This article discusses the problem of choosing a regularization parameter in the group Lasso proposed by Yuan and Lin (2006), an l1-regularization approach for producing a block-wise sparse model that has been attracted a lot of interests in statistics, machine learning, and data mining. It is important to choose an appropriate regularization parameter from a set of candidate values, because it...

This paper presents a unified method for speech segmentation, speaker normalization of spectral features, and speaker adaptation of acoustic model for efficient meeting speech recognition. In the proposed method, input speech is segmented based on BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion), and compared against each speaker’s statistic in the training corpus of the acoustic model based on the BIC. Fa...

We consider the problem of a revenue-maximizing seller with m items for sale to n additive bidders with hard budget constraints, assuming that the seller has some prior distribution over bidder values and budgets. The prior may be correlated across items and budgets of the same bidder, but is assumed independent across bidders. We target mechanisms that are Bayesian Incentive Compatible, but th...

\Ve consider the problem of color image quantization, or clustering of the color space. vVe propose a new methodology for doing this, called model-based clustering trees. This is grounded in model-based clustering, which bases inference on finite mixture models estimated by maximum likelihood using the EM algorithm, and automatically chooses the number of clusters by Bayesian model selection, a...

In view of the conservatism of the conventional linear matrix inequality (LMI) based fault detection observer design for Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy nonlinear systems with more If-Then rules, an improved fuzzy observer design is presented. The identical transformation of matrix inequalities is employed to reduce the conservatism and the number of LMI constraints, which can accommodate to the models wit...

BACKGROUND Topography and presence of bio-mimetic coatings are known to improve osseointegration. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bone regeneration potential of porous and osteogenic coatings. METHODOLOGY Six-implants [Control (CTR); porous titanium coatings (T1, T2); thickened titanium (Ti) dioxide layer (TiO(2)); Amorphous Microporous Silica (AMS) and Bio-active Glass (BAG)]...

We provide background information to allow a heuristic understanding of two types of criteria used in selecting a model for making inferences from ringing data. The first type of criteria (e.g., AIC, AIC, QAIC and TIC) are estimates of (relative) Kullback-Leibler information or-distance and attempt to select a good approximating model for inference, based on the Principle of Parsimony. The seco...

In a previous study we demonstrated high expression of the non-coding BIC gene in the vast majority of Hodgkin's lymphomas (HLs). Evidence suggesting that BIC is a primary microRNA transcript containing the mature microRNA-155 (miR-155) as part of a RNA hairpin is now accumulating. We therefore analysed HL cell lines and tissue samples to determine whether miR-155 is also expressed in HL. High ...

Title of Document: A SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF WITHIN-SUBJECT AND BETWEENSUBJECT COVARIANCE STRUCTURES IN GROWTH MIXTURE MODELS Junhui Liu, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Directed By: Dr. Jeffrey R. Harring, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology The current study investigated how between-subject and within-subject variance-covariance structures affected the detection of a f...

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in women in Western countries, currently accounting for one third of all female cancers. Familial aggregation is thought to account for 5-10 % of all BC cases, and germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for less of the half of these inherited cases. In Lebanon, breast cancer represents the principal death-causing malignancy among women, with...