MULTIPLE-RECORD SYSTEMS ESTIMATION USING LATENT CLASS MODELS

Capture–recapture methods (also referred to as 'multiple-record systems') have been widely used in enumerating human populations in the fields of epidemiology and public health. In this article, we introduce latent class models into multiple-record systems to account for unobserved heterogeneity in the population. Two approaches, the full and the conditional likelihood, are proposed to estimate the unknown population abundance. We also suggest rules to diagnose identifiability of the proposed latent class models. The methodologies are illustrated by two real examples: the first is to count the undercount of homelessness in the Adelaide central business district, and the second concerns the incidence of diabetes in a small Italian town.     

Accelerated test system strength models based on Birnbaum–Saunders distribution: a complete Bayesian analysis and comparison

Several models for studies related to tensile strength of materials are proposed in the literature where the size or length component has been taken to be an important factor for studying the specimens’ failure behaviour. An important model, developed on the basis of cumulative damage approach, is the three-parameter extension of the Birnbaum–Saunders fatigue model that incorporates size of the specimen as an additional variable. This model is a strong competitor of the commonly used Weibull model and stands better than the traditional models, which do not incorporate the size effect. The paper considers two such cumulative damage models, checks their compatibility with a real dataset, compares them with some of the recent toolkits, and finally recommends a model, which appears an appropriate one. Throughout the study is Bayesian based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation.     

Integrated methodology for multiple systems estimation and record linkage using a missing data formulation

There are now three essentially separate literatures on the topics of multiple systems estimation, record linkage, and missing data. But in practice the three are intimately intertwined. For example, record linkage involving multiple data sources for human populations is often carried out with the expressed goal of developing a merged database for multiple system estimation (MSE). Similarly, one way to view both the record linkage and MSE problems is as ones involving the estimation of missing data. This presentation highlights the technical nature of these interrelationships and provides a preliminary effort at their integration.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
David Griffiths, W. Douglas Stirling, and K. Laurence Weldon, Understanding Data: Principles and Practice of Statistics
Ingwer Borg and Patrick Groenen, Modern Multidimensional Scaling: Theory and Applications
Jeffrey H. Dorfman, Bayesian Economics Through Numerical Methods: A Guide to Econometrics and Decision-making with Prior Information
Marek Musiela and Marek Rutkowski, Martingale Methods in Financial Modelling: Theory and Applications
Aad W. van der Vaart and Jon A. Wellner, Weak Convergence and Empirical Processes     

Modelling change in cognitive understanding with finite mixtures

Psychological theories often posit the existence of several different states. Individuals are viewed as belonging to one of the states at a given age, but with development pass to another state. A main problem in evaluating such theories is representing the transition from one state to another over age. A stochastic transition framework is proposed which should be useful in many different settings. The model is illustrated with data from a cognitive development task.     

Cutting Experimental Designs into Blocks

Most experimental material in agriculture and industry is heterogeneous in nature and therefore its statistical analysis benefits from blocking. Many experiments are restricted in time or space, and again blocking is useful. This paper adopts the idea of orthogonal blocking of Box & Hunter (1957) and applies it to optimal blocking designs. This approach is then compared with the determinant-based approach described in the literature for constructing block designs.     

Estimation in capture–recapture models when covariates are subject to measurement errors and missing data

For capture–recapture models when covariates are subject to measurement errors and missing data, a set of estimating equations is constructed to estimate population size and relevant parameters. These estimating equations can be solved by an algorithm similar to the EM algorithm. The proposed method is also applicable to the situation when covariates with no measurement errors have missing data. Simulation studies are used to assess the performance of the proposed estimator. The estimator is also applied to a capture–recapture experiment on the bird species Prinia flaviventris in Hong Kong. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 645–658; 2009 © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada     

混合学习法前向网络多属性储层参数预测

应用前向网络描述地震属性和储层参数间的非线性映射关系时，经典的误差反向传播算法存在收敛速度慢，易陷入局部极值等诸多不足。研究了融合粒子群优化算法和误差反向传播算法的混合学习法前向网络多属性储层参数预测技术。粒子群优化算法是一种群体随机搜索演化计算技术，具有较快的收敛速度和较强的全局搜寻能力；误差反向传播算法本质上是梯度下降算法，注重局部搜索。混合学习法为两种学习算法交替执行，首先以粒子群优化算法训练网络，当误差能量在规定的迭代次数内不再发生变化时，采用误差反向传播算法实现局部寻优。理论函数逼近测试和实际储层参数预测实验说明了混合学习法具有学习时间短、求解效率高、可靠性强的优点，具有良好的应用前景。     

基于概率神经网络和K-means算法的纳税评估

纳税评估工作是一项难于建立准确数学模型的复杂系统,同时又是一个典型的模式识别问题。用神经网络方法进行纳税评估有其独特的优越性。运用PNN算法很大程度地依赖于训练样本对象的选取。选取的这些样本能否反映总体的信息特征决定了分类器的识别效果。文章运用K-means算法对纳税人信息样本进行聚类,找出聚类中心点,以此为基础来选择样本作为PNN的训练样本,从而达到对PNN算法的优化。研究结果表明这种改进后的PNN算法分类效果好,对于纳税评估有其应用价值。     

Bias correction for parameter estimates of spatial point process models

When a spatial point process model is fitted to spatial point pattern data using standard software, the parameter estimates are typically biased. Contrary to folklore, the bias does not reflect weaknesses of the underlying mathematical methods, but is mainly due to the effects of discretization of the spatial domain. We investigate two approaches to correcting the bias: a Newton–Raphson-type correction and Richardson extrapolation. In simulation experiments, Richardson extrapolation performs best.