In biomedical research and lifetime data analysis, the comparison of two hazard functions usually plays an important role in practice. In this thesis, we consider the standard independent two-sample framework under right censoring. We construct efficient and useful confidence intervals for the ratio and difference of two hazard functions using smoothed empirical likelihood methods. The empirical log-likelihood ratio is derived and its asymptotic distribution is a chi-squared distribution. Furthermore, the proposed method can be applied to medical diagnosis research. Simulation studies show that the proposed EL confidence intervals have better performance in terms of coverage accuracy and average length than the traditional normal approximation method. Finally, our methods are illustrated with real clinical trial data. It is concluded that the empirical likelihood methods provide better inferential outcomes.

This dissertation develops a Kantian philosophical framework for understanding our individual obligations under public law. Because we have a right to do anything that is not wrong, the best interpretation of Immanuel Kant's Universal Principle of Right tracks the two ways--material and formal--in which actions can be wrong. This interpretation yields surprising insights, most notably a novel formulation of Kant's standard for formal wrongdoing. Because the wrong-making property of a formally wrong action does not depend on whether or not the action in question has been prohibited by statute, Kant's legal philosophy is consistent with a natural law theory of public crime. Moreover, because the law can obligate us only by establishing a universal external incentive to obey its commands, statutes that impose only fines on nominal violators do not constrain our lawful options. Instead, if they are otherwise just, such statutes must be regarded as rightful permissive laws, according to which we may incur liabilities through our voluntary choices.

Right-of-Way (R/W) acquisition is a critical function in the project development process (PDP). Improving this acquisition process requires both a good collaboration among the functions of the PDP and a good understanding of the factors affecting R/W acquisition. This research has two phases. Phase I aims at developing a systematic method for risk and scope management using scope elements that cover the work of all functions of the entire PDP. Phase II aims at studying the inherent factors that might have significant impact on the R/W acquisition schedule. As a result, the Advance Planning Risk Analysis (APRA) was successfully developed. It contains 59 scope elements with descriptions and a mechanism to assess the project’s level of definition. The APRA can provide a platform for project participants to cooperate and coordinate project activities and responsibilities. The method provides a high level approach to improving the effective of the PDP and its functions, including R/W acquisition. In studying the R/W acquisition inherent factors in phase II, the research was able to draw conclusions on the impact of the identified inherent factors on R/W acquisition durations based on statistical analyses. The research was also successful in developing a statistically significant model for predicting the total R/W acquisition duration, from R/W Release to Possession, using inherent factors. This research provides a number of significant contributions toward the better understanding and improvement of the PDP process in general and the R/W acquisition process in particular. Further research in this area and direction was recommended and believed to be promising, productive, and highly valuable. / text

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No abstract available. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

Unlimited retention of personal information on the web may harm individuals: employers can find youthful indiscretions on social media, and incorrectly low credit scores may haunt individuals for a lifetime. Currently, Europe revives the "right to erasure" as a first step towards a forgetting web. Early technologies implementing oblivion suffer from vulnerabilities and narrowly assume that users require information to be erased after a pre-determined time. But little is known about users' actual oblivion needs. A first study shows that users desire control over disclosed personal information to reduce pre-disclosure privacy concerns, and to delete harmful information after disclosure. In the long run, users have a need for dissociating from obsolete information that represents their past identity. A second study analyses whether oblivion-enhancing technologies (OETs) currently deployed in online services satisfy users' needs. While not all services give users assurance that disclosed information can be erased again, most provide users with some active control. But to manage the increasing volume of personal information stored, users would also require "intelligent" support with oblivion. Intelligent agents that keep track of disclosed information long-term could automatically safeguard users from information relating to a past episode in life surfacing unexpectedly. (authors' abstract)

In biomedical research and lifetime data analysis, the comparison of two hazard functions usually plays an important role in practice. In this thesis, we consider the standard independent two-sample framework under right censoring. We construct efficient and useful confidence intervals for the ratio and difference of two hazard functions using smoothed empirical likelihood methods. The empirical log-likelihood ratio is derived and its asymptotic distribution is a chi-squared distribution. Furthermore, the proposed method can be applied to medical diagnosis research. Simulation studies show that the proposed EL confidence intervals have better performance in terms of coverage accuracy and average length than the traditional normal approximation method. Finally, our methods are illustrated with real clinical trial data. It is concluded that the empirical likelihood methods provide better inferential outcomes.

This study examined right-ventricular-pulmonary arterial (RV-PA) coupling and pulmonary vascular mechanics during acute exercise in 12 middle-aged men with a long-standing history of endurance training. Subjects underwent simultaneous right-heart catheterization and echocardiography, with measures obtained at steady state heart rates of 100, 130 and 150 beats/min. Subjects were highly trained and displayed RV remodeling of endurance-trained athletes. During exercise at 100 beats/min, systolic, diastolic, and mean pulmonary artery pressure increased significantly from rest, as did pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. The slope of pooled mean pulmonary pressure indexed to cardiac output was 1.436 mmHg⋅min-1⋅L-1 with a distensibility index of 0.112 ± 0.048 mmHg-1. The pulmonary arterial elastance-RV end-systolic elastance ratio (Ea:Ees) decreased from rest to exercise at 130 beats/min (P < 0.01). These results suggest that Ea:Ees becomes favourable for RV function during exercise, indicative of a pulmonary vasculature that is highly distensible and well matched to RV output.