Non-parametric Bayesian mixture model to study adverse events of COVID-19 vaccines

The vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) is a vital resource for post-licensure vaccine safety monitoring and has played a key role in assessing the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. However it is difficult to properly identify rare adverse events (AEs) associated with vaccines due to small or zero counts. We propose a Bayesian model with a Dirichlet Process Mixture prior to improve accuracy of the AE estimates with small counts by allowing data-guided information sharing between AE estimates. We also propose a negative control procedure embedded in our Bayesian model to mitigate the reporting bias due to the heightened awareness of COVID-19 vaccines, and use it to identify associated AEs as well as associated AE groups defined by the organ system in the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) ontology. The proposed model is evaluated using simulation studies, in which it outperforms baseline models without information sharing and is applied to study the safety of COVID-19 vaccines using VAERS data

A centralized object-relational database-based code services retrieval system tool for software reuse.

We describe a code services retrieval system tool designed and implemented within a grid test-bed environment. Among the problems and challenges for code services systems included are: how to store; and, how to query, access and build the code services efficiently within the context of distributed storage sites. This thesis proposes a solution that integrates object-relational database technology, the Java JINI concept and JDBC technologies together to establish a centralized object-relational database based code services retrieval system tool for software reuse. In this thesis, we focus on how to store the code services and find which system architecture is suitable for code services retrieval system. We design and implement generic user-defined data types, including Character Large Object (CLOB) and Binary Large Object (BLOB) to store source codes and corresponding binary codes respectively. We use pure Java client-side JDBC to provide access to our new data types (CLOB and BLOB). The code services stored in the centralized object-relational database can be accessed remotely across networks. The portability of the centralized database is enhanced through use of Java. This system is access-effective. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2002 .Z53. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, page: 1125. Adviser: Robert D. Kent. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2002

Pitching Private Medicare Plans: An Analysis of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Advertising

Analyzes television, print, and radio ads for private Medicare plans to assess what types of information insurers emphasize and de-emphasize, what populations they target, and which type of plan they promote in trying to influence beneficiaries' choices

ChatHome: Development and Evaluation of a Domain-Specific Language Model for Home Renovation

This paper presents the development and evaluation of ChatHome, a domain-specific language model (DSLM) designed for the intricate field of home renovation. Considering the proven competencies of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 and the escalating fascination with home renovation, this study endeavors to reconcile these aspects by generating a dedicated model that can yield high-fidelity, precise outputs relevant to the home renovation arena. ChatHome's novelty rests on its methodology, fusing domain-adaptive pretraining and instruction-tuning over an extensive dataset. This dataset includes professional articles, standard documents, and web content pertinent to home renovation. This dual-pronged strategy is designed to ensure that our model can assimilate comprehensive domain knowledge and effectively address user inquiries. Via thorough experimentation on diverse datasets, both universal and domain-specific, including the freshly introduced "EvalHome" domain dataset, we substantiate that ChatHome not only amplifies domain-specific functionalities but also preserves its versatility.Comment: ChatHome,DSLM for home renovatio