A conditional limit construction of the normal probability density

Summary It is shown that a normal probability density can be characterized as a limit of conditional probability densities of i.i.d. uniform random variables.     

The role of duality in optimization problems involving entropy functionals with applications to information theory

We consider infinite-dimensional optimization problems involving entropy-type functionals in the objective function as well as as in the constraints. A duality theory is developed for such problems and applied to the reliability rate function problem in information theory.This research was supported by ONR Contracts N00014-81-C-0236 and N00014-82-K-0295 with the Center for Cybernetics Studies, University of Texas, Austin, Texas. The first author was partly supported by NSF.     

Birnbaum‐Saunders distribution: A review of models,analysis, and applications

Birnbaum and Saunders introduced a two‐parameter lifetime distribution to model the fatigue life of a metal, subject to cyclic stress. Since then, extensive work has been done on this model providing different interpretations, constructions, generalizations, inferential methods, and extensions to bivariate, multivariate, and matrix‐variate cases. More than 200 papers and one research monograph have already appeared describing all these aspects and developments. In this paper, we provide a detailed review of all these developments and, at the same time, indicate several open problems that could be considered for further research.