Regularized boxplot via convex clustering

A boxplot is a simple and effective exploratory data analysis tool for graphically summarizing a distribution of data. However, in cases where the quartiles in a boxplot are inaccurately estimated, these estimates can affect subsequent analyses. In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing boxplots in a bivariate setting with a categorical covariate with multiple subgroups, and assume that some of these boxplots can be clustered. We propose to use this grouping property to improve the estimation of the quartiles. We demonstrate that the proposed method more accurately estimates the quartiles compared to the usual boxplot. It is also shown that the proposed method identifies outliers effectively as a consequence of accurate quartiles, and possesses a clustering effect due to the group property. We then apply the proposed method to annual maximum precipitation data in South Korea and present its clustering results.     

Women’s political pathways in Southeast Asia

While Southeast Asian women’s socioeconomic status and formal political rights have improved significantly in recent decades, women remain under-represented in the region’s political institutions, especially at local levels of governance. Although interest in Southeast Asian women’s political representation has increased in recent years, our understanding of women’s experiences in their pursuit of elected office remains limited. Through a critical reading of the literature on women and politics and an examination of experiences in Southeast Asia, this article highlights gaps between normative theories and elite-biased empirical studies of women’s political advancement and the conditions, processes and outcomes observed across several Southeast Asian countries. Drawing on original ethnographic research in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, this article identifies three major pathways by which women in Southeast Asia have sought election and re-election to political office. In so doing, the article highlights the significance of understanding women’s varied experiences and suggests an agenda for further research.     

Novel symptom questionnaire for the differential diagnosis of detrusor underactivity and bladder outlet obstruction in men

Objective: To develop a questionnaire for the differential diagnosis of detrusor underactivity (DUA) and bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) without performing invasive pressure flow studies.

Study design and methods: Symptoms of men with DUA were analyzed and compared with those of men with BOO using eight questions from the developing questionnaire. Patients with DUA have a bladder contractility index (PdetQmax+5xQmax) less than 100, whereas those with BOO have a BOO index (PdetQmax?2xQmax) greater than 40 in urodynamic studies (UDS). Men with detrusor overactivity in UDS and neurogenic issues were excluded from the analysis. One urologist reviewed patients’ medical records, and responded to eight questions without using information from UDS. Scores in the developing questionnaire were then compared to make a differential diagnosis between DUA and BOO.

Results: Overall, 318 men who underwent UDS were included. Symptoms were compared in patients diagnosed with DUA without BOO (n?=?165) and BOO without DUA (n?=?153). Questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were significantly different between groups. The sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire were 95.8% and 95.4%, respectively, for predicting DUA in patients with scores greater than 45 points (cutoff value).

Conclusions: Men with DUA and BOO may be distinguished using a developing questionnaire without invasive evaluation. Men with scores greater than 45 points would be expected to have DUA but not BOO.     

From austria to the united states and from evaluating therapists to developing cognitive resources theory: An interview with fred fiedler

The following interview represents the start of a series of interviews with researchers who have had a major impact on the field of leadership. Through these interviews we want to obtain a sense of the person behind the researcher, a few comments on the person's research ideas, and some insights on the state of the field. In addition, we have asked some of the people who worked with Dr. Fiedler to comment on what it was like to work with and for him. We will try to do this for other interviewees as well. We believe this interview is timely as Dr. Fiedler is this year's recipient of the James McKeen Cattell Award of the American Psychological Society.     

Information matrix for a mixture of two Laplace distributions

The Fisher information matrix for a mixture of two Laplace distributions is derived. Numerical tabulations of the matrix and a computer program are provided for practical purposes. The work is motivated by two real–life examples discussed in Hsu (Appl Stat 28:62–72, 1979) and Bhowmick et al. (Biostatistics 7:630–641, 2006).      

Parent-child relationships between Korean American adolescents and their parents

This cross-sectional correlational study examined the association between Korean American adolescents' and their parents' reports of parent-child relationships. A total of 61 Korean American families completed a questionnaire assessing parental knowledge, parental/filial self-efficacy, parent-child communication, and parent-child conflicts. T tests, Pearson's correlations, a scatter diagram, and bivariate regression were used to analyze the data. Both Korean American adolescents and their parents reported that fathers were less knowledgeable about their child's school life and less likely to communicate with their children than were mothers. Fathers reported a significantly lower level of parental self-efficacy than mothers, and adolescents also reported a significantly higher level of filial self-efficacy in mother-child relationships than in father-child relationships. Positive correlations between parents' and adolescents' reports of parent-child relationships were observed. These findings indicated a need for parent education programs or counseling services for Korean American parents of adolescents, particularly fathers with inadequate parental skills and limited communication with their children.     

A Simple Method for Constructing Multidimensional Distributions of Correlated Categorical Data

We suggest a method for constructing a multidimensional distribution of correlated categorical data with fixed marginal distributions and specified degrees of association based on the log-linear models. A convex combination approach by Lee (1997 Lee , A. J. ( 1997 ). Some simple methods for generating correlated categorical variates . Computational Statistics & Data Analysis 26 : 133 – 148 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is applied to get a joint distribution with fixed Pearson chi-square coefficient. By using the suggested method, we can generate three-dimensional distributions which have a fixed association among three variables. Therefore, the suggested method could be extended to higher dimensions.     

Test of equality of normal means in the absence of independent estimator of variance

Let X_l,…,X_n be normally and independently distributed with means θ_l,…,θ_nand a cornmorl variance. Thus there are n observations and n+i unknwon parameters. A test of the null hypothesis that, the θ_i's are all zero and the alternative that the vector (θ_l,…,θ_n) lies in a convex cone with its vertex a.t the origin is connsidered in this paper. It is shown that under a mild condition the likelihood ratio test is possible. The ordinary one sided t - test belongs to the class of tests considered in this paper. The hypothesis of equality of means against the simple order alternative can be tested in certain cases .