...ricevo e inoltro...
### APOLOGIES FOR CROSS_POSTING ####
The Biometrical Journal is a leading journal in biometry. It is
calling for papers for a special issue on "Models for continuous data
with a spike at zero".
Zero-inflation models for count data have a long history and a huge
amount of published research exists to the topic. In fact, the
Biometrical Journal has contributed numerous papers to this area since
zero-inflated count data are a prominent problem in the life-sciences.
See, for example, the September 2013 issue of the Biometrical Journal.
In this call, we would like to draw the attention of the research
community to another prominent problem in the life sciences:
continuous data with a spike at zero. The extra-zeros can arise out of
many reasons and it is not necessarily clear how they could be
handled. A frequent problem is the occurrence of data below a limit of
detection (LOD). In these cases, it might be reasonable to treat them
as left-censored. A further modeling alternative could be that of
employing so called two-step models, where at the first stage a binary
variable describes whether or not the observed value is above the
limit of detection while, at the second stage, a continuous variable
is used to describe positive measurements. In other cases, it is less
clear how to approach the problem. For example, consider the
consumption of alcohol measured on a continuous scale. Then, there is
a spike at zero representing the non-drinkers. The zeros are neither
left-censored nor interval-censored. Here, there are at least two
problems involved. For one, the quantity of interest is bounded below,
and for two, the zeros create a single mass distribution. A further
empirical application where extra-zeros may arise is when modeling
length of stay in hospital admissions. This is frequently modeled
following a count data approach, although the underlying quantity is
continuous. In length-of-stay situations, day surgery patients may be
classified as having a null length of stay but, for administrative
purposes, it could be necessary for them to be considered together
with in-hospital patients whose length of stay is positive. Hence, we
have a continuous quantity bounded below by zero and a spike at zero.
In a regression context, we also think that these spikes could occur
on the left-hand side of a regression equation as well as on the
right-hand side, i.e. for the dependent (outcome) and the independent
(predictor) variables
With this call for submissions we are looking for novel contributions
presenting
• authentic continuous data with excess-zeros
• novel statistical approaches to handle these issues.
• up-to-date case studies which address the above issues and are of
interest for the biometric community.
.
Authors, who are not sure whether their problems and ideas fall under
the call or not, may approach the Editors with an initial draft of the
paper.
All submitted papers under this call will undergo the standard review
process of the journal. The deadline for papers for this call is May
31, 2014.
The special issue is handled through the website of the Biometrical
Journal and is handled as any other paper submitted to the journal
except that the editing and the review process is handled by the
Special Issue Editors Dankmar Böhning and Marco Alfó.
Please submit your manuscript at is http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/biomj
To submit to the special issue login at MC (manuscript central),
indicate at Step 1 that the submission is to a special issue and at
Step 4 of the submission process enter "ZERO I" in the Special Issue
Information field.
Submitted manuscripts should comply with the instructions for authors
of Biometrical Journal which you find on the Biometrical Journal
homepage using the link to the Author Guidelines.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 18:58:19 -0500
From: Alberto Bressan <bressan(a)math.psu.edu>
==============================================================================
Subject to availability of funding, the Penn State Mathematics Department
will seek to fill openings for S. Chowla Research Assistant Professors and
for tenure and tenure track faculty positions. Tenure or Tenure Track
Faculty Position Candidates from all areas of mathematics will be
considered. There may be up to three positions in the area of Probability.
A Ph.D. degree or its equivalent is required. Online application via
www.mathjobs.org is strongly preferred. Review of applications will begin
November 15, 2013 and will continue until positions are filled. Required
application materials include:
--Online application
--At least three reference letters, one of which should address in detail
the candidate's abilities as a teacher
--Curriculum Vitae
--Publication List
--Research Statement
--Teaching Statement
Persons who are unable to apply using the mathjobs.org website or who do
not wish to do so may send application materials to:
Search Committee
Department of Mathematics
Penn State University
107 McAllister Building
University Park, PA 16802
We encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds. Penn
State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the
diversity of its workforce.
=============================================================================
****************************************************************
STATISTICS SEMINARS - COLLEGIO CARLO ALBERTO
****************************************************************
Venerdi' 20 dicembre 2013 alle ore 12:00, presso la sala rossa del
Collegio Carlo Alberto, Moncalieri (TO), si terra' il seguente seminario:
Bas KLEIJN (University of Amsterdam)
TESTABILITY AND CONSISTENCY
Abstract:
Bayesian consistency theorems come in (at least) three distinct types,
e.g. Doob's prior-almost-sure consistency on Polish spaces,
Schwartz's Hellinger consistency with KL-priors and the `tailfree' weak
consistency of Dirichlet posteriors. In this talk we ask the question how
these notions of convergence are related and argue that one
characterises them most conveniently using test sequences.
We investigate the differences between uniform, point-wise and
almost-sure testing, prove Doob-type posterior consistency theorems
in various model topologies and consider hypothesis testing problems
like Cover's rational mean problem (Cover, 1973). To achieve
frequentist posterior consistency, we combine almost-sure tests with a
prior condition that generalises Schwartz's KL-condition and is
conjectured also to accomodate `tailfree' behaviour like that of
Dirichlet posteriors.
Tutti gli interessati sono invitati a partecipare.
Il seminario e' organizzato dalla "de Castro" Statistics Initiative
(http://www.carloalberto.org/stats) in collaborazione con il
Collegio Carlo Alberto.
Cordiali saluti,
Matteo Ruggiero
---------
Matteo Ruggiero
University of Torino & Collegio Carlo Alberto
http://web.econ.unito.it/ruggiero
Martedi' 17 dicembre 2013 alle ore 16 presso l'aula 1BC50
del Dipartimento di Matematica di Padova
il Prof. Fabio Martinelli (Dip. di Matematica, Universita' di Roma Tre)
terra' il seguente seminario
Title: Time scales separation and dynamical heterogeneities in
the East model.
Abstract:
The East model is a finite linear Markov chain of 0-1 spins, evolving
according to a very simple rule:
i) with rate 1 and independently for each vertex, a new value 1/0 is
proposed with probability 1-q and q respectively;
ii) the proposed value is accepted iff the spin immediately to the left is
0.
The model and its generalizations play an important role as models of the
dynamics of real glasses.
The parameter q, which turns out to be the density of the zeros (the
facilitating spins) in the stationary measure,
is assumed to be very small. In the physical literature this setting
corresponds to a low temperature case.
We will examine the problem of dynamic heterogeneity, i.e. non-trivial
spatio-temporal fluctuations of the local relaxation to equilibrium.
A key result will be a very precise computation of the relaxation time of
the chain as a function of q and of its length,
which uses induction on length scales on one hand and a novel algorithmic
lower bound on the other.
Our findings reject non rigorous approaches based on numerical simulations.
We will conclude with a conjecture due to D. Aldous and P. Diaconis about
the scaling limit of the East chain as q-->0.
Joint work with A. Faggionato and P. Chleboun
--
Alessandra Bianchi
Dip. di Matematica Pura e Applicata
Università di Padova
Via Trieste, 63 - 35121 Padova, Italy
phone: +39 049 827 14 06
fax: +39 049 827 14 28
e-mail: bianchi(a)math.unipd.it
http://www.math.unipd.it/~bianchi/
*---------------------------------------------------------*
*1 Post-doctoral fellowship for 2014-2015*
Announcement:
The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia has an open call for 1
Post-doctoral position (1+1 year) funded by the Italian Ministry of
Education and Research in the framework of the FIRB project “Stochastic
processes in interacting particle systems: duality, metastability and
applications”
(www.stochastics.unimore.it/firb).
Short description:
The candidate is expected to work on interacting particle systems, with
emphasis on non-equilibrium processes and population dynamics, including
their algorithmic aspects. Specific research topics include Markov
stochastic processes (both diffusions and jump processes) and large
deviations theory. The aim is to develop probabilistic tools, such as
duality theory, for the analysis of stochastic processes in the context of
mathematical population genetics and its applications to importance
sampling algorithms with cloning.
Job requirements:
- Early stage researcher with background in mathematical physics,
probability, statistical mechanics;
- PhD in Mathematics or PhD in Physics (obtained or soon to be obtained);
- shaped scientific personality, independent thinker;
- author of recent publications on peer-reviewed international journals;
- strong theoretical background but also an interest in
application-oriented research.
Salary:
27.429 euros (gross) per year.
Application:
The deadline for application is January 7th, 2014 and the position has to
start before February 28th, 2014. Interested candidates can contact Prof.
Cristian Giardina’ (cristian.giardina(a)unimore.it, +39 338 6115896). They
are welcome to ask questions when filling in the application form. Please
also include in your application the contact information of two researchers
who are acquainted with your previous work.
The call (english version) is available at:
http://www.ufficioselezioneassunzione.unimore.it/site/home/assegni-di-ricer…
The call (italian version) is available at:
http://www.ufficioselezioneassunzione.unimore.it/site/home/assegni-di-ricer…
Ho il piacere di invitarvi al seguente seminario che si terrà
martedì 17 dicembre 2013 alle ore 15
nell'aula 1BC50 del Dipartimento di Matematica di Padova.
Speaker: Prof. Fabio Martinelli , Dip. di Matematica, Università di Roma
Tre
Title: Time scales separation and dynamical heterogeneities in
the East model.
Abstract:
The East model is a finite linear Markov chain of 0-1 spins, evolving
according to a very simple rule:
i) with rate 1 and independently for each vertex, a new value 1/0 is
proposed with probability 1-q and q respectively;
ii) the proposed value is accepted iff the spin immediately to the left is
0.
The model and its generalizations play an important role as models of the
dynamics of real glasses.
The parameter q, which turns out to be the density of the zeros (the
facilitating spins) in the stationary measure,
is assumed to be very small. In the physical literature this setting
corresponds to a low temperature case.
We will examine the problem of dynamic heterogeneity, i.e. non-trivial
spatio-temporal fluctuations of the local relaxation to equilibrium.
A key result will be a very precise computation of the relaxation time of
the chain as a function of q and of its length,
which uses induction on length scales on one hand and a novel algorithmic
lower bound on the other.
Our findings reject non rigorous approaches based on numerical simulations.
We will conclude with a conjecture due to D. Aldous and P. Diaconis about
the scaling limit of the East chain as q-->0.
Joint work with A. Faggionato and P. Chleboun
--
Alessandra Bianchi
Dip. di Matematica Pura e Applicata
Università di Padova
Via Trieste, 63 - 35121 Padova, Italy
phone: +39 049 827 14 06
fax: +39 049 827 14 28
e-mail: bianchi(a)math.unipd.it
http://www.math.unipd.it/~bianchi/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A v v i s o d i S e m i n a r i o
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venerdì 13 Dicembre, ore 11am
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stanza 34
Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche
Sapienza Università di Roma
CLELIA DI SERIO
(Centro Universitario di Statistica per le Scienze Biomediche,
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
terrà un seminario dal titolo
INVESTIGATING TUMOR DORMANCY WITH FRAILTY
tutti gli interessati sono invitati a partecipare.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maggiori informazioni sui seminari presso il DSS sono
consultabili a quest'indirizzo: http://goo.gl/Y6OQYm
Saluti
Pierpaolo Brutti - Fulvio De Santis
---
Summary
A non-negligible percentage of cancer patients relapse after years or
decades after surgical removal of the primary tumor. This phenomenon
is not following a random memory-less process and its timing is
reflected in hazard rates, with respect to both relapse and mortality,
showing multimodal shapes. From a biomedical perspective, such a
behavior may be explained by tumor dormancy, i.e. for some patients
microscopic tumor foci may remain asymptomatic for a prolonged time
interval and, when they escape from dormancy, micrometastatic growth
results in a clinical disease appearance. The activation of the growth
phase at different metastatic states would explain the occurrence of
metastatic recurrences and mortality at different times (multimodal
hazard). We place this phenomenon in the framework of survival frailty
models. We propose a new statistical approach which models the risk
function by considering possible effects of Gamma frailty and compound
Poisson fraity in acting on components of the hazard function. Thus,
the individual hazard rate is the product of a random frailty variable
and the sum of basic hazard rates. The basic hazard rates correspond
to micrometastatic developments starting from different initial
states. The frailty variable represents the heterogeneity between
patients with respect to relapse, which might be related to unknown
mechanisms that regulate tumor dormancy. The model is applied to
analyze the mortality of patients in a large breast cancer dataset. We
show how this framework can appropriately model the tumor dormancy
phenomenon and possibly improve the understanding of this biological
process.
Al termine dell'iniziativa "Statistica Open Data e Società", concorso a premi promosso dal Dipartimento di Scienze statistiche dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in collaborazione con il Comune di Milano, nell'ambito delle celebrazioni per l'Anno Internazionale della Statistica, http://convegni.unicatt.it/meetings_2471.html<http://convegni.unicatt.it/meetings_2471.html,>, <http://convegni.unicatt.it/meetings_2471.htmlsi> si segnala l'evento "Come Open Data e Statistica possono aiutarci a conoscere e migliorare la società", in programma per venerdì 13 dicembre alle ore 18.00 presso l'Acquario Civico di Milano, nel corso del quale saranno premiati i vincitori. La partecipazione è libera, ma per motivi organizzativi si prega di segnalarla inviando una mail a dip.scienzestatistiche(a)unicatt.it<mailto:dip.scienzestatistiche@unicatt.it>.
Di seguito il programma e altre informazioni.
Venerdì 13 dicembre 2013, ore 18:00, Acquario Civico, Viale Gadio, 2 - Milano
Saluti e introduzione:
Cristina TAJANI
Assessore alle Politiche per il lavoro, Sviluppo economico, Università e ricerca
Guido CONSONNI
Presidente della Giuria "Statistica, Open Data e Società", Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Alessandro ROSINA
Direttore del Laboratorio di Statistica applicata alla decisioni economico-aziendali, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Interventi:
Nicola TORELLI
Presidente della Società Italiana di Statistica,
Marco ALFIERI
Direttore de Linkiesta
Presentazione dei prodotti vincitori del Contest "Statistica, Open Data e Società"
Consegna dei premi da parte di Nunatac e Synergia
Conclusioni:
Cristina TAJANI
Assessore alle Politiche per il lavoro, Sviluppo economico, Università e ricerca
Brindisi finale
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% Post-doc positions - Mathematics and Computer Science in Lyon (labex MILYON)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
See: http://milyon.universite-lyon.fr/offres-de-post-docs/2-post-doctoral-positi…
Offer:
MILYON (the Laboratoire d'Excellence "Mathématiques et Informatique à Lyon") offers four post-doctoral positions in mathematics and two in computer science for the academic year 2014-2015, to be held at the Unité de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées or at the Laboratoire de l'Informatique du Parallélisme (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), or at the Institut Camille Jordan (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1).
These are research-only appointments (without teaching). They are typically for two years, with possible renewal for a third year subject to review. The salary will be 2100 euros per month, with benefits including health insurance and social coverage. Funds will also be provided for traveling and inviting collaborators.
Full description:
More information can be found on the website of MILYON which contains links to the above three departments. It is requested to contact the colleagues in Lyon who are closest to your specialty.
Eligibility:
For holders of a Ph.D in mathematics or computer science obtained before October 1st, 2014.
Deadline:
Applications must be complete (including all reference letters) by: Wednesday, January 15th, 2014, at 17:00 (Lyon local time).
How to apply?
Applications must be submitted via the online form: http://math.univ-lyon1.fr/limesurvey/index.php?sid=32222&lang=en
Requested items:
Requested items:
- a curriculum vitae;
- a list of publications;
- a scientific project (around two pages) specifying members of MILYON with whom you plan to interact primarily;
- a short letter by a local mentor from Labex MILYON;
- two detailed recommendation letters by scientists, not members of MILYON (one of them can be the thesis adviser).
Contact:
Administrative contact: Carine Sevestre <sevestre(a)math.univ-lyon1.fr>
Only for scientific matters: Francis FILBET <filbet(a)math.univ-lyon1.fr>