Weighted Empirical Likelihood Ratio Confidence Intervals for the Mean with Censored Data

We propose a procedure to construct the empirical likelihood ratio confidence interval for the mean using a resampling method. This approach leads to the definition of a likelihood function for censored data, called weighted empirical likelihood function. With the second order expansion of the log likelihood ratio, a weighted empirical likelihood ratio confidence interval for the mean is proposed and shown by simulation studies to have comparable coverage accuracy to alternative methods, including the nonparametric bootstrap-t. The procedures proposed here apply in a unified way to different types of censored data, such as right censored data, doubly censored data and interval censored data, and computationally more efficient than the bootstrap-t method. An example of a set of doubly censored breast cancer data is presented with the application of our methods.     

Empirical likelihood for mixed-effects error-in-variables model

This paper mainly introduces the method of empirical likelihood and its applications on two different models. We discuss the empirical likelihood inference on fixed-effect parameter in mixed-effects model with error-in-variables. We first consider a linear mixed-effects model with measurement errors in both fixed and random effects. We construct the empirical likelihood confidence regions for the fixed-effects parameters and the mean parameters of random-effects. The limiting distribution of the empirical log likelihood ratio at the true parameter is X2p＋q, where p, q are dimension of fixed and random effects respectively. Then we discuss empirical likelihood inference in a semi-linear error-in-variable mixed-effects model. Under certain conditions, it is shown that the empirical log likelihood ratio at the true parameter also converges to X2p＋q. Simulations illustrate that the proposed confidence region has a coverage probability more closer to the nominal level than normal approximation based confidence region.     

Empirical likelihood for AR-ARCH models based on LAD estimation

By employing the empirical likelihood method,confidence regions for the stationary AR(p)-ARCH(q) models are constructed.A self-weighted LAD estimator is proposed under weak moment conditions.An empirical log-likelihood ratio statistic is derived and its asymptotic distribution is obtained.Simulation studies show that the performance of empirical likelihood method is better than that of normal approximation of the LAD estimator in terms of the coverage accuracy,especially for relative small size of observation.     

Maximum Kernel Likelihood Estimation

We introduce an estimator for the population mean based on maximizing likelihoods formed by parameterizing a kernel density estimate. Due to these origins, we have dubbed the estimator the maximum kernel likelihood estimate (MKLE). A speedy computational method to compute the MKLE based on binning is implemented in a simulation study which shows that the MKLE at an optimal bandwidth is decidedly superior in terms of efficiency to the sample mean and other measures of location for heavy tailed symmetric distributions. An empirical rule and a computational method to estimate this optimal bandwidth are developed and used to construct bootstrap confidence intervals for the population mean. We show that the intervals have approximately nominal coverage and have significantly smaller average width than the standard t and z intervals. Finally, we develop some mathematical properties for a very close approximation to the MKLE called the kernel mean. In particular, we demonstrate that the kernel mean is indeed unbiased for the population mean for symmetric distributions.     

ML Estimation of the MultivariatetDistribution and the EM Algorithm

Maximum likelihood estimation of the multivariatetdistribution, especially with unknown degrees of freedom, has been an interesting topic in the development of the EM algorithm. After a brief review of the EM algorithm and its application to finding the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of thetdistribution, this paper provides new versions of the ECME algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation of the multivariatetdistribution from data with possibly missing values. The results show that the new versions of the ECME algorithm converge faster than the previous procedures. Most important, the idea of this new implementation is quite general and useful for the development of the EM algorithm. Comparisons of different methods based on two datasets are presented.     

Controlling the space with preassigned responses

It is shown that large classes of control systems, which include certain systems of the typex+A(t)x=B(t)u, can be handled in such a way that the control functionsu(t) are actually associated with responsesx(t) that belong to known families of functions. In particular, it is possible, for a variety of perturbationsB(t)u and operatorsA(t) with convex domains, to have responses that are line segments joining the origin to the reachable states.The present approach establishes the fact that a vast number of results from functional analysis concerning ranges of operators can be effectively applied to the general theory of control. It is also rather significant that the present theory does not necessarily require the solvability of the associated Cauchy problem.The operatorsB(t)u do not have to be invertible inu. However, it is shown that continuous controlsu(t) can be obtained for a variety of problems whenB ^–1(t)u exists and is continuous int.     

Inference for Cox’s regression models via adjusted empirical likelihood

The Cox’s regression model is one of the most popular tools used in survival analysis. Recently, Qin and Jing (Commun Stat Simul Comput 30:79–90, 2001) applied empirical likelihood to study it with the assumption that baseline hazard function is known. However, in the Cox’s regression model the baseline hazard function is unspecified. Thus, their method suffers from severe defect. In this paper, we apply a variant of plug-in empirical likelihood by estimating the cumulative baseline hazard function. Adjusted empirical likelihood (AEL) confidence regions for the vector of regression parameters are obtained. Furthermore, we conduct a simulation study to evaluate the performance of the proposed AEL method by comparing it with normal approximation (NA) based method. The simulation studies show that both methods produce comparable coverage probabilities. The proposed AEL method outperforms the NA method based on power analysis.     

Semiparametric Estimation of the Intensity of Long Memory in Conditional Heteroskedasticity

The paper is concerned with the estimation of the long memory parameter in a conditionally heteroskedastic model proposed by Giraitis et al. (1999b). We consider estimation methods based on the partial sums of the squared observations, which are similar in spirit to the classical R / S analysis, as well as spectral domain approximate maximum likelihood estimators. We review relevant theoretical results and present an empirical simulation study.     

截断情况下生存函数的函数的经验似然

Owen首次在完全样本下提出了经验似然的方法,WangQihua将该方法应用到带有截断情况的生存函数的函数估计问题．本文给出了更为一般的调整似然比统计量,证明了在适当的情况下该统计量仍渐近服从χ^2分布,同时模拟的结果也表明该统计量具有良好的性质。     

Selection of smoothing parameters in<Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>-spline nonparametric regression models using information criteria

We consider the use ofB-spline nonparametric regression models estimated by the maximum penalized likelihood method for extracting information from data with complex nonlinear structure. Crucial points inB-spline smoothing are the choices of a smoothing parameter and the number of basis functions, for which several selectors have been proposed based on cross-validation and Akaike information criterion known as AIC. It might be however noticed that AIC is a criterion for evaluating models estimated by the maximum likelihood method, and it was derived under the assumption that the ture distribution belongs to the specified parametric model. In this paper we derive information criteria for evaluatingB-spline nonparametric regression models estimated by the maximum penalized likelihood method in the context of generalized linear models under model misspecification. We use Monte Carlo experiments and real data examples to examine the properties of our criteria including various selectors proposed previously.     

Large Deviations Rate Function for Polling Systems

In this paper, we identify the local rate function governing the sample path large deviation principle for a rescaled process n ^–1 Q _nt , where Q _t represents the joint number of clients at time t in a polling system with N nodes, one server and Markovian routing. By the way, the large deviation principle is proved and the rate function is shown to have the form conjectured by Dupuis and Ellis. We introduce a so called empirical generator consisting of Q _t and of two empirical measures associated with S _t , the position of the server at time t. One of the main step is to derive large deviations bounds for a localized version of the empirical generator. The analysis relies on a suitable change of measure and on a representation of fluid limits for polling systems. Finally, the rate function is solution of a meaningful convex program. The method seems to have a wide range of application including the famous Jackson networks, as shown at the end of this study. An example illustrates how this technique can be used to estimate stationary probability decay rate.     

On the Instability of Linear Nonautonomous Delay Systems

The unstable properties of the linear nonautonomous delay system x(t) = A(t)x(t) + B(t)x(t – r(t)), with nonconstant delay r(t), are studied. It is assumed that the linear system y(t) = (A(t) + B(t))y(t) is unstable, the instability being characterized by a nonstable manifold defined from a dichotomy to this linear system. The delay r(t) is assumed to be continuous and bounded. Two kinds of results are given, those concerning conditions that do not include the properties of the delay function r(t) and the results depending on the asymptotic properties of the delay function.     

Predictive Inference for the Elliptical Linear Model

This paper derives the prediction distribution of future responses from the linear model with errors having an elliptical distribution with known covariance parameters. For unknown covariance parameters, the marginal likelihood function of the parameters has been obtained and the prediction distribution has been modified by replacing the covariance parameters by their estimates obtained from the marginal likelihood function. It is observed that the prediction distribution with elliptical error has a multivariate Student'st-distribution with appropriate degrees of freedom. The results for some special cases such as the Intra-class correlation model, AR(1), MA(1), and ARMA(1,1) models have been obtained from the general results. As an application, theβ-expectation tolerance region has been constructed. An example has been added.     

On the distributions of some test criteria for a covariance matrix under local alternatives and bootstrap approximations

The asymptotic distribution of some test criteria for a covariance matrix are derived under local alternatives. Except for the existence of some higher moments, no assumption as to the form of the distribution function is made. As an illustration, a case of t distribution included normal model is considered and the power of the likelihood ratio test and Nagao's test for sphericity, as described in Srivastava and Khatri and Anderson, is computed. Also, the power is computed using the bootstrap method. In the case of t distribution, the bootstrap approximation does not appear to be as good as the one obtained by the asymptotic expansion method.     

Finding thet-join structure of graphs

t-joins are generalizations of postman tours, matchings, and paths;t-cuts contain planar multicommodity flows as a special case. In this paper we present a polynomial time combinatorial algorithm that determines a minimumt-join and a maximum packing oft-cuts and that ends up with a Gallai-Edmonds type structural decompostion of (G, t) pairs, independent of the running of the algorithm. It only uses simple combinatorial steps such as the symmetric difference of two sets of edges and does not use any shrinking operations.     

Probabilistic Choice in Games: Properties of Rosenthal’s t-Solutions

The t-solutions introduced in R. W. Rosenthal (1989, Int J Game Theory 18:273–292) are quantal response equilibria based on the linear probability model. Choice probabilities in t-solutions are related to the determination of leveling taxes in taxation problems. The set of t-solutions coincides with the set of Nash equilibria of a game with quadratic control costs. Evaluating the set of t-solutions for increasing values of t yields that players become increasingly capable of iteratively eliminating never-best replies and eventually only play rationalizable actions with positive probability. These features are not shared by logit quantal response equilibria. Moreover, there exists a path of t-solutions linking uniform randomization to Nash equilibrium     

A new method for constructing infinite families of k-tight optimal double loop networks

The double loop network (DLN) is a circulant digraph with n nodes and outdegree 2. DLN has been widely used in the designing of local area networks and distributed systems. In this paper, a new method for constructing infinite families of k-tight optimal DLN is presented. For k = 0, 1, ..., 40, the infinite families of k-tight optimal DLN can be constructed by the new method, where the number n _k (t, a) of their nodes is a polynomial of degree 2 in t and contains a parameter a. And a conjecture is proposed.     

Semiparametric inference for transformation models via empirical likelihood

Recent advances in the transformation model have made it possible to use this model for analyzing a variety of censored survival data. For inference on the regression parameters, there are semiparametric procedures based on the normal approximation. However, the accuracy of such procedures can be quite low when the censoring rate is heavy. In this paper, we apply an empirical likelihood ratio method and derive its limiting distribution via U-statistics. We obtain confidence regions for the regression parameters and compare the proposed method with the normal approximation based method in terms of coverage probability. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed empirical likelihood method overcomes the under-coverage problem substantially and outperforms the normal approximation based method. The proposed method is illustrated with a real data example. Finally, our method can be applied to general U-statistic type estimating equations.     

Efficient and robust estimation for autoregressive regression models using shape mixtures of skewt normal distribution

Multiple linear regression model based on normally distributed and uncorrelated errors is a popular statistical tool with application in various fields. But these assumptions of normality and no serial correlation are hardly met in real life. Hence, this study considers the linear regression time series model for series with outliers and autocorrelated errors. These autocorrelated errors are represented by a covariance-stationary autoregressive process where the independent innovations are driven by shape mixture of skew-t normal distribution. The shape mixture of skew-t normal distribution is a flexible extension of the skew-t normal with an additional shape parameter that controls skewness and kurtosis. With this error model, stochastic modeling of multiple outliers is possible with an adaptive robust maximum likelihood estimation of all the parameters. An Expectation Conditional Maximization Either algorithm is developed to carryout the maximum likelihood estimation. We derive asymptotic standard errors of the estimators through an information-based approximation. The performance of the estimation procedure developed is evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations and real life data analysis.