We present a unified approach to nonparametric comparisons of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for a paired design with clustered data. Treating empirical ROC curves as stochastic processes, their asymptotic joint distribution is derived in the presence of both between-marker and within-subject correlations. A Monte Carlo method is developed to approximate their joint distribution without involving nonparametric density estimation. The developed theory is applied to derive new inferential procedures for comparing weighted areas under the ROC curves, confidence bands for the difference function of ROC curves, confidence intervals for the set of specificities at which one diagnostic test is more sensitive than the other, and multiple comparison procedures for comparing more than two diagnostic markers. Our methods demonstrate satisfactory small-sample performance in simulations. We illustrate our methods using clustered data from a glaucoma study and repeated-measurement data from a startle response study.

This study explores the effects of metakaolin (MK) and silica fume (SF) on rheological behaviors and microstructure of self-compacting concrete (SCC). The rheology, slump flow, V-funnel, segregation degree (SA), and compressive strength of SCC are investigated. Microstructure characteristics, including hydration product and pore structure, are also studied. The results show that adding MK and SF instead of 4%, 6% and 8% fly ash (FA) reduces flowability of SCC; this is due to the fact that the specific surface area of MK and SF is larger than FA, and the total water demand increases as a result. However, the flowability increases when replacement ratio is 2%, as the small MK and SF particles will fill in the interstitial space of mixture and more free water is released. The fluidity, slump flow, and SA decrease linearly with the increase of yield stress. The total amount of SF and MK should be no more than 6% to meet the requirement of self-compacting. Adding MK or SF to SCC results in more hydration products, less Ca(OH)2 and refinement of pore structure, leading to obvious strength and durability improvements. When the total dosage of MK and SF admixture is 6%, these beneficial effects on workability, mechanical performance, and microstructure are more significant when SF and MK are applied together.

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Abstract. With game theory, we review the optimal digital controller realization problems that maximize a finite word length (FWL) closed-loop stability measure. For a large class of these optimal FWL controller realization problems which have saddle points, a minimax-based search algorithm is derived for finding a global optimal solution. The algorithm consists of two stages. In the first stage, the closed form of a transformation set is constructed which contains global optimal solutions. In the second stage, a subgradient approach searches this transformation set to obtain a global optimal solution. This algorithm does not suffer from the usual drawbacks associated with using direct numerical optimization methods to tackle these FWL realization problems. Furthermore, for a small class of optimal FWL controller realization problems which have no saddle point, the proposed algorithm also provides useful information to help solve them.