ensure the waste feed delivery mission will be accomplished successfully. This paper will focus on the analytical data collected from mixing, sampling, and batch transfer testing from the small scale mixing demonstration tanks and how those data are being interpreted to begin to understand the relationship between samples taken prior to transfer and samples from the subsequent batches transferred. An overview of the types of data collected and examples of typical raw data will be provided. The paper will then discuss the processing and manipulation of the data which is necessary to begin evaluating sampling and batch transfer performance. This discussion will also include the evaluation of the analytical measurement capability with regard to the simulant material used in the demonstration tests. The

  20. A novel complete-case analysis to determine statistical significance between treatments in an intention-to-treat population of randomized clinical trials involving missing data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei; Ding, Jinhui

    2018-04-01

    The application of the principle of the intention-to-treat (ITT) to the analysis of clinical trials is challenged in the presence of missing outcome data. The consequences of stopping an assigned treatment in a withdrawn subject are unknown. It is difficult to make a single assumption about missing mechanisms for all clinical trials because there are complicated reactions in the human body to drugs due to the presence of complex biological networks, leading to data missing randomly or non-randomly. Currently there is no statistical method that can tell whether a difference between two treatments in the ITT population of a randomized clinical trial with missing data is significant at a pre-specified level. Making no assumptions about the missing mechanisms, we propose a generalized complete-case (GCC) analysis based on the data of completers. An evaluation of the impact of missing data on the ITT analysis reveals that a statistically significant GCC result implies a significant treatment effect in the ITT population at a pre-specified significance level unless, relative to the comparator, the test drug is poisonous to the non-completers as documented in their medical records. Applications of the GCC analysis are illustrated using literature data, and its properties and limits are discussed.

  1. Effect of the Target Motion Sampling temperature treatment method on the statistics and performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viitanen, Tuomas; Leppänen, Jaakko

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Use of the Target Motion Sampling (TMS) method with collision estimators is studied. • The expected values of the estimators agree with NJOY-based reference. • In most practical cases also the variances of the estimators are unaffected by TMS. • Transport calculation slow-down due to TMS dominates the impact on figures-of-merit. - Abstract: Target Motion Sampling (TMS) is a stochastic on-the-fly temperature treatment technique that is being developed as a part of the Monte Carlo reactor physics code Serpent. The method provides for modeling of arbitrary temperatures in continuous-energy Monte Carlo tracking routines with only one set of cross sections stored in the computer memory. Previously, only the performance of the TMS method in terms of CPU time per transported neutron has been discussed. Since the effective cross sections are not calculated at any point of a transport simulation with TMS, reaction rate estimators must be scored using sampled cross sections, which is expected to increase the variances and, consequently, to decrease the figures-of-merit. This paper examines the effects of the TMS on the statistics and performance in practical calculations involving reaction rate estimation with collision estimators. Against all expectations it turned out that the usage of sampled response values has no practical effect on the performance of reaction rate estimators when using TMS with elevated basis cross section temperatures (EBT), i.e. the usual way. With 0 Kelvin cross sections a significant increase in the variances of capture rate estimators was observed right below the energy region of unresolved resonances, but at these energies the figures-of-merit could be increased using a simple resampling technique to decrease the variances of the responses. It was, however, noticed that the usage of the TMS method increases the statistical deviances of all estimators, including the flux estimator, by tens of percents in the vicinity of very

  2. Sampling Errors in Monthly Rainfall Totals for TRMM and SSM/I, Based on Statistics of Retrieved Rain Rates and Simple Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Thomas L.; Kundu, Prasun K.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Estimates from TRMM satellite data of monthly total rainfall over an area are subject to substantial sampling errors due to the limited number of visits to the area by the satellite during the month. Quantitative comparisons of TRMM averages with data collected by other satellites and by ground-based systems require some estimate of the size of this sampling error. A method of estimating this sampling error based on the actual statistics of the TRMM observations and on some modeling work has been developed. "Sampling error" in TRMM monthly averages is defined here relative to the monthly total a hypothetical satellite permanently stationed above the area would have reported. "Sampling error" therefore includes contributions from the random and systematic errors introduced by the satellite remote sensing system. As part of our long-term goal of providing error estimates for each grid point accessible to the TRMM instruments, sampling error estimates for TRMM based on rain retrievals from TRMM microwave (TMI) data are compared for different times of the year and different oceanic areas (to minimize changes in the statistics due to algorithmic differences over land and ocean). Changes in sampling error estimates due to changes in rain statistics due 1) to evolution of the official algorithms used to process the data, and 2) differences from other remote sensing systems such as the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), are analyzed.

  3. Comparing identified and statistically significant lipids and polar metabolites in 15-year old serum and dried blood spot samples for longitudinal studies: Comparing lipids and metabolites in serum and DBS samples

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kyle, Jennifer E. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Casey, Cameron P. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Stratton, Kelly G. [National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Zink, Erika M. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Kim, Young-Mo [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Zheng, Xueyun [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Monroe, Matthew E. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Weitz, Karl K. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Bloodsworth, Kent J. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Orton, Daniel J. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Ibrahim, Yehia M. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Moore, Ronald J. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Lee, Christine G. [Department of Medicine, Bone and Mineral Unit, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland OR USA; Research Service, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland OR USA; Pedersen, Catherine [Department of Medicine, Bone and Mineral Unit, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland OR USA; Orwoll, Eric [Department of Medicine, Bone and Mineral Unit, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland OR USA; Smith, Richard D. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Burnum-Johnson, Kristin E. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Baker, Erin S. [Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA

    2017-02-05

    The use of dried blood spots (DBS) has many advantages over traditional plasma and serum samples such as smaller blood volume required, storage at room temperature, and ability for sampling in remote locations. However, understanding the robustness of different analytes in DBS samples is essential, especially in older samples collected for longitudinal studies. Here we analyzed DBS samples collected in 2000-2001 and stored at room temperature and compared them to matched serum samples stored at -80°C to determine if they could be effectively used as specific time points in a longitudinal study following metabolic disease. Four hundred small molecules were identified in both the serum and DBS samples using gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS) and LC-ion mobility spectrometry-MS (LC-IMS-MS). The identified polar metabolites overlapped well between the sample types, though only one statistically significant polar metabolite in a case-control study was conserved, indicating degradation occurs in the DBS samples affecting quantitation. Differences in the lipid identifications indicated that some oxidation occurs in the DBS samples. However, thirty-six statistically significant lipids correlated in both sample types indicating that lipid quantitation was more stable across the sample types.

  4. The augmented lagrange multipliers method for matrix completion from corrupted samplings with application to mixed Gaussian-impulse noise removal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fan Meng

    Full Text Available This paper studies the problem of the restoration of images corrupted by mixed Gaussian-impulse noise. In recent years, low-rank matrix reconstruction has become a research hotspot in many scientific and engineering domains such as machine learning, image processing, computer vision and bioinformatics, which mainly involves the problem of matrix completion and robust principal component analysis, namely recovering a low-rank matrix from an incomplete but accurate sampling subset of its entries and from an observed data matrix with an unknown fraction of its entries being arbitrarily corrupted, respectively. Inspired by these ideas, we consider the problem of recovering a low-rank matrix from an incomplete sampling subset of its entries with an unknown fraction of the samplings contaminated by arbitrary errors, which is defined as the problem of matrix completion from corrupted samplings and modeled as a convex optimization problem that minimizes a combination of the nuclear norm and the l(1-norm in this paper. Meanwhile, we put forward a novel and effective algorithm called augmented Lagrange multipliers to exactly solve the problem. For mixed Gaussian-impulse noise removal, we regard it as the problem of matrix completion from corrupted samplings, and restore the noisy image following an impulse-detecting procedure. Compared with some existing methods for mixed noise removal, the recovery quality performance of our method is dominant if images possess low-rank features such as geometrically regular textures and similar structured contents; especially when the density of impulse noise is relatively high and the variance of Gaussian noise is small, our method can outperform the traditional methods significantly not only in the simultaneous removal of Gaussian noise and impulse noise, and the restoration ability for a low-rank image matrix, but also in the preservation of textures and details in the image.

  5. A complete quasar sample at intermediate redshift

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cristiani, S.; La Franca, F.; Barbieri, C.; Iovino, A.

    1991-01-01

    A search for intermediate-redshift quasars has been carried out with slitless spectroscopy in the central 21.07 deg 2 of the SA 94, where the existence of a large database of objects for which slit spectroscopy was already available provided a valuable opportunity of testing the properties of our selection technique. Fifty candidates have been observed with slit spectroscopy, confirming 34 quasars and two H II galaxies. The completeness of this survey as a function of magnitude and redshift has been analysed, and an effective area of 16.9 deg 2 has been evaluated. (author)

  6. Application of binomial and multinomial probability statistics to the sampling design process of a global grain tracing and recall system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, coded, pill-sized tracers embedded in grain are proposed as a method for grain traceability. A sampling process for a grain traceability system was designed and investigated by applying probability statistics using a science-based sampling approach to collect an adequate number of tracers fo...

  7. Municipal solid waste composition: Sampling methodology, statistical analyses, and case study evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Edjabou, Vincent Maklawe Essonanawe; Jensen, Morten Bang; Götze, Ramona

    2015-01-01

    Sound waste management and optimisation of resource recovery require reliable data on solid waste generation and composition. In the absence of standardised and commonly accepted waste characterisation methodologies, various approaches have been reported in literature. This limits both...... comparability and applicability of the results. In this study, a waste sampling and sorting methodology for efficient and statistically robust characterisation of solid waste was introduced. The methodology was applied to residual waste collected from 1442 households distributed among 10 individual sub......-areas in three Danish municipalities (both single and multi-family house areas). In total 17 tonnes of waste were sorted into 10-50 waste fractions, organised according to a three-level (tiered approach) facilitating,comparison of the waste data between individual sub-areas with different fractionation (waste...

  8. A Statistical Primer: Understanding Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

    OpenAIRE

    Gillian Byrne

    2007-01-01

    As libraries and librarians move more towards evidence‐based decision making, the data being generated in libraries is growing. Understanding the basics of statistical analysis is crucial for evidence‐based practice (EBP), in order to correctly design and analyze researchas well as to evaluate the research of others. This article covers the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics, from hypothesis construction to sampling to common statistical techniques including chi‐square, co...

  9. [Statistics for statistics?--Thoughts about psychological tools].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Uwe; Stöbel-Richter, Yve

    2007-12-01

    Statistical methods take a prominent place among psychologists' educational programs. Being known as difficult to understand and heavy to learn, students fear of these contents. Those, who do not aspire after a research carrier at the university, will forget the drilled contents fast. Furthermore, because it does not apply for the work with patients and other target groups at a first glance, the methodological education as a whole was often questioned. For many psychological practitioners the statistical education makes only sense by enforcing respect against other professions, namely physicians. For the own business, statistics is rarely taken seriously as a professional tool. The reason seems to be clear: Statistics treats numbers, while psychotherapy treats subjects. So, does statistics ends in itself? With this article, we try to answer the question, if and how statistical methods were represented within the psychotherapeutical and psychological research. Therefore, we analyzed 46 Originals of a complete volume of the journal Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics, Psychological Medicine (PPmP). Within the volume, 28 different analyse methods were applied, from which 89 per cent were directly based upon statistics. To be able to write and critically read Originals as a backbone of research, presumes a high degree of statistical education. To ignore statistics means to ignore research and at least to reveal the own professional work to arbitrariness.

  10. Statistical properties of the surface velocity field in the northern Gulf of Mexico sampled by GLAD drifters

    OpenAIRE

    Mariano, A.J.; Ryan, E.H.; Huntley, H.S.; Laurindo, L.C.; Coelho, E.; Ozgokmen, TM; Berta, M.; Bogucki, D; Chen, S.S.; Curcic, M.; Drouin, K.L.; Gough, M; Haus, BK; Haza, A.C.; Hogan, P

    2016-01-01

    The Grand LAgrangian Deployment (GLAD) used multiscale sampling and GPS technology to observe time series of drifter positions with initial drifter separation of O(100 m) to O(10 km), and nominal 5 min sampling, during the summer and fall of 2012 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Histograms of the velocity field and its statistical parameters are non-Gaussian; most are multimodal. The dominant periods for the surface velocity field are 1–2 days due to inertial oscillations, tides, and the sea b...

  11. Application of nonparametric statistic method for DNBR limit calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Bo; Kuang Bo; Zhu Xuenong

    2013-01-01

    Background: Nonparametric statistical method is a kind of statistical inference method not depending on a certain distribution; it calculates the tolerance limits under certain probability level and confidence through sampling methods. The DNBR margin is one important parameter of NPP design, which presents the safety level of NPP. Purpose and Methods: This paper uses nonparametric statistical method basing on Wilks formula and VIPER-01 subchannel analysis code to calculate the DNBR design limits (DL) of 300 MW NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) during the complete loss of flow accident, simultaneously compared with the DL of DNBR through means of ITDP to get certain DNBR margin. Results: The results indicate that this method can gain 2.96% DNBR margin more than that obtained by ITDP methodology. Conclusions: Because of the reduction of the conservation during analysis process, the nonparametric statistical method can provide greater DNBR margin and the increase of DNBR margin is benefited for the upgrading of core refuel scheme. (authors)

  12. Relationship between accuracy and number of samples on statistical quantity and contour map of environmental gamma-ray dose rate. Example of random sampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Hideharu; Minato, Susumu

    2002-01-01

    The accuracy of statistical quantity like the mean value and contour map obtained by measurement of the environmental gamma-ray dose rate was evaluated by random sampling of 5 different model distribution maps made by the mean slope, -1.3, of power spectra calculated from the actually measured values. The values were derived from 58 natural gamma dose rate data reported worldwide ranging in the means of 10-100 Gy/h rates and 10 -3 -10 7 km 2 areas. The accuracy of the mean value was found around ±7% even for 60 or 80 samplings (the most frequent number) and the standard deviation had the accuracy less than 1/4-1/3 of the means. The correlation coefficient of the frequency distribution was found 0.860 or more for 200-400 samplings (the most frequent number) but of the contour map, 0.502-0.770. (K.H.)

  13. Understanding the Sampling Distribution and Its Use in Testing Statistical Significance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breunig, Nancy A.

    Despite the increasing criticism of statistical significance testing by researchers, particularly in the publication of the 1994 American Psychological Association's style manual, statistical significance test results are still popular in journal articles. For this reason, it remains important to understand the logic of inferential statistics. A…

  14. Understanding Computational Bayesian Statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Bolstad, William M

    2011-01-01

    A hands-on introduction to computational statistics from a Bayesian point of view Providing a solid grounding in statistics while uniquely covering the topics from a Bayesian perspective, Understanding Computational Bayesian Statistics successfully guides readers through this new, cutting-edge approach. With its hands-on treatment of the topic, the book shows how samples can be drawn from the posterior distribution when the formula giving its shape is all that is known, and how Bayesian inferences can be based on these samples from the posterior. These ideas are illustrated on common statistic

  15. [A comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suen, Lee-Jen Wu; Huang, Hui-Man; Lee, Hao-Hsien

    2014-06-01

    Convenience sampling and purposive sampling are two different sampling methods. This article first explains sampling terms such as target population, accessible population, simple random sampling, intended sample, actual sample, and statistical power analysis. These terms are then used to explain the difference between "convenience sampling" and purposive sampling." Convenience sampling is a non-probabilistic sampling technique applicable to qualitative or quantitative studies, although it is most frequently used in quantitative studies. In convenience samples, subjects more readily accessible to the researcher are more likely to be included. Thus, in quantitative studies, opportunity to participate is not equal for all qualified individuals in the target population and study results are not necessarily generalizable to this population. As in all quantitative studies, increasing the sample size increases the statistical power of the convenience sample. In contrast, purposive sampling is typically used in qualitative studies. Researchers who use this technique carefully select subjects based on study purpose with the expectation that each participant will provide unique and rich information of value to the study. As a result, members of the accessible population are not interchangeable and sample size is determined by data saturation not by statistical power analysis.

  16. Evaluation of primary immunization coverage of infants under universal immunization programme in an urban area of Bangalore city using cluster sampling and lot quality assurance sampling techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Punith K

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Research Question: Is LQAS technique better than cluster sampling technique in terms of resources to evaluate the immunization coverage in an urban area? Objective: To assess and compare the lot quality assurance sampling against cluster sampling in the evaluation of primary immunization coverage. Study Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. Study Setting: Areas under Mathikere Urban Health Center. Study Subjects: Children aged 12 months to 23 months. Sample Size: 220 in cluster sampling, 76 in lot quality assurance sampling. Statistical Analysis: Percentages and Proportions, Chi square Test. Results: (1 Using cluster sampling, the percentage of completely immunized, partially immunized and unimmunized children were 84.09%, 14.09% and 1.82%, respectively. With lot quality assurance sampling, it was 92.11%, 6.58% and 1.31%, respectively. (2 Immunization coverage levels as evaluated by cluster sampling technique were not statistically different from the coverage value as obtained by lot quality assurance sampling techniques. Considering the time and resources required, it was found that lot quality assurance sampling is a better technique in evaluating the primary immunization coverage in urban area.

  17. Structure completion for facade layouts

    KAUST Repository

    Fan, Lubin

    2014-11-18

    (Figure Presented) We present a method to complete missing structures in facade layouts. Starting from an abstraction of the partially observed layout as a set of shapes, we can propose one or multiple possible completed layouts. Structure completion with large missing parts is an ill-posed problem. Therefore, we combine two sources of information to derive our solution: the observed shapes and a database of complete layouts. The problem is also very difficult, because shape positions and attributes have to be estimated jointly. Our proposed solution is to break the problem into two components: a statistical model to evaluate layouts and a planning algorithm to generate candidate layouts. This ensures that the completed result is consistent with the observation and the layouts in the database.

  18. Computational statistics handbook with Matlab

    CERN Document Server

    Martinez, Wendy L

    2007-01-01

    Prefaces Introduction What Is Computational Statistics? An Overview of the Book Probability Concepts Introduction Probability Conditional Probability and Independence Expectation Common Distributions Sampling Concepts Introduction Sampling Terminology and Concepts Sampling Distributions Parameter Estimation Empirical Distribution Function Generating Random Variables Introduction General Techniques for Generating Random Variables Generating Continuous Random Variables Generating Discrete Random Variables Exploratory Data Analysis Introduction Exploring Univariate Data Exploring Bivariate and Trivariate Data Exploring Multidimensional Data Finding Structure Introduction Projecting Data Principal Component Analysis Projection Pursuit EDA Independent Component Analysis Grand Tour Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction Monte Carlo Methods for Inferential Statistics Introduction Classical Inferential Statistics Monte Carlo Methods for Inferential Statist...

  19. Reliability and statistical power analysis of cortical and subcortical FreeSurfer metrics in a large sample of healthy elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liem, Franziskus; Mérillat, Susan; Bezzola, Ladina; Hirsiger, Sarah; Philipp, Michel; Madhyastha, Tara; Jäncke, Lutz

    2015-03-01

    FreeSurfer is a tool to quantify cortical and subcortical brain anatomy automatically and noninvasively. Previous studies have reported reliability and statistical power analyses in relatively small samples or only selected one aspect of brain anatomy. Here, we investigated reliability and statistical power of cortical thickness, surface area, volume, and the volume of subcortical structures in a large sample (N=189) of healthy elderly subjects (64+ years). Reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) of cortical and subcortical parameters is generally high (cortical: ICCs>0.87, subcortical: ICCs>0.95). Surface-based smoothing increases reliability of cortical thickness maps, while it decreases reliability of cortical surface area and volume. Nevertheless, statistical power of all measures benefits from smoothing. When aiming to detect a 10% difference between groups, the number of subjects required to test effects with sufficient power over the entire cortex varies between cortical measures (cortical thickness: N=39, surface area: N=21, volume: N=81; 10mm smoothing, power=0.8, α=0.05). For subcortical regions this number is between 16 and 76 subjects, depending on the region. We also demonstrate the advantage of within-subject designs over between-subject designs. Furthermore, we publicly provide a tool that allows researchers to perform a priori power analysis and sensitivity analysis to help evaluate previously published studies and to design future studies with sufficient statistical power. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Statistical aspects of tumor registries, Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ishida, M

    1961-02-24

    Statistical considerations are presented on the tumor registries established for purpose of studying radiation induced carcinoma in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by observing tumors developing in the survivors of these cities. In addition to describing the background and purpose of the tumor registries the report consists of two parts: (1) accuracy of reported tumor cases and (2) statistical aspects of the incidence of tumors based both on a current population and on a fixed sample. Under the heading background, discussion includes the difficulties in attaining complete registration; the various problems associated with the tumor registries; and the special characteristics of tumor registries in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Beye's a posteriori probability formula was applied to the Type I and Type II errors in the autopsy data of Hiroshima ABCC. (Type I, diagnosis of what is not cancer as cancer; Type II, diagnosis of what is cancer as noncancer.) Finally, the report discussed the difficulties in estimating a current population of survivors; the advantages and disadvantages of analyses based on a fixed sample and on an estimated current population; the comparison of incidence rates based on these populations using the 20 months' data of the tumor registry in Hiroshima; and the sample size required for studying radiation induced carcinoma. 10 references, 1 figure, 8 tables.

  1. Completely non-destructive elemental analysis of bulky samples by PGA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oura, Y.; Nakahara, H.; Sueki, K.; Sato, W.; Tomizawa, T.

    1998-01-01

    A new non-destructive method is proposed for the elemental analysis of bulk samples. It is essentially a combination of PGA and NAA by a single neutron irradiation, and allows determinations of elemental contents of both major and minor constituents relative to that of some reference element. Major elements and some trace elements such as B, Sm, and Gd are mostly determined by the measurement of prompt gamma rays emitted when a bulky sample in its original form, namely, without any reduction of the sample size, is placed in the beam of neutrons guided from a nuclear reactor. Minor elements are then determined by the off-line measurements of gamma rays emitted from the radioactive nuclides produced within the sample by neutron capture reactions. As the radioactivity remaining in the sample becomes negligibly small after a few weeks cooling, the proposed method will be most usefully applied for the elemental analysis of bulky precious samples such as archaeological samples, and arts and crafts. In this presentation, applicability of the method will be demonstrated for porcelain and bronze samples. (author)

  2. Statistical techniques for sampling and monitoring natural resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hans T. Schreuder; Richard Ernst; Hugo Ramirez-Maldonado

    2004-01-01

    We present the statistical theory of inventory and monitoring from a probabilistic point of view. We start with the basics and show the interrelationships between designs and estimators illustrating the methods with a small artificial population as well as with a mapped realistic population. For such applications, useful open source software is given in Appendix 4....

  3. Analysis of statistical misconception in terms of statistical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maryati, I.; Priatna, N.

    2018-05-01

    Reasoning skill is needed for everyone to face globalization era, because every person have to be able to manage and use information from all over the world which can be obtained easily. Statistical reasoning skill is the ability to collect, group, process, interpret, and draw conclusion of information. Developing this skill can be done through various levels of education. However, the skill is low because many people assume that statistics is just the ability to count and using formulas and so do students. Students still have negative attitude toward course which is related to research. The purpose of this research is analyzing students’ misconception in descriptive statistic course toward the statistical reasoning skill. The observation was done by analyzing the misconception test result and statistical reasoning skill test; observing the students’ misconception effect toward statistical reasoning skill. The sample of this research was 32 students of math education department who had taken descriptive statistic course. The mean value of misconception test was 49,7 and standard deviation was 10,6 whereas the mean value of statistical reasoning skill test was 51,8 and standard deviation was 8,5. If the minimal value is 65 to state the standard achievement of a course competence, students’ mean value is lower than the standard competence. The result of students’ misconception study emphasized on which sub discussion that should be considered. Based on the assessment result, it was found that students’ misconception happen on this: 1) writing mathematical sentence and symbol well, 2) understanding basic definitions, 3) determining concept that will be used in solving problem. In statistical reasoning skill, the assessment was done to measure reasoning from: 1) data, 2) representation, 3) statistic format, 4) probability, 5) sample, and 6) association.

  4. Adaptive sampling based on the cumulative distribution function of order statistics to delineate heavy-metal contaminated soils using kriging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juang, K.-W.; Lee, D.-Y.; Teng, Y.-L.

    2005-01-01

    Correctly classifying 'contaminated' areas in soils, based on the threshold for a contaminated site, is important for determining effective clean-up actions. Pollutant mapping by means of kriging is increasingly being used for the delineation of contaminated soils. However, those areas where the kriged pollutant concentrations are close to the threshold have a high possibility for being misclassified. In order to reduce the misclassification due to the over- or under-estimation from kriging, an adaptive sampling using the cumulative distribution function of order statistics (CDFOS) was developed to draw additional samples for delineating contaminated soils, while kriging. A heavy-metal contaminated site in Hsinchu, Taiwan was used to illustrate this approach. The results showed that compared with random sampling, adaptive sampling using CDFOS reduced the kriging estimation errors and misclassification rates, and thus would appear to be a better choice than random sampling, as additional sampling is required for delineating the 'contaminated' areas. - A sampling approach was derived for drawing additional samples while kriging

  5. [The research protocol VI: How to choose the appropriate statistical test. Inferential statistics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores-Ruiz, Eric; Miranda-Novales, María Guadalupe; Villasís-Keever, Miguel Ángel

    2017-01-01

    The statistical analysis can be divided in two main components: descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. An inference is to elaborate conclusions from the tests performed with the data obtained from a sample of a population. Statistical tests are used in order to establish the probability that a conclusion obtained from a sample is applicable to the population from which it was obtained. However, choosing the appropriate statistical test in general poses a challenge for novice researchers. To choose the statistical test it is necessary to take into account three aspects: the research design, the number of measurements and the scale of measurement of the variables. Statistical tests are divided into two sets, parametric and nonparametric. Parametric tests can only be used if the data show a normal distribution. Choosing the right statistical test will make it easier for readers to understand and apply the results.

  6. The research protocol VI: How to choose the appropriate statistical test. Inferential statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric Flores-Ruiz

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The statistical analysis can be divided in two main components: descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. An inference is to elaborate conclusions from the tests performed with the data obtained from a sample of a population. Statistical tests are used in order to establish the probability that a conclusion obtained from a sample is applicable to the population from which it was obtained. However, choosing the appropriate statistical test in general poses a challenge for novice researchers. To choose the statistical test it is necessary to take into account three aspects: the research design, the number of measurements and the scale of measurement of the variables. Statistical tests are divided into two sets, parametric and nonparametric. Parametric tests can only be used if the data show a normal distribution. Choosing the right statistical test will make it easier for readers to understand and apply the results.

  7. Statistical analysis of hydrological response in urbanising catchments based on adaptive sampling using inter-amount times

    Science.gov (United States)

    ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire; Schleiss, Marc

    2017-04-01

    Urban catchments are typically characterised by a more flashy nature of the hydrological response compared to natural catchments. Predicting flow changes associated with urbanisation is not straightforward, as they are influenced by interactions between impervious cover, basin size, drainage connectivity and stormwater management infrastructure. In this study, we present an alternative approach to statistical analysis of hydrological response variability and basin flashiness, based on the distribution of inter-amount times. We analyse inter-amount time distributions of high-resolution streamflow time series for 17 (semi-)urbanised basins in North Carolina, USA, ranging from 13 to 238 km2 in size. We show that in the inter-amount-time framework, sampling frequency is tuned to the local variability of the flow pattern, resulting in a different representation and weighting of high and low flow periods in the statistical distribution. This leads to important differences in the way the distribution quantiles, mean, coefficient of variation and skewness vary across scales and results in lower mean intermittency and improved scaling. Moreover, we show that inter-amount-time distributions can be used to detect regulation effects on flow patterns, identify critical sampling scales and characterise flashiness of hydrological response. The possibility to use both the classical approach and the inter-amount-time framework to identify minimum observable scales and analyse flow data opens up interesting areas for future research.

  8. Access and completion of a Web-based treatment in a population-based sample of tornado-affected adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Matthew; Yuen, Erica K; Davidson, Tatiana M; Hubel, Grace; Ruggiero, Kenneth J

    2015-08-01

    Although Web-based treatments have significant potential to assess and treat difficult-to-reach populations, such as trauma-exposed adolescents, the extent that such treatments are accessed and used is unclear. The present study evaluated the proportion of adolescents who accessed and completed a Web-based treatment for postdisaster mental health symptoms. Correlates of access and completion were examined. A sample of 2,000 adolescents living in tornado-affected communities was assessed via structured telephone interview and invited to a Web-based treatment. The modular treatment addressed symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and alcohol and tobacco use. Participants were randomized to experimental or control conditions after accessing the site. Overall access for the intervention was 35.8%. Module completion for those who accessed ranged from 52.8% to 85.6%. Adolescents with parents who used the Internet to obtain health-related information were more likely to access the treatment. Adolescent males were less likely to access the treatment. Future work is needed to identify strategies to further increase the reach of Web-based treatments to provide clinical services in a postdisaster context. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Some statistical and sampling needs for detecting spills or migration at commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, J.M.; Eberhardt, L.L.; Skalski, J.R.; Simmons, M.A.

    1984-05-01

    As part of a larger study funded by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission we have been investigating field sampling strategies and compositing as a means of detecting spills or migration at commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites. The overall project is designed to produce information for developing guidance on implementing 10 CFR part 61. Compositing (pooling samples) for detection is discussed first, followed by our development of a statistical test to allow a decision as to whether any component of a composite exceeds a prescribed maximum acceptable level. The question of optimal field sampling designs and an Apple computer program designed to show the difficulties in constructing efficient field designs and using compositing schemes are considered. 6 references, 3 figures, 3 tables

  10. Neuroepidemiologic Case Definition of Gulf War Illness from Neuroimaging and EEG in a Population-Representative Nested Case-Control Sample of Gulf War Veterans

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    papers published – months 9-36 The purpose of this project is to complete the statistical analyses and write scientific papers describing various aspects...sample (N=8,020) of the 1991 U.S. military population. Survey research; population sample; disease description; longitudinal study; statistical ...interventions;  new business creation; and  other. Nothing to Report. 13 7. PARTICIPANTS & OTHER COLLABORATING

  11. Statistics Anxiety among Postgraduate Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Denise; Zawi, Mohd Khairi

    2014-01-01

    Most postgraduate programmes, that have research components, require students to take at least one course of research statistics. Not all postgraduate programmes are science based, there are a significant number of postgraduate students who are from the social sciences that will be taking statistics courses, as they try to complete their…

  12. Explorations in statistics: the log transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curran-Everett, Douglas

    2018-06-01

    Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This thirteenth installment of Explorations in Statistics explores the log transformation, an established technique that rescales the actual observations from an experiment so that the assumptions of some statistical analysis are better met. A general assumption in statistics is that the variability of some response Y is homogeneous across groups or across some predictor variable X. If the variability-the standard deviation-varies in rough proportion to the mean value of Y, a log transformation can equalize the standard deviations. Moreover, if the actual observations from an experiment conform to a skewed distribution, then a log transformation can make the theoretical distribution of the sample mean more consistent with a normal distribution. This is important: the results of a one-sample t test are meaningful only if the theoretical distribution of the sample mean is roughly normal. If we log-transform our observations, then we want to confirm the transformation was useful. We can do this if we use the Box-Cox method, if we bootstrap the sample mean and the statistic t itself, and if we assess the residual plots from the statistical model of the actual and transformed sample observations.

  13. The Statistics of Emission and Detection of Neutrons and Photons from Fissile Samples for Safeguard Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Enqvist, Andreas

    2008-03-01

    One particular purpose of nuclear safeguards, in addition to accounting for known materials, is the detection, identifying and quantifying unknown material, to prevent accidental and clandestine transports and uses of nuclear materials. This can be achieved in a non-destructive way through the various physical and statistical properties of particle emission and detection from such materials. This thesis addresses some fundamental aspects of nuclear materials and the way they can be detected and quantified by such methods. Factorial moments or multiplicities have long been used within the safeguard area. These are low order moments of the underlying number distributions of emission and detection. One objective of the present work was to determine the full probability distribution and its dependence on the sample mass and the detection process. Derivation and analysis of the full probability distribution and its dependence on the above factors constitutes the first part of the thesis. Another possibility of identifying unknown samples lies in the information in the 'fingerprints' (pulse shape distribution) left by a detected neutron or photon. A study of the statistical properties of the interaction of the incoming radiation (neutrons and photons) with the detectors constitutes the second part of the thesis. The interaction between fast neutrons and organic scintillation detectors is derived, and compared to Monte Carlo simulations. An experimental approach is also addressed in which cross correlation measurements were made using liquid scintillation detectors. First the dependence of the pulse height distribution on the energy and collision number of an incoming neutron was derived analytically and compared to numerical simulations. Then an algorithm was elaborated which can discriminate neutron pulses from photon pulses. The resulting cross correlation graphs are analyzed and discussed whether they can be used in applications to distinguish possible sample

  14. The Statistics of Emission and Detection of Neutrons and Photons from Fissile Samples for Safeguard Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Enqvist, Andreas

    2008-03-15

    One particular purpose of nuclear safeguards, in addition to accounting for known materials, is the detection, identifying and quantifying unknown material, to prevent accidental and clandestine transports and uses of nuclear materials. This can be achieved in a non-destructive way through the various physical and statistical properties of particle emission and detection from such materials. This thesis addresses some fundamental aspects of nuclear materials and the way they can be detected and quantified by such methods. Factorial moments or multiplicities have long been used within the safeguard area. These are low order moments of the underlying number distributions of emission and detection. One objective of the present work was to determine the full probability distribution and its dependence on the sample mass and the detection process. Derivation and analysis of the full probability distribution and its dependence on the above factors constitutes the first part of the thesis. Another possibility of identifying unknown samples lies in the information in the 'fingerprints' (pulse shape distribution) left by a detected neutron or photon. A study of the statistical properties of the interaction of the incoming radiation (neutrons and photons) with the detectors constitutes the second part of the thesis. The interaction between fast neutrons and organic scintillation detectors is derived, and compared to Monte Carlo simulations. An experimental approach is also addressed in which cross correlation measurements were made using liquid scintillation detectors. First the dependence of the pulse height distribution on the energy and collision number of an incoming neutron was derived analytically and compared to numerical simulations. Then an algorithm was elaborated which can discriminate neutron pulses from photon pulses. The resulting cross correlation graphs are analyzed and discussed whether they can be used in applications to distinguish possible

  15. Statistics for Learning Genetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charles, Abigail Sheena

    This study investigated the knowledge and skills that biology students may need to help them understand statistics/mathematics as it applies to genetics. The data are based on analyses of current representative genetics texts, practicing genetics professors' perspectives, and more directly, students' perceptions of, and performance in, doing statistically-based genetics problems. This issue is at the emerging edge of modern college-level genetics instruction, and this study attempts to identify key theoretical components for creating a specialized biological statistics curriculum. The goal of this curriculum will be to prepare biology students with the skills for assimilating quantitatively-based genetic processes, increasingly at the forefront of modern genetics. To fulfill this, two college level classes at two universities were surveyed. One university was located in the northeastern US and the other in the West Indies. There was a sample size of 42 students and a supplementary interview was administered to a select 9 students. Interviews were also administered to professors in the field in order to gain insight into the teaching of statistics in genetics. Key findings indicated that students had very little to no background in statistics (55%). Although students did perform well on exams with 60% of the population receiving an A or B grade, 77% of them did not offer good explanations on a probability question associated with the normal distribution provided in the survey. The scope and presentation of the applicable statistics/mathematics in some of the most used textbooks in genetics teaching, as well as genetics syllabi used by instructors do not help the issue. It was found that the text books, often times, either did not give effective explanations for students, or completely left out certain topics. The omission of certain statistical/mathematical oriented topics was seen to be also true with the genetics syllabi reviewed for this study. Nonetheless

  16. Statistical strategies to reveal potential vibrational markers for in vivo analysis by confocal Raman spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira Mendes, Thiago de; Pinto, Liliane Pereira; Santos, Laurita dos; Tippavajhala, Vamshi Krishna; Téllez Soto, Claudio Alberto; Martin, Airton Abrahão

    2016-07-01

    The analysis of biological systems by spectroscopic techniques involves the evaluation of hundreds to thousands of variables. Hence, different statistical approaches are used to elucidate regions that discriminate classes of samples and to propose new vibrational markers for explaining various phenomena like disease monitoring, mechanisms of action of drugs, food, and so on. However, the technical statistics are not always widely discussed in applied sciences. In this context, this work presents a detailed discussion including the various steps necessary for proper statistical analysis. It includes univariate parametric and nonparametric tests, as well as multivariate unsupervised and supervised approaches. The main objective of this study is to promote proper understanding of the application of various statistical tools in these spectroscopic methods used for the analysis of biological samples. The discussion of these methods is performed on a set of in vivo confocal Raman spectra of human skin analysis that aims to identify skin aging markers. In the Appendix, a complete routine of data analysis is executed in a free software that can be used by the scientific community involved in these studies.

  17. Advances in statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard Stauffer; Nadav Nur

    2005-01-01

    The papers included in the Advances in Statistics section of the Partners in Flight (PIF) 2002 Proceedings represent a small sample of statistical topics of current importance to Partners In Flight research scientists: hierarchical modeling, estimation of detection probabilities, and Bayesian applications. Sauer et al. (this volume) examines a hierarchical model...

  18. Geometric statistical inference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Periwal, Vipul

    1999-01-01

    A reparametrization-covariant formulation of the inverse problem of probability is explicitly solved for finite sample sizes. The inferred distribution is explicitly continuous for finite sample size. A geometric solution of the statistical inference problem in higher dimensions is outlined

  19. Frontiers in statistical quality control 11

    CERN Document Server

    Schmid, Wolfgang

    2015-01-01

    The main focus of this edited volume is on three major areas of statistical quality control: statistical process control (SPC), acceptance sampling and design of experiments. The majority of the papers deal with statistical process control, while acceptance sampling and design of experiments are also treated to a lesser extent. The book is organized into four thematic parts, with Part I addressing statistical process control. Part II is devoted to acceptance sampling. Part III covers the design of experiments, while Part IV discusses related fields. The twenty-three papers in this volume stem from The 11th International Workshop on Intelligent Statistical Quality Control, which was held in Sydney, Australia from August 20 to August 23, 2013. The event was hosted by Professor Ross Sparks, CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, North Ryde, Australia and was jointly organized by Professors S. Knoth, W. Schmid and Ross Sparks. The papers presented here were carefully selected and reviewed by the scientifi...

  20. Classroom Research: Assessment of Student Understanding of Sampling Distributions of Means and the Central Limit Theorem in Post-Calculus Probability and Statistics Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lunsford, M. Leigh; Rowell, Ginger Holmes; Goodson-Espy, Tracy

    2006-01-01

    We applied a classroom research model to investigate student understanding of sampling distributions of sample means and the Central Limit Theorem in post-calculus introductory probability and statistics courses. Using a quantitative assessment tool developed by previous researchers and a qualitative assessment tool developed by the authors, we…

  1. ISOTROPIC LUMINOSITY INDICATORS IN A COMPLETE AGN SAMPLE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Rieke, George H.; Rigby, Jane R.

    2009-01-01

    The [O IV] λ25.89 μm line has been shown to be an accurate indicator of active galactic nucleus (AGN) intrinsic luminosity in that it correlates well with hard (10-200 keV) X-ray emission. We present measurements of [O IV] for 89 Seyfert galaxies from the unbiased revised Shapley-Ames (RSA) sample. The [O IV] luminosity distributions of obscured and unobscured Seyferts are indistinguishable, indicating that their intrinsic AGN luminosities are quite similar and that the RSA sample is well suited for tests of the unified model. In addition, we analyze several commonly used proxies for AGN luminosity, including [O III] λ5007 A, 6 cm radio, and 2-10 keV X-ray emission. We find that the radio luminosity distributions of obscured and unobscured AGNs show no significant difference, indicating that radio luminosity is a useful isotropic luminosity indicator. However, the observed [O III] and 2-10 keV luminosities are systematically smaller for obscured Seyferts, indicating that they are not emitted isotropically.

  2. Statistical Inference for Data Adaptive Target Parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubbard, Alan E; Kherad-Pajouh, Sara; van der Laan, Mark J

    2016-05-01

    Consider one observes n i.i.d. copies of a random variable with a probability distribution that is known to be an element of a particular statistical model. In order to define our statistical target we partition the sample in V equal size sub-samples, and use this partitioning to define V splits in an estimation sample (one of the V subsamples) and corresponding complementary parameter-generating sample. For each of the V parameter-generating samples, we apply an algorithm that maps the sample to a statistical target parameter. We define our sample-split data adaptive statistical target parameter as the average of these V-sample specific target parameters. We present an estimator (and corresponding central limit theorem) of this type of data adaptive target parameter. This general methodology for generating data adaptive target parameters is demonstrated with a number of practical examples that highlight new opportunities for statistical learning from data. This new framework provides a rigorous statistical methodology for both exploratory and confirmatory analysis within the same data. Given that more research is becoming "data-driven", the theory developed within this paper provides a new impetus for a greater involvement of statistical inference into problems that are being increasingly addressed by clever, yet ad hoc pattern finding methods. To suggest such potential, and to verify the predictions of the theory, extensive simulation studies, along with a data analysis based on adaptively determined intervention rules are shown and give insight into how to structure such an approach. The results show that the data adaptive target parameter approach provides a general framework and resulting methodology for data-driven science.

  3. FabricS: A user-friendly, complete and robust software for particle shape-fabric analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno Chávez, G.; Castillo Rivera, F.; Sarocchi, D.; Borselli, L.; Rodríguez-Sedano, L. A.

    2018-06-01

    Shape-fabric is a textural parameter related to the spatial arrangement of elongated particles in geological samples. Its usefulness spans a range from sedimentary petrology to igneous and metamorphic petrology. Independently of the process being studied, when a material flows, the elongated particles are oriented with the major axis in the direction of flow. In sedimentary petrology this information has been used for studies of paleo-flow direction of turbidites, the origin of quartz sediments, and locating ignimbrite vents, among others. In addition to flow direction and its polarity, the method enables flow rheology to be inferred. The use of shape-fabric has been limited due to the difficulties of automatically measuring particles and analyzing them with reliable circular statistics programs. This has dampened interest in the method for a long time. Shape-fabric measurement has increased in popularity since the 1980s thanks to the development of new image analysis techniques and circular statistics software. However, the programs currently available are unreliable, old and are incompatible with newer operating systems, or require programming skills. The goal of our work is to develop a user-friendly program, in the MATLAB environment, with a graphical user interface, that can process images and includes editing functions, and thresholds (elongation and size) for selecting a particle population and analyzing it with reliable circular statistics algorithms. Moreover, the method also has to produce rose diagrams, orientation vectors, and a complete series of statistical parameters. All these requirements are met by our new software. In this paper, we briefly explain the methodology from collection of oriented samples in the field to the minimum number of particles needed to obtain reliable fabric data. We obtained the data using specific statistical tests and taking into account the degree of iso-orientation of the samples and the required degree of reliability

  4. Using nanopore sequencing to get complete genomes from complex samples

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Rasmus Hansen; Karst, Søren Michael; Nielsen, Per Halkjær

    The advantages of “next generation sequencing” has come at the cost of genome finishing. The dominant sequencing technology provides short reads of 150-300 bp, which has made genome assembly very difficult as the reads do not span important repeat regions. Genomes have thus been added...... to the databases as fragmented assemblies and not as finished contigs that resemble the chromosomes in which the DNA is organised within the cells. This is especially troublesome for genomes derived from complex metagenome sequencing. Databases with incomplete genomes can lead to false conclusions about...... the absence of genes and functional predictions of the organisms. Furthermore, it is common that repetitive elements and marker genes such as the 16S rRNA gene are missing completely from these genome bins. Using nanopore long reads, we demonstrate that it is possible to span these regions and make complete...

  5. Comparison of systematic mediastinal lymph node dissection versus systematic sampling for lung cancer staging and completeness of surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Nan; Yan, Shi; Lv, Chao; Feng, Yuan; Wang, Yuzhao; Zhang, Lijian; Yang, Yue

    2011-12-01

    This self-controlled prospective study was designed to investigate the efficacy of systematic sampling (SS), compared with systematic mediastinal lymph node dissection (SMLD), for pathologic staging and completeness of surgery. Over a period of 11 mo, 110 patients with lung cancer were enlisted and treated by pulmonary resection. Surgeons systematically sampled mediastinal lymph nodes prior to pulmonary resection, and after pulmonary resection SMLD was performed to each patient using Mountain's procedure [1]. After SMLD, pN status was classified as N0 in 57 cases, N1 in 27, and N2 in 26. SS detected 38.3% of pooled nodes and 37.6% of pooled positive nodes collected from SMLD. Pathologic diagnosis after SS was understaged in nine cases (8.2%) compared with staging after SMLD. However, surgery was incomplete in 24 cases (21.8%) if SMLD was not performed after sampling. Negative predictive value for SS was 86.8% on the right side, and 95.0% on the left. Three categories were generated according to pN status: negative nodes in SS and additional negative nodes from SMLD [S(-)D(-)], negative nodes in SS but additional positive nodes from SMLD [S(-)D(+)], and positive nodes in SS [S(+)D(+)]. cN2 (P=0.000) and CEA level (P=0.001) were correlated with pN status. There was significant overall survival difference between non-N2 group and N2 group (P=0.002). SMLD may harvest about three times of mediastinal lymph nodes compared with SS. SS is more likely to affect the completeness of surgery instead of underrating pathologic stage. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Mathematical background and attitudes toward statistics in a sample of Spanish college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmona, José; Martínez, Rafael J; Sánchez, Manuel

    2005-08-01

    To examine the relation of mathematical background and initial attitudes toward statistics of Spanish college students in social sciences the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics was given to 827 students. Multivariate analyses tested the effects of two indicators of mathematical background (amount of exposure and achievement in previous courses) on the four subscales. Analysis suggested grades in previous courses are more related to initial attitudes toward statistics than the number of mathematics courses taken. Mathematical background was related with students' affective responses to statistics but not with their valuing of statistics. Implications of possible research are discussed.

  7. A statistical rationale for establishing process quality control limits using fixed sample size, for critical current verification of SSC superconducting wire

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollock, D.A.; Brown, G.; Capone, D.W. II; Christopherson, D.; Seuntjens, J.M.; Woltz, J.

    1992-01-01

    This work has demonstrated the statistical concepts behind the XBAR R method for determining sample limits to verify billet I c performance and process uniformity. Using a preliminary population estimate for μ and σ from a stable production lot of only 5 billets, we have shown that reasonable sensitivity to systematic process drift and random within billet variation may be achieved, by using per billet subgroup sizes of moderate proportions. The effects of subgroup size (n) and sampling risk (α and β) on the calculated control limits have been shown to be important factors that need to be carefully considered when selecting an actual number of measurements to be used per billet, for each supplier process. Given the present method of testing in which individual wire samples are ramped to I c only once, with measurement uncertainty due to repeatability and reproducibility (typically > 1.4%), large subgroups (i.e. >30 per billet) appear to be unnecessary, except as an inspection tool to confirm wire process history for each spool. The introduction of the XBAR R method or a similar Statistical Quality Control procedure is recommend for use in the superconducing wire production program, particularly when the program transitions from requiring tests for all pieces of wire to sampling each production unit

  8. Sample representativeness verification of the FADN CZ farm business sample

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Prášilová

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Sample representativeness verification is one of the key stages of statistical work. After having joined the European Union the Czech Republic joined also the Farm Accountancy Data Network system of the Union. This is a sample of bodies and companies doing business in agriculture. Detailed production and economic data on the results of farming business are collected from that sample annually and results for the entire population of the country´s farms are then estimated and assessed. It is important hence, that the sample be representative. Representativeness is to be assessed as to the number of farms included in the survey and also as to the degree of accordance of the measures and indices as related to the population. The paper deals with the special statistical techniques and methods of the FADN CZ sample representativeness verification including the necessary sample size statement procedure. The Czech farm population data have been obtained from the Czech Statistical Office data bank.

  9. Contributions to statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Mahalanobis, P C

    1965-01-01

    Contributions to Statistics focuses on the processes, methodologies, and approaches involved in statistics. The book is presented to Professor P. C. Mahalanobis on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The selection first offers information on the recovery of ancillary information and combinatorial properties of partially balanced designs and association schemes. Discussions focus on combinatorial applications of the algebra of association matrices, sample size analogy, association matrices and the algebra of association schemes, and conceptual statistical experiments. The book then examines latt

  10. Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paechter, Manuela; Macher, Daniel; Martskvishvili, Khatuna; Wimmer, Sigrid; Papousek, Ilona

    2017-01-01

    In many social science majors, e.g., psychology, students report high levels of statistics anxiety. However, these majors are often chosen by students who are less prone to mathematics and who might have experienced difficulties and unpleasant feelings in their mathematics courses at school. The present study investigates whether statistics anxiety is a genuine form of anxiety that impairs students' achievements or whether learners mainly transfer previous experiences in mathematics and their anxiety in mathematics to statistics. The relationship between mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety, their relationship to learning behaviors and to performance in a statistics examination were investigated in a sample of 225 undergraduate psychology students (164 women, 61 men). Data were recorded at three points in time: At the beginning of term students' mathematics anxiety, general proneness to anxiety, school grades, and demographic data were assessed; 2 weeks before the end of term, they completed questionnaires on statistics anxiety and their learning behaviors. At the end of term, examination scores were recorded. Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety correlated highly but the comparison of different structural equation models showed that they had genuine and even antagonistic contributions to learning behaviors and performance in the examination. Surprisingly, mathematics anxiety was positively related to performance. It might be that students realized over the course of their first term that knowledge and skills in higher secondary education mathematics are not sufficient to be successful in statistics. Part of mathematics anxiety may then have strengthened positive extrinsic effort motivation by the intention to avoid failure and may have led to higher effort for the exam preparation. However, via statistics anxiety mathematics anxiety also had a negative contribution to performance. Statistics anxiety led to higher procrastination in the structural

  11. Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paechter, Manuela; Macher, Daniel; Martskvishvili, Khatuna; Wimmer, Sigrid; Papousek, Ilona

    2017-01-01

    In many social science majors, e.g., psychology, students report high levels of statistics anxiety. However, these majors are often chosen by students who are less prone to mathematics and who might have experienced difficulties and unpleasant feelings in their mathematics courses at school. The present study investigates whether statistics anxiety is a genuine form of anxiety that impairs students' achievements or whether learners mainly transfer previous experiences in mathematics and their anxiety in mathematics to statistics. The relationship between mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety, their relationship to learning behaviors and to performance in a statistics examination were investigated in a sample of 225 undergraduate psychology students (164 women, 61 men). Data were recorded at three points in time: At the beginning of term students' mathematics anxiety, general proneness to anxiety, school grades, and demographic data were assessed; 2 weeks before the end of term, they completed questionnaires on statistics anxiety and their learning behaviors. At the end of term, examination scores were recorded. Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety correlated highly but the comparison of different structural equation models showed that they had genuine and even antagonistic contributions to learning behaviors and performance in the examination. Surprisingly, mathematics anxiety was positively related to performance. It might be that students realized over the course of their first term that knowledge and skills in higher secondary education mathematics are not sufficient to be successful in statistics. Part of mathematics anxiety may then have strengthened positive extrinsic effort motivation by the intention to avoid failure and may have led to higher effort for the exam preparation. However, via statistics anxiety mathematics anxiety also had a negative contribution to performance. Statistics anxiety led to higher procrastination in the structural

  12. Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Paechter

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In many social science majors, e.g., psychology, students report high levels of statistics anxiety. However, these majors are often chosen by students who are less prone to mathematics and who might have experienced difficulties and unpleasant feelings in their mathematics courses at school. The present study investigates whether statistics anxiety is a genuine form of anxiety that impairs students' achievements or whether learners mainly transfer previous experiences in mathematics and their anxiety in mathematics to statistics. The relationship between mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety, their relationship to learning behaviors and to performance in a statistics examination were investigated in a sample of 225 undergraduate psychology students (164 women, 61 men. Data were recorded at three points in time: At the beginning of term students' mathematics anxiety, general proneness to anxiety, school grades, and demographic data were assessed; 2 weeks before the end of term, they completed questionnaires on statistics anxiety and their learning behaviors. At the end of term, examination scores were recorded. Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety correlated highly but the comparison of different structural equation models showed that they had genuine and even antagonistic contributions to learning behaviors and performance in the examination. Surprisingly, mathematics anxiety was positively related to performance. It might be that students realized over the course of their first term that knowledge and skills in higher secondary education mathematics are not sufficient to be successful in statistics. Part of mathematics anxiety may then have strengthened positive extrinsic effort motivation by the intention to avoid failure and may have led to higher effort for the exam preparation. However, via statistics anxiety mathematics anxiety also had a negative contribution to performance. Statistics anxiety led to higher procrastination in

  13. Statistics Clinic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feiveson, Alan H.; Foy, Millennia; Ploutz-Snyder, Robert; Fiedler, James

    2014-01-01

    Do you have elevated p-values? Is the data analysis process getting you down? Do you experience anxiety when you need to respond to criticism of statistical methods in your manuscript? You may be suffering from Insufficient Statistical Support Syndrome (ISSS). For symptomatic relief of ISSS, come for a free consultation with JSC biostatisticians at our help desk during the poster sessions at the HRP Investigators Workshop. Get answers to common questions about sample size, missing data, multiple testing, when to trust the results of your analyses and more. Side effects may include sudden loss of statistics anxiety, improved interpretation of your data, and increased confidence in your results.

  14. Radiological decontamination, survey, and statistical release method for vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodwill, M.E.; Lively, J.W.; Morris, R.L.

    1996-06-01

    Earth-moving vehicles (e.g., dump trucks, belly dumps) commonly haul radiologically contaminated materials from a site being remediated to a disposal site. Traditionally, each vehicle must be surveyed before being released. The logistical difficulties of implementing the traditional approach on a large scale demand that an alternative be devised. A statistical method for assessing product quality from a continuous process was adapted to the vehicle decontamination process. This method produced a sampling scheme that automatically compensates and accommodates fluctuating batch sizes and changing conditions without the need to modify or rectify the sampling scheme in the field. Vehicles are randomly selected (sampled) upon completion of the decontamination process to be surveyed for residual radioactive surface contamination. The frequency of sampling is based on the expected number of vehicles passing through the decontamination process in a given period and the confidence level desired. This process has been successfully used for 1 year at the former uranium millsite in Monticello, Utah (a cleanup site regulated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act). The method forces improvement in the quality of the decontamination process and results in a lower likelihood that vehicles exceeding the surface contamination standards are offered for survey. Implementation of this statistical sampling method on Monticello projects has resulted in more efficient processing of vehicles through decontamination and radiological release, saved hundreds of hours of processing time, provided a high level of confidence that release limits are met, and improved the radiological cleanliness of vehicles leaving the controlled site

  15. Design-based Sample and Probability Law-Assumed Sample: Their Role in Scientific Investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojeda, Mario Miguel; Sahai, Hardeo

    2002-01-01

    Discusses some key statistical concepts in probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling to provide an overview for understanding the inference process. Suggests a statistical model constituting the basis of statistical inference and provides a brief review of the finite population descriptive inference and a quota sampling inferential theory.…

  16. Intuitive biostatistics: a nonmathematical guide to statistical thinking

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Motulsky, Harvey

    2010-01-01

    .... Intuitive Biostatistics, Completely Revised Second Edition, provides a clear introduction to statistics for undergraduate and graduate students and also serves as a statistics refresher for working scientists...

  17. Statistical data fusion for cross-tabulation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamakura, W.A.; Wedel, M.

    The authors address the situation in which a researcher wants to cross-tabulate two sets of discrete variables collected in independent samples, but a subset of the variables is common to both samples. The authors propose a statistical data-fusion model that allows for statistical tests of

  18. Business statistics I essentials

    CERN Document Server

    Clark, Louise

    2014-01-01

    REA's Essentials provide quick and easy access to critical information in a variety of different fields, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. As its name implies, these concise, comprehensive study guides summarize the essentials of the field covered. Essentials are helpful when preparing for exams, doing homework and will remain a lasting reference source for students, teachers, and professionals. Business Statistics I includes descriptive statistics, introduction to probability, probability distributions, sampling and sampling distributions, interval estimation, and hypothesis t

  19. Statistics 101 for Radiologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anvari, Arash; Halpern, Elkan F; Samir, Anthony E

    2015-10-01

    Diagnostic tests have wide clinical applications, including screening, diagnosis, measuring treatment effect, and determining prognosis. Interpreting diagnostic test results requires an understanding of key statistical concepts used to evaluate test efficacy. This review explains descriptive statistics and discusses probability, including mutually exclusive and independent events and conditional probability. In the inferential statistics section, a statistical perspective on study design is provided, together with an explanation of how to select appropriate statistical tests. Key concepts in recruiting study samples are discussed, including representativeness and random sampling. Variable types are defined, including predictor, outcome, and covariate variables, and the relationship of these variables to one another. In the hypothesis testing section, we explain how to determine if observed differences between groups are likely to be due to chance. We explain type I and II errors, statistical significance, and study power, followed by an explanation of effect sizes and how confidence intervals can be used to generalize observed effect sizes to the larger population. Statistical tests are explained in four categories: t tests and analysis of variance, proportion analysis tests, nonparametric tests, and regression techniques. We discuss sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, receiver operating characteristic analysis, and likelihood ratios. Measures of reliability and agreement, including κ statistics, intraclass correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman graphs and analysis, are introduced. © RSNA, 2015.

  20. Software package for analysis of completely randomized block design

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study is to design and develop statistical software (package), OYSP1.0 which conveniently accommodates and analyzes large mass of data emanating from experimental designs, in particular, completely Randomized Block design. Visual Basic programming is used in the design. The statistical package OYSP 1.0 ...

  1. Seasonal rationalization of river water quality sampling locations: a comparative study of the modified Sanders and multivariate statistical approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varekar, Vikas; Karmakar, Subhankar; Jha, Ramakar

    2016-02-01

    The design of surface water quality sampling location is a crucial decision-making process for rationalization of monitoring network. The quantity, quality, and types of available dataset (watershed characteristics and water quality data) may affect the selection of appropriate design methodology. The modified Sanders approach and multivariate statistical techniques [particularly factor analysis (FA)/principal component analysis (PCA)] are well-accepted and widely used techniques for design of sampling locations. However, their performance may vary significantly with quantity, quality, and types of available dataset. In this paper, an attempt has been made to evaluate performance of these techniques by accounting the effect of seasonal variation, under a situation of limited water quality data but extensive watershed characteristics information, as continuous and consistent river water quality data is usually difficult to obtain, whereas watershed information may be made available through application of geospatial techniques. A case study of Kali River, Western Uttar Pradesh, India, is selected for the analysis. The monitoring was carried out at 16 sampling locations. The discrete and diffuse pollution loads at different sampling sites were estimated and accounted using modified Sanders approach, whereas the monitored physical and chemical water quality parameters were utilized as inputs for FA/PCA. The designed optimum number of sampling locations for monsoon and non-monsoon seasons by modified Sanders approach are eight and seven while that for FA/PCA are eleven and nine, respectively. Less variation in the number and locations of designed sampling sites were obtained by both techniques, which shows stability of results. A geospatial analysis has also been carried out to check the significance of designed sampling location with respect to river basin characteristics and land use of the study area. Both methods are equally efficient; however, modified Sanders

  2. Sampling, Probability Models and Statistical Reasoning -RE ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    random sampling allows data to be modelled with the help of probability ... g based on different trials to get an estimate of the experimental error. ... research interests lie in the .... if e is indeed the true value of the proportion of defectives in the.

  3. Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: measuring, evaluating and monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuhai; Shang, Lei; Wang, Rui; Zhao, Qinbo; Li, Chanjuan; Xu, Yongyong; Su, Haixia

    2012-11-23

    In medical training, statistics is considered a very difficult course to learn and teach. Current studies have found that students' attitudes toward statistics can influence their learning process. Measuring, evaluating and monitoring the changes of students' attitudes toward statistics are important. Few studies have focused on the attitudes of postgraduates, especially medical postgraduates. Our purpose was to understand current attitudes regarding statistics held by medical postgraduates and explore their effects on students' achievement. We also wanted to explore the influencing factors and the sources of these attitudes and monitor their changes after a systematic statistics course. A total of 539 medical postgraduates enrolled in a systematic statistics course completed the pre-form of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics -28 scale, and 83 postgraduates were selected randomly from among them to complete the post-form scale after the course. Most medical postgraduates held positive attitudes toward statistics, but they thought statistics was a very difficult subject. The attitudes mainly came from experiences in a former statistical or mathematical class. Age, level of statistical education, research experience, specialty and mathematics basis may influence postgraduate attitudes toward statistics. There were significant positive correlations between course achievement and attitudes toward statistics. In general, student attitudes showed negative changes after completing a statistics course. The importance of student attitudes toward statistics must be recognized in medical postgraduate training. To make sure all students have a positive learning environment, statistics teachers should measure their students' attitudes and monitor their change of status during a course. Some necessary assistance should be offered for those students who develop negative attitudes.

  4. Statistics at a glance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ector, Hugo

    2010-12-01

    I still remember my first book on statistics: "Elementary statistics with applications in medicine and the biological sciences" by Frederick E. Croxton. For me, it has been the start of pursuing understanding statistics in daily life and in medical practice. It was the first volume in a long row of books. In his introduction, Croxton pretends that"nearly everyone involved in any aspect of medicine needs to have some knowledge of statistics". The reality is that for many clinicians, statistics are limited to a "P statistical methods. They have never had the opportunity to learn concise and clear descriptions of the key features. I have experienced how some authors can describe difficult methods in a well understandable language. Others fail completely. As a teacher, I tell my students that life is impossible without a basic knowledge of statistics. This feeling has resulted in an annual seminar of 90 minutes. This tutorial is the summary of this seminar. It is a summary and a transcription of the best pages I have detected.

  5. Statistical inference

    CERN Document Server

    Rohatgi, Vijay K

    2003-01-01

    Unified treatment of probability and statistics examines and analyzes the relationship between the two fields, exploring inferential issues. Numerous problems, examples, and diagrams--some with solutions--plus clear-cut, highlighted summaries of results. Advanced undergraduate to graduate level. Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Probability Model. 3. Probability Distributions. 4. Introduction to Statistical Inference. 5. More on Mathematical Expectation. 6. Some Discrete Models. 7. Some Continuous Models. 8. Functions of Random Variables and Random Vectors. 9. Large-Sample Theory. 10. General Meth

  6. On incomplete sampling under birth-death models and connections to the sampling-based coalescent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stadler, Tanja

    2009-11-07

    The constant rate birth-death process is used as a stochastic model for many biological systems, for example phylogenies or disease transmission. As the biological data are usually not fully available, it is crucial to understand the effect of incomplete sampling. In this paper, we analyze the constant rate birth-death process with incomplete sampling. We derive the density of the bifurcation events for trees on n leaves which evolved under this birth-death-sampling process. This density is used for calculating prior distributions in Bayesian inference programs and for efficiently simulating trees. We show that the birth-death-sampling process can be interpreted as a birth-death process with reduced rates and complete sampling. This shows that joint inference of birth rate, death rate and sampling probability is not possible. The birth-death-sampling process is compared to the sampling-based population genetics model, the coalescent. It is shown that despite many similarities between these two models, the distribution of bifurcation times remains different even in the case of very large population sizes. We illustrate these findings on an Hepatitis C virus dataset from Egypt. We show that the transmission times estimates are significantly different-the widely used Gamma statistic even changes its sign from negative to positive when switching from the coalescent to the birth-death process.

  7. Energy statistics manual

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2010-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  8. Balanced sampling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brus, D.J.

    2015-01-01

    In balanced sampling a linear relation between the soil property of interest and one or more covariates with known means is exploited in selecting the sampling locations. Recent developments make this sampling design attractive for statistical soil surveys. This paper introduces balanced sampling

  9. Combining censored and uncensored data in a U-statistic: design and sample size implications for cell therapy research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyé, Lemuel A; Lai, Dejian; Jing, Kaiyan; Baraniuk, Mary Sarah; Kwak, Minjung; Penn, Marc S; Wu, Colon O

    2011-01-01

    The assumptions that anchor large clinical trials are rooted in smaller, Phase II studies. In addition to specifying the target population, intervention delivery, and patient follow-up duration, physician-scientists who design these Phase II studies must select the appropriate response variables (endpoints). However, endpoint measures can be problematic. If the endpoint assesses the change in a continuous measure over time, then the occurrence of an intervening significant clinical event (SCE), such as death, can preclude the follow-up measurement. Finally, the ideal continuous endpoint measurement may be contraindicated in a fraction of the study patients, a change that requires a less precise substitution in this subset of participants.A score function that is based on the U-statistic can address these issues of 1) intercurrent SCE's and 2) response variable ascertainments that use different measurements of different precision. The scoring statistic is easy to apply, clinically relevant, and provides flexibility for the investigators' prospective design decisions. Sample size and power formulations for this statistic are provided as functions of clinical event rates and effect size estimates that are easy for investigators to identify and discuss. Examples are provided from current cardiovascular cell therapy research.

  10. The risks of timely degree completion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sarauw, Laura Louise; Madsen, Simon Ryberg

    2018-01-01

    In 2014, the Danish government introduced a reform with the aim to fast-track student completion. Today, three years after the reform, statistics show that the universities have almost accomplished the political objective. In this article, however, we question the success of the reform when looki...

  11. Testing statistical hypotheses

    CERN Document Server

    Lehmann, E L

    2005-01-01

    The third edition of Testing Statistical Hypotheses updates and expands upon the classic graduate text, emphasizing optimality theory for hypothesis testing and confidence sets. The principal additions include a rigorous treatment of large sample optimality, together with the requisite tools. In addition, an introduction to the theory of resampling methods such as the bootstrap is developed. The sections on multiple testing and goodness of fit testing are expanded. The text is suitable for Ph.D. students in statistics and includes over 300 new problems out of a total of more than 760. E.L. Lehmann is Professor of Statistics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands and the University of Chicago. He is the author of Elements of Large-Sample Theory and (with George Casella) he is also the author of Theory of Point Estimat...

  12. Powerful Statistical Inference for Nested Data Using Sufficient Summary Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dowding, Irene; Haufe, Stefan

    2018-01-01

    Hierarchically-organized data arise naturally in many psychology and neuroscience studies. As the standard assumption of independent and identically distributed samples does not hold for such data, two important problems are to accurately estimate group-level effect sizes, and to obtain powerful statistical tests against group-level null hypotheses. A common approach is to summarize subject-level data by a single quantity per subject, which is often the mean or the difference between class means, and treat these as samples in a group-level t-test. This “naive” approach is, however, suboptimal in terms of statistical power, as it ignores information about the intra-subject variance. To address this issue, we review several approaches to deal with nested data, with a focus on methods that are easy to implement. With what we call the sufficient-summary-statistic approach, we highlight a computationally efficient technique that can improve statistical power by taking into account within-subject variances, and we provide step-by-step instructions on how to apply this approach to a number of frequently-used measures of effect size. The properties of the reviewed approaches and the potential benefits over a group-level t-test are quantitatively assessed on simulated data and demonstrated on EEG data from a simulated-driving experiment. PMID:29615885

  13. Predictors of Associate's Degree Completion in Engineering and Engineering Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reys-Nickel, Lynsey L.

    The purpose of this ex post facto study was to describe completers and non-completers of associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies and determine whether and to what extent completion in these programs is a function of selected student-related variables and institutional variables. Data from the 2004/2009 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 04/09) of associate's degree completers and non-completers in engineering and engineering technologies were accessed and analyzed through PowerStats, a web-based data analysis tool from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Descriptive data indicated that, proportionally, engineering and engineering technologies completers were mostly White, married, middle income, employed part-time, enrolled full-time, did not hold a high school diploma or certificate, completed Trigonometry/Algebra II, had a father who's highest education level was an associate's degree, but did not know their mother's highest level of education, completed remedial coursework, and started college with the goal of earning an associate's degree. While more males enrolled in the programs, males and females demonstrated similar completion rates, proportionally--with females showing a slightly higher percentage of completion. Results from the logistic regression further indicated that the variables significant to completion in associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies were gender and enrollment size. Findings suggested that female students were more likely to earn the degree, and that the larger the institution, the more likely the student would become a completer. However, since a major limitation of the study was the small weighted sample size, the results of the study are inconclusive in terms of the extent to which the findings can be generalized to the population of students in associate's degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies. This study fills a

  14. Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: measuring, evaluating and monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background In medical training, statistics is considered a very difficult course to learn and teach. Current studies have found that students’ attitudes toward statistics can influence their learning process. Measuring, evaluating and monitoring the changes of students’ attitudes toward statistics are important. Few studies have focused on the attitudes of postgraduates, especially medical postgraduates. Our purpose was to understand current attitudes regarding statistics held by medical postgraduates and explore their effects on students’ achievement. We also wanted to explore the influencing factors and the sources of these attitudes and monitor their changes after a systematic statistics course. Methods A total of 539 medical postgraduates enrolled in a systematic statistics course completed the pre-form of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics −28 scale, and 83 postgraduates were selected randomly from among them to complete the post-form scale after the course. Results Most medical postgraduates held positive attitudes toward statistics, but they thought statistics was a very difficult subject. The attitudes mainly came from experiences in a former statistical or mathematical class. Age, level of statistical education, research experience, specialty and mathematics basis may influence postgraduate attitudes toward statistics. There were significant positive correlations between course achievement and attitudes toward statistics. In general, student attitudes showed negative changes after completing a statistics course. Conclusions The importance of student attitudes toward statistics must be recognized in medical postgraduate training. To make sure all students have a positive learning environment, statistics teachers should measure their students’ attitudes and monitor their change of status during a course. Some necessary assistance should be offered for those students who develop negative attitudes. PMID:23173770

  15. Using complete measurement statistics for optimal device-independent randomness evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nieto-Silleras, O; Pironio, S; Silman, J

    2014-01-01

    The majority of recent works investigating the link between non-locality and randomness, e.g. in the context of device-independent cryptography, do so with respect to some specific Bell inequality, usually the CHSH inequality. However, the joint probabilities characterizing the measurement outcomes of a Bell test are richer than just the degree of violation of a single Bell inequality. In this work we show how to take this extra information into account in a systematic manner in order to optimally evaluate the randomness that can be certified from non-local correlations. We further show that taking into account the complete set of outcome probabilities is equivalent to optimizing over all possible Bell inequalities, thereby allowing us to determine the optimal Bell inequality for certifying the maximal amount of randomness from a given set of non-local correlations. (paper)

  16. A Semiautomatic Segmentation Algorithm for Extracting the Complete Structure of Acini from Synchrotron Micro-CT Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luosha Xiao

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Pulmonary acinus is the largest airway unit provided with alveoli where blood/gas exchange takes place. Understanding the complete structure of acinus is necessary to measure the pathway of gas exchange and to simulate various mechanical phenomena in the lungs. The usual manual segmentation of a complete acinus structure from their experimentally obtained images is difficult and extremely time-consuming, which hampers the statistical analysis. In this study, we develop a semiautomatic segmentation algorithm for extracting the complete structure of acinus from synchrotron micro-CT images of the closed chest of mouse lungs. The algorithm uses a combination of conventional binary image processing techniques based on the multiscale and hierarchical nature of lung structures. Specifically, larger structures are removed, while smaller structures are isolated from the image by repeatedly applying erosion and dilation operators in order, adjusting the parameter referencing to previously obtained morphometric data. A cluster of isolated acini belonging to the same terminal bronchiole is obtained without floating voxels. The extracted acinar models above 98% agree well with those extracted manually. The run time is drastically shortened compared with manual methods. These findings suggest that our method may be useful for taking samples used in the statistical analysis of acinus.

  17. MANAGERIAL DECISION IN INNOVATIVE EDUCATION SYSTEMS STATISTICAL SURVEY BASED ON SAMPLE THEORY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe SĂVOIU

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Before formulating the statistical hypotheses and the econometrictesting itself, a breakdown of some of the technical issues is required, which are related to managerial decision in innovative educational systems, the educational managerial phenomenon tested through statistical and mathematical methods, respectively the significant difference in perceiving the current qualities, knowledge, experience, behaviour and desirable health, obtained through a questionnaire applied to a stratified population at the end,in the educational environment, either with educational activities, or with simultaneously managerial and educational activities. The details having to do with research focused on the survey theory, turning into a working tool the questionnaires and statistical data that are processed from those questionnaires, are summarized below.

  18. Statistical methods used in the public health literature and implications for training of public health professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayat, Matthew J; Powell, Amanda; Johnson, Tessa; Cadwell, Betsy L

    2017-01-01

    Statistical literacy and knowledge is needed to read and understand the public health literature. The purpose of this study was to quantify basic and advanced statistical methods used in public health research. We randomly sampled 216 published articles from seven top tier general public health journals. Studies were reviewed by two readers and a standardized data collection form completed for each article. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and frequency distributions. Results were summarized for statistical methods used in the literature, including descriptive and inferential statistics, modeling, advanced statistical techniques, and statistical software used. Approximately 81.9% of articles reported an observational study design and 93.1% of articles were substantively focused. Descriptive statistics in table or graphical form were reported in more than 95% of the articles, and statistical inference reported in more than 76% of the studies reviewed. These results reveal the types of statistical methods currently used in the public health literature. Although this study did not obtain information on what should be taught, information on statistical methods being used is useful for curriculum development in graduate health sciences education, as well as making informed decisions about continuing education for public health professionals.

  19. Statistics of sampling for microbiological testing of foodborne pathogens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Despite the many recent advances in protocols for testing for pathogens in foods, a number of challenges still exist. For example, the microbiological safety of food cannot be completely ensured by testing because microorganisms are not evenly distributed throughout the food. Therefore, since it i...

  20. Statistical mechanics of superconductivity

    CERN Document Server

    Kita, Takafumi

    2015-01-01

    This book provides a theoretical, step-by-step comprehensive explanation of superconductivity for undergraduate and graduate students who have completed elementary courses on thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. To this end, it adopts the unique approach of starting with the statistical mechanics of quantum ideal gases and successively adding and clarifying elements and techniques indispensible for understanding it. They include the spin-statistics theorem, second quantization, density matrices, the Bloch–De Dominicis theorem, the variational principle in statistical mechanics, attractive interaction, and bound states. Ample examples of their usage are also provided in terms of topics from advanced statistical mechanics such as two-particle correlations of quantum ideal gases, derivation of the Hartree–Fock equations, and Landau’s Fermi-liquid theory, among others. With these preliminaries, the fundamental mean-field equations of superconductivity are derived with maximum mathematical clarity based on ...

  1. On-chip sample preparation for complete blood count from raw blood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, John; Wei, Yuan; Zheng, Yi; Wang, Chen; Sun, Yu

    2015-03-21

    This paper describes a monolithic microfluidic device capable of on-chip sample preparation for both RBC and WBC measurements from whole blood. For the first time, on-chip sample processing (e.g. dilution, lysis, and filtration) and downstream single cell measurement were fully integrated to enable sample preparation and single cell analysis from whole blood on a single device. The device consists of two parallel sub-systems that perform sample processing and electrical measurements for measuring RBC and WBC parameters. The system provides a modular environment capable of handling solutions of various viscosities by adjusting the length of channels and precisely controlling mixing ratios, and features a new 'offset' filter configuration for increased duration of device operation. RBC concentration, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), cell distribution width, WBC concentration and differential are determined by electrical impedance measurement. Experimental characterization of over 100,000 cells from 10 patient blood samples validated the system's capability for performing on-chip raw blood processing and measurement.

  2. Aquifer Sampling Tube Completion Report: 100 Area and Hanford Townsite Shorelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peterson, R.E.; Borghese, J.V.; Erb, D.B.

    1998-02-01

    Groundwater contamination is known or suspected along the Hanford Site shoreline of the Columbia River adjacent to the retired reactor areas. Along the shoreline away from the reactor areas, where contamination is presumed to be absent, monitoring sites are frequently widely spaced or unavailable to confirm the presumption. Previous characterizations of contamination near the river have relied on data from a limited number of near-river wells, contaminant plume migration predictions, and river bank seepage sampling to anticipate shoreline conditions. In recent years, new methods have been developed to obtain groundwater samples from the aquifer near the groundwater/river water interface. These methods include using (1) divers to obtain samples of pore water from riverbed sediment and (2) sampling tubes that are driven into the aquifer at the shoreline. The latter method also permits sampling the aquifer at multiple depths, which helps to determine the thickness of the potentially contaminated groundwater layer that discharges into the river

  3. Measurement and statistics for teachers

    CERN Document Server

    Van Blerkom, Malcolm

    2008-01-01

    Written in a student-friendly style, Measurement and Statistics for Teachers shows teachers how to use measurement and statistics wisely in their classes. Although there is some discussion of theory, emphasis is given to the practical, everyday uses of measurement and statistics. The second part of the text provides more complete coverage of basic descriptive statistics and their use in the classroom than in any text now available.Comprehensive and accessible, Measurement and Statistics for Teachers includes:Short vignettes showing concepts in action Numerous classroom examples Highlighted vocabulary Boxes summarizing related concepts End-of-chapter exercises and problems Six full chapters devoted to the essential topic of Classroom Tests Instruction on how to carry out informal assessments, performance assessments, and portfolio assessments, and how to use and interpret standardized tests A five-chapter section on Descriptive Statistics, giving instructors the option of more thoroughly teaching basic measur...

  4. Statistical concepts a second course

    CERN Document Server

    Lomax, Richard G

    2012-01-01

    Statistical Concepts consists of the last 9 chapters of An Introduction to Statistical Concepts, 3rd ed. Designed for the second course in statistics, it is one of the few texts that focuses just on intermediate statistics. The book highlights how statistics work and what they mean to better prepare students to analyze their own data and interpret SPSS and research results. As such it offers more coverage of non-parametric procedures used when standard assumptions are violated since these methods are more frequently encountered when working with real data. Determining appropriate sample sizes

  5. An introduction to statistical computing a simulation-based approach

    CERN Document Server

    Voss, Jochen

    2014-01-01

    A comprehensive introduction to sampling-based methods in statistical computing The use of computers in mathematics and statistics has opened up a wide range of techniques for studying otherwise intractable problems.  Sampling-based simulation techniques are now an invaluable tool for exploring statistical models.  This book gives a comprehensive introduction to the exciting area of sampling-based methods. An Introduction to Statistical Computing introduces the classical topics of random number generation and Monte Carlo methods.  It also includes some advanced met

  6. A statistical evaluation of asbestos air concentrations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lange, J.H.

    1999-01-01

    Both area and personal air samples collected during an asbestos abatement project were matched and statistically analysed. Among the many parameters studied were fibre concentrations and their variability. Mean values for area and personal samples were 0.005 and 0.024 f cm - - 3 of air, respectively. Summary values for area and personal samples suggest that exposures are low with no single exposure value exceeding the current OSHA TWA value of 0.1 f cm -3 of air. Within- and between-worker analysis suggests that these data are homogeneous. Comparison of within- and between-worker values suggests that the exposure source and variability for abatement are more related to the process than individual practices. This supports the importance of control measures for abatement. Study results also suggest that area and personal samples are not statistically related, that is, there is no association observed for these two sampling methods when data are analysed by correlation or regression analysis. Personal samples were statistically higher in concentration than area samples. Area sampling cannot be used as a surrogate exposure for asbestos abatement workers. (author)

  7. Isolation of Candida species from the oral cavity and fingertips of complete denture wearers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagaral, Suresh; Desai, Raviraj G; Kamble, Vikas; Patil, Anand Kumar G

    2014-11-01

    Wearing a dental prosthesis is known to increase oral candidal colonization and predispose the wearer to oral candidosis. Denture wearers frequently use fingers to take the prosthesis out of their mouth. Oral Candida, if present may contaminate wearer's finger. The objective of this study was to investigate the simultaneous candidal colonization of oral cavity and fingertips of complete denture wearers. A total of 25 apparently healthy male subjects who had worn complete dentures for at least 1 year were selected. Information about each patient's denture age, denture hygiene, handling, and wearing habits, and hand washing habits after denture handling were be obtained. Intraoral examination of all the patients was done. For microbiological examination samples were collected from the fingertip and oral rinse of each patient. Candida species were identified with use of germ tube test and commercially available yeast identification system. Data was statistically analyzed. Significance was set at p < 0.05. It was found that frequency of hand washing, denture handling and denture stomatitis with respect to fingertip candidal isolation was not statistically significant. But poor denture hygiene and denture stomatitis with respect to oral candidal colonization was statistically significant. Denture wearers with oral Candida had a higher prevalence of Candida contamination on their fingers. Patients with removable prostheses should be informed about the importance of proper prosthesis and personal hygiene and the possibility of microbial contamination of the hands and other parts of the body.

  8. Sampling the Mouse Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus

    OpenAIRE

    Lisa Basler; Lisa Basler; Stephan Gerdes; David P. Wolfer; David P. Wolfer; David P. Wolfer; Lutz Slomianka; Lutz Slomianka

    2017-01-01

    Sampling is a critical step in procedures that generate quantitative morphological data in the neurosciences. Samples need to be representative to allow statistical evaluations, and samples need to deliver a precision that makes statistical evaluations not only possible but also meaningful. Sampling generated variability should, e.g., not be able to hide significant group differences from statistical detection if they are present. Estimators of the coefficient of error (CE) have been develope...

  9. Time Series Analysis Based on Running Mann Whitney Z Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    A sensitive and objective time series analysis method based on the calculation of Mann Whitney U statistics is described. This method samples data rankings over moving time windows, converts those samples to Mann-Whitney U statistics, and then normalizes the U statistics to Z statistics using Monte-...

  10. Monitoring larval populations of the Douglas-fir tussock moth and the western spruce budworm on permanent plots: sampling methods and statistical properties of data

    Science.gov (United States)

    A.R. Mason; H.G. Paul

    1994-01-01

    Procedures for monitoring larval populations of the Douglas-fir tussock moth and the western spruce budworm are recommended based on many years experience in sampling these species in eastern Oregon and Washington. It is shown that statistically reliable estimates of larval density can be made for a population by sampling host trees in a series of permanent plots in a...

  11. FUNSTAT and statistical image representations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parzen, E.

    1983-01-01

    General ideas of functional statistical inference analysis of one sample and two samples, univariate and bivariate are outlined. ONESAM program is applied to analyze the univariate probability distributions of multi-spectral image data.

  12. SOCR: Statistics Online Computational Resource

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivo D. Dinov

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available The need for hands-on computer laboratory experience in undergraduate and graduate statistics education has been firmly established in the past decade. As a result a number of attempts have been undertaken to develop novel approaches for problem-driven statistical thinking, data analysis and result interpretation. In this paper we describe an integrated educational web-based framework for: interactive distribution modeling, virtual online probability experimentation, statistical data analysis, visualization and integration. Following years of experience in statistical teaching at all college levels using established licensed statistical software packages, like STATA, S-PLUS, R, SPSS, SAS, Systat, etc., we have attempted to engineer a new statistics education environment, the Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR. This resource performs many of the standard types of statistical analysis, much like other classical tools. In addition, it is designed in a plug-in object-oriented architecture and is completely platform independent, web-based, interactive, extensible and secure. Over the past 4 years we have tested, fine-tuned and reanalyzed the SOCR framework in many of our undergraduate and graduate probability and statistics courses and have evidence that SOCR resources build student's intuition and enhance their learning.

  13. IRAS bright galaxy sample. II. The sample and luminosity function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soifer, B.T.; Sanders, D.B.; Neugebauer, G.; Madore, B.F.; Danielson, G.E.; David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Canada; Palomar Observatory; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena)

    1987-01-01

    A statistically complete sample of 324 of the brightest infrared galaxies discovered at 60 microns in the IRAS all-sky survey is described. The results show that far-infrared emission is a significant luminosity component in the local universe, representing 25 percent of the luminosity emitted by stars in the same volume. Above 10 to the 11th solar luminosities, the infrared luminous galaxies are the dominant population of objects in the universe, being as numerous as the Seyfert galaxies and more numerous than quasars at higher luminosities. The infrared luminosity appears to be independent of the optical luminosity of galaxies. Most infrared bright galaxies appear to require much of the interstellar matter to be contributing to the observed infrared luminosity. Approximately 60-80 percent of the far-infrared luminosity of the local universe can be attributed, directly or indirectly, to recent or ongoing star formation. 67 references

  14. Evaluation of primary immunization coverage of infants under universal immunization programme in an urban area of bangalore city using cluster sampling and lot quality assurance sampling techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    K, Punith; K, Lalitha; G, Suman; Bs, Pradeep; Kumar K, Jayanth

    2008-07-01

    Is LQAS technique better than cluster sampling technique in terms of resources to evaluate the immunization coverage in an urban area? To assess and compare the lot quality assurance sampling against cluster sampling in the evaluation of primary immunization coverage. Population-based cross-sectional study. Areas under Mathikere Urban Health Center. Children aged 12 months to 23 months. 220 in cluster sampling, 76 in lot quality assurance sampling. Percentages and Proportions, Chi square Test. (1) Using cluster sampling, the percentage of completely immunized, partially immunized and unimmunized children were 84.09%, 14.09% and 1.82%, respectively. With lot quality assurance sampling, it was 92.11%, 6.58% and 1.31%, respectively. (2) Immunization coverage levels as evaluated by cluster sampling technique were not statistically different from the coverage value as obtained by lot quality assurance sampling techniques. Considering the time and resources required, it was found that lot quality assurance sampling is a better technique in evaluating the primary immunization coverage in urban area.

  15. International Conference on Robust Statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Filzmoser, Peter; Gather, Ursula; Rousseeuw, Peter

    2003-01-01

    Aspects of Robust Statistics are important in many areas. Based on the International Conference on Robust Statistics 2001 (ICORS 2001) in Vorau, Austria, this volume discusses future directions of the discipline, bringing together leading scientists, experienced researchers and practitioners, as well as younger researchers. The papers cover a multitude of different aspects of Robust Statistics. For instance, the fundamental problem of data summary (weights of evidence) is considered and its robustness properties are studied. Further theoretical subjects include e.g.: robust methods for skewness, time series, longitudinal data, multivariate methods, and tests. Some papers deal with computational aspects and algorithms. Finally, the aspects of application and programming tools complete the volume.

  16. Constrained statistical inference : sample-size tables for ANOVA and regression

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vanbrabant, Leonard; Van De Schoot, Rens; Rosseel, Yves

    2015-01-01

    Researchers in the social and behavioral sciences often have clear expectations about the order/direction of the parameters in their statistical model. For example, a researcher might expect that regression coefficient β1 is larger than β2 and β3. The corresponding hypothesis is H: β1 > {β2, β3} and

  17. mapDIA: Preprocessing and statistical analysis of quantitative proteomics data from data independent acquisition mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teo, Guoshou; Kim, Sinae; Tsou, Chih-Chiang; Collins, Ben; Gingras, Anne-Claude; Nesvizhskii, Alexey I; Choi, Hyungwon

    2015-11-03

    Data independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry is an emerging technique that offers more complete detection and quantification of peptides and proteins across multiple samples. DIA allows fragment-level quantification, which can be considered as repeated measurements of the abundance of the corresponding peptides and proteins in the downstream statistical analysis. However, few statistical approaches are available for aggregating these complex fragment-level data into peptide- or protein-level statistical summaries. In this work, we describe a software package, mapDIA, for statistical analysis of differential protein expression using DIA fragment-level intensities. The workflow consists of three major steps: intensity normalization, peptide/fragment selection, and statistical analysis. First, mapDIA offers normalization of fragment-level intensities by total intensity sums as well as a novel alternative normalization by local intensity sums in retention time space. Second, mapDIA removes outlier observations and selects peptides/fragments that preserve the major quantitative patterns across all samples for each protein. Last, using the selected fragments and peptides, mapDIA performs model-based statistical significance analysis of protein-level differential expression between specified groups of samples. Using a comprehensive set of simulation datasets, we show that mapDIA detects differentially expressed proteins with accurate control of the false discovery rates. We also describe the analysis procedure in detail using two recently published DIA datasets generated for 14-3-3β dynamic interaction network and prostate cancer glycoproteome. The software was written in C++ language and the source code is available for free through SourceForge website http://sourceforge.net/projects/mapdia/.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Computational Proteomics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. The quantitative LOD score: test statistic and sample size for exclusion and linkage of quantitative traits in human sibships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, G P; Amos, C I; Boerwinkle, E

    1998-04-01

    We present a test statistic, the quantitative LOD (QLOD) score, for the testing of both linkage and exclusion of quantitative-trait loci in randomly selected human sibships. As with the traditional LOD score, the boundary values of 3, for linkage, and -2, for exclusion, can be used for the QLOD score. We investigated the sample sizes required for inferring exclusion and linkage, for various combinations of linked genetic variance, total heritability, recombination distance, and sibship size, using fixed-size sampling. The sample sizes required for both linkage and exclusion were not qualitatively different and depended on the percentage of variance being linked or excluded and on the total genetic variance. Information regarding linkage and exclusion in sibships larger than size 2 increased as approximately all possible pairs n(n-1)/2 up to sibships of size 6. Increasing the recombination (theta) distance between the marker and the trait loci reduced empirically the power for both linkage and exclusion, as a function of approximately (1-2theta)4.

  19. The study of combining Latin Hypercube Sampling method and LU decomposition method (LULHS method) for constructing spatial random field

    Science.gov (United States)

    WANG, P. T.

    2015-12-01

    Groundwater modeling requires to assign hydrogeological properties to every numerical grid. Due to the lack of detailed information and the inherent spatial heterogeneity, geological properties can be treated as random variables. Hydrogeological property is assumed to be a multivariate distribution with spatial correlations. By sampling random numbers from a given statistical distribution and assigning a value to each grid, a random field for modeling can be completed. Therefore, statistics sampling plays an important role in the efficiency of modeling procedure. Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) is a stratified random sampling procedure that provides an efficient way to sample variables from their multivariate distributions. This study combines the the stratified random procedure from LHS and the simulation by using LU decomposition to form LULHS. Both conditional and unconditional simulations of LULHS were develpoed. The simulation efficiency and spatial correlation of LULHS are compared to the other three different simulation methods. The results show that for the conditional simulation and unconditional simulation, LULHS method is more efficient in terms of computational effort. Less realizations are required to achieve the required statistical accuracy and spatial correlation.

  20. High-dimensional statistical inference: From vector to matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Anru

    estimator is easy to implement via convex programming and performs well numerically. The techniques and main results developed in the chapter also have implications to other related statistical problems. An application to estimation of spiked covariance matrices from one-dimensional random projections is considered. The results demonstrate that it is still possible to accurately estimate the covariance matrix of a high-dimensional distribution based only on one-dimensional projections. For the third part of the thesis, we consider another setting of low-rank matrix completion. Current literature on matrix completion focuses primarily on independent sampling models under which the individual observed entries are sampled independently. Motivated by applications in genomic data integration, we propose a new framework of structured matrix completion (SMC) to treat structured missingness by design. Specifically, our proposed method aims at efficient matrix recovery when a subset of the rows and columns of an approximately low-rank matrix are observed. We provide theoretical justification for the proposed SMC method and derive lower bound for the estimation errors, which together establish the optimal rate of recovery over certain classes of approximately low-rank matrices. Simulation studies show that the method performs well in finite sample under a variety of configurations. The method is applied to integrate several ovarian cancer genomic studies with different extent of genomic measurements, which enables us to construct more accurate prediction rules for ovarian cancer survival.

  1. Frontiers in statistical quality control

    CERN Document Server

    Wilrich, Peter-Theodor

    2004-01-01

    This volume treats the four main categories of Statistical Quality Control: General SQC Methodology, On-line Control including Sampling Inspection and Statistical Process Control, Off-line Control with Data Analysis and Experimental Design, and, fields related to Reliability. Experts with international reputation present their newest contributions.

  2. A statistical evaluation of asbestos air concentrations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lange, J.H. [Envirosafe Training and Consultants, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1999-07-01

    Both area and personal air samples collected during an asbestos abatement project were matched and statistically analysed. Among the many parameters studied were fibre concentrations and their variability. Mean values for area and personal samples were 0.005 and 0.024 f cm{sup -}-{sup 3} of air, respectively. Summary values for area and personal samples suggest that exposures are low with no single exposure value exceeding the current OSHA TWA value of 0.1 f cm{sup -3} of air. Within- and between-worker analysis suggests that these data are homogeneous. Comparison of within- and between-worker values suggests that the exposure source and variability for abatement are more related to the process than individual practices. This supports the importance of control measures for abatement. Study results also suggest that area and personal samples are not statistically related, that is, there is no association observed for these two sampling methods when data are analysed by correlation or regression analysis. Personal samples were statistically higher in concentration than area samples. Area sampling cannot be used as a surrogate exposure for asbestos abatement workers. (author)

  3. Lecture notes on quantum statistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gill, R.D.

    2000-01-01

    These notes are meant to form the material for an introductory course on quantum statistics at the graduate level aimed at mathematical statisticians and probabilists No background in physics quantum or otherwise is required They are still far from complete

  4. Fundamentals of statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Mulholland, Henry

    1968-01-01

    Fundamentals of Statistics covers topics on the introduction, fundamentals, and science of statistics. The book discusses the collection, organization and representation of numerical data; elementary probability; the binomial Poisson distributions; and the measures of central tendency. The text describes measures of dispersion for measuring the spread of a distribution; continuous distributions for measuring on a continuous scale; the properties and use of normal distribution; and tests involving the normal or student's 't' distributions. The use of control charts for sample means; the ranges

  5. How Sample Size Affects a Sampling Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulekar, Madhuri S.; Siegel, Murray H.

    2009-01-01

    If students are to understand inferential statistics successfully, they must have a profound understanding of the nature of the sampling distribution. Specifically, they must comprehend the determination of the expected value and standard error of a sampling distribution as well as the meaning of the central limit theorem. Many students in a high…

  6. Direct Learning of Systematics-Aware Summary Statistics

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2018-01-01

    Complex machine learning tools, such as deep neural networks and gradient boosting algorithms, are increasingly being used to construct powerful discriminative features for High Energy Physics analyses. These methods are typically trained with simulated or auxiliary data samples by optimising some classification or regression surrogate objective. The learned feature representations are then used to build a sample-based statistical model to perform inference (e.g. interval estimation or hypothesis testing) over a set of parameters of interest. However, the effectiveness of the mentioned approach can be reduced by the presence of known uncertainties that cause differences between training and experimental data, included in the statistical model via nuisance parameters. This work presents an end-to-end algorithm, which leverages on existing deep learning technologies but directly aims to produce inference-optimal sample-summary statistics. By including the statistical model and a differentiable approximation of ...

  7. On the Sampling

    OpenAIRE

    Güleda Doğan

    2017-01-01

    This editorial is on statistical sampling, which is one of the most two important reasons for editorial rejection from our journal Turkish Librarianship. The stages of quantitative research, the stage in which we are sampling, the importance of sampling for a research, deciding on sample size and sampling methods are summarised briefly.

  8. Gibbs' theorem for open systems with incomplete statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagci, G.B.

    2009-01-01

    Gibbs' theorem, which is originally intended for canonical ensembles with complete statistics has been generalized to open systems with incomplete statistics. As a result of this generalization, it is shown that the stationary equilibrium distribution of inverse power law form associated with the incomplete statistics has maximum entropy even for open systems with energy or matter influx. The renormalized entropy definition given in this paper can also serve as a measure of self-organization in open systems described by incomplete statistics.

  9. Sampling plan design and analysis for a low level radioactive waste disposal program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassig, N.L.; Wanless, J.W.

    1989-01-01

    Low-level wastes that are candidates for BRC (below regulatory concern) disposal must be subjected to an extensive monitoring program to insure the wastes meet (potential) bulk property and contamination concentration BRC criteria for disposal. This paper addresses the statistical implications of using various methods to verify BRC criteria. While surface and volumetric monitoring each have their advantages and disadvantages, a dual, sequential monitoring process is the preferred choice from a statistical reliability perspective. With dual monitoring, measurements on the contamination are verifiable, and sufficient to allow for a complete characterization of the wastes. As these characterizations become more reliable and stable, something less than 100% sampling may be possible for release of wastes for BRC disposal. This paper provides a survey of the issues involved in the selection of a monitoring and sampling program for the disposal of BRC wastes

  10. UNCOVERING THE FORMATION OF ULTRACOMPACT DWARF GALAXIES BY MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chattopadhyay, Tanuka; Sharina, Margarita; Davoust, Emmanuel; De, Tuli; Chattopadhyay, Asis Kumar

    2012-01-01

    We present a statistical analysis of the properties of a large sample of dynamically hot old stellar systems, from globular clusters (GCs) to giant ellipticals, which was performed in order to investigate the origin of ultracompact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). The data were mostly drawn from Forbes et al. We recalculated some of the effective radii, computed mean surface brightnesses and mass-to-light ratios, and estimated ages and metallicities. We completed the sample with GCs of M31. We used a multivariate statistical technique (K-Means clustering), together with a new algorithm (Gap Statistics) for finding the optimum number of homogeneous sub-groups in the sample, using a total of six parameters (absolute magnitude, effective radius, virial mass-to-light ratio, stellar mass-to-light ratio, and metallicity). We found six groups. FK1 and FK5 are composed of high- and low-mass elliptical galaxies, respectively. FK3 and FK6 are composed of high-metallicity and low-metallicity objects, respectively, and both include GCs and UCDs. Two very small groups, FK2 and FK4, are composed of Local Group dwarf spheroidals. Our groups differ in their mean masses and virial mass-to-light ratios. The relations between these two parameters are also different for the various groups. The probability density distributions of metallicity for the four groups of galaxies are similar to those of the GCs and UCDs. The brightest low-metallicity GCs and UCDs tend to follow the mass-metallicity relation like elliptical galaxies. The objects of FK3 are more metal-rich per unit effective luminosity density than high-mass ellipticals.

  11. UNCOVERING THE FORMATION OF ULTRACOMPACT DWARF GALAXIES BY MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chattopadhyay, Tanuka [Department of Applied Mathematics, Calcutta University, 92 A.P.C. Road, Calcutta 700009 (India); Sharina, Margarita [Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, N. Arkhyz, KCh R 369167 (Russian Federation); Davoust, Emmanuel [IRAP, Universite de Toulouse, CNRS, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse (France); De, Tuli; Chattopadhyay, Asis Kumar, E-mail: tanuka@iucaa.ernet.in, E-mail: sme@sao.ru, E-mail: davoust@ast.obs-mip.fr, E-mail: akcstat@caluniv.ac.in [Department of Statistics, Calcutta University, 35 B.C. Road, Calcutta 700019 (India)

    2012-05-10

    We present a statistical analysis of the properties of a large sample of dynamically hot old stellar systems, from globular clusters (GCs) to giant ellipticals, which was performed in order to investigate the origin of ultracompact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). The data were mostly drawn from Forbes et al. We recalculated some of the effective radii, computed mean surface brightnesses and mass-to-light ratios, and estimated ages and metallicities. We completed the sample with GCs of M31. We used a multivariate statistical technique (K-Means clustering), together with a new algorithm (Gap Statistics) for finding the optimum number of homogeneous sub-groups in the sample, using a total of six parameters (absolute magnitude, effective radius, virial mass-to-light ratio, stellar mass-to-light ratio, and metallicity). We found six groups. FK1 and FK5 are composed of high- and low-mass elliptical galaxies, respectively. FK3 and FK6 are composed of high-metallicity and low-metallicity objects, respectively, and both include GCs and UCDs. Two very small groups, FK2 and FK4, are composed of Local Group dwarf spheroidals. Our groups differ in their mean masses and virial mass-to-light ratios. The relations between these two parameters are also different for the various groups. The probability density distributions of metallicity for the four groups of galaxies are similar to those of the GCs and UCDs. The brightest low-metallicity GCs and UCDs tend to follow the mass-metallicity relation like elliptical galaxies. The objects of FK3 are more metal-rich per unit effective luminosity density than high-mass ellipticals.

  12. Preferential sampling in veterinary parasitological surveillance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorenzo Cecconi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In parasitological surveillance of livestock, prevalence surveys are conducted on a sample of farms using several sampling designs. For example, opportunistic surveys or informative sampling designs are very common. Preferential sampling refers to any situation in which the spatial process and the sampling locations are not independent. Most examples of preferential sampling in the spatial statistics literature are in environmental statistics with focus on pollutant monitors, and it has been shown that, if preferential sampling is present and is not accounted for in the statistical modelling and data analysis, statistical inference can be misleading. In this paper, working in the context of veterinary parasitology, we propose and use geostatistical models to predict the continuous and spatially-varying risk of a parasite infection. Specifically, breaking with the common practice in veterinary parasitological surveillance to ignore preferential sampling even though informative or opportunistic samples are very common, we specify a two-stage hierarchical Bayesian model that adjusts for preferential sampling and we apply it to data on Fasciola hepatica infection in sheep farms in Campania region (Southern Italy in the years 2013-2014.

  13. Statistics II essentials

    CERN Document Server

    Milewski, Emil G

    2012-01-01

    REA's Essentials provide quick and easy access to critical information in a variety of different fields, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. As its name implies, these concise, comprehensive study guides summarize the essentials of the field covered. Essentials are helpful when preparing for exams, doing homework and will remain a lasting reference source for students, teachers, and professionals. Statistics II discusses sampling theory, statistical inference, independent and dependent variables, correlation theory, experimental design, count data, chi-square test, and time se

  14. Statistical quality management using miniTAB 14

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    An, Seong Jin

    2007-01-01

    This book explains statistical quality management giving descriptions of definition of quality, quality management, quality cost, basic methods of quality management, principles of control chart, control chart for variables, control chart for attributes, capability analysis, other issues of statistical process control, acceptance sampling, sampling for variable acceptance, design and analysis of experiment, Taguchi quality engineering, reaction surface methodology reliability analysis.

  15. Spatial statistics of hydrography and water chemistry in a eutrophic boreal lake based on sounding and water samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leppäranta, Matti; Lewis, John E; Heini, Anniina; Arvola, Lauri

    2018-06-04

    Spatial variability, an essential characteristic of lake ecosystems, has often been neglected in field research and monitoring. In this study, we apply spatial statistical methods for the key physics and chemistry variables and chlorophyll a over eight sampling dates in two consecutive years in a large (area 103 km 2 ) eutrophic boreal lake in southern Finland. In the four summer sampling dates, the water body was vertically and horizontally heterogenic except with color and DOC, in the two winter ice-covered dates DO was vertically stratified, while in the two autumn dates, no significant spatial differences in any of the measured variables were found. Chlorophyll a concentration was one order of magnitude lower under the ice cover than in open water. The Moran statistic for spatial correlation was significant for chlorophyll a and NO 2 +NO 3 -N in all summer situations and for dissolved oxygen and pH in three cases. In summer, the mass centers of the chemicals were within 1.5 km from the geometric center of the lake, and the 2nd moment radius ranged in 3.7-4.1 km respective to 3.9 km for the homogeneous situation. The lateral length scales of the studied variables were 1.5-2.5 km, about 1 km longer in the surface layer. The detected spatial "noise" strongly suggests that besides vertical variation also the horizontal variation in eutrophic lakes, in particular, should be considered when the ecosystems are monitored.

  16. Small sample approach, and statistical and epidemiological aspects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Offringa, Martin; van der Lee, Hanneke

    2011-01-01

    In this chapter, the design of pharmacokinetic studies and phase III trials in children is discussed. Classical approaches and relatively novel approaches, which may be more useful in the context of drug research in children, are discussed. The burden of repeated blood sampling in pediatric

  17. Strong laws for L- and U-statistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aaronson, J; Burton, R; Dehling, H; Gilat, D; Hill, T; Weiss, B

    Strong laws of large numbers are given for L-statistics (linear combinations of order statistics) and for U-statistics (averages of kernels of random samples) for ergodic stationary processes, extending classical theorems; of Hoeffding and of Helmers for lid sequences. Examples are given to show

  18. Statistical Computing

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    inference and finite population sampling. Sudhakar Kunte. Elements of statistical computing are discussed in this series. ... which captain gets an option to decide whether to field first or bat first ... may of course not be fair, in the sense that the team which wins ... describe two methods of drawing a random number between 0.

  19. Sampling

    CERN Document Server

    Thompson, Steven K

    2012-01-01

    Praise for the Second Edition "This book has never had a competitor. It is the only book that takes a broad approach to sampling . . . any good personal statistics library should include a copy of this book." —Technometrics "Well-written . . . an excellent book on an important subject. Highly recommended." —Choice "An ideal reference for scientific researchers and other professionals who use sampling." —Zentralblatt Math Features new developments in the field combined with all aspects of obtaining, interpreting, and using sample data Sampling provides an up-to-date treat

  20. Statistical Power in Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jin

    2015-01-01

    Statistical power is important in a meta-analysis study, although few studies have examined the performance of simulated power in meta-analysis. The purpose of this study is to inform researchers about statistical power estimation on two sample mean difference test under different situations: (1) the discrepancy between the analytical power and…

  1. Frontiers in statistical quality control

    CERN Document Server

    Wilrich, Peter-Theodor

    2001-01-01

    The book is a collection of papers presented at the 5th International Workshop on Intelligent Statistical Quality Control in Würzburg, Germany. Contributions deal with methodology and successful industrial applications. They can be grouped in four catagories: Sampling Inspection, Statistical Process Control, Data Analysis and Process Capability Studies and Experimental Design.

  2. Energy statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1989-01-01

    World data from the United Nation's latest Energy Statistics Yearbook, first published in our last issue, are completed here. The 1984-86 data were revised and 1987 data added for world commercial energy production and consumption, world natural gas plant liquids production, world LP-gas production, imports, exports, and consumption, world residual fuel oil production, imports, exports, and consumption, world lignite production, imports, exports, and consumption, world peat production and consumption, world electricity production, imports, exports, and consumption (Table 80), and world nuclear electric power production

  3. The Math Problem: Advertising Students' Attitudes toward Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fullerton, Jami A.; Kendrick, Alice

    2013-01-01

    This study used the Students' Attitudes toward Statistics Scale (STATS) to measure attitude toward statistics among a national sample of advertising students. A factor analysis revealed four underlying factors make up the attitude toward statistics construct--"Interest & Future Applicability," "Confidence," "Statistical Tools," and "Initiative."…

  4. Is quantum theory predictably complete?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kupczynski, M [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Ottawa, 585 King-Edward Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 (Canada); Departement de l' Informatique, UQO, Case postale 1250, succursale Hull, Gatineau, Quebec J8X 3X 7 (Canada)], E-mail: mkupczyn@uottawa.ca

    2009-07-15

    Quantum theory (QT) provides statistical predictions for various physical phenomena. To verify these predictions a considerable amount of data has been accumulated in the 'measurements' performed on the ensembles of identically prepared physical systems or in the repeated 'measurements' on some trapped 'individual physical systems'. The outcomes of these measurements are, in general, some numerical time series registered by some macroscopic instruments. The various empirical probability distributions extracted from these time series were shown to be consistent with the probabilistic predictions of QT. More than 70 years ago the claim was made that QT provided the most complete description of 'individual' physical systems and outcomes of the measurements performed on 'individual' physical systems were obtained in an intrinsically random way. Spin polarization correlation experiments (SPCEs), performed to test the validity of Bell inequalities, clearly demonstrated the existence of strong long-range correlations and confirmed that the beams hitting far away detectors somehow preserve the memory of their common source which would be destroyed if the individual counts of far away detectors were purely random. Since the probabilities describe the random experiments and are not the attributes of the 'individual' physical systems, the claim that QT provides a complete description of 'individual' physical systems seems not only unjustified but also misleading and counter productive. In this paper, we point out that we even do not know whether QT is predictably complete because it has not been tested carefully enough. Namely, it was not proven that the time series of existing experimental data did not contain some stochastic fine structures that could have been averaged out by describing them in terms of the empirical probability distributions. In this paper, we advocate various statistical tests that

  5. Does Degree of Work Task Completion Influence Retrieval Performance?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ingwersen, Peter; Bogers, Toine; Lykke, Marianne

    2010-01-01

    their perception of task completion. Also, with the exception of full text records and across all document types, both measured at rank 10, no statistically significant correlation is observed with respect to retrieval performance influenced by degrees of perceived work task completion or individual types......In this contribution we investigate the potential influence between assessors’ perceived completion of their work task at hand and their actual assessment of usefulness of the retrieved information. The results indicate that the number of useful documents found by assessors does not influence...

  6. Some connections between importance sampling and enhanced sampling methods in molecular dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lie, H C; Quer, J

    2017-11-21

    In molecular dynamics, enhanced sampling methods enable the collection of better statistics of rare events from a reference or target distribution. We show that a large class of these methods is based on the idea of importance sampling from mathematical statistics. We illustrate this connection by comparing the Hartmann-Schütte method for rare event simulation (J. Stat. Mech. Theor. Exp. 2012, P11004) and the Valsson-Parrinello method of variationally enhanced sampling [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 090601 (2014)]. We use this connection in order to discuss how recent results from the Monte Carlo methods literature can guide the development of enhanced sampling methods.

  7. Evaluation of statistical methods for quantifying fractal scaling in water-quality time series with irregular sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qian; Harman, Ciaran J.; Kirchner, James W.

    2018-02-01

    River water-quality time series often exhibit fractal scaling, which here refers to autocorrelation that decays as a power law over some range of scales. Fractal scaling presents challenges to the identification of deterministic trends because (1) fractal scaling has the potential to lead to false inference about the statistical significance of trends and (2) the abundance of irregularly spaced data in water-quality monitoring networks complicates efforts to quantify fractal scaling. Traditional methods for estimating fractal scaling - in the form of spectral slope (β) or other equivalent scaling parameters (e.g., Hurst exponent) - are generally inapplicable to irregularly sampled data. Here we consider two types of estimation approaches for irregularly sampled data and evaluate their performance using synthetic time series. These time series were generated such that (1) they exhibit a wide range of prescribed fractal scaling behaviors, ranging from white noise (β = 0) to Brown noise (β = 2) and (2) their sampling gap intervals mimic the sampling irregularity (as quantified by both the skewness and mean of gap-interval lengths) in real water-quality data. The results suggest that none of the existing methods fully account for the effects of sampling irregularity on β estimation. First, the results illustrate the danger of using interpolation for gap filling when examining autocorrelation, as the interpolation methods consistently underestimate or overestimate β under a wide range of prescribed β values and gap distributions. Second, the widely used Lomb-Scargle spectral method also consistently underestimates β. A previously published modified form, using only the lowest 5 % of the frequencies for spectral slope estimation, has very poor precision, although the overall bias is small. Third, a recent wavelet-based method, coupled with an aliasing filter, generally has the smallest bias and root-mean-squared error among all methods for a wide range of

  8. Equivalent statistics and data interpretation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Gregory

    2017-08-01

    Recent reform efforts in psychological science have led to a plethora of choices for scientists to analyze their data. A scientist making an inference about their data must now decide whether to report a p value, summarize the data with a standardized effect size and its confidence interval, report a Bayes Factor, or use other model comparison methods. To make good choices among these options, it is necessary for researchers to understand the characteristics of the various statistics used by the different analysis frameworks. Toward that end, this paper makes two contributions. First, it shows that for the case of a two-sample t test with known sample sizes, many different summary statistics are mathematically equivalent in the sense that they are based on the very same information in the data set. When the sample sizes are known, the p value provides as much information about a data set as the confidence interval of Cohen's d or a JZS Bayes factor. Second, this equivalence means that different analysis methods differ only in their interpretation of the empirical data. At first glance, it might seem that mathematical equivalence of the statistics suggests that it does not matter much which statistic is reported, but the opposite is true because the appropriateness of a reported statistic is relative to the inference it promotes. Accordingly, scientists should choose an analysis method appropriate for their scientific investigation. A direct comparison of the different inferential frameworks provides some guidance for scientists to make good choices and improve scientific practice.

  9. Semiclassical analysis, Witten Laplacians, and statistical mechanis

    CERN Document Server

    Helffer, Bernard

    2002-01-01

    This important book explains how the technique of Witten Laplacians may be useful in statistical mechanics. It considers the problem of analyzing the decay of correlations, after presenting its origin in statistical mechanics. In addition, it compares the Witten Laplacian approach with other techniques, such as the transfer matrix approach and its semiclassical analysis. The author concludes by providing a complete proof of the uniform Log-Sobolev inequality. Contents: Witten Laplacians Approach; Problems in Statistical Mechanics with Discrete Spins; Laplace Integrals and Transfer Operators; S

  10. Statistical precision of delayed-neutron nondestructive assay techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bayne, C.K.; McNeany, S.R.

    1979-02-01

    A theoretical analysis of the statistical precision of delayed-neutron nondestructive assay instruments is presented. Such instruments measure the fissile content of nuclear fuel samples by neutron irradiation and delayed-neutron detection. The precision of these techniques is limited by the statistical nature of the nuclear decay process, but the precision can be optimized by proper selection of system operating parameters. Our method is a three-part analysis. We first present differential--difference equations describing the fundamental physics of the measurements. We then derive and present complete analytical solutions to these equations. Final equations governing the expected number and variance of delayed-neutron counts were computer programmed to calculate the relative statistical precision of specific system operating parameters. Our results show that Poisson statistics do not govern the number of counts accumulated in multiple irradiation-count cycles and that, in general, maximum count precision does not correspond with maximum count as first expected. Covariance between the counts of individual cycles must be considered in determining the optimum number of irradiation-count cycles and the optimum irradiation-to-count time ratio. For the assay system in use at ORNL, covariance effects are small, but for systems with short irradiation-to-count transition times, covariance effects force the optimum number of irradiation-count cycles to be half those giving maximum count. We conclude that the equations governing the expected value and variance of delayed-neutron counts have been derived in closed form. These have been computerized and can be used to select optimum operating parameters for delayed-neutron assay devices

  11. Sample size determination and power

    CERN Document Server

    Ryan, Thomas P, Jr

    2013-01-01

    THOMAS P. RYAN, PhD, teaches online advanced statistics courses for Northwestern University and The Institute for Statistics Education in sample size determination, design of experiments, engineering statistics, and regression analysis.

  12. Statistical sampling strategies for survey of soil contamination

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brus, D.J.

    2011-01-01

    This chapter reviews methods for selecting sampling locations in contaminated soils for three situations. In the first situation a global estimate of the soil contamination in an area is required. The result of the surey is a number or a series of numbers per contaminant, e.g. the estimated mean

  13. THE ELM SURVEY. I. A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF EXTREMELY LOW-MASS WHITE DWARFS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Warren R.; Kilic, Mukremin; Kenyon, Scott J.; Prieto, Carlos Allende

    2010-01-01

    We analyze radial velocity observations of the 12 extremely low-mass (ELM), with ≤0.25 M sun , white dwarfs (WDs) in the MMT Hypervelocity Star Survey. Eleven of the twelve WDs are binaries with orbital periods shorter than 14 hr; the one non-variable WD is possibly a pole-on system among our non-kinematically selected targets. Our sample is unique: it is complete in a well-defined range of apparent magnitude and color. The orbital mass functions imply that the unseen companions are most likely other WDs, although neutron star companions cannot be excluded. Six of the eleven systems with orbital solutions will merge within a Hubble time due to the loss of angular momentum through gravitational wave radiation. The quickest merger is J0923+3028, a g = 15.7 ELM WD binary with a 1.08 hr orbital period and a ≤130 Myr merger time. The chance of a supernova Ia event among our ELM WDs is only 1%-7%, however. Three binary systems (J0755+4906, J1233+1602, and J2119-0018) have extreme mass ratios and will most likely form stable mass-transfer AM CVn systems. Two of these objects, SDSS J1233+1602 and J2119-0018, are the lowest surface gravity WDs ever found; both show Ca II absorption likely from accretion of circumbinary material. We predict that at least one of our WDs is an eclipsing detached double WD system, important for constraining helium core WD models.

  14. Statistical learning from nonrecurrent experience with discrete input variables and recursive-error-minimization equations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Jeffrey R.; Simon, Wayne E.

    1990-08-01

    Neural networks are trained using Recursive Error Minimization (REM) equations to perform statistical classification. Using REM equations with continuous input variables reduces the required number of training experiences by factors of one to two orders of magnitude over standard back propagation. Replacing the continuous input variables with discrete binary representations reduces the number of connections by a factor proportional to the number of variables reducing the required number of experiences by another order of magnitude. Undesirable effects of using recurrent experience to train neural networks for statistical classification problems are demonstrated and nonrecurrent experience used to avoid these undesirable effects. 1. THE 1-41 PROBLEM The statistical classification problem which we address is is that of assigning points in ddimensional space to one of two classes. The first class has a covariance matrix of I (the identity matrix) the covariance matrix of the second class is 41. For this reason the problem is known as the 1-41 problem. Both classes have equal probability of occurrence and samples from both classes may appear anywhere throughout the ddimensional space. Most samples near the origin of the coordinate system will be from the first class while most samples away from the origin will be from the second class. Since the two classes completely overlap it is impossible to have a classifier with zero error. The minimum possible error is known as the Bayes error and

  15. Basics of modern mathematical statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Spokoiny, Vladimir

    2015-01-01

    This textbook provides a unified and self-contained presentation of the main approaches to and ideas of mathematical statistics. It collects the basic mathematical ideas and tools needed as a basis for more serious studies or even independent research in statistics. The majority of existing textbooks in mathematical statistics follow the classical asymptotic framework. Yet, as modern statistics has changed rapidly in recent years, new methods and approaches have appeared. The emphasis is on finite sample behavior, large parameter dimensions, and model misspecifications. The present book provides a fully self-contained introduction to the world of modern mathematical statistics, collecting the basic knowledge, concepts and findings needed for doing further research in the modern theoretical and applied statistics. This textbook is primarily intended for graduate and postdoc students and young researchers who are interested in modern statistical methods.

  16. Statistical intervals a guide for practitioners

    CERN Document Server

    Hahn, Gerald J

    2011-01-01

    Presents a detailed exposition of statistical intervals and emphasizes applications in industry. The discussion differentiates at an elementary level among different kinds of statistical intervals and gives instruction with numerous examples and simple math on how to construct such intervals from sample data. This includes confidence intervals to contain a population percentile, confidence intervals on probability of meeting specified threshold value, and prediction intervals to include observation in a future sample. Also has an appendix containing computer subroutines for nonparametric stati

  17. Increased Statistical Efficiency in a Lognormal Mean Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grant H. Skrepnek

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Within the context of clinical and other scientific research, a substantial need exists for an accurate determination of the point estimate in a lognormal mean model, given that highly skewed data are often present. As such, logarithmic transformations are often advocated to achieve the assumptions of parametric statistical inference. Despite this, existing approaches that utilize only a sample’s mean and variance may not necessarily yield the most efficient estimator. The current investigation developed and tested an improved efficient point estimator for a lognormal mean by capturing more complete information via the sample’s coefficient of variation. Results of an empirical simulation study across varying sample sizes and population standard deviations indicated relative improvements in efficiency of up to 129.47 percent compared to the usual maximum likelihood estimator and up to 21.33 absolute percentage points above the efficient estimator presented by Shen and colleagues (2006. The relative efficiency of the proposed estimator increased particularly as a function of decreasing sample size and increasing population standard deviation.

  18. Probability an introduction with statistical applications

    CERN Document Server

    Kinney, John J

    2014-01-01

    Praise for the First Edition""This is a well-written and impressively presented introduction to probability and statistics. The text throughout is highly readable, and the author makes liberal use of graphs and diagrams to clarify the theory.""  - The StatisticianThoroughly updated, Probability: An Introduction with Statistical Applications, Second Edition features a comprehensive exploration of statistical data analysis as an application of probability. The new edition provides an introduction to statistics with accessible coverage of reliability, acceptance sampling, confidence intervals, h

  19. The Effect of Using Case Studies in Business Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pariseau, Susan E.; Kezim, Boualem

    2007-01-01

    The authors evaluated the effect on learning of using case studies in business statistics courses. The authors divided students into 3 groups: a control group, a group that completed 1 case study, and a group that completed 3 case studies. Results evidenced that, on average, students whom the authors required to complete a case analysis received…

  20. Statistical analysis of archeomagnetic samples of Teotihuacan, Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soler-Arechalde, A. M.

    2012-12-01

    Teotihuacan was the one of the most important metropolis of Mesoamerica during the Classic Period (1 to 600 AC). The city had a continuous growth in different stages that usually concluded with a ritual. Fire was an important element natives would burn entire structures. An example of this is the Quetzalcoatl pyramid in La Ciudadela (350 AC), it was burned and a new structure was built over it, also the Big Fire at 570 AC, that marks its end. These events are suitable to archaeomagnetic dating. The inclusion of ash in the stucco enhances the magnetic signal of detrital type that also allows us to make dating. This increases the number of samples to be processed as well as the number of dates. The samples have been analyzed according to their type: floor, wall, talud and painting and whether or not exposed to fire. Sequences of directions obtained in excavations in strict stratigraphic control will be shown. A sequence of images was used to analyze the improving of Teotihuacan secular variation curve through more than a decade of continuous work at the area.

  1. On the statistical properties of photons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cini, M.

    1990-01-01

    The interpretation in terms of a transition from Maxwell-Boltzmann to Bose-Einstein statistics of the effect in quantum optics of degenerate light discovered by De Martini and Di Fonzo is discussed. It is shown that the results of the experiment can be explained by using only the quantum-mechanical rule that the states of an assembly of bosons should be completely symmetrical, without mentioning in any way their statistical properties. This means that photons are indeed identical particles

  2. Nonparametric statistics for social and behavioral sciences

    CERN Document Server

    Kraska-MIller, M

    2013-01-01

    Introduction to Research in Social and Behavioral SciencesBasic Principles of ResearchPlanning for ResearchTypes of Research Designs Sampling ProceduresValidity and Reliability of Measurement InstrumentsSteps of the Research Process Introduction to Nonparametric StatisticsData AnalysisOverview of Nonparametric Statistics and Parametric Statistics Overview of Parametric Statistics Overview of Nonparametric StatisticsImportance of Nonparametric MethodsMeasurement InstrumentsAnalysis of Data to Determine Association and Agreement Pearson Chi-Square Test of Association and IndependenceContingency

  3. Statistical prediction of Late Miocene climate

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Fernandes, A.A; Gupta, S.M.

    by making certain simplifying assumptions; for example in modelling ocean 4 currents, the geostrophic approximation is made. In case of statistical prediction no such a priori assumption need be made. statistical prediction comprises of using observed data... the number of equations. In this case the equations are overdetermined, and therefore one has to look for a solution that best fits the sample data in a least squares sense. To this end we express the sample .... (2.1)+ ry = y + data as follows: n L c. (x...

  4. The Statistics and Mathematics of High Dimension Low Sample Size Asymptotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Dan; Shen, Haipeng; Zhu, Hongtu; Marron, J S

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this paper is to establish several deep theoretical properties of principal component analysis for multiple-component spike covariance models. Our new results reveal an asymptotic conical structure in critical sample eigendirections under the spike models with distinguishable (or indistinguishable) eigenvalues, when the sample size and/or the number of variables (or dimension) tend to infinity. The consistency of the sample eigenvectors relative to their population counterparts is determined by the ratio between the dimension and the product of the sample size with the spike size. When this ratio converges to a nonzero constant, the sample eigenvector converges to a cone, with a certain angle to its corresponding population eigenvector. In the High Dimension, Low Sample Size case, the angle between the sample eigenvector and its population counterpart converges to a limiting distribution. Several generalizations of the multi-spike covariance models are also explored, and additional theoretical results are presented.

  5. Statistical physics of hard optimization problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zdeborova, L.

    2009-01-01

    Optimization is fundamental in many areas of science, from computer science and information theory to engineering and statistical physics, as well as to biology or social sciences. It typically involves a large number of variables and a cost function depending on these variables. Optimization problems in the non-deterministic polynomial (NP)-complete class are particularly difficult, it is believed that the number of operations required to minimize the cost function is in the most difficult cases exponential in the system size. However, even in an NP-complete problem the practically arising instances might, in fact, be easy to solve. The principal question we address in this article is: How to recognize if an NP-complete constraint satisfaction problem is typically hard and what are the main reasons for this? We adopt approaches from the statistical physics of disordered systems, in particular the cavity method developed originally to describe glassy systems. We describe new properties of the space of solutions in two of the most studied constraint satisfaction problems - random satisfy ability and random graph coloring. We suggest a relation between the existence of the so-called frozen variables and the algorithmic hardness of a problem. Based on these insights, we introduce a new class of problems which we named ”locked” constraint satisfaction, where the statistical description is easily solvable, but from the algorithmic point of view they are even more challenging than the canonical satisfy ability.

  6. Statistical physics of hard optimization problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zdeborova, L.

    2009-01-01

    Optimization is fundamental in many areas of science, from computer science and information theory to engineering and statistical physics, as well as to biology or social sciences. It typically involves a large number of variables and a cost function depending on these variables. Optimization problems in the non-deterministic polynomial-complete class are particularly difficult, it is believed that the number of operations required to minimize the cost function is in the most difficult cases exponential in the system size. However, even in an non-deterministic polynomial-complete problem the practically arising instances might, in fact, be easy to solve. The principal the question we address in the article is: How to recognize if an non-deterministic polynomial-complete constraint satisfaction problem is typically hard and what are the main reasons for this? We adopt approaches from the statistical physics of disordered systems, in particular the cavity method developed originally to describe glassy systems. We describe new properties of the space of solutions in two of the most studied constraint satisfaction problems - random satisfiability and random graph coloring. We suggest a relation between the existence of the so-called frozen variables and the algorithmic hardness of a problem. Based on these insights, we introduce a new class of problems which we named 'locked' constraint satisfaction, where the statistical description is easily solvable, but from the algorithmic point of view they are even more challenging than the canonical satisfiability (Authors)

  7. Statistical physics of hard optimization problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zdeborová, Lenka

    2009-06-01

    Optimization is fundamental in many areas of science, from computer science and information theory to engineering and statistical physics, as well as to biology or social sciences. It typically involves a large number of variables and a cost function depending on these variables. Optimization problems in the non-deterministic polynomial (NP)-complete class are particularly difficult, it is believed that the number of operations required to minimize the cost function is in the most difficult cases exponential in the system size. However, even in an NP-complete problem the practically arising instances might, in fact, be easy to solve. The principal question we address in this article is: How to recognize if an NP-complete constraint satisfaction problem is typically hard and what are the main reasons for this? We adopt approaches from the statistical physics of disordered systems, in particular the cavity method developed originally to describe glassy systems. We describe new properties of the space of solutions in two of the most studied constraint satisfaction problems - random satisfiability and random graph coloring. We suggest a relation between the existence of the so-called frozen variables and the algorithmic hardness of a problem. Based on these insights, we introduce a new class of problems which we named "locked" constraint satisfaction, where the statistical description is easily solvable, but from the algorithmic point of view they are even more challenging than the canonical satisfiability.

  8. Understanding the Sampling Distribution and the Central Limit Theorem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Charla P.

    The sampling distribution is a common source of misuse and misunderstanding in the study of statistics. The sampling distribution, underlying distribution, and the Central Limit Theorem are all interconnected in defining and explaining the proper use of the sampling distribution of various statistics. The sampling distribution of a statistic is…

  9. The Roles of Experience, Gender, and Individual Differences in Statistical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Nadia; Hughes, Jeffrey; Fugelsang, Jonathan

    2017-01-01

    We examine the joint effects of gender and experience on statistical reasoning. Participants with various levels of experience in statistics completed the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (Garfield, 2003), along with individual difference measures assessing cognitive ability and thinking dispositions. Although the performance of both genders…

  10. Research design and statistical analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Myers, Jerome L; Lorch Jr, Robert F

    2013-01-01

    Research Design and Statistical Analysis provides comprehensive coverage of the design principles and statistical concepts necessary to make sense of real data.  The book's goal is to provide a strong conceptual foundation to enable readers to generalize concepts to new research situations.  Emphasis is placed on the underlying logic and assumptions of the analysis and what it tells the researcher, the limitations of the analysis, and the consequences of violating assumptions.  Sampling, design efficiency, and statistical models are emphasized throughout. As per APA recommendations

  11. USING STATISTICAL SURVEY IN ECONOMICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delia TESELIOS

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Statistical survey is an effective method of statistical investigation that involves gathering quantitative data, which is often preferred in statistical reports due to the information which can be obtained regarding the entire population studied by observing a part of it. Therefore, because of the information provided, polls are used in many research areas. In economics, statistics are used in the decision making process in choosing competitive strategies in the analysis of certain economic phenomena, the formulation of forecasts. Economic study presented in this paper is to illustrate how a simple random sampling is used to analyze the existing parking spaces situation in a given locality.

  12. Use of Statistical Heuristics in Everyday Inductive Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nisbett, Richard E.; And Others

    1983-01-01

    In everyday reasoning, people use statistical heuristics (judgmental tools that are rough intuitive equivalents of statistical principles). Use of statistical heuristics is more likely when (1) sampling is clear, (2) the role of chance is clear, (3) statistical reasoning is normative for the event, or (4) the subject has had training in…

  13. Pseudo-populations a basic concept in statistical surveys

    CERN Document Server

    Quatember, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    This book emphasizes that artificial or pseudo-populations play an important role in statistical surveys from finite universes in two manners: firstly, the concept of pseudo-populations may substantially improve users’ understanding of various aspects in the sampling theory and survey methodology; an example of this scenario is the Horvitz-Thompson estimator. Secondly, statistical procedures exist in which pseudo-populations actually have to be generated. An example of such a scenario can be found in simulation studies in the field of survey sampling, where close-to-reality pseudo-populations are generated from known sample and population data to form the basis for the simulation process. The chapters focus on estimation methods, sampling techniques, nonresponse, questioning designs and statistical disclosure control.This book is a valuable reference in understanding the importance of the pseudo-population concept and applying it in teaching and research.

  14. Final Sampling and Analysis Plan for Background Sampling, Fort Sheridan, Illinois

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    1995-01-01

    .... This Background Sampling and Analysis Plan (BSAP) is designed to address this issue through the collection of additional background samples at Fort Sheridan to support the statistical analysis and the Baseline Risk Assessment (BRA...

  15. Writing to Learn Statistics in an Advanced Placement Statistics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northrup, Christian Glenn

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the use of writing in a statistics classroom to learn if writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes of students as they solved problems. Through analysis of 329 written samples provided by students, it was determined that writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes and enabled…

  16. Application Exercises Improve Transfer of Statistical Knowledge in Real-World Situations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Frances; Braasch, Jason L. G.

    2013-01-01

    The present research investigated whether real-world application exercises promoted students' abilities to spontaneously transfer statistical knowledge and to recognize the use of statistics in real-world contexts. Over the course of a semester of psychological statistics, two classes completed multiple application exercises designed to mimic…

  17. IGESS: a statistical approach to integrating individual-level genotype data and summary statistics in genome-wide association studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Mingwei; Ming, Jingsi; Cai, Mingxuan; Liu, Jin; Yang, Can; Wan, Xiang; Xu, Zongben

    2017-09-15

    Results from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) suggest that a complex phenotype is often affected by many variants with small effects, known as 'polygenicity'. Tens of thousands of samples are often required to ensure statistical power of identifying these variants with small effects. However, it is often the case that a research group can only get approval for the access to individual-level genotype data with a limited sample size (e.g. a few hundreds or thousands). Meanwhile, summary statistics generated using single-variant-based analysis are becoming publicly available. The sample sizes associated with the summary statistics datasets are usually quite large. How to make the most efficient use of existing abundant data resources largely remains an open question. In this study, we propose a statistical approach, IGESS, to increasing statistical power of identifying risk variants and improving accuracy of risk prediction by i ntegrating individual level ge notype data and s ummary s tatistics. An efficient algorithm based on variational inference is developed to handle the genome-wide analysis. Through comprehensive simulation studies, we demonstrated the advantages of IGESS over the methods which take either individual-level data or summary statistics data as input. We applied IGESS to perform integrative analysis of Crohns Disease from WTCCC and summary statistics from other studies. IGESS was able to significantly increase the statistical power of identifying risk variants and improve the risk prediction accuracy from 63.2% ( ±0.4% ) to 69.4% ( ±0.1% ) using about 240 000 variants. The IGESS software is available at https://github.com/daviddaigithub/IGESS . zbxu@xjtu.edu.cn or xwan@comp.hkbu.edu.hk or eeyang@hkbu.edu.hk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  18. Evaluation of statistical methods for quantifying fractal scaling in water-quality time series with irregular sampling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Q. Zhang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available River water-quality time series often exhibit fractal scaling, which here refers to autocorrelation that decays as a power law over some range of scales. Fractal scaling presents challenges to the identification of deterministic trends because (1 fractal scaling has the potential to lead to false inference about the statistical significance of trends and (2 the abundance of irregularly spaced data in water-quality monitoring networks complicates efforts to quantify fractal scaling. Traditional methods for estimating fractal scaling – in the form of spectral slope (β or other equivalent scaling parameters (e.g., Hurst exponent – are generally inapplicable to irregularly sampled data. Here we consider two types of estimation approaches for irregularly sampled data and evaluate their performance using synthetic time series. These time series were generated such that (1 they exhibit a wide range of prescribed fractal scaling behaviors, ranging from white noise (β  =  0 to Brown noise (β  =  2 and (2 their sampling gap intervals mimic the sampling irregularity (as quantified by both the skewness and mean of gap-interval lengths in real water-quality data. The results suggest that none of the existing methods fully account for the effects of sampling irregularity on β estimation. First, the results illustrate the danger of using interpolation for gap filling when examining autocorrelation, as the interpolation methods consistently underestimate or overestimate β under a wide range of prescribed β values and gap distributions. Second, the widely used Lomb–Scargle spectral method also consistently underestimates β. A previously published modified form, using only the lowest 5 % of the frequencies for spectral slope estimation, has very poor precision, although the overall bias is small. Third, a recent wavelet-based method, coupled with an aliasing filter, generally has the smallest bias and root-mean-squared error among

  19. Notes on the MUF-D statistic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picard, R.R.

    1987-01-01

    Verification of an inventory or of a reported material unaccounted for (MUF) calls for the remeasurement of a sample of items by an inspector followed by comparison of the inspector's data to the facility's reported values. Such comparison is intended to protect against falsification of accounting data that could conceal material loss. In the international arena, the observed discrepancies between the inspector's data and the reported data are quantified using the D statistic. If data have been falsified by the facility, the standard deviations of the D and MUF-D statistics are inflated owing to the sampling distribution. Moreover, under certain conditions the distributions of those statistics can depart markedly from normality, complicating evaluation of an inspection plan's performance. Detection probabilities estimated using standard deviations appropriate for the no-falsification case in conjunction with assumed normality can be far too optimistic. Under very general conditions regarding the facility's and/or the inspector's measurement error procedures and the inspector's sampling regime, the variance of the MUF-D statistic can be broken into three components. The inspection's sensitivity against various falsification scenarios can be traced to one or more of these components. Obvious implications exist for the planning of effective inspections, particularly in the area of resource optimization

  20. The large sample size fallacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lantz, Björn

    2013-06-01

    Significance in the statistical sense has little to do with significance in the common practical sense. Statistical significance is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for practical significance. Hence, results that are extremely statistically significant may be highly nonsignificant in practice. The degree of practical significance is generally determined by the size of the observed effect, not the p-value. The results of studies based on large samples are often characterized by extreme statistical significance despite small or even trivial effect sizes. Interpreting such results as significant in practice without further analysis is referred to as the large sample size fallacy in this article. The aim of this article is to explore the relevance of the large sample size fallacy in contemporary nursing research. Relatively few nursing articles display explicit measures of observed effect sizes or include a qualitative discussion of observed effect sizes. Statistical significance is often treated as an end in itself. Effect sizes should generally be calculated and presented along with p-values for statistically significant results, and observed effect sizes should be discussed qualitatively through direct and explicit comparisons with the effects in related literature. © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  1. Use Of R in Statistics Lithuania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Rudys

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Recently R becoming more and more popular among official statistics offices. It can be used not even for research purposes, but also for a production of official statistics. Statistics Lithuania recently started an analysis of possibilities where R can be used and could it replace some other statistical programming languages or systems. For this reason a work group was arranged. In the paper we will present overview of the current situation on implementation of R in Statistics Lithuania, some problems we are chasing with and some future plans. At the current situation R is used mainly for research purposes. Looking for- ward a short courses on basic R was prepared and at the moment we are starting to use R for data analysis, data manipulation from Oracle data bases, some reports preparation, data editing, survey estimation. On the other hand we found some problems working with big data sets, also survey sampling as there are surveys with complex sampling designs. We are also analysing the running of R on our servers in order to have possibilities to use more random access memory (RAM. Despite the problems, we are trying to use R in more fields in production of official statistics.

  2. Energy Statistics Manual [Arabic version

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2011-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  3. Energy Statistics Manual; Handbuch Energiestatistik

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2005-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  4. DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING DATABASES FOR STATISTIC ASSESSMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Databases designed for statistical analyses have characteristics that distinguish them from databases intended for general use. EMAP uses a probabilistic sampling design to collect data to produce statistical assessments of environmental conditions. In addition to supporting the ...

  5. MID- AND FAR-INFRARED PROPERTIES OF A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF LOCAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, Kohei; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Terashima, Yuichi; Oyabu, Shinki; Gandhi, Poshak; Nakagawa, Takao; Matsuta, Keiko

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the mid- (MIR) to far-infrared (FIR) properties of a nearly complete sample of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected in the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky hard X-ray (14-195 keV) survey, based on the cross correlation with the AKARI infrared survey catalogs complemented by those with Infrared Astronomical Satellite and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. Out of 135 non-blazer AGNs in the Swift/BAT nine-month catalog, we obtain the MIR photometric data for 128 sources either in the 9, 12, 18, 22, and/or 25 μm band. We find good correlation between their hard X-ray and MIR luminosities over three orders of magnitude (42 λ (9, 18 μm) < 45), which is tighter than that with the FIR luminosities at 90 μm. This suggests that thermal emission from hot dusts irradiated by the AGN emission dominate the MIR fluxes. Both X-ray unabsorbed and absorbed AGNs follow the same correlation, implying isotropic infrared emission, as expected in clumpy dust tori rather than homogeneous ones. We find excess signals around 9 μm in the averaged infrared spectral energy distribution from heavy obscured 'new type' AGNs with small scattering fractions in the X-ray spectra. This could be attributed to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission feature, suggesting that their host galaxies have strong starburst activities.

  6. Identification of mine waters by statistical multivariate methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mali, N [IGGG, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

    1992-01-01

    Three water-bearing aquifers are present in the Velenje lignite mine. The aquifer waters have differing chemical composition; a geochemical water analysis can therefore determine the source of mine water influx. Mine water samples from different locations in the mine were analyzed, the results of chemical content and of electric conductivity of mine water were statistically processed by means of MICROGAS, SPSS-X and IN STATPAC computer programs, which apply three multivariate statistical methods (discriminate, cluster and factor analysis). Reliability of calculated values was determined with the Kolmogorov and Smirnov tests. It is concluded that laboratory analysis of single water samples can produce measurement errors, but statistical processing of water sample data can identify origin and movement of mine water. 15 refs.

  7. Statistical searches for microlensing events in large, non-uniformly sampled time-domain surveys: A test using palomar transient factory data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Agüeros, Marcel A. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Fournier, Amanda P. [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Street, Rachel [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc., 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States); Ofek, Eran O. [Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot (Israel); Covey, Kevin R. [Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States); Levitan, David; Sesar, Branimir [Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Laher, Russ R.; Surace, Jason, E-mail: adrn@astro.columbia.edu [Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

    2014-01-20

    Many photometric time-domain surveys are driven by specific goals, such as searches for supernovae or transiting exoplanets, which set the cadence with which fields are re-imaged. In the case of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), several sub-surveys are conducted in parallel, leading to non-uniform sampling over its ∼20,000 deg{sup 2} footprint. While the median 7.26 deg{sup 2} PTF field has been imaged ∼40 times in the R band, ∼2300 deg{sup 2} have been observed >100 times. We use PTF data to study the trade off between searching for microlensing events in a survey whose footprint is much larger than that of typical microlensing searches, but with far-from-optimal time sampling. To examine the probability that microlensing events can be recovered in these data, we test statistics used on uniformly sampled data to identify variables and transients. We find that the von Neumann ratio performs best for identifying simulated microlensing events in our data. We develop a selection method using this statistic and apply it to data from fields with >10 R-band observations, 1.1 × 10{sup 9} light curves, uncovering three candidate microlensing events. We lack simultaneous, multi-color photometry to confirm these as microlensing events. However, their number is consistent with predictions for the event rate in the PTF footprint over the survey's three years of operations, as estimated from near-field microlensing models. This work can help constrain all-sky event rate predictions and tests microlensing signal recovery in large data sets, which will be useful to future time-domain surveys, such as that planned with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

  8. Statistical Model of Extreme Shear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose

    2004-01-01

    In order to continue cost-optimisation of modern large wind turbines, it is important to continously increase the knowledge on wind field parameters relevant to design loads. This paper presents a general statistical model that offers site-specific prediction of the probability density function...... by a model that, on a statistically consistent basis, describe the most likely spatial shape of an extreme wind shear event. Predictions from the model have been compared with results from an extreme value data analysis, based on a large number of high-sampled full-scale time series measurements...... are consistent, given the inevitabel uncertainties associated with model as well as with the extreme value data analysis. Keywords: Statistical model, extreme wind conditions, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, wind shear, wind turbines....

  9. A simulative comparison of respondent driven sampling with incentivized snowball sampling--the "strudel effect".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyarmathy, V Anna; Johnston, Lisa G; Caplinskiene, Irma; Caplinskas, Saulius; Latkin, Carl A

    2014-02-01

    Respondent driven sampling (RDS) and incentivized snowball sampling (ISS) are two sampling methods that are commonly used to reach people who inject drugs (PWID). We generated a set of simulated RDS samples on an actual sociometric ISS sample of PWID in Vilnius, Lithuania ("original sample") to assess if the simulated RDS estimates were statistically significantly different from the original ISS sample prevalences for HIV (9.8%), Hepatitis A (43.6%), Hepatitis B (Anti-HBc 43.9% and HBsAg 3.4%), Hepatitis C (87.5%), syphilis (6.8%) and Chlamydia (8.8%) infections and for selected behavioral risk characteristics. The original sample consisted of a large component of 249 people (83% of the sample) and 13 smaller components with 1-12 individuals. Generally, as long as all seeds were recruited from the large component of the original sample, the simulation samples simply recreated the large component. There were no significant differences between the large component and the entire original sample for the characteristics of interest. Altogether 99.2% of 360 simulation sample point estimates were within the confidence interval of the original prevalence values for the characteristics of interest. When population characteristics are reflected in large network components that dominate the population, RDS and ISS may produce samples that have statistically non-different prevalence values, even though some isolated network components may be under-sampled and/or statistically significantly different from the main groups. This so-called "strudel effect" is discussed in the paper. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The matchmaking paradox: a statistical explanation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eliazar, Iddo I; Sokolov, Igor M

    2010-01-01

    Medical surveys regarding the number of heterosexual partners per person yield different female and male averages-a result which, from a physical standpoint, is impossible. In this paper we term this puzzle the 'matchmaking paradox', and establish a statistical model explaining it. We consider a bipartite graph with N male and N female nodes (N >> 1), and B bonds connecting them (B >> 1). Each node is associated a random 'attractiveness level', and the bonds connect to the nodes randomly-with probabilities which are proportionate to the nodes' attractiveness levels. The population's average bonds-per-nodes B/N is estimated via a sample average calculated from a survey of size n (n >> 1). A comprehensive statistical analysis of this model is carried out, asserting that (i) the sample average well estimates the population average if and only if the attractiveness levels possess a finite mean; (ii) if the attractiveness levels are governed by a 'fat-tailed' probability law then the sample average displays wild fluctuations and strong skew-thus providing a statistical explanation to the matchmaking paradox.

  11. Bias expansion of spatial statistics and approximation of differenced ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Investigations of spatial statistics, computed from lattice data in the plane, can lead to a special lattice point counting problem. The statistical goal is to expand the asymptotic expectation or large-sample bias of certain spatial covariance estimators, where this bias typically depends on the shape of a spatial sampling region.

  12. Counting Better? An Examination of the Impact of Quantitative Method Teaching on Statistical Anxiety and Confidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamberlain, John Martyn; Hillier, John; Signoretta, Paola

    2015-01-01

    This article reports the results of research concerned with students' statistical anxiety and confidence to both complete and learn to complete statistical tasks. Data were collected at the beginning and end of a quantitative method statistics module. Students recognised the value of numeracy skills but felt they were not necessarily relevant for…

  13. Statistical analysis of biomechanical properties of the adult skull and age-related structural changes by sex in a Japanese forensic sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torimitsu, Suguru; Nishida, Yoshifumi; Takano, Tachio; Koizumi, Yoshinori; Makino, Yohsuke; Yajima, Daisuke; Hayakawa, Mutsumi; Inokuchi, Go; Motomura, Ayumi; Chiba, Fumiko; Otsuka, Katsura; Kobayashi, Kazuhiro; Odo, Yuriko; Iwase, Hirotaro

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to investigate the biomechanical properties of the adult human skull and the structural changes that occur with age in both sexes. The heads of 94 Japanese cadavers (54 male cadavers, 40 female cadavers) autopsied in our department were used in this research. A total of 376 cranial samples, four from each skull, were collected. Sample fracture load was measured by a bending test. A statistically significant negative correlation between the sample fracture load and cadaver age was found. This indicates that the stiffness of cranial bones in Japanese individuals decreases with age, and the risk of skull fracture thus probably increases with age. Prior to the bending test, the sample mass, the sample thickness, the ratio of the sample thickness to cadaver stature (ST/CS), and the sample density were measured and calculated. Significant negative correlations between cadaver age and sample thickness, ST/CS, and the sample density were observed only among the female samples. Computerized tomographic (CT) images of 358 cranial samples were available. The computed tomography value (CT value) of cancellous bone which refers to a quantitative scale for describing radiodensity, cancellous bone thickness and cortical bone thickness were measured and calculated. Significant negative correlation between cadaver age and the CT value or cortical bone thickness was observed only among the female samples. These findings suggest that the skull is substantially affected by decreased bone metabolism resulting from osteoporosis. Therefore, osteoporosis prevention and treatment may increase cranial stiffness and reinforce the skull structure, leading to a decrease in the risk of skull fractures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Mathematical Anxiety among Business Statistics Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    High, Robert V.

    A survey instrument was developed to identify sources of mathematics anxiety among undergraduate business students in a statistics class. A number of statistics classes were selected at two colleges in Long Island, New York. A final sample of n=102 respondents indicated that there was a relationship between the mathematics grade in prior…

  15. Triacylglycerol Analysis in Human Milk and Other Mammalian Species: Small-Scale Sample Preparation, Characterization, and Statistical Classification Using HPLC-ELSD Profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ten-Doménech, Isabel; Beltrán-Iturat, Eduardo; Herrero-Martínez, José Manuel; Sancho-Llopis, Juan Vicente; Simó-Alfonso, Ernesto Francisco

    2015-06-24

    In this work, a method for the separation of triacylglycerols (TAGs) present in human milk and from other mammalian species by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using a core-shell particle packed column with UV and evaporative light-scattering detectors is described. Under optimal conditions, a mobile phase containing acetonitrile/n-pentanol at 10 °C gave an excellent resolution among more than 50 TAG peaks. A small-scale method for fat extraction in these milks (particularly of interest for human milk samples) using minimal amounts of sample and reagents was also developed. The proposed extraction protocol and the traditional method were compared, giving similar results, with respect to the total fat and relative TAG contents. Finally, a statistical study based on linear discriminant analysis on the TAG composition of different types of milks (human, cow, sheep, and goat) was carried out to differentiate the samples according to their mammalian origin.

  16. Estimating statistical uncertainty of Monte Carlo efficiency-gain in the context of a correlated sampling Monte Carlo code for brachytherapy treatment planning with non-normal dose distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Nitai D; Sampson, Andrew J; Deniz, Daniel; Alm Carlsson, Gudrun; Williamson, Jeffrey; Malusek, Alexandr

    2012-01-01

    Correlated sampling Monte Carlo methods can shorten computing times in brachytherapy treatment planning. Monte Carlo efficiency is typically estimated via efficiency gain, defined as the reduction in computing time by correlated sampling relative to conventional Monte Carlo methods when equal statistical uncertainties have been achieved. The determination of the efficiency gain uncertainty arising from random effects, however, is not a straightforward task specially when the error distribution is non-normal. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the applicability of the F distribution and standardized uncertainty propagation methods (widely used in metrology to estimate uncertainty of physical measurements) for predicting confidence intervals about efficiency gain estimates derived from single Monte Carlo runs using fixed-collision correlated sampling in a simplified brachytherapy geometry. A bootstrap based algorithm was used to simulate the probability distribution of the efficiency gain estimates and the shortest 95% confidence interval was estimated from this distribution. It was found that the corresponding relative uncertainty was as large as 37% for this particular problem. The uncertainty propagation framework predicted confidence intervals reasonably well; however its main disadvantage was that uncertainties of input quantities had to be calculated in a separate run via a Monte Carlo method. The F distribution noticeably underestimated the confidence interval. These discrepancies were influenced by several photons with large statistical weights which made extremely large contributions to the scored absorbed dose difference. The mechanism of acquiring high statistical weights in the fixed-collision correlated sampling method was explained and a mitigation strategy was proposed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Statistical evaluations of current sampling procedures and incomplete core recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heasler, P.G.; Jensen, L.

    1994-03-01

    This document develops two formulas that describe the effects of incomplete recovery on core sampling results for the Hanford waste tanks. The formulas evaluate incomplete core recovery from a worst-case (i.e.,biased) and best-case (i.e., unbiased) perspective. A core sampler is unbiased if the sample material recovered is a random sample of the material in the tank, while any sampler that preferentially recovers a particular type of waste over others is a biased sampler. There is strong evidence to indicate that the push-mode sampler presently used at the Hanford site is a biased one. The formulas presented here show the effects of incomplete core recovery on the accuracy of composition measurements, as functions of the vertical variability in the waste. These equations are evaluated using vertical variability estimates from previously sampled tanks (B110, U110, C109). Assuming that the values of vertical variability used in this study adequately describes the Hanford tank farm, one can use the formulas to compute the effect of incomplete recovery on the accuracy of an average constituent estimate. To determine acceptable recovery limits, we have assumed that the relative error of such an estimate should be no more than 20%

  18. Statistical distributions applications and parameter estimates

    CERN Document Server

    Thomopoulos, Nick T

    2017-01-01

    This book gives a description of the group of statistical distributions that have ample application to studies in statistics and probability.  Understanding statistical distributions is fundamental for researchers in almost all disciplines.  The informed researcher will select the statistical distribution that best fits the data in the study at hand.  Some of the distributions are well known to the general researcher and are in use in a wide variety of ways.  Other useful distributions are less understood and are not in common use.  The book describes when and how to apply each of the distributions in research studies, with a goal to identify the distribution that best applies to the study.  The distributions are for continuous, discrete, and bivariate random variables.  In most studies, the parameter values are not known a priori, and sample data is needed to estimate parameter values.  In other scenarios, no sample data is available, and the researcher seeks some insight that allows the estimate of ...

  19. Removable partial or complete dentures exposed to beverages and mouthwashes: evaluation of microhardness and roughness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Alves Feitosa

    Full Text Available AbstractPurposeTo evaluate microhardness and roughness of denture base polymethylmethacrylate resinn exposed to acid beverages and mouthwashes.Material and methodRectangular samples (n=80 were prepared from poly (methyl methacrylate (PMMA. They were divided into 8 groups and had the initial microhardness and Knoop roughness measured. Samples of each group were immersed for 10 min into a test solution (coffee, lemon juice, chlorhexidine gluconate, red wine, cola-based soft drink, vinegar or antiseptic with and without alcohol and after stored in artificial saliva for 23 h and 50 min, completing a period of 24 h. This procedure was performed for 14 consecutive days and after this period the microhardness and surface roughness measurements were made again. Data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA non parametric, Kruskal-Walis and the Dunn´s test for microhardness and the t-Student and ANOVA for roughness.ResultFor microhardness there were found statistically significant differences among the chlorhexidine gluconate solution, antiseptic without alcohol and cola-based soft drink. For roughness was observed that the mean values between the initial period and after immersion in the test products differed statistically in all groups, without difference among groups.ConclusionThe microhardness of poly(methyl methacrylate was affected by continue exposition to chlorhexidine gluconate, antiseptic without alcohol and cola-based soft drink. The roughness of poly(methyl methacrylate is negatively influenced by the exposure to all tested products. It may be concluded that both, microhardness and roughness, were affected by the treatments.

  20. Application of nonparametric statistics to material strength/reliability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Taketoshi

    1992-01-01

    An advanced material technology requires data base on a wide variety of material behavior which need to be established experimentally. It may often happen that experiments are practically limited in terms of reproducibility or a range of test parameters. Statistical methods can be applied to understanding uncertainties in such a quantitative manner as required from the reliability point of view. Statistical assessment involves determinations of a most probable value and the maximum and/or minimum value as one-sided or two-sided confidence limit. A scatter of test data can be approximated by a theoretical distribution only if the goodness of fit satisfies a test criterion. Alternatively, nonparametric statistics (NPS) or distribution-free statistics can be applied. Mathematical procedures by NPS are well established for dealing with most reliability problems. They handle only order statistics of a sample. Mathematical formulas and some applications to engineering assessments are described. They include confidence limits of median, population coverage of sample, required minimum number of a sample, and confidence limits of fracture probability. These applications demonstrate that a nonparametric statistical estimation is useful in logical decision making in the case a large uncertainty exists. (author)

  1. The statistical-inference approach to generalized thermodynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lavenda, B.H.; Scherer, C.

    1987-01-01

    Limit theorems, such as the central-limit theorem and the weak law of large numbers, are applicable to statistical thermodynamics for sufficiently large sample size of indipendent and identically distributed observations performed on extensive thermodynamic (chance) variables. The estimation of the intensive thermodynamic quantities is a problem in parametric statistical estimation. The normal approximation to the Gibbs' distribution is justified by the analysis of large deviations. Statistical thermodynamics is generalized to include the statistical estimation of variance as well as mean values

  2. Misrepresenting random sampling? A systematic review of research papers in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Graham R

    2003-11-01

    This paper discusses the theoretical limitations of the use of random sampling and probability theory in the production of a significance level (or P-value) in nursing research. Potential alternatives, in the form of randomization tests, are proposed. Research papers in nursing, medicine and psychology frequently misrepresent their statistical findings, as the P-values reported assume random sampling. In this systematic review of studies published between January 1995 and June 2002 in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, 89 (68%) studies broke this assumption because they used convenience samples or entire populations. As a result, some of the findings may be questionable. The key ideas of random sampling and probability theory for statistical testing (for generating a P-value) are outlined. The result of a systematic review of research papers published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing is then presented, showing how frequently random sampling appears to have been misrepresented. Useful alternative techniques that might overcome these limitations are then discussed. REVIEW LIMITATIONS: This review is limited in scope because it is applied to one journal, and so the findings cannot be generalized to other nursing journals or to nursing research in general. However, it is possible that other nursing journals are also publishing research articles based on the misrepresentation of random sampling. The review is also limited because in several of the articles the sampling method was not completely clearly stated, and in this circumstance a judgment has been made as to the sampling method employed, based on the indications given by author(s). Quantitative researchers in nursing should be very careful that the statistical techniques they use are appropriate for the design and sampling methods of their studies. If the techniques they employ are not appropriate, they run the risk of misinterpreting findings by using inappropriate, unrepresentative and biased samples.

  3. Application of importance sampling method in sliding failure simulation of caisson breakwaters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yu-chi; Wang, Yuan-zhan; Li, Qing-mei; Chen, Liang-zhi

    2016-06-01

    It is assumed that the storm wave takes place once a year during the design period, and N histories of storm waves are generated on the basis of wave spectrum corresponding to the N-year design period. The responses of the breakwater to the N histories of storm waves in the N-year design period are calculated by mass-spring-dashpot mode and taken as a set of samples. The failure probability of caisson breakwaters during the design period of N years is obtained by the statistical analysis of many sets of samples. It is the key issue to improve the efficiency of the common Monte Carlo simulation method in the failure probability estimation of caisson breakwaters in the complete life cycle. In this paper, the kernel method of importance sampling, which can greatly increase the efficiency of failure probability calculation of caisson breakwaters, is proposed to estimate the failure probability of caisson breakwaters in the complete life cycle. The effectiveness of the kernel method is investigated by an example. It is indicated that the calculation efficiency of the kernel method is over 10 times the common Monte Carlo simulation method.

  4. Environmental restoration and statistics: Issues and needs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, R.O.

    1991-10-01

    Statisticians have a vital role to play in environmental restoration (ER) activities. One facet of that role is to point out where additional work is needed to develop statistical sampling plans and data analyses that meet the needs of ER. This paper is an attempt to show where statistics fits into the ER process. The statistician, as member of the ER planning team, works collaboratively with the team to develop the site characterization sampling design, so that data of the quality and quantity required by the specified data quality objectives (DQOs) are obtained. At the same time, the statistician works with the rest of the planning team to design and implement, when appropriate, the observational approach to streamline the ER process and reduce costs. The statistician will also provide the expertise needed to select or develop appropriate tools for statistical analysis that are suited for problems that are common to waste-site data. These data problems include highly heterogeneous waste forms, large variability in concentrations over space, correlated data, data that do not have a normal (Gaussian) distribution, and measurements below detection limits. Other problems include environmental transport and risk models that yield highly uncertain predictions, and the need to effectively communicate to the public highly technical information, such as sampling plans, site characterization data, statistical analysis results, and risk estimates. Even though some statistical analysis methods are available ''off the shelf'' for use in ER, these problems require the development of additional statistical tools, as discussed in this paper. 29 refs

  5. Inferring Population Size History from Large Samples of Genome-Wide Molecular Data - An Approximate Bayesian Computation Approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Boitard

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Inferring the ancestral dynamics of effective population size is a long-standing question in population genetics, which can now be tackled much more accurately thanks to the massive genomic data available in many species. Several promising methods that take advantage of whole-genome sequences have been recently developed in this context. However, they can only be applied to rather small samples, which limits their ability to estimate recent population size history. Besides, they can be very sensitive to sequencing or phasing errors. Here we introduce a new approximate Bayesian computation approach named PopSizeABC that allows estimating the evolution of the effective population size through time, using a large sample of complete genomes. This sample is summarized using the folded allele frequency spectrum and the average zygotic linkage disequilibrium at different bins of physical distance, two classes of statistics that are widely used in population genetics and can be easily computed from unphased and unpolarized SNP data. Our approach provides accurate estimations of past population sizes, from the very first generations before present back to the expected time to the most recent common ancestor of the sample, as shown by simulations under a wide range of demographic scenarios. When applied to samples of 15 or 25 complete genomes in four cattle breeds (Angus, Fleckvieh, Holstein and Jersey, PopSizeABC revealed a series of population declines, related to historical events such as domestication or modern breed creation. We further highlight that our approach is robust to sequencing errors, provided summary statistics are computed from SNPs with common alleles.

  6. Cloud-based solution to identify statistically significant MS peaks differentiating sample categories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Jun; Ling, Jeffrey; Jiang, Helen; Wen, Qiaojun; Whitin, John C; Tian, Lu; Cohen, Harvey J; Ling, Xuefeng B

    2013-03-23

    Mass spectrometry (MS) has evolved to become the primary high throughput tool for proteomics based biomarker discovery. Until now, multiple challenges in protein MS data analysis remain: large-scale and complex data set management; MS peak identification, indexing; and high dimensional peak differential analysis with the concurrent statistical tests based false discovery rate (FDR). "Turnkey" solutions are needed for biomarker investigations to rapidly process MS data sets to identify statistically significant peaks for subsequent validation. Here we present an efficient and effective solution, which provides experimental biologists easy access to "cloud" computing capabilities to analyze MS data. The web portal can be accessed at http://transmed.stanford.edu/ssa/. Presented web application supplies large scale MS data online uploading and analysis with a simple user interface. This bioinformatic tool will facilitate the discovery of the potential protein biomarkers using MS.

  7. Special nuclear material inventory sampling plans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaccaro, H.; Goldman, A.

    1987-01-01

    Since their introduction in 1942, sampling inspection procedures have been common quality assurance practice. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports such sampling of special nuclear materials inventories. The DOE Order 5630.7 states, Operations Offices may develop and use statistically valid sampling plans appropriate for their site-specific needs. The benefits for nuclear facilities operations include reduced worker exposure and reduced work load. Improved procedures have been developed for obtaining statistically valid sampling plans that maximize these benefits. The double sampling concept is described and the resulting sample sizes for double sample plans are compared with other plans. An algorithm is given for finding optimal double sampling plans that assist in choosing the appropriate detection and false alarm probabilities for various sampling plans

  8. Bayesian statistics an introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Lee, Peter M

    2012-01-01

    Bayesian Statistics is the school of thought that combines prior beliefs with the likelihood of a hypothesis to arrive at posterior beliefs. The first edition of Peter Lee’s book appeared in 1989, but the subject has moved ever onwards, with increasing emphasis on Monte Carlo based techniques. This new fourth edition looks at recent techniques such as variational methods, Bayesian importance sampling, approximate Bayesian computation and Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC), providing a concise account of the way in which the Bayesian approach to statistics develops as wel

  9. Statistical evaluation of cleanup: How should it be done?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, R.O.

    1993-02-01

    This paper discusses statistical issues that must be addressed when conducting statistical tests for the purpose of evaluating if a site has been remediated to guideline values or standards. The importance of using the Data Quality Objectives (DQO) process to plan and design the sampling plan is emphasized. Other topics discussed are: (1) accounting for the uncertainty of cleanup standards when conducting statistical tests, (2) determining the number of samples and measurements needed to attain specified DQOs, (3) considering whether the appropriate testing philosophy in a given situation is ''guilty until proven innocent'' or ''innocent until proven guilty'' when selecting a statistical test for evaluating the attainment of standards, (4) conducting tests using data sets that contain measurements that have been reported by the laboratory as less than the minimum detectable activity, and (5) selecting statistical tests that are appropriate for risk-based or background-based standards. A recent draft report by Berger that provides guidance on sampling plans and data analyses for final status surveys at US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed facilities serves as a focal point for discussion

  10. EVALUATION OF A NEW MEAN SCALED AND MOMENT ADJUSTED TEST STATISTIC FOR SEM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Xiaoxiao; Bentler, Peter M

    2013-01-01

    Recently a new mean scaled and skewness adjusted test statistic was developed for evaluating structural equation models in small samples and with potentially nonnormal data, but this statistic has received only limited evaluation. The performance of this statistic is compared to normal theory maximum likelihood and two well-known robust test statistics. A modification to the Satorra-Bentler scaled statistic is developed for the condition that sample size is smaller than degrees of freedom. The behavior of the four test statistics is evaluated with a Monte Carlo confirmatory factor analysis study that varies seven sample sizes and three distributional conditions obtained using Headrick's fifth-order transformation to nonnormality. The new statistic performs badly in most conditions except under the normal distribution. The goodness-of-fit χ(2) test based on maximum-likelihood estimation performed well under normal distributions as well as under a condition of asymptotic robustness. The Satorra-Bentler scaled test statistic performed best overall, while the mean scaled and variance adjusted test statistic outperformed the others at small and moderate sample sizes under certain distributional conditions.

  11. A multicenter study of viable PCR using propidium monoazide to detect Legionella in water samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scaturro, Maria; Fontana, Stefano; Dell'eva, Italo; Helfer, Fabrizia; Marchio, Michele; Stefanetti, Maria Vittoria; Cavallaro, Mario; Miglietta, Marilena; Montagna, Maria Teresa; De Giglio, Osvalda; Cuna, Teresa; Chetti, Leonarda; Sabattini, Maria Antonietta Bucci; Carlotti, Michela; Viggiani, Mariagabriella; Stenico, Alberta; Romanin, Elisa; Bonanni, Emma; Ottaviano, Claudio; Franzin, Laura; Avanzini, Claudio; Demarie, Valerio; Corbella, Marta; Cambieri, Patrizia; Marone, Piero; Rota, Maria Cristina; Bella, Antonino; Ricci, Maria Luisa

    2016-07-01

    Legionella quantification in environmental samples is overestimated by qPCR. Combination with a viable dye, such as Propidium monoazide (PMA), could make qPCR (named then vPCR) very reliable. In this multicentre study 717 artificial water samples, spiked with fixed concentrations of Legionella and interfering bacterial flora, were analysed by qPCR, vPCR and culture and data were compared by statistical analysis. A heat-treatment at 55 °C for 10 minutes was also performed to obtain viable and not-viable bacteria. When data of vPCR were compared with those of culture and qPCR, statistical analysis showed significant differences (P 0.05). Overall this study provided a good experimental reproducibility of vPCR but also highlighted limits of PMA in the discriminating capability of dead and live bacteria, making vPCR not completely reliable. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Statistics for Engineers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jin Gyeong; Park, Jin Ho; Park, Hyeon Jin; Lee, Jae Jun; Jun, Whong Seok; Whang, Jin Su

    2009-08-01

    This book explains statistics for engineers using MATLAB, which includes arrangement and summary of data, probability, probability distribution, sampling distribution, assumption, check, variance analysis, regression analysis, categorical data analysis, quality assurance such as conception of control chart, consecutive control chart, breakthrough strategy and analysis using Matlab, reliability analysis like measurement of reliability and analysis with Maltab, and Markov chain.

  13. Two-Sample Statistics for Testing the Equality of Survival Functions Against Improper Semi-parametric Accelerated Failure Time Alternatives: An Application to the Analysis of a Breast Cancer Clinical Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    BROËT, PHILIPPE; TSODIKOV, ALEXANDER; DE RYCKE, YANN; MOREAU, THIERRY

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents two-sample statistics suited for testing equality of survival functions against improper semi-parametric accelerated failure time alternatives. These tests are designed for comparing either the short- or the long-term effect of a prognostic factor, or both. These statistics are obtained as partial likelihood score statistics from a time-dependent Cox model. As a consequence, the proposed tests can be very easily implemented using widely available software. A breast cancer clinical trial is presented as an example to demonstrate the utility of the proposed tests. PMID:15293627

  14. Two-sample statistics for testing the equality of survival functions against improper semi-parametric accelerated failure time alternatives: an application to the analysis of a breast cancer clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broët, Philippe; Tsodikov, Alexander; De Rycke, Yann; Moreau, Thierry

    2004-06-01

    This paper presents two-sample statistics suited for testing equality of survival functions against improper semi-parametric accelerated failure time alternatives. These tests are designed for comparing either the short- or the long-term effect of a prognostic factor, or both. These statistics are obtained as partial likelihood score statistics from a time-dependent Cox model. As a consequence, the proposed tests can be very easily implemented using widely available software. A breast cancer clinical trial is presented as an example to demonstrate the utility of the proposed tests.

  15. Content, Affective, and Behavioral Challenges to Learning: Students' Experiences Learning Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGrath, April L.

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the experiences of and challenges faced by students when completing a statistics course. As part of the requirement for this course, students completed a learning check-in, which consisted of an individual meeting with the instructor to discuss questions and the completion of a learning reflection and study plan. Forty…

  16. Comparative statistical analysis of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects of uranium in groundwater samples from different regions of Punjab, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saini, Komal; Singh, Parminder; Bajwa, Bikramjit Singh

    2016-12-01

    LED flourimeter has been used for microanalysis of uranium concentration in groundwater samples collected from six districts of South West (SW), West (W) and North East (NE) Punjab, India. Average value of uranium content in water samples of SW Punjab is observed to be higher than WHO, USEPA recommended safe limit of 30µgl -1 as well as AERB proposed limit of 60µgl -1 . Whereas, for W and NE region of Punjab, average level of uranium concentration was within AERB recommended limit of 60µgl -1 . Average value observed in SW Punjab is around 3-4 times the value observed in W Punjab, whereas its value is more than 17 times the average value observed in NE region of Punjab. Statistical analysis of carcinogenic as well as non carcinogenic risks due to uranium have been evaluated for each studied district. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Statistics for environmental science and management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Manly, B.F.J

    2009-01-01

    .... Additional topics covered include environmental monitoring, impact assessment, censored data, environmental sampling, the role of statistics in environmental science, assessing site reclamation...

  18. Autonomous spatially adaptive sampling in experiments based on curvature, statistical error and sample spacing with applications in LDA measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theunissen, Raf; Kadosh, Jesse S.; Allen, Christian B.

    2015-06-01

    Spatially varying signals are typically sampled by collecting uniformly spaced samples irrespective of the signal content. For signals with inhomogeneous information content, this leads to unnecessarily dense sampling in regions of low interest or insufficient sample density at important features, or both. A new adaptive sampling technique is presented directing sample collection in proportion to local information content, capturing adequately the short-period features while sparsely sampling less dynamic regions. The proposed method incorporates a data-adapted sampling strategy on the basis of signal curvature, sample space-filling, variable experimental uncertainty and iterative improvement. Numerical assessment has indicated a reduction in the number of samples required to achieve a predefined uncertainty level overall while improving local accuracy for important features. The potential of the proposed method has been further demonstrated on the basis of Laser Doppler Anemometry experiments examining the wake behind a NACA0012 airfoil and the boundary layer characterisation of a flat plate.

  19. Statistical Methods for Environmental Pollution Monitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilbert, Richard O. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    1987-01-01

    The application of statistics to environmental pollution monitoring studies requires a knowledge of statistical analysis methods particularly well suited to pollution data. This book fills that need by providing sampling plans, statistical tests, parameter estimation procedure techniques, and references to pertinent publications. Most of the statistical techniques are relatively simple, and examples, exercises, and case studies are provided to illustrate procedures. The book is logically divided into three parts. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are introductory chapters. Chapters 4 through 10 discuss field sampling designs and Chapters 11 through 18 deal with a broad range of statistical analysis procedures. Some statistical techniques given here are not commonly seen in statistics book. For example, see methods for handling correlated data (Sections 4.5 and 11.12), for detecting hot spots (Chapter 10), and for estimating a confidence interval for the mean of a lognormal distribution (Section 13.2). Also, Appendix B lists a computer code that estimates and tests for trends over time at one or more monitoring stations using nonparametric methods (Chapters 16 and 17). Unfortunately, some important topics could not be included because of their complexity and the need to limit the length of the book. For example, only brief mention could be made of time series analysis using Box-Jenkins methods and of kriging techniques for estimating spatial and spatial-time patterns of pollution, although multiple references on these topics are provided. Also, no discussion of methods for assessing risks from environmental pollution could be included.

  20. Modified Distribution-Free Goodness-of-Fit Test Statistic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, So Yeon; Browne, Michael W; Shapiro, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    Covariance structure analysis and its structural equation modeling extensions have become one of the most widely used methodologies in social sciences such as psychology, education, and economics. An important issue in such analysis is to assess the goodness of fit of a model under analysis. One of the most popular test statistics used in covariance structure analysis is the asymptotically distribution-free (ADF) test statistic introduced by Browne (Br J Math Stat Psychol 37:62-83, 1984). The ADF statistic can be used to test models without any specific distribution assumption (e.g., multivariate normal distribution) of the observed data. Despite its advantage, it has been shown in various empirical studies that unless sample sizes are extremely large, this ADF statistic could perform very poorly in practice. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon and further propose a modified test statistic that improves the performance in samples of realistic size. The proposed statistic deals with the possible ill-conditioning of the involved large-scale covariance matrices.

  1. BrightStat.com: free statistics online.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stricker, Daniel

    2008-10-01

    Powerful software for statistical analysis is expensive. Here I present BrightStat, a statistical software running on the Internet which is free of charge. BrightStat's goals, its main capabilities and functionalities are outlined. Three different sample runs, a Friedman test, a chi-square test, and a step-wise multiple regression are presented. The results obtained by BrightStat are compared with results computed by SPSS, one of the global leader in providing statistical software, and VassarStats, a collection of scripts for data analysis running on the Internet. Elementary statistics is an inherent part of academic education and BrightStat is an alternative to commercial products.

  2. A Pilot Study Teaching Metrology in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casleton, Emily; Beyler, Amy; Genschel, Ulrike; Wilson, Alyson

    2014-01-01

    Undergraduate students who have just completed an introductory statistics course often lack deep understanding of variability and enthusiasm for the field of statistics. This paper argues that by introducing the commonly underemphasized concept of measurement error, students will have a better chance of attaining both. We further present lecture…

  3. Topics in computer simulations of statistical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salvador, R.S.

    1987-01-01

    Several computer simulations studying a variety of topics in statistical mechanics and lattice gauge theories are performed. The first study describes a Monte Carlo simulation performed on Ising systems defined on Sierpinsky carpets of dimensions between one and four. The critical coupling and the exponent γ are measured as a function of dimension. The Ising gauge theory in d = 4 - epsilon, for epsilon → 0 + , is then studied by performing a Monte Carlo simulation for the theory defined on fractals. A high statistics Monte Carlo simulation for the three-dimensional Ising model is presented for lattices of sizes 8 3 to 44 3 . All the data obtained agrees completely, within statistical errors, with the forms predicted by finite-sizing scaling. Finally, a method to estimate numerically the partition function of statistical systems is developed

  4. Statistical inference for discrete-time samples from affine stochastic delay differential equations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Küchler, Uwe; Sørensen, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Statistical inference for discrete time observations of an affine stochastic delay differential equation is considered. The main focus is on maximum pseudo-likelihood estimators, which are easy to calculate in practice. A more general class of prediction-based estimating functions is investigated...

  5. 7 CFR 52.38a - Definitions of terms applicable to statistical sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... the number of defects (or defectives), which exceed the sample unit tolerance (“T”), in a series of... accumulation of defects (or defectives) allowed to exceed the sample unit tolerance (“T”) in any sample unit or consecutive group of sample units. (ii) CuSum value. The accumulated number of defects (or defectives) that...

  6. An audit of the statistics and the comparison with the parameter in the population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bujang, Mohamad Adam; Sa'at, Nadiah; Joys, A. Reena; Ali, Mariana Mohamad

    2015-10-01

    The sufficient sample size that is needed to closely estimate the statistics for particular parameters are use to be an issue. Although sample size might had been calculated referring to objective of the study, however, it is difficult to confirm whether the statistics are closed with the parameter for a particular population. All these while, guideline that uses a p-value less than 0.05 is widely used as inferential evidence. Therefore, this study had audited results that were analyzed from various sub sample and statistical analyses and had compared the results with the parameters in three different populations. Eight types of statistical analysis and eight sub samples for each statistical analysis were analyzed. Results found that the statistics were consistent and were closed to the parameters when the sample study covered at least 15% to 35% of population. Larger sample size is needed to estimate parameter that involve with categorical variables compared with numerical variables. Sample sizes with 300 to 500 are sufficient to estimate the parameters for medium size of population.

  7. The N-Pact Factor: Evaluating the Quality of Empirical Journals with Respect to Sample Size and Statistical Power

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraley, R. Chris; Vazire, Simine

    2014-01-01

    The authors evaluate the quality of research reported in major journals in social-personality psychology by ranking those journals with respect to their N-pact Factors (NF)—the statistical power of the empirical studies they publish to detect typical effect sizes. Power is a particularly important attribute for evaluating research quality because, relative to studies that have low power, studies that have high power are more likely to (a) to provide accurate estimates of effects, (b) to produce literatures with low false positive rates, and (c) to lead to replicable findings. The authors show that the average sample size in social-personality research is 104 and that the power to detect the typical effect size in the field is approximately 50%. Moreover, they show that there is considerable variation among journals in sample sizes and power of the studies they publish, with some journals consistently publishing higher power studies than others. The authors hope that these rankings will be of use to authors who are choosing where to submit their best work, provide hiring and promotion committees with a superior way of quantifying journal quality, and encourage competition among journals to improve their NF rankings. PMID:25296159

  8. Statistical Processing Algorithms for Human Population Databases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camelia COLESCU

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is describing some algoritms for statistic functions aplied to a human population database. The samples are specific for the most interesting periods, when the evolution of statistical datas has spectacolous value. The article describes the most usefull form of grafical prezentation of the results

  9. Types of non-probabilistic sampling used in marketing research. „Snowball” sampling

    OpenAIRE

    Manuela Rozalia Gabor

    2007-01-01

    A significant way of investigating a firm’s market is the statistical sampling. The sampling typology provides a non / probabilistic models of gathering information and this paper describes thorough information related to network sampling, named “snowball” sampling. This type of sampling enables the survey of occurrence forms concerning the decision power within an organisation and of the interpersonal relation network governing a certain collectivity, a certain consumer panel. The snowball s...

  10. Statistical Analysis and validation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoefsloot, H.C.J.; Horvatovich, P.; Bischoff, R.

    2013-01-01

    In this chapter guidelines are given for the selection of a few biomarker candidates from a large number of compounds with a relative low number of samples. The main concepts concerning the statistical validation of the search for biomarkers are discussed. These complicated methods and concepts are

  11. Energy Statistics Manual; Manual Statistik Energi

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2005-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  12. 1861-1981: Statistics teaching in Italian universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donata Marasini

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to outline the development of Statistics from 1861 to 1981 with respect to its contents. The paper pays particular attention to some statistical topics which have been covered by basic introductory courses in the Italian Universities since the beginning of the Italian unification. The review takes as its starting point the well-known book “Filosofia della Statistica” of Melchiorre Gioja. This volume was published 35 years before Italian unification but it already contains the fundamental topics of exploratory and inductive Statistics. These topics give the opportunity to mention Italian statisticians who are considered the pioneers of this discipline. In particular, the attention is focused on four statisticians: Corrado Gini, well-known for its modern insights; Marcello Boldrini, high cultured man also in the epistemological field; Bruno de Finetti, founder of subjective school and Bayesian reasoning; Giuseppe Pompilj, precursor of random variables and sampling theory. The paper browses the indexes of three well-known Italian handbooks that, although published after the period 1861-1981, deal with topics covered in some basic teachings of exploratory statistics, statistical inference and sampling theory from finite population.

  13. New selection effect of statistical investigations of supernova remnants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allakhverdiev, A.O.; Gusejnov, O.Kh.; Kasumov, F.K.

    1986-01-01

    The influence of H2 regions on the parameters of Supernova remnants (SNR) is investigated. It has been shown that the projection of such regions on the SNRs leads to local changes of morphological structure of young shell-type SNRs and considerable distortions of integral parameters of evolved shell-type SNRs (with D > 10 pc) and plerions, up to their complete undetectability on the background of classical and gigantic H2 regions. A new selection effect, in fact, arises from these factors connected with additional limitations made by the real structure of the interstellar medium on the statistical investigations of SNRs. The influence of this effect on the statistical completeness of objects has been estimated

  14. New selection effect in statistical investigations of supernova remnants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allakhverdiev, A. O.; Guseinov, O. Kh.; Kasumov, F. K.

    1986-01-01

    The influence of H II regions on the parameters of supernova remnants (SNR) is investigated. It has been shown that the projection of such regions on the SNRs leads to: a) local changes of morphological structure of young shell-type SNRs and b) considerable distortions of integral parameters of evolved shell-type SNRs (with D > 10 pc) and plerions, up to their complete undetectability on the background of classical and gigantic H II regions. A new selection effect, in fact, arises from these factors connected with additional limitations made by the real structure of the interstellar medium on the statistical investigations of SNRs. The influence of this effect on the statistical completeness of objects has been estimated.

  15. Application of CRAFT (complete reduction to amplitude frequency table) in nonuniformly sampled (NUS) 2D NMR data processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnamurthy, Krish; Hari, Natarajan

    2017-09-15

    The recently published CRAFT (complete reduction to amplitude frequency table) technique converts the raw FID data (i.e., time domain data) into a table of frequencies, amplitudes, decay rate constants, and phases. It offers an alternate approach to decimate time-domain data, with minimal preprocessing step. It has been shown that application of CRAFT technique to process the t 1 dimension of the 2D data significantly improved the detectable resolution by its ability to analyze without the use of ubiquitous apodization of extensively zero-filled data. It was noted earlier that CRAFT did not resolve sinusoids that were not already resolvable in time-domain (i.e., t 1 max dependent resolution). We present a combined NUS-IST-CRAFT approach wherein the NUS acquisition technique (sparse sampling technique) increases the intrinsic resolution in time-domain (by increasing t 1 max), IST fills the gap in the sparse sampling, and CRAFT processing extracts the information without loss due to any severe apodization. NUS and CRAFT are thus complementary techniques to improve intrinsic and usable resolution. We show that significant improvement can be achieved with this combination over conventional NUS-IST processing. With reasonable sensitivity, the models can be extended to significantly higher t 1 max to generate an indirect-DEPT spectrum that rivals the direct observe counterpart. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. A statistical analysis of individual success after successful completion of Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Training

    OpenAIRE

    Hinson, William B.

    2005-01-01

    "The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) trains students in various foreign languages and dialects for the Department of Defense (DOD). The majority of students are firstterm enlistees in the basic program. This study uses classification trees and logistic regression to understand the military, academic and personal characteristics that influence first-term success after successfully completing DLIFLC training. Success was defined as completing a firstterm enlistme...

  17. The Statistics of wood assays for preservative retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patricia K. Lebow; Scott W. Conklin

    2011-01-01

    This paper covers general statistical concepts that apply to interpreting wood assay retention values. In particular, since wood assays are typically obtained from a single composited sample, the statistical aspects, including advantages and disadvantages, of simple compositing are covered.

  18. Statistical Survey of Non-Formal Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ondřej Nývlt

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available focused on a programme within a regular education system. Labour market flexibility and new requirements on employees create a new domain of education called non-formal education. Is there a reliable statistical source with a good methodological definition for the Czech Republic? Labour Force Survey (LFS has been the basic statistical source for time comparison of non-formal education for the last ten years. Furthermore, a special Adult Education Survey (AES in 2011 was focused on individual components of non-formal education in a detailed way. In general, the goal of the EU is to use data from both internationally comparable surveys for analyses of the particular fields of lifelong learning in the way, that annual LFS data could be enlarged by detailed information from AES in five years periods. This article describes reliability of statistical data aboutnon-formal education. This analysis is usually connected with sampling and non-sampling errors.

  19. Student Performance in an Introductory Business Statistics Course: Does Delivery Mode Matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haughton, Jonathan; Kelly, Alison

    2015-01-01

    Approximately 600 undergraduates completed an introductory business statistics course in 2013 in one of two learning environments at Suffolk University, a mid-sized private university in Boston, Massachusetts. The comparison group completed the course in a traditional classroom-based environment, whereas the treatment group completed the course in…

  20. Studies in Theoretical and Applied Statistics

    CERN Document Server

    Pratesi, Monica; Ruiz-Gazen, Anne

    2018-01-01

    This book includes a wide selection of the papers presented at the 48th Scientific Meeting of the Italian Statistical Society (SIS2016), held in Salerno on 8-10 June 2016. Covering a wide variety of topics ranging from modern data sources and survey design issues to measuring sustainable development, it provides a comprehensive overview of the current Italian scientific research in the fields of open data and big data in public administration and official statistics, survey sampling, ordinal and symbolic data, statistical models and methods for network data, time series forecasting, spatial analysis, environmental statistics, economic and financial data analysis, statistics in the education system, and sustainable development. Intended for researchers interested in theoretical and empirical issues, this volume provides interesting starting points for further research.

  1. Data from complete mtDNA sequencing of Tunisian centenarians: testing haplogroup association and the "golden mean" to longevity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Marta D; Cherni, Lotfi; Fernandes, Verónica; Freitas, Fernando; Ammar El Gaaied, Amel Ben; Pereira, Luísa

    2009-04-01

    Since the mitochondrial theory of ageing was proposed, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity has been largely studied in old people, however complete genomes are still rare, being limited to Japanese and UK/US samples. In this work, we evaluated possible longevity associated polymorphisms/haplogroups in an African population, from Tunisia, by performing complete mtDNA sequencing. This population has a mixed Eurasian/sub-Saharan mtDNA gene pool, which could potentially facilitate the evaluation of association for sub-Saharan lineages. Sub-Saharan haplogroups were shown to be significantly less represented in centenarians (9.5%) than in controls (54.5%), but it is not possible to rule out an influence of population structure, which is high in these populations. No recurrent polymorphism were more frequent in centenarians than in controls, and although the Tunisian centenarians presented less synonymous and replacement polymorphisms than controls, this difference was not statistically significant. So far, it does not seem that centenarians have significantly less mildly deleterious substitutions, not only in Tunisia but also in Japanese and UK/US samples, as tested here, not favouring a "golden mean" to longevity.

  2. A simulative comparison of respondent driven sampling with incentivized snowball sampling – the “strudel effect”

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyarmathy, V. Anna; Johnston, Lisa G.; Caplinskiene, Irma; Caplinskas, Saulius; Latkin, Carl A.

    2014-01-01

    Background Respondent driven sampling (RDS) and Incentivized Snowball Sampling (ISS) are two sampling methods that are commonly used to reach people who inject drugs (PWID). Methods We generated a set of simulated RDS samples on an actual sociometric ISS sample of PWID in Vilnius, Lithuania (“original sample”) to assess if the simulated RDS estimates were statistically significantly different from the original ISS sample prevalences for HIV (9.8%), Hepatitis A (43.6%), Hepatitis B (Anti-HBc 43.9% and HBsAg 3.4%), Hepatitis C (87.5%), syphilis (6.8%) and Chlamydia (8.8%) infections and for selected behavioral risk characteristics. Results The original sample consisted of a large component of 249 people (83% of the sample) and 13 smaller components with 1 to 12 individuals. Generally, as long as all seeds were recruited from the large component of the original sample, the simulation samples simply recreated the large component. There were no significant differences between the large component and the entire original sample for the characteristics of interest. Altogether 99.2% of 360 simulation sample point estimates were within the confidence interval of the original prevalence values for the characteristics of interest. Conclusions When population characteristics are reflected in large network components that dominate the population, RDS and ISS may produce samples that have statistically non-different prevalence values, even though some isolated network components may be under-sampled and/or statistically significantly different from the main groups. This so-called “strudel effect” is discussed in the paper. PMID:24360650

  3. Independent assessment of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) sample preparation quality: A novel statistical approach for quality scoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kooijman, Pieter C; Kok, Sander J; Weusten, Jos J A M; Honing, Maarten

    2016-05-05

    Preparation of samples according to an optimized method is crucial for accurate determination of polymer sample characteristics by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) analysis. Sample preparation conditions such as matrix choice, cationization agent, deposition technique or even the deposition volume should be chosen to suit the sample of interest. Many sample preparation protocols have been developed and employed, yet finding the optimal sample preparation protocol remains a challenge. Because an objective comparison between the results of diverse protocols is not possible, "gut-feeling" or "good enough" is often decisive in the search for an optimum. This implies that sub-optimal protocols are used, leading to a loss of mass spectral information quality. To address this problem a novel analytical strategy based on MALDI imaging and statistical data processing was developed in which eight parameters were formulated to objectively quantify the quality of sample deposition and optimal MALDI matrix composition and finally sum up to an overall quality score of the sample deposition. These parameters can be established in a fully automated way using commercially available mass spectrometry imaging instruments without any hardware adjustments. With the newly developed analytical strategy the highest quality MALDI spots were selected, resulting in more reproducible and more valuable spectra for PEG in a variety of matrices. Moreover, our method enables an objective comparison of sample preparation protocols for any analyte and opens up new fields of investigation by presenting MALDI performance data in a clear and concise way. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Network and adaptive sampling

    CERN Document Server

    Chaudhuri, Arijit

    2014-01-01

    Combining the two statistical techniques of network sampling and adaptive sampling, this book illustrates the advantages of using them in tandem to effectively capture sparsely located elements in unknown pockets. It shows how network sampling is a reliable guide in capturing inaccessible entities through linked auxiliaries. The text also explores how adaptive sampling is strengthened in information content through subsidiary sampling with devices to mitigate unmanageable expanding sample sizes. Empirical data illustrates the applicability of both methods.

  5. Modern Thermodynamics with Statistical Mechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Helrich, Carl S

    2009-01-01

    With the aim of presenting thermodynamics in as simple and as unified a form as possible, this textbook starts with an introduction to the first and second laws and then promptly addresses the complete set of the potentials in a subsequent chapter and as a central theme throughout. Before discussing modern laboratory measurements, the book shows that the fundamental quantities sought in the laboratory are those which are required for determining the potentials. Since the subjects of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics are a seamless whole, statistical mechanics is treated as integral part of the text. Other key topics such as irreversibility, the ideas of Ilya Prigogine, chemical reaction rates, equilibrium of heterogeneous systems, and transition-state theory serve to round out this modern treatment. An additional chapter covers quantum statistical mechanics due to active current research in Bose-Einstein condensation. End-of-chapter exercises, chapter summaries, and an appendix reviewing fundamental pr...

  6. Practicality of Elementary Statistics Module Based on CTL Completed by Instructions on Using Software R

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delyana, H.; Rismen, S.; Handayani, S.

    2018-04-01

    This research is a development research using 4-D design model (define, design, develop, and disseminate). The results of the define stage are analyzed for the needs of the following; Syllabus analysis, textbook analysis, student characteristics analysis and literature analysis. The results of textbook analysis obtained the description that of the two textbooks that must be owned by students also still difficulty in understanding it, the form of presentation also has not facilitated students to be independent in learning to find the concept, textbooks are also not equipped with data processing referrals by using software R. The developed module is considered valid by the experts. Further field trials are conducted to determine the practicality and effectiveness. The trial was conducted to the students of Mathematics Education Study Program of STKIP PGRI which was taken randomly which has not taken Basic Statistics Course that is as many as 4 people. Practical aspects of attention are easy, time efficient, easy to interpret, and equivalence. The practical value in each aspect is 3.7; 3.79, 3.7 and 3.78. Based on the results of the test students considered that the module has been very practical use in learning. This means that the module developed can be used by students in Elementary Statistics learning.

  7. Geostatistical integration and uncertainty in pollutant concentration surface under preferential sampling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Grisotto

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the focus is on environmental statistics, with the aim of estimating the concentration surface and related uncertainty of an air pollutant. We used air quality data recorded by a network of monitoring stations within a Bayesian framework to overcome difficulties in accounting for prediction uncertainty and to integrate information provided by deterministic models based on emissions meteorology and chemico-physical characteristics of the atmosphere. Several authors have proposed such integration, but all the proposed approaches rely on representativeness and completeness of existing air pollution monitoring networks. We considered the situation in which the spatial process of interest and the sampling locations are not independent. This is known in the literature as the preferential sampling problem, which if ignored in the analysis, can bias geostatistical inferences. We developed a Bayesian geostatistical model to account for preferential sampling with the main interest in statistical integration and uncertainty. We used PM10 data arising from the air quality network of the Environmental Protection Agency of Lombardy Region (Italy and numerical outputs from the deterministic model. We specified an inhomogeneous Poisson process for the sampling locations intensities and a shared spatial random component model for the dependence between the spatial location of monitors and the pollution surface. We found greater predicted standard deviation differences in areas not properly covered by the air quality network. In conclusion, in this context inferences on prediction uncertainty may be misleading when geostatistical modelling does not take into account preferential sampling.

  8. Computerized statistical analysis with bootstrap method in nuclear medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zoccarato, O.; Sardina, M.; Zatta, G.; De Agostini, A.; Barbesti, S.; Mana, O.; Tarolo, G.L.

    1988-01-01

    Statistical analysis of data samples involves some hypothesis about the features of data themselves. The accuracy of these hypotheses can influence the results of statistical inference. Among the new methods of computer-aided statistical analysis, the bootstrap method appears to be one of the most powerful, thanks to its ability to reproduce many artificial samples starting from a single original sample and because it works without hypothesis about data distribution. The authors applied the bootstrap method to two typical situation of Nuclear Medicine Department. The determination of the normal range of serum ferritin, as assessed by radioimmunoassay and defined by the mean value ±2 standard deviations, starting from an experimental sample of small dimension, shows an unacceptable lower limit (ferritin plasmatic levels below zero). On the contrary, the results obtained by elaborating 5000 bootstrap samples gives ans interval of values (10.95 ng/ml - 72.87 ng/ml) corresponding to the normal ranges commonly reported. Moreover the authors applied the bootstrap method in evaluating the possible error associated with the correlation coefficient determined between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) values obtained by first pass radionuclide angiocardiography with 99m Tc and 195m Au. The results obtained indicate a high degree of statistical correlation and give the range of r 2 values to be considered acceptable for this type of studies

  9. Statistical interpretation of geochemical data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carambula, M.

    1990-01-01

    Statistical results have been obtained from a geochemical research from the following four aerial photographies Zapican, Carape, Las Canias, Alferez. They have been studied 3020 samples in total, to 22 chemical elements using plasma emission spectrometry methods.

  10. Perceived Statistical Knowledge Level and Self-Reported Statistical Practice Among Academic Psychologists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Badenes-Ribera

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Publications arguing against the null hypothesis significance testing (NHST procedure and in favor of good statistical practices have increased. The most frequently mentioned alternatives to NHST are effect size statistics (ES, confidence intervals (CIs, and meta-analyses. A recent survey conducted in Spain found that academic psychologists have poor knowledge about effect size statistics, confidence intervals, and graphic displays for meta-analyses, which might lead to a misinterpretation of the results. In addition, it also found that, although the use of ES is becoming generalized, the same thing is not true for CIs. Finally, academics with greater knowledge about ES statistics presented a profile closer to good statistical practice and research design. Our main purpose was to analyze the extension of these results to a different geographical area through a replication study.Methods: For this purpose, we elaborated an on-line survey that included the same items as the original research, and we asked academic psychologists to indicate their level of knowledge about ES, their CIs, and meta-analyses, and how they use them. The sample consisted of 159 Italian academic psychologists (54.09% women, mean age of 47.65 years. The mean number of years in the position of professor was 12.90 (SD = 10.21.Results: As in the original research, the results showed that, although the use of effect size estimates is becoming generalized, an under-reporting of CIs for ES persists. The most frequent ES statistics mentioned were Cohen's d and R2/η2, which can have outliers or show non-normality or violate statistical assumptions. In addition, academics showed poor knowledge about meta-analytic displays (e.g., forest plot and funnel plot and quality checklists for studies. Finally, academics with higher-level knowledge about ES statistics seem to have a profile closer to good statistical practices.Conclusions: Changing statistical practice is not

  11. Occurrence of Radio Minihalos in a Mass-limited Sample of Galaxy Clusters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giacintucci, Simona; Clarke, Tracy E. [Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Code 7213, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Markevitch, Maxim [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Cassano, Rossella; Venturi, Tiziana; Brunetti, Gianfranco, E-mail: simona.giacintucci@nrl.navy.mil [INAF—Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy)

    2017-06-01

    We investigate the occurrence of radio minihalos—diffuse radio sources of unknown origin observed in the cores of some galaxy clusters—in a statistical sample of 58 clusters drawn from the Planck Sunyaev–Zel’dovich cluster catalog using a mass cut ( M {sub 500} > 6 × 10{sup 14} M {sub ⊙}). We supplement our statistical sample with a similarly sized nonstatistical sample mostly consisting of clusters in the ACCEPT X-ray catalog with suitable X-ray and radio data, which includes lower-mass clusters. Where necessary (for nine clusters), we reanalyzed the Very Large Array archival radio data to determine whether a minihalo is present. Our total sample includes all 28 currently known and recently discovered radio minihalos, including six candidates. We classify clusters as cool-core or non-cool-core according to the value of the specific entropy floor in the cluster center, rederived or newly derived from the Chandra X-ray density and temperature profiles where necessary (for 27 clusters). Contrary to the common wisdom that minihalos are rare, we find that almost all cool cores—at least 12 out of 15 (80%)—in our complete sample of massive clusters exhibit minihalos. The supplementary sample shows that the occurrence of minihalos may be lower in lower-mass cool-core clusters. No minihalos are found in non-cool cores or “warm cores.” These findings will help test theories of the origin of minihalos and provide information on the physical processes and energetics of the cluster cores.

  12. Applied statistics in ecology: common pitfalls and simple solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    E. Ashley Steel; Maureen C. Kennedy; Patrick G. Cunningham; John S. Stanovick

    2013-01-01

    The most common statistical pitfalls in ecological research are those associated with data exploration, the logic of sampling and design, and the interpretation of statistical results. Although one can find published errors in calculations, the majority of statistical pitfalls result from incorrect logic or interpretation despite correct numerical calculations. There...

  13. Classical model of intermediate statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaniadakis, G.

    1994-01-01

    In this work we present a classical kinetic model of intermediate statistics. In the case of Brownian particles we show that the Fermi-Dirac (FD) and Bose-Einstein (BE) distributions can be obtained, just as the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MD) distribution, as steady states of a classical kinetic equation that intrinsically takes into account an exclusion-inclusion principle. In our model the intermediate statistics are obtained as steady states of a system of coupled nonlinear kinetic equations, where the coupling constants are the transmutational potentials η κκ' . We show that, besides the FD-BE intermediate statistics extensively studied from the quantum point of view, we can also study the MB-FD and MB-BE ones. Moreover, our model allows us to treat the three-state mixing FD-MB-BE intermediate statistics. For boson and fermion mixing in a D-dimensional space, we obtain a family of FD-BE intermediate statistics by varying the transmutational potential η BF . This family contains, as a particular case when η BF =0, the quantum statistics recently proposed by L. Wu, Z. Wu, and J. Sun [Phys. Lett. A 170, 280 (1992)]. When we consider the two-dimensional FD-BE statistics, we derive an analytic expression of the fraction of fermions. When the temperature T→∞, the system is composed by an equal number of bosons and fermions, regardless of the value of η BF . On the contrary, when T=0, η BF becomes important and, according to its value, the system can be completely bosonic or fermionic, or composed both by bosons and fermions

  14. Systematic sampling for suspended sediment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert B. Thomas

    1991-01-01

    Abstract - Because of high costs or complex logistics, scientific populations cannot be measured entirely and must be sampled. Accepted scientific practice holds that sample selection be based on statistical principles to assure objectivity when estimating totals and variances. Probability sampling--obtaining samples with known probabilities--is the only method that...

  15. The completeness of chest X-ray procedure codes in the Danish National Patient Registry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hjertholm P

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Peter Hjertholm,1 Kaare Rud Flarup,1 Louise Mahncke Guldbrandt,1 Peter Vedsted1,2 1Research Center for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care, Department of Public Health, 2University Clinic for Innovative Health Care Delivery, Diagnostic Centre, Silkeborg Hospital, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Objective: The aim of this validation study was to assess the completeness of the registrations of chest X-rays (CXR in two different versions of the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR. Material and methods: We included electronic record data on CXR performed on patients aged 40 to 99 years from nine radiology departments covering 20 Danish hospitals. From each department, we included data from three randomly selected weeks between 2004 and 2011 (reference standard. In two versions of the DNPR from the State Serum Institute (SSI and Statistics Denmark, respectively, we investigated the proportion of registered CXR compared to the reference standard. Furthermore, we compared the completeness of the recorded data according to the responsible department (main department. Results: We identified 11,235 patients and 12,513 CXR in the reference standard. The data from the SSI contained 12,265 (98% CXR, whereas the data from Statistics Denmark comprised 9,151 (73.1% CXR. The completeness of the SSI data was fairly constant across years, radiology departments, medical specialties, and age groups. The data from Statistics Denmark was almost complete in 2011 (95.8%. However, for the remaining study period, the data with radiology departments registered as the main department were lacking in the version from Statistics Denmark, and so the overall completeness was 73.1%. Conclusion: The completeness of CXR registrations varied between 98% and 73% depending on the information source, and this should be considered when investigating radiology services in the basis of DNPR. Keywords: chest X-ray, Danish National Patient Registry

  16. Nonparametric statistics a step-by-step approach

    CERN Document Server

    Corder, Gregory W

    2014-01-01

    "…a very useful resource for courses in nonparametric statistics in which the emphasis is on applications rather than on theory.  It also deserves a place in libraries of all institutions where introductory statistics courses are taught."" -CHOICE This Second Edition presents a practical and understandable approach that enhances and expands the statistical toolset for readers. This book includes: New coverage of the sign test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test in an effort to offer a logical and natural progression to statistical powerSPSS® (Version 21) software and updated screen ca

  17. ASURV: Astronomical SURVival Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feigelson, E. D.; Nelson, P. I.; Isobe, T.; LaValley, M.

    2014-06-01

    ASURV (Astronomical SURVival Statistics) provides astronomy survival analysis for right- and left-censored data including the maximum-likelihood Kaplan-Meier estimator and several univariate two-sample tests, bivariate correlation measures, and linear regressions. ASURV is written in FORTRAN 77, and is stand-alone and does not call any specialized libraries.

  18. Estimation of Peaking Factor Uncertainty due to Manufacturing Tolerance using Statistical Sampling Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Kyung Hoon; Park, Ho Jin; Lee, Chung Chan; Cho, Jin Young [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    The purpose of this paper is to study the effect on output parameters in the lattice physics calculation due to the last input uncertainty such as manufacturing deviations from nominal value for material composition and geometric dimensions. In a nuclear design and analysis, the lattice physics calculations are usually employed to generate lattice parameters for the nodal core simulation and pin power reconstruction. These lattice parameters which consist of homogenized few-group cross-sections, assembly discontinuity factors, and form-functions can be affected by input uncertainties which arise from three different sources: 1) multi-group cross-section uncertainties, 2) the uncertainties associated with methods and modeling approximations utilized in lattice physics codes, and 3) fuel/assembly manufacturing uncertainties. In this paper, data provided by the light water reactor (LWR) uncertainty analysis in modeling (UAM) benchmark has been used as the manufacturing uncertainties. First, the effect of each input parameter has been investigated through sensitivity calculations at the fuel assembly level. Then, uncertainty in prediction of peaking factor due to the most sensitive input parameter has been estimated using the statistical sampling method, often called the brute force method. For our analysis, the two-dimensional transport lattice code DeCART2D and its ENDF/B-VII.1 based 47-group library were used to perform the lattice physics calculation. Sensitivity calculations have been performed in order to study the influence of manufacturing tolerances on the lattice parameters. The manufacturing tolerance that has the largest influence on the k-inf is the fuel density. The second most sensitive parameter is the outer clad diameter.

  19. Statistical modeling of static strengths of nuclear graphites with relevance to structural design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Taketoshi

    1992-02-01

    Use of graphite materials for structural members poses a problem as to how to take into account of statistical properties of static strength, especially tensile fracture stresses, in component structural design. The present study concerns comprehensive examinations on statistical data base and modelings on nuclear graphites. First, the report provides individual samples and their analyses on strengths of IG-110 and PGX graphites for HTTR components. Those statistical characteristics on other HTGR graphites are also exemplified from the literature. Most of statistical distributions of individual samples are found to be approximately normal. The goodness of fit to normal distributions is more satisfactory with larger sample sizes. Molded and extruded graphites, however, possess a variety of statistical properties depending of samples from different with-in-log locations and/or different orientations. Second, the previous statistical models including the Weibull theory are assessed from the viewpoint of applicability to design procedures. This leads to a conclusion that the Weibull theory and its modified ones are satisfactory only for limited parts of tensile fracture behavior. They are not consistent for whole observations. Only normal statistics are justifiable as practical approaches to discuss specified minimum ultimate strengths as statistical confidence limits for individual samples. Third, the assessment of various statistical models emphasizes the need to develop advanced analytical ones which should involve modeling of microstructural features of actual graphite materials. Improvements of other structural design methodologies are also presented. (author)

  20. Pedagogical Utilization and Assessment of the Statistic Online Computational Resource in Introductory Probability and Statistics Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinov, Ivo D; Sanchez, Juana; Christou, Nicolas

    2008-01-01

    Technology-based instruction represents a new recent pedagogical paradigm that is rooted in the realization that new generations are much more comfortable with, and excited about, new technologies. The rapid technological advancement over the past decade has fueled an enormous demand for the integration of modern networking, informational and computational tools with classical pedagogical instruments. Consequently, teaching with technology typically involves utilizing a variety of IT and multimedia resources for online learning, course management, electronic course materials, and novel tools of communication, engagement, experimental, critical thinking and assessment.The NSF-funded Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR) provides a number of interactive tools for enhancing instruction in various undergraduate and graduate courses in probability and statistics. These resources include online instructional materials, statistical calculators, interactive graphical user interfaces, computational and simulation applets, tools for data analysis and visualization. The tools provided as part of SOCR include conceptual simulations and statistical computing interfaces, which are designed to bridge between the introductory and the more advanced computational and applied probability and statistics courses. In this manuscript, we describe our designs for utilizing SOCR technology in instruction in a recent study. In addition, present the results of the effectiveness of using SOCR tools at two different course intensity levels on three outcome measures: exam scores, student satisfaction and choice of technology to complete assignments. Learning styles assessment was completed at baseline. We have used three very different designs for three different undergraduate classes. Each course included a treatment group, using the SOCR resources, and a control group, using classical instruction techniques. Our findings include marginal effects of the SOCR treatment per individual

  1. Spatial scan statistics to assess sampling strategy of antimicrobial resistance monitoring programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vieira, Antonio; Houe, Hans; Wegener, Henrik Caspar

    2009-01-01

    Pie collection and analysis of data on antimicrobial resistance in human and animal Populations are important for establishing a baseline of the occurrence of resistance and for determining trends over time. In animals, targeted monitoring with a stratified sampling plan is normally used. However...... sampled by the Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme (DANMAP), by identifying spatial Clusters of samples and detecting areas with significantly high or low sampling rates. These analyses were performed for each year and for the total 5-year study period for all...... by an antimicrobial monitoring program....

  2. The Effects of Pre-Lecture Quizzes on Test Anxiety and Performance in a Statistics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Michael J.; Tallon, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of pre-lecture quizzes in a statistics course. Students (N = 70) from 2 sections of an introductory statistics course served as participants in this study. One section completed pre-lecture quizzes whereas the other section did not. Completing pre-lecture quizzes was associated with improved exam…

  3. A compliance assessment of midpoint formative assessments completed by APPE preceptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lea Bonner, C; Staton, April G; Naro, Patricia B; McCullough, Elizabeth; Lynn Stevenson, T; Williamson, Margaret; Sheffield, Melody C; Miller, Mindi; Fetterman, James W; Fan, Shirley; Momary, Kathryn M

    Experiential pharmacy preceptors should provide formative and summative feedback during a learning experience. Preceptors are required to provide colleges and schools of pharmacy with assessments or evaluations of students' performance. Students and experiential programs value on-time completion of midpoint evaluations by preceptors. The objective of this study was to determine the number of on-time electronically documented formative midpoint evaluations completed by preceptors during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Compliance rates of on-time electronically documented formative midpoint evaluations were reviewed by the Office of Experiential Education of a five-member consortium during the two-year study period prior to the adoption of Standards 2016. Pearson chi-square test and generalized linear models were used to determine if statistically significant differences were present. Average midpoint compliance rates for the two-year research period were 40.7% and 41% respectively. No statistical significance was noted comparing compliance rates for year one versus year two. However, statistical significance was present when comparing compliance rates between schools during year two. Feedback from students and preceptors pointed to the need for brief formal midpoint evaluations that require minimal time to complete, user friendly experiential management software, and methods for documenting verbal feedback through student self-reflection. Additional education and training to both affiliate and faculty preceptors on the importance of written formative feedback at midpoint is critical to remaining in compliance with Standards 2016. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Completeness and overlap in open access systems: Search engines, aggregate institutional repositories and physics-related open sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsay, Ming-Yueh; Wu, Tai-Luan; Tseng, Ling-Li

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the completeness and overlap of coverage in physics of six open access scholarly communication systems, including two search engines (Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic), two aggregate institutional repositories (OAIster and OpenDOAR), and two physics-related open sources (arXiv.org and Astrophysics Data System). The 2001-2013 Nobel Laureates in Physics served as the sample. Bibliographic records of their publications were retrieved and downloaded from each system, and a computer program was developed to perform the analytical tasks of sorting, comparison, elimination, aggregation and statistical calculations. Quantitative analyses and cross-referencing were performed to determine the completeness and overlap of the system coverage of the six open access systems. The results may enable scholars to select an appropriate open access system as an efficient scholarly communication channel, and academic institutions may build institutional repositories or independently create citation index systems in the future. Suggestions on indicators and tools for academic assessment are presented based on the comprehensiveness assessment of each system.

  5. On the Use of Biomineral Oxygen Isotope Data to Identify Human Migrants in the Archaeological Record: Intra-Sample Variation, Statistical Methods and Geographical Considerations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma Lightfoot

    Full Text Available Oxygen isotope analysis of archaeological skeletal remains is an increasingly popular tool to study past human migrations. It is based on the assumption that human body chemistry preserves the δ18O of precipitation in such a way as to be a useful technique for identifying migrants and, potentially, their homelands. In this study, the first such global survey, we draw on published human tooth enamel and bone bioapatite data to explore the validity of using oxygen isotope analyses to identify migrants in the archaeological record. We use human δ18O results to show that there are large variations in human oxygen isotope values within a population sample. This may relate to physiological factors influencing the preservation of the primary isotope signal, or due to human activities (such as brewing, boiling, stewing, differential access to water sources and so on causing variation in ingested water and food isotope values. We compare the number of outliers identified using various statistical methods. We determine that the most appropriate method for identifying migrants is dependent on the data but is likely to be the IQR or median absolute deviation from the median under most archaeological circumstances. Finally, through a spatial assessment of the dataset, we show that the degree of overlap in human isotope values from different locations across Europe is such that identifying individuals' homelands on the basis of oxygen isotope analysis alone is not possible for the regions analysed to date. Oxygen isotope analysis is a valid method for identifying first-generation migrants from an archaeological site when used appropriately, however it is difficult to identify migrants using statistical methods for a sample size of less than c. 25 individuals. In the absence of local previous analyses, each sample should be treated as an individual dataset and statistical techniques can be used to identify migrants, but in most cases pinpointing a specific

  6. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAMPLING OF TANK 19 IN F TANK FARM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harris, S.; Shine, G.

    2009-12-14

    concentration as a function of the number of samples, and the final number of samples is determined when the reduction in the uncertainty from an additional sample no longer has a practical impact on results. The characterization of the full suite of analytes in the North and South hemispheres is currently supported by a single Mantis rover sample in each hemisphere. A floor scrape sample was obtained from a compact region near the center riser slightly in the South hemisphere and has been analyzed for a shortened list of key analytes. There is not enough additional material from the floor scrape sample material for completing the full suite of constituents. No floor scrape samples have been previously taken from the North hemisphere. The criterion to determine the number of additional samples was based on the practical reduction in the uncertainty when a new sample is added. This was achieved when five additional samples are obtained. In addition, two archived samples will be used if a contingency such as failing to demonstrate the comparability of the Mantis samples to the floor scrape samples occurs. To complete sampling of the Tank 19 residual floor material, four additional samples should be taken from the North hemisphere and four additional samples should be taken from the South hemisphere. One of the samples from each hemisphere will be archived in case of need. Three of the four additional samples from each hemisphere will be analyzed. Once the results are available, differences between the Mantis and three floor scrape sample results will be evaluated. If there are no statistically significant analyte concentration differences between the Mantis and floor scrape samples, those results will be combined and then UCL95%s will be calculated. If the analyte concentration differences between the Mantis and floor scrape samples are statistically significant, the UCL95%s will be calculated without the Mantis sample results. If further reduction in the upper confidence limits

  7. Statistical phenomena - experiments results. II

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schnell, W.

    1977-01-01

    The stochastic cooling of proton and antiproton beams is discussed. Stochastic cooling is the gradual reduction of emittance of a coasting beam by a feedback system, sensing and correcting the statistical fluctuations of the beam's position or momentum. The correction at every turn can be partial or complete. Transverse and longitudinal emittance of the beam are considered and the systems designed to cool the beams are described. (B.D.)

  8. Canadian Petroleum Association statistical handbook

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-04-01

    Statistical data are presented for the Canadian oil and gas industry for 1991, with some historical and background data included. Tables are provided on land sales and holdings, drilling completions, reserves, production, inventories, production capacity, cash expenditures, value of sales, prices, consumption, sales, refinery capacity and utilization, refinery yields, pipelines, imports and exports, National Energy Board licenses and orders, electricity generation capacity, and supply and disposal of electric energy. 112 tabs

  9. Particle System Based Adaptive Sampling on Spherical Parameter Space to Improve the MDL Method for Construction of Statistical Shape Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Xu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Minimum description length (MDL based group-wise registration was a state-of-the-art method to determine the corresponding points of 3D shapes for the construction of statistical shape models (SSMs. However, it suffered from the problem that determined corresponding points did not uniformly spread on original shapes, since corresponding points were obtained by uniformly sampling the aligned shape on the parameterized space of unit sphere. We proposed a particle-system based method to obtain adaptive sampling positions on the unit sphere to resolve this problem. Here, a set of particles was placed on the unit sphere to construct a particle system whose energy was related to the distortions of parameterized meshes. By minimizing this energy, each particle was moved on the unit sphere. When the system became steady, particles were treated as vertices to build a spherical mesh, which was then relaxed to slightly adjust vertices to obtain optimal sampling-positions. We used 47 cases of (left and right lungs and 50 cases of livers, (left and right kidneys, and spleens for evaluations. Experiments showed that the proposed method was able to resolve the problem of the original MDL method, and the proposed method performed better in the generalization and specificity tests.

  10. Statistical inferences for bearings life using sudden death test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morariu Cristin-Olimpiu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we propose a calculus method for reliability indicators estimation and a complete statistical inferences for three parameters Weibull distribution of bearings life. Using experimental values regarding the durability of bearings tested on stands by the sudden death tests involves a series of particularities of the estimation using maximum likelihood method and statistical inference accomplishment. The paper detailing these features and also provides an example calculation.

  11. Classification of bladder cancer cell lines using Raman spectroscopy: a comparison of excitation wavelength, sample substrate and statistical algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Laura T.; Adams, Aine; O'Dea, Shirley; Domijan, Katarina; Cullen, Ivor; Hennelly, Bryan M.

    2014-05-01

    Raman microspectroscopy can be applied to the urinary bladder for highly accurate classification and diagnosis of bladder cancer. This technique can be applied in vitro to bladder epithelial cells obtained from urine cytology or in vivo as an optical biopsy" to provide results in real-time with higher sensitivity and specificity than current clinical methods. However, there exists a high degree of variability across experimental parameters which need to be standardised before this technique can be utilized in an everyday clinical environment. In this study, we investigate different laser wavelengths (473 nm and 532 nm), sample substrates (glass, fused silica and calcium fluoride) and multivariate statistical methods in order to gain insight into how these various experimental parameters impact on the sensitivity and specificity of Raman cytology.

  12. Statistical methods for evaluating the attainment of cleanup standards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilbert, R.O.; Simpson, J.C.

    1992-12-01

    This document is the third volume in a series of volumes sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Statistical Policy Branch, that provide statistical methods for evaluating the attainment of cleanup Standards at Superfund sites. Volume 1 (USEPA 1989a) provides sampling designs and tests for evaluating attainment of risk-based standards for soils and solid media. Volume 2 (USEPA 1992) provides designs and tests for evaluating attainment of risk-based standards for groundwater. The purpose of this third volume is to provide statistical procedures for designing sampling programs and conducting statistical tests to determine whether pollution parameters in remediated soils and solid media at Superfund sites attain site-specific reference-based standards. This.document is written for individuals who may not have extensive training or experience with statistical methods. The intended audience includes EPA regional remedial project managers, Superfund-site potentially responsible parties, state environmental protection agencies, and contractors for these groups.

  13. Micro-organism distribution sampling for bioassays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, B. A.

    1975-01-01

    Purpose of sampling distribution is to characterize sample-to-sample variation so statistical tests may be applied, to estimate error due to sampling (confidence limits) and to evaluate observed differences between samples. Distribution could be used for bioassays taken in hospitals, breweries, food-processing plants, and pharmaceutical plants.

  14. Statistical Rules-of-Thumb.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brewer, James K.

    1988-01-01

    Six best-selling introductory behavioral statistics textbooks that were published in 1982 and two well-known sampling theory textbooks were reviewed to determine the presence of rules-of-thumb--useful principles with wide application that are not intended to be strictly accurate. The relative frequency and type of rules are reported along with a…

  15. Statistical Model of Extreme Shear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose; Larsen, Gunner Chr.

    2005-01-01

    In order to continue cost-optimisation of modern large wind turbines, it is important to continuously increase the knowledge of wind field parameters relevant to design loads. This paper presents a general statistical model that offers site-specific prediction of the probability density function...... by a model that, on a statistically consistent basis, describes the most likely spatial shape of an extreme wind shear event. Predictions from the model have been compared with results from an extreme value data analysis, based on a large number of full-scale measurements recorded with a high sampling rate...

  16. The rise of survey sampling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bethlehem, J.

    2009-01-01

    This paper is about the history of survey sampling. It describes how sampling became an accepted scientific method. From the first ideas in 1895 it took some 50 years before the principles of probability sampling were widely accepted. This papers has a focus on developments in official statistics in

  17. Results of elemental analyses of water and waterborne sediment samples from the Fairbanks NTMS quadrangle, Alaska

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharp, R.R. Jr.; Aamodt, P.L; Hill, D.E.

    1979-04-01

    During the late spring and then again in late summer, 1977, lake and stream water and bottom sediment samples were collected at a nominal density of one location every 16 km 2 from throughout the approximate 16,500-km 2 area of the Fairbanks NTMS quadrangle, Alaska. These samples were collected using standard procedures by investigators from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, as part of a special Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study to identify variance in total uranium contents related to natural factors such as seasonal changes, source types, and geologic/geographic environments. Histograms and statistical summaries of total uranium in a number of sample populations presented herein indicate that water samples collected in late summer have a mean uranium content that is slightly higher than the mean for waters collected in the spring. Dilution and/or evaporative concentration are possible causes for this difference. Sediment samples collected from streams and springs have a slightly higher mean uranium content than those collected from lakes, and this is consistent with HSSR data from other Alaskan areas. The Alaskan investigators will complete a detailed analysis of variance study of these data in the near future and a second open-file report will be forthcoming upon its completion

  18. A new framework of statistical inferences based on the valid joint sampling distribution of the observed counts in an incomplete contingency table.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Guo-Liang; Li, Hui-Qiong

    2017-08-01

    Some existing confidence interval methods and hypothesis testing methods in the analysis of a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins entirely depend on an underlying assumption that the sampling distribution of the observed counts is a product of independent multinomial/binomial distributions for complete and incomplete counts. However, it can be shown that this independency assumption is incorrect and can result in unreliable conclusions because of the under-estimation of the uncertainty. Therefore, the first objective of this paper is to derive the valid joint sampling distribution of the observed counts in a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins. The second objective is to provide a new framework for analyzing incomplete contingency tables based on the derived joint sampling distribution of the observed counts by developing a Fisher scoring algorithm to calculate maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of interest, the bootstrap confidence interval methods, and the bootstrap testing hypothesis methods. We compare the differences between the valid sampling distribution and the sampling distribution under the independency assumption. Simulation studies showed that average/expected confidence-interval widths of parameters based on the sampling distribution under the independency assumption are shorter than those based on the new sampling distribution, yielding unrealistic results. A real data set is analyzed to illustrate the application of the new sampling distribution for incomplete contingency tables and the analysis results again confirm the conclusions obtained from the simulation studies.

  19. Experimental uncertainty estimation and statistics for data having interval uncertainty.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kreinovich, Vladik (Applied Biomathematics, Setauket, New York); Oberkampf, William Louis (Applied Biomathematics, Setauket, New York); Ginzburg, Lev (Applied Biomathematics, Setauket, New York); Ferson, Scott (Applied Biomathematics, Setauket, New York); Hajagos, Janos (Applied Biomathematics, Setauket, New York)

    2007-05-01

    This report addresses the characterization of measurements that include epistemic uncertainties in the form of intervals. It reviews the application of basic descriptive statistics to data sets which contain intervals rather than exclusively point estimates. It describes algorithms to compute various means, the median and other percentiles, variance, interquartile range, moments, confidence limits, and other important statistics and summarizes the computability of these statistics as a function of sample size and characteristics of the intervals in the data (degree of overlap, size and regularity of widths, etc.). It also reviews the prospects for analyzing such data sets with the methods of inferential statistics such as outlier detection and regressions. The report explores the tradeoff between measurement precision and sample size in statistical results that are sensitive to both. It also argues that an approach based on interval statistics could be a reasonable alternative to current standard methods for evaluating, expressing and propagating measurement uncertainties.

  20. Applied statistics for economics and business

    CERN Document Server

    Özdemir, Durmuş

    2016-01-01

    This textbook introduces readers to practical statistical issues by presenting them within the context of real-life economics and business situations. It presents the subject in a non-threatening manner, with an emphasis on concise, easily understandable explanations. It has been designed to be accessible and student-friendly and, as an added learning feature, provides all the relevant data required to complete the accompanying exercises and computing problems, which are presented at the end of each chapter. It also discusses index numbers and inequality indices in detail, since these are of particular importance to students and commonly omitted in textbooks. Throughout the text it is assumed that the student has no prior knowledge of statistics. It is aimed primarily at business and economics undergraduates, providing them with the basic statistical skills necessary for further study of their subject. However, students of other disciplines will also find it relevant.

  1. Improving Fuel Statistics for Danish Aviation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winther, M.

    This report contains fuel use figures for Danish civil aviation broken down into domestic and international numbers from 1985 to 2000, using a refined fuel split procedure and official fuel sale totals. The results from two different models are used. The NERI (National Environmental Research...... Institute) model estimates the fuel use per flight for all flights leaving Danish airports in 1998, while the annual Danish CORINAIR inventories are based on improved LTO/aircraft type statistics. A time series of fuel use from 1985 to 2000 is also shown for flights between Denmark and Greenland/the Faroe...... Islands, obtained with the NERI model. In addition a complete overview of the aviation fuel use from the two latter areas is given, based on fuel sale information from Statistics Greenland and Statistics Faroe Islands, and fuel use data from airline companies. The fuel use figures are presented on a level...

  2. Haldane's statistical interactions and universal properties of anyon systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Protogenov, A.

    1995-03-01

    The exclusion principle of fractional statistics proposed by Haldane is applied to systems with internal degrees of freedom. The symmetry of these systems is included in the statistical interaction matrix which contains the Cartan matrix of Lie algebras. The solutions of the equations for the statistical weights, which coincide with the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz equations are determined in the high temperature limit by the squares of q-deformed dimensions of irreducible representations. The entropy and other thermodynamic properties of anyon systems in this limit are completely characterized by the algebraic structure of symmetry in the universal form. (author). 39 refs

  3. Statistical analysis of environmental data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beauchamp, J.J.; Bowman, K.O.; Miller, F.L. Jr.

    1975-10-01

    This report summarizes the analyses of data obtained by the Radiological Hygiene Branch of the Tennessee Valley Authority from samples taken around the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant located in Northern Alabama. The data collection was begun in 1968 and a wide variety of types of samples have been gathered on a regular basis. The statistical analysis of environmental data involving very low-levels of radioactivity is discussed. Applications of computer calculations for data processing are described

  4. Statistical inference involving binomial and negative binomial parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Pérez, Miguel A; Núñez-Antón, Vicente

    2009-05-01

    Statistical inference about two binomial parameters implies that they are both estimated by binomial sampling. There are occasions in which one aims at testing the equality of two binomial parameters before and after the occurrence of the first success along a sequence of Bernoulli trials. In these cases, the binomial parameter before the first success is estimated by negative binomial sampling whereas that after the first success is estimated by binomial sampling, and both estimates are related. This paper derives statistical tools to test two hypotheses, namely, that both binomial parameters equal some specified value and that both parameters are equal though unknown. Simulation studies are used to show that in small samples both tests are accurate in keeping the nominal Type-I error rates, and also to determine sample size requirements to detect large, medium, and small effects with adequate power. Additional simulations also show that the tests are sufficiently robust to certain violations of their assumptions.

  5. The (mis)reporting of statistical results in psychology journals

    OpenAIRE

    Bakker, Marjan; Wicherts, Jelte M.

    2011-01-01

    In order to study the prevalence, nature (direction), and causes of reporting errors in psychology, we checked the consistency of reported test statistics, degrees of freedom, and p values in a random sample of high- and low-impact psychology journals. In a second study, we established the generality of reporting errors in a random sample of recent psychological articles. Our results, on the basis of 281 articles, indicate that around 18% of statistical results in the psychological literature...

  6. Statistical Model-Based Face Pose Estimation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    GE Xinliang; YANG Jie; LI Feng; WANG Huahua

    2007-01-01

    A robust face pose estimation approach is proposed by using face shape statistical model approach and pose parameters are represented by trigonometric functions. The face shape statistical model is firstly built by analyzing the face shapes from different people under varying poses. The shape alignment is vital in the process of building the statistical model. Then, six trigonometric functions are employed to represent the face pose parameters. Lastly, the mapping function is constructed between face image and face pose by linearly relating different parameters. The proposed approach is able to estimate different face poses using a few face training samples. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate its efficiency and accuracy.

  7. Uncertainties in model-independent extractions of amplitudes from complete experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoblit, S.; Sandorfi, A.M.; Kamano, H.; Lee, T.-S.H.

    2012-01-01

    A new generation of over-complete experiments is underway, with the goal of performing a high precision extraction of pseudoscalar meson photo-production amplitudes. Such experimentally determined amplitudes can be used both as a test to validate models and as a starting point for an analytic continuation in the complex plane to search for poles. Of crucial importance for both is the level of uncertainty in the extracted multipoles. We have probed these uncertainties by analyses of pseudo-data for KLambda photoproduction, first for the set of 8 observables that have been published for the K + Lambda channel and then for pseudo-data on a complete set of 16 observables with the uncertainties expected from analyses of ongoing CLAS experiments. In fitting multipoles, we have used a combined Monte Carlo sampling of the amplitude space, with gradient minimization, and have found a shallow X 2 valley pitted with a large number of local minima. This results in bands of solutions that are experimentally indistinguishable. All ongoing experiments will measure observables with limited statistics. We have found a dependence on the particular random choice of values of Gaussian distributed pseudo-data, due to the presence of multiple local minima. This results in actual uncertainties for reconstructed multipoles that are often considerable larger than those returned by gradient minimization routines such as Minuit which find a single local minimum. As intuitively expected, this additional level of uncertainty decreases as larger numbers of observables are included.

  8. Sampling the Mouse Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa Basler

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Sampling is a critical step in procedures that generate quantitative morphological data in the neurosciences. Samples need to be representative to allow statistical evaluations, and samples need to deliver a precision that makes statistical evaluations not only possible but also meaningful. Sampling generated variability should, e.g., not be able to hide significant group differences from statistical detection if they are present. Estimators of the coefficient of error (CE have been developed to provide tentative answers to the question if sampling has been “good enough” to provide meaningful statistical outcomes. We tested the performance of the commonly used Gundersen-Jensen CE estimator, using the layers of the mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus as an example (molecular layer, granule cell layer and hilus. We found that this estimator provided useful estimates of the precision that can be expected from samples of different sizes. For all layers, we found that a smoothness factor (m of 0 generally provided better estimates than an m of 1. Only for the combined layers, i.e., the entire dentate gyrus, better CE estimates could be obtained using an m of 1. The orientation of the sections impacted on CE sizes. Frontal (coronal sections are typically most efficient by providing the smallest CEs for a given amount of work. Applying the estimator to 3D-reconstructed layers and using very intense sampling, we observed CE size plots with m = 0 to m = 1 transitions that should also be expected but are not often observed in real section series. The data we present also allows the reader to approximate the sampling intervals in frontal, horizontal or sagittal sections that provide CEs of specified sizes for the layers of the mouse dentate gyrus.

  9. Economic Statistical Design of Variable Sampling Interval X¯$\\overline X $ Control Chart Based on Surrogate Variable Using Genetic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Tae-Hoon

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In many cases, a X¯$\\overline X $ control chart based on a performance variable is used in industrial fields. Typically, the control chart monitors the measurements of a performance variable itself. However, if the performance variable is too costly or impossible to measure, and a less expensive surrogate variable is available, the process may be more efficiently controlled using surrogate variables. In this paper, we present a model for the economic statistical design of a VSI (Variable Sampling Interval X¯$\\overline X $ control chart using a surrogate variable that is linearly correlated with the performance variable. We derive the total average profit model from an economic viewpoint and apply the model to a Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR nuclear fuel measurement system and derive the optimal result using genetic algorithms. Compared with the control chart based on a performance variable, the proposed model gives a larger expected net income per unit of time in the long-run if the correlation between the performance variable and the surrogate variable is relatively high. The proposed model was confined to the sample mean control chart under the assumption that a single assignable cause occurs according to the Poisson process. However, the model may also be extended to other types of control charts using a single or multiple assignable cause assumptions such as VSS (Variable Sample Size X¯$\\overline X $ control chart, EWMA, CUSUM charts and so on.

  10. Textual information access statistical models

    CERN Document Server

    Gaussier, Eric

    2013-01-01

    This book presents statistical models that have recently been developed within several research communities to access information contained in text collections. The problems considered are linked to applications aiming at facilitating information access:- information extraction and retrieval;- text classification and clustering;- opinion mining;- comprehension aids (automatic summarization, machine translation, visualization).In order to give the reader as complete a description as possible, the focus is placed on the probability models used in the applications

  11. Scalability on LHS (Latin Hypercube Sampling) samples for use in uncertainty analysis of large numerical models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baron, Jorge H.; Nunez Mac Leod, J.E.

    2000-01-01

    The present paper deals with the utilization of advanced sampling statistical methods to perform uncertainty and sensitivity analysis on numerical models. Such models may represent physical phenomena, logical structures (such as boolean expressions) or other systems, and various of their intrinsic parameters and/or input variables are usually treated as random variables simultaneously. In the present paper a simple method to scale-up Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) samples is presented, starting with a small sample and duplicating its size at each step, making it possible to use the already run numerical model results with the smaller sample. The method does not distort the statistical properties of the random variables and does not add any bias to the samples. The results is a significant reduction in numerical models running time can be achieved (by re-using the previously run samples), keeping all the advantages of LHS, until an acceptable representation level is achieved in the output variables. (author)

  12. A Novel Method to Handle the Effect of Uneven Sampling Effort in Biodiversity Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pardo, Iker; Pata, María P.; Gómez, Daniel; García, María B.

    2013-01-01

    How reliable are results on spatial distribution of biodiversity based on databases? Many studies have evidenced the uncertainty related to this kind of analysis due to sampling effort bias and the need for its quantification. Despite that a number of methods are available for that, little is known about their statistical limitations and discrimination capability, which could seriously constrain their use. We assess for the first time the discrimination capacity of two widely used methods and a proposed new one (FIDEGAM), all based on species accumulation curves, under different scenarios of sampling exhaustiveness using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses. Additionally, we examine to what extent the output of each method represents the sampling completeness in a simulated scenario where the true species richness is known. Finally, we apply FIDEGAM to a real situation and explore the spatial patterns of plant diversity in a National Park. FIDEGAM showed an excellent discrimination capability to distinguish between well and poorly sampled areas regardless of sampling exhaustiveness, whereas the other methods failed. Accordingly, FIDEGAM values were strongly correlated with the true percentage of species detected in a simulated scenario, whereas sampling completeness estimated with other methods showed no relationship due to null discrimination capability. Quantifying sampling effort is necessary to account for the uncertainty in biodiversity analyses, however, not all proposed methods are equally reliable. Our comparative analysis demonstrated that FIDEGAM was the most accurate discriminator method in all scenarios of sampling exhaustiveness, and therefore, it can be efficiently applied to most databases in order to enhance the reliability of biodiversity analyses. PMID:23326357

  13. Assessing the suitability of summary data for two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses using MR-Egger regression: the role of the I2 statistic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowden, Jack; Del Greco M, Fabiola; Minelli, Cosetta; Davey Smith, George; Sheehan, Nuala A; Thompson, John R

    2016-12-01

    : MR-Egger regression has recently been proposed as a method for Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses incorporating summary data estimates of causal effect from multiple individual variants, which is robust to invalid instruments. It can be used to test for directional pleiotropy and provides an estimate of the causal effect adjusted for its presence. MR-Egger regression provides a useful additional sensitivity analysis to the standard inverse variance weighted (IVW) approach that assumes all variants are valid instruments. Both methods use weights that consider the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-exposure associations to be known, rather than estimated. We call this the `NO Measurement Error' (NOME) assumption. Causal effect estimates from the IVW approach exhibit weak instrument bias whenever the genetic variants utilized violate the NOME assumption, which can be reliably measured using the F-statistic. The effect of NOME violation on MR-Egger regression has yet to be studied. An adaptation of the I2 statistic from the field of meta-analysis is proposed to quantify the strength of NOME violation for MR-Egger. It lies between 0 and 1, and indicates the expected relative bias (or dilution) of the MR-Egger causal estimate in the two-sample MR context. We call it IGX2 . The method of simulation extrapolation is also explored to counteract the dilution. Their joint utility is evaluated using simulated data and applied to a real MR example. In simulated two-sample MR analyses we show that, when a causal effect exists, the MR-Egger estimate of causal effect is biased towards the null when NOME is violated, and the stronger the violation (as indicated by lower values of IGX2 ), the stronger the dilution. When additionally all genetic variants are valid instruments, the type I error rate of the MR-Egger test for pleiotropy is inflated and the causal effect underestimated. Simulation extrapolation is shown to substantially mitigate these adverse effects. We

  14. Computer Graphics Simulations of Sampling Distributions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Florence S.; Gordon, Sheldon P.

    1989-01-01

    Describes the use of computer graphics simulations to enhance student understanding of sampling distributions that arise in introductory statistics. Highlights include the distribution of sample proportions, the distribution of the difference of sample means, the distribution of the difference of sample proportions, and the distribution of sample…

  15. Choice of Sample Split in Out-of-Sample Forecast Evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Peter Reinhard; Timmermann, Allan

    , while conversely the power of forecast evaluation tests is strongest with long out-of-sample periods. To deal with size distortions, we propose a test statistic that is robust to the effect of considering multiple sample split points. Empirical applications to predictabil- ity of stock returns......Out-of-sample tests of forecast performance depend on how a given data set is split into estimation and evaluation periods, yet no guidance exists on how to choose the split point. Empirical forecast evaluation results can therefore be difficult to interpret, particularly when several values...... and inflation demonstrate that out-of-sample forecast evaluation results can critically depend on how the sample split is determined....

  16. Energy Statistics Manual; Manual de Estadisticas Energeticas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2007-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  17. Energy Statistics Manual; Enerji Istatistikleri El Kitabi

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-07-01

    Detailed, complete, timely and reliable statistics are essential to monitor the energy situation at a country level as well as at an international level. Energy statistics on supply, trade, stocks, transformation and demand are indeed the basis for any sound energy policy decision. For instance, the market of oil -- which is the largest traded commodity worldwide -- needs to be closely monitored in order for all market players to know at any time what is produced, traded, stocked and consumed and by whom. In view of the role and importance of energy in world development, one would expect that basic energy information to be readily available and reliable. This is not always the case and one can even observe a decline in the quality, coverage and timeliness of energy statistics over the last few years.

  18. Statistical Analysis of Research Data | Center for Cancer Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recent advances in cancer biology have resulted in the need for increased statistical analysis of research data. The Statistical Analysis of Research Data (SARD) course will be held on April 5-6, 2018 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the National Institutes of Health's Natcher Conference Center, Balcony C on the Bethesda Campus. SARD is designed to provide an overview on the general principles of statistical analysis of research data.  The first day will feature univariate data analysis, including descriptive statistics, probability distributions, one- and two-sample inferential statistics.

  19. Improving Instruction Using Statistical Process Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higgins, Ronald C.; Messer, George H.

    1990-01-01

    Two applications of statistical process control to the process of education are described. Discussed are the use of prompt feedback to teachers and prompt feedback to students. A sample feedback form is provided. (CW)

  20. How completely are physiotherapy interventions described in reports of randomised trials?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamato, Tiê P; Maher, Chris G; Saragiotto, Bruno T; Hoffmann, Tammy C; Moseley, Anne M

    2016-06-01

    Incomplete descriptions of interventions are a common problem in reports of randomised controlled trials. To date no study has evaluated the completeness of the descriptions of physiotherapy interventions. To evaluate the completeness of the descriptions of physiotherapy interventions in a random sample of reports of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). A random sample of 200 reports of RCTs from the PEDro database. We included full text papers, written in English, and reporting trials with two arms. We included trials evaluating any type of physiotherapy interventions and subdisciplines. The methodological quality was evaluated using the PEDro scale and completeness of intervention description using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist. The proportion and 95% confidence interval were calculated for intervention and control groups, and used to present the relationship between completeness and methodological quality, and subdisciplines. Completeness of intervention reporting in physiotherapy RCTs was poor. For intervention groups, 46 (23%) trials did not describe at least half of the items. Reporting was worse for control groups, 149 (75%) trials described less than half of the items. There was no clear difference in the completeness across subdisciplines or methodological quality. Our sample were restricted to trials published in English in 2013. Descriptions of interventions in physiotherapy RCTs are typically incomplete. Authors and journals should aim for more complete descriptions of interventions in physiotherapy trials. Copyright © 2016 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Effective sample labeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rieger, J.T.; Bryce, R.W.

    1990-01-01

    Ground-water samples collected for hazardous-waste and radiological monitoring have come under strict regulatory and quality assurance requirements as a result of laws such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. To comply with these laws, the labeling system used to identify environmental samples had to be upgraded to ensure proper handling and to protect collection personnel from exposure to sample contaminants and sample preservatives. The sample label now used as the Pacific Northwest Laboratory is a complete sample document. In the event other paperwork on a labeled sample were lost, the necessary information could be found on the label

  2. Multivariate statistical analysis a high-dimensional approach

    CERN Document Server

    Serdobolskii, V

    2000-01-01

    In the last few decades the accumulation of large amounts of in­ formation in numerous applications. has stimtllated an increased in­ terest in multivariate analysis. Computer technologies allow one to use multi-dimensional and multi-parametric models successfully. At the same time, an interest arose in statistical analysis with a de­ ficiency of sample data. Nevertheless, it is difficult to describe the recent state of affairs in applied multivariate methods as satisfactory. Unimprovable (dominating) statistical procedures are still unknown except for a few specific cases. The simplest problem of estimat­ ing the mean vector with minimum quadratic risk is unsolved, even for normal distributions. Commonly used standard linear multivari­ ate procedures based on the inversion of sample covariance matrices can lead to unstable results or provide no solution in dependence of data. Programs included in standard statistical packages cannot process 'multi-collinear data' and there are no theoretical recommen­ ...

  3. Evaluation of observables in statistical multifragmentation theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cole, A.J.

    1989-01-01

    The canonical formulation of equilibrium statistical multifragmentation is examined. It is shown that the explicit construction of observables (average values) by sampling the partition probabilities is unnecessary insofar as closed expressions in the form of recursion relations can be obtained quite easily. Such expressions may conversely be used to verify the sampling algorithms

  4. Statistical inference for the additive hazards model under outcome-dependent sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Jichang; Liu, Yanyan; Sandler, Dale P; Zhou, Haibo

    2015-09-01

    Cost-effective study design and proper inference procedures for data from such designs are always of particular interests to study investigators. In this article, we propose a biased sampling scheme, an outcome-dependent sampling (ODS) design for survival data with right censoring under the additive hazards model. We develop a weighted pseudo-score estimator for the regression parameters for the proposed design and derive the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator. We also provide some suggestions for using the proposed method by evaluating the relative efficiency of the proposed method against simple random sampling design and derive the optimal allocation of the subsamples for the proposed design. Simulation studies show that the proposed ODS design is more powerful than other existing designs and the proposed estimator is more efficient than other estimators. We apply our method to analyze a cancer study conducted at NIEHS, the Cancer Incidence and Mortality of Uranium Miners Study, to study the risk of radon exposure to cancer.

  5. Guidelines for the design and statistical analysis of experiments in papers submitted to ATLA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Festing, M F

    2001-01-01

    In vitro experiments need to be well designed and correctly analysed if they are to achieve their full potential to replace the use of animals in research. An "experiment" is a procedure for collecting scientific data in order to answer a hypothesis, or to provide material for generating new hypotheses, and differs from a survey because the scientist has control over the treatments that can be applied. Most experiments can be classified into one of a few formal designs, the most common being completely randomised, and randomised block designs. These are quite common with in vitro experiments, which are often replicated in time. Some experiments involve a single independent (treatment) variable, while other "factorial" designs simultaneously vary two or more independent variables, such as drug treatment and cell line. Factorial designs often provide additional information at little extra cost. Experiments need to be carefully planned to avoid bias, be powerful yet simple, provide for a valid statistical analysis and, in some cases, have a wide range of applicability. Virtually all experiments need some sort of statistical analysis in order to take account of biological variation among the experimental subjects. Parametric methods using the t test or analysis of variance are usually more powerful than non-parametric methods, provided the underlying assumptions of normality of the residuals and equal variances are approximately valid. The statistical analyses of data from a completely randomised design, and from a randomised-block design are demonstrated in Appendices 1 and 2, and methods of determining sample size are discussed in Appendix 3. Appendix 4 gives a checklist for authors submitting papers to ATLA.

  6. Special nuclear material inventory sampling plans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaccaro, H.S.; Goldman, A.S.

    1987-01-01

    This paper presents improved procedures for obtaining statistically valid sampling plans for nuclear facilities. The double sampling concept and methods for developing optimal double sampling plans are described. An algorithm is described that is satisfactory for finding optimal double sampling plans and choosing appropriate detection and false alarm probabilities

  7. Analysis of Statistical Methods Currently used in Toxicology Journals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Na, Jihye; Yang, Hyeri; Bae, SeungJin; Lim, Kyung-Min

    2014-09-01

    Statistical methods are frequently used in toxicology, yet it is not clear whether the methods employed by the studies are used consistently and conducted based on sound statistical grounds. The purpose of this paper is to describe statistical methods used in top toxicology journals. More specifically, we sampled 30 papers published in 2014 from Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Archives of Toxicology, and Toxicological Science and described methodologies used to provide descriptive and inferential statistics. One hundred thirteen endpoints were observed in those 30 papers, and most studies had sample size less than 10, with the median and the mode being 6 and 3 & 6, respectively. Mean (105/113, 93%) was dominantly used to measure central tendency, and standard error of the mean (64/113, 57%) and standard deviation (39/113, 34%) were used to measure dispersion, while few studies provide justifications regarding why the methods being selected. Inferential statistics were frequently conducted (93/113, 82%), with one-way ANOVA being most popular (52/93, 56%), yet few studies conducted either normality or equal variance test. These results suggest that more consistent and appropriate use of statistical method is necessary which may enhance the role of toxicology in public health.

  8. Introduction to applied Bayesian statistics and estimation for social scientists

    CERN Document Server

    Lynch, Scott M

    2007-01-01

    ""Introduction to Applied Bayesian Statistics and Estimation for Social Scientists"" covers the complete process of Bayesian statistical analysis in great detail from the development of a model through the process of making statistical inference. The key feature of this book is that it covers models that are most commonly used in social science research - including the linear regression model, generalized linear models, hierarchical models, and multivariate regression models - and it thoroughly develops each real-data example in painstaking detail.The first part of the book provides a detailed

  9. Predictors of completed childhood vaccination in Bolivia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osetinsky, Brianna; Gaydos, Laura M; Leon, Juan S

    This project examines how access issues, ethnicity, and geographic region affect vaccination of children by two years of age in Bolivia. Bolivia's rich variation in culture and geography results in unequal healthcare utilization even for basic interventions such as childhood vaccination. This study utilizes secondary data from the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey for Bolivia to examine predictors of vaccination completion in children by two years of age. Using logistic regression methods, we control for health system variables (difficulty getting to a health center and type of health center as well as demographic and socio-economic covariates). The results indicated that children whose parents reported distance as a problem in obtaining health care were less likely to have completed all vaccinations. Ethnicity was not independently statistically significant, however, in a sub-analysis, people from the Quechua ethnic group were more likely to report 'distance as a problem in obtaining healthcare.' Surprisingly, living in a rural environment has a protective effect on completed vaccinations. However, geographic region did predict significant differences in the probability that children would be fully vaccinated; children in the region with the lowest vaccination completion coverage were 80% less likely to have completed vaccination compared to children in the best performing region, which may indicate unequal access and utilization of health services nationally. Further study of regional differences, urbanicity, and distance as a healthcare access problem will help refine implications for the Bolivian health system.

  10. Prior knowledge regularization in statistical medical image tasks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crimi, Alessandro; Sporring, Jon; de Bruijne, Marleen

    2009-01-01

    The estimation of the covariance matrix is a pivotal step inseveral statistical tasks. In particular, the estimation becomes challeng-ing for high dimensional representations of data when few samples areavailable. Using the standard Maximum Likelihood estimation (MLE)when the number of samples ar...

  11. Uncertainty and sampling issues in tank characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liebetrau, A.M.; Pulsipher, B.A.; Kashporenko, D.M.

    1997-06-01

    A defensible characterization strategy must recognize that uncertainties are inherent in any measurement or estimate of interest and must employ statistical methods for quantifying and managing those uncertainties. Estimates of risk and therefore key decisions must incorporate knowledge about uncertainty. This report focuses statistical methods that should be employed to ensure confident decision making and appropriate management of uncertainty. Sampling is a major source of uncertainty that deserves special consideration in the tank characterization strategy. The question of whether sampling will ever provide the reliable information needed to resolve safety issues is explored. The issue of sample representativeness must be resolved before sample information is reliable. Representativeness is a relative term but can be defined in terms of bias and precision. Currently, precision can be quantified and managed through an effective sampling and statistical analysis program. Quantifying bias is more difficult and is not being addressed under the current sampling strategies. Bias could be bounded by (1) employing new sampling methods that can obtain samples from other areas in the tanks, (2) putting in new risers on some worst case tanks and comparing the results from existing risers with new risers, or (3) sampling tanks through risers under which no disturbance or activity has previously occurred. With some bound on bias and estimates of precision, various sampling strategies could be determined and shown to be either cost-effective or infeasible

  12. Statistical analysis of thermal conductivity of nanofluid containing ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Thermal conductivity measurements of nanofluids were analysed via two-factor completely randomized design and comparison of data means is carried out with Duncan's multiple-range test. Statistical analysis of experimental data show that temperature and weight fraction have a reasonable impact on the thermal ...

  13. Comparative statistical analysis of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects of uranium in groundwater samples from different regions of Punjab, India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saini, Komal; Singh, Parminder; Bajwa, Bikramjit Singh

    2016-01-01

    LED flourimeter has been used for microanalysis of uranium concentration in groundwater samples collected from six districts of South West (SW), West (W) and North East (NE) Punjab, India. Average value of uranium content in water samples of SW Punjab is observed to be higher than WHO, USEPA recommended safe limit of 30 µg l −1 as well as AERB proposed limit of 60 µg l −1 . Whereas, for W and NE region of Punjab, average level of uranium concentration was within AERB recommended limit of 60 µg l −1 . Average value observed in SW Punjab is around 3–4 times the value observed in W Punjab, whereas its value is more than 17 times the average value observed in NE region of Punjab. Statistical analysis of carcinogenic as well as non carcinogenic risks due to uranium have been evaluated for each studied district. - Highlights: • Uranium level in groundwater samples have been assessed in different regions of Punjab. • Comparative study of carcinogenic and non carcinogenic effects of uranium has been done. • Wide variation has been found for different geological regions. • It has been found that South west Punjab is worst affected by uranium contamination in its water. • For west and north east regions of Punjab, uranium levels in groundwater laid under recommended safe limits.

  14. Technical note: Instantaneous sampling intervals validated from continuous video observation for behavioral recording of feedlot lambs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pullin, A N; Pairis-Garcia, M D; Campbell, B J; Campler, M R; Proudfoot, K L

    2017-11-01

    When considering methodologies for collecting behavioral data, continuous sampling provides the most complete and accurate data set whereas instantaneous sampling can provide similar results and also increase the efficiency of data collection. However, instantaneous time intervals require validation to ensure accurate estimation of the data. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate scan sampling intervals for lambs housed in a feedlot environment. Feeding, lying, standing, drinking, locomotion, and oral manipulation were measured on 18 crossbred lambs housed in an indoor feedlot facility for 14 h (0600-2000 h). Data from continuous sampling were compared with data from instantaneous scan sampling intervals of 5, 10, 15, and 20 min using a linear regression analysis. Three criteria determined if a time interval accurately estimated behaviors: 1) ≥ 0.90, 2) slope not statistically different from 1 ( > 0.05), and 3) intercept not statistically different from 0 ( > 0.05). Estimations for lying behavior were accurate up to 20-min intervals, whereas feeding and standing behaviors were accurate only at 5-min intervals (i.e., met all 3 regression criteria). Drinking, locomotion, and oral manipulation demonstrated poor associations () for all tested intervals. The results from this study suggest that a 5-min instantaneous sampling interval will accurately estimate lying, feeding, and standing behaviors for lambs housed in a feedlot, whereas continuous sampling is recommended for the remaining behaviors. This methodology will contribute toward the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of future behavioral data collection in lamb behavior research.

  15. Quantitative and statistical approaches to geography a practical manual

    CERN Document Server

    Matthews, John A

    2013-01-01

    Quantitative and Statistical Approaches to Geography: A Practical Manual is a practical introduction to some quantitative and statistical techniques of use to geographers and related scientists. This book is composed of 15 chapters, each begins with an outline of the purpose and necessary mechanics of a technique or group of techniques and is concluded with exercises and the particular approach adopted. These exercises aim to enhance student's ability to use the techniques as part of the process by which sound judgments are made according to scientific standards while tackling complex problems. After a brief introduction to the principles of quantitative and statistical geography, this book goes on dealing with the topics of measures of central tendency; probability statements and maps; the problem of time-dependence, time-series analysis, non-normality, and data transformations; and the elements of sampling methodology. Other chapters cover the confidence intervals and estimation from samples, statistical hy...

  16. A method to classify neutrino events according to there completeness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Armenise, N.; Iaselli, G.

    1984-01-01

    Complete neutrino events are separated from the total sample with a discriminant analysis in a many fold space described in the text. Two new powerfull variables are found which discriminate with high efficiency and tag the event type as far as the completeness is concerned

  17. Using student models to generate feedback in a university course on statistical sampling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tacoma, S.G.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/411923080; Drijvers, P.H.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/074302922; Boon, P.B.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/203374207

    2017-01-01

    Due to the complexity of the topic and a lack of individual guidance, introductory statistics courses at university are often challenging. Automated feedback might help to address this issue. In this study, we explore the use of student models to provide feedback. The research question is how

  18. A Framework for Assessing High School Students' Statistical Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Shiau Wei; Ismail, Zaleha; Sumintono, Bambang

    2016-01-01

    Based on a synthesis of literature, earlier studies, analyses and observations on high school students, this study developed an initial framework for assessing students' statistical reasoning about descriptive statistics. Framework descriptors were established across five levels of statistical reasoning and four key constructs. The former consisted of idiosyncratic reasoning, verbal reasoning, transitional reasoning, procedural reasoning, and integrated process reasoning. The latter include describing data, organizing and reducing data, representing data, and analyzing and interpreting data. In contrast to earlier studies, this initial framework formulated a complete and coherent statistical reasoning framework. A statistical reasoning assessment tool was then constructed from this initial framework. The tool was administered to 10 tenth-grade students in a task-based interview. The initial framework was refined, and the statistical reasoning assessment tool was revised. The ten students then participated in the second task-based interview, and the data obtained were used to validate the framework. The findings showed that the students' statistical reasoning levels were consistent across the four constructs, and this result confirmed the framework's cohesion. Developed to contribute to statistics education, this newly developed statistical reasoning framework provides a guide for planning learning goals and designing instruction and assessments.

  19. Some challenges with statistical inference in adaptive designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, H M James; Wang, Sue-Jane; Yang, Peiling

    2014-01-01

    Adaptive designs have generated a great deal of attention to clinical trial communities. The literature contains many statistical methods to deal with added statistical uncertainties concerning the adaptations. Increasingly encountered in regulatory applications are adaptive statistical information designs that allow modification of sample size or related statistical information and adaptive selection designs that allow selection of doses or patient populations during the course of a clinical trial. For adaptive statistical information designs, a few statistical testing methods are mathematically equivalent, as a number of articles have stipulated, but arguably there are large differences in their practical ramifications. We pinpoint some undesirable features of these methods in this work. For adaptive selection designs, the selection based on biomarker data for testing the correlated clinical endpoints may increase statistical uncertainty in terms of type I error probability, and most importantly the increased statistical uncertainty may be impossible to assess.

  20. Induction of micronuclei in hemocytes of Mytilus edulis and statistical analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wrisberg, M. N.; Bilbo, Carl M.; Spliid, Henrik

    1992-01-01

    biological variation, emphasizing the importance of application of a correct statistical method. A systematic approach to the statistical evaluation of the mussel MN test is outlined. The statistical model includes three different situations: (a) estimation of parameters of a single sample, (b) estimation...

  1. Sampling Participants' Experience in Laboratory Experiments: Complementary challenges for more complete data collection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan eMcAuliffe

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Speelman and McGann's (2013 examination of the uncritical way in which the mean is often used in psychological research raises questions both about the average's reliability and its validity. In the present paper, we argue that interrogating the validity of the mean involves, amongst other things, a better understanding of the person's experiences, the meaning of their actions, at the time that the behaviour of interest is carried out. Recently emerging approaches within Psychology and Cognitive Science have argued strongly that experience should play a more central role in our examination of behavioural data, but the relationship between experience and behaviour remains very poorly understood. We outline some of the history of the science on this fraught relationship, as well as arguing that contemporary methods for studying experience fall into one of two categories. Wide approaches tend to incorporate naturalistic behaviour settings, but sacrifice accuracy and reliability in behavioural measurement. Narrow approaches maintain controlled measurement of behaviour, but involve too specific a sampling of experience, which obscures crucial temporal characteristics. We therefore argue for a novel, mid-range sampling technique, that extends Hurlburt's Descriptive Experience Sampling, and adapts it for the controlled setting of the laboratory. This Controlled Descriptive Experience Sampling may be an appropriate tool to help calibrate both the mean and the meaning of an experimental situation with one another.

  2. Efficient statistical tests to compare Youden index: accounting for contingency correlation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Fangyao; Xue, Yuqiang; Tan, Ming T; Chen, Pingyan

    2015-04-30

    Youden index is widely utilized in studies evaluating accuracy of diagnostic tests and performance of predictive, prognostic, or risk models. However, both one and two independent sample tests on Youden index have been derived ignoring the dependence (association) between sensitivity and specificity, resulting in potentially misleading findings. Besides, paired sample test on Youden index is currently unavailable. This article develops efficient statistical inference procedures for one sample, independent, and paired sample tests on Youden index by accounting for contingency correlation, namely associations between sensitivity and specificity and paired samples typically represented in contingency tables. For one and two independent sample tests, the variances are estimated by Delta method, and the statistical inference is based on the central limit theory, which are then verified by bootstrap estimates. For paired samples test, we show that the estimated covariance of the two sensitivities and specificities can be represented as a function of kappa statistic so the test can be readily carried out. We then show the remarkable accuracy of the estimated variance using a constrained optimization approach. Simulation is performed to evaluate the statistical properties of the derived tests. The proposed approaches yield more stable type I errors at the nominal level and substantially higher power (efficiency) than does the original Youden's approach. Therefore, the simple explicit large sample solution performs very well. Because we can readily implement the asymptotic and exact bootstrap computation with common software like R, the method is broadly applicable to the evaluation of diagnostic tests and model performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Statistical mechanics of the vertex-cover problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartmann, Alexander K.; Weigt, Martin

    2003-10-01

    We review recent progress in the study of the vertex-cover problem (VC). The VC belongs to the class of NP-complete graph theoretical problems, which plays a central role in theoretical computer science. On ensembles of random graphs, VC exhibits a coverable-uncoverable phase transition. Very close to this transition, depending on the solution algorithm, easy-hard transitions in the typical running time of the algorithms occur. We explain a statistical mechanics approach, which works by mapping the VC to a hard-core lattice gas, and then applying techniques such as the replica trick or the cavity approach. Using these methods, the phase diagram of the VC could be obtained exactly for connectivities c e, the solution of the VC exhibits full replica symmetry breaking. The statistical mechanics approach can also be used to study analytically the typical running time of simple complete and incomplete algorithms for the VC. Finally, we describe recent results for the VC when studied on other ensembles of finite- and infinite-dimensional graphs.

  4. Statistical mechanics of the vertex-cover problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartmann, Alexander K; Weigt, Martin

    2003-01-01

    We review recent progress in the study of the vertex-cover problem (VC). The VC belongs to the class of NP-complete graph theoretical problems, which plays a central role in theoretical computer science. On ensembles of random graphs, VC exhibits a coverable-uncoverable phase transition. Very close to this transition, depending on the solution algorithm, easy-hard transitions in the typical running time of the algorithms occur. We explain a statistical mechanics approach, which works by mapping the VC to a hard-core lattice gas, and then applying techniques such as the replica trick or the cavity approach. Using these methods, the phase diagram of the VC could be obtained exactly for connectivities c e, the solution of the VC exhibits full replica symmetry breaking. The statistical mechanics approach can also be used to study analytically the typical running time of simple complete and incomplete algorithms for the VC. Finally, we describe recent results for the VC when studied on other ensembles of finite- and infinite-dimensional graphs

  5. Statistics of Monte Carlo methods used in radiation transport calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Datta, D.

    2009-01-01

    Radiation transport calculation can be carried out by using either deterministic or statistical methods. Radiation transport calculation based on statistical methods is basic theme of the Monte Carlo methods. The aim of this lecture is to describe the fundamental statistics required to build the foundations of Monte Carlo technique for radiation transport calculation. Lecture note is organized in the following way. Section (1) will describe the introduction of Basic Monte Carlo and its classification towards the respective field. Section (2) will describe the random sampling methods, a key component of Monte Carlo radiation transport calculation, Section (3) will provide the statistical uncertainty of Monte Carlo estimates, Section (4) will describe in brief the importance of variance reduction techniques while sampling particles such as photon, or neutron in the process of radiation transport

  6. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) scores generated from the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF test booklets: internal structure comparability in a sample of criminal defendants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarescavage, Anthony M; Alosco, Michael L; Ben-Porath, Yossef S; Wood, Arcangela; Luna-Jones, Lynn

    2015-04-01

    We investigated the internal structure comparability of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) scores derived from the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF booklets in a sample of 320 criminal defendants (229 males and 54 females). After exclusion of invalid protocols, the final sample consisted of 96 defendants who were administered the MMPI-2-RF booklet and 83 who completed the MMPI-2. No statistically significant differences in MMPI-2-RF invalidity rates were observed between the two forms. Individuals in the final sample who completed the MMPI-2-RF did not statistically differ on demographics or referral question from those who were administered the MMPI-2 booklet. Independent t tests showed no statistically significant differences between MMPI-2-RF scores generated with the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF booklets on the test's substantive scales. Statistically significant small differences were observed on the revised Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN-r) and True Response Inconsistency (TRIN-r) scales. Cronbach's alpha and standard errors of measurement were approximately equal between the booklets for all MMPI-2-RF scales. Finally, MMPI-2-RF intercorrelations produced from the two forms yielded mostly small and a few medium differences, indicating that discriminant validity and test structure are maintained. Overall, our findings reflect the internal structure comparability of MMPI-2-RF scale scores generated from MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF booklets. Implications of these results and limitations of these findings are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

  7. TRAN-STAT, Issue No. 2, November 1977. Topics discussed: some statistical aspects in the evaluation of environmental transuranic contamination for possible remedial action

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, R.O.

    1977-11-01

    Some statistical aspects surrounding the question of whether an area contaminated to some extent by transuranium elements requires some type of remedial action to guard against a possible health hazard to man are discussed. It is assumed that an upper limit on the level of contamination in soil has been set and that the main problem is to collect environmental soil sampled in order to make a decision whether the area being samples does exceed the agreed upon limits. Methods discussed involve the specifications of two types of errors that can be made when deciding whether a specified land area being sampled requires action. These are taking remedial action when none is required and not taking remedial action when such action should be taken. These two types of errors are referred to by statisticians as Type I and Type II errors respectively. In practice, one can never be absolutely sure that he has not made one of these errors since the entire area cannot be sampled. In the absence of complete knowledge there is always the possibility of error. A statistical problem is to determine the number, type, and placement of samples to insure that the probability of making these two types of errors is not too large

  8. The statistics of galaxies: beyond correlation functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lachieze-Rey, M.

    1988-01-01

    I mention some normalization problems encountered when estimating the 2-point correlation functions in samples of galaxies of different average densities. I present some aspects of the void probability function as a statistical indicator, free of such normalization problems. Finally I suggest a new statistical approach to give an account in a synthetic way of those aspects of the galaxy distribution that a conventional method is unable to characterize

  9. Towards Cost-efficient Sampling Methods

    OpenAIRE

    Peng, Luo; Yongli, Li; Chong, Wu

    2014-01-01

    The sampling method has been paid much attention in the field of complex network in general and statistical physics in particular. This paper presents two new sampling methods based on the perspective that a small part of vertices with high node degree can possess the most structure information of a network. The two proposed sampling methods are efficient in sampling the nodes with high degree. The first new sampling method is improved on the basis of the stratified random sampling method and...

  10. The price of electricity from private power producers: Stage 2, Expansion of sample and preliminary statistical analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Comnes, G.A.; Belden, T.N.; Kahn, E.P.

    1995-02-01

    The market for long-term bulk power is becoming increasingly competitive and mature. Given that many privately developed power projects have been or are being developed in the US, it is possible to begin to evaluate the performance of the market by analyzing its revealed prices. Using a consistent method, this paper presents levelized contract prices for a sample of privately developed US generation properties. The sample includes 26 projects with a total capacity of 6,354 MW. Contracts are described in terms of their choice of technology, choice of fuel, treatment of fuel price risk, geographic location, dispatchability, expected dispatch niche, and size. The contract price analysis shows that gas technologies clearly stand out as the most attractive. At an 80% capacity factor, coal projects have an average 20-year levelized price of $0.092/kWh, whereas natural gas combined cycle and/or cogeneration projects have an average price of $0.069/kWh. Within each technology type subsample, however, there is considerable variation. Prices for natural gas combustion turbines and one wind project are also presented. A preliminary statistical analysis is conducted to understand the relationship between price and four categories of explanatory factors including product heterogeneity, geographic heterogeneity, economic and technological change, and other buyer attributes (including avoided costs). Because of residual price variation, we are unable to accept the hypothesis that electricity is a homogeneous product. Instead, the analysis indicates that buyer value still plays an important role in the determination of price for competitively-acquired electricity.

  11. Statistical and quantitative research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1984-01-01

    Environmental impacts may escape detection if the statistical tests used to analyze data from field studies are inadequate or the field design is not appropriate. To alleviate this problem, PNL scientists are doing theoretical research which will provide the basis for new sampling schemes or better methods to analyze and present data. Such efforts have resulted in recommendations about the optimal size of study plots, sampling intensity, field replication, and program duration. Costs associated with any of these factors can be substantial if, for example, attention is not paid to the adequacy of a sampling scheme. In the study of dynamics of large-mammal populations, the findings are sometimes surprising. For example, the survival of a grizzly bear population may hinge on the loss of one or two adult females per year

  12. Multiple commodities in statistical microeconomics: Model and market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal E.; Yu, Miao; Du, Xin

    2016-11-01

    A statistical generalization of microeconomics has been made in Baaquie (2013). In Baaquie et al. (2015), the market behavior of single commodities was analyzed and it was shown that market data provides strong support for the statistical microeconomic description of commodity prices. The case of multiple commodities is studied and a parsimonious generalization of the single commodity model is made for the multiple commodities case. Market data shows that the generalization can accurately model the simultaneous correlation functions of up to four commodities. To accurately model five or more commodities, further terms have to be included in the model. This study shows that the statistical microeconomics approach is a comprehensive and complete formulation of microeconomics, and which is independent to the mainstream formulation of microeconomics.

  13. Cross-correlation redshift calibration without spectroscopic calibration samples in DES Science Verification Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, C.; Rozo, E.; Roodman, A.; Alarcon, A.; Cawthon, R.; Gatti, M.; Lin, H.; Miquel, R.; Rykoff, E. S.; Troxel, M. A.; Vielzeuf, P.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Allam, S.; Annis, J.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bertin, E.; Brooks, D.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Burke, D. L.; Carnero Rosell, A.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Carretero, J.; Castander, F. J.; Crocce, M.; Cunha, C. E.; D'Andrea, C. B.; da Costa, L. N.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Doel, P.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Fausti Neto, A.; Flaugher, B.; Fosalba, P.; Frieman, J.; García-Bellido, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Giannantonio, T.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; Jain, B.; James, D. J.; Jeltema, T.; Krause, E.; Kuehn, K.; Kuhlmann, S.; Kuropatkin, N.; Lahav, O.; Li, T. S.; Lima, M.; March, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Martini, P.; Melchior, P.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Plazas, A. A.; Romer, A. K.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schindler, R.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, M.; Soares-Santos, M.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; Thomas, D.; Vikram, V.; Walker, A. R.; Wechsler, R. H.

    2018-06-01

    Galaxy cross-correlations with high-fidelity redshift samples hold the potential to precisely calibrate systematic photometric redshift uncertainties arising from the unavailability of complete and representative training and validation samples of galaxies. However, application of this technique in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is hampered by the relatively low number density, small area, and modest redshift overlap between photometric and spectroscopic samples. We propose instead using photometric catalogues with reliable photometric redshifts for photo-z calibration via cross-correlations. We verify the viability of our proposal using redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to successfully recover the redshift distribution of SDSS spectroscopic galaxies. We demonstrate how to combine photo-z with cross-correlation data to calibrate photometric redshift biases while marginalizing over possible clustering bias evolution in either the calibration or unknown photometric samples. We apply our method to DES Science Verification (DES SV) data in order to constrain the photometric redshift distribution of a galaxy sample selected for weak lensing studies, constraining the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions to a statistical uncertainty of Δz ˜ ±0.01. We forecast that our proposal can, in principle, control photometric redshift uncertainties in DES weak lensing experiments at a level near the intrinsic statistical noise of the experiment over the range of redshifts where redMaPPer clusters are available. Our results provide strong motivation to launch a programme to fully characterize the systematic errors from bias evolution and photo-z shapes in our calibration procedure.

  14. Robust statistical methods with R

    CERN Document Server

    Jureckova, Jana

    2005-01-01

    Robust statistical methods were developed to supplement the classical procedures when the data violate classical assumptions. They are ideally suited to applied research across a broad spectrum of study, yet most books on the subject are narrowly focused, overly theoretical, or simply outdated. Robust Statistical Methods with R provides a systematic treatment of robust procedures with an emphasis on practical application.The authors work from underlying mathematical tools to implementation, paying special attention to the computational aspects. They cover the whole range of robust methods, including differentiable statistical functions, distance of measures, influence functions, and asymptotic distributions, in a rigorous yet approachable manner. Highlighting hands-on problem solving, many examples and computational algorithms using the R software supplement the discussion. The book examines the characteristics of robustness, estimators of real parameter, large sample properties, and goodness-of-fit tests. It...

  15. Applied multivariate statistics with R

    CERN Document Server

    Zelterman, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    This book brings the power of multivariate statistics to graduate-level practitioners, making these analytical methods accessible without lengthy mathematical derivations. Using the open source, shareware program R, Professor Zelterman demonstrates the process and outcomes for a wide array of multivariate statistical applications. Chapters cover graphical displays, linear algebra, univariate, bivariate and multivariate normal distributions, factor methods, linear regression, discrimination and classification, clustering, time series models, and additional methods. Zelterman uses practical examples from diverse disciplines to welcome readers from a variety of academic specialties. Those with backgrounds in statistics will learn new methods while they review more familiar topics. Chapters include exercises, real data sets, and R implementations. The data are interesting, real-world topics, particularly from health and biology-related contexts. As an example of the approach, the text examines a sample from the B...

  16. Some statistical aspects of the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, M.G.; Giacomini, J.J.; Friesen, H.N.

    1979-01-01

    Cleaning up the radionuclide contamination at Enewetak Atoll has involved a number of statistical design problems. Theoretical considerations led to choosing a grid sampling pattern; practical problems sometimes lead to resampling on a finer grid. Other problems associated with using grids have been both physical and statistical. The standard sampling system is an in situ intrinsic gamma detector which measures americium concentration. The cleanup guidelines include plutonium concentration, so additional sampling of soil is required to establish Pu/Am ratios. The soil sampling design included both guidelines for location of the samples and also a special pattern of subsamples making up composite samples. The large variance of the soil, sample results makes comparison between the two types difficult anyway, but this is compounded by vegetation attenuation of the in situ readings, soil disturbance influences, and differences in devegetation methods. The constraints inherent in doing what amounts to a research and development project, on a limited budget of time and money, in a field engineering environment are also considered

  17. High speed network sampling

    OpenAIRE

    Rindalsholt, Ole Arild

    2005-01-01

    Master i nettverks- og systemadministrasjon Classical Sampling methods play an important role in the current practice of Internet measurement. With today’s high speed networks, routers cannot manage to generate complete Netflow data for every packet. They have to perform restricted sampling. This thesis summarizes some of the most important sampling schemes and their applications before diving into an analysis on the effect of sampling Netflow records.

  18. Renyi statistics in equilibrium statistical mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parvan, A.S.; Biro, T.S.

    2010-01-01

    The Renyi statistics in the canonical and microcanonical ensembles is examined both in general and in particular for the ideal gas. In the microcanonical ensemble the Renyi statistics is equivalent to the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics. By the exact analytical results for the ideal gas, it is shown that in the canonical ensemble, taking the thermodynamic limit, the Renyi statistics is also equivalent to the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics. Furthermore it satisfies the requirements of the equilibrium thermodynamics, i.e. the thermodynamical potential of the statistical ensemble is a homogeneous function of first degree of its extensive variables of state. We conclude that the Renyi statistics arrives at the same thermodynamical relations, as those stemming from the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics in this limit.

  19. Including Below Detection Limit Samples in Post Decommissioning Soil Sample Analyses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jung Hwan; Yim, Man Sung [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    To meet the required standards the site owner has to show that the soil at the facility has been sufficiently cleaned up. To do this one must know the contamination of the soil at the site prior to clean up. This involves sampling that soil to identify the degree of contamination. However there is a technical difficulty in determining how much decontamination should be done. The problem arises when measured samples are below the detection limit. Regulatory guidelines for site reuse after decommissioning are commonly challenged because the majority of the activity in the soil at or below the limit of detection. Using additional statistical analyses of contaminated soil after decommissioning is expected to have the following advantages: a better and more reliable probabilistic exposure assessment, better economics (lower project costs) and improved communication with the public. This research will develop an approach that defines an acceptable method for demonstrating compliance of decommissioned NPP sites and validates that compliance. Soil samples from NPP often contain censored data. Conventional methods for dealing with censored data sets are statistically biased and limited in their usefulness.

  20. Prospective elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rabia KARATOPRAK

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated prospective elementary (PEMTs and secondary (PSMTs school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning. The study began with the adaptation of the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (Garfield, 2003 test. Then, the test was administered to 82 PEMTs and 91 PSMTs in a metropolitan city of Turkey. Results showed that both groups were equally successful in understanding independence, and understanding importance of large samples. However, results from selecting appropriate measures of center together with the misconceptions assessing the same subscales showed that both groups selected mode rather than mean as an appropriate average. This suggested their lack of attention to the categorical and interval/ratio variables while examining data. Similarly, both groups were successful in interpreting and computing probability; however, they had equiprobability bias, law of small numbers and representativeness misconceptions. The results imply a change in some questions in the Statistical Reasoning Assessment test and that teacher training programs should include statistics courses focusing on studying characteristics of samples.

  1. Memory-type control charts in statistical process control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abbas, N.

    2012-01-01

    Control chart is the most important statistical tool to manage the business processes. It is a graph of measurements on a quality characteristic of the process on the vertical axis plotted against time on the horizontal axis. The graph is completed with control limits that cause variation mark. Once

  2. Statistical Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Joseph W.

    2000-07-01

    The Wiley Classics Library consists of selected books that have become recognized classics in their respective fields. With these new unabridged and inexpensive editions, Wiley hopes to extend the life of these important works by making them available to future generations of mathematicians and scientists. Currently available in the Series: T. W. Anderson The Statistical Analysis of Time Series T. S. Arthanari & Yadolah Dodge Mathematical Programming in Statistics Emil Artin Geometric Algebra Norman T. J. Bailey The Elements of Stochastic Processes with Applications to the Natural Sciences Robert G. Bartle The Elements of Integration and Lebesgue Measure George E. P. Box & Norman R. Draper Evolutionary Operation: A Statistical Method for Process Improvement George E. P. Box & George C. Tiao Bayesian Inference in Statistical Analysis R. W. Carter Finite Groups of Lie Type: Conjugacy Classes and Complex Characters R. W. Carter Simple Groups of Lie Type William G. Cochran & Gertrude M. Cox Experimental Designs, Second Edition Richard Courant Differential and Integral Calculus, Volume I RIchard Courant Differential and Integral Calculus, Volume II Richard Courant & D. Hilbert Methods of Mathematical Physics, Volume I Richard Courant & D. Hilbert Methods of Mathematical Physics, Volume II D. R. Cox Planning of Experiments Harold S. M. Coxeter Introduction to Geometry, Second Edition Charles W. Curtis & Irving Reiner Representation Theory of Finite Groups and Associative Algebras Charles W. Curtis & Irving Reiner Methods of Representation Theory with Applications to Finite Groups and Orders, Volume I Charles W. Curtis & Irving Reiner Methods of Representation Theory with Applications to Finite Groups and Orders, Volume II Cuthbert Daniel Fitting Equations to Data: Computer Analysis of Multifactor Data, Second Edition Bruno de Finetti Theory of Probability, Volume I Bruno de Finetti Theory of Probability, Volume 2 W. Edwards Deming Sample Design in Business Research

  3. Contribution to the study of the dependence in the limit between various statistics of a sample; Contribution a l'etude des liaisons limites entre differentes statistiques d'un echantillon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosengard, A [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1966-02-01

    With a view to the investigation of the dependence in the limit between some statistics, we give general definitions of the independence in the limit and some of their properties are investigated. We then give some necessary and sufficient conditions for the independence in the limit between sample mean and orders statistics, in particular quantities and extreme values. For example, we show that, for bounded variance laws, the sample mean and orders statistics, in particular quantities and extreme values. For example, we show that, for bounded variance laws, the sample mean tends to become independent of the extreme values, whereas it is asymptotically dependent on the quantities, with a positive correlation coefficient for which an expression is given. We investigate also the case in which variance is unbounded. (author) [French] Afin d'etudier la liaison limite entre certaines statistiques d'un echantillon, on est amene a donner des definitions generales de l'independance limite, et a en etudier quelques proprietes. On donne ensuite les conditions necessaires et suffisantes pour l'independance limite des statistiques d'ordre, et on etudie la liaison limite entre la moyenne et les statistiques d'ordre, en particulier quantites et valeurs extremes. On montre par exemple, que pour des lois dont la variance est finie, la moyenne tend a devenir independante des valeurs extremes, alors qu'elle est asymptotiquement liee aux quantites, avec un coefficient de correlation positif, dont on donne l'expression. On etudie egalement le cas ou la variance est infinie. (auteur)

  4. Acceptance sampling using judgmental and randomly selected samples

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sego, Landon H.; Shulman, Stanley A.; Anderson, Kevin K.; Wilson, John E.; Pulsipher, Brent A.; Sieber, W. Karl

    2010-09-01

    We present a Bayesian model for acceptance sampling where the population consists of two groups, each with different levels of risk of containing unacceptable items. Expert opinion, or judgment, may be required to distinguish between the high and low-risk groups. Hence, high-risk items are likely to be identifed (and sampled) using expert judgment, while the remaining low-risk items are sampled randomly. We focus on the situation where all observed samples must be acceptable. Consequently, the objective of the statistical inference is to quantify the probability that a large percentage of the unsampled items in the population are also acceptable. We demonstrate that traditional (frequentist) acceptance sampling and simpler Bayesian formulations of the problem are essentially special cases of the proposed model. We explore the properties of the model in detail, and discuss the conditions necessary to ensure that required samples sizes are non-decreasing function of the population size. The method is applicable to a variety of acceptance sampling problems, and, in particular, to environmental sampling where the objective is to demonstrate the safety of reoccupying a remediated facility that has been contaminated with a lethal agent.

  5. Elderly complete denture wearers: a social approach to tooth loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadaki, Eftychia; Anastassiadou, Vassiliki

    2012-06-01

    To correlate emotional reactions to tooth loss with denture satisfaction attributes in elderly complete denture wearers. Total tooth loss is a serious life event, and poor oral health has an impact on daily life. Edentulism treated by rehabilitation with dentures can have a positive effect on patients' self-image and social behaviour. A group of 80 edentulous subjects undergoing routine prosthetic care in a Greek Department of Prosthetic Dentistry were interviewed using two structured questionnaires. The first questionnaire explored reactions to tooth loss, whereas the second measured their subjective experience of complete dentures. The responses to both questionnaires were compared using the statistical package SPSS v.17. The results showed significant correlation between aspects of tooth loss experience and complete denture satisfaction. Despite the fact that a substantial proportion of patients were satisfied with their complete dentures, some patients experienced increased social and psychological problems related to their edentulousness and the wearing of complete dentures. The aesthetic and functional aspects of complete dentures affected both patients' social behaviour and self-confidence. Total tooth loss was not only reflected in patient's social behaviour and self-image, but it had a complex and multifaceted impact on satisfaction from complete dentures. © 2011 The Gerodontology Society and John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  6. Random sampling or geostatistical modelling? Choosing between design-based and model-based sampling strategies for soil (with discussion)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brus, D.J.; Gruijter, de J.J.

    1997-01-01

    Classical sampling theory has been repeatedly identified with classical statistics which assumes that data are identically and independently distributed. This explains the switch of many soil scientists from design-based sampling strategies, based on classical sampling theory, to the model-based

  7. Predicting Drug Court Treatment Completion Using the MMPI-2-RF

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattson, Curtis; Powers, Bradley; Halfaker, Dale; Akeson, Steven; Ben-Porath, Yossef

    2012-01-01

    We examined the ability of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008) substantive scales to predict Drug Court treatment completion in a sample of individuals identified as being at risk for failure to complete the program. Higher scores on MMPI-2-RF scales…

  8. Microcanonical ensemble extensive thermodynamics of Tsallis statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parvan, A.S.

    2005-01-01

    The microscopic foundation of the generalized equilibrium statistical mechanics based on the Tsallis entropy is given by using the Gibbs idea of statistical ensembles of the classical and quantum mechanics.The equilibrium distribution functions are derived by the thermodynamic method based upon the use of the fundamental equation of thermodynamics and the statistical definition of the functions of the state of the system. It is shown that if the entropic index ξ = 1/q - 1 in the microcanonical ensemble is an extensive variable of the state of the system, then in the thermodynamic limit z bar = 1/(q - 1)N = const the principle of additivity and the zero law of thermodynamics are satisfied. In particular, the Tsallis entropy of the system is extensive and the temperature is intensive. Thus, the Tsallis statistics completely satisfies all the postulates of the equilibrium thermodynamics. Moreover, evaluation of the thermodynamic identities in the microcanonical ensemble is provided by the Euler theorem. The principle of additivity and the Euler theorem are explicitly proved by using the illustration of the classical microcanonical ideal gas in the thermodynamic limit

  9. Microcanonical ensemble extensive thermodynamics of Tsallis statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parvan, A.S.

    2006-01-01

    The microscopic foundation of the generalized equilibrium statistical mechanics based on the Tsallis entropy is given by using the Gibbs idea of statistical ensembles of the classical and quantum mechanics. The equilibrium distribution functions are derived by the thermodynamic method based upon the use of the fundamental equation of thermodynamics and the statistical definition of the functions of the state of the system. It is shown that if the entropic index ξ=1/(q-1) in the microcanonical ensemble is an extensive variable of the state of the system, then in the thermodynamic limit z-bar =1/(q-1)N=const the principle of additivity and the zero law of thermodynamics are satisfied. In particular, the Tsallis entropy of the system is extensive and the temperature is intensive. Thus, the Tsallis statistics completely satisfies all the postulates of the equilibrium thermodynamics. Moreover, evaluation of the thermodynamic identities in the microcanonical ensemble is provided by the Euler theorem. The principle of additivity and the Euler theorem are explicitly proved by using the illustration of the classical microcanonical ideal gas in the thermodynamic limit

  10. Completeness and overlap in open access systems: Search engines, aggregate institutional repositories and physics-related open sources.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Yueh Tsay

    Full Text Available This study examines the completeness and overlap of coverage in physics of six open access scholarly communication systems, including two search engines (Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic, two aggregate institutional repositories (OAIster and OpenDOAR, and two physics-related open sources (arXiv.org and Astrophysics Data System. The 2001-2013 Nobel Laureates in Physics served as the sample. Bibliographic records of their publications were retrieved and downloaded from each system, and a computer program was developed to perform the analytical tasks of sorting, comparison, elimination, aggregation and statistical calculations. Quantitative analyses and cross-referencing were performed to determine the completeness and overlap of the system coverage of the six open access systems. The results may enable scholars to select an appropriate open access system as an efficient scholarly communication channel, and academic institutions may build institutional repositories or independently create citation index systems in the future. Suggestions on indicators and tools for academic assessment are presented based on the comprehensiveness assessment of each system.

  11. Statistical correlation of structural mode shapes from test measurements and NASTRAN analytical values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purves, L.; Strang, R. F.; Dube, M. P.; Alea, P.; Ferragut, N.; Hershfeld, D.

    1983-01-01

    The software and procedures of a system of programs used to generate a report of the statistical correlation between NASTRAN modal analysis results and physical tests results from modal surveys are described. Topics discussed include: a mathematical description of statistical correlation, a user's guide for generating a statistical correlation report, a programmer's guide describing the organization and functions of individual programs leading to a statistical correlation report, and a set of examples including complete listings of programs, and input and output data.

  12. Statistical characterization report for Single-Shell Tank 241-T-107

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cromar, R.D.; Wilmarth, S.R.; Jensen, L.

    1994-01-01

    This report contains the results of the statistical analysis of data from three core samples obtained from single-shell tank 241-T-107 (T-107). Four specific topics are addressed. They are summarized below. Section 3.0 contains mean concentration estimates of analytes found in T-107. The estimates of open-quotes errorclose quotes associated with the concentration estimates are given as 95% confidence intervals (CI) on the mean. The results given are based on three types of samples: core composite samples, core segment samples, and drainable liquid samples. Section 4.0 contains estimates of the spatial variability (variability between cores and between segments) and the analytical variability (variability between the primary and the duplicate analysis). Statistical tests were performed to test the hypothesis that the between cores and the between segments spatial variability is zero. The results of the tests are as follows. Based on the core composite data, the between cores variance is significantly different from zero for 35 out of 74 analytes; i.e., for 53% of the analytes there is no statistically significant difference between the concentration means for two cores. Based on core segment data, the between segments variance is significantly different from zero for 22 out of 24 analytes and the between cores variance is significantly different from zero for 4 out of 24 analytes; i.e., for 8% of the analytes there is no statistically significant difference between segment means and for 83% of the analytes there is no difference between the means from the three cores. Section 5.0 contains the results of the application of multiple comparison methods to the core composite data, the core segment data, and the drainable liquid data. Section 6.0 contains the results of a statistical test conducted to determine the 222-S Analytical Laboratory's ability to homogenize solid core segments

  13. 'Intelligent' approach to radioimmunoassay sample counting employing a microprocessor controlled sample counter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ekins, R.P.; Sufi, S.; Malan, P.G.

    1977-01-01

    The enormous impact on medical science in the last two decades of microanalytical techniques employing radioisotopic labels has, in turn, generated a large demand for automatic radioisotopic sample counters. Such instruments frequently comprise the most important item of capital equipment required in the use of radioimmunoassay and related techniques and often form a principle bottleneck in the flow of samples through a busy laboratory. It is therefore particularly imperitive that such instruments should be used 'intelligently' and in an optimal fashion to avoid both the very large capital expenditure involved in the unnecessary proliferation of instruments and the time delays arising from their sub-optimal use. The majority of the current generation of radioactive sample counters nevertheless rely on primitive control mechanisms based on a simplistic statistical theory of radioactive sample counting which preclude their efficient and rational use. The fundamental principle upon which this approach is based is that it is useless to continue counting a radioactive sample for a time longer than that required to yield a significant increase in precision of the measurement. Thus, since substantial experimental errors occur during sample preparation, these errors should be assessed and must be releted to the counting errors for that sample. It is the objective of this presentation to demonstrate that the combination of a realistic statistical assessment of radioactive sample measurement, together with the more sophisticated control mechanisms that modern microprocessor technology make possible, may often enable savings in counter usage of the order of 5-10 fold to be made. (orig.) [de

  14. Effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury for 489 program completers compared with those precipitously discharged.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altman, Irwin M; Swick, Shannon; Parrot, Devan; Malec, James F

    2010-11-01

    To evaluate outcomes of home- and community-based postacute brain injury rehabilitation (PABIR). Retrospective analysis of program evaluation data for treatment completers and noncompleters. Home- and community-based PABIR conducted in 7 geographically distinct U.S. cities. Patients (N=489) with traumatic brain injury who completed the prescribed course of rehabilitation (completed-course-of-treatment [CCT] group) compared with 114 who were discharged precipitously before program completion (precipitous-discharge [PD] group). PABIR delivered in home and community settings by certified professional staff on an individualized basis. Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI-4) completed by means of professional consensus on admission and at discharge; MPAI-4 Participation Index at 3- and 12-month follow-up through telephone contact. Analysis of covariance (CCT vs PD group as between-subjects variable, admission MPAI-4 score as covariate) showed significant differences between groups at discharge on the full MPAI-4 (F=82.25; P<.001), Ability Index (F=50.24; P<.001), Adjustment Index (F=81.20; P<.001), and Participation Index (F=59.48; P<.001). A large portion of the sample was lost to follow-up; however, available data showed that group differences remained statistically significant at follow-up. Results provided evidence of the effectiveness of home- and community-based PABIR and that treatment effects were maintained at follow-up. Copyright © 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Applying Statistical Process Control to Clinical Data: An Illustration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfadt, Al; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Principles of statistical process control are applied to a clinical setting through the use of control charts to detect changes, as part of treatment planning and clinical decision-making processes. The logic of control chart analysis is derived from principles of statistical inference. Sample charts offer examples of evaluating baselines and…

  16. Statistical physics of an anyon gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dasnieres de Veigy, A.

    1994-01-01

    In quantum two-dimensional physics, anyons are particles which have an intermediate statistics between Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics. The wave amplitude can change by an arbitrary phase under particle exchanges. Contrary to bosons or fermions, the permutation group cannot uniquely characterize this phase and one must introduce the braid group. One shows that the statistical ''interaction'' is equivalent to an Aharonov-Bohm interaction which derives from a Chern-Simons lagrangian. The main subject of this thesis is the thermodynamics of an anyon gas. Since the complete spectrum of N anyons seems out of reach, we have done a perturbative computation of the equation of state at second order near Bose or Fermi statistics. One avoids ultraviolet divergences by noticing that the short-range singularities of the statistical interaction enforce the wave functions to vanish when two particles approach each other (statistical exclusion). The gas is confined in a harmonic well in order to obtain the thermodynamics limit when the harmonic attraction goes to zero. Infrared divergences thus cancel in this limit and a finite virial expansion is obtained. The complexity of the anyon model appears in this result. We have also computed the equation of state of an anyon gas in a magnetic field strong enough to project the system in its degenerate groundstate. This result concerns anyons with any statistics. One then finds an exclusion principle generalizing the Pauli principle to anyons. On the other hand, we have defined a model of two-dimensional particles topologically interacting at a distance. The anyon model is recovered as a particular case where all particles are identical. (orig.)

  17. Developing Sampling Frame for Case Study: Challenges and Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishak, Noriah Mohd; Abu Bakar, Abu Yazid

    2014-01-01

    Due to statistical analysis, the issue of random sampling is pertinent to any quantitative study. Unlike quantitative study, the elimination of inferential statistical analysis, allows qualitative researchers to be more creative in dealing with sampling issue. Since results from qualitative study cannot be generalized to the bigger population,…

  18. Application of blended learning in teaching statistical methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Dębska

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the application of a hybrid method (blended learning - linking traditional education with on-line education to teach selected problems of mathematical statistics. This includes the teaching of the application of mathematical statistics to evaluate laboratory experimental results. An on-line statistics course was developed to form an integral part of the module ‘methods of statistical evaluation of experimental results’. The course complies with the principles outlined in the Polish National Framework of Qualifications with respect to the scope of knowledge, skills and competencies that students should have acquired at course completion. The paper presents the structure of the course and the educational content provided through multimedia lessons made accessible on the Moodle platform. Following courses which used the traditional method of teaching and courses which used the hybrid method of teaching, students test results were compared and discussed to evaluate the effectiveness of the hybrid method of teaching when compared to the effectiveness of the traditional method of teaching.

  19. A weighted generalized score statistic for comparison of predictive values of diagnostic tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosinski, Andrzej S

    2013-03-15

    Positive and negative predictive values are important measures of a medical diagnostic test performance. We consider testing equality of two positive or two negative predictive values within a paired design in which all patients receive two diagnostic tests. The existing statistical tests for testing equality of predictive values are either Wald tests based on the multinomial distribution or the empirical Wald and generalized score tests within the generalized estimating equations (GEE) framework. As presented in the literature, these test statistics have considerably complex formulas without clear intuitive insight. We propose their re-formulations that are mathematically equivalent but algebraically simple and intuitive. As is clearly seen with a new re-formulation we presented, the generalized score statistic does not always reduce to the commonly used score statistic in the independent samples case. To alleviate this, we introduce a weighted generalized score (WGS) test statistic that incorporates empirical covariance matrix with newly proposed weights. This statistic is simple to compute, always reduces to the score statistic in the independent samples situation, and preserves type I error better than the other statistics as demonstrated by simulations. Thus, we believe that the proposed WGS statistic is the preferred statistic for testing equality of two predictive values and for corresponding sample size computations. The new formulas of the Wald statistics may be useful for easy computation of confidence intervals for difference of predictive values. The introduced concepts have potential to lead to development of the WGS test statistic in a general GEE setting. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. An Experience of Statistical Method Application in Forest Survey at Angara River Region in 1932

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. N. Vashchuk

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Report of the Angara forest economic expedition of forest economic survey in 1932 on the left bank of the Angara River has been found. The survey covered a part of Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk region, a total area of 18641.8 thousand ha. The report describes technology of forest inventory and achievements that have not previously been published. The survey was conducted by statistical method, which consisted of a sample by a continuous forest inventory enumeration of trees on sample plots (SP, arranged in an array on a particular system, followed by mathematical-statistical recalculation of the sample results to the entire survey. To do this, strip finders (sights were cut in the latitudinal direction at a distance from one another at 16 km. On the hacked sights, by every 2 km, 0.1 ha (10 × 100 m SP were established. In total 32 forest inventory sights were hacked, with total length of 9931 km, which incorporated 4817 SP. The accuracy of forest resources’ inventory characteristics determining also was investigated using smaller sample plots. For this purpose, each of the SP were cut to smaller area of 0.01 ha (10 × 10 m, where independent continuous enumeration of trees was conducted, andsample trees were cut, measured and bucked to the assortments, to explore the tree stand assortment structure. At each «sample cutting area» all the trees were felled out from 44 cm and above DBH. At half of the sample plot with 5 × 10 m size, located in the eastern end, all the trees were felled out and measured from 24 cm and above DBH. Every four «sample cutting area» in the fifth, all the trees with 12 cm and above DBH were cut down and measured. According to the results of the work, a detailed description of forest resources in the whole Angara river basin, and across 17 forest exploitation areas was completed.