Variable repetitive group sampling plans with process loss consideration

Traditionally, most acceptance sampling plans considering the fraction defective do not distinguish among the products that fall within the specification limits. However, products that fall within the specification limits may not be good if their mean is far away from the target. So, developing an acceptance sampling plan with process loss consideration is essential. In this paper, a variable repetitive group sampling plan is proposed to deal with process loss. The design parameters of the proposed plan are tabulated for various combinations of acceptance quality levels. The proposed methodology can be used to determine whether the products meet the desired levels of protection for both producers and consumers.     

Sensory analysis via multi-block multivariate additive PLS splines

In the last decade, much effort has been spent on modelling dependence between sensory variables and chemical–physical ones, especially when observed at different occasions/spaces/times or if collected from several groups (blocks) of variables. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear generalization of multi-block partial least squares with the inclusion of variable interactions. We show the performance of the method on a known data set.     

Duality and local sensitivity analysis in least squares,minimax, and least absolute values regressions

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of local sensitivity analysis in regression, i.e., how sensitive the results of a regression model (objective function, parameters, and dual variables) are to changes in the data. We use a general formula for local sensitivities in optimization problems to calculate the sensitivities in three standard regression problems (least squares, minimax, and least absolute values). Closed formulas for all sensitivities are derived. Sensitivity contours are presented to help in assessing the sensitivity of each observation in the sample. The dual problems of the minimax and least absolute values are obtained and interpreted. The proposed sensitivity measures are shown to deal more effectively with the masking problem than the existing methods. The methods are illustrated by their application to some examples and graphical illustrations are given.     

A Simulation Study of the Performance of Five Discriminant Analysis Methods for Mixtures of Continuous and Binary Variables

The present study investigates the performance of fice discrimination methods for data consisting of a mixture of continuous and binary variables. The methods are Fisher’s linear discrimination, logistic discrimination, quadratic discrimination, a kernal model and an independence model. Six-dimensional data, consisting of three binary and three continuous variables, are simulated according to a location model. The results show an almost identical performance for Fisher’s linear discrimination and logistic discrimination. Only in situations with independently distributed variables the independence model does have a reasonable discriminatory ability for the dimensionality considered. If the log likelihood ratio is non-linear ratio is non-linear with respect to its continuous and binary part, the quadratic discrimination method is substantial better than linear and logistic discrimination, followed by the kernel method. A very good performance is obtained when in every situation the better one of linear and quardratic discrimination is used.     

Statistical inference in nonstationary markov models with embedded explanatory variables

In this paper, we develop an operational nonstationary Markov process model for use with macro aggregate frequency data. Independent, time-variant factors assumed to affect the process of interest are embedded in the model. Transition probabilities are estimated indirectly from the coefficients on the embedded variables. We previously concluded that either the Marquardt or the simplex, derivative-free nonlinear programming algorithm could be used to estimate such a model. Here, we propose a test for parameter stationarity. By means of designed simulation experiments for the two-state model, we find that our test has acceptable Type I error probabilities, and that power rises with the degree of departure from the null hypothesis. Both validity and power performance can be improved by longer time records of data and a greater number of entities observed.     

Simulation of Constrained Variables in Engineering Risk Analyses

The problem of sampling random variables with overlapping pdfs subject to inequality constraints is addressed. Often, the values of physical variables in an engineering model are interrelated. This mutual dependence imposes inequality constraints on the random variables representing these parameters. Ignoring the interdependencies and sampling the variables independently can lead to inconsistency/bias. We propose an algorithm to generate samples of constrained random variables that are characterized by typical continuous probability distributions and are subject to different kinds of inequality constraints. The sampling procedure is illustrated for various representative cases and one realistic application to simulation of structural natural frequencies.     

A Bayesian analysis of clustered discrete and continuous outcomes

Many study designs yield a variety of outcomes from each subject clustered within an experimental unit. When these outcomes are of mixed data types, it is challenging to jointly model the effects of covariates on the responses using traditional methods. In this paper, we develop a Bayesian approach for a joint regression model of the different outcome variables and show that the fully conditional posterior distributions obtained under the model assumptions allow for estimation of posterior distributions using Gibbs sampling algorithm.     

Complete convergence for arrays of row-wise ND random variables under sub-linear expectations

In this paper, complete convergence for arrays of row-wise ND random variables under sub-linear expectations is studied. As applications, the complete convergence theorems of weighted sums for negatively dependent random variables have been generalized to the sub-linear expectation space context. We extend some complete convergence theorems from the traditional probability space to the sub-linear expectation space and our results generalize corresponding results obtained by Ko.     

Estimation of Finite Population Variance Using Scrambled Responses in the Presence of Auxiliary Information

In this article, a new estimator for estimating the finite population variance of a sensitive variable based on scrambled responses collected using a randomization device is introduced. The estimator is then improved by using known auxiliary information. The estimators due to Das and Tripathi (1978: Sankhya) and Isaki (1983: JASA) are shown to be special cases of the proposed estimator. Numerical simulations are performed to study the magnitude of the gain in efficiency when using the estimator with auxiliary information with respect to the estimator based only on the scrambled responses. An idea to extend the present work from SRSWOR design to more complex design is also given.     

A shared component model for detecting joint and selective clustering of two diseases

The study of spatial variations in disease rates is a common epidemiological approach used to describe the geographical clustering of diseases and to generate hypotheses about the possible 'causes' which could explain apparent differences in risk. Recent statistical and computational developments have led to the use of realistically complex models to account for overdispersion and spatial correlation. However, these developments have focused almost exclusively on spatial modelling of a single disease. Many diseases share common risk factors (smoking being an obvious example) and, if similar patterns of geographical variation of related diseases can be identified, this may provide more convincing evidence of real clustering in the underlying risk surface. We propose a shared component model for the joint spatial analysis of two diseases. The key idea is to separate the underlying risk surface for each disease into a shared and a disease-specific component. The various components of this formulation are modelled simultaneously by using spatial cluster models implemented via reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We illustrate the methodology through an analysis of oral and oesophageal cancer mortality in the 544 districts of Germany, 1986–1990.