The Latent Scale Covariogram: A Tool for Exploring the Spatial Dependence Structure of Nonnormal Responses

When modeling spatially distributed normal responses Y_i in terms of vectors x_i of explanatory variables, one may fit a linear model assuming independence, and then use the empirical variogram of the residuals to determine an appropriate parametric form for the autocorrelation function. Suppose, however, that the responses are not normally distributed—for example, Poisson or Bernoulli. One may model spatial dependence using a hierarchical generalized linear model in which, conditional on a latent Gaussian field Z = {Z_i}, the Y_i have independent distributions from the exponential family, with an appropriate link function connecting their conditional means with the linear predictors x^t_iβ + Z_i. The question then is how to determine an appropriate model for the autocorrelation function of Z. The empirical variogram of the Y_i is no longer appropriate, since (unless the link function is the identity) it is on the wrong scale. We propose here an alternative, the latent scale covariogram, whose graph reflects the autocorrelation structure of the underlying normal field. We illustrate its use on several real datasets, together with a simulated dataset, and obtain results quite different from those obtained using the variogram. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Smoothing Windows for the Synthesis of Gaussian Stationary Random Fields Using Circulant Matrix Embedding

When generating Gaussian stationary random fields, a standard method based on circulant matrix embedding usually fails because some of the associated eigenvalues are negative. The eigenvalues can be shown to be nonnegative in the limit of increasing sample size. Computationally feasible large sample sizes, however, rarely lead to nonnegative eigenvalues. Another solution is to extend suitably the covariance function of interest so that the eigenvalues of the embedded circulant matrix become nonnegative in theory. Though such extensions have been found for a number of examples of stationary fields, the method depends on nontrivial constructions in specific cases.

In this work, the embedded circulant matrix is smoothed at the boundary by using a cutoff window or overlapping windows over a transition region. The windows are not specific to particular examples of stationary fields. The resulting method modifies the standard circulant embedding, and is easy to use. It is shown that this straightforward approach works for many examples of interest, with the overlapping windows performing consistently better. The method even outperforms in the cases where extending the covariance leads to nonnegative eigenvalues in theory, in the sense that the transition region is considerably smaller. The Matlab code implementing the method is included in the online supplementary materials and also publicly available at www.hermir.org.     

Weighted norm inequalities,off-diagonal estimates and elliptic operators. Part IV: Riesz transforms on manifolds and weights

This is the fourth article of our series. Here, we study weighted norm inequalities for the Riesz transform of the Laplace–Beltrami operator on Riemannian manifolds and of subelliptic sum of squares on Lie groups, under the doubling volume property and Gaussian upper bounds.      

Correlation Inequalities and Applications to Vector-Valued Gaussian Random Variables and Fractional Brownian Motion

In this paper we extend certain correlation inequalities for vector-valued Gaussian random variables due to Kolmogorov and Rozanov. The inequalities are applied to sequences of Gaussian random variables and Gaussian processes. For sequences of Gaussian random variables satisfying a correlation assumption, we prove a Borel-Cantelli lemma, maximal inequalities and several laws of large numbers. This extends results of Be?ka and Ciesielski and of Hytönen and the author. In the second part of the paper we consider a certain class of vector-valued Gaussian processes which are α-Hölder continuous in p-th moment. For these processes we obtain Besov regularity of the paths of order α. We also obtain estimates for the moments in the Besov norm. In particular, the results are applied to vector-valued fractional Brownian motions. These results extend earlier work of Ciesielski, Kerkyacharian and Roynette and of Hytönen and the author.     

On the Gaussian q-distribution

We present a study of the Gaussian q-measure introduced by Díaz and Teruel from a probabilistic and from a combinatorial viewpoint. A main motivation for the introduction of the Gaussian q-measure is that its moments are exactly the q-analogues of the double factorial numbers. We show that the Gaussian q-measure interpolates between the uniform measure on the interval [−1,1] and the Gaussian measure on the real line.     

The measure of a translated ball in uniformly convex spaces

Let (E, ¦·¦) be a uniformly convex Banach space with the modulus of uniform convexity of power type. Let be the convolution of the distribution of a random series inE with independent one-dimensional components and an arbitrary probability measure onE. Under some assumptions about the components and the smoothness of the norm we show that there exists a constant such that |{·<t}–{·+r<t}|r ^q , whereq depends on the properties of the norm. We specify it in the case ofL spaces, >1.     

Disintegration of Gaussian measures and average-case optimal algorithms

It is shown that a Gaussian measure in a given infinite-dimensional Banach space always admits an essentially unique Gaussian disintegration with respect to a given continuous linear operator. This covers a similar statement made earlier in [Lee and Wasilkowski, Approximation of linear functionals on a Banach space with a Gaussian measure, J. Complexity 2(1) (1986) 12–43.] for the case of finite-rank operators.     

Multi-funnel optimization using Gaussian underestimation

In several applications, underestimation of functions has proven to be a helpful tool for global optimization. In protein–ligand docking problems as well as in protein structure prediction, single convex quadratic underestimators have been used to approximate the location of the global minimum point. While this approach has been successful for basin-shaped functions, it is not suitable for energy functions with more than one distinct local minimum with a large magnitude. Such functions may contain several basin-shaped components and, thus, cannot be underfitted by a single convex underestimator. In this paper, we propose using an underestimator composed of several negative Gaussian functions. Such an underestimator can be computed by solving a nonlinear programming problem, which minimizes the error between the data points and the underestimator in the L ¹ norm. Numerical results for simulated and actual docking energy functions are presented.     

Almost-sure path properties of fractional Brownian sheet

The almost sure sample function behavior of the vector-valued fractional Brownian sheet is investigated. In particular, the global and the local moduli of continuity of the sample functions are studied. These results give precise information about the continuity and the oscillation behavior of the sample functions.