Setting the clock back to zero property of a class of bivariate life distributions

In a previous paper. B. R. Rao and Talwalker (1993) considered absolutely continuous life distributions and extended the Lack of Memory Property (L.M.P.) of the exponential distribution and showed that several classes of life distributions have this property, which was called the 'setting the clock back to zero' property. ¶Its analog is discussed in the present paper for hivariate and multivariate classes of life distributions. As a simple application of this analog, it is proved that the Life expectancy and the Percentile Residual Life vectors of a population of individuals under the influence of multiple competing risks have simple expressions if the class of their joint life distributions has the setting the clock back to zero property,     

Estimating the discovery rate in a continuous time recapture model

We consider a family of marked Poisson process models for the discovery of distinct errors in a computer program and also for sampling, in continu-ous time, a population containing an unknown number of distinct biological species. Captures (selections or discoveries) are assumed to occur at a con-stant rate, each event consisting of the discovery of a distinct process (error or species) or the recurrence of a previously discovered process. Using a generalization of Nayak’s (1988) model we derive confidence limits for the discovery rate. The limits are based on the asymptotic distribution of a scaled logarithmic function of the maximum likelihood estimator.     

Shortest prediction intervals for the birnbaum-saunders distribution

Shortest prediction intervals for a future observation from the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution are obtained from both frequentist and Bayesian perspectives. Comparisons are made with alternative intervals obtained via inversion. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to assess the approximate intervals.     

Approximating discrete multivariate distributions prom known moments

To approximate the joint distribution of the two-colony stepping-stone model, a finite mixture approach is proposed for constructing discrete multi-variate distributions. This approach generahzes the classic method of linear combinations of independent variables. The stepping-stone model is approximated through matching known moments. Numerical examples from entomology are given. Comparisons are made with the work by Wehrly et al (1993).     

Estimation of the location and scale parameters of the extreme value distmbution based on multiply type-II censored samples

In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating the location and scale parameters of an extreme value distribution based on multiply Type-II censored samples. We first describe the best linear unbiased estimators and the maximum likelihood estimators of these parameters. After observing that the best linear unbiased estimators need the construction of some tables for its coefficients and that the maximum likelihood estimators do not exist in an explicit algebraic form and hence need to be found by numerical methods, we develop approximate maximum likelihood estimators by appropriately approximating the likelihood equations. In addition to being simple explicit estimators, these estimators turn out to be nearly as efficient as the best linear unbiased estimators and the maximum likelihood estimators. Next, we derive the asymptotic variances and covariance of these estimators in terms of the first two single moments and the product moments of order statistics from the standard extreme value distribution. Finally, we present an example in order to illustrate all the methods of estimation of parameters discussed in this paper.     

Estimation in a truncated bivariate poisson distribution using the EM algorithm

An EM algorithm (Dempster et al., 1977) is derived for the estimation of parameters of the truncated bivariate Poisson distribution with zeros rnissing from both margins. The observed inforrnation matrix is obtained and a numerical exarnple is given where the convergence of the EM algorithm is accelerated by the methods of Louis (1982) and conjugate gradients (Jamshidian antl Jennrich, 1993).     

Predictive inference for linear and multivariate linear models with ma(1) error processes

The prediction distributions of future responses from the linear and multivariate linear models with errors having a first order moving average (MA(1)) process have been derived. First, we obtained the marginal likelihood function for the moving average parameter 6 and from this likelihood function we estimate the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of θ. Using the estimated value θ, we have derived the prediction distributions as well as prediction regions for the future responses. An example has been included.     

Sample design for observing classes of objects

We consider optimal sample designs for observing classes of objects. Suppose we will take a simple random sample of equal-sized sectors from a study population and observe the classes existing on these sectors. The classes might be many different things, for example, herbaceous plant species (in sampling quadrats), microinvertebrate species (in sampling cores), and side effects from a drug (in conducting medical trials). Under a nonparametric mixture model and data from a previous related study, we first estimate the optimal number of sample sectors of a given size. Then for negative binomial dispersions of individuals with a common aggregation parameter k, we consider the optimal size as well as number of sample sectors. A simple test exists to check our common k assumption and our optimal size method requires far less data than would be required by a grid method or other method which utilizes data from sample sectors of several different sizes.     

Inflated modified power series distributions with applications

In certain applications involving discrete data, it is sometimes found that X = 0 is observed with a frequency significantly higher than predicted by the assumed model. Zero inflated Poisson, binomial and negative binomial models have been employed in some clinical trials and in some regression analysis problems.

In this paper, we study the zero inflated modified power series distributions (IMPSD) which include among others the generalized Poisson and the generalized negative binomial distributions and hence the Poisson, binomial and negative binomial distributions. The structural properties along with the distribution of the sum of independent IMPSD variables are studied. The maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters of the model is examined and the variance-covariance matrix of the estimators is obtained. Finally, examples are presented for the generalized Poisson distribution to illustrate the results.     

Extension to higher dimensions of the jaeschke-eicker result on the standardized empirical process

The asymptotic distribution of the sup-norm of the heavily weighted empirical process is established in the multidimensional case. This theorem extends in particular the famous result in Jaeschke (1975, 1979) to higher dimensions. There is a striking difference between the behaviour for higher dimensions and that for dimension one, especially the limiting distribution is now a simple transformation of a standard exponential random variable.