Incorporating support constraints into nonparametric estimators of densities

Let f_n ^? (x) be the usual Parzen-Rosenblatt kernel estimator of the pdf f of a random variable X based on a sample X₁,…,X_n from X.In many practical applications,it is knownt hat X>c and/or X<d for given constants c and d.Additionally, one might know the values of(c)and/or f(d).“mirrorimage”and“tieddown”modifications of f_n ^?incorporate this additional information into an estimator f_n which has support [c,d].This estimatoris interpreted in a manner which allows one to use most of the known convergence properties of kernel estimates in studying the behavior of f_n.     

Estimation suroptimale de la densité par projection

Superefficiency of a projection density estimator The author constructs a projection density estimator with a data‐driven truncation index. This estimator reaches the superoptimal rates 1/n in mean integrated square error and {In ln(n/n}^1/2 in uniform almost sure convergence over a given subspace which is dense in the class of all possible densities; the rate of the estimator is quasi‐optimal everywhere else. The subspace in question may be chosen a priori by the statistician.     

Goodness‐of‐fit Test for Directional Data

In this paper, we study the problem of testing the hypothesis on whether the density f of a random variable on a sphere belongs to a given parametric class of densities. We propose two test statistics based on the L² and L¹ distances between a non‐parametric density estimator adapted to circular data and a smoothed version of the specified density. The asymptotic distribution of the L² test statistic is provided under the null hypothesis and contiguous alternatives. We also consider a bootstrap method to approximate the distribution of both test statistics. Through a simulation study, we explore the moderate sample performance of the proposed tests under the null hypothesis and under different alternatives. Finally, the procedure is illustrated by analysing a real data set based on wind direction measurements.     

New difference-based estimator of parameters in semiparametric regression models

The paper introduces a new difference-based Liu estimator β?_Ldiff=([Xtilde]′[Xtilde]+I)^?1([Xtilde]′[ytilde]+η β?_diff) of the regression parameters β in the semiparametric regression model, y=Xβ+f+?. Difference-based estimator, β?_diff=([Xtilde]′[Xtilde])^?1[Xtilde]′[ytilde] and difference-based Liu estimator are analysed and compared with respect to mean-squared error (mse) criterion. Finally, the performance of the new estimator is evaluated for a real data set. Monte Carlo simulation is given to show the improvement in the scalar mse of the estimator.     

Bootstrap test of goodness of fit to a linear model when errors are correlated

Given the regression model Y_i = m(x_i) +ε_i (x_i ε C, i = l,…,n, C a compact set in R) where m is unknown and the random errors {ε_i} present an ARMA structure, we design a bootstrap method for testing the hypothesis that the regression function follows a general linear model: H_o : m ε {mθ(.) = A^t(.)θ : θ ε ? ? R^q} with A a functional from R to R^q. The criterion of the test derives from a Cramer-von-Mises type functional distance D = d²([mcirc]_n, A^t(.)θ_n), between [mcirc]_n, a Gasser-Miiller non-parametric estimator of m, and the member of the class defined in H_o that is closest to m_n in terms of this distance. The consistency of the bootstrap distribution of D and θ_n is obtained under general conditions. Finally, simulations show the good behavior of the bootstrap approximation with respect to the asymptotic distribution of D = d².     

A bias-corrected histogram estimator for line transect sampling

The classical histogram method has already been applied in line transect sampling to estimate the parameter f(0), which in turns is used to estimate the population abundance D or the population size N. It is well know that the bias convergence rate for histogram estimator of f(0) is o(h²) as h → 0, under the shoulder condition assumption. If the shoulder condition is not true, then the bias convergence rate is only o(h). This paper proposed two new estimators for f(0), which can be considered as modifications of the classical histogram estimator. The first estimator is derived when the shoulder condition is assumed to be valid and it reduces the bias convergence rate from o(h²) to o(h³). The other one is constructed without using the shoulder condition assumption and it reduces the bias convergence rate from o(h) to o(h²). The asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are derived and formulas for bin width are also given. The finite properties based on a real data set and an extensive simulation study demonstrated the potential practical use of the proposed estimators.     

Asymptotic normality of the multiscale wavelet density estimator

A multiscale wavelet density estimator (MWDE) was recently introduced and was shown to have nice convergence properties as well as good simulation results (Wu, 1995). This paper studies the asymptotic normality of the MWDE. It is proved that, under mild conditions, the MWDE has the asymptotic normality in the support of the unknown density f.As by-products, the author establishes the asymptotic normality of the wavelet estimator and discovers several interesting statistical properties of the reproducing kernel q_m(x,t)ofV_m .     

Bootstrapping in a high dimensional but very low-sample size problem

This article is concerned with testing multiple hypotheses, one for each of a large number of small data sets. Such data are sometimes referred to as high-dimensional, low-sample size data. Our model assumes that each observation within a randomly selected small data set follows a mixture of C shifted and rescaled versions of an arbitrary density f. A novel kernel density estimation scheme, in conjunction with clustering methods, is applied to estimate f. Bayes information criterion and a new criterion weighted mean of within-cluster variances are used to estimate C, which is the number of mixture components or clusters. These results are applied to the multiple testing problem. The null sampling distribution of each test statistic is determined by f, and hence a bootstrap procedure that resamples from an estimate of f is used to approximate this null distribution.     

A study on the least squares estimator of multivariate isotonic regression function

Consider the problem of pointwise estimation of f in a multivariate isotonic regression model Z=f(X₁,…,X_d)+ϵ, where Z is the response variable, f is an unknown nonparametric regression function, which is isotonic with respect to each component, and ϵ is the error term. In this article, we investigate the behavior of the least squares estimator of f. We generalize the greatest convex minorant characterization of isotonic regression estimator for the multivariate case and use it to establish the asymptotic distribution of properly normalized version of the estimator. Moreover, we test whether the multivariate isotonic regression function at a fixed point is larger (or smaller) than a specified value or not based on this estimator, and the consistency of the test is established. The practicability of the estimator and the test are shown on simulated and real data as well.     

Polynomial Histograms for Multivariate Density and Mode Estimation

Abstract. We consider the problem of efficiently estimating multivariate densities and their modes for moderate dimensions and an abundance of data. We propose polynomial histograms to solve this estimation problem. We present first‐ and second‐order polynomial histogram estimators for a general d‐dimensional setting. Our theoretical results include pointwise bias and variance of these estimators, their asymptotic mean integrated square error (AMISE), and optimal binwidth. The asymptotic performance of the first‐order estimator matches that of the kernel density estimator, while the second order has the faster rate of O(n^?6/(d+6)). For a bivariate normal setting, we present explicit expressions for the AMISE constants which show the much larger binwidths of the second order estimator and hence also more efficient computations of multivariate densities. We apply polynomial histogram estimators to real data from biotechnology and find the number and location of modes in such data.     

Bayesian and Robust Bayesian analysis under a general class of balanced loss functions

For estimating an unknown parameter θ, we introduce and motivate the use of balanced loss functions of the form L_{r, w, d0}(q, d)=wr(d₀, d)+ (1-w) r(q, d){L_{\rho, \omega, \delta_0}(\theta, \delta)=\omega \rho(\delta_0, \delta)+ (1-\omega) \rho(\theta, \delta)}, as well as the weighted version q(q) L_{r, w, d0}(q, d){q(\theta) L_{\rho, \omega, \delta_0}(\theta, \delta)}, where ρ(θ, δ) is an arbitrary loss function, δ ₀ is a chosen a priori “target” estimator of q, w ? [0,1){\theta, \omega \in[0,1)}, and q(·) is a positive weight function. we develop Bayesian estimators under L_{r, w, d0}{L_{\rho, \omega, \delta_0}} with ω > 0 by relating such estimators to Bayesian solutions under L_{r, w, d0}{L_{\rho, \omega, \delta_0}} with ω = 0. Illustrations are given for various choices of ρ, such as absolute value, entropy, linex, and squared error type losses. Finally, under various robust Bayesian analysis criteria including posterior regret gamma-minimaxity, conditional gamma-minimaxity, and most stable, we establish explicit connections between optimal actions derived under balanced and unbalanced losses.     

Sequential design of computer experiments for the estimation of a probability of failure

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the volume of the excursion set of a function f:ℝ ^d →ℝ above a given threshold, under a probability measure on ℝ ^d that is assumed to be known. In the industrial world, this corresponds to the problem of estimating a probability of failure of a system. When only an expensive-to-simulate model of the system is available, the budget for simulations is usually severely limited and therefore classical Monte Carlo methods ought to be avoided. One of the main contributions of this article is to derive SUR (stepwise uncertainty reduction) strategies from a Bayesian formulation of the problem of estimating a probability of failure. These sequential strategies use a Gaussian process model of f and aim at performing evaluations of f as efficiently as possible to infer the value of the probability of failure. We compare these strategies to other strategies also based on a Gaussian process model for estimating a probability of failure.     

Nonparametric estimation of the derivatives of a density by the method of wavelet for mixing sequences

The problem of estimation of the derivative of a probability density f is considered, using wavelet orthogonal bases. We consider an important kind of dependent random variables, the so-called mixing random variables and investigate the precise asymptotic expression for the mean integrated error of the wavelet estimators. We show that the mean integrated error of the proposed estimator attains the same rate as when the observations are independent, under certain week dependence conditions imposed to the {X _i }, defined in {Ω, N, P}.     

On the error term in bahadur's representation of an order statistic

Bahadur (1966) presented a representation of an order statistic, giving its asymptotic distribution and the rate of convergence, under weak assumptions on the density function of the parent distribution. In this paper we consider the mean(squared) deviation of the error term in Bahadur’s approximation of the q th sample quantile (q_n ). We derive a uniform bound on the mean (squared) deviation of q_n , not depending on the value of q. An application of the given result provides the corresponding result for a kernel type estimator of the q th quantile.     

Asymptotic behavior of the grenander estimator at density flat regions

Over forty years ago, Grenander derived the MLE of a monotone decreasing density f with known mode. Prakasa Rao obtained the asymptotic distribution of this estimator at a fixed point x where f' (x) < 0. Here, we obtain the asymptotic distribution of this estimator at a fixed point x when f is constant and nonzero in some open neighborhood of x. This limiting distribution is expressible as the convolution of a closed-form density and a rescaled standard normal density. Groeneboom (1983) derived the aforementioned closed-form density and we provide an alternative, more direct derivation.     

Recursive estimation of the mode of a multivariate density

Let f be an unknown possibly multimodal density on R^d and let X₁, X₂, … be a sequence of independent random vectors with density f. Several recursive estimates of the mode of f are proposed, and sufficient conditions ensuring their weak and strong consistency are established.     

Improved estimation of the population parameters when some additional information is available

Estimation of population parameters is considered by several statisticians when additional information such as coefficient of variation, kurtosis or skewness is known. Recently Wencheko and Wijekoon (Stat Papers 46:101–115, 2005) have derived minimum mean square error estimators for the population mean in one parameter exponential families when coefficient of variation is known. In this paper the results presented by Gleser and Healy (J Am Stat Assoc 71:977–981, 1976) and Arnholt and Hebert (, 2001) were generalized by considering T (X) as a minimal sufficient estimator of the parametric function g(θ) when the ratio t²=[ g(q) ]^-2Var[ T(X ) ]{\tau^{2}=[ {g(\theta )} ]^{-2}{\rm Var}[ {T(\boldsymbol{X} )} ]} is independent of θ. Using these results the minimum mean square error estimator in a certain class for both population mean and variance can be obtained. When T (X) is complete and minimal sufficient, the ratio τ² is called “WIJLA” ratio, and a uniformly minimum mean square error estimator can be derived for the population mean and variance. Finally by applying these results, the improved estimators for the population mean and variance of some distributions are obtained.     

A comparison of estimation methods in non-stationary ARFIMA processes

This paper reports an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study based on six estimators for the long memory fractional parameter when the time series is non-stationary, i.e., ARFIMA(p, d, q) process for d?>?0.5. Parametric and semiparametric methods are compared. In addition, the effect of the parameter estimation is investigated for small and large sample sizes and non-Gaussian error innovations. The methodology is applied to a well known data set, the so-called UK short interest rates.     

Optimal estimators for the importance sampling method

The Monte Carlo method gives some estimators to evaluate the expectation [ILM0001] based on samples from either the true density f or from some instrumental density. In this paper, we show that the Riemann estimators introduced by Philippe (1997) can be improved by using the importance sampling method. This approach produces a class of Monte Carlo estimators such that the variance is of order O(n ^?2). The choice of an optimal estimator among this class is discussed. Some simulations illustrate the improvement brought by this method. Moreover, we give a criterion to assess the convergence of our optimal estimator to the integral of interest.     

Cluster analysis of massive datasets in astronomy

Clusters of galaxies are a useful proxy to trace the distribution of mass in the universe. By measuring the mass of clusters of galaxies on different scales, one can follow the evolution of the mass distribution (Martínez and Saar, Statistics of the Galaxy Distribution, 2002). It can be shown that finding galaxy clusters is equivalent to finding density contour clusters (Hartigan, Clustering Algorithms, 1975): connected components of the level set S _c ≡{f>c} where f is a probability density function. Cuevas et al. (Can. J. Stat. 28, 367–382, 2000; Comput. Stat. Data Anal. 36, 441–459, 2001) proposed a nonparametric method for density contour clusters, attempting to find density contour clusters by the minimal spanning tree. While their algorithm is conceptually simple, it requires intensive computations for large datasets. We propose a more efficient clustering method based on their algorithm with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The method is applied to a study of galaxy clustering on large astronomical sky survey data.