Optimal experimental designs for generalized linear models have received increasing attention in recent years. Yet, most of the current research focuses on binary data models especially the one-variable first-order logistic regression model. This research extends this topic to count data models. The primary goal of this research is to develop efficient and robust experimental designs for the Poisson regression model in toxicity studies. D-optimal designs for both the one-toxicant second-order model and the two-toxicant interaction model are developed and their dependence upon the model parameters is investigated. Application of the D-optimal designs is very limited due to the fact that these optimal designs, in terms of ED levels, depend upon the unknown parameters. Thus, some practical designs like equally spaced designs and conditional D-optimal designs, which, in terms of ED levels, are independent of the parameters, are studied. It turns out that these practical designs are quite efficient when the design space is restricted. Designs found in terms of ED levels like D-optimal designs are not robust to parameters misspecification. To deal with this problem, sequential designs are proposed for Poisson regression models. Both fully sequential designs and two-stage designs are studied and they are found to be efficient and robust to parameter misspecification. For experiments that involve two or more toxicants, restrictions on the survival proportion lead to restricted design regions dependent on the unknown parameters. It is found that sequential designs perform very well under such restrictions. In most of this research, the log link is assumed to be the true link function for the model. However, in some applications, more than one link functions fit the data very well. To help identify the link function that generates the data, experimental designs for discrimination between two competing link functions are investigated. T-optimal designs for discrimination between the log link and other link functions such as the square root link and the identity link are developed. To relax the dependence of T-optimal designs on the model truth, sequential designs are studied, which are found to converge to T-optimal designs for large experiments. / Ph. D.

Suicide has drawn much attention from both the scientific community and the public. Examining the impact of socio-environmental factors on suicide is essential in developing suicide prevention strategies and interventions, because it will provide health authorities with important information for their decision-making. However, previous studies did not examine the impact of socio-environmental factors on suicide using a spatial analysis approach. The purpose of this study was to identify the patterns of suicide and to examine how socio-environmental factors impact on suicide over time and space at the Local Governmental Area (LGA) level in Queensland. The suicide data between 1999 and 2003 were collected from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Socio-environmental variables at the LGA level included climate (rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature), Socioeconomic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) and demographic variables (proportion of Indigenous population, unemployment rate, proportion of population with low income and low education level). Climate data were obtained from Australian Bureau of Meteorology. SEIFA and demographic variables were acquired from ABS. A series of statistical and geographical information system (GIS) approaches were applied in the analysis. This study included two stages. The first stage used average annual data to view the spatial pattern of suicide and to examine the association between socio-environmental factors and suicide over space. The second stage examined the spatiotemporal pattern of suicide and assessed the socio-environmental determinants of suicide, using more detailed seasonal data. In this research, 2,445 suicide cases were included, with 1,957 males (80.0%) and 488 females (20.0%). In the first stage, we examined the spatial pattern and the determinants of suicide using 5-year aggregated data. Spearman correlations were used to assess associations between variables. Then a Poisson regression model was applied in the multivariable analysis, as the occurrence of suicide is a small probability event and this model fitted the data quite well. Suicide mortality varied across LGAs and was associated with a range of socio-environmental factors. The multivariable analysis showed that maximum temperature was significantly and positively associated with male suicide (relative risk [RR] = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.07). Higher proportion of Indigenous population was accompanied with more suicide in male population (male: RR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.03). There was a positive association between unemployment rate and suicide in both genders (male: RR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.06; female: RR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.16). No significant association was observed for rainfall, minimum temperature, SEIFA, proportion of population with low individual income and low educational attainment. In the second stage of this study, we undertook a preliminary spatiotemporal analysis of suicide using seasonal data. Firstly, we assessed the interrelations between variables. Secondly, a generalised estimating equations (GEE) model was used to examine the socio-environmental impact on suicide over time and space, as this model is well suited to analyze repeated longitudinal data (e.g., seasonal suicide mortality in a certain LGA) and it fitted the data better than other models (e.g., Poisson model). The suicide pattern varied with season and LGA. The north of Queensland had the highest suicide mortality rate in all the seasons, while there was no suicide case occurred in the southwest. Northwest had consistently higher suicide mortality in spring, autumn and winter. In other areas, suicide mortality varied between seasons. This analysis showed that maximum temperature was positively associated with suicide among male population (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.47) and total population (RR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.32). Higher proportion of Indigenous population was accompanied with more suicide among total population (RR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.19) and by gender (male: RR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.13; female: RR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.48). Unemployment rate was positively associated with total (RR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.24 to 1.59) and female (RR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.18) suicide. There was also a positive association between proportion of population with low individual income and suicide in total (RR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.48) and male (RR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.23 to 1.72) population. Rainfall was only positively associated with suicide in total population (RR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.19). There was no significant association for rainfall, minimum temperature, SEIFA, proportion of population with low educational attainment. The second stage is the extension of the first stage. Different spatial scales of dataset were used between the two stages (i.e., mean yearly data in the first stage, and seasonal data in the second stage), but the results are generally consistent with each other. Compared with other studies, this research explored the variety of the impact of a wide range of socio-environmental factors on suicide in different geographical units. Maximum temperature, proportion of Indigenous population, unemployment rate and proportion of population with low individual income were among the major determinants of suicide in Queensland. However, the influence from other factors (e.g. socio-culture background, alcohol and drug use) influencing suicide cannot be ignored. An in-depth understanding of these factors is vital in planning and implementing suicide prevention strategies. Five recommendations for future research are derived from this study: (1) It is vital to acquire detailed personal information on each suicide case and relevant information among the population in assessing the key socio-environmental determinants of suicide; (2) Bayesian model could be applied to compare mortality rates and their socio-environmental determinants across LGAs in future research; (3) In the LGAs with warm weather, high proportion of Indigenous population and/or unemployment rate, concerted efforts need to be made to control and prevent suicide and other mental health problems; (4) The current surveillance, forecasting and early warning system needs to be strengthened, to trace the climate and socioeconomic change over time and space and its impact on population health; (5) It is necessary to evaluate and improve the facilities of mental health care, psychological consultation, suicide prevention and control programs; especially in the areas with low socio-economic status, high unemployment rate, extreme weather events and natural disasters.

This study proposes a social and emotional disclosure model for understanding the mechanism that explains sharing intimate information on social media (Twitter). Previous research has indicated that some aspects of social, emotional, and attitudinal information processing are involved in disclosure of intimate information. However, these factors have been considered in isolation. This study proposes and tests a theoretically grounded model that brings all of these factors together by combining individual and group social media behaviors and online information processing in the realm of online social movements. The core explanatory model considers the impact of peer response, emotional evaluation, personal relevance, issue orientation, and motivation to post online on intimate information disclosure online. A path analysis building on four Poisson multiple regressions conducted on 28,629 #MeToo tweets evaluates the relationships proposed in the explanatory model. Results indicate that emotional evaluation and motivation to post online have direct, positive impacts on online disclosure. Other factors such as peer response, issue orientation, and personal relevance have negative direct relationships with online disclosure. Motivation to post online mediates the effects of emotional evaluation, issue orientation, and personal relevance on online disclosure while issue orientation mediates the effect of personal relevance on motivation to post online. This study offers findings that have use for practitioners interested in hashtag virality and to social media users interested in social influence and online information sharing.

Mapping of mortality rates has been a valuable public health tool. We describe novel Bayesian methods for constructing maps which do not depend on a post stratification of the estimated rates. We also construct posterior modal maps rather than posterior mean maps. Our methods are illustrated using mortality data from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in the continental United States. Poisson regression models have attracted much attention in the scientific community for their superiority in modeling rare events (including mortality counts from COPD). Christiansen and Morris (JASA 1997) described a hierarchical Bayesian model for heterogeneous Poisson counts under the exchangeability assumption. We extend this model to include latent classes (groups of similar Poisson rates unknown to an investigator). Also, it is standard practice to construct maps using quantiles (e.g., quintiles) of the estimated mortality rates. For example, based on quintiles, the mortality rates are cut into 5 equal size groups, each containing $20\%$ of the data, and a different color is applied to each of them on the map. A potential problem is that, this method assumes an equal number of data in each group, but this is often not the case. The latent class model produces a method to construct maps without using quantiles, providing a more natural representation of the colors. Typically, for rare events, the posterior densities of the rates are skewed, making the posterior mean map inappropriate and inaccurate. Thus, although it is standard practice to present the posterior mean maps, we also develop a method to provide the joint posterior modal map (i.e., the map with the highest posterior probability over the ensemble). For the COPD data, collected 1988-1992 over 798 health service areas, we use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to fit the model, and an output analysis is used to construct the new maps.

Estudos envolvendo o meio ambiente estão sendo cada vez mais desenvolvidos devido ao fato dos níveis de poluição e das mudanças climáticas estarem causando a degradação da qualidade do ar e dos reservatórios de água de maneira alarmante nos últimos anos, comprometendo sobretudo, a qualidade de vida do ser humano. Dado que estes fatores são preponderantes nos agravos e complicações respiratórias dos indivíduos, buscou-se compreender com este estudo a relação entre as condições atmosféricas e os problemas respiratórios nos residentes do município de Ribeirão Preto, interior de São Paulo, onde há um elevado número de focos de queimadas nos períodos de estiagem e, consequentemente, altas concentrações de poluentes, como o material particulado. Considerando os dados mensais de contagem de inalações/nebulizações, foram assumidos diferentes modelos de regressão de Poisson na presença de um fator aleatório que captura a variabilidade extra-Poisson entre as contagens. A análise dos dados foi feita sob enfoque Bayesiano, utilizando métodos de simulação MCMC (Monte Carlo em Cadeias de Markov) para obter os sumários a posteriori de interesse. / Many studies involving the environment are being developed in the last years due to the fact that the levels of pollution and climate changes are causing the degradation of air quality and water reservoirs at an alarming rate in recent years, with great consequences for the quality of life of the population. Since these factors are prevalent in respiratory disorders and complications of the health for the individuals, we intended to understand from this study the relationship between weather conditions and respiratory problems for the residents of the municipality of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, which has a high number of outbreaks of fires in drought periods and, consequently, high concentrations of pollutants such as particulate matter. Considering the monthly count of inhalations / nebulizations, we assumed different Poisson regression models in the presence of a random factor that captures the extra-Poisson variability between the counts. The data analysis was performed under a Bayesian approach using MCMC simulation methods (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) to get the posterior summaries of interest.

Estudos envolvendo o meio ambiente estão sendo cada vez mais desenvolvidos devido ao fato dos níveis de poluição e das mudanças climáticas estarem causando a degradação da qualidade do ar e dos reservatórios de água de maneira alarmante nos últimos anos, comprometendo sobretudo, a qualidade de vida do ser humano. Dado que estes fatores são preponderantes nos agravos e complicações respiratórias dos indivíduos, buscou-se compreender com este estudo a relação entre as condições atmosféricas e os problemas respiratórios nos residentes do município de Ribeirão Preto, interior de São Paulo, onde há um elevado número de focos de queimadas nos períodos de estiagem e, consequentemente, altas concentrações de poluentes, como o material particulado. Considerando os dados mensais de contagem de inalações/nebulizações, foram assumidos diferentes modelos de regressão de Poisson na presença de um fator aleatório que captura a variabilidade extra-Poisson entre as contagens. A análise dos dados foi feita sob enfoque Bayesiano, utilizando métodos de simulação MCMC (Monte Carlo em Cadeias de Markov) para obter os sumários a posteriori de interesse. / Many studies involving the environment are being developed in the last years due to the fact that the levels of pollution and climate changes are causing the degradation of air quality and water reservoirs at an alarming rate in recent years, with great consequences for the quality of life of the population. Since these factors are prevalent in respiratory disorders and complications of the health for the individuals, we intended to understand from this study the relationship between weather conditions and respiratory problems for the residents of the municipality of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, which has a high number of outbreaks of fires in drought periods and, consequently, high concentrations of pollutants such as particulate matter. Considering the monthly count of inhalations / nebulizations, we assumed different Poisson regression models in the presence of a random factor that captures the extra-Poisson variability between the counts. The data analysis was performed under a Bayesian approach using MCMC simulation methods (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) to get the posterior summaries of interest.

現今市場競爭愈來愈激烈，迫使廠商紛紛至海外尋求產品消費市場，在跨國銷售的背景之下，需要有更多可以確定國家選擇、預測銷售及估計需求的方法。而其中可以滿足這些需求的方法之中，就是研究產品跨國擴散型態，藉以瞭解後進國家與領先國家中新產品如何擴散且會如何互相影響 (Douglas and Craig, 1992)。 在眾多的跨國產品中，本研究選擇好萊塢電影做為實證分析的對象。 經由集群分析，本研究發現（一）台灣高首週票房且口碑佳的電影，會遇到假日人潮、有很高的美國總票房、以及很高的美國首週票房；（二）美國影片在美國及台灣映演的每週票房趨勢有差異存在；（三）片商沒有做好影片在台灣映演的檔期歸劃；（四）三群電影中，在影片類型沒有明顯地區別。 經由十二個新產品銷售預測模型的建立：對數線性迴歸模式（LN-Regression Model）（不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以OLS估計）、卜瓦松迴歸模式(Poisson Regression Model) （不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以MLE估計）、負二項分配迴歸模式(Negative Binomial Distribution Regression Model) （不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以MLE估計）、Exponential Decay模式（以OLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）、Exponential Decay模式（以OLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）、Exponential Decay模式＋層級貝氏迴歸模式（考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）、Bass連續型擴散模式（以NLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗（以SUR估計）、Bass連續型擴散模式（以NLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗（以SUR估計）、Bass離散型擴散模式（以OLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）、Bass離散型擴散模式（以OLS估計）＋迴歸方程式體系（考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）、層級貝氏BASS離散型擴散模式＋迴歸方程式體系（不考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）、層級貝氏BASS離散型擴散模式＋迴歸方程式體系（考慮新產品領先國擴散經驗）（以SUR估計）。本研究發現：（一）在考慮影響後進國的新產品擴散速度時，領先國的擴散經驗為絕對必要的考慮因子；（二）必須使用Bass連續型擴散模式做為建構新產品銷售預測模型的基礎；（三）必須使用Bass連續型擴散模式的NLS估計法估計Bass模型的創新係數p、模仿係數q及市場潛量m。