Assessing shape differences in populations of shapes using the complex watson shape distribution

This paper presents a novel Bayesian method based on the complex Watson shape distribution that is used in detecting shape differences between the second thoracic vertebrae for two groups of mice, small and large, categorized according to their body weight. Considering the data provided in Johnson et al. (1988), we provide Bayesian methods of estimation as well as highest posterior density (HPD) estimates for modal vertebrae shapes within each group. Finally, we present a classification procedure that can be used in any shape classification experiment, and apply it for categorizing new vertebrae shapes in small or large groups.     

Bayesian non-parametric modeling for integro-difference equations

Integro-difference equations (IDEs) provide a flexible framework for dynamic modeling of spatio-temporal data. The choice of kernel in an IDE model relates directly to the underlying physical process modeled, and it can affect model fit and predictive accuracy. We introduce Bayesian non-parametric methods to the IDE literature as a means to allow flexibility in modeling the kernel. We propose a mixture of normal distributions for the IDE kernel, built from a spatial Dirichlet process for the mixing distribution, which can model kernels with shapes that change with location. This allows the IDE model to capture non-stationarity with respect to location and to reflect a changing physical process across the domain. We address computational concerns for inference that leverage the use of Hermite polynomials as a basis for the representation of the process and the IDE kernel, and incorporate Hamiltonian Markov chain Monte Carlo steps in the posterior simulation method. An example with synthetic data demonstrates that the model can successfully capture location-dependent dynamics. Moreover, using a data set of ozone pressure, we show that the spatial Dirichlet process mixture model outperforms several alternative models for the IDE kernel, including the state of the art in the IDE literature, that is, a Gaussian kernel with location-dependent parameters.     

A Hybrid Genetic—GRASP Algorithm Using Lagrangean Relaxation for the Traveling Salesman Problem

Hybridization techniques are very effective for the solution of combinatorial optimization problems. This paper presents a genetic algorithm based on Expanding Neighborhood Search technique (Marinakis, Migdalas, and Pardalos, Computational Optimization and Applications, 2004) for the solution of the traveling salesman problem: The initial population of the algorithm is created not entirely at random but rather using a modified version of the Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure. Farther more a stopping criterion based on Lagrangean Relaxation is proposed. The combination of these different techniques produces high quality solutions. The proposed algorithm was tested on numerous benchmark problems from TSPLIB with very satisfactory results. Comparisons with the algorithms of the DIMACS Implementation Challenge are also presented.     

Characterization of the existence of semicontinuous weak utilities for binary relations

We characterize the existence of semicontinuous weak utilities in a general framework, where the axioms of transitivity and acyclicity are relaxed to that of consistency in the sense of Suzumura (Economica 43:381?C390, 1976). This kind of representations allow us to transfer the problem of the existence of the ${{\mathcal{G}}{\mathcal{O}}{\mathcal{C}}{\mathcal{H}}{\mathcal{A}}}$ set of a binary relation to the easier problem of getting maxima of a real function. Finally, we show that the maxima of these representations correspond to the different levels of satiation that each of individual has (an individual reaches his or her level of satiation when an increase of consuming an alternative product/service brings no increase in utility).