Estimation of entropy and other functionals of a multivariate density

For a multivariate density f with respect to Lebesgue measure , the estimation of % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% Waa8qaaeaacaWGkbGaaiikaiaadAgacaGGPaGaamOzaiaadsgacqaH% 8oqBaSqabeqaniabgUIiYdaaaa!4404!\[\int {J(f)fd\mu } \], and in particular % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% Waa8qaaeaacaWGMbWaaWbaaSqabeaacaaIYaaaaOGaamizaiabeY7a% TbWcbeqab0Gaey4kIipaaaa!41E4!\[\int {f^2 d\mu } \] and % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% Waa8qaaeaacaWGMbGaciiBaiaac+gacaGGNbGaamOzaiaadsgacqaH% 8oqBaSqabeqaniabgUIiYdaaaa!44AC!\[\int {f\log fd\mu } \], is studied. These two particular functionals are important in a number of contexts. Asymptotic bias and variance terms are obtained for the estimators % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% WaaybyaeqaleqabaGaey4jIKnaneaacaWGjbaaaOGaeyypa0Zaa8qa% aeaacaWGkbGaaiikamaawagabeWcbeqaaiabgEIizdqdbaGaamOzaa% aakiaacMcacaWGKbGaamOramaaBaaaleaacaWGobaabeaaaeqabeqd% cqGHRiI8aaaa!4994!\[\mathop I\limits^ \wedge = \int {J(\mathop f\limits^ \wedge )dF_N } \] and % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% WaaybyaeqaleqabaGaeSipIOdaneaacaWGjbaaaOGaeyypa0Zaa8qa% aeaacaWGkbGaaiikamaawagabeWcbeqaaiabgEIizdqdbaGaamOzaa% aakiaacMcadaGfGbqabSqabeaacqGHNis2a0qaaiaadAgaaaGccaWG% KbGaeqiVd0galeqabeqdcqGHRiI8aaaa!4C40!\[\mathop I\limits^ \sim = \int {J(\mathop f\limits^ \wedge )\mathop f\limits^ \wedge d\mu } \], where % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% WaaybyaeqaleqabaGaey4jIKnaneaacaWGMbaaaaaa!3E9C!\[{\mathop f\limits^ \wedge }\] is a kernel density estimate of f and F _n is the empirical distribution function based on the random sample X ₁ ,..., X _n from f. For the two functionalsmentioned above, a first order bias term for Î can be made zero by appropriate choices of non-unimodal kernels. Suggestions for the choice of bandwidth are given; for % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% WaaybyaeqaleqabaGaey4jIKnaneaacaWGjbaaaOGaeyypa0Zaa8qa% aeaadaGfGbqabSqabeaacqGHNis2a0qaaiaadAgaaaGccaWGKbGaam% OramaaBaaaleaacaWGobaabeaaaeqabeqdcqGHRiI8aaaa!476C!\[\mathop I\limits^ \wedge = \int {\mathop f\limits^ \wedge dF_N } \], a study of optimal bandwidth is possible.This research was supported by an NSERC Grant and a UBC Killam Research Fellowship.     

Evaluating Binomial Character Sums Modulo Powers of Two

We show that for any mod 2m characters, χ1, χ2, the complete exponential sum,∑~(2m)_(x=1)χ1(x)χ2(Ax~k+ B) has a simple explicit evaluation.     

A decision support tool for Public Rights of Way officers based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Local Government Authorities (LGA) in England and Wales have statutory responsibility for the maintenance of Public Rights of Way (PROW), such as pathways and byways open to non-motorised traffic. The departments responsible have to compete for budgets and justify their expenditure in terms of councils’ priorities, such as well-being and environment. A need was identified for a simple decision support tool to provide a consistent and transparent framework for assessing the range of possible social and economic benefits from expenditure on PROW. The tool uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process to elicit weights forming the links from path attributes to users and usage to benefits, with a final stage to combine the benefits according to LGA priorities. It was successfully tested through case studies, where improving signage was generally found to be the most cost effective option, giving moderate benefits at low cost, whereas improving the physical conditions of the surface gave greater benefits at relatively high cost.     

Quantile regression for modelling distributions of profit and loss

Quantile regression is applied in two retail credit risk assessment exercises exemplifying the power of the technique to account for the diverse distributions that arise in the financial service industry. The first application is to predict loss given default for secured loans, in particular retail mortgages. This is an asymmetric process since where the security (such as a property) value exceeds the loan balance the banks cannot retain the profit, whereas when the security does not cover the value of the defaulting loan then the bank realises a loss. In the light of this asymmetry it becomes apparent that estimating the low tail of the house value is much more relevant for estimating likely losses than estimates of the average value where in most cases no loss is realised. In our application quantile regression is used to estimate the distribution of property values realised on repossession that is then used to calculate loss given default estimates. An illustration is given for a mortgage portfolio from a European mortgage lender. A second application is to revenue modelling. While credit issuing organisations have access to large databases, they also build models to assess the likely effects of new strategies for which, by definition, there is no existing data. Certain strategies are aimed at increasing the revenue stream or decreasing the risk in specific market segments. Using a simple artificial revenue model, quantile regression is applied to elucidate the details of subsets of accounts, such as the least profitable, as predicted from their covariates. The application uses standard linear and kernel smoothed quantile regression.     

Teacher Rationales for Scoring Students' Problem Solving Work

This article presents the scores teachers assigned to samples of actual students' problem-solving work and the rationales teachers provided for these scores. These rationales may reflect teachers' values relative to aspects of mathematical problem solving. It may be that when teachers can express rationales for scoring students' work, they are able to justify their evaluation of what students can “know and do” in mathematics.     

Behavior of the Bergman kernel at infinity

We give a precise decay rate of the Bergman kernel and metric at infinity on model domains, characterized in terms of certain convex polyhedron.Supported by JSPS.     

Dependence Properties of Conditional Distributions of some Copula Models

For multivariate data from an observational study, inferences of interest can include conditional probabilities or quantiles for one variable given other variables. For statistical modeling, one could fit a parametric multivariate model, such as a vine copula, to the data and then use the model-based conditional distributions for further inference. Some results are derived for properties of conditional distributions under different positive dependence assumptions for some copula-based models. The multivariate version of the stochastically increasing ordering of conditional distributions is introduced for this purpose. Results are explained in the context of multivariate Gaussian distributions, as properties for Gaussian distributions can help to understand the properties of copula extensions based on vines.