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Advancing Statistical Methods for Multivariate and Network Meta-Analysis
No full textMultivariate meta-analysis (MMA) and network meta-analysis (NMA) are essential tools for synthesizing evidence across multiple correlated outcomes and treatments. However, these tools face practical challenges, including outcome reporting bias (ORB), unreported within-study correlations, and computational burden. ORB can distort effect estimates in MMA, while missing within-study correlations in multivariate NMA may lead to biased conclusions. To address these challenges, this dissertation introduces two novel statistical methods. For MMA, we propose SemiMMA, a semiparametric and scalable approach that treats ORB as a missing-not-at-random problem and combines inverse propensity weighting (IPW) with the generalized method of moments (GMM). For multivariate NMA, we develop BCL-OFS, a calibrated Bayesian composite likelihood method that employs a hybrid Gibbs sampler and Open-Faced Sandwich adjustment to accommodate unreported within-study correlations without requiring a fully specified likelihood. Through extensive simulations and real-world applications, including studies of treatments for kidney disease and root coverage procedures, we demonstrate that SemiMMA yields robust estimates against ORB, while BCL-OFS produces unbiased estimates with nominal levels. These methodological advancements mitigate key biases and offer the reliability of meta-analytic conclusions in medical and public health research
The Effects of Sports Betting Legalization on Consumer Behavior, State Finances, and Public Health
No full textThe legalization of sports betting has increased gambling participation significantly across the U.S., raising important questions about its costs and benefits for states and consumers. We use a large panel of individual-level financial data to analyze the impact of sports betting legalization on regulated gambling activity, state revenues, and broader economic effects. Examining 11 treatment states with differing patterns of legalization across online and offline gambling channels, we find that online sports gambling spending increased by 369% following legalization (from 4.63 per individual-month), while the rate of irresponsible gambling – defined as monthly gambling expenditures exceeding 1% of income – rose by 372% (from 0.2% to 0.9% of individuals). These increases represent genuine growth in regulated gambling activity, and there is little evidence of substitution from offline casino spending. The spending increase is relatively uniform across income levels, but irresponsible gambling shows significant income-based heterogeneity, with lower-income individuals experiencing disproportionately larger increases. Existing gamblers drive substantially more of the increase in problematic behavior than new gamblers, despite representing a smaller share of the population. Legalization also generated spillover effects, including a 20% increase in mass-market alcohol consumption and a 75% increase in calls to gambling helplines. State tax revenues were lifted by $0.78 per capita monthly across treatment states due to legalization
Predictive Analytics in Public Health: Developing AI Strategies to Combat High-Temperature Impacts on Violence and Overdoses in Las Vegas
No full textPublic violence and overdoses are key issues that Nevada agencies aim to address in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area. A proven and effective strategy is via the implementation of a Cardiff Violence Prevention Model. This model provides a way for communities to gain a clearer picture about where violence is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and police data on violence. In an effort to support this model, the exploration and implementation of AI models to predict the impacts of high temperatures on key public data and outcomes based upon historical data will be applied
Simulating 3D Humanoid Ragdoll Physics Using Velocity Verlet Integration, Pin Constraints, and Rigid Body Collision Systems
No full textRagdoll physics simulates realistic character collapse with physical realism by responding to environmental forces rather than using predefined animations
Design and Synthesis of Atypical C5 and C2 Substituted Carbapenem Antibiotics
No full textAntibiotics arguably represent the most important discovery of the 20th Century. The b-lactams are the most prescribed class of antibiotics. Carbapenems are considered the most potent and broadest spectrum of all beta-lactams due to their excellent performance against severe infections caused by Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and mycobacterial pathogens. However, 21st century bacteria have rapidly evolved resistance to conventional antibiotics. The pharmaceutical industry has largely abandoned the development of new antibiotics due to concerns about their long-term profitability. My research is focusing on designing, synthesizing, and, through multiple collaborators, evaluating atypical (i.e. modified at positions other than the carbapenem C2 position) carbapenem scaffold. We have discovered new molecules with improved activity against clinically relevant bacterial pathogens. Our new antibiotics display interesting new modes of chemical interaction with the respective target bacterial transpeptidases and beta-lactamases. The emphasis of this research is on new carbapenems that target carbapenem-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium abscessus, and Acinetobacter baumannii
The Real Story of NEPA Litigation in Clean Energy Permitting
No full textEnvironmental protections and the processes of the administrative state are under attack. In recent years, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has drawn outsized criticism from across the political and legal spectrum as a major impediment to climate friendly infrastructure and the clean energy transition. NEPA enables private groups to challenge development through litigation. Critics are moving to strip public oversight over federal permitting based on claims that these private groups bring largely frivolous environmental claims to court, driving up costs for developers and delaying progress responding to climate change. But is this really true?
Drawing on an original dataset of over 2,000 cases involving challenges to federal environmental reviews from 2009–2023, this Article presents the largest study of federal permitting litigation and reveals novel descriptive and empirical dimensions to the scholarly literature on private enforcement of NEPA. This study adds new, important empirical details about clean energy litigation that is highly relevant to the NEPA reform debate. I find that critics’ claims distort the reality of NEPA litigation.
Although the threat of NEPA litigation may chill some development, the litigation itself is broadly useful in ensuring well-informed decision-making across the government. Contrary to popular narratives, litigation is dominant in projects involving extraction such as forestry and fossil fuels, but plays only a minimal, at best, role in clean energy development. This data suggests that calls for reforms that excise or minimize public participation are not likely to accelerate the clean energy transition but, paradoxically, will almost certainly accelerate greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change, increase environmental harm, and deepen economic and health disparities. This Article concludes by proposing a new path for permitting reform that would enhance rather than hobble democratic functioning and truly serve the public interest
Shutting Down the Supply Chain Pipeline of Counterfeit Goods Running From Alibaba to Amazon
No full textAn immense supply chain pipeline constantly funnels millions of counterfeit goods from Alibaba’s e-commerce sites in China to third party sellers who sell these goods on Amazon to U.S. consumers. Amazon has acknowledged that it has a problem with counterfeits on its e-commerce sites, but its current responses to counterfeiting are primarily performative and intended to pacify disgruntled brand owners and frustrated consumers. Amazon’s responses will likely have little or no effect on counterfeits on its websites. This Article sets forth a direct and straightforward method for shutting down or seriously disrupting this pipeline based on using China’s existing laws. This method involves using verification methods required by China’s laws to ensure that only lawful and legitimate businesses, not counterfeiters, can open online accounts on Alibaba and other Chinese e-commerce platforms. Unless these steps are taken, counterfeits sold on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms will likely continue to plague brand owners, consumers, and the general public in the United States for the foreseeable future
