Prediction of the Maximum Size in Wicksell's Corpuscle Problem

In the Wicksell corpuscle problem, the maximum size of random spheres in a volume part is to be predicted from the sectional circular distribution of spheres cut by a plane. The size of the spheres is assumed to follow the generalized gamma distribution. Some prediction methods according to measurement methods on the sectional plane are proposed, and their performances are evaluated by simulation. The prediction method based on the r largest sizes and the total number of the sectional circles is recommended, because of its satisfactory performance.     

Maximum Size Prediction in Wicksell's Corpuscle Problem for the Exponential Tail Data

In the Wicksell corpuscle problem, the maximum size of random spheres in a reference volume is to be predicted from the size distribution of circles which are planar sections of spheres cut by a plane. If the area of the great circle of spheres have the exponential tail, simple prediction methods are applied. Performance of the methods is evaluated by simulation and they are applied to a dataset of graphite nodule sizes in spheroidal graphite cast iron. The effect of left-truncation in Wicksell transform is discussed in a general framework.     

Block-Structured Fluid Queues Driven by QBD Processes

Abstract

In this paper, a unified approach for studying block-structured fluid models is proposed by means of the RG-factorization. When the stochastic environment (or background) is assumed to be a quasi-birth-and death (QBD) process, with either infinitely many levels or finitely many levels, the Laplace transform for the stationary probability distribution of the buffer content is expressed in terms of the R-measure. At the same time, the Laplace-Stieltjes transforms for both the conditional distribution and the conditional mean of a first passage time in such a fluid queue are derived by the same approach.     

Perishable Inventory System at Service Facilities with N Policy

Abstract

This article presents a perishable stochastic inventory system under continuous review at a service facility in which the waiting hall for customers is of finite size M. The service starts only when the customer level reaches N (< M), once the server has become idle for want of customers. The maximum storage capacity is fixed as S. It is assumed that demand for the commodity is of unit size. The arrivals of customers to the service station form a Poisson process with parameter λ. The individual customer is issued a demanded item after a random service time, which is distributed as negative exponential. The items of inventory have exponential life times. It is also assumed that lead time for the reorders is distributed as exponential and is independent of the service time distribution. The demands that occur during stock out periods are lost.The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the system and the inventory levels is obtained in steady state case. Some measures of system performance in the steady state are derived. The results are illustrated with numerical examples.     

Solving Dirichlet Problems Numerically Using the Feynman–Kac Representation

In this paper we study numerical solutions of the Dirichlet problem in high dimensions using the Feynman–Kac representation. What is involved are Monte-Carlo simulations of stochastic differential equations and algorithms to accurately determine exit times and process values at the boundary. It is assumed that the radius of curvature of the boundary is much larger than the square root of the step size. We find that the canonical reciprocal square root behavior of statistical errors as a function of the sample size holds regardless of the dimension of the space. In fact, the coefficient of the recriprocal square root actually seems to decrease with dimension. Additionally, acceptance ratios for finding the boundary become less sensitive to the step size in higher dimensions.The walk on cubes method, wherein the model increments of Brownian motion are 3-point random variables, is of particular interest. Our motivation for this approach will be to use well established Runge–Kutta (RK) methods, although we do not use these familiar methods here where a Taylor series is fairly simple. Comparisons are made between this walk on cubes method, Milstein's walk on spheres, and a simpler 2-point method. Because of conditional expectations used in the formulations of the walk on spheres procedure, it is not amenable to RK constructions.Our examples have hyperspherical domains in up to 64 dimensions.     

On bulk-service MAP/PH L,N /1/N G-Queues with repeated attempts

We consider a retrial queue with a finite buffer of size N, with arrivals of ordinary units and of negative units (which cancel one ordinary unit), both assumed to be Markovian arrival processes. The service requirements are of phase type. In addition, a PH^L,N bulk service discipline is assumed. This means that the units are served in groups of size at least L, where 1≤ L≤ N. If at the completion of a service fewer than L units are present at the buffer, the server switches off and waits until the buffer length reaches the threshold L. Then it switches on and initiates service for such a group of units. On the contrary, if at the completion of a service L or more units are present at the buffer, all units enter service as a group. Units arriving when the buffer is full are not lost, but they join a group of unsatisfied units called “orbit”. Our interest is in the continuous-time Markov chain describing the state of the queue at arbitrary times, which constitutes a level dependent quasi-birth-and-death process. We start by analyzing a simplified version of our queueing model, which is amenable to numerical calculation and is based on spatially homogeneous quasi-birth-and-death processes. This leads to modified matrix-geometric formulas that reveal the basic qualitative properties of our algorithmic approach for computing performance measures. AMS Subject Classification: Primary 60K25 Secondary 68M20 90B22.     

Estimation of parameters in a two-parameter exponential distribution using ranked set sample

In situations where the experimental or sampling units in a study can be easily ranked than quantified, McIntyre (1952,Aust. J. Agric. Res.,3, 385–390) proposed that the mean ofn units based on aranked set sample (RSS) be used to estimate the population mean, and observed that it provides an unbiased estimator with a smaller variance compared to a simple random sample (SRS) of the same sizen. McIntyre's concept ofRSS is essentially nonparametric in nature in that the underlying population distribution is assumed to be completely unknown. In this paper we further explore the concept ofRSS when the population is partially known and the parameter of interest is not necessarily the mean. To be specific, we address the problem of estimation of the parameters of a two-parameter exponential distribution. It turns out that the use ofRSS and its suitable modifications results in much improved estimators compared to the use of aSRS.     

An Inventory System with Postponed Demands

Abstract

In this article we consider a continuous review perishable inventory system in which the demands arrive according to a Markovian arrival process (MAP). The items in the inventory have shelf life times that are assumed to follow an exponential distribution. The inventory is replenished according to an (s, S) policy and the replenishing times are assumed to follow a phase type distribution. The demands that occur during stock out periods either enter a pool which has capacity N (<∞) or leave the system. Any demand that arrives when the pool is full and the inventory level is zero, is also assumed to be lost. The demands in the pool are selected one by one, if the replenished stock is above s, with interval time between any two successive selections is distributed as exponential with parameter depending on the number of customers in the pool. The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the pool and the inventory level is obtained in the steady state case. The measures of system performance in the steady state are derived and the total expected cost rate is also calculated. The results are illustrated numerically.     

Symbolic computing the exact distributions of L-statistics from a uniform distribution

The exact probability density function of linear combinations of k=k(n) order statistics selected from the whole order statistics (L-statistic) based on a random sample of size n from the uniform distribution on [0, 1] was derived by Matsunawa (1985, Ann. Inst. Statist. Math., 37, 1–16). As the main expression for the density function given by Matsunawa is not complete for the general situation, we first provide the corrections for this formula. Second, we propose a simple scheme involving symbolic computing for evaluating the corrected version of the density function. The cumulative distribution function and the r-th mean of his L-statistic are also derived.     

Markovian Imperfect Software Debugging Model and Its Performance Measures

Abstract

This paper considers a Markovian imperfect software debugging model incorporating two types of faults and derives several measures including the first passage time distribution. When a debugging process upon each failure is completed, the fault which causes the failure is either removed from the fault contents with probability p or is remained in the system with probability 1 ? p. By defining the transition probabilities for the debugging process, we derive the distribution of first passage time to a prespecified number of fault removals and evaluate the expected numbers of perfect debuggings and debugging completions up to a specified time. The availability function of a software system, which is the probability that the software is in working state at a given time, is also derived and thus, the availability and working probability of the software system are obtained. Throughout the paper, the length of debugging time is treated to be random and thus its distribution is assumed. Numerical examples are provided for illustrative purposes.     

Some autoregressive moving average processes with generalized Poisson marginal distributions

Some simple models are introduced which may be used for modelling or generating sequences of dependent discrete random variables with generalized Poisson marginal distribution. Our approach for building these models is similar to that of the Poisson ARMA processes considered by Al-Osh and Alzaid (1987,J. Time Ser. Anal.,8, 261–275; 1988,Statist. Hefte,29, 281–300) and McKenzie (1988,Adv. in Appl. Probab.,20, 822–835). The models have the same autocorrelation structure as their counterparts of standard ARMA models. Various properties, such as joint distribution, time reversibility and regression behavior, for each model are investigated.     

On the joint distribution of studentized order statistics

In this paper, the joint distribution of some special linear combinations of the (internally) studentized order statistics are derived for both normal and exponential populations; the exact relationship between their pdf's is also obtained. The exact sampling distributions of studentized extreme deviation statistic, which has been proposed by Pearson and Chandra Sekar (1936,Biometrika,28, 308–320), are derived for these two populations. An application to the most powerful location and scale invariant test is discussed briefly.     

An <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Superscript>[<Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>]</Superscript>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>/1 retrial queue with server breakdowns and constant rate of repeated attempts

We consider an M ^[X]/G/1 retrial queue subject to breakdowns where the retrial time is exponential and independent of the number of customers applying for service. If a coming batch of customers finds the server idle, one of the arriving customers begins his service immediately and the rest joins a retrial group (called orbit) to repeat his request later; otherwise, if the server is busy or down, all customers of the coming batch enter the orbit. It is assumed that the server has a constant failure rate and arbitrary repair time distribution. We study the ergodicity of the embedded Markov chain, its stationary distribution and the joint distribution of the server state and the orbit size in steady-state. The orbit and system size distributions are obtained as well as some performance measures of the system. The stochastic decomposition property and the asymptotic behavior under high rate of retrials are discussed. We also analyse some reliability problems, the k-busy period and the ordinary busy period of our retrial queue. Besides, we give a recursive scheme to compute the distribution of the number of served customers during the k-busy period and the ordinary busy period. The effects of several parameters on the system are analysed numerically. I. Atencia’s and Moreno’s research is supported by the MEC through the project MTM2005-01248.     

A class of multivariate skew-normal models

The existing model for multivariate skew normal data does not cohere with the joint distribution of a random sample from a univariate skew normal distribution. This incoherence causes awkward interpretation for data analysis in practice, especially in the development of the sampling distribution theory. In this paper, we propose a refined model that is coherent with the joint distribution of the univariate skew normal random sample, for multivariate skew normal data. The proposed model extends and strengthens the multivariate skew model described in Azzalini (1985,Scandinavian Journal of Statistics,12, 171–178). We present a stochastic representation for the newly proposed model, and discuss a bivariate setting, which confirms that the newly proposed model is more plausible than the one given by Azzalini and Dalla Valle (1996,Biometrika,83, 715–726).     

Approximate multiplication of tensor matrices based on the individual filtering of factors

Algorithms are proposed for the approximate calculation of the matrix product $ \tilde C $ \tilde C ≈ C = A · B, where the matrices A and B are given by their tensor decompositions in either canonical or Tucker format of rank r. The matrix C is not calculated as a full array; instead, it is first represented by a similar decomposition with a redundant rank and is then reapproximated (compressed) within the prescribed accuracy to reduce the rank. The available reapproximation algorithms as applied to the above problem require that an array containing r ^2d elements be stored, where d is the dimension of the corresponding space. Due to the memory and speed limitations, these algorithms are inapplicable even for the typical values d = 3 and r ∼ 30. In this paper, methods are proposed that approximate the mode factors of C using individually chosen accuracy criteria. As an application, the three-dimensional Coulomb potential is calculated. It is shown that the proposed methods are efficient if r can be as large as several hundreds and the reapproximation (compression) of C has low complexity compared to the preliminary calculation of the factors in the tensor decomposition of C with a redundant rank.     

Inventory System Subject to Disaster with General Interarrival Times

Abstract

We discuss a single commodity continuous review (s, S) inventory system in which commodities get damaged due to external disaster. Shortages are not permitted and lead time is assumed to be zero. The interarrival times of demands constitute a family of i.i.d. random variables with a common arbitrary distribution. The quantity demanded at a demand epoch is arbitrarily distributed which depends only on the time elapsed since the last demand epoch. Transient and steady state probabilities of the inventory levels are derived by identifying suitable semi-regenerative process. In the case when the demand is for unit item and the disaster affects only an exhibiting item, the steady state probability distribution is obtained as uniform. An optimization problem is discussed and numerical examples are provided.     

Helly-type theorems for spheres

We prove that (i) a familyF of at leastn+3 spheres inE ⁿ has nonempty intersection if eachn+1 spheres ofF have nonempty intersection, and (ii) if a familyF of spheres inE ⁿ has nonempty intersection, then there existn+1 or fewer spheres inF whose intersection coincides with the intersection of all spheres ofF.Dedicated to Professor Itiro Tamura on his 60th birthday     

Estimation of the Failure Rate in a Partially Accelerated Life Test: A Sequential Approach

Abstract

Consider the situation in which a group of units are put on a partially accelerated life test. It is assumed that the lifelengths of the units are independent and exponentially distributed random variables with common failure rate θ, and that θ is the value of a random variable having a gamma distribution. A two‐stage sequential procedure for estimating θ under the squared error loss is proposed. In the first stage, the units are put on the test under normal stress up to time t, where t is determined as a stopping time that minimizes the expected loss plus cost of running the test. In the second stage, the stress is raised to a higher level for those units that did not fail by time t and held constant until they all fail. The accumulated data are then used to estimate θ with the Bayes estimator.     

More on a New Concept of Entropy and Information

An alternative notion of entropy called CRE is proposed in [Ra1] Rao et al. (IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 50, 2004). This preserves many of the properties of Shannon Entropy and possesses mathematical properties, which we hope will be of use in statistical estimates. In this article, we develop some more mathematical properties of CRE, show its relation to the L log L class, and characterize among others the Weibull distribution.