Some preservation results of NBUC aging property with applications

This paper develops a new characterization of NBUC aging property, and investigates its preservation properties both under monotonic anti-star-shaped transformations and under the non-homogeneous Poisson shock models.     

The likelihood ratio test for homogeneity in finite mixture models

The authors study the asymptotic behaviour of the likelihood ratio statistic for testing homogeneity in the finite mixture models of a general parametric distribution family. They prove that the limiting distribution of this statistic is the squared supremum of a truncated standard Gaussian process. The autocorrelation function of the Gaussian process is explicitly presented. A re‐sampling procedure is recommended to obtain the asymptotic p‐value. Three kernel functions, normal, binomial and Poisson, are used in a simulation study which illustrates the procedure.     

Calibration Estimator of a Rare Sensitive Attribute with Poisson Distribution

In this paper we consider the calibration procedure for a rare sensitive attribute with Poisson distribution which suggested by Land et al. (2012) using auxiliary information associated with the variable of interest. In the calibration procedure, we can use auxiliary information such as socio-demographical variables for the respondents of rare sensitive attribute questions from an external source, and then this estimator can be improved with respect to the problems of non coverage or non response. From the efficiency comparison study, we show that the calibrated Poisson RR estimators are more efficient than that of Land et al. (2012), when the known population cell and marginal counts of auxiliary information are used for the calibration procedure.     

Matrix-analytic Models and their Analysis

We survey phase-type distributions and Markovian point processes, aspects of how to use such models in applied probability calculations and how to fit them to observed data. A phase-type distribution is defined as the time to absorption in a finite continuous time Markov process with one absorbing state. This class of distributions is dense and contains many standard examples like all combinations of exponential in series/parallel. A Markovian point process is governed by a finite continuous time Markov process (typically ergodic), such that points are generated at a Poisson intensity depending on the underlying state and at transitions; a main special case is a Markov-modulated Poisson process. In both cases, the analytic formulas typically contain matrix-exponentials, and the matrix formalism carried over when the models are used in applied probability calculations as in problems in renewal theory, random walks and queueing. The statistical analysis is typically based upon the EM algorithm, viewing the whole sample path of the background Markov process as the latent variable.     

Modeling longitudinal count data with dropouts

This paper explores the utility of different approaches for modeling longitudinal count data with dropouts arising from a clinical study for the treatment of actinic keratosis lesions on the face and balding scalp. A feature of these data is that as the disease for subjects on the active arm improves their data show larger dispersion compared with those on the vehicle, exhibiting an over‐dispersion relative to the Poisson distribution. After fitting the marginal (or population averaged) model using the generalized estimating equation (GEE), we note that inferences from such a model might be biased as dropouts are treatment related. Then, we consider using a weighted GEE (WGEE) where each subject's contribution to the analysis is weighted inversely by the subject's probability of dropout. Based on the model findings, we argue that the WGEE might not address the concerns about the impact of dropouts on the efficacy findings when dropouts are treatment related. As an alternative, we consider likelihood‐based inference where random effects are added to the model to allow for heterogeneity across subjects. Finally, we consider a transition model where, unlike the previous approaches that model the log‐link function of the mean response, we model the subject's actual lesion counts. This model is an extension of the Poisson autoregressive model of order 1, where the autoregressive parameter is taken to be a function of treatment as well as other covariates to induce different dispersions and correlations for the two treatment arms. We conclude with a discussion about model selection. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TWO-PASS CUSUM TO IDENTIFY AGE-CLUSTER OUTBREAKS

The paper introduces a two-pass adaptive cumulative sum (CUSUM) statistic to identify age clusters (age grouping) that significantly contribute to epidemics or unusually high counts. If epidemiologists know that an epidemic is confined to a narrow age group, then this information not only makes it clear where to target the epidemiological effort but also helps them decide whether to respond. It is much easier to control an epidemic that starts in a narrow age range of the population, such as pre-school children, than an epidemic that is not confined demographically or geographically.     

On a bayesian approach for the shiftpoint problem

Using a direct resampling process, a Bayesian approach is developed for the analysis of the shiftpoint problem. In many problems it is straight forward to isolate the marginal posterior distribution of the shift-point parameter and the conditional distribution of some of the parameters given the shift point and the other remaining parameters. When this is possible, a direct sampling approach is easily implemented whereby standard random number generators can be used to generate samples from the joint posterior distribution of aii the parameters in the model. This technique is illustrated with examples involving one shift for Poisson processes and regression models.     

The occurrence of fingerprint characteristics as a two-dimensional poisson process

The individuality of n fingerprint is based on the configuration of occurences of the ten Galton characteristics ( ridge endings, forks, etc. ). A model ( Osterburg, Parthasarthy, Raghavan, Sclove, 1977 ) for the occurence of these characteristics, in terms of a grid of cells, is further developed. The occurence of the characteristics is modelled as a two-dimensional multivariate Poisson process. This approach allows one to treat multiple occurrences in a more satisfying way than in Osterburg, Parthasarathy, Raghavan and Sclove ( 1977 ) or Sclove ( 1978 )     

An efficient non-rejective implementation of the πps sampling designs

Poisson sampling is a method for unequal probabilities sampling with random sample size. There exist several implementations of the Poisson sampling design, with fixed sample size, which almost all are rejective methods, that is, the sample is not always accepted. Thus, the existing methods can be time-consuming or even infeasible in some situations. In this paper, a fast and non-rejective method, which is efficient even for large populations, is proposed and studied. The method is a new design for selecting a sample of fixed size with unequal inclusion probabilities. For the population of large size, the proposed design is very close to the strict πps sampling which is similar to the conditional Poisson (CP) sampling design, but the implementation of the design is much more efficient than the CP sampling. And the inclusion probabilities can be calculated recursively.