Border estimation of a disc observed with random errors solved in two steps

The problem of estimating the boundary of a uniform distribution on a disc is considered when data are measured with normally distributed additive random error. The problem is solved in two steps. In the first step the domain is subdivided into thin slices and the endpoints of slices are obtained within the framework of a corresponding one-dimensional problem. For the estimations implemented in that step the moment method and the maximum likelihood method are used. As there are numerical problems with calculating the variance of the estimator in the maximum likelihood approach, its good approximation is also given.     

Empirical likelihood estimators for the error distribution in nonparametric regression models

The aim of this paper is to show that existing estimators for the error distribution in non-parametric regression models can be improved when additional information about the distribution is included by the empirical likelihood method. The weak convergence of the resulting new estimator to a Gaussian process is shown and the performance is investigated by comparison of asymptotic mean squared errors and by means of a simulation study.      

Maximum integrated likelihood estimator of the interest parameter when the nuisance parameter is location or scale

The problem of estimation of an interest parameter in the presence of a nuisance parameter, which is either location or scale, is studied. Two estimators are considered: the usual maximum likelihood estimator and the estimator based on maximization of the integrated likelihood function. The estimators are compared, asymptotically, with respect to the bias and with respect to the mean squared error. The examples are given.     

Asymptotic Properties of Self-Consistent Estimators with Mixed Interval-Censored Data

Mixed interval-censored (MIC) data consist of n intervals with endpoints L _i and R _i , i = 1, ..., n. At least one of them is a singleton set and one is a finite non-singleton interval. The survival time X _i is only known to lie between L _i and R _i , i = 1, 2, ..., n. Peto (1973, Applied Statistics, 22, 86–91) and Turnbull (1976, J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B, 38, 290–295) obtained, respectively, the generalized MLE (GMLE) and the self-consistent estimator (SCE) of the distribution function of X with MIC data. In this paper, we introduce a model for MIC data and establish strong consistency, asymptotic normality and asymptotic efficiency of the SCE and GMLE with MIC data under this model with mild conditions.     

Statistical Inference for the Rayleigh distribution under progressively Type-II censoring with binomial removal

This paper takes into account the estimation for the unknown parameter of the Rayleigh distribution under Type II progressive censoring with binomial removals, where the number of units removed at each failure time follows a binomial distribution. Maximum likelihood and Bayes procedure are used to derive both point and interval estimates of the parameters involved in the model. The expected termination point to complete the censoring test is computed and analyzed under binomial censoring scheme. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the approach by means of Monte Carlo simulation. A real life data set is used for illustrative purposes in conclusion.     

Assessing the lifetime performance index of products with the exponential distribution under progressively type II right censored samples

In practice, lifetime performance index C_L is used to measure the potential and performance of a process, where L is the lower specification limit. Progressive censoring scheme is quite useful in many practical situations where budget constraints are in place or there is a demand for rapid testing. In this paper, under the assumption of exponential distribution, this study constructs a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of C_L based on the progressively type II right censored sample. The MLE of C_L is then utilized to develop the hypothesis testing procedure in the condition of known L. The new testing procedure can be employed by product managers to assess whether the lifetime of products (or items) adheres to the required level in the condition of known L. Finally, we give one example to illustrate the use of the testing algorithmic procedure under given significance level.     

Strong consistency of MLE for finite uniform mixtures when the scale parameters are exponentially small

We consider maximum likelihood estimation of finite mixture of uniform distributions. We prove that maximum likelihood estimator is strongly consistent, if the scale parameters of the component uniform distributions are restricted from below by exp(−n ^d ), 0<d<1, wheren is the sample size.     

Estimation of a common parameter for pooled samples from the uniform distributions

Summary The problem to estimate a common parameter for the pooled sample from the uniform distributions is discussed in the presence of nuisance parameters. The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and others are compared and it is shown that the MLE based on the pooled sample is not (asymptotically) efficient.     

Pitman closeness results for Type-I censored data from exponential distribution

Recent work on Pitman closeness has compared estimators under Type-II censored samples from exponential distribution based on observed number of failures. In this paper, we carry out similar Pitman closeness comparisons for Type-I censored samples from exponential distribution based on time under test.     

Logistic响应分布分位数的鞍点近似置信区间

论文基于响应数据，应用鞍点近似方法，给出构造Logistic响应分布分位数的近似置信区间的方法. 论文还对这种置信区间进行了模拟，并将该方法应用于QD8电雷管. 模拟和实例结果表明，当样本量较小时，该方法能够较好地推断Logistic响应分布的分位数     

Estimation of parameters in the beta binomial model

This paper contains some alternative methods for estimating the parameters in the beta binomial and truncated beta binomial models. These methods are compared with maximum likelihood on the basis of Asymptotic Relative Efficiency (ARE). For the beta binomial distribution a simple estimator based on moments or ratios of factorial moments has high ARE for most of the parameter space and it is an attractive and viable alternative to computing the maximum likelihood estimator. It is also simpler to compute than an estimator based on the mean and zeros, proposed by Chatfield and Goodhart (1970,Appl. Statist.,19, 240–250), and has much higher ARE for most part of the parameter space. For the truncated beta binomial, the simple estimator based on two moment relations does not behave quite as well as for the BB distribution, but a simple estimator based on two linear relations involving the first three moments and the frequency of ones has extremely high ARE. Some examples are provided to illustrate the procedure for the two models.     

The constrained Fisher scoring method for maximum likelihood computation of a nonparametric mixing distribution

This paper proposes a new method for computing the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimate of a mixing distribution. It uses the Fisher scoring quadratic approximation to the log-likelihood function of the mixing proportions. At each iteration, new candidate support points are found and included, as guided by the gradient function, and bad support points are discarded, after being found redundant by optimizing the quadratic approximation. Numerical studies show that the CFS method is generally competitive with the fast and stable constrained Newton method; it may even have an advantage over the latter when the initial estimate is badly chosen.     

Convergence Rate of the Distributions of Normalized Maximum Likelihood Estimators for Irregular Parametric Families

We study the convergence rate of the distributions of normalized maximum likelihood estimators defined by a parametric family of discontinuous multidimensional densities in the case of a vector parameter.     

Estimating the parameters of Weibull distribution and the acceleration factor from hybrid partially accelerated life test

This article considers the estimation of parameters of Weibull distribution based on hybrid censored data. The parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood method under step-stress partially accelerated test model. The maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the unknown parameters are obtained by Newton–Raphson algorithm. Also, the approximate Fisher information matrix is obtained for constructing asymptotic confidence bounds for the model parameters. The biases and mean square errors of the maximum likelihood estimators are computed to assess their performances through a Monte Carlo simulation study.     

Maximum Likelihood Estimators in a Statistical Model of Natural Catastrophe Claims with Trend

A statistical model to analyse stochastically increasing claims arising out of natural catastrophes is presented. Based on record values, the exponential trends over time can be identified. A more specific three-parameter model involving such a trend is also proposed. Observed claims are modeled as a stochastically increasing sequence of Fréchet distributed random variables. Consistency and asymptotic normality of the joint maximum likelihood estimator are shown. Possible applications in forecasting of claims are indicated. In particular claims data from U.S. hurricanes and Japanese taifuns are discussed. AMS 2000 subject classifications. Primary—62P05, 62F12, Secondary—62H12     

A third order optimum property of the ML estimator in a linear functional relationship model and simultaneous equation system in econometrics

Summary The maximum likelihood (ML) estimator and its modification in the linear functional relationship model with incidental parameters are shown to be third-order asymptotically efficient among a class of almost median-unbiased and almost mean-unbiased estimators, respectively, in the large sample sense. This means that the limited information maximum likelihood (LIML) estimator in the simultaneous equation system is third-order asymptotically efficient when the number of excluded exogenous variables in a particular structural equation is growing along with the sample size. It implies that the LIML estimator has an optimum property when the system of structural equations is large. The research was partly supported by National Science Foundation Grant SES 79-13976 at the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University and Grant-in-Aid 60301081 of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. This paper was originally written as a part of the author's Ph.D. dissertation submitted to Stanford University in August, 1981. Some details of the paper were deleted at the suggestion of the associate editor of this journal.     

Interval censored sampling plans for the gamma lifetime model

In this article, an acceptance sampling procedure for the gamma lifetime model is established under the interval censored test. Both producer and consumer risks are considered to develop the ordinary and approximate sampling plans with grouped data. Some of the proposed sampling plans are tabulated and the use of the tables is illustrated by an example. A sensitivity study is conducted to evaluate the influence of the length of the time interval on the proposed sampling plans.     

Fitting discrete phase-type distribution from censored and truncated observations with pre-specified hazard sequence

Phase-type distribution allows approximation of non-Markovian models, which permits to analyze complex systems under Markovian deterioration. In addition, reliability data is often composed of truncated and censored observations. This paper presents a novel approach that fits a restricted class of discrete phase-type distribution through pre-specified hazard sequence from incomplete observations. Numerical results are shown using Balakrishnan’s mimicked power transformers dataset. Furthermore, it can be used to fit transition probabilities of maintenance optimization’s Markov decision process models from incomplete reliability data.