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Results for “Generalized Linear Model”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records

Predicting oropharyngeal tumor volume throughout the course of radiation therapy from pretreatment computed tomography data using general linear models

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to develop and evaluate the accuracy of several predictive models of variation in tumor volume throughout the course of radiation therapy. Methods: Nineteen patients with oropharyngeal cancers were imaged daily with CT-on-rails for image-guided alignment per an institutional protocol. The daily volumes of 35 tumors in these 19 patients were determined and used to generate (1) a linear model in which tumor volume changed at a constant rate, (2) a general linear model that utilized the power fit relationship between the daily and initial tumor volumes, and (3) a functional general linear model that identified and exploited the primary modes of variation between time series describing the changing tumor volumes. Primary and nodal tumor volumes were examined separately. The accuracy of these models in predicting daily tumor volumes were compared with those of static and linear reference models using leave-one-out cross-validation. Results: In predicting the daily volume of primary tumors, the general linear model and the functional general linear model were more accurate than the static reference model by 9.9% (range: −11.6%–23.8%) and 14.6% (range: −7.3%–27.5%), respectively, and were more accurate than the linear reference model by 14.2% (range: −6.8%–40.3%) and 13.1% (range: −1.5%–52.5%), respectively. In predicting the daily volume of nodal tumors, only the 14.4% (range: −11.1%–20.5%) improvement in accuracy of the functional general linear model compared to the static reference model was statistically significant. Conclusions: A general linear model and a functional general linear model trained on data from a small population of patients can predict the primary tumor volume throughout the course of radiation therapy with greater accuracy than standard reference models. These more accurate models may increase the prognostic value of information about the tumor garnered from pretreatment computed tomography images and facilitate improved treatment management.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

On approaches to analyze the sensitivity of simulated hydrologic fluxes to model parameters in the community land model

Here, effective sensitivity analysis approaches are needed to identify important parameters or factors and their uncertainties in complex Earth system models composed of multi-phase multi-component phenomena and multiple biogeophysical-biogeochemical processes. In this study, the impacts of 10 hydrologic parameters in the Community Land Model on simulations of runoff and latent heat flux are evaluated using data from a watershed. Different metrics, including residual statistics, the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient, and log mean square error, are used as alternative measures of the deviations between the simulated and field observed values. Four sensitivity analysis (SA) approaches, including analysis of variance based on the generalized linear model, generalized cross validation based on the multivariate adaptive regression splines model, standardized regression coefficients based on a linear regression model, and analysis of variance based on support vector machine, are investigated. Results suggest that these approaches show consistent measurement of the impacts of major hydrologic parameters on response variables, but with differences in the relative contributions, particularly for the secondary parameters. The convergence behaviors of the SA with respect to the number of sampling points are also examined with different combinations of input parameter sets and output response variables and their alternative metrics. This study helps identify the optimal SA approach, provides guidance for the calibration of the Community Land Model parameters to improve the model simulations of land surface fluxes, and approximates the magnitudes to be adjusted in the parameter values during parametric model optimization.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

No evidence of a threshold in traffic volume affecting road-kill mortality at a large spatio-temporal scale

Previous studies have found that the relationship between wildlife road mortality and traffic volume follows a threshold effect on low traffic volume roads. We aimed at evaluating the response of several species to increasing traffic intensity on highways over a large geographic area and temporal period. We used data of four terrestrial vertebrate species with different biological and ecological features known by their high road-kill rates: the barn owl (Tyto alba), hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Additionally, we checked whether road-kill likelihood varies when traffic patterns depart from the average. We used annual average daily traffic (AADT) and road-kill records observed along 1000 km of highways in Portugal over seven consecutive years (2003–2009). We fitted candidate models using Generalized Linear Models with a binomial distribution through a sample unit of 1 km segments to describe the effect of traffic on the probability of finding at least one victim in each segment during the study. We also assigned for each road-kill record the traffic of that day and the AADT on that year to test for differences using Paired Student's t-test. Mortality risk declined significantly with traffic volume but varied among species: the probability of finding road-killed red foxes and rabbits occurs up to moderate traffic volumes (< 20,000 AADT) whereas barn owls and hedgehogs occurred up to higher traffic volumes (40,000 AADT). Perception of risk may explain differences in responses towards high traffic highway segments. Road-kill rates did not vary significantly when traffic intensity departed from the average. In summary, we did not find evidence of traffic thresholds for the analysed species and traffic intensities. We suggest mitigation measures to reduce mortality be applied in particular on low traffic roads (< 5000 AADT) while additional measures to reduce barrier effects should take into account species-specific behavioural traits. - Highlights: • Traffic and road-kills were analysed along 1000 km of highways over seven years. • Mortality risk declined significantly with traffic volume. • Perception of risk may explain different responses towards high traffic sections. • Reducing barrier effects should take into account species behavioural traits.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Sensitivity of Turbine-Height Wind Speeds to Parameters in Planetary Boundary-Layer and Surface-Layer Schemes in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model

We evaluate the sensitivity of simulated turbine-height winds to 26 parameters applied in a planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme and a surface layer scheme of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over an area of complex terrain during the Columbia Basin Wind Energy Study. An efficient sampling algorithm and a generalized linear model are used to explore the multiple-dimensional parameter space and quantify the parametric sensitivity of modeled turbine-height winds. The results indicate that most of the variability in the ensemble simulations is contributed by parameters related to the dissipation of the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), Prandtl number, turbulence length scales, surface roughness, and the von Kármán constant. The relative contributions of individual parameters are found to be dependent on both the terrain slope and atmospheric stability. The parameter associated with the TKE dissipation rate is found to be the most important one, and a larger dissipation rate can produce larger hub-height winds. A larger Prandtl number results in weaker nighttime winds. Increasing surface roughness reduces the frequencies of both extremely weak and strong winds, implying a reduction in the variability of the wind speed. All of the above parameters can significantly affect the vertical profiles of wind speed, the altitude of the low-level jet and the magnitude of the wind shear strength. The wind direction is found to be modulated by the same subset of influential parameters. Remainder of abstract is in attachment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Single toxin dose-response models revisited

The goal of this paper is to offer a rigorous analysis of the sigmoid shape single toxin dose-response relationship. The toxin efficacy function is introduced and four special points, including maximum toxin efficacy and inflection points, on the dose-response curve are defined. The special points define three phases of the toxin effect on mortality: (1) toxin concentrations smaller than the first inflection point or (2) larger then the second inflection point imply low mortality rate, and (3) concentrations between the first and the second inflection points imply high mortality rate. Probabilistic interpretation and mathematical analysis for each of the four models, Hill, logit, probit, and Weibull is provided. Two general model extensions are introduced: (1) the multi-target hit model that accounts for the existence of several vital receptors affected by the toxin, and (2) model with a nonzero mortality at zero concentration to account for natural mortality. Special attention is given to statistical estimation in the framework of the generalized linear model with the binomial dependent variable as the mortality count in each experiment, contrary to the widespread nonlinear regression treating the mortality rate as continuous variable. The models are illustrated using standard EPA Daphnia acute (48 h) toxicity tests with mortality as a function of NiCl or CuSO{sub 4} toxin. - Highlights: • The paper offers a rigorous study of a sigmoid dose-response relationship. • The concentration with highest mortality rate is rigorously defined. • A table with four special points for five morality curves is presented. • Two new sigmoid dose-response models have been introduced. • The generalized linear model is advocated for estimation of sigmoid dose-response relationship.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

A hierarchical analysis of the impact of methodological decisions on statistical downscaling of daily precipitation and air temperatures

Despite the widespread application of statistical downscaling tools, uncertainty remains regarding the role of model formulation in determining model skill for daily maximum and minimum temperature (Tmax and Tmin), and precipitation occurrence and intensity. Impacts of several key aspects of statistical transfer function form on model skill are evaluated using a framework resistant to model overspecification. We focus on: (a) model structure: simple (generalized linear models, GLMs) versus complex (artificial neural networks, ANNs) models. (b) Predictor selection: Fixed number of predictors chosen a priori versus stepwise selection of predictors and inclusion of grid point values versus predictors derived from application of principal components analysis (PCA) to spatial fields. We also examine the influence of domain size on model performance. For precipitation downscaling, we consider the role of the threshold used to characterize a wet day and apply three approaches (Poisson and Gamma distributions in GLM and ANN) to downscale wet-day precipitation amounts. While no downscaling formulation is optimal for all predictands and at 10 locations representing diverse U.S. climates, and due to the exclusion of variance inflation all of the downscaling formulations fail to reproduce the range of observed variability, models with larger suites of prospective predictors generally have higher skill. For temperature downscaling, ANNs generally outperform GLM, with greater improvements for T min than T max . Furthermore, use of PCA-derived predictors does not systematically improve model skill, but does improve skill for temperature extremes. Model skill for precipitation occurrence generally increases as the wet-day threshold increases and models using PCA-derived predictors tend to outperform those based on grid cell predictors. Each model for wet-day precipitation intensity overestimates annual total precipitation and underestimates the proportion derived from extreme precipitation events, but ANN-based models and those with larger predictor suites tend to have the smallest bias.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Model Comparison and Uncertainty Quantification for Geologic Carbon Storage. The Sim-SEQ Initiative

Sim-SEQ is a model comparison initiative for geologic carbon storage (GCS). In Sim-SEQ, fifteen different modeling teams are developing conceptual models for flow and transport of an injected CO 2 plume at the Sim-SEQ study site (or the S-3 site) located near Cranfield, Mississippi. The objective of the project is to understand the sources of model uncertainty in GCS, and if possible, to quantify these uncertainties through comparison of the different conceptual models and also through comparison with observed data from the S-3 site. In this paper, we compare six different conceptual models of the S-3 site, and present a preliminary uncertainty analysis of these six models using a generalized linear model approach. We show that differences in model conceptualization and interpretation of site characterization data caus a significant range in predictions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

MWASTools: an R/bioconductor package for metabolome-wide association studies

Abstract Summary MWASTools is an R package designed to provide an integrated pipeline to analyse metabonomic data in large-scale epidemiological studies. Key functionalities of our package include: quality control analysis; metabolome-wide association analysis using various models (partial correlations, generalized linear models); visualization of statistical outcomes; metabolite assignment using statistical total correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY); and biological interpretation of metabolome-wide association studies results. Availability and implementation The MWASTools R package is implemented in R (version > =3.4) and is available from Bioconductor: https://bioconductor.org/packages/MWASTools/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Rodriguez-Martinez, Andrea↗

A Sensitivity Study of Radiative Fluxes at the Top of Atmosphere to Cloud-Microphysics and Aerosol Parameters in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5

In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of net radiative fluxes (FNET) at the top of atmosphere (TOA) to 16 selected uncertain parameters mainly related to the cloud microphysics and aerosol schemes in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). We adopted a quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) sampling approach to effectively explore the high dimensional parameter space. The output response variables (e.g., FNET) were simulated using CAM5 for each parameter set, and then evaluated using generalized linear model analysis. In response to the perturbations of these 16 parameters, the CAM5-simulated global annual mean FNET ranges from -9.8 to 3.5 W m-2 compared to the CAM5-simulated FNET of 1.9 W m-2 with the default parameter values. Variance-based sensitivity analysis was conducted to show the relative contributions of individual parameter perturbation to the global FNET variance. The results indicate that the changes in the global mean FNET are dominated by those of cloud forcing (CF) within the parameter ranges being investigated. The size threshold parameter related to auto-conversion of cloud ice to snow is confirmed as one of the most influential parameters for FNET in the CAM5 simulation. The strong heterogeneous geographic distribution of FNET variation shows parameters have a clear localized effect over regions where they are acting. However, some parameters also have non-local impacts on FNET variance. Although external factors, such as perturbations of anthropogenic and natural emissions, largely affect FNET variations at the regional scale, their impact is weaker than that of model internal parameters in terms of simulating global mean FNET in this study. The interactions among the 16 selected parameters contribute a relatively small portion of the total FNET variations over most regions of the globe. This study helps us better understand the CAM5 model behavior associated with parameter uncertainties, which will aid the next step of reducing model uncertainty via calibration of uncertain model parameters with the largest sensitivity.

aerosol↗

Uncertainty quantification for evaluating impacts of caprock and reservoir properties on pressure buildup and ground surface displacement during geological CO2 sequestration

A series of numerical test cases reflecting broad and realistic ranges of geological formation properties was developed to systematically evaluate and compare the impacts of those properties on geomechanical responses to CO2 injection. A coupled hydro-geomechanical subsurface transport simulator, STOMP (Subsurface Transport over Multiple Phases), was adopted to simulate the CO2 migration process and geomechanical behaviors of the surrounding geological formations. A quasi-Monte Carlo sampling method was applied to efficiently sample a high-dimensional parameter space consisting of injection rate and 14 subsurface formation properties, including porosity, permeability, entry pressure, irreducible gas and aqueous saturation, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio for both reservoir and caprock. Generalized cross-validation and analysis of variance methods were used to quantitatively measure the significance of the 15 input parameters. Reservoir porosity, permeability, and injection rate were found to be among the most significant factors affecting the geomechanical responses to the CO2 injection. We used a quadrature generalized linear model to build a reduced-order model that can estimate the geomechanical response instantly instead of running computationally expensive numerical simulations.

CO2 geological sequestration↗

A Bayesian approach to evaluation of soil biogeochemical models

Abstract. To make predictions about the carbon cycling consequences of rising global surface temperatures, Earth system scientists rely on mathematical soil biogeochemical models (SBMs). However, it is not clear which models have better predictive accuracy, and a rigorous quantitative approach for comparing and validating the predictions has yet to be established. In this study, we present a Bayesian approach to SBM comparison that can be incorporated into a statistical model selection framework. We compared the fits of linear and nonlinear SBMs to soil respiration data compiled in a recent meta-analysis of soil warming field experiments. Fit quality was quantified using Bayesian goodness-of-fit metrics, including the widely applicable information criterion (WAIC) and leave-one-out cross validation (LOO). We found that the linear model generally outperformed the nonlinear model at fitting the meta-analysis data set. Both WAIC and LOO computed higher overfitting risk and effective numbers of parameters for the nonlinear model compared to the linear model, conditional on the data set. Goodness of fit for both models generally improved when they were initialized with lower and more realistic steady-state soil organic carbon densities. Still, testing whether linear models offer definitively superior predictive performance over nonlinear models on a global scale will require comparisons with additional site-specific data sets of suitable size and dimensionality. Such comparisons can build upon the approach defined in this study to make more rigorous statistical determinations about model accuracy while leveraging emerging data sets, such as those from long-term ecological research experiments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Analysis of overlapping count data

Counts of a specific characteristic were obtained within regions defined on an object that was manufactured in a proprietary setting. The count regions were altered during production and resulted in misaligned or overlapping count data. A closed-formula maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the new region means is derived using all of the available count data and an independent Poisson model. The MLE is shown to be preferable to estimators constructed using generalized linear models for the overlapping data setting. This closed-form estimator extends to over-dispersed overlapping count data as the quasi-MLE and also performs well with correlated overlapping count data. Standard errors for the estimator are approximated and are validated with a simulation study. Additionally, the methods are extended to overlapping multinomial data. Illustrative examples of the methods are provided throughout the paper and are reproducible with the supplemental R code. Additionally, proofs of the paper’s results are also included in the supplemental material.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Estimating soil N 2 O emissions induced by organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs using a Tier-2, regression-based meta-analytic approach for U.S. agricultural lands

Consistent methods are essential for generating country and region-specific estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions used for reporting and policymaking. The estimates of direct N 2 O emissions from U.S. agricultural soils have primarily relied on the use of emission factors (EFs, Tier-1) and process-based models (Tier-3). However, Tier-1 estimates are relatively crude while Tier-3 calculations can be costly. This work addressed this gap by developing a Tier-2, regression-based approach by leveraging a meta-database containing 1883 field N 2 O observations together with environmental and management covariates from 139 studies. Our results estimated higher monthly soil N 2 O emissions (N 2 O m , kg N/ha) during the growing season (0.38) than the fallow period (0.15), highlighting the importance of considering measurement periods when utilizing meta-databases for analyzing N 2 O drivers. Significantly different N 2 O m were found for tillage practices (conventional > no-till: 0.42 > 0.27), fertilizer type (liquid > solid manure: 0.55 > 0.32), and soil texture (fine > coarse: 0.36 > 0.22). The comparisons of the influence of crop type and rotation, water management, and soil order on N 2 O emissions are complicated by regional data availability and interactions among different factors. Additionally, the finding that N 2 O emissions reported based on area (N 2 O m ), N input rate (EF), or yield can alter treatment rankings underscores the need to establish transparent criteria for rewarding or discouraging regionally-based management practices using N 2 O metrics. Finally, we show how General Linear Models (GLMs) can be used to estimate country and regional Tier-2 N 2 O m using a suite of covariates. Our GLMs identified tillage, water management, N input type and rate, soil properties, and elevation as the most influential covariates for the conterminous U.S. The limited accuracy of regional-scale GLMs, however, suggests the need to further improve the quality and availability of GHG and covariate data through concerted efforts in data collection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Linearized modeling and optimization of shared mooring systems

Shared mooring systems, where adjacent platforms are tethered directly to each other, can reduce anchor quantities and mooring line lengths in a floating array but also introduce new modeling and design challenges. This paper presents and demonstrates a first-order approach to modeling and designing shared mooring systems that simplifies these challenges. We formulate a general, linearized model for the force-displacement response of shared mooring systems, including inter-platform couplings. Using this linearization, we realize significant simplifications to the shared mooring system design problem and propose a corresponding design optimization approach. Finally, we demonstrate the complete approach on a variety of shared-mooring floating wind farm layouts with generic design assumptions and constraints. Some fundamental observations about shared mooring systems can be made from the results. Polygonal array layouts with perpendicular anchor positions appear to maximize shared mooring system efficiency. Also, arrays with greater levels of sharing tend to exhibit larger deviations in offsets between platforms. Overall, the results show how the linearized approach can be applied to efficiently evaluate and systematically optimize preliminary shared mooring system designs.

17 WIND ENERGY↗