Shared inverse Gaussian frailty models based on additive hazards

Frailty models are used in the survival analysis to account for the unobserved heterogeneity in individual risks to disease and death. To analyze the bivariate data on related survival times (e.g., matched pairs experiments, twin, or family data), the shared frailty models were suggested. These models are based on the assumption that frailty acts multiplicatively to hazard rate. In this article, we assume that frailty acts additively to hazard rate. We introduce the shared inverse Gaussian frailty models with three different baseline distributions, namely the generalized log-logistic, the generalized Weibull, and exponential power distribution. We introduce the Bayesian estimation procedure using Markov chain Monte Carlo technique to estimate the parameters involved in these models. We apply these models to a real-life bivariate survival dataset of McGilchrist and Aisbett (1991 McGilchrist, C.A., Aisbett, C.W. (1991). Regression with frailty in survival analysis. Biometrics 47:461–466.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) related to the kidney infection data, and a better model is suggested for the data.     

Frailty models power variance function with cure fraction and latent risk factors negative binomial

In this article, we propose a flexible cure rate model, which is an extension of Cancho et al. (2011 Cancho, V.G., Rodrigues, J., de Castro, M. (2011). A flexible model for survival data with a cure rate: A Bayesian approach. J. Appl. Stat. 38:57–70.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) model, by incorporating a power variance function (PVF) frailty term in latent risk. The model is more flexible in terms of dispersion and it also quantifies the unobservable heterogeneity. The parameter estimation is reached by maximum likelihood estimation procedure and Monte Carlo simulation studies are considered to evaluate the proposed model performance. The practical relevance of the model is illustrated in a real data set of preventing cancer recurrence.     

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.     

The Marshall–Olkin extended generalized Rayleigh distribution: Properties and applications

In this paper, a new extension for the generalized Rayleigh distribution is introduced. The proposed model, called Marshall–Olkin extended generalized Rayleigh distribution, arises based on the scheme introduced by Marshall and Olkin (1997) Marshall, A.W., Olkin, I. (1997). A new method for adding a parameter to a family of distributions with application to the exponential and Weibull families. Biometrika 84:641–652.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. A comprehensive account of the mathematical properties of the new distribution is provided. We discuss about the estimation of the model parameters based on two estimation methods. Empirical applications of the new model to real data are presented for illustrative purposes.     

Discrete Beta-Exponential Distribution

Consider the estimation of the regression parameters in the usual linear model. For design densities with infinite support, it has been shown by Faraldo Roca and González Manteiga [1] Faraldo Roca, P. and González Manteiga, W. 1987. “Efficiency of a new class of linear regression estimates obtained by preliminary nonparametric estimation”. In New Perspectives in Theoretical and Applied Statistics Edited by: Puri, M. L., Vilaplana, J. P. and Wertz, W. 229–242. New York: John Wiley.  [Google Scholar] that it is possible to modify the classical least squares procedure and to obtain estimators for the regression parameters whose MSE's (mean squared errors) are smaller than those of the usual least squares estimators. The modification consists of presmoothing the response variables by a kernel estimator of the regression function. These authors also show that the gain in efficiency is not possible for a design density with compact support. We show that in this case local linear presmoothing does not fix this inefficiency problem, in spite of the well known fact that local linear fitting automatically corrects the bias in the endpoints of the (design density) support. We demonstrate on a theoretical basis how this inefficiency problem can be rectified in the compact design case: we prove that presmoothing with boundary kernels studied in Müller [2] Müller, H.-G. 1991. Smooth optimum kernel estimators near endpoints. Biometrika, 78: 521–530. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and Müller and Wang [3] Müller, H.-G. and Wang, J.-L. 1994. Hazard rate estimation under random censoring with varying kernels and bandwidths. Biometrics, 50: 61–76. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] leads to regression estimators which are superior over the least squares estimators. A very careful analytic treatment is needed to arrive at these asymptotic results.     

Comparison of Frailty Models for Acute Leukemia Data under Gompertz Baseline Distribution

In this article, we consider two different shared frailty regression models under the assumption of Gompertz as baseline distribution. Mostly assumption of gamma distribution is considered for frailty distribution. To compare the results with gamma frailty model, we consider the inverse Gaussian shared frailty model also. We compare these two models to a real life bivariate survival data set of acute leukemia remission times (Freireich et al., 1963 Freireich, E.J., Gehan, E., Frei, E., Schroeder, L.R., Wolman, I.J., Anbari, R., Burgert, E.O., Mills, S.D., Pinkel, D., Selawry, O.S., Moon, J.H., Gendel, B.R., Spurr, C.L., Storrs, R., Haurani, F., Hoogstraten, B., Lee, S. (1963). The effect of 6-mercaptopurine on the duration of steroid-induced remissions in acute leukemia: a model for evaluation of other potentially useful therapy. Blood 21:699–716.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Analysis is performed using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. Model comparison is made using Bayesian model selection criterion and a well-fitted model is suggested for the acute leukemia data.     

General mathematical properties,regression and applications of the log-gamma-generated family

The construction of some wider families of continuous distributions obtained recently has attracted applied statisticians due to the analytical facilities available for easy computation of special functions in programming software. We study some general mathematical properties of the log-gamma-generated (LGG) family defined by Amini, MirMostafaee, and Ahmadi (2014 Amini, M., S. M. T. K. MirMostafaee, and J. Ahmadi. 2014. Log-gamma-generated families of distributions. Statistics 48:913–32.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). It generalizes the gamma-generated class pioneered by Risti? and Balakrishnan (2012 Risti?, M. M., and N. Balakrishnan. 2012. The gamma exponentiated exponential distribution. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation 82:1191–206.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We present some of its special models and derive explicit expressions for the ordinary and incomplete moments, generating and quantile functions, mean deviations, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, Shannon entropy, Rényi entropy, reliability, and order statistics. Models in this family are compared with nested and non nested models. Further, we propose and study a new LGG family regression model. We demonstrate that the new regression model can be applied to censored data since it represents a parametric family of models and therefore can be used more effectively in the analysis of survival data. We prove that the proposed models can provide consistently better fits in some applications to real data sets.     

A new lifetime model with different types of failure rate

A new class of lifetime distributions, which can exhibit with upside-down bathtub-shaped, bathtub-shaped, decreasing, and increasing failure rates, is introduced. The new distribution is constructed by compounding generalized Weibull and logarithmic distributions, leading to improvement on the lifetime distribution considered in Dimitrakopoulou et al. (2007 Dimitrakopoulou, T., K. Adamidis, and S. Loukas. 2007. A lifetime distribution with an upside-down bathtub-shaped hazard function. IEEE Transactions on Reliability 56:308–11.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by having no restriction on the shape parameter and extending the result studied by Tahmasbi and Rezaei (2008 Tahmasbi, R., and S. Rezaei. 2008. A two-parameter lifetime distribution with decreasing failure rate. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis 52:3889–901.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in the general form. The proposed model includes the exponential–logarithmic and Weibull–logarithmic distributions as special cases. Various statistical properties of the proposed class are discussed. Furthermore, estimation via the maximum likelihood method and the Fisher information matrix are discussed. Applications to real data demonstrate that the new class of distributions is more flexible than other recently proposed classes.     

Bayesian Estimation for Linear Functions of Poisson Rates

The probability matching prior for linear functions of Poisson parameters is derived. A comparison is made between the confidence intervals obtained by Stamey and Hamilton (2006 Stamey, J., Hamilton, C. (2006). A note on confidence intervals for a linear function of Poisson rates. Commun. Statist. Simul. &; Computat. 35(4):849–856.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and the intervals derived by us when using the Jeffreys’ and probability matching priors. The intervals obtained from the Jeffreys’ prior are in some cases fiducial intervals (Krishnamoorthy and Lee, 2010 Krishnamoorthy, K., Lee, M. (2010). Inference for functions of parameters in discrete distributions based on fiducial approach: Binomial and Poisson cases. J. Statist. Plann. Infere. 140(5):1182–1192.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A weighted Monte Carlo method is used for the probability matching prior. The power and size of the test, using Bayesian methods, is compared to tests used by Krishnamoorthy and Thomson (2004 Krishnamoorthy, K., Thomson, J. (2004). A more powerful test for comparing two Poisson means. J. Statist. Plann. Infere. 119(1):23–35.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The Jeffreys’, probability matching and two other priors are used.     

An adept-stratified Kuk's randomized response model using Neyman allocation

This paper suggests a new stratified randomized response model based on Kuk's [Biometrika (1990), 77, 2, pp.436–438] model that has Neyman allocation and considerable gain in precision. It has been identified that the stratified randomized response models due to Kim and Warde (2004 Kim, J., Warde, W. (2004). A stratified Warner randomized response model. J. Stat. Plan. Inference 120:155–165.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Kim and Elam's (2005), and Kim and Elam's (2007) are members of the proposed model. It is shown that the proposed model is more efficient than Kuk's (1990) model both theoretically and empirically. The results of this paper are also extended in the situation when trials are repeated.     

On generalized exponential chain ratio estimators under stratified two-phase random sampling

Sanaullah et al. (2014 Sanaullah, A., Ali, H.M., Noor ul Amin, M., Hanif, M. (2014). Generalized exponential chain ratio estimators under stratified two-phase random sampling. Appl. Math. Comput. 226:541–547.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) have suggested generalized exponential chain ratio estimators under stratified two-phase sampling scheme for estimating the finite population mean. However, the bias and mean square error (MSE) expressions presented in that work need some corrections, and consequently the study based on efficiency comparison also requires corrections. In this article, we revisit Sanaullah et al. (2014 Sanaullah, A., Ali, H.M., Noor ul Amin, M., Hanif, M. (2014). Generalized exponential chain ratio estimators under stratified two-phase random sampling. Appl. Math. Comput. 226:541–547.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator and provide the correct bias and MSE expressions of their estimator. We also propose an estimator which is more efficient than several competing estimators including the classes of estimators in Sanaullah et al. (2014 Sanaullah, A., Ali, H.M., Noor ul Amin, M., Hanif, M. (2014). Generalized exponential chain ratio estimators under stratified two-phase random sampling. Appl. Math. Comput. 226:541–547.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Three real datasets are used for efficiency comparisons.     

Bimodal symmetric-asymmetric power-normal families

This article proposes new symmetric and asymmetric distributions applying methods analogous as the ones in Kim (2005 Kim, H.J. (2005). On a class of two-piece skew-normal distributions. Statist.: J. Theoret. Appl. Statist. 39:537–553.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Arnold et al. (2009 Arnold, B.C., H.W. Gómez, and H.S. Salinas. (2009). On multiple constraint skewed models. Statist. J. Theoret. Appl. Statist. 43: 279–293.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to the exponentiated normal distribution studied in Durrans (1992 Durrans, S.R. (1992). Distributions of fractional order statistics in hydrology. Water Resour. Res. 28:1649–1655.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), that we call the power-normal (PN) distribution. The proposed bimodal extension, the main focus of the paper, is called the bimodal power-normal model and is denoted by BPN(α) model, where α is the asymmetry parameter. The authors give some properties including moments and maximum likelihood estimation. Two important features of the model proposed is that its normalizing constant has closed and simple form and that the Fisher information matrix is nonsingular, guaranteeing large sample properties of the maximum likelihood estimators. Finally, simulation studies and real applications reveal that the proposed model can perform well in both situations.     

Analysis of Order Statistics from Distributions with Regularly Varying Tails

In this article, necessary conditions for comparing order statistics from distributions with regularly varying tails are discussed in terms of various stochastic orders. A necessary and sufficient condition for stochastically comparing tail behaviors of order statistics is derived. The main results generalize and recover some results in Kleiber (2002 Kleiber, C. (2002). Variability ordering of heavy-tailed distributions with applications to order statistics. Statist. Probab. Lett. 58:381388.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2004 Kleiber, C. (2004). Lorenz ordering of order statistics from log-logistic and related distributions. J. Statist. Plann. Infer. 120:2004.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Extensions to coherent systems are mentioned as well.     

Buffered Autoregressive Models With Conditional Heteroscedasticity: An Application to Exchange Rates

This article introduces a new model called the buffered autoregressive model with generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (BAR-GARCH). The proposed model, as an extension of the BAR model in Li et al. (2015 Li, G.D., Guan, B., Li, W.K., and Yu, P. L.H. (2015), “Hysteretic Autoregressive Time Series Models,” Biometrika, 102, 717–723.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), can capture the buffering phenomena of time series in both the conditional mean and variance. Thus, it provides us a new way to study the nonlinearity of time series. Compared with the existing AR-GARCH and threshold AR-GARCH models, an application to several exchange rates highlights the importance of the BAR-GARCH model.     

Improved Exponential Type Estimators of the Mean of a Sensitive Variable in the Presence of Nonsensitive Auxiliary Information

Recently, Koyuncu et al. (2013 Koyuncu, N., Gupta, S., Sousa, R. (2014). Exponential type estimators of the mean of a sensitive variable in the presence of non-sensitive auxiliary information. Communications in Statistics- Simulation and Computation[PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) proposed an exponential type estimator to improve the efficiency of mean estimator based on randomized response technique. In this article, we propose an improved exponential type estimator which is more efficient than the Koyuncu et al. (2013 Koyuncu, N., Gupta, S., Sousa, R. (2014). Exponential type estimators of the mean of a sensitive variable in the presence of non-sensitive auxiliary information. Communications in Statistics- Simulation and Computation[PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator, which in turn was shown to be more efficient than the usual mean estimator, ratio estimator, regression estimator, and the Gupta et al. (2012 Gupta, S., Shabbir, J., Sousa, R., Corte-Real, P. (2012). Regression estimation of the mean of a sensitive variable in the presence of auxiliary information. Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods 41:2394–2404.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator. Under simple random sampling without replacement (SRSWOR) scheme, bias and mean square error expressions for the proposed estimator are obtained up to first order of approximation and comparisons are made with the Koyuncu et al. (2013 Koyuncu, N., Gupta, S., Sousa, R. (2014). Exponential type estimators of the mean of a sensitive variable in the presence of non-sensitive auxiliary information. Communications in Statistics- Simulation and Computation[PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator. A simulation study is used to observe the performances of these two estimators. Theoretical findings are also supported by a numerical example with real data. We also show how to, extend the proposed estimator to the case when more than one auxiliary variable is available.     

Almost everywhere convergence for sequences of pairwise NQD random variables

In this article, we are going to study the almost everywhere convergence for sequences of pairwise negatively quadrant dependent random variables by using truncation technique and Kolmogorov-type generalized three-series theorem. Our results generalize and improve the corresponding results of Wu (2002 Wu, Q. Y. (2002). Convergence properties of pairwise NQD random sequence. Acta. Math. Sin. 45:617–624 (in Chinese). [Google Scholar]) and Li and Yang (2008 Li, R., Yang, W. G. (2008). Strong convergence of pairwise NQD random sequences. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 334:741–747.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We also give some examples showing that our extensions are not trivial.     

On a stochastic process with a heavy-tailed distributed component describing inventory model type of (s,S)

In the present study, the stochastic process X(t) describing inventory model type of (s, S) with a heavy-tailed distributed demands is considered. The asymptotic expansions at sufficiently large values of parameter β = S ? s for the ergodic distribution and nth-order moment of the process X(t) based on the main results of the studies Teugels (1968 Teugels, J.L. (1968). Renewal theorems when the first or the second moment is infinite. Ann. Math. Stat. 39(4):1210–1219.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Geluk and Frenk (2011 Geluk, J.L., Frenk, J.B.G. (2011). Renewal theory for random variables with a heavy tailed distribution and finite variance. Stat. Probab. Lett. 81:77–82.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) are obtained.     

Multivariate Bayesian U-type asymmetric designs for non parametric response surface prediction under correlated errors

The objective of this paper is to study U-type designs for Bayesian non parametric response surface prediction under correlated errors. The asymptotic Bayes criterion is developed in terms of the asymptotic approach of Mitchell et al. (1994 Mitchell, T., Sacks, J., Ylvisaker, D. (1994). Asymptotic Bayes criteria for nonparametric response surface design. Ann. Stat. 22:634–651.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for a more general covariance kernel proposed by Chatterjee and Qin (2011 Chatterjee, K., Qin, H. (2011). Generalized discrete discrepancy and its applications in experimental designs. J. Stat. Plann. Inference 141:951–960.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A relationship between the asymptotic Bayes criterion and other criteria, such as orthogonality and aberration, is then developed. A lower bound for the criterion is also obtained, and numerical results show that this lower bound is tight. The established results generalize those of Yue et al. (2011 Yue, R.X., Qin, H., Chatterjee, K. (2011). Optimal U-type design for Bayesian nonparametric multiresponse prediction. J. Stat. Plann. Inference 141:2472–2479.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) from symmetrical case to asymmetrical U-type designs.     

On the optimal allocation of active redundancies in series system

This paper studies the allocations of two non identical active redundancies in series systems in terms of the reversed hazard rate order and hazard rate order, which generalizes some results built in Valdés and Zequeira (2003 Valdés, J. E., and R. I. Zequeira 2003. On the optimal allocation of an active redundancy in a two-component series system. Stat. Probab. Lett. 63:325–32.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2006 Valdés, J. E., and R. I. Zequeira 2006. On the optimal allocation of two active redundancies in a two-component series system. Oper. Res. Lett. 34:49–52.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Characterization results based on dynamic Tsallis cumulative residual entropy

In this article, the concept of cumulative residual entropy (CRE) given by Rao et al. (2004 Rao, M., Chen, Y., Vemuri, B.C., Wang, F. (2004). Cumulative residual entropy: A new measure of information. IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 50:1220–1228.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is extended to Tsallis entropy function and dynamic version, both residual and past of it. We study some properties and characterization results for these generalized measures. In addition, we provide some characterization results of the first-order statistic based on the Tsallis survival entropy.