We investigated the association between stroke and blood pressure (BP) indices (systolic BP [SBP], diastolic BP [DBP], mean BP [MBP], and pulse pressure [PP]) determined by ambulatory BP monitoring. The predictive power for stroke of these indices was compared in the general Japanese population. We obtained ambulatory BP data in 1271 subjects (40% men) aged 40 (mean: 61) years. During a mean fo...

Causal discovery programs have met with considerable enthusiasm in the AI and data mining communities. Amongst philosophers they have met a more mixed response, with numerous skeptics pointing out weaknesses in their assumptions. Some criticize the reliance upon faithfulness (the idea that every causal connection will result in probabilistic dependence), since the true model may in fact be unfa...

Now that we have covered the basics of research, organization, and how to make reasoned claims, we turn our attention to the first of three types of speeches you might find yourself delivering one day. We often equate speeches with political candidates making appeals to an audience, or perhaps a sermon on morality from a preacher, but not all speeches are designed to persuade a person. In fact,...

A single counterfactual conditional can have a multitude of interpretations that differ, intuitively, in the connection between antecedent and consequent. Using structural equation models (SEMs) to represent event dependencies, we illustrate various types of explanation compatible with a given counterfactual. We then formalize in the SEM framework the notion of an acceptable explanation, identi...

We investigated the association between stroke and blood pressure (BP) indices (systolic BP [SBP], diastolic BP [DBP], mean BP [MBP], and pulse pressure [PP]) determined by ambulatory BP monitoring. The predictive power for stroke of these indices was compared in the general Japanese population. We obtained ambulatory BP data in 1271 subjects (40% men) aged > or = 40 (mean: 61) years. During a ...

Modelling the software architectures of large systems is a challenging task. A wide variety of abstractions are required by developers to assist them inions are required by developers to assist them in describing and analysing such architectures, including information about the components and relationships that comprise a system, the static and dynamic structure of the system, and the behaviour...

Small area estimation techniques are employed when sample data are insufficient for acceptably precise direct estimation in domains of interest. These techniques typically rely on regression models that use both covariates and random effects to explain variation between domains. However, such models also depend on strong distributional assumptions, require a formal specification of the random p...

We propose a method that would allow for a rigorous statistical analysis of neural responses to natural stimuli, which are non–Gaussian and exhibit strong correlations. We have in mind a model in which neurons are selective for a small number of stimulus dimensions out of the high dimensional stimulus space, but within this subspace the responses can be arbitrarily nonlinear. Existing analysis ...