On minimum Hellinger distance estimation

Efficiency and robustness are two fundamental concepts in parametric estimation problems. It was long thought that there was an inherent contradiction between the aims of achieving robustness and efficiency; that is, a robust estimator could not be efficient and vice versa. It is now known that the minimum Hellinger distance approached introduced by Beran [R. Beran, Annals of Statistics 1977;5:445–463] is one way of reconciling the conflicting concepts of efficiency and robustness. For parametric models, it has been shown that minimum Hellinger estimators achieve efficiency at the model density and simultaneously have excellent robustness properties. In this article, we examine the application of this approach in two semiparametric models. In particular, we consider a two‐component mixture model and a two‐sample semiparametric model. In each case, we investigate minimum Hellinger distance estimators of finite‐dimensional Euclidean parameters of particular interest and study their basic asymptotic properties. Small sample properties of the proposed estimators are examined using a Monte Carlo study. The results can be extended to semiparametric models of general form as well. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 514–533; 2009 © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada     

Some properties of extreme stable laws and related infinitely divisible random variables

In the course of studying the moment sequence {nⁿ:n=0,1,…}$\{n^n:n=0,1,\dots \}$, Eaton et al. [1971. On extreme stable laws and some applications. J. Appl. Probab. 8, 794–801] have shown that this sequence, which is, indeed, the moment sequence of a log-extreme stable law with characteristic exponent γ=1$\gamma =1$, corresponds to a scale mixture of exponential distributions and hence to a distribution with decreasing failure rate. Following essentially the approach of Shanbhag et al. [1977. Some further results in infinite divisibility. Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 82, 289–295] we show that, under certain conditions, log-extreme stable laws with characteristic exponent γ∈[1,2)$\gamma \in [1,2)$ are scale mixtures of exponential distributions and hence are infinitely divisible and have decreasing failure rates. In addition, we study the moment problem associated with the log-extreme stable laws with characteristic exponent γ∈(0,2]$\gamma \in (0,2]$ and throw further light on the existing literature on the subject. As a by-product, we show that generalized Poisson and generalized negative binomial distributions are mixed Poisson distributions. Finally, we address some relevant questions on structural aspects of infinitely divisible distributions, and make new observations, including in particular that certain results appearing in Steutel and van Harn [2004. Infinite Divisibility of Probability Distributions on the Real Line. Marcel Dekker, New York] have links with the Wiener–Hopf factorization met in the theory of random walk.     

A new stochastic order based upon Laplace transform with applications

This paper deals with nonnegative random variables having Laplace transforms as their reliability functions. We study a new stochastic order based upon Laplace transform. Some applications in actuarial science, frailty models and reliability are presented as well.     

现代物流产业的功能及发展模式探析:基于3E背景

现代物流产业对经济发展发挥着强大支撑作用的同时,也会由于外部不经济性对经济、能源、环境产生负面影响.因此,发展基于基于经济(economy)、能源(energy)、环境(environment)和谐发展基础上的绿色现代物流,对我国物流业的健康发展有着积极的促进作用.     

体育教师的职业能力及培养模式

从心理学、教育学和职业分析方法上,对体育教师的职业能力进行了定义分析及理论研究,提出了体育教师的职业能力主要包括品德教育能力、体育教学能力、运动训练能力等能力,并结合体育教师职业能力的形成过程,提出了以能力为本位的体育教师培养模式,并与传统的培养模式进行对比,认为该模式对体育教师的培养大有裨益。     

The bothersome details of the world: Richard Byrd,Little America,and the problem of retreat

Abstract

In 1934, Admiral Richard E. Byrd retreated from his crew at the remote Little America encampment in Antarctica to an even more isolated setting: a small underground shack on ‘the dark immensity of the Ross Ice Barrier, on a line between Little America and the South Pole’. Byrd remained there in solitude for a little over four months and later wrote about his ordeal in Alone. This essay considers Byrd’s account alongside his earlier Antarctic writings in order to ask what they reveal about the difficulties of retreating and maintaining critical distance from ‘civilisation’.     

欧洲智慧城市

如今,一座城市的表现不仅取决于它的先天硬件(即有形资本),还更多地取决于知识流动的顺利与否、水平的高低以及社会的架构(人力资本与社会资本)。社会资本决定着城市的竞争力。在这一背景下,"智慧城市"的概念作为一种战略手段被提出,它将城市生产要素囊括于一个普遍的框架之中,更重要的是,它凸显出过去20年信息通讯技术对提升一座城市的竞争实力至关重要。本文旨在厘清"智慧城市"这个往往难以捉摸的概念。笔者针对这一构想提出一个浓缩且具可操作性的定义,并就欧盟27国中智慧城市的地理因素罗列出一系列证据。据笔者了解,本文的数据和图表分析首次深入运用最新版本的城市审计数据集,这些数据集设计的初衷就是为了分析影响智慧城市表现的决定性因素。我们发现:创意阶层的有无、城市环境的质量以及人们对城市环境的关注度、受教育水平、信息通讯技术(ICT)的通达性及其在公共管理领域中的应用,都与城市的财富正相关。这一结果促使欧洲城市形成新的战略,让它们实现城市可持续发展,创造更良好的城市景观。     

胡塞尔交互主体性思想辨析

胡塞尔坚守了笛卡尔提出的明证性原则,并在此前提下展开了自我我思与他我领域之间的意义建构,强调了共同体、统觉在交互主体性意识构造中的作用。基于先验自我我思的明证性、远离现实交往的先验交互主体性以及基于先验论证的客观世界,构成了胡塞尔超越传统哲学唯我论的基本障碍。胡塞尔的交互主体性思想在否定的意义上为批判笛卡尔哲学以来的思辨哲学提供了新的理论契机,并向着现实交互主体性理论维度敞开。     

The limits of imperial incorporation: Alternative sociological frameworks to study Asian American subjects

This paper argues existing scholarship on Asian American communities is limited by an assumption that incorporation into the US can productively address racial and economic precarity. As an alternative, we offer “Extinguishing Asian (American) Insurgency”, a theoretical framework that incorporates histories of colonialism, imperialism, and postcolonial politics of incorporation into contemporary sociological analyses of Asian subject formation. Applying Du Boisian sociology alongside Frantz Fanon and Joy James, the framework adopts a global, relational analysis of Asian Americans and the US state. We demonstrate the framework's utility through two case studies: anti-colonial Sikh diasporic politics through the Gadar Party and US state efforts to tie diasporic South Vietnamese identity to an anti-communist politic. As such, we encourage the study of alternative possibilities of Asian subject formation that are extinguished by state incorporation, particularly through imperialism and military serivce. Specifically, we address sociologists who extinguish the insurgent Asian American subject in their scholarship by assuming incorporation and pro-state politics as a natural end goal of migration, or those who simply do not name the US as the institutional force extinguishing possibilities of Asian Americans' insurgency.     

An Improved Security Requirement for Data Perturbation with Implications for E‐Commerce

With the rapid increase in the ability to store and analyze large amounts of data, organizations are gathering extensive data regarding their customers, vendors, and other entities. There has been a concurrent increase in the demand for preserving the privacy of confidential data that may be collected. The rapid growth of e‐commerce has also increased calls for maintaining privacy and confidentiality of data. For numerical data, data perturbation methods offer an easy yet effective solution to the dilemma of providing access to legitimate users while protecting the data from snoopers (legitimate users who perform illegitimate analysis). In this study, we define a new security requirement that achieves the objective of providing access to legitimate users without an increase in the ability of a snooper to predict confidential information. We also derive the specifications under which perturbation methods can achieve this objective. Numerical examples are provided to show that the use of the new specification achieves the objective of no additional information to the snooper. Implications of the new specification for e‐commerce are discussed.