Waiting time to exhaust lottery numbers

Questions related to lotteries are usually of interest to the public since people think there is a magic formula which will help them to win lottery draws. This note shows how to compute the expected waiting time to observe specific numbers in a sequence of lottery draws and show that surprising facts are expected to occur.     

On the almost unbiased generalized liu estimator and unbiased estimation of the bias and mse

In this paper, we derive the almost unbiased generalized Liu estimator and examine an exact unbiased estimator of the bias and mean squared error of the feasible generalized Liu estimator . We compare the almost unbiased generalized Liu estimator (AUGLE) with the generalized Liu estimator (GLE) and with the ordinary least squares estimator (OLSE).     

Edgeworth Corrections for Realized Volatility

The quality of the asymptotic normality of realized volatility can be poor if sampling does not occur at very high frequencies. In this article we consider an alternative approximation to the finite sample distribution of realized volatility based on Edgeworth expansions. In particular, we show how confidence intervals for integrated volatility can be constructed using these Edgeworth expansions. The Monte Carlo study we conduct shows that the intervals based on the Edgeworth corrections have improved properties relatively to the conventional intervals based on the normal approximation. Contrary to the bootstrap, the Edgeworth approach is an analytical approach that is easily implemented, without requiring any resampling of one's data. A comparison between the bootstrap and the Edgeworth expansion shows that the bootstrap outperforms the Edgeworth corrected intervals. Thus, if we are willing to incur in the additional computational cost involved in computing bootstrap intervals, these are preferred over the Edgeworth intervals. Nevertheless, if we are not willing to incur in this additional cost, our results suggest that Edgeworth corrected intervals should replace the conventional intervals based on the first order normal approximation.     

An Ecological Model for Quantitative Risk Assessment for Schistosomiasis: The Case of a Patchy Environment in the Coastal Tropical Area of Northeastern Brazil

We developed a stochastic model for quantitative risk assessment for the Schistosoma mansoni (SM) parasite, which causes an endemic disease of public concern. The model provides answers in a useful format for public health decisions, uses data and expert opinion, and can be applied to any landscape where the snail Biomphalaria glabrata is the main intermediate host (South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa). It incorporates several realistic and case‐specific features: stage‐structured parasite populations, periodic praziquantel (PZQ) drug treatment for humans, density dependence, extreme events (prolonged rainfall), site‐specific sanitation quality, environmental stochasticity, monthly rainfall variation, uncertainty in parameters, and spatial dynamics. We parameterize the model through a real‐world application in the district of Porto de Galinhas (PG), one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil, where previous studies identified four parasite populations within the metapopulation. The results provide a good approximation of the dynamics of the system and are in agreement with our field observations, i.e., the lack of basic infrastructure (sanitation level and health programs) makes PG a suitable habitat for the persistence and growth of a parasite metapopulation. We quantify the risk of SM metapopulation explosion and quasi‐extinction and the time to metapopulation explosion and quasi‐extinction. We evaluate the sensitivity of the results under varying scenarios of future periodic PZQ treatment (based on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's plan) and sanitation quality. We conclude that the plan might be useful to slow SM metapopulation growth but not to control it. Additional investments in better sanitation are necessary.     

Risk Assessment for Hospital-Acquired Diseases: A Risk-Theory Approach

We introduce a new approach to hospital-acquired disease risk assessment from public health databases. In a spirit similar to actuarial risk theory, we define an adjustment coefficient that can quantify the risk associated with a hospital department, allowing comparisons of similar departments. The adjustment coefficient characterizes the tail of the distribution of the total patient length of stay in a department before the first disease event occurs. We show that this coefficient is the solution of a Lundberg-like equation, and we provide a nonparametric estimation procedure for this measure, based on a Cramér-Lundberg approximation for the tail of the distribution. Using simulations, we provide evidence of the robustness of the approximation to various individual risk models. In addition, we illustrate the relevance of this approach by evaluating the risk associated with a standard patient safety indicator in 20 hospitals of southeastern France.     

The Comparison of Performances of Widely Used Cointegration Tests

The aim of this study is to compare performances of commonly cointegration tests used in literature in terms of their empirical power and type I error probabilty for various sample sizes. As a result of the study, it has been found that some tests are not appropriate in testing cointegration in terms of empirical power and type I error probability. As a result of simulation study, λ_max test for any values of ρ and sample sizes have been found most appropriate test in conclusion.     

New Shrinkage Parameters for the Liu-type Logistic Estimators

The binary logistic regression is a widely used statistical method when the dependent variable has two categories. In most of the situations of logistic regression, independent variables are collinear which is called the multicollinearity problem. It is known that multicollinearity affects the variance of maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) negatively. Therefore, this article introduces new shrinkage parameters for the Liu-type estimators in the Liu (2003) in the logistic regression model defined by Huang (2012) in order to decrease the variance and overcome the problem of multicollinearity. A Monte Carlo study is designed to show the goodness of the proposed estimators over MLE in the sense of mean squared error (MSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). Moreover, a real data case is given to demonstrate the advantages of the new shrinkage parameters.     

Merit Payment in France: Towards New Forms of Wage Determination?

ABSTRACT Wage policies in France were substantially renewed in the 1980s; this renewal was reflected in two phenomena: profit-sharing and merit payment. Merit payment is analysed here in relation to the emergence of new forms of organization of production. The need for higher-skilled labour, the relative decline of execution work and Taylorism have led to the setting up of systems of individual assessment and a more coherent organization of internal labour markets. Thus, merit payment should be seen as a very different practice from piece work: rather, it is the first attempt to establish a system of payment which could serve as a basis for renewing the entire wage bargaining set-up.     

Multivariate partially linear regression in the presence of measurement error

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis - In this paper, multivariate partially linear model with error in the explanatory variable of nonparametric part, where the response variable is m...     

Internet Technology in Service of Personal Health Care Management: Patient Perspective

Internet technology has become an informational resource for most health care consumers. Online information, discussion, and support groups, in the form of message boards, listservs, and chat rooms are emerging as parts of virtual self-health-care network. This paper examines the extent to which participation in online health discussion groups was reported to be helpful in increasing medical knowledge and in enhancing the participatory patient role of health care consumers in interaction with health care service professionals. Data for this study was collected from 350 patients who participated in Internet discussion groups for cancer patients. The findings of the study indicated the important impact of Internet health discussion groups on health care management practices as perceived by health care consumers, including empowerment through knowledge and proactive participation in cancer care management. This research contributes to understanding the patient perspective and assesses the perceived importance of Internet groups by health care consumers.