Statisticians routinely plot ordered observations against expected values to validate a model using a random sample. In fact, it is possible to construct a probability plot for a random sample from any continuous distribution function, and this is accommodated by the probability integral transform which facilitates a uniform probability plot of the ordered transformed observations against their...

–Thompson sampling is a heuristic algorithm for the multi-armed bandit problem which has long tradition in machine learning. The Bayesian spirit sense that it selects arms based on posterior samples of reward probabilities each arm. By forging connection between combinatorial binary bandits and spike-and-slab variable selection, we propose stochastic optimization approach to subset selection ca...

Amentotaxus formosana Li is a native, tolerant, and under-wood species in Taiwan. This particular species is only distributed around the Chachayalaishan and Dawushan areas. Because of its rarity, and the endangered and native properties of the species, we explored the regeneration process of the species in the native environment. This paper, therefore, aims to outline the age distribution and g...

In this paper we present results of the application of PLOT-cryoadsorption (PLOT-cryo) to the analysis of ignitable liquids in fire debris. We tested ignitable liquids, broadly divided into fuels and solvents (although the majority of the results presented here were obtained with gasoline and diesel fuel) on three substrates: Douglas fir, oak plywood and Nylon carpet. We determined that PLOT-cr...

Airborne laser scanning, collected in a sampling mode, has the potential to be a valuable tool for estimating the biomass resources available to support bioenergy production in rural communities of interior Alaska. In this study, we present a methodology for estimating forest biomass over a 201,226-ha area (of which 163,913 ha are forested) in the upper Tanana valley of interior Alaska using a ...