Uncertainty Analysis for Computer Model Projections of Hurricane Losses

Projecting losses associated with hurricanes is a complex and difficult undertaking that is wrought with uncertainties. Hurricane Charley, which struck southwest Florida on August 13, 2004, illustrates the uncertainty of forecasting damages from these storms. Due to shifts in the track and the rapid intensification of the storm, real-time estimates grew from 2 to 3 billion dollars in losses late on August 12 to a peak of 50 billion dollars for a brief time as the storm appeared to be headed for the Tampa Bay area. The storm hit the resort areas of Charlotte Harbor near Punta Gorda and then went on to Orlando in the central part of the state, with early poststorm estimates converging on a damage estimate in the 28 to 31 billion dollars range. Comparable damage to central Florida had not been seen since Hurricane Donna in 1960. The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM) has recognized the role of computer models in projecting losses from hurricanes. The FCHLPM established a professional team to perform onsite (confidential) audits of computer models developed by several different companies in the United States that seek to have their models approved for use in insurance rate filings in Florida. The team's members represent the fields of actuarial science, computer science, meteorology, statistics, and wind and structural engineering. An important part of the auditing process requires uncertainty and sensitivity analyses to be performed with the applicant's proprietary model. To influence future such analyses, an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis has been completed for loss projections arising from use of a Holland B parameter hurricane wind field model. Uncertainty analysis quantifies the expected percentage reduction in the uncertainty of wind speed and loss that is attributable to each of the input variables.     

Estimating rating transition probabilites with missing data

In this article we provide a rigorous treatment of one of the central statistical issues of credit risk management. GivenK-1 rating categories, the rating of a corporate bond over a certain horizon may either stay the same or change to one of the remainingK-2 categories; in addition, it is usually the case that the rating of some bonds is withdrawn during the time interval considered in the analysis. When estimating transition probabilities, we have thus to consider aK-th category, called withdrawal, which contains (partially) missing data. We show how maximum likelihood estimation can be performed in this setup; whereas in discrete time our solution gives rigorous support to a solution often used in applications, in continuous time the maximum likelihood estimator of the transition matrix computed by means of the EM algorithm represents a significant improvement over existing methods.     

经济增长差异与农产品比较优势

随着我国加入世贸组织 ,农产品比较优势问题在国内得到普遍的关注。然而 ,由于存在经济增长差异 ,有比较优势的产品 ,在国际市场上不一定有竞争优势。因此 ,要把我国农业培植成具有国际竞争力的产业 ,就必须把现有的比较优势转化为竞争优势。     

英语成绩与焦虑特性的相关性研究

文章以南华大学外国语学院英语专业二年级 4 4名本科生为对象 ,用SPSS统计软件包分析研究了学生英语成绩及若干专业技能与焦虑特性的相关性。研究结果表明 :( 1)学生英语成绩与焦虑特性呈中度负相关 ;( 2 )在听写、听力、阅读、写作这四项单项能力方面 ,听写和听力是与焦虑特性相关性最高的两个 ,而完形填空、词汇与结构与焦虑特性不相关。     

组合预测误差信息矩阵研究

研究组合预测误差信息矩阵的结构与组合预测方法性质之间的联系,首次提出冗余信息概念,对最优组合预测方法的组合结构进行了研究。     

ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SAMPLE MEAN AND TRANSLATION-INVARIANT STATISTICS FOR MATRIX NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS

We present an explicit characterization of the joint dependency structure of an n×p matrix normal random matrix such that the p-dimensional sample mean vector is independent of all translation invariant statistics.     

初等数学与高等数学的融合

本文从高等数学对初等数学的渗透，高观点下的初等数学，高等数学对初等数学的直接指导作用三个方面阐述了初等数学与高等数学的融合。     

矩阵非奇异性判定

本文利用矩阵块对角占优的性质,给出矩阵非奇异的一个判定条件     

图式理论、学习策略与大学英语口语教学

本研究采用定量分析的方法,对84名天水师范学院非英语专业的学生的口语水平进行测试。根据图式理论,口语任务分为有关键词及句型提示类和无提示类,并对被试的学习策略使用情况做了调查,结果发现,口语任务有提示与无提示对学生的口语成绩有显著影响,这说明图式理论完全适用于大学英语口语教学。     

An affine‐invariant multivariate sign test for cluster correlated data

The author presents a multivariate location model for cluster correlated observations. He proposes an affine‐invariant multivariate sign statistic for testing the value of the location parameter. His statistic is an adaptation of that proposed by Randles (2000). The author shows, under very mild conditions, that his test statistic is asymptotically distributed as a chi‐squared random variable under the null hypothesis. In particular, the test can be used for skewed populations. In the context of a general multivariate normal model, the author obtains values of his test's Pitman asymptotic efficiency relative to another test based on the overall average. He shows that there is an improvement in the relative performance of the new test as soon as intra‐cluster correlation is present Even in the univariate case, the new test can be very competitive for Gaussian data. Furthermore, the statistic is easy to compute, even for large dimensional data. The author shows through simulations that his test performs well compared to the average‐based test. He illustrates its use with real data.