Research lectures, seminars and events
The events listed in this area are research seminars, workshops and lectures hosted by Durham University departments and research institutes. If you are not a member of the University, but wish to enquire about attending one of the events please contact the organiser or host department.
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Events for 13 November 2019
Tathagata Basu: A Sensitivity Analysis of Adaptive Lasso
Sparse regression is an effcient statistical modelling technique which is of major relevance for high dimensional statistics. There are several ways of achieving sparse regression, the well-known lasso being one of them. However, lasso variable selection may not be consistent in selecting the true sparse model. Zou proposed an adaptive form of the lasso which overcomes this issue, and showed that data driven weights on the penalty term will result in a consistent variable selection procedure. We are interested in the case that the weights are informed by a prior execution of ridge regression. We carry out a sensitivity analysis of the Adaptive lasso through the power parameter of the weights, and demonstrate that, in effect, this parameter takes over the role of the usual lasso penalty parameter. In addition, we use the parameter as an input variable to obtain an error bound on the Adaptive lasso.
Contact themistoklis.botsas@durham.ac.uk, clare.wallace@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
Marco Barducci: * POSTPONED * ‘The European context of English Enlightenment debates on Christianity, 1650s - 1730s: Biblical interpretation, church authority, and ethics’ * POSTPONED *
Contact susan.royal@durham.ac.uk, alec.ryrie@durham.ac.uk, michael.snape@durham.ac.uk, s.j.c.taylor@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
Lynda Boothroyd: Cultural and ecological predictors of face and body ideals in the context of rapid globalisation
Cross-cultural studies have found a preference for heavier bodies in populations with reduced access to visual media and increased nutritional stress compared to Western populations. Similarly, early exposure to faces of a given ethnicity can lead to a cognitive processing advantage for such faces in later years. As such there is significant need for further research which unpicks the drivers of cross-cultural variation in beauty ideals. I will discuss data from research examining these issues in a Nicaraguan population experiencing significant changes in media access and broader globalisation. Using a range of converging methodologies, television consumption emerges as a predictor of body weight ideals both across and within participants, while education (perhaps indexing early exposure) affects both facial ethnicity and body weight ideals. Nutritional stress, however, shows very weak associations with any ideals. These results are discussed in the context of bio-cultural impacts on attraction and well-being.
Contact paolo.fortis@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
Dr. Mohamed-Arbi Nsiri: The African Cities of Late Antiquity: state of the question
Contact r.e.witcher@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
IAS Fellow's Public Lecture - Peace processes revisited: From negotiating conflict towards democratizing peace
Contact enquiries.ias@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
