SMU Department of Statistical Science
SMU News: 2012 Research Day at Southern Methodist University
SMU News covered the annual 2012 Research Day on Feb. 10 where SMU graduate and undergraduate students presented results of their research studies.
Sponsored by SMU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the event sought to foster communication between students in different programs, give students the opportunity to present their work in formats they will use as professionals, and to share with the SMU community and others the outstanding research being done at the University.
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Study: Antibiotics, instead of emergency surgery, may better treat cases of nonperforating appendicitis
Antibiotics rather than surgery may better treat cases of appendicitis when the appendix hasn’t burst, says a new study from SMU and UT Southwestern Medical School.
The study’s authors say the findings suggest that nonperforating appendicitis may be unrelated to perforating appendicitis, in which the appendix has burst.
Instead, the study found that nonperforating childhood appendicitis, which historically has been treated with emergency surgery, seems to be a disease similar to nonperforating adult diverticulitis, which is often treated with antibiotics.
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Federal Fisheries Service aims to sustain ample fish stocks in U.S. coastal waters
Fishing for fun in the ocean is a serious sport, so the federal government recently invited SMU statistical science professor Lynne Stokes and other scientists to help critique a survey that’s vital to the mission of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Stokes and the other panelists found a way to gather data more efficiently and effectively to assist the Fisheries Service as the feds try to sustain ample fish stocks in U.S. coastal waters.
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Appendicitis linked to flu-like virus outbreaks
The research of SMU faculty Thomas B. Fomby and Wayne A. Woodward has been published in the January issue of the journal Archives of Surgery. Fomby is a professor and chairman of the Department of Economics and Woodward is a professor in the Department of Statistical Science.
The research described in the article “Association of Viral Infection and Appendicitis” looks at the relationship between appendicitis and seasonal viral infections. The scientists reviewed 36 years of hospital discharge data and concluded there is a relationship to a flu-like virus.
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Chemical exposure now linked to Gulf War syndrome
The following story published March 20, 2009 on www.sciencedaily.com
A new study by researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center and Southern Methodist University is the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome. The finding links the illness to chemical exposures and may lead to diagnostic tests and treatments.
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Deep brain mapping could pinpoint Gulf War Syndrome
Researchers at Southern Methodist University are pioneering the use of spatial statistical modeling to analyze brain scan data from Persian Gulf War veterans. The goal is to pinpoint specific areas of the brain affected by Gulf War Syndrome.
Richard Gunst, Wayne Woodward and William Schucany, professors in SMU’s Department of Statistical Science in Dedman College, are collaborating with imaging specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to compare brain scans of veterans suffering from the syndrome with those of a healthy control group.
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