527 research outputs found
Measurement of statistical evidence on an absolute scale following thermodynamic principles
Statistical analysis is used throughout biomedical research and elsewhere to
assess strength of evidence. We have previously argued that typical outcome
statistics (including p-values and maximum likelihood ratios) have poor
measure-theoretic properties: they can erroneously indicate decreasing evidence
as data supporting an hypothesis accumulate; and they are not amenable to
calibration, necessary for meaningful comparison of evidence across different
study designs, data types, and levels of analysis. We have also previously
proposed that thermodynamic theory, which allowed for the first time derivation
of an absolute measurement scale for temperature (T), could be used to derive
an absolute scale for evidence (E). Here we present a novel
thermodynamically-based framework in which measurement of E on an absolute
scale, for which "one degree" always means the same thing, becomes possible for
the first time. The new framework invites us to think about statistical
analyses in terms of the flow of (evidential) information, placing this work in
the context of a growing literature on connections among physics, information
theory, and statistics.Comment: Final version of manuscript as published in Theory in Biosciences
(2013
Study of transition temperatures in superconductors Final report, 11 Mar. 1968 - 10 Mar. 1970
Thermodynamic and electrical properties of niobium stannide and other superconductor
Measurement of Statistical Evidence: Picking Up Where Hacking (et al.) Left Off
Hacking’s (1965) Law of Likelihood says – paraphrasing– that data support hypothesis H1 over hypothesis H2 whenever the likelihood ratio (LR) for H1 over H2 exceeds 1. But Hacking (1972) noted a seemingly fatal flaw in the LR itself: it cannot be interpreted as the degree of “evidential significance” across applications. I agree with Hacking about the problem, but I don’t believe the condition is incurable. I argue here that the LR can be properly calibrated with respect to the underlying evidence, and I sketch the rudiments of a methodology for so doing
Point Contact Spectroscopy of Nb3Sn Crystals: Evidence of a CDW Gap Related to the Martensitic Transition
Two Single crystals of Nb3Sn presenting the martensitic anomaly at different
temperature and shape, as observed with specific heat measurements, were used
to study structural features in the electronic density of states with point
contact spectroscopy. At high temperature below the martensitic anomaly, we
observed different spectroscopic characteristics. One sample displaying a well
marked specific heat peak, shows a clear defined structure in the differential
conductance that evolves with temperature and may be associated with changes on
the density of states due to the opening of a charge density wave gap. Those
features are very depending on the crystallographics characteristics of the
single crystal examined.Comment: 13 pages 6 figures. accepted in Solid State Communicatio
Two novel quantitative trait linkage analysis statistics based on the posterior probability of linkage: application to the COGA families
BACKGROUND: In this paper we apply two novel quantitative trait linkage statistics based on the posterior probability of linkage (PPL) to chromosome 4 from the GAW 14 COGA dataset. Our approaches are advantageous since they use the full likelihood, use full phenotypic information, do not assume normality at the population level or require population/sample parameter estimates; and like other forms of the PPL, they are specifically tailored to accumulate linkage evidence, either for or against linkage, across multiple sets of heterogeneous data. RESULTS: The first statistic uses all quantitative trait (QT) information from the pedigree (QT-posterior probability of linkage, PPL); we applied the QT-PPL to the trait ecb21 (resting electroencephalogram). The second statistic allows simultaneous incorporation of dichotomous trait data into the QT analysis via a threshold model (QTT-PPL); we applied the QTT-PPL to combined data on ecb21 and ALDX1. We obtained a QT-PPL of 96% at GABRB1 and a QT-PPL of 18% at FABP2 while the QTT-PPL was 4% and 2% at the same two loci, respectively. By comparison, the variance-components (VC) method, as implemented in SOLAR, yielded multipoint VC LOD scores of 2.05 and 2.21 at GABRB1 and FABP2, respectively; no other VC LODs were greater than 2. CONCLUSION: The QTT-PPL was only 4% at GABARB1, which might suggest that the underlying ecb21 gene does not also cause ALDX1, although features of the data complicate interpretation of this result
KELVIN: A Software Package for Rigorous Measurement of Statistical Evidence in Human Genetics
This paper describes the software package KELVIN, which supports the PPL (posterior probability of linkage) framework for the measurement of statistical evidence in human (or more generally, diploid) genetic studies. In terms of scope, KELVIN supports two-point (trait-marker or marker-marker) and multipoint linkage analysis, based on either sex-averaged or sex-specific genetic maps, with an option to allow for imprinting; trait-marker linkage disequilibrium (LD), or association analysis, in case-control data, trio data, and/or multiplex family data, with options for joint linkage and trait-marker LD or conditional LD given linkage; dichotomous trait, quantitative trait and quantitative trait threshold models; and certain types of gene-gene interactions and covariate effects. Features and data (pedigree) structures can be freely mixed and matched within analyses. The statistical framework is specifically tailored to accumulate evidence in a mathematically rigorous way across multiple data sets or data subsets while allowing for multiple sources of heterogeneity, and KELVIN itself utilizes sophisticated software engineering to provide a powerful and robust platform for studying the genetics of complex disorders
Study of transition temperatures in superconductors Quarterly progress report, 11 Jun. - 10 Sep. 1968
Superconducting properties of niobium-tin alloy and large single crystal growt
Statistical Evidence Measured on a Properly Calibrated Scale Across Nested and Non-nested Hypothesis Comparisons
Statistical modeling is often used to measure the strength of evidence for or
against hypotheses on given data. We have previously proposed an
information-dynamic framework in support of a properly calibrated measurement
scale for statistical evidence, borrowing some mathematics from thermodynamics,
and showing how an evidential analogue of the ideal gas equation of state could
be used to measure evidence for a one-sided binomial hypothesis comparison
(coin is fair versus coin is biased towards heads). Here we take three
important steps forward in generalizing the framework beyond this simple
example. We (1) extend the scope of application to other forms of hypothesis
comparison in the binomial setting; (2) show that doing so requires only the
original ideal gas equation plus one simple extension, which has the form of
the Van der Waals equation; (3) begin to develop the principles required to
resolve a key constant, which enables us to calibrate the measurement scale
across applications, and which we find to be related to the familiar
statistical concept of degrees of freedom. This paper thus moves our
information-dynamic theory substantially closer to the goal of producing a
practical, properly calibrated measure of statistical evidence for use in
general applications
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