Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

A curva de retenção da água no solo é um dos principais instrumentos para avaliar a qualidade física dos solos e possibilitar seu manejo adequado. Por meio da Teoria da Capilaridade vários equipamentos foram desenvolvidos para determinar a intensidade com que a água está retida ao solo, porém, pouco se tem dado atenção para verificar se os pressupostos para o real funcionamento da teoria estão sendo atendidos. Um aspecto refere-se ao tamanho da amostra utilizada para determinar a curva de retenção, de modo que haja continuidade dos feixes capilares na amostra e placa porosa. Desta forma, este trabalho propõe avaliar diferentes tamanhos de amostra indeformada para a determinação da curva de retenção. Para isso, coletaram-se amostras em anéis volumétricos cilíndricos de três tamanhos (altura) diferentes (T1 - 0,075 m; T2 - 0,05 m; T3 - 0,025 m;) e mesmo diâmetro interno (0,07 m), dos horizontes diagnósticos de um Latossolo e um Nitossolo em áreas experimentais da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq/USP), Piracicaba - SP. Realizou-se a caracterização física destes solos, por meio da análise granulométrica, densidade do solo, densidade de partículas, porosidade total e teor de carbono orgânico. As curvas foram determinadas para cada tamanho de amostra, utilizando-se o Funil de Haines, para as tensões 0,5, 1, 4, 6 e 10 kPa, e a Câmara de Pressão de Richards para 33, 100 e 500 kPa. As curvas de retenção foram ajustadas pelo modelo utilizado por van Genuchten. Estimadas as curvas, avaliou-se a distribuição de poros do solo das amostras, determinando-se a curva de frequência acumulada de poros em função do logaritmo do raio e, depois pela diferenciação das equações de ajuste das curvas de retenção, a curva diferencial de frequência acumulada de poros. Os resultados mostram que o Latossolo, por ter textura arenosa no horizonte estudado, não apresentou diferença significativa nas curvas de retenção para os tamanhos das amostras estudadas. Verificou-se pouca modificação na distribuição dos poros deste solo, que possui teor elevado das frações areia fina e muito fina, e desenvolveram papel importante para a retenção de água. O Nitossolo, por sua vez, apresentou diferença significativa da curva obtida pela amostra de menor tamanho (T3), havendo maior retenção de água com a diminuição do tamanho da amostra. Devido a sua textura muito argilosa, o arranjo estrutural deste solo foi diferenciado ao se utilizar as amostras maiores, com provável interrupção e descontinuidade dos feixes capilares. Consequentemente, houve também alteração na distribuição dos poros, com redução dos mesoporos e aumento dos microporos. Desta forma, pode-se concluir que o tamanho da amostra influenciou a curva de retenção da água devido à complexidade estrutural do solo, que provavelmente é diferente nas amostras maiores por causa da continuidade dos feixes capilares, principalmente no Nitossolo. Em outras palavras, quanto menor o tamanho da amostra há menor diferenciação no arranjo de poros, ou seja, maior proximidade da real condição do solo e, assim, uma interpretação da retenção de água \"mais correta\" por meio da Teoria da Capilaridade. / The soil water retention curve is one of main tools to assess the physical quality of the soil and to make possible its adequate management. By means of the Capillary Theory, many instruments have been developed to determine the water retention forces in soil, but, little attention has been given to check whether the assumptions for the application of the theory are being attended. One aspect relates to the sample size used to determine the retention curve, so that there is capillary continuity of the sample and porous plate. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate different sizes of undisturbed cylindrical samples for determination of the retention curve. The samples were collected from diagnostic horizons of Latosol and a Nitosol, in experimental areas of the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq/USP), Piracicaba - SP. Three volumetric rings with three different heights (T1 - 0,075 m; T2 - 0,05 m; T3 - 0,025 m;), were used the diameter of the rings were the same for the three sizes (0,07 m). The physical characterization soils were made by the granulometric analysis, bulk density, particle density, porosity and organic carbon. The curves were determined for each sample size, using the Haine\'s funnel, for tensions 0.5, 1, 4, 6 and 10 kPa, and Richard\'s pressure chamber for 33, 100 and 500 kPa. The pore size distribution of the soil was evoluated first by determining the cumulative frequency curve of pore radius, and then, by differentiating fitling equation of fluis curve to obtain a differential curve of pore cumulative frequency. The retention curves were fitted by the model used by Van Genuchtem. The results showed that in the Latosol there was no significant difference in retention curves for the sizes of the samples studied. There was little change in pore distribution of the fluis soil with high content of fractions fine and very fine sand, that developes significant role in soil water retention. The Nitosol exhibited significant difference of the curve obtained by the smallest size sample (T3), with greater water retention with the decreasing of the sample size. Because of its very clayey texture, the structural arrangement of this soil was different when larger samples were used, with probable interruption and discontinuity of capillaries. Consequently there was also a change in the pore distribution, with reduction of mesopores and an increase of micropores. Thus, itean be conclude that the sample size influenced the soil water retention curve due to the structural complexity of the soil that probably is different in the bigger sample because of the continuity of the capillary budles fluit was more affected in the Nitosol. In other words, the smaller the sample size, the smaller the difference in the arrangement of pores, that is, more closeness of the actual condition of the soil and so a \"more correct\" interpretation of soil water retention by capillary theory.

To shorten the time for drug development and regulatory approval, a growing number of clinical trials are being conducted in multiple regions simultaneously. One of the challenges to multi-regional clinical trials (MRCT) is how to utilize the data obtained from other regions within the entire trial to help make local approval decisions. In addition to the global efficacy, the evidence of consistency in treatment effects between the local region and the entire trial is usually required for regional approval. In recent years, a number of statistical models and consistency criteria have been proposed. The sample size requirement for the region of interest was also studied. However, there is no specific regional requirement being broadly accepted; sample size planning considering regional requirement of all regions of interest is not well developed; how to apply the adaptive design to MRCT has not been studied. In this dissertation, we have made a number of contributions. First, we propose a unified regional requirement for the consistency assessment of MRCT, which generalizes the requirements proposed by Ko et al. (2010), Chen et al. (2012) and Tsong et al. (2012), make recommendations for choosing the value of parameters defining the proposed requirement, and determine the sample size increase needed to preserve power. Second, we propose two optimal designs for MRCT: minimal total sample size design and maximal utility design, which will provide more effective sample size allocation to ensure certain overall power and assurance probabilities of all interested regions. We also introduce the factors which should be considered in designing MRCT and analyze how each factor affects sample size planning. Third, we propose an unblinded region-level adaptive design to perform sample size re-estimation and re-allocation at interim based on the observed values of each region. We can determine not only whether to stop the whole MRCT based on the conditional power, but also whether to stop any individual region based on the conditional success rate at interim. The simulation results support that the proposed adaptive design has better performance than the classical design in terms of overall power and success rate of each region.

abstract: The existing minima for sample size and test length recommendations for DIMTEST (750 examinees and 25 items) are tied to features of the procedure that are no longer in use. The current version of DIMTEST uses a bootstrapping procedure to remove bias from the test statistic and is packaged with a conditional covariance-based procedure called ATFIND for partitioning test items. Key factors such as sample size, test length, test structure, the correlation between dimensions, and strength of dependence were manipulated in a Monte Carlo study to assess the effectiveness of the current version of DIMTEST with fewer examinees and items. In addition, the DETECT program was also used to partition test items; a second feature of this study also compared the structure of test partitions obtained with ATFIND and DETECT in a number of ways. With some exceptions, the performance of DIMTEST was quite conservative in unidimensional conditions. The performance of DIMTEST in multidimensional conditions depended on each of the manipulated factors, and did suggest that the minima of sample size and test length can be made lower for some conditions. In terms of partitioning test items in unidimensional conditions, DETECT tended to produce longer assessment subtests than ATFIND in turn yielding different test partitions. In multidimensional conditions, test partitions became more similar and were more accurate with increased sample size, for factorially simple data, greater strength of dependence, and a decreased correlation between dimensions. Recommendations for sample size and test length minima are provided along with suggestions for future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2012

O Estado de São Paulo é o principal produtor de uvas de mesa do país, sendo a Niágara Rosada (Vitis Labrusca) a cultivar predominante. Para se oferecer produtos de qualidade ao mercado, os produtores necessitam determinar, periodicamente, o estado de maturação das uvas, sendo o teor de sólidos solúveis (tss), a principal variável avaliada. Para essa determinação, utilizase a amostragem dos frutos na área cultivada. O presente trabalho discute, assim, os métodos de amostragem estratificado e aleatório, e o tamanho adequado da amostra de baga individual, para avaliar o estado de maturação da uva Niágara Rosada, com base no teor de sólidos solúveis. O tamanho adequado da amostra de baga individual foi encontrado para os dois métodos de amostragem, separadamente, utilizando-se os métodos Máxima Curvatura, Máxima Curvatura Modificado e Curva da Variancia. Os métodos de amostragem foram comparados utilizando-se uma análise univariada para dados com medidas repetidas, através dos procedimentos GLM e MIXED do SAS. Foram utilizados dois procedimentos, para que se produzisse resultados confiáveis. Os tamanhos mínimos de amostra de baga individual requeridos, para os métodos estratificado e aleatório foram aproximadamente 30 e 27 bagas por área, respectivamente. Os métodos de amostragem estudados apresentaram diferença significativa, e o método aleatório apresentou grande variação máxima e mínima por planta, devendo assim, ser evitado para esse tipo de estudo. / Sao Paulo state is the main table grape producer in Brazil, being the Niágara Rosada (Vitis Labrusca) the predominant cultivar. To offer quality products to the market, the producers need to determine, periodically, the grapes maturation state, being the content of soluble solids the main variable measured. To determine this content, a sample of fruits in an area is collected. This work approaches the random and the stratified sampling methods and the appropriate sample size of individual berry to evaluate the maturation state of the Niágara Rosada based on the content of soluble solids. The appropriate sample size for individual berry was obtained for two sampling methods, separately, using the Maximum Curvature, Modified Maximum Curvature and Variance Curve methods. The sampling methods were compared using a univariate analysis for repeated measures data using the SAS GLM and MIXED procedures. Two different procedures were used to attain reliable results. The minimum berry sample size required for stratified and random methods were approximately 30 and 27 berries by area, respectively. The sampling methods investigated present significantly different results, and the random method presented high maximum and minimum variation by plant and should be avoided for this kind of study.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is a legume used in crop rotation, for biomass formation, biological nitrogen fixation and control of nematodes. More and more studies are being conducted with this culture and an estimate of adequate sample size becomes very important. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the sample size to estimate the average morphological and productive traits sunn hemp and verify the variability of the sample size between traits and evaluation periods. And then performing two uniform trials. Both trials were conducted in the field, in the 2014/2015 crop, with sowings in october and december, assessing 300 plants per season. The evaluations of morphological traits (plant height and number of leaves) were held weekly throughout the cycle. The evaluations of the two other morphological traits (stem diameter and root length) and productive traits (fresh and dry matter of leaf, stem, root, the aerial part and total) were evaluated at flowering plants. For each character calculated the sample size for the confidence interval semiamplitudes (estimation errors) equal to 2, 4, ..., 20% of the average estimate. To estimate the average plant height and number of leaves there is variability of the sample size between the stages of development of culture, being necessary sample size at the beginning of the cycle. There is variability between the morphological traits, and the number of leaves require a larger sample size than the other traits. The sample size is larger for the production when compared to morphological traits. There is variability in sample size between the sowing dates. To estimate the average morphological traits with a maximum error of 10% and 95% confidence level should be assessed at least 70 plants and productive traits with a maximum error of 20% and 95% confidence level is due evaluate at least 101 plants. / A crotalária juncea (Crotalaria juncea L.) é uma leguminosa, utilizada na rotação de culturas, para formação de biomassa, fixação biológica de nitrogênio e controle de nematóides. Cada vez mais estudos estão sendo realizados com essa cultura e uma estimativa do tamanho de amostra adequado torna-se de grande importância. Deste modo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar o tamanho de amostra para a estimação da média de caracteres morfológicos e produtivos de crotalária juncea e verificar a variabilidade do tamanho de amostra entre caracteres e épocas de avaliação. Sendo então realizados dois ensaios de uniformidade. Ambos os ensaios foram conduzidos a campo, na safra 2014/2015, com semeaduras em outubro e dezembro, avaliando-se 300 plantas por época. As avaliações dos caracteres morfológicos (altura de planta e número de folhas) foram realizadas semanalmente durante todo o ciclo. As avaliações dos outros dois caracteres morfológicos (diâmetro de caule e comprimento de raiz) bem como os caracteres produtivos (massas de matéria fresca e seca de folha, de caule, de raiz, de parte aérea e total) foram avaliados no florescimento das plantas. Para cada caractere foi calculado o tamanho de amostra para as semiamplitudes do intervalo de confiança (erros de estimação) iguais a 2, 4,..., 20% da estimativa da média. Para estimação da média da altura de planta e do número de folhas há variabilidade do tamanho de amostra entre as fases de desenvolvimento da cultura, sendo necessário maior tamanho de amostra no início do ciclo da cultura. Existe variabilidade entre os caracteres morfológicos, sendo que o número de folhas necessita de maior tamanho de amostra do que os demais caracteres. O tamanho de amostra é maior para os caracteres produtivos quando comparados aos morfológicos. Há variabilidade no tamanho de amostra entre as épocas de semeadura. Para estimar as médias dos caracteres morfológicos com um erro máximo de 10% e nível de confiança de 95% deve-se avaliar no mínimo 70 plantas e para caracteres produtivos com um erro máximo de 20% e nível de confiança de 95% deve-se avaliar no mínimo 101 plantas.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The sample size represents the number of plants to be evaluated for an appropriate experimental design. It is assumed that there is variability in the sample size between characters, between evaluation periods and between growing seasons. The objective of this study was: to determine the sample size for morphological and productive characters of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) and check for variability in sample size (number of plants) between the evaluation periods and between crop years. Two tests of uniformity (experiments without treatments) were conducted during two growing seasons. In the first growing season, 2011/ 12 crop, the sowing was broadcasted with the second growing season, 2012/13 crop, sowing was done in rows spaced 0.50 m. The floor area in each of the experiments was 1.848 m2 and 360 plants were marked in the central area on a gride 2 m × 2 m. 11 characters (plant height, number of nodes and stem diameter) were evaluated in 13 seasons in the first growing season and 22 times in the second growing season, green the other characters (green mass of root, stem, leaf mass shoot and total dry root, stem, leaf, dry weight of shoot and total dry mass) mass green mass were evaluated in a time each crop year. For each character, descriptive statistics were calculated and verified normality by using the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test, and the randomness Run Test. For each character, we calculated the sample size (η), for semiamplitudes confidence interval (estimation errors) equal to 2, 4, 6, ...,20 % of the estimated mean (m), with a coefficient confidence (1 - α) of 95 %. Η was set at 360 plants, and the estimation error was calculated as a percentage of the estimated mean (m) for each of the characters. There is variability in the sample size between morphological and productive characters of pigeonpea for morphological and productive characters between crop years and morphological characters between the evaluation periods. / O tamanho de amostra representa o número de plantas a serem avaliadas para um adequado planejamento experimental. Supõe-se que há variabilidade do tamanho de amostra entre caracteres, entre épocas de avaliação e entre anos agrícolas. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi: determinar o tamanho de amostra, para caracteres morfológicos e produtivos de feijão guandu (Cajanus cajan) e verificar se há variabilidade no tamanho de amostra (número de plantas) entre as épocas de avaliação e entre os anos agrícolas. Foram conduzidos dois ensaios de uniformidade (experimentos sem tratamentos), durante dois anos agrícolas. No primeiro ano agrícola, safra 2011/12, a semeadura foi realizada a lanço e no segundo ano agrícola, safra 2012/13, a semeadura foi realizada em linhas espaçadas 0,50 m. A área útil, em cada um dos experimentos foi de 1.848 m2, e foram demarcadas 360 plantas, na área central, em um gride de 2 m × 2 m. Foram avaliados 11 caracteres, (altura de planta, número de nós e diâmetro do caule) em 13 épocas no primeiro ano agrícola e em 22 épocas no segundo ano agrícola, os demais caracteres (massa verde de raiz, caule, folha, massa verde de parte aérea e massa verde total e massa seca de raiz, caule, folha, massa seca de parte aérea e massa seca total) foram avaliados em uma época cada ano agrícola. Para cada caractere, foram calculadas estatísticas descritivas e verificadas a normalidade, por meio do teste de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, e a aleatoriedade pelo Run Test. Para cada caractere, foi calculado o tamanho de amostra (η), para as semiamplitudes do intervalo de confiança (erros de estimação) iguais a 2, 4, 6, ..., 20% da estimativa da média (m), com coeficiente de confiança (1-α) de 95%. Fixou-se η em 360 plantas, e foi calculado o erro de estimação em percentagem da estimativa da média (m) para cada um dos caracteres. Há variabilidade do tamanho de amostra entre caracteres morfológicos e produtivos de feijão guandu, para caracteres morfológicos e produtivos entre os anos agrícolas e para caracteres morfológicos entre as épocas de avaliação.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Statistics / Haiyan Wang / Various tests have been created to compare the means of two populations in many scenarios and applications. The two-sample t-test, Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test and bootstrap-t test are commonly used methods. However, methods for skewed two-sample data set are not well studied. In this dissertation, several existing two sample tests were evaluated and four new tests were proposed to improve the test accuracy under moderate sample size and high population skewness. The proposed work starts with derivation of a first order Edgeworth expansion for the test statistic of the two sample t-test. Using this result, new two-sample tests based on Cornish Fisher expansion (TCF tests) were created for both cases of common variance and unequal variances. These tests can account for population skewness and give more accurate test results. We also developed three new tests based on three transformations (T[subscript i] test, i = 1; 2; 3) for the pooled case, which can be used to eliminate the skewness of the studentized statistic. In this dissertation, some theoretical properties of the newly proposed tests are presented. In particular, we derived the order of type I error rate accuracy of the pooled two-sample t-test based on normal approximation (TN test), the TCF and T[subscript i] tests. We proved that these tests give the same theoretical type I error rate under skewness. In addition, we derived the power function of the TCF and TN tests as a function of the population parameters. We also provided the detailed conditions under which the theoretical power of the two-sample TCF test is higher than the two-sample TN test. Results from extensive simulation studies and real data analysis were also presented in this dissertation. The empirical results further confirm our theoretical results. Comparing with commonly used two-sample parametric and nonparametric tests, our new tests (TCF and Ti) provide the same empirical type I error rate but higher power.

L'effectif est une question majeure de la planification d'un essai randomisé et n'est pas trivial à définir. Déterminer la taille de l'échantillon d'un point de vue statistique correspond à maitriser le taux d'erreur de type II sous l'hypothèse d'une certaine différence entre les bras de traitement. Une étude est conventionnellement considérée comme correctement planifiée quand elle assure un taux d'erreur de type II à 20%, voire 10%. C'est pourquoi les comités éthiques exigent que l'hypothèse faite sur le critère de jugement principal, et la valeur prise pour le paramètre de nuisance, soient explicitées dans le protocole. En pratique ces exigences peuvent mener à des stratégies problématiques, comme la substitution du critère de jugement principal, ou bien tout simplement à l'abandon de l'essai car un compromis entre une hypothèse réaliste et le financement ou la durée de l'étude n'est pas possible. De plus, la précision des calculs est relativement illusoire, car ils nécessitent de prendre une valeur donnée pour le paramètre de nuisance, qui se révèle souvent éloignée de ce qui est observé dans l'essai. Le premier travail de cette thèse consistait à considérer un calcul d'effectif standard et à étudier dans quelle mesure les erreurs faites sur le paramètre de nuisance impactait la puissance finale de l'essai. Pour cela une étude de simulation a été conduite. Nos résultats de simulations ont montré que la puissance finale des essais était plus fortement impactée pour un critère de jugement continu que pour un critère binaire. Ces résultats montrent que même avec des calculs d'effectif correctement faits, un nombre substantiel d'essais sont sous-puissants ou surpuissants à cause de l'incertitude sur le paramètre de nuisance. Le second travail de thèse consistait à définir et évaluer une approche alternative au classique essai conçu pour avoir une puissance de 80%. Cette approche alternative est une méta-analyse prospective constituée de base de trois essais indépendants de taille 100 chacun. Les résultats des trois essais sont ensuite combinés dans une méta-analyse à effet aléatoire. Ce modèle permet d'admettre une variation entre les trois effets traitement estimés. Un des avantages de cette méthode est en effet d'apporter une information supplémentaire par rapport à un essai unique, celle de l'éventuelle hétérogénéité des résultats obtenus. Cette approche alternative est ce que nous appellerons une méta-expérience. Une étude de simulation a été menée pour évaluer son efficacité statistique, en comparaison avec l'approche classiquement utilisée. Les résultats montraient qu'une méta-expérience assurait en moyenne la même précision, la même puissance et le même taux d'erreur de type I que l'approche classique. / Choosing the sample size is a important stage of a clinical trial. On a statistical level, determining the sample size means to control the type II error rate under the hypothesis of a given difference between thez two treatment arms. A trial is considered to be correctly planned if its type II error rate is equal to 20%, or even 10%. Consequently, ethical committees ask the hypothesis on the main outcome and the assumption on the nuisance parameter to be clearly stated in the protocol. These requirements sometimes lead to different issues, such as the use of surrogate outcomes or even the abandonment of the trial. In the first work of this thesis, we examine the extent to which inaccurate assumptions for nuisance parameters used to calculate sample size can affect the power of a randomized controlled trial. We performed a simulation study. In total, 23%, 0% and 18% of RCTs with continuous, binary and time-to-event outcomes, respectively, were underpowered (i.e., the real power was < 60\%, as compared with the 80% nominal power); 41%, 16% and 6%, respectively, were overpowered (i.e., with real power > 90%). Even with proper calculation of sample size, a substantial number of trials are underpowered or overpowered because of imprecise knowledge of nuisance parameters. In the second work of this thesis, we defined and evaluated an alternative design named meta-experiment which circumvents the need for sample size calculation. In a simulation study, we compared a meta-experiment approach to the classical approach to assess treatment efficacy. The meta-experiment approach involves use of meta-analyzed results from 3 randomized trials of fixed sample size, 100 subjects. A prospective meta-analysis of data from trials of fixed sample size provided the same precision, power and type I error rate, on average, as the classical approach. The meta-experiment approach may provide an alternative design which does not require a sample size calculation and addresses the essential need for study replication; results may have greater external validity

abstract: In many biological research studies, including speech analysis, clinical research, and prediction studies, the validity of the study is dependent on the effectiveness of the training data set to represent the target population. For example, in speech analysis, if one is performing emotion classification based on speech, the performance of the classifier is mainly dependent on the number and quality of the training data set. For small sample sizes and unbalanced data, classifiers developed in this context may be focusing on the differences in the training data set rather than emotion (e.g., focusing on gender, age, and dialect). This thesis evaluates several sampling methods and a non-parametric approach to sample sizes required to minimize the effect of these nuisance variables on classification performance. This work specifically focused on speech analysis applications, and hence the work was done with speech features like Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and Filter Bank Cepstral Coefficients (FBCC). The non-parametric divergence (D_p divergence) measure was used to study the difference between different sampling schemes (Stratified and Multistage sampling) and the changes due to the sentence types in the sampling set for the process. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2020