<p>The purpose of this research is to reveal and compare the language proficiency profiles of Purdue’s Chinese and Indian graduate applicants in various disciplines to take a step towards the development of Language Proficiency Literacy (LPL) of graduate admissions decision makers. The study argues that before being able to offer LPL development opportunities to admissions decision-makers, language testers need to gain admissions literacy in their specific academic context. One way this can be achieved is by analyzing graduate admissions data to see patterns of test score use in each discipline and to reveal language proficiency profiles of graduate applicants. Providing admissions decision makers with information about the linguistic characteristics of their applicants can be a very helpful step towards enhancing LPL in the context of graduate admissions. </p> <p>One of the analyses conducted towards the goal LPL development in the context of graduate admissions was a Cluster Analysis procedure followed by a Chi-square analysis to compare the language proficiency profiles of graduate applicants from various L1 backgrounds based on scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The study found three language proficiency profiles in graduate applicants’ TOEFL data: 1) the ‘unbalanced’ profile, which consists of applicants who have higher scores in the subskills of reading and listening, and comparatively lower scores on speaking and writing, 2) the ‘balanced medium’ profile, which represents students who have moderate scores across all four subskills, and 3) the ‘balanced high’ profile, which consists of applicants who have high scores across all four subskills. The study found evidence for the interaction between graduate applicant test-takers’ L1 background and belonging to a balanced or an unbalanced language proficiency profile, which highlights the importance of considering subskill scores in addition the total score when using language proficiency test scores to select graduate students from specific L1 backgrounds.</p>

Digital twins have become a large part of new cyber-physical systems as they allow for the simulation of a physical object in the digital world. In addition to the new approaches of digital twins, machines have become more intelligent, allowing them to produce more data than ever before. Within the area of digital twins, there is a need for a less complex approach than a fully optimised digital twin. This approach is more like a digital shadow of the physical object. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is to study machine states and statistical distributions for all sensors in a machine. Where as majority of studies in the literature focuses on generating data from a digital twin, this study focuses on what characteristics a digital twin have. The solution is by defining a term named digital machine template that contains the states and statistical properties of each sensor in a given machine. The primary approach is to create a proof of work application that uses traditional data mining technologies and clustering to analyze how many states there are in a machine and how the sensor data is structured. It all results in a digital machine template with all of the information mentioned above. The results contain all the states a machine might have and the possible statistical distributions of each senor in each state. The digital machine template opens the possibility of using it as a basis for creating a digital twins. It allows the time of development to be shorter than that of a regular digital twin. More research still needs to be done as the less complex approach may lead to missing information or information not being interpreted correctly. It still shows promises as a less complex way of looking at digital twins since it may become necessary due to digital twins becoming even more complex by the day.

Groundwater analyses have revealed high concentrations of the toxic element arsenic around Stockholm and Mälardalen, a problem that often is linked to high levels of arsenic in the bedrock and which could be escalated by the many construction projects in the same region. However, it is unknown what part of the bedrock is causing the contamination. The aim of this thesis is to identify the chemical elements that associate with arsenic and study how the rock types differ in their content of elements and compounds. The highest median concentration of arsenic is found in quartz-feltspar-rich sedimentary rock, while intrusive rock types reveal the lowest levels. Using cluster analysis, arsenic is placed in a group including nine other elements, to which the strongest correlations are found with antimony, bismuth and silver. A moderate correlation with sulphur is also observed. The associations between groupings of elements are analysed using measures of dependence, which reveal relatively strong associations. Dimension reduction and ordination techniques provide further insight to the typical appearances of elements and reveal two groups of similar rock types.

Background: No previous study has focused on the inter-relationship among alcohol and drug use variables in the past year. This study aimed to classify the past year alcohol and drug use variables and investigate the selected variables in past year alcohol and drug use with the unmet need for mental health services among US adults. Methods: Data came from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Oblique principal component cluster analysis (OPCCA) was used to classify 37 variables on alcohol and drug use in the past year into disjoint clusters. Weighted multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations of selected variables with the unmet need. Results: 37 alcohol and drug use variables were divided into 7 clusters. The variable with the lowest 1-R2 ratio (R2 is the squared correlation) from each cluster was selected as follows: tobacco use, pain reliever use, tranquilizer use, stimulant use, zolpidem products use, illicit drug and alcohol use, and benzodiazepine tranquilizers misuse. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that pain reliever use (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.17–1.50), tranquilizer use (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 2.16–2.86), stimulant use (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.01–1.47), and illicit drug and alcohol use (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.34–1.77) revealed positive associations with the unmet need for mental health services. Conclusion: This is the first study using OPCCA to reduce the dominations of alcohol and drug use; several alcohol and drug use variables in the past year were associated with unmet need of mental health services.

The purpose of this work is a detailed description of spring precipitation totals in the Czech Republic, which has not been examined in more detail yet. The main aims of the diploma thesis are i) comparison of precipitation characteristics at individual stations for the period 1984-2014 and analysis of temporal and spatial variability of precipitation, ii) division of stations into three categories (lowland stations, stations in middle positions, mountain stations) based on altitude, average spring total precipitation and surrounding relief, and iii) division of stations by cluster analysis and comparison of precipitation characteristics between individual categories of stations obtained by subjective and objective methods. Statistical and precipitation characteristics include monthly and seasonal precipitation total, numbers of wet and dry days, numbers of days with a total above 5,10,15, and 20 mm, frequency and length of dry and wet periods, index of torrential rainfall and trends of these characteristics. The results show increasing linear trends of spring precipitation totals in all station categories, however these trends are statistically insignificant. The driest stations are lowland stations with an average spring precipitation total of 139,3 mm, the highest median of 169 dry periods, and...

The present thesis utilises dynamic time warping and cluster analysis with the aim of discovering different touristic profiles. GPS data of cruise passengers intra-destination movement at the destination of Visby, Gotland, was used in the analysis. Further stop detection was performed so as to compare stop activity and stop allocation between the clusters. Four tourist profiles were derived by juxtaposing the category of attractions/areas where high stop densities were found, with the spatial dispersal of stop activity, denoted as either exhibiting a concentrated or exploring pattern. Some key influencers of tourists' spatio-temporal behaviour were also identified. These included whether the cruise passengers appeared to have taken some mode of transportation upon their on-shore visit, whether the area was dense in activities/facilities oriented towards tourists and the time spent at the destination. The contribution of this thesis is twofold. First this thesis contributes to previous research by developing and testing a methodological approach utilising dynamic time warping to investigate cruise passengers' spatio-temporal behaviour at a destination. Second, the results of the thesis may aid destination managers in finding tools and strategies that are tailored after the unique opportunities and challenges posed by different tourist profiles.

No description available.

This diploma thesis analyzes mortality from external causes in the region of CZ between 2014 and 2018. The main focus is on external causes of death as a group, suicide rates, and mortality from traffic accidents. Another aim of this thesis is, besides the description of mortality from external causes, to identify regional correlation and differences in mortality from external causes and selected causes of death (suicides and traffic accidents). This study uses correlation, factor, and cluster analysis. Because of the low numbers of deaths in the case of women (in all dependent variables), the study analyzes mortality from both sexes together. Based on created factors clusters of regions are developed. Results show the difference between regions in CZ in mortality external causes. Regions also vary in suicide mortality rates and traffic accident mortality rates. Independent variables that correlate with mortality from external causes vary for external causes as a group, for suicides, and for mortality from traffic accidents. Keywords: external causes of death, suicides, traffic accidents, factor analysis, cluster analysis

No description available.

Credit institutions constitute a central part of life as it is today and has been doing so for a long time. A fault within the banking system can cause a tremendous amount of damage to individuals as well as countries. A recent and memorable fault is the global financial crisis 2007-2009. It has affected millions of people in different ways ever since it struck. What caused it is a complex issue which cannot be answered easily. But what has been done to prevent something similar to occur once again? How has the business models of the credit institutions changed since the crisis? Cluster analysis is used in this thesis to address these questions. Banking-data were processed with Calinski-Harabasz Criterion and Ward's method and this resulted in two clusters being found. A cluster is a collection of observations that have similar characteristics or business model in this case. The business models that the clusters represents are universal banking with a retail focus and universal banking with a wholesale focus. These business models have been analyzed over time (2007-2016), which revealed that the credit institutions have developed in a healthy direction. Thus, credit institutions were more financially reliable in 2016 compared to 2007. According to trends in the data this development is likely to continue. / Kreditinstituten utgör en central del av livet som det ser ut idag och har gjort det under en lång tid. Ett fel inom banksystemet kan orsaka enorma skador för individer likväl som länder. Ett nutida och minnesvärt fel är den globala finanskrisen 2007-2009. Den har påverkat millioner människor på olika vis ända sedan den slog till. Vad som orsakade den är en komplex fråga som inte kan besvaras med lätthet. Men vad har gjorts för att förebygga att något liknande händer igen? Hur har affärsmodellerna för kreditinstituten ändrats sedan krisen? Klusteranalys används i denna rapport för att adressera dessa frågor. Bankdata processerades med Calinski-Harabasz Kriteriet and Wards metod och detta resulterade i att två kluster hittades. Ett kluster är en samling observationer med liknande karakteristik eller affärsmodell i detta fall. De affärsmodeller som klustrena representerar är universella banker med retail fokus samt universella banker med wholessale fokus. Dessa affärsmodeller har analyserats över tid, vilket har avslöjat att kreditinstituten har utvecklats i en hälsosam riktning. Kreditinstituten var mer finansiellt pålitliga 2016 jämfört med 2007. Enligt trender i datan så är det troligt att denna utveckling forsätter.