A class of mixed models for recurrent event data

In this article, we propose a class of mixed models for recurrent event data. The new models include the proportional rates model and Box–Cox transformation rates models as special cases, and allow the effects of covariates on the rate functions of counting processes to be proportional or convergent. For inference on the model parameters, estimating equation approaches are developed. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators are established and the finite sample performance of the proposed procedure is evaluated through simulation studies. A real example with data taken from a clinic study on chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is also illustrated for the use of the proposed methodology. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 39: 578–590; 2011. © 2011 Statistical Society of Canada     

DO NEWSPAPERS SERVE THE STATE? INCUMBENT PARTY INFLUENCE ON THE US PRESS, 1869–1928

Using data from 1869 to 1928, we estimate the effect of party control of state governments on the entry, exit, circulation, prices, number of pages, and content of Republican and Democratic daily newspapers. We exploit changes over time in party control of the governorship and state legislatures in a differences‐in‐differences design. We exploit close gubernatorial elections and state legislatures with small majorities in a parallel regression‐discontinuity design. Neither method reveals evidence that the party in power affects the partisan composition of the press. Our confidence intervals rule out modest effects, and we find little evidence of incumbent party influence even in times and places with high political stakes or low commercial stakes. The one exception is the Reconstruction South, an episode that we discuss in detail.     

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: THE CULTURE OF HONOR AND HOMICIDE IN THE US SOUTH

The paper tests the popular hypothesis that the high prevalence of homicide in the South of the United States originates from the settlement by herders from the fringes of Britain in the 18th century. I find that historical Scots‐Irish presence is associated with higher contemporary homicide, particularly by white offenders, and that a culture of violence was transmitted to subsequent generations—but only in the South and, more generally, where historical institutional quality was low. The interpretation is that the Scots‐Irish culture of honor prevailed and persisted as an adaptive behavior to weak institutions. As institutional quality converged between the South and North over the last 200 years, the influence of the culture of honor has been fading over time. The results are robust to controlling for state fixed effects and for a large number of historical and contemporary factors, as well as to relying on instrumental variables for historical settlements. The results are also specific to a particular type of homicide and background of settlers.     

FROM SHAME TO GAME IN ONE HUNDRED YEARS: AN ECONOMIC MODEL OF THE RISE IN PREMARITAL SEX AND ITS DE‐STIGMATIZATION

Societies socialize children about sex. This is done in the presence of peer‐group effects, which may encourage undesirable behavior. Parents want the best for their children. Still, they weigh the marginal gains from socializing their children against its costs. Churches and states may stigmatize sex, both because of a concern about the welfare of their flocks and the need to control the cost of charity associated with out‐of‐wedlock births. Modern contraceptives have profoundly affected the calculus for instilling sexual mores. As contraception improves there is less need for parents, churches, and states to inculcate sexual mores. Technology affects culture.     

δ15N examination of the Lindeman-Hutchinson-Peters theory of increasin omnivory with trophic height in aquatic foodwebs

The advent of stable nitrogen isotope analysis in ecological research has at last enabled precise identification of trophic position and omnivory due to the differential enrichment of¹⁵N over¹⁴N with progressive assimilation up the foodweb. I compiled literature data on δ¹⁵N values in freshwater and marine foodwebs to search for qeneral patterns in omnivory, specifically the supposition originally proposed by Lindeman (1942) and most recently advanced by Peters (1977), that omnivory should increase with trophic height or position. Omnivory, measured as average intraspecific variability in δ¹⁵N, was indeed found to increase with trophic height, such that species at the top of foodwebs were comprised of animals relying, on average, on energy originating from a mixture of different trophic categories.     

析"N是N"结构

单用的名词同语式"N是N"根据内在结构的不同,我们把它分为两类:主谓结构的名词同语式和紧缩结构的名词同语式.前者表达一种分辨性肯定,后者表达一种礼貌性肯定.两者的字面信息都不够,听者必须联系语境,调用社会知识,通过推理,才能解出说话者所要传达的信息.     

Nonparametric function estimation from inversely sampled record-breaking data

Often, in industrial stress testing, meteorological data analysis, and other similar situations, measurements may be made sequentially and only values smaller than all previous ones are recorded. When the number of records is fixed in advance, the data are referred to as inversely sampled record-breaking data. This paper is concerned with nonparametric estimation of the distribution and density functions from such data (successive minima). For a single record-breaking sample, consistent estimation is not possible except in the extreme left tail of the distribution. Hence, replication is required, and for m such independent record-breaking samples, the estimators are shown to be strongly consistent and asymptotically normal as m ∞ →. Computer simulations are used to investigate the effect of the bandwidth on the mean squared errors and biases of the smooth estimators, and are also used to provide a comparison of their performance with the analogous estimators obtained under random sampling for record values.     

不同维度空间推理下 ERP 对比研究

借助立体图形,将英文字母与心理旋转相结合,探讨在二维和三维空间条件下,演绎推理之间的脑电差异。结果发现,在结论判断中;三维空间条件需要更多的认知资源,并且在推理加工中具有左脑优势。     

基于改进EMD 的地震信号去噪

压制随机噪声是地震数据处理过程中的一个重要环节,目前大多数去噪技术都不同程度存在去噪效果差、易损伤有效信号等问题。利用经验模态分解可将信号自适应地分解为不同特征尺度固有模态函数的优点,及小波变换模极大值滤波方法对噪声的依赖性较小且适合于低信噪比信号去噪的优势,构造了一种经验模态分解与小波变换模极大值相结合的新的去噪算法,该算法很好地实现了地震有效信号与随机噪声的分离,有效提高了地震数据信噪比。将该算法应用于仿真实验和实际地震数据处理,结果都表明该方法明显优于常规经验模态分解去噪效果。