Piecewise Linear Approximations for Cure Rate Models and Associated Inferential Issues

Cure rate models offer a convenient way to model time-to-event data by allowing a proportion of individuals in the population to be completely cured so that they never face the event of interest (say, death). The most studied cure rate models can be defined through a competing cause scenario in which the random variables corresponding to the time-to-event for each competing causes are conditionally independent and identically distributed while the actual number of competing causes is a latent discrete random variable. The main interest is then in the estimation of the cured proportion as well as in developing inference about failure times of the susceptibles. The existing literature consists of parametric and non/semi-parametric approaches, while the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm offers an efficient tool for the estimation of the model parameters due to the presence of right censoring in the data. In this paper, we study the cases wherein the number of competing causes is either a binary or Poisson random variable and a piecewise linear function is used for modeling the hazard function of the time-to-event. Exact likelihood inference is then developed based on the EM algorithm and the inverse of the observed information matrix is used for developing asymptotic confidence intervals. The Monte Carlo simulation study demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed non-parametric approach compared to the results attained from the true correct parametric model. The proposed model and the inferential method is finally illustrated with a data set on cutaneous melanoma.     

Analysis of Multi-Unit Variance Components Models with State Space Profiles

We apply the Kalman Filter to the analysis of multi-unit variance components models where each unit's response profile follows a state space model. We use mixed model results to obtain estimates of unit-specific random effects, state disturbance terms and residual noise terms. We use the signal extraction approach to smooth individual profiles. We show how to utilize the Kalman Filter to efficiently compute the restricted loglikelihood of the model. For the important special case where each unit's response profile follows a continuous structural time series model with known transition matrix we derive an EM algorithm for the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation of the variance components. We present details for the case where individual profiles are modeled as local polynomial trends or polynomial smoothing splines.     

Maximum likelihood estimation from fuzzy data using the EM algorithm

A method is proposed for estimating the parameters in a parametric statistical model when the observations are fuzzy and are assumed to be related to underlying crisp realizations of a random sample. This method is based on maximizing the observed-data likelihood defined as the probability of the fuzzy data. It is shown that the EM algorithm may be used for that purpose, which makes it possible to solve a wide range of statistical problems involving fuzzy data. This approach, called the fuzzy EM (FEM) method, is illustrated using three classical problems: normal mean and variance estimation from a fuzzy sample, multiple linear regression with crisp inputs and fuzzy outputs, and univariate finite normal mixture estimation from fuzzy data.     

Parameter estimation of the WMTD model

The MTD （mixture transition distribution） model based on Weibull distribution （WMTD model） is proposed in this paper, which is aimed at its parameter estimation. An EM algorithm for estimation is given and shown to work well by some simulations. And bootstrap method is used to obtain confidence regions for the parameters. Finally, the results of a real example--predicting stock prices--show that the WMTD model proposed is able to capture the features of the data from thick-tailed distribution better than GMTD （mixture transition distribution） model.     

Beta-Binomial模型基于EM算法的应用研究

在很多问题中,Beta-Binomial模型有着较为广泛的应用,本文基于EM算法研究了Beta-Binomial模型的参数估计问题,并把它应用于实际的案例中.结果表明我们提出的方法计算方便,对具体问题的解释更具合理性、科学性.     

Nonlocal patches based Gaussian mixture model for image inpainting

We consider the inpainting problem for noisy images. It is very challenge to suppress noise when image inpainting is processed. An image patches based nonlocal variational method is proposed to simultaneously inpainting and denoising in this paper. Our approach is developed on an assumption that the small image patches should be obeyed a distribution which can be described by a high dimension Gaussian Mixture Model. By a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation, we formulate a new regularization term according to the log-likelihood function of the mixture model. To optimize this regularization term efficiently, we adopt the idea of the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. In which, the expectation step can give an adaptive weighting function which can be regarded as a nonlocal connections among pixels. Using this fact, we built a framework for non-local image inpainting under noise. Moreover, we mathematically prove the existence of minimizer for the proposed inpainting model. By using a splitting algorithm, the proposed model are able to realize image inpainting and denoising simultaneously. Numerical results show that the proposed method can produce impressive reconstructed results when the inpainting region is rather large.     

Fuzzy projection pursuit density estimation by eigenvalue method

This paper focuses on the use of kernel method and projection pursuit regression for non-parametric probability density estimation. Direct application of the kernel method is not able to pick up characteristic features of multidimensional density function. We propose a fuzzy projection pursuit density estimation based on the membership function and the eigenvector of the covariance matrix. Marginal densities along the subspace spanned by the projection vector are estimated. The proposed projection pursuit is one of the methods which are able to bypass the ‘curse of dimensionality’ in multidimensional density estimation. An application to experimental design for machining accuracy of end milling with the tool in small diameter is presented to demonstrate its usefulness.     

A degradation path-dependent approach for remaining useful life estimation with an exact and closed-form solution

Remaining useful life (RUL) estimation is regarded as one of the most central components in prognostics and health management (PHM). Accurate RUL estimation can enable failure prevention in a more controllable manner in that effective maintenance can be executed in appropriate time to correct impending faults. In this paper we consider the problem of estimating the RUL from observed degradation data for a general system. A degradation path-dependent approach for RUL estimation is presented through the combination of Bayesian updating and expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. The use of both Bayesian updating and EM algorithm to update the model parameters and RUL distribution at the time obtaining a newly observed data is a novel contribution of this paper, which makes the estimated RUL depend on the observed degradation data history. As two specific cases, a linear degradation model and an exponential-based degradation model are considered to illustrate the implementation of our presented approach. A major contribution under these two special cases is that our approach can obtain an exact and closed-form RUL distribution respectively, and the moment of the obtained RUL distribution from our presented approach exists. This contrasts sharply with the approximated results obtained in the literature for the same cases. To our knowledge, the RUL estimation approach presented in this paper for the two special cases is the only one that can provide an exact and closed-form RUL distribution utilizing the monitoring history. Finally, numerical examples for RUL estimation and a practical case study for condition-based replacement decision making with comparison to a previously reported approach are provided to substantiate the superiority of the proposed model.     

生长曲线模型的惩罚最小二乘估计

主要考虑了生长曲线模型中的参数矩阵的估计.首先基于Potthoff-Roy变换后的生长曲线模型,采用不同的惩罚函数:Hard Thresholding函数,LASSO,ENET,改进LASSO,SACD给出了参数矩阵的惩罚最小二乘估计.接着对不做变换的生长曲线模型,直接定义其惩罚最小二乘估计,基于Nelder-Mead法给出了估计的数值解算法.最后对提出的参数估计方法进行了数据模拟.结果表明自适应LASSO在估计方面效果比较好.     

偏t正态数据下混合线性联合位置与尺度模型的参数估计

偏t正态分布是分析尖峰,厚尾数据的重要统计工具之一.研究提出了偏t正态数据下混合线性联合位置与尺度模型,通过EM算法和Newton-Raphson方法研究了该模型参数的极大似然估计.并通过随机模拟试验验证了所提出方法的有效性.最后,结合实际数据验证了该模型和方法具有实用性和可行性.     

基于EM算法的混合模型中子总体个数的研究

混合模型已成为数据分析中最流行的技术之一,由于拥有数学模型,它通常比聚类分析中的传统的方法产生的结果更精确,而关键因素是混合模型中子总体个数,它决定了数据分析的最终结果。期望最大化(EM)算法常用在混合模型的参数估计,以及机器学习和聚类领域中的参数估计中,是一种从不完全数据或者是有缺失值的数据中求解参数极大似然估计的迭代算法。学者们往往采用AIC和BIC的方法来确定子总体的个数,而这两种方法在实际的应用中的效果并不稳定,甚至可能会产生错误的结果。针对此问题,本文提出了一种利用似然函数的碎石图来确定混合模型中子总体的个数的新方法。实验结果表明,本文方法确定的子总体的个数在大部分理想的情况下可以得到与AIC、BIC方法确定的聚类个数相同的结果,而在一般的实际数据中或条件不理想的状态下,碎石图方法也可以得到更可靠的结果。随后,本文将新方法在选取的黄石公园喷泉数据的参数估计中进行了实际的应用。     

互补约束数学规划问题的一个广义梯度投影罚算法

结合罚函数思想和广义梯度投影技术,提出求解非线性互补约束数学规划问题的一个广义梯度投影罚算法.首先,通过扰动技术和广义互补函数,将原问题转化为序列带参数的近似的标准非线性规划;其次,利用广义梯度投影矩阵构造搜索方向的显式表达式.一个特殊的罚函数作为效益函数,而且搜索方向能保证效益函数的下降性.在适当的假设条件下算法具有全局收敛性.     

Adaptive Rejection Metropolis Simulated Annealing for Detecting Global Maximum Regions

A finite mixture model has been used to fit the data from heterogeneous populations to many applications. An Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm is the most popular method to estimate parameters in a finite mixture model. A Bayesian approach is another method for fitting a mixture model. However, the EM algorithm often converges to the local maximum regions, and it is sensitive to the choice of starting points. In the Bayesian approach, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sometimes converges to the local mode and is difficult to move to another mode. Hence, in this paper we propose a new method to improve the limitation of EM algorithm so that the EM can estimate the parameters at the global maximum region and to develop a more effective Bayesian approach so that the MCMC chain moves from one mode to another more easily in the mixture model. Our approach is developed by using both simulated annealing (SA) and adaptive rejection metropolis sampling (ARMS). Although SA is a well-known approach for detecting distinct modes, the limitation of SA is the difficulty in choosing sequences of proper proposal distributions for a target distribution. Since ARMS uses a piecewise linear envelope function for a proposal distribution, we incorporate ARMS into an SA approach so that we can start a more proper proposal distribution and detect separate modes. As a result, we can detect the maximum region and estimate parameters for this global region. We refer to this approach as ARMS annealing. By putting together ARMS annealing with the EM algorithm and with the Bayesian approach, respectively, we have proposed two approaches: an EM-ARMS annealing algorithm and a Bayesian-ARMS annealing approach. We compare our two approaches with traditional EM algorithm alone and Bayesian approach alone using simulation, showing that our two approaches are comparable to each other but perform better than EM algorithm alone and Bayesian approach alone. Our two approaches detect the global maximum region well and estimate the parameters in this region. We demonstrate the advantage of our approaches using an example of the mixture of two Poisson regression models. This mixture model is used to analyze a survey data on the number of charitable donations.     

Online EM Algorithm for Hidden Markov Models

Online (also called “recursive” or “adaptive”) estimation of fixed model parameters in hidden Markov models is a topic of much interest in times series modeling. In this work, we propose an online parameter estimation algorithm that combines two key ideas. The first one, which is deeply rooted in the Expectation-Maximization (EM) methodology, consists in reparameterizing the problem using complete-data sufficient statistics. The second ingredient consists in exploiting a purely recursive form of smoothing in HMMs based on an auxiliary recursion. Although the proposed online EM algorithm resembles a classical stochastic approximation (or Robbins–Monro) algorithm, it is sufficiently different to resist conventional analysis of convergence. We thus provide limited results which identify the potential limiting points of the recursion as well as the large-sample behavior of the quantities involved in the algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm is numerically evaluated through simulations in the case of a noisily observed Markov chain. In this case, the algorithm reaches estimation results that are comparable to those of the maximum likelihood estimator for large sample sizes. The supplemental material for this article available online includes an appendix with the proofs of Theorem 1 and Corollary 1 stated in Section 4 as well as the MATLAB/OCTAVE code used to implement the algorithm in the case of a noisily observed Markov chain considered in Section 5.     

Estimation of parameters in latent class models using fuzzy clustering algorithms

A mixture approach to clustering is an important technique in cluster analysis. A mixture of multivariate multinomial distributions is usually used to analyze categorical data with latent class model. The parameter estimation is an important step for a mixture distribution. Described here are four approaches to estimating the parameters of a mixture of multivariate multinomial distributions. The first approach is an extended maximum likelihood (ML) method. The second approach is based on the well-known expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. The third approach is the classification maximum likelihood (CML) algorithm. In this paper, we propose a new approach using the so-called fuzzy class model and then create the fuzzy classification maximum likelihood (FCML) approach for categorical data. The accuracy, robustness and effectiveness of these four types of algorithms for estimating the parameters of multivariate binomial mixtures are compared using real empirical data and samples drawn from the multivariate binomial mixtures of two classes. The results show that the proposed FCML algorithm presents better accuracy, robustness and effectiveness. Overall, the FCML algorithm has the superiority over the ML, EM and CML algorithms. Thus, we recommend FCML as another good tool for estimating the parameters of mixture multivariate multinomial models.     

A Hybrid High-Order Markov Chain Model for Computer Intrusion Detection

A hybrid model based mostly on a high-order Markov chain and occasionally on a statistical-independence model is proposed for profiling command sequences of a computer user in order to identify a “signature behavior” for that user. Based on the model, an estimation procedure for such a signature behavior driven by maximum likelihood (ML) considerations is devised. The formal ML estimates are numerically intractable, but the ML-optimization problem can be substituted by a linear inverse problem with positivity constraint (LININPOS), for which the EM algorithm can be used as an equation solver to produce an approximate ML-estimate. The intrusion detection system works by comparing a user's command sequence to the user's and others' estimated signature behaviors in real time through statistical hypothesis testing. A form of likelihood-ratio test is used to detect if a given sequence of commands is from the proclaimed user, with the alternative hypothesis being a masquerader user. Applying the model to real-life data collected from AT&T Labs–Research indicates that the new methodology holds some promise for intrusion detection.     

基于EM算法隐Markov模型参数估计

描述最大似然参数估计问题,介绍如何用EM算法求解最大似然参数估计.首先给出EM算法的抽象形式,然后介绍EM算法的一个应用:求隐Markov模型中的参数估计.用EM算法推导出隐Markov模型中参数的迭代公式.     

基于删失数据的ARMA模型参数估计与实证分析

利用生存分析中的K-M估计得到了删失数据下ARMA模型的参数估计,通过与完全数据下的参数估计进行对比,充分说明了该估计的效果.利用删失数据下ARMA模型的EM算法,对2013年5月2日到2014年5月8日的247个美元兑人民币的基准汇率数据进行建模分析和预测,并与实际数据进行对照,误差较小,说明估计和EM预测方法的可行性.     

Likelihood Inference for Large Scale Stochastic Blockmodels With Covariates Based on a Divide-and-Conquer Parallelizable Algorithm With Communication

We consider a stochastic blockmodel equipped with node covariate information, that is, helpful in analyzing social network data. The key objective is to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters. For this task, we devise a fast, scalable Monte Carlo EM type algorithm based on case-control approximation of the log-likelihood coupled with a subsampling approach. A key feature of the proposed algorithm is its parallelizability, by processing portions of the data on several cores, while leveraging communication of key statistics across the cores during each iteration of the algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated on synthetic datasets and compared with competing methods for blockmodel parameter estimation. We also illustrate the model on data from a Facebook derived social network enhanced with node covariate information. Supplemental materials for this article are available online.     

A Gaussian Mixed Model for Learning Discrete Bayesian Networks

In this paper, we address the problem of learning discrete Bayesian networks from noisy data. A graphical model based on a mixture of Gaussian distributions with categorical mixing structure coming from a discrete Bayesian network is considered. The network learning is formulated as a maximum likelihood estimation problem and performed by employing an EM algorithm. The proposed approach is relevant to a variety of statistical problems for which Bayesian network models are suitable—from simple regression analysis to learning gene/protein regulatory networks from microarray data.