Orientador: Carlos Roberto Padovani / Resumo: Em muitas situações, existe a necessidade de estudar o comportamento de alguma característica em uma mesma unidade amostral ao longo do tempo, dose acumulada de algum nutriente ou medicamento. Na prática, a estrutura dos dados dessa natureza geralmente estabelece comportamentos não lineares nos parâmetros de interesse, já que estes caracterizam melhor a realidade biológica pesquisada. Essa conjuntura é propícia ao estudo de remodelação cardíaca (RC) por sobrecarga pressórica em ratos submetidos a diferentes manobras sequenciais de cálcio. Como o comportamento da RC não está claramente estabelecido, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste em fazer um estudo comparativo sobre a performance de quatro modelos de curvas de crescimento em quatro grupos experimentais, considerando erros normais $\theta$ generalizado multivariado. Além disso, a modelagem dos dados envolve duas estruturas de covariância: a homocedástica com a presença de autocorrelação lag 1 e a heterocedástica multiplicativa. No contexto metodológico, utiliza-se o procedimento de estimação por máxima verossimilhança com a aplicação da técnica de reamostragem bootstrap. Além disso, técnicas de simulações são implementadas para comprovação das propriedades metodológicas aplicadas. Para comparação entre os modelos, utilizam-se alguns avaliadores de qualidade de ajuste. Conclui-se, no presente estudo, que a estrutura homocedástica com autocorrelação lag 1 para os modelos Brody e de Von Bertalanffy, destacam-se por apresentar ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Many situations, there is a need to study the behavior of some characteristic in the same sample unit over time, accumulated dose of some nutrient or medication. In practice, the structure of data of this nature generally establishes non-linear behaviors in the parameters of interest, since these characterize better the biological reality researched. This situation is favorable to the study of cardiac remodeling (CR) by pressure overload in rats submitted to different sequential calcium maneuvers. As the behavior of CR is not clearly established, the objective of this work is to perform a comparative study on the performance of four models of growth curves in four experimental groups, considering normalized multivariate θ standard errors. In addition, the data modeling involves two covariance structures: the homocedastic with the presence of autocorrelation lag 1 and the multiplicative heterocedastic. In the methodological context, the procedure of estimation by maximum likelihood is used with the technique of bootstrap resampling. In addition, simulation techniques are implemented to prove the methodological properties applied. For the comparison between the models, some adjustment quality evaluators are used. It is concluded in the present study that the homocedastic structure with lag 1 autocorrelation for the Brody and Von Bertalanffy models stands out for presenting excellent estimates and good quality of adjustment of the maximum developed stress (TD) as a function of t... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

<p>Forest quantification methods have evolved from a simple graphical approach to complex regression models with stochastic structural components. Currently, mixed effects models methodology is receiving attention in the forestry literature. However, the review work (Paper I) indicates a tendency to overlook appropriate covariance structures in the NLME modeling process.</p><p>A nonlinear mixed effects modeling process is demonstrated in Paper II using Cupressus lustanica tree merchantable volume data and compared several models with and without covariance structures. For simplicity and clarity of the nonlinear mixed effects modeling, four phases of modeling were introduced. The nonlinear mixed effects model for C. lustanica tree merchantable volume with the covariance structures for both the random effects and within group errors has shown a significant improvement over the model with simplified covariance matrix. However, this statistical significance has little to explain in the prediction performance of the model.</p><p>In Paper III, using several performance indicator statistics, tree taper models were compared in an effort to propose the best model for the forest management and planning purpose of the C. lustanica plantations. Kozak's (1988) tree taper model was found to be the best for estimating C. lustanica taper profile.</p><p>Based on the Kozak (1988) tree taper model, a Ds optimal experimental design study is carried out in Paper IV. In this study, a Ds-optimal (sub) replication free design is suggested for the Kozak (1988) tree taper model.</p>

Forest quantification methods have evolved from a simple graphical approach to complex regression models with stochastic structural components. Currently, mixed effects models methodology is receiving attention in the forestry literature. However, the review work (Paper I) indicates a tendency to overlook appropriate covariance structures in the NLME modeling process. A nonlinear mixed effects modeling process is demonstrated in Paper II using Cupressus lustanica tree merchantable volume data and compared several models with and without covariance structures. For simplicity and clarity of the nonlinear mixed effects modeling, four phases of modeling were introduced. The nonlinear mixed effects model for C. lustanica tree merchantable volume with the covariance structures for both the random effects and within group errors has shown a significant improvement over the model with simplified covariance matrix. However, this statistical significance has little to explain in the prediction performance of the model. In Paper III, using several performance indicator statistics, tree taper models were compared in an effort to propose the best model for the forest management and planning purpose of the C. lustanica plantations. Kozak's (1988) tree taper model was found to be the best for estimating C. lustanica taper profile. Based on the Kozak (1988) tree taper model, a Ds optimal experimental design study is carried out in Paper IV. In this study, a Ds-optimal (sub) replication free design is suggested for the Kozak (1988) tree taper model.