A Marginalized Combined Gamma Frailty and Normal Random-effects Model for Repeated,Overdispersed, Time-to-event Outcomes

This article proposes a marginalized model for repeated or otherwise hierarchical, overdispersed time-to-event outcomes, adapting the so-called combined model for time-to-event outcomes of Molenberghs et al. (in press Molenberghs, G., Verbeke, G., Efendi, A., Braekers, R., Demétrio, C. G.B. (in press). A combined gamma frailty and normal random-effects model for repeated, overdispersed time-to-event data. In press. [Google Scholar]), who combined gamma and normal random effects. The two sets of random effects are used to accommodate simultaneously correlation between repeated measures and overdispersion. The proposed version allows for a direct marginal interpretation of all model parameters. The outcomes are allowed to be censored. Two estimation methods are proposed: full likelihood and pairwise likelihood. The proposed model is applied to data from a so-called comet assay and to data from recurrent asthma attacks in children. Both estimation methods perform very well. From simulation results, it follows that the marginalized combined model behaves similarly to the ordinary combined model in terms of point estimation and precision. It is also observed that the pairwise likelihood required more computation time on the one hand but is less sensitive to starting values and stabler in terms of bias with increasing sample size and censoring percentage than full likelihood, on the other, leaving room for both in practice.     

Variable selection for survival data with a class of adaptive elastic net techniques

The accelerated failure time (AFT) models have proved useful in many contexts, though heavy censoring (as for example in cancer survival) and high dimensionality (as for example in microarray data) cause difficulties for model fitting and model selection. We propose new approaches to variable selection for censored data, based on AFT models optimized using regularized weighted least squares. The regularized technique uses a mixture of \(\ell _1\) and \(\ell _2\) norm penalties under two proposed elastic net type approaches. One is the adaptive elastic net and the other is weighted elastic net. The approaches extend the original approaches proposed by Ghosh (Adaptive elastic net: an improvement of elastic net to achieve oracle properties, Technical Reports 2007) and Hong and Zhang (Math Model Nat Phenom 5(3):115–133 2010), respectively. We also extend the two proposed approaches by adding censoring observations as constraints into their model optimization frameworks. The approaches are evaluated on microarray and by simulation. We compare the performance of these approaches with six other variable selection techniques-three are generally used for censored data and the other three are correlation-based greedy methods used for high-dimensional data.     

Regularization and variable selection for infinite variance autoregressive models

Autoregressive models with infinite variance are of great importance in modeling heavy-tailed time series and have been well studied. In this paper, we propose a penalized method to conduct model selection for autoregressive models with innovations having Pareto-like distributions with index α∈(0,2)$\alpha \in (\mathrm{0,2})$. By combining the least absolute deviation loss function and the adaptive lasso penalty, the proposed method is able to consistently identify the true model and at the same time produce efficient estimators with a convergence rate of n^−1/α$n^{-1/\alpha }$. In addition, our approach provides a unified way to conduct variable selection for autoregressive models with finite or infinite variance. A simulation study and a real data analysis are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of our method.     

Order selection in finite mixtures of linear regressions

Finite mixture models can adequately model population heterogeneity when this heterogeneity arises from a finite number of relatively homogeneous clusters. An example of such a situation is market segmentation. Order selection in mixture models, i.e. selecting the correct number of components, however, is a problem which has not been satisfactorily resolved. Existing simulation results in the literature do not completely agree with each other. Moreover, it appears that the performance of different selection methods is affected by the type of model and the parameter values. Furthermore, most existing results are based on simulations where the true generating model is identical to one of the models in the candidate set. In order to partly fill this gap we carried out a (relatively) large simulation study for finite mixture models of normal linear regressions. We included several types of model (mis)specification to study the robustness of 18 order selection methods. Furthermore, we compared the performance of these selection methods based on unpenalized and penalized estimates of the model parameters. The results indicate that order selection based on penalized estimates greatly improves the success rates of all order selection methods. The most successful methods were \(MDL2\) , \(MRC\) , \(MRC_k\) , \(ICL\) – \(BIC\) , \(ICL\) , \(CAIC\) , \(BIC\) and \(CLC\) but not one method was consistently good or best for all types of model (mis)specification.     

New estimation and feature selection methods in mixture‐of‐experts models

We study estimation and feature selection problems in mixture‐of‐experts models. An $l_2$ ‐penalized maximum likelihood estimator is proposed as an alternative to the ordinary maximum likelihood estimator. The estimator is particularly advantageous when fitting a mixture‐of‐experts model to data with many correlated features. It is shown that the proposed estimator is root‐$n$ consistent, and simulations show its superior finite sample behaviour compared to that of the maximum likelihood estimator. For feature selection, two extra penalty functions are applied to the $l_2$ ‐penalized log‐likelihood function. The proposed feature selection method is computationally much more efficient than the popular all‐subset selection methods. Theoretically it is shown that the method is consistent in feature selection, and simulations support our theoretical results. A real‐data example is presented to demonstrate the method. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 38: 519–539; 2010 © 2010 Statistical Society of Canada     

Comparing k Cumulative Incidence Functions Through Resampling Methods

Tests for the equality of k cumulative incidence functions in a competing risks model are proposed. Test statistics are based on a vector of processes related to the cumulative incidence functions. Since their asymptotic distributions appear very complicated and depend on the underlying distribution of the data, two resampling techniques, namely the well-known bootstrap method and the so-called random symmetrization method, are used to approximate the critical values of the tests. Without making any assumptions on the nature of dependence between the risks, the tests allow one to compare k risks simultaneously for k 2 under the random censorship model. Tests against ordered alternatives are also considered. Simulation studies indicate that the proposed tests perform very well with moderate sample size. A real application to cancer mortality data is given.     

Ultrahigh dimensional variable selection through the penalized maximum trimmed likelihood estimator

The penalized maximum likelihood estimator (PMLE) has been widely used for variable selection in high-dimensional data. Various penalty functions have been employed for this purpose, e.g., Lasso, weighted Lasso, or smoothly clipped absolute deviations. However, the PMLE can be very sensitive to outliers in the data, especially to outliers in the covariates (leverage points). In order to overcome this disadvantage, the usage of the penalized maximum trimmed likelihood estimator (PMTLE) is proposed to estimate the unknown parameters in a robust way. The computation of the PMTLE takes advantage of the same technology as used for PMLE but here the estimation is based on subsamples only. The breakdown point properties of the PMTLE are discussed using the notion of $d$ -fullness. The performance of the proposed estimator is evaluated in a simulation study for the classical multiple linear and Poisson linear regression models.     

Tuning Parameter Selection in Penalized Frailty Models

The penalized likelihood approach of Fan and Li (2001 Fan, J., Li, R. (2001). Variable selection via nonconcave penalized likelihood and its oracle properties. Journal of the American Association 96:1348–1360.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2002 Fan, J., Li, R. (2002). Variable selection for Cox’s proportional hazards model and frailty model. The Annals of Statistics 30:74–99.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) differs from the traditional variable selection procedures in that it deletes the non-significant variables by estimating their coefficients as zero. Nevertheless, the desirable performance of this shrinkage methodology relies heavily on an appropriate selection of the tuning parameter which is involved in the penalty functions. In this work, new estimates of the norm of the error are firstly proposed through the use of Kantorovich inequalities and, subsequently, applied to the frailty models framework. These estimates are used in order to derive a tuning parameter selection procedure for penalized frailty models and clustered data. In contrast with the standard methods, the proposed approach does not depend on resampling and therefore results in a considerable gain in computational time. Moreover, it produces improved results. Simulation studies are presented to support theoretical findings and two real medical data sets are analyzed.     

A proportional hazards model for the analysis of doubly censored competing risks data

ABSTRACT

Competing risks data are common in medical research in which lifetime of individuals can be classified in terms of causes of failure. In survival or reliability studies, it is common that the patients (objects) are subjected to both left censoring and right censoring, which is refereed as double censoring. The analysis of doubly censored competing risks data in presence of covariates is the objective of this study. We propose a proportional hazards model for the analysis of doubly censored competing risks data, using the hazard rate functions of Gray (1988 Gray, R.J. (1988). A class of k-sample tests for comparing the cumulative incidence of a competing risk. Ann. Statist. 16:1141–1154.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), while focusing upon one major cause of failure. We derive estimators for regression parameter vector and cumulative baseline cause specific hazard rate function. Asymptotic properties of the estimators are discussed. A simulation study is conducted to assess the finite sample behavior of the proposed estimators. We illustrate the method using a real life doubly censored competing risks data.     

Variable selection in discrete survival models including heterogeneity

Several variable selection procedures are available for continuous time-to-event data. However, if time is measured in a discrete way and therefore many ties occur models for continuous time are inadequate. We propose penalized likelihood methods that perform efficient variable selection in discrete survival modeling with explicit modeling of the heterogeneity in the population. The method is based on a combination of ridge and lasso type penalties that are tailored to the case of discrete survival. The performance is studied in simulation studies and an application to the birth of the first child.     

SCAD-Penalized Least Absolute Deviation Regression in High-Dimensional Models

When outliers and/or heavy-tailed errors exist in linear models, the least absolute deviation (LAD) regression is a robust alternative to the ordinary least squares regression. Existing variable-selection methods in linear models based on LAD regression either only consider the finite number of predictors or lack the oracle property associated with the estimator. In this article, we focus on the variable selection via LAD regression with a diverging number of parameters. The rate of convergence of the LAD estimator with the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) penalty function is established. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, under certain regularity conditions, the penalized estimator with a properly selected tuning parameter enjoys the oracle property. In addition, the rank correlation screening method originally proposed by Li et al. (2011 Li, G.R., Peng, H., Zhu, L.X. (2011). Nonconcave penalized M-estimation with a diverging number of parameters. Statistica Sinica 21:391–419.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is applied to deal with ultrahigh dimensional data. Simulation studies are conducted for revealing the finite sample performance of the estimator. We further illustrate the proposed methodology by a real example.     

A note on variable selection in functional regression via random subspace method

Variable selection problem is one of the most important tasks in regression analysis, especially in a high-dimensional setting. In this paper, we study this problem in the context of scalar response functional regression model, which is a linear model with scalar response and functional regressors. The functional model can be represented by certain multiple linear regression model via basis expansions of functional variables. Based on this model and random subspace method of Mielniczuk and Teisseyre (Comput Stat Data Anal 71:725–742, 2014), two simple variable selection procedures for scalar response functional regression model are proposed. The final functional model is selected by using generalized information criteria. Monte Carlo simulation studies conducted and a real data example show very satisfactory performance of new variable selection methods under finite samples. Moreover, they suggest that considered procedures outperform solutions found in the literature in terms of correctly selected model, false discovery rate control and prediction error.     

Variable selection in finite mixture of semi-parametric regression models

Abstract

In this paper we are concerned with variable selection in finite mixture of semiparametric regression models. This task consists of model selection for non parametric component and variable selection for parametric part. Thus, we encountered separate model selections for every non parametric component of each sub model. To overcome this computational burden, we introduced a class of variable selection procedures for finite mixture of semiparametric regression models using penalized approach for variable selection. It is shown that the new method is consistent for variable selection. Simulations show that the performance of proposed method is good, and it consequently improves pervious works in this area and also requires much less computing power than existing methods.     

Power-transformed linear regression on quantile residual life for censored competing risks data

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a power-transformed linear quantile regression model for the residual lifetime of competing risks data. The proposed model can describe the association between any quantile of a time-to-event distribution among survivors beyond a specific time point and the covariates. Under covariate-dependent censoring, we develop an estimation procedure with two steps, including an unbiased monotone estimating equation for regression parameters and cumulative sum processes for the Box–Cox transformation parameter. The asymptotic properties of the estimators are also derived. We employ an efficient bootstrap method for the estimation of the variance–covariance matrix. The finite-sample performance of the proposed approaches are evaluated through simulation studies and a real example.     

A new model selection procedure for finite mixture regression models

Abstract

In this article, we propose a new penalized-likelihood method to conduct model selection for finite mixture of regression models. The penalties are imposed on mixing proportions and regression coefficients, and hence order selection of the mixture and the variable selection in each component can be simultaneously conducted. The consistency of order selection and the consistency of variable selection are investigated. A modified EM algorithm is proposed to maximize the penalized log-likelihood function. Numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the finite sample performance of the estimation procedure. The proposed methodology is further illustrated via real data analysis.     

Group and within-group variable selection for competing risks data

Variable selection in the presence of grouped variables is troublesome for competing risks data: while some recent methods deal with group selection only, simultaneous selection of both groups and within-group variables remains largely unexplored. In this context, we propose an adaptive group bridge method, enabling simultaneous selection both within and between groups, for competing risks data. The adaptive group bridge is applicable to independent and clustered data. It also allows the number of variables to diverge as the sample size increases. We show that our new method possesses excellent asymptotic properties, including variable selection consistency at group and within-group levels. We also show superior performance in simulated and real data sets over several competing approaches, including group bridge, adaptive group lasso, and AIC / BIC-based methods.     

Some notes on robust sure independence screening

Sure independence screening (SIS) proposed by Fan and Lv [4 J. Fan and R. Li, Variable selection via nonconcave penalized likelihood and its oracle properties, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 96 (2001), pp. 1348–1360. doi: 10.1198/016214501753382273[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] uses marginal correlations to select important variables, and has proven to be an efficient method for ultrahigh-dimensional linear models. This paper provides two robust versions of SIS against outliers. The two methods, respectively, replace the sample correlation in SIS with two robust measures, and screen variables by ranking them. Like SIS, the proposed methods are simple and fast. In addition, they are highly robust against a substantial fraction of outliers in the data. These features make them applicable to large datasets which may contain outliers. Simulation results are presented to show their effectiveness.