The augmented semi‐Markov system and its asymptotic behaviour

This paper suggests a generalized semi‐Markov model for manpower planning, which could be adopted in cases of unavailability of candidates with the desired qualifications/experience, as well as in cases where an organization provides training opportunities to its personnel. In this context, we incorporate training classes into the framework of a non‐homogeneous semi‐Markov system and we introduce an additional, external semi‐Markov system providing the former with potential recruits. For the model above, referred to as the Augmented Semi‐Markov System, we derive the equations that reflect the expected number of persons in each grade and we also investigate its limiting population structure. An illustrative example is provided. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

二阶离散隐马尔科夫模型的严格定义及等价性质

隐马氏模型作为一种具有双重随机过程的统计模型,具有可靠的概率统计理论基础和强有力的数学结构,已被广泛应用于语音识别、生物序列分析、金融数据分析等领域.由于传统的一阶隐马氏模型无法表示更远状态距离间的依赖关系,就可能会忽略很多有用的统计特征,故有人提出二阶隐马氏模型的概念,但此概念并不严格.本文给出二阶离散隐马尔科夫模型的严格定义,并研究了二阶离散隐马尔科夫模型的两个等价性质.     

Generalisation of the Viterbi algorithm

The Viterbi algorithm, derived using dynamic programming techniques,is a maximum a posteriori (MAP) decoding method which was developedin the electrical engineering literature to be used in the analysisof hidden Markov models (HMMs). Given a particular HMM, theoriginal algorithm recovers the MAP state sequence underlyingany observation sequence generated from that model. This paperintroduces a generalization of the algorithm to recover, forarbitrary L, the top L most probable state sequences, with specialreference to its use in the area of automatic speech recognition.     

基于动态规划的高阶隐马氏模型推广的Viterbi算法

首先通过Hadar等价变换方法将高阶隐马氏模型转换为与之等价的一阶向量值隐马氏模型,然后利用动态规划原理建立了一阶向量值隐马氏模型的Viterbi算法,最后通过高阶隐马氏模型和一阶向量值隐马氏模型之间的等价关系建立了高阶隐马氏模型基于动态规划推广的Viterbi算法．研究结果在一定程度上推广了几乎所有隐马氏模型文献中所涉及到的解码问题的Viterbi算法,从而进一步丰富和发展了高阶隐马氏模型的算法理论．     

Parameter estimation for partially observable systems subject to random failure

In this paper, we present a parameter estimation procedure for a condition‐based maintenance model under partial observations. Systems can be in a healthy or unhealthy operational state, or in a failure state. System deterioration is driven by a continuous time homogeneous Markov chain and the system state is unobservable, except the failure state. Vector information that is stochastically related to the system state is obtained through condition monitoring at equidistant sampling times. Two types of data histories are available — data histories that end with observable failure, and censored data histories that end when the system has been suspended from operation but has not failed. The state and observation processes are modeled in the hidden Markov framework and the model parameters are estimated using the expectation–maximization algorithm. We show that both the pseudolikelihood function and the parameter updates in each iteration of the expectation–maximization algorithm have explicit formulas. A numerical example is developed using real multivariate spectrometric oil data coming from the failing transmission units of 240‐ton heavy hauler trucks used in the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Canada. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Filter‐based portfolio strategies in an HMM setting with varying correlation parametrizations

We consider portfolio optimization in a regime‐switching market. The assets of the portfolio are modeled through a hidden Markov model (HMM) in discrete time, where drift and volatility of the single assets are allowed to switch between different states. We consider different parametrizations of the involved asset covariances: statewise uncorrelated assets (though linked through the common Markov chain), assets correlated in a state‐independent way, and assets where the correlation varies from state to state. As a benchmark, we also consider a model without regime switches. We utilize a filter‐based expectation‐maximization (EM) algorithm to obtain optimal parameter estimates within this multivariate HMM and present parameter estimators in all three HMM settings. We discuss the impact of these different models on the performance of several portfolio strategies. Our findings show that for simulated returns, our strategies in many settings outperform naïve investment strategies, like the equal weights strategy. Information criteria can be used to detect the best model for estimation as well as for portfolio optimization. A second study using real data confirms these findings.     

可列非齐次隐Markov模型的强大数定律

隐马尔科夫模型被广泛的应用于弱相依随机变量的建模,是研究神经生理学、发音过程和生物遗传等问题的有力工具。研究了可列非齐次隐 Markov 模型的若干性质,得到了这类模型的强大数定律,推广了有限非齐次马氏链的一类强大数定律。     

Mover‐stayer model with covariate effects on stayer's probability and mover's transitions

A discrete time Markov chain assumes that the population is homogeneous, each individual in the population evolves according to the same transition matrix. In contrast, a discrete mover‐stayer (MS) model postulates a simple form of population heterogeneity; in each initial state, there is a proportion of individuals who never leave this state (stayers) and the complementary proportion of individuals who evolve according to a Markov chain (movers). The MS model was extended by specifying the stayer's probability to be a logistic function of an individual's covariates but leaving the same transition matrix for all movers. We further extend the MS model by allowing each mover to have her/his covariates dependent transition matrix. The model for a mover's transition matrix is related to the extant Markov chains mixture model with mixing on the speed of movement of Markov chains. The proposed model is estimated using the expectation‐maximization algorithm and illustrated with a large data set on car loans and the simulation.     

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??Dynamic complex network has become a popular topic in the many fields, such as population ecology, social ecology, biology and Internet. Meanwhile cluster analysis is a common tool to extract network structure. Previous articles on network clustering mostly supposed that observations are conditionally independent. However, we construct novel model which combines the stochastic block model, the hidden structure in Markov process and the autoregressive model to relax this assumption. We also propose relative statistical inference and VEM algorithm. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulations are performed well, which shows the consistency and robustness of the work.     

Dynamic Cluster Analysis of Dependent Networks

Dynamic complex network has become a popular topic in the many fields, such as population ecology, social ecology, biology and Internet. Meanwhile cluster analysis is a common tool to extract network structure. Previous articles on network clustering mostly supposed that observations are conditionally independent. However, we construct novel model which combines the stochastic block model, the hidden structure in Markov process and the autoregressive model to relax this assumption. We also propose relative statistical inference and VEM algorithm. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulations are performed well, which shows the consistency and robustness of the work.     

ABC-PSO算法优化混合核SVM参数及应用

针对混合核支持向量机(SVM)中的可调参数一般是根据经验或人工随机调试得到,不能确保参数最优的局限性,提出用粒子群和人工蜂群的并行混合优化(ABC-PSO)算法来优化混合核SVM参数,找出满足条件的最优参数组合.将该SVM模型应用到语音识别中,通过对三个不同语种的语音数据库的实验仿真,验证了混合算法优化SVM参数所得的优化SVM模型比PSO算法优化SVM所得的模型,具有良好的泛化能力和语音识别能力.     

Classroom note: Building simple hidden Markov models

Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are widely used in bioinformatics, speech recognition and many other areas. This note presents HMMs via the framework of classical Markov chain models. A simple example is given to illustrate the model. An estimation method for the transition probabilities of the hidden states is also discussed.     

A hidden Markov regime-switching model for option valuation

We investigate two approaches, namely, the Esscher transform and the extended Girsanov’s principle, for option valuation in a discrete-time hidden Markov regime-switching Gaussian model. The model’s parameters including the interest rate, the appreciation rate and the volatility of a risky asset are governed by a discrete-time, finite-state, hidden Markov chain whose states represent the hidden states of an economy. We give a recursive filter for the hidden Markov chain and estimates of model parameters using a filter-based EM algorithm. We also derive predictors for the hidden Markov chain and some related quantities. These quantities are used to estimate the price of a standard European call option. Numerical examples based on real financial data are provided to illustrate the implementation of the proposed method.     

Bayesian Monte Carlo estimation for profile hidden Markov models

Hidden Markov models are used as tools for pattern recognition in a number of areas, ranging from speech processing to biological sequence analysis. Profile hidden Markov models represent a class of so-called “left–right” models that have an architecture that is specifically relevant to classification of proteins into structural families based on their amino acid sequences. Standard learning methods for such models employ a variety of heuristics applied to the expectation-maximization implementation of the maximum likelihood estimation procedure in order to find the global maximum of the likelihood function. Here, we compare maximum likelihood estimation to fully Bayesian estimation of parameters for profile hidden Markov models with a small number of parameters. We find that, relative to maximum likelihood methods, Bayesian methods assign higher scores to data sequences that are distantly related to the pattern consensus, show better performance in classifying these sequences correctly, and continue to perform robustly with regard to misspecification of the number of model parameters. Though our study is limited in scope, we expect our results to remain relevant for models with a large number of parameters and other types of left–right hidden Markov models.     

Swallowing sound detection using hidden markov modeling of recurrence plot features

Automated detection of swallowing sounds in swallowing and breath sound recordings is of importance for monitoring purposes in which the recording durations are long. This paper presents a novel method for swallowing sound detection using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features. Tracheal sound recordings of 15 healthy and nine dysphagic subjects were studied. The multidimensional state space trajectory of each signal was reconstructed using the Taken method of delays. The sequences of three recurrence plot features of the reconstructed trajectories (which have shown discriminating capability between swallowing and breath sounds) were modeled by three hidden Markov models. The Viterbi algorithm was used for swallowing sound detection. The results were validated manually by inspection of the simultaneously recorded airflow signal and spectrogram of the sounds, and also by auditory means. The experimental results suggested that the performance of the proposed method using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features was superior to the previous swallowing sound detection methods.     

Thermal image colorization using Markov decision processes

Displaying night-vision thermal images with day-time colors is paramount for scene interpretation and target tracking. In this paper, we employ object recognition methods for colorization, which amounts to segmenting thermal images into plants, buildings, sky, water, roads and others, then calculating colors to each class. The main thrust of our work is the introduction of Markov decision processes (MDP) to deal with the computational complexity of the colorization problem. MDP provides us with the approaches of neighborhood analysis and probabilistic classification which we exploit to efficiently solve chromatic estimation. We initially label the segments with a classifier, paving the way for the neighborhood analysis. We then update classification confidences of each class by MDP under the consideration of neighboring consistency and scenery layout. Finally we calculate the colors for every segment by blending the characteristic colors of each class it belongs to in a probabilistic way. Experimental results show that the colorized appearance of our algorithm is satisfactory and harmonious; the computational speed is quite fast as well.     

First passage times for Markov renewal processes and applications

This paper proposes a uniformly convergent algorithm for the joint transform of the first passage time and the first passage number of steps for general Markov renewal processes with any initial state probability vector. The uniformly convergent algorithm with arbitrarily prescribed error can be efficiently applied to compute busy periods, busy cycles, waiting times, sojourn times, and relevant indices of various generic queueing systems and queueing networks. This paper also conducts a numerical experiment to implement the proposed algorithm.     

Selecting hidden Markov model state number with cross-validated likelihood

The problem of estimating the number of hidden states in a hidden Markov model is considered. Emphasis is placed on cross-validated likelihood criteria. Using cross-validation to assess the number of hidden states allows to circumvent the well-documented technical difficulties of the order identification problem in mixture models. Moreover, in a predictive perspective, it does not require that the sampling distribution belongs to one of the models in competition. However, computing cross-validated likelihood for hidden Markov models for which only one training sample is available, involves difficulties since the data are not independent. Two approaches are proposed to compute cross-validated likelihood for a hidden Markov model. The first one consists of using a deterministic half-sampling procedure, and the second one consists of an adaptation of the EM algorithm for hidden Markov models, to take into account randomly missing values induced by cross-validation. Numerical experiments on both simulated and real data sets compare different versions of cross-validated likelihood criterion and penalised likelihood criteria, including BIC and a penalised marginal likelihood criterion. Those numerical experiments highlight a promising behaviour of the deterministic half-sampling criterion.     

Dynamic Programming and Statistical Modelling in Automatic Speech Recognition

This article describes the methods which form the basis of contemporary automatic speech recognition systems. The two most prominent algorithms, dynamic time-warping and hidden Markov modelling, are described and compared. Particular attention is given to the role of dynamic programming in either approach.     

Hidden semi-Markov model-based methodology for multi-sensor equipment health diagnosis and prognosis

This paper presents an integrated platform for multi-sensor equipment diagnosis and prognosis. This integrated framework is based on hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM). Unlike a state in a standard hidden Markov model (HMM), a state in an HSMM generates a segment of observations, as opposed to a single observation in the HMM. Therefore, HSMM structure has a temporal component compared to HMM. In this framework, states of HSMMs are used to represent the health status of a component. The duration of a health state is modeled by an explicit Gaussian probability function. The model parameters (i.e., initial state distribution, state transition probability matrix, observation probability matrix, and health-state duration probability distribution) are estimated through a modified forward–backward training algorithm. The re-estimation formulae for model parameters are derived. The trained HSMMs can be used to diagnose the health status of a component. Through parameter estimation of the health-state duration probability distribution and the proposed backward recursive equations, one can predict the useful remaining life of the component. To determine the “value” of each sensor information, discriminant function analysis is employed to adjust the weight or importance assigned to a sensor. Therefore, sensor fusion becomes possible in this HSMM based framework.