Data from the 1995 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that, due to chronic conditions, the onset of activity limitation typically occurs between age 40-70 years (i.e., the proportion of young adults with activity limitation is small and roughly constant with age and then it starts to change, roughly increasing). We use a Bayesian hierarchical model to detect the change point of a positive activity limitation status (ALS) across twelve domains based on race, gender, and education. We have two types of data: weighted and unweighted. We obtain weighted binomial counts using a regression analysis with the sample weights. Given the proportion of individuals in the population with positive ALS, we assume that the number of individuals with positive ALS at each age group has a binomial probability mass function. The proportions across age are different, and have the same beta distribution up to the change point (unknown), and the proportions after the change point have a different beta distribution. We consider two different analyses. The first considers each domain individually in its own model and the second considers the twelve domains simultaneously in a single model to“borrow strength" as in small area estimation. It is reasonable to assume that each domain has its own onset.In the first analysis, we use the Gibbs sampler to fit the model, and a computation of the marginal likelihoods, using an output analysis from the Gibbs sampler, provides the posterior distribution of the change point. We note that a reversible jump sampler fails in this analysis because it tends to get stuck either age 40 or age 70. In the second analysis, we use the Gibbs sampler to fit only the joint posterior distribution of the twelve change points. This is a difficult problem because the joint density requires the numerical computation of a triple integral at each iteration. The other parameters of the process are obtained using data augmentation by a Metropolis sampler and a Rao-Blackwellization. We found that overall the age of onset is about 50 to 60 years.

Esta dissertação aborda o problema de redução do consumo de combustível para veículos. Com esse objetivo, realiza-se o levantamento de um modelo estocástico e de seus parâmetros, o desenvolvimento de um controlador para o veículo, e análise dos resultados. O problema considera a interação com o trânsito de outros veículos, que limita a aplicação de resultados antes disponíveis. Para isto, propõe-se modelar a dinâmica do problema de maneira aproximada, usando sistemas com saltos markovianos, e levantar as probabilidades de transição dos estados da cadeia através de um modelo mais completo para o trânsito no percurso. / This dissertation deals with control of vehicles aiming at the fuel consumption optimization, taking into account the interference of traffic. Stochastic interferences like this and other real world phenomena prevents us from directly applying available results. We propose to employ a relatively simple system with Markov jumping parameters as a model for the vehicle subject to traffic interference, and to obtain the transition probabilities from a separate model for the traffic. This dissertation presents the model identification, the solution of the new problem using dynamic programming, and simulation of the obtained control.

Este estudo considera o problema de controle ótimo multi-período de média-variância para sistemas em tempo discreto com saltos markovianos e ruídos multiplicativos. Inicialmente considera-se um critério de desempenho formado por uma combinação linear da variância nal e valor esperado da saída do sistema. É apresentada uma solução analítica na obtenção da estratégia ótima para este problema. Em seguida são considerados os casos onde os critérios de desempenho são minimizar a variância nal sujeito a uma restrição no valor esperado ou maximizar o valor esperado nal sujeito a uma restrição na variância nal da saída do sistema. As estratégias ótimas de controle são obtidas de um conjunto de equações de diferenças acopladas de Riccati. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo generalizam resultados anteriores da literatura para o problema de controle ótimo com saldos markovianos e ruídos multiplicativos, apresentando condições explícitas e sucientes para a otimalidade da estratégia de controle. São apresentados modelos e simulações numéricas em otimização de carteiras de investimento e estratégias de gestão de ALM (asset liabilities management). / This thesis focuses on the stochastic optimal control problem of discrete-time linear systems subject to Markov jumps and multiplicative noise under three kinds of performance criterions related to the nal value of the expectation and variance of the output. In the first problem it is desired to minimize the nal variance of the output subject to a restriction on its nal expectation, in the second one it is desired to maximize the nal expectation of the output subject to a restriction on its nal variance, and in the third one it is considered a performance criterion composed by a linear combination of the nal variance and expectation of the output of the system. The optimal control strategies are obtained from a set of interconnected Riccati dierence equations and explicit sufficient conditions are presented for the existence of an optimal control strategy for these problems, generalizing previous results in the literature. Numerical simulations of investment portfolios and asset liabilities management models for pension funds with regime switching are presented.

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude probabiliste des réponses démographique et génétique de populations à certains événements ponctuels. Dans une première partie, nous étudions l'impact de catastrophes tuant une fraction de la population et survenant de manière répétée, sur le comportement en temps long d'une population modélisée par un processus de branchement. Dans un premier temps nous construisons une nouvelle classe de processus, les processus de branchement à états continus avec catastrophes, en les réalisant comme l'unique solution forte d'une équation différentielle stochastique. Nous déterminons ensuite les conditions d'extinction de la population. Enfin, dans les cas d'absorption presque sûre nous calculons la vitesse d'absorption asymptotique du processus. Ce dernier résultat a une application directe à la détermination du nombre de cellules infectées dans un modèle d'infection de cellules par des parasites. En effet, la quantité de parasites dans une lignée cellulaire suit dans ce modèle un processus de branchement, et les "catastrophes" surviennent lorsque la quantité de parasites est partagée entre les deux cellules filles lors des divisions cellulaires. Dans une seconde partie, nous nous intéressons à la signature génétique laissée par un balayage sélectif. Le matériel génétique d'un individu détermine (pour une grande partie) son phénotype et en particulier certains traits quantitatifs comme les taux de naissance et de mort intrinsèque, ou sa capacité d'interaction avec les autres individus. Mais son génotype seul ne détermine pas son ``adaptation'' dans le milieu dans lequel il vit : l'espérance de vie d'un humain par exemple est très dépendante de l'environnement dans lequel il vit (accès à l'eau potable, à des infrastructures médicales,...). L'approche éco-évolutive cherche à prendre en compte l'environnement en modélisant les interactions entre les individus. Lorsqu'une mutation ou une modification de l'environnement survient, des allèles peuvent envahir la population au détriment des autres allèles : c'est le phénomène de balayage sélectif. Ces événements évolutifs laissent des traces dans la diversité neutre au voisinage du locus auquel l'allèle s'est fixé. En effet ce dernier ``emmène'' avec lui des allèles qui se trouvent sur les loci physiquement liés au locus sous sélection. La seule possibilité pour un locus de ne pas être ``emmené'' est l'occurence d'une recombination génétique, qui l'associe à un autre haplotype dans la population. Nous quantifions la signature laissée par un tel balayage sélectif sur la diversité neutre. Nous nous concentrons dans un premier temps sur la variation des proportions neutres dans les loci voisins du locus sous sélection sous différents scénarios de balayages. Nous montrons que ces différents scenari évolutifs laissent des traces bien distinctes sur la diversité neutre, qui peuvent permettre de les discriminer. Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous intéressons aux généalogies jointes de deux loci neutres au voisinage du locus sous sélection. Cela nous permet en particulier de quantifier des statistiques attendues sous certains scenari de sélection, qui sont utilisées à l'heure actuelle pour détecter des événements de sélection dans l'histoire évolutive de populations à partir de données génétiques actuelles. Dans ces travaux, la population évolue suivant un processus de naissance et mort multitype avec compétition. Si un tel modèle est plus réaliste que les processus de branchement, la non-linéarité introduite par les compétitions entre individus en rend l'étude plus complexe / This thesis is devoted to the probabilistic study of demographic and genetical responses of a population to some point wise events. In a first part, we are interested in the effect of random catastrophes, which kill a fraction of the population and occur repeatedly, in populations modeled by branching processes. First we construct a new class of processes, the continuous state branching processes with catastrophes, as the unique strong solution of a stochastic differential equation. Then we describe the conditions for the population extinction. Finally, in the case of almost sure absorption, we state the asymptotical rate of absorption. This last result has a direct application to the determination of the number of infected cells in a model of cell infection by parasites. Indeed, the parasite population size in a lineage follows in this model a branching process, and catastrophes correspond to the sharing of the parasites between the two daughter cells when a division occurs. In a second part, we focus on the genetic signature of selective sweeps. The genetic material of an individual (mostly) determines its phenotype and in particular some quantitative traits, as birth and intrinsic death rates, and interactions with others individuals. But genotype is not sufficient to determine "adaptation" in a given environment: for example the life expectancy of a human being is very dependent on his environment (access to drinking water, to medical infrastructures,...). The eco-evolutive approach aims at taking into account the environment by modeling interactions between individuals. When a mutation or an environmental modification occurs, some alleles can invade the population to the detriment of other alleles: this phenomenon is called a selective sweep and leaves signatures in the neutral diversity in the vicinity of the locus where the allele fixates. Indeed, this latter "hitchhiking” alleles situated on loci linked to the selected locus. The only possibility for an allele to escape this "hitchhiking" is the occurrence of a genetical recombination, which associates it to another haplotype in the population. We quantify the signature left by such a selective sweep on the neutral diversity. We first focus on neutral proportion variation in loci partially linked with the selected locus, under different scenari of selective sweeps. We prove that these different scenari leave distinct signatures on neutral diversity, which can allow to discriminate them. Then we focus on the linked genealogies of two neutral alleles situated in the vicinity of the selected locus. In particular, we quantify some statistics under different scenari of selective sweeps, which are currently used to detect recent selective events in current population genetic data. In these works the population evolves as a multitype birth and death process with competition. If such a model is more realistic than branching processes, the non-linearity caused by competitions makes its study more complex

Nessa tese apresentamos uma nova classe de modelos, os processos de saltos com memória de alcance variável, uma generalização a tempo contínuo do processo introduzido em Galves e Löcherbach (2013). Desenvolvemos um novo estimador para a árvore de contexto imersa no processo de salto com memória de alcance variável, considerando mais parâmetros fornecidos pela amostra. Obtivemos também uma cota superior da taxa de convergência da árvore estimada para árvore real, provando a convergência quase certa do estimador. / In this work we deal with a new class of models: the jump processes with variable length memory. This is a continuous-time generalization of the process introduced in Galves and Löcherbach (2013). We present a new estimator for the tree context embedded in this process, considering all information provided by the sample. We also present an exponential upper bound for the rate of convergence, proving then the almost sure convergence of the estimator.

Este trabalho consiste no estudo de métodos de otimização aplicados em um problema de controle para sistemas lineares com saltos markovianos (SLSM). SLSM formam uma importante classe de sistemas que têm sido muito úteis em aplicações envolvendo sistemas sujeitos a falhas e outras alterações abruptas de comportamento. Este estudo enfoca diferentes métodos para resolução deste problema. Comparamos o método variacional com o de Newton, sob o ponto de vista do número de problemas resolvidos e pelo nível de sub-otimalidade obtido (relação entre os custos obtidos por estes métodos). Também propomos um novo método, o qual pode ser inicializado com soluções de equações de Riccati acopladas, e o comparamos com o método variacional. Além disso, para a comparação dos métodos, propomos um algoritmo que gerou dez mil exemplos / This work addresses optimizations methods applied to a control problem for linear systems with markovian jumps, which form an important class of systems that have been very useful in applications involving systems subject to failures and other abrupt changes. This study focuses on different methods for solving this problem. We compare the variational approach with the Newton method, in terms of the number of solved problems and the level of sub-optimality (ratio between the costs obtained by these approaches). We also propose a new method, which can be initialized with solutions of coupled Riccati equations, and we compare it with the variational approach. We have proposed an algorithm for creating ten thousand examples for the comparisons

Nessa tese apresentamos uma nova classe de modelos, os processos de saltos com memória de alcance variável, uma generalização a tempo contínuo do processo introduzido em Galves e Löcherbach (2013). Desenvolvemos um novo estimador para a árvore de contexto imersa no processo de salto com memória de alcance variável, considerando mais parâmetros fornecidos pela amostra. Obtivemos também uma cota superior da taxa de convergência da árvore estimada para árvore real, provando a convergência quase certa do estimador. / In this work we deal with a new class of models: the jump processes with variable length memory. This is a continuous-time generalization of the process introduced in Galves and Löcherbach (2013). We present a new estimator for the tree context embedded in this process, considering all information provided by the sample. We also present an exponential upper bound for the rate of convergence, proving then the almost sure convergence of the estimator.

This study examined and compared the acute effects of ballistic and nonballistic concentric-only half-squats (COHSs) on squat jump performance. Fifteen resistance-trained men performed a squat jump 2 minutes after a control protocol or 2 COHSs at 90% of their 1 repetition maximum (1RM) COHS performed in a ballistic or nonballistic manner. Jump height (JH), peak power (PP), and allometrically scaled peak power (PPa) were compared using three 3 × 2 repeated-measures analyses of variance. Statistically significant condition × time interaction effects existed for JH (p = 0.037), PP (p = 0.041), and PPa (p = 0.031). Post hoc analysis revealed that the ballistic condition produced statistically greater JH (p = 0.017 and p = 0.036), PP (p = 0.031 and p = 0.026), and PPa (p = 0.024 and p = 0.023) than the control and nonballistic conditions, respectively. Small effect sizes for JH, PP, and PPa existed during the ballistic condition (d = 0.28–0.44), whereas trivial effect sizes existed during the control (d = 0.0–0.18) and nonballistic (d = 0.0–0.17) conditions. Large statistically significant relationships existed between the JH potentiation response and the subject's relative back squat 1RM (r = 0.520; p = 0.047) and relative COHS 1RM (r = 0.569; p = 0.027) during the ballistic condition. In addition, large statistically significant relationship existed between JH potentiation response and the subject's relative back squat strength (r = 0.633; p = 0.011), whereas the moderate relationship with the subject's relative COHS strength trended toward significance (r = 0.483; p = 0.068). Ballistic COHS produced superior potentiation effects compared with COHS performed in a nonballistic manner. Relative strength may contribute to the elicited potentiation response after ballistic and nonballistic COHS.

The purpose of this study was to compare the temporal profile of strong and weak subjects during ballistic and nonballistic potentiation complexes. Eight strong (relative back squat = 2.1 ± 0.1 times body mass) and 8 weak (relative back squat = 1.6 ± 0.2 times body mass) males performed squat jumps immediately and every minute up to 10 minutes following potentiation complexes that included ballistic or nonballistic concentric-only half-squat (COHS) performed at 90% of their 1 repetition maximum COHS. Jump height (JH) and allometrically scaled peak power (PPa) were compared using a series of 2 × 12 repeated measures analyses of variance. No statistically significant strength level main effects for JH (p = 0.442) or PPa (p = 0.078) existed during the ballistic condition. In contrast, statistically significant main effects for time existed for both JH (p = 0.014) and PPa (p < 0.001); however, no statistically significant pairwise comparisons were present (p > 0.05). Statistically significant strength level main effects existed for PPa (p = 0.039) but not for JH (p = 0.137) during the nonballistic condition. Post hoc analysis revealed that the strong subjects produced statistically greater PPa than the weaker subjects (p = 0.039). Statistically significant time main effects existed for time existed for PPa (p = 0.015), but not for JH (p = 0.178). No statistically significant strength level × time interaction effects for JH (p = 0.319) or PPa (p = 0.203) were present for the ballistic or nonballistic conditions. Practical significance indicated by effect sizes and the relationships between maximum potentiation and relative strength suggest that stronger subjects potentiate earlier and to a greater extent than weaker subjects during ballistic and nonballistic potentiation complexes.

This journey based narrative inspired by the traditional narrative of the Major Arcana cards in the tarot, centers on The Fool and his interactions with the rest of the Major Arcana. The Fool’s journey centers on memory, regaining personal power, admitting and accepting weakness, and creating a personal place in relation to a larger world. This evolution throughout the journey is explored through detailed repeating imagery and symbols drawn from a mixture of traditional tarot imagery and the author’s personal image set created for this narrative.