Penalized regression with model‐based penalties

Nonparametric regression techniques such as spline smoothing and local fitting depend implicitly on a parametric model. For instance, the cubic smoothing spline estimate of a regression function ∫ μ based on observations ti, Yi is the minimizer of Σ{Yi ‐ μ(ti)}² + λ∫(μ′′)². Since ∫(μ″)² is zero when μ is a line, the cubic smoothing spline estimate favors the parametric model μ(t) = α_o + α₁t. Here the authors consider replacing ∫(μ″)² with the more general expression ∫(Lμ)² where L is a linear differential operator with possibly nonconstant coefficients. The resulting estimate of μ performs well, particularly if Lμ is small. They present an O(n) algorithm for the computation of μ. This algorithm is applicable to a wide class of L's. They also suggest a method for the estimation of L. They study their estimates via simulation and apply them to several data sets.     

Measuring the Discrepancy of a Parametric Model via Local Polynomial Smoothing

Abstract. In the context of multivariate mean regression, we propose a new method to measure and estimate the inadequacy of a given parametric model. The measure is basically the missed fraction of variation after adjusting the best possible parametric model from a given family. The proposed approach is based on the minimum L ² ‐distance between the true but unknown regression curve and a given model. The estimation method is based on local polynomial averaging of residuals with a polynomial degree that increases with the dimension d of the covariate. For any d ≥ 1 and under some weak assumptions we give a Bahadur‐type representation of the estimator from which ‐consistency and asymptotic normality are derived for strongly mixing variables. We report the outcomes of a simulation study that aims at checking the finite sample properties of these techniques. We present the analysis of a dataset on ultrasonic calibration for illustration.     

Lp solutions of anticipated BSDEs with weak monotonicity and general growth generators

In this article, we establish the stability theorems of L^p(1 < p ? 2) solutions for multidimensional anticipated backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs), in which the generator g is p-order weak monotonic in y and Lipschitz continuous in (z, η, ?). Moreover, we present the existence and uniqueness of L^p solutions for this kind of anticipated BSDEs with the help of stability theorems when generator g also satisfies general growth condition in y.     

On Two Types of Breakdown Points of Weighted L 2-median

Zuo (2004) investigated the simplified replacement finite sample breakdown point of weighted L ^p -depth and L ^p -median for some appropriate weight functions. The addition breakdown point of weighted L ^p -depth functions is studied firstly in this article. In addition, for some other weight functions different from those in Zuo (2004 Zuo , Y. ( 2004 ). Robustness of weighted L ^p -depth and L ^p -median . Allgemeines Statistics Archiv. 88 : 215 – 234 . [Google Scholar]), we establish the lower bounds of these two types of breakdown point of weighted L ²-median.     

Wavelet density estimation for negatively associated stratified size-biased sample

This paper provides upper bounds of wavelet estimations on L^p (1≤p<∞) risk for a density function in Besov spaces based on negatively associated stratified size-biased random samples. It turns out that the classical theorem of Donoho, Johnstone, Kerkyacharian and Picard is completely extended to more general cases. More precisely, we consider the model with multiplication noise and allow the sample negatively associated. Our theory is illustrated with a simulation study.     

Finite Sample Comparison of Parametric,Semiparametric, and Wavelet Estimators of Fractional Integration

ABSTRACT

In this paper we compare through Monte Carlo simulations the finite sample properties of estimators of the fractional differencing parameter, d. This involves frequency domain, time domain, and wavelet based approaches, and we consider both parametric and semiparametric estimation methods. The estimators are briefly introduced and compared, and the criteria adopted for measuring finite sample performance are bias and root mean squared error. Most importantly, the simulations reveal that (1) the frequency domain maximum likelihood procedure is superior to the time domain parametric methods, (2) all the estimators are fairly robust to conditionally heteroscedastic errors, (3) the local polynomial Whittle and bias-reduced log-periodogram regression estimators are shown to be more robust to short-run dynamics than other semiparametric (frequency domain and wavelet) estimators and in some cases even outperform the time domain parametric methods, and (4) without sufficient trimming of scales the wavelet-based estimators are heavily biased.     

Lp convergence and complete convergence for weighted sums of AANA random variables

Let {X_n, n ? 1} be a sequence of asymptotically almost negatively associated (AANA, for short) random variables which is stochastically dominated by a random variable X, and {d_ni, 1 ? i ? n, n ? 1} be a sequence of real function, which is defined on a compact set E. Under some suitable conditions, we investigate some convergence properties for weighted sums of AANA random variables, especially the L^p convergence and the complete convergence. As an application, the Marcinkiewicz–Zygmund-type strong law of large numbers for AANA random variables is obtained.     

Wavelet regression estimations with strong mixing data

Using a wavelet basis, we establish in this paper upper bounds of wavelet estimation on \( L^{p}({\mathbb {R}}^{d}) \) risk of regression functions with strong mixing data for \( 1\le p<\infty \). In contrast to the independent case, these upper bounds have different analytic formulae for \(p\in [1, 2]\) and \(p\in (2, +\infty )\). For \(p=2\), it turns out that our result reduces to a theorem of Chaubey et al. (J Nonparametr Stat 25:53–71, 2013); and for \(d=1\) and \(p=2\), it becomes the corresponding theorem of Chaubey and Shirazi (Commun Stat Theory Methods 44:885–899, 2015).     

On minimum Lp-distance estimation for inhomogeneous Poisson processes

ABSTRACT

We consider the problem of parameter estimation by the observations of the inhomogeneous Poisson processes. We suppose that the intensity function of these processes is a smooth function of the unknown parameter and as a method of estimation we take the minimum distance approach. We are interested by the behavior of estimators in non Hilbertian situation and we define the minimum distance estimation (MDE) with the help of the L^p metrics. We show that (under regularity conditions) the MDE is consistent and we describe its limit distribution.     

Improved minimax estimation of a normal precision matrix

Let S_{p × p} have a Wishart distribution with parameter matrix Σ and n degrees of freedom. We consider here the problem of estimating the precision matrix Σ^?1 under the loss functions L₁(σ) tr (σ) - log |σ| and L₂(σ) = tr (σ). James-Stein-type estimators have been derived for an arbitrary p. We also obtain an orthogonal invariant and a diagonal invariant minimax estimator under both loss functions. A Monte-Carlo simulation study indicates that the risk improvement of the orthogonal invariant estimators over the James-Stein type estimators, the Haff (1979) estimator, and the “testimator” given by Sinha and Ghosh (1987) is substantial.     

Algorithms for the construction of optimizing distributions

We will consider the following problem.Maximise Φ(p)over P={p=(p₁,P₂,…,p_j):P_j≧0,∑p_j=1}". We require to calcute an optimizing distribution. Examples arise in optimal regression design,maximum likelihood estimation and stratified sazmpling problems. A class of multiplicative algorithms, indexed by functions which depend on the derivatives of Φ(·)is considered for solving this problem.Iterations are of the form:p_j ^(r+1)αp_j ^(r)f(x_j ^(r)), where x_{j (r)}=d_j ^(r) or F_j ^(r)and d_j ^(r)=?Φ/?p_j While F_j ^(r)=D_j ^(r)?∑p_i ^(r)d_i ^(r) (a directional derivative)at p=p^(r)f(·)satisfies some suitable properties and may depend on one or more free parameters. These iterations neatly submit to the constraints ofv the problem. Some results will be reported and extensions to problems dependin on two or more distributions and to problems with additional constraints will be considered.     

Deviation of order p for estimators of the variance in first-order stochastic differential equation (SDE)

In this work, we consider a non-parametric estimator of the variance in one-dimensional diffusion models or, more generally, in Itô processes with a deterministic diffusion term and a general non-anticipative drift. The estimation is based on the quadratic variation of discrete time observations over a finite interval. In particular, a central limit theorem (CLT) is proved for the deviation in L ^p norm (p≥; 1) between the variance and this estimator. The method of the proof consists in writing the L ^p norm of the deviation, when the drift term is equal to zero, as a sum of 4-dependent random variables. The moments are then computed by means of a Gaussian approximation and a CLT for m-dependent random variables is applied. The convergence is stable in law, this allows the result for processes with general drifts to be obtained, by using Girsanov's formula.     

Robustness of weighted L p–depth and L p–median

Summary: L ^p –norm weighted depth functions are introduced and the local and global robustness of these weighted L ^p –depth functions and their induced multivariate medians are investigated via influence function and finite sample breakdown point. To study the global robustness of depth functions, a notion of finite sample breakdown point is introduced. The weighted L ^p –depth functions turn out to have the same low breakdown point as some other popular depth functions. Their influence functions are also unbounded. On the other hand, the weighted L ^p –depth induced medians are globally robust with the highest possible breakdown point for any reasonable estimator. The weighted L ^p –medians are also locally robust with bounded influence functions for suitable weight functions. Unlike other existing depth functions and multivariate medians, the weighted L ^p depth and medians are easy to calculate in high dimensions. The price for this advantage is the lack of affine invariance and equivariance of the weighted L ^p depth and medians, respectively.*The author thanks the referees for their very insightful and constructive comments and suggestions which led to corrections and substantial improvements. Supported in part by NSF Grants DMS-0071976 and DMS-0134628.     

On the weak convergence of kernel density estimators in Lp spaces

Since its introduction, the pointwise asymptotic properties of the kernel estimator f?_n of a probability density function f on ?^d, as well as the asymptotic behaviour of its integrated errors, have been studied in great detail. Its weak convergence in functional spaces, however, is a more difficult problem. In this paper, we show that if f_n(x)=(f?_n(x)) and (r_n) is any nonrandom sequence of positive real numbers such that r_n/√n→0 then if r_n(f?_n?f_n) converges to a Borel measurable weak limit in a weighted L^p space on ?^d, with 1≤p<∞, the limit must be 0. We also provide simple conditions for proving or disproving the existence of this Borel measurable weak limit.     

Orientation relationship in finite dimensional space

In the present article, we discuss the regression of a point on the surface of a unit sphere in d dimensions given a point on the surface of a unit sphere in p dimensions, where p may not be equal to d. Point projection is added to the rotation and linear transformation for regression link function. The identifiability of the model is proved. Then, parameter estimation in this set up is discussed. Simulation studies and data analyses are done to illustrate the model.     

A Markov-chain-based regression model with random effects for the analysis of 18O-labelled mass spectra

The enzymatic ¹⁸O-labelling is a useful technique for reducing the influence of the between-spectra variability on the results of mass-spectrometry experiments. A difficulty in applying the technique lies in the quantification of the corresponding peptides due to the possibility of an incomplete labelling, which may result in biased estimates of the relative peptide abundance. To address the problem, Zhu et al. [A Markov-chain-based heteroscedastic regression model for the analysis of high-resolution enzymatically ¹⁸O-labeled mass spectra, J. Proteome Res. 9(5) (2010), pp. 2669–2677] proposed a Markov-chain-based regression model with heteroscedastic residual variance, which corrects for the possible bias. In this paper, we extend the model by allowing for the estimation of the technical and/or biological variability for the mass spectra data. To this aim, we use a mixed-effects version of the model. The performance of the model is evaluated based on results of an application to real-life mass spectra data and a simulation study.     

Change-Point Detection With Non-Parametric Regression

We consider the regression model y_i = ?(x_i ) + ε in which the function ? or its pth derivative ?^(p) may have a discontinuity at some unknown point τ. By fitting local polynomials from the left and right, we test the null that ?^(p) is continuous against the alternative that ?^(p)(τ?) ≠ ?^(p)(τ+). We obtain Darling-Erdös type limit theorems for the test statistics under the null hypothesis of no change, as well as their limits in probability under the alternative. Consistency of the related change-point estimators is also established.     

Robust estimation and wavelet thresholding in partially linear models

This paper is concerned with a semiparametric partially linear regression model with unknown regression coefficients, an unknown nonparametric function for the non-linear component, and unobservable Gaussian distributed random errors. We present a wavelet thresholding based estimation procedure to estimate the components of the partial linear model by establishing a connection between an l ₁-penalty based wavelet estimator of the nonparametric component and Huber’s M-estimation of a standard linear model with outliers. Some general results on the large sample properties of the estimates of both the parametric and the nonparametric part of the model are established. Simulations are used to illustrate the general results and to compare the proposed methodology with other methods available in the recent literature.     

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.