The semi-parametric approach to the analysis of proportional hazards survival data is relatively new, having been initiated in 1972 by Sir David Cox, who restricted its use to hypothesis tests and confidence intervals for fixed effects in a regression setting. Practitioners have begun to diversify applications of this model, constructing residuals, modeling the baseline hazard, estimating median failure time, and analyzing experiments with random effects and repeated measures. The main purpose of this thesis is to show that working with an incompletely specified loglikelihood is more fruitful than working with Cox's original partial loglikelihood, in these applications. In Chapter 2, we show that the deviance residuals arising naturally from the partial loglikelihood have difficulties detecting outliers. We demonstrate that a smoothed, nonparametric baseline hazard partially solves this problem. In Chapter 3, we derive new deviance residuals that are useful for identifying the shape of the baseline hazard. When these new residuals are plotted in temporal order, patterns in the residuals mirror patterns in the baseline hazard. In Chapter 4, we demonstrate how to analyze survival data having a split-plot design structure. Using a BLUP estimation algorithm, we produce hypothesis tests for fixed effects, and estimation procedures for the fixed effects and random effects. / Graduation date: 1999

Abstract  Titel: Terms of endearment: A study on how strangers are addressed in Northern Ireland and Ireland Författare: Kristina SkagerströmEngelska C, 2009   Antal sidor: 16   Abstract: The aim of this study was to find out whether terms of endearment are used by native speakers of English while addressing strangers and if so, what are the reasons? Another aspect is if they use familiar body language while addressing a stranger. This study was carried out based on a number of observations in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Since the aim of the study was to see why terms of endearments are used the researcher needed the help of a male observer to see if the reasons were gender related. Nine restaurants of different social class were visited, nine stores of different social class, the observers spoke to nine taxi drivers, they visited nine hotels of different social class; and asked nine people for directions in the street.  The results showed that no young people addressed either of the observers with terms of endearment. There was no difference in social class. There was a big difference in how the male and the female observer were addressed by people over the age of 40. While the male observer was addressed very polite, the female observer was addressed with a very informal speech were the participants used terms of endearments such as "love" and touched her on the shoulder.  Nyckelord: Terms of endearment, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Observations

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

The objective of this research is to develop a mathematical model that accurately estimates the opacity of sulfur dioxide in a carbon dioxide atmosphere under conditions characteristic of the Venus troposphere based on extensive laboratory measurements. High precision measurements of the millimeter-wavelength properties of sulfur dioxide are being conducted under multiple pressure and temperatures. These measurements are being conducted in both W-band and F-band (2-3 and 3-4 millimeter-wavelengths). The results of this research will significantly improve the understanding of the millimeter-wavelength emission spectrum of Venus and possibly determine the source of variations in the Venus millimeter-wavelength emissions.

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In this dissertation, I examine the optical linear polarization of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and BL Lacertae objects. I present extensive polarimetric observations of a large sample of QSOs, systematically analyze the correlations between polarization and other properties of QSOs, compare t

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In this dissertation, we consider the variable chaplygin gas (VCG) model as derived from the Tachyon gas model and search for a sub-class of models that provide an adequate fit to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. We find that, for an appropriate choice of VCG parameters, up to ~ 80% of the VCG collapses into a gravitationally bound condensate which behaves as matter; the evolution of the remaining VCG, as governed by its equation of state, brings about accelerated expansion at late times. In light of this high collapsed fraction, we approximate the VCG transfer function with that of cold dark matter. We show that we can sufficiently describe the VCG cosmology from decoupling to today in terms of a model in which the gravitationally bound condensate plays the role of cold dark matter and the remaining VCG takes the place of dark energy in the concordance model. We then compute the CMB temperature anisotropy spectrum for a subset of VCG models and proceed to find a best-fit model to the WMAP-9yr data [46]. Our best-fit model has a x² per degrees of freedom of 2.03. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

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