DISTRIBUTIONS IN R WITH ROTATIONAL SYMMETRIES1

Let X ∈ R be a random vector with a distribution which is invariant under rotations within the subspaces V_j (dim V_j. = q_j) whose direct sum is R. The large sample distributions of the eigenvalues and vectors of M_n= n^-1Σⁿ_l x_ix_i are studied. In particular it is shown that several eigenvalue results of Anderson & Stephens (1972) for uniformly distributed unit vectors hold more generally.     

A new family of generalized distributions

Kumaraswamy [Generalized probability density-function for double-bounded random-processes, J. Hydrol. 462 (1980), pp. 79–88] introduced a distribution for double-bounded random processes with hydrological applications. For the first time, based on this distribution, we describe a new family of generalized distributions (denoted with the prefix ‘Kw’) to extend the normal, Weibull, gamma, Gumbel, inverse Gaussian distributions, among several well-known distributions. Some special distributions in the new family such as the Kw-normal, Kw-Weibull, Kw-gamma, Kw-Gumbel and Kw-inverse Gaussian distribution are discussed. We express the ordinary moments of any Kw generalized distribution as linear functions of probability weighted moments (PWMs) of the parent distribution. We also obtain the ordinary moments of order statistics as functions of PWMs of the baseline distribution. We use the method of maximum likelihood to fit the distributions in the new class and illustrate the potentiality of the new model with an application to real data.     

A General Class of Distributions: Properties and Applications

ABSTRACT

In this article, we derive a general class of distributions and establish its relationship to χ² distribution. The proposed class includes normal, inverse Gaussian, lognormal, gamma, Rayleigh, and Maxwell distributions. Various statistical properties of the class are discussed. Some applications of the class are given.     

On A method for selecting a distributional model

A method for selecting a distributional model for a random variable, given a random sample of observations of it, is studied for various cases. The problems considered include those of choosing between the Weibull and lognormal distributions, between the lognormal and gamma distributions, and between the gamma and Weibull distributions, as well as choosing one of the three. Simulation studies were performed to estimate probabilities of correct selection for the method when it is applied to these problems     

The Effect of Mis-Specification Between the Lognormal and Weibull Distributions on the Interval Estimation of a Quantile for Complete Data

The lognormal and Weibull distributions are the most popular distributions for modeling lifetime data. In practical applications, they usually fit the data at hand well. However, their predictions may lead to large differences. The main purpose of the present article is to investigate the impacts of mis-specification between the lognormal and Weibull distributions on the interval estimation of a pth quantile of the distributions for complete data. The coverage probabilities of the confidence intervals (CIs) with mis-specification are evaluated. The results indicate that for both the lognormal and the Weibull distributions, the coverage probabilities are significantly influenced by mis-specification, especially for a small or a large p on lower or upper tail of the distributions. In addition, based on the coverage probabilities with correct and mis-specification, a maxmin criterion is proposed to make a choice between these two distributions. The numerical results indicate that for p ≤ 0.05 and 0.6 ≤ p ≤ 0.8, Weibull distribution is suggested to evaluate CIs of a pth quantile of the distributions, while, for 0.2 ≤ p ≤ 0.5 and p = 0.99, lognormal distribution is suggested to evaluate CIs of a pth quantile of the distributions. Besides, for p = 0.9 and 0.95, lognormal distribution is suggested if the sample size is large enough, while, for p = 0.1, Weibull distribution is suggested if the sample size is large enough. Finally, a simulation study is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed method.     

A Marshall–Olkin family of heavy-tailed distributions which includes the lognormal one

Abstract

A new class of heavy-tailed distribution functions,, containing the lognormal distribution as a particular case is introduced. The class thus obtained depends on a set of three parameters, incorporating an additional distribution to the classical lognormal one. This new class of heavy-tailed distribution is presented as an alternative to other useful heavy-tailed distributions, such as the lognormal, Weibull, and Pareto distributions. The density and distribution functions of this new class are given by a closed expression which allows us to easily compute probabilities, quantiles, moments, and related measurements. Finally, some applications are shown as examples.     

The n.s. conditions for the ration of two quadratic forms to have an f-distribution and its applications

Suppose that ξ and η be two random vectors and that (ξ^τ, η^τ have an elliptically contoured distribution or a multivariate normal distribution. In this article, we obtain some necessary and sufficient (N.S.) conditions such that the ratio of two quadratic forms, say ξ^τ Aξ and η^τ Bη(for some symmetric nonnegative matrices A and B), has an F-distribution. As applications, we extend the classical F-test to some dependent two group samples. Two cases are considered: elliptically contoured and normal distributions.     

On bivariate transformation of scale distributions

ABSTRACT

Elsewhere, I have promoted (univariate continuous) “transformation of scale” (ToS) distributions having densities of the form 2g(Π^?1(x)) where g is a symmetric distribution and Π is a transformation function with a special property. Here, I develop bivariate (readily multivariate) ToS distributions. Univariate ToS distributions have a transformation of random variable relationship with Azzalini-type skew-symmetric distributions; the bivariate ToS distribution here arises from marginal variable transformation of a particular form of bivariate skew-symmetric distribution. Examples are given, as are basic properties—unimodality, a covariance property, random variate generation—and connections with a bivariate inverse Gaussian distribution are pointed out.     

Analysis of over-dispersed count data with extra zeros using the Poisson log-skew-normal distribution

ABSTRACT

Mixed Poisson distributions are widely used in various applications of count data mainly when extra variation is present. This paper introduces an extension in terms of a mixed strategy to jointly deal with extra-Poisson variation and zero-inflated counts. In particular, we propose the Poisson log-skew-normal distribution which utilizes the log-skew-normal as a mixing prior and present its main properties. This is directly done through additional hierarchy level to the lognormal prior and includes the Poisson lognormal distribution as its special case. Two numerical methods are developed for the evaluation of associated likelihoods based on the Gauss–Hermite quadrature and the Lambert's W function. By conducting simulation studies, we show that the proposed distribution performs better than several commonly used distributions that allow for over-dispersion or zero inflation. The usefulness of the proposed distribution in empirical work is highlighted by the analysis of a real data set taken from health economics contexts.     

Robust Estimators for the Parameters of Multivariate Lognormal Distribution

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a class of location and scale estimators for the p-variate lognormal distribution. These estimators are obtained by applying a log transform to the data, computing robust Fisher consistent estimators for the obtained Gaussian data and transforming those estimators for the lognormal using the relationship between the parameters of both distributions. We prove some of the properties of these estimators, such as Fisher consistency, robustness and asymptotic normality.     

Property of bivariate poisson distribution and its application to stochastic processes

Assuming that the random vectors X ₁ and X ₂ have independent bivariate Poisson distributions, the conditional distribution of X ₁ given X ₁?+?X ₂?=?n is obtained. The conditional distribution turns out to be a finite mixture of distributions involving univariate binomial distributions and the mixing proportions are based on a bivariate Poisson (BVP) distribution. The result is used to establish two properties of a bivariate Poisson stochastic process which are the bivariate extensions of the properties for a Poisson process given by Karlin, S. and Taylor, H. M. (1975). A First Course in Stochastic Processes, Academic Press, New York.     

On the distribution of hotelling's t2 and multiple correlation r2when sampling from a mixture of two normals

In this paper the non-null distribution of Hotelling's T² and the null distribution of multiple correlation R² are derived when the sample is taken from a mixture of two p-component multivariate normal distributions with mean vectors μ₁ and μ₂ respectively and common covariance matrix ∑, ∑. In a special case the non-null distribution of R² is a l s o given, while the general noncentral distribution is given i n Awan (1981). These results have been used to study the robustness of T² and R² tests by Srivastava and Awan (1982), and Awan and Srivastava (1982) respectively.     

Maximum likelihood inference for mixtures of skew Student-t-normal distributions through practical EM-type algorithms

This paper deals with the problem of maximum likelihood estimation for a mixture of skew Student-t-normal distributions, which is a novel model-based tool for clustering heterogeneous (multiple groups) data in the presence of skewed and heavy-tailed outcomes. We present two analytically simple EM-type algorithms for iteratively computing the maximum likelihood estimates. The observed information matrix is derived for obtaining the asymptotic standard errors of parameter estimates. A small simulation study is conducted to demonstrate the superiority of the skew Student-t-normal distribution compared to the skew t distribution. The proposed methodology is particularly useful for analyzing multimodal asymmetric data as produced by major biotechnological platforms like flow cytometry. We provide such an application with the help of an illustrative example.     

Stochastic comparisons of order statistics,with applications in relibility

This paper reviews recent developments in the stochastic comparison of order statistics. The results discussed are basically: (l) Stochastic comparisons of linear combinations of order statistics from distributions F and G where G^?1 F is convex or starshaped. (2) Stochastic comparisons of individual order statistics and of vectors of order statistics from underlying heterogeneous distributions by the use of majorization and Schur function theory. (3) Stochastic comparison of random processes. Applications to reliability problems are presented illustrating the use and value of the theoretical results described     

Performance of confidence interval tests for the ratio of two lognormal means applied to Weibull and gamma distribution data

Five estimation approaches have been developed to compute the confidence interval (CI) for the ratio of two lognormal means: (1) T, the CI based on the t-test procedure; (2) ML, a traditional maximum likelihood-based approach; (3) BT, a bootstrap approach; (4) R, the signed log-likelihood ratio statistic; and (5) R*, the modified signed log-likelihood ratio statistic. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of these five approaches when applied to distributions other than lognormal distribution, for which they were derived. Performance was assessed in terms of average length and coverage probability of the CIs for each estimation approaches (i.e., T, ML, BT, R, and R*) when data followed a Weibull or gamma distribution. Four models were discussed in this study. In Model 1, the sample sizes and variances were equal within the two groups. In Model 2, the sample sizes were equal but variances were different within the two groups. In Model 3, the variances were different within the two groups and the larger variance was paired with the larger sample size. In Model 4, the variances were different within the two groups and the larger variance was paired with the smaller sample size. The results showed that when the variances of the two groups were equal, the t-test performed well, no matter what the underlying distribution was and how large the variances of the two groups were. The BT approach performed better than the others when the underlying distribution was not lognormal distribution, although it was inaccurate when the variances were large. The R* test did not perform well when the underlying distribution was Weibull or gamma distributed data, but it performed best when the data followed a lognormal distribution.     

THE LOG-EIG DISTRIBUTION: A NEW PROBABILITY MODEL FOR LIFETIME DATA

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we propose a new probability model called the log-EIG distribution for lifetime data analysis. Some important properties of the proposed model and maximum likelihood estimation of its parameters are discussed. Its relationship with the exponential inverse Gaussian distribution is similar to that of the lognormal and the normal distributions. Through applications to well-known datasets, we show that the log-EIG distribution competes well, and in some instances even provides a better fit than the commonly used lifetime models such as the gamma, lognormal, Weibull and inverse Gaussian distributions. It can accommodate situations where an increasing failure rate model is required as well as those with a decreasing failure rate at larger times.     

Approximations to noncentral distributions

Two methods for approximating the distribution of a noncentral random variable by a central distribution in the same family are presented. The first consists of relating a stochastic expansion of a random variable to a corresponding asymptotic expansion for its distribution function. The second approximates the cumulant generating function and is used to provide central χ² and gamma approximations to the noncentral χ² and gamma distributions.     

Concomitants of order statistics from multivariate elliptical distributions

In this paper, by considering a 2n-dimensional elliptically contoured random vector (X^T,Y^T)^T=(X₁,…,X_n,Y₁,…,Y_n)^T, we derive the exact joint distribution of linear combinations of concomitants of order statistics arising from X. Specifically, we establish a mixture representation for the distribution of the rth concomitant order statistic, and also for the joint distribution of the rth order statistic and its concomitant. We show that these distributions are indeed mixtures of multivariate unified skew-elliptical distributions. The two most important special cases of multivariate normal and multivariate t distributions are then discussed in detail. Finally, an application of the established results in an inferential problem is outlined.     

EMPIRICAL BAYES ESTIMATION WITH NON-IDENTICAL COMPONENTS. CONTINUOUS CASE.

In this paper a variant of the standard empirical Bayes estimation problem is considered where the component problems in the sequence are not identical in that the conditional distribution of the observations may vary with the component problems. Let {(Θ_n, X_n)} be a sequence of independent random vectors where Θ_n? G and, given Θ_n=Θ_n, X_n -P_Θ,m(n) with {m(n)} a sequence of positive integers where m(n)≤m? < ∞ for all n. With P_Θ,m in a continuous exponential family of distributions, asymptotically optimal empirical Bayes procedures are exhibited which depend on uniform approximations of certain functions on compact sets by polynomials in e^Θ. Such approximations have been explicitly calculated in the case of normal and gamma families. In the case of normal families, asymptotically optimal linear empirical Bayes estimators in the class of all linear estimators are derived and shown to have rate O(n^-1/2).