On Some Nonparametric Methods For Changepoint Problems

The explosive development of information science and technology puts in new problems involving statistical data analysis. These problems result from higher re quirements concerning the reliability of statistical decisions, the accuracy of math ematical models and the quality of control in complex systems. A new aspect of statistical analysis has emerged, closely connected with one of the basic questions of cynergetics: how to "compress" large volumes of experimental data in order to extract the most valuable information from data observed. De tection of large "homogeneous" segments of data enables one to identify "hidden" regularities in an object's behavior, to create mathematical models for each seg ment of homogeneity, to choose an appropriate control, etc. Statistical methods dealing with the detection of changes in the characteristics of random processes can be of great use in all these problems. These methods have accompanied the rapid growth in data beginning from the middle of our century. According to a tradition of more than thirty years, we call this sphere of statistical analysis the "theory of change-point detection. " During the last fifteen years, we have witnessed many exciting developments in the theory of change-point detection. New promising directions of research have emerged, and traditional trends have flourished anew. Despite this, most of the results are widely scattered in the literature and few monographs exist. A real need has arisen for up-to-date books which present an account of important current research trends, one of which is the theory of non parametric change--point detection.

Non-Parametric Statistical Diagnosis

"Contains over 2500 equations and exhaustively covers not only nonparametrics but also parametric, semiparametric, frequentist, Bayesian, bootstrap, adaptive, univariate, and multivariate statistical methods, as well as practical uses of Markov chain models."

Review papers. 1. On the scholarly work of P.K. Bhattacharya / P. Hall and F.J. Samaniego. 2. The propensity score and its role in causal inference / C. Drake and T. Loux. 3. Recent tests for symmetry with multivariate and structured data: a review / S.G. Meintanis and J. Ngatchou-Wandji -- Papers on general nonparametric inference. 4. On robust versions of classical tests with dependent data / J. Jiang. 5. Density estimation by sampling from stationary continuous time parameter associated processes / G.G. Roussas and D. Bhattacharya. 6. A Short proof of the Feigin-Tweedie theorem on the existence of the mean functional of a Dirichlet process / J. Sethuraman. 7. Max-min Bernstein polynomial estimation of a discontinuity in distribution / K.-S. Song. 8. U-statistics based on higher-order spacings / D.D. Tung and S.R. Jammalamadaka. 9. Nonparametric models for non-Gaussian longitudinal data / N. Zhang, H.-G. Muller and J.-L. Wang -- Papers on aspects of linear or generalized linear models. 10. Better residuals / R. Beran. 11. The use of Peters-Belson regression in legal cases / E. Bura, J.L. Gastwirth and H. Hikawa. 12. On a hybrid approach to parametric and nonparametric regression / P. Burman and P. Chaudhuri. 13. Nonparametric regression models with integrated covariates / Z. Cai. 14. A dynamic test for misspecification of a linear model / M.P. McAssey and F. Hsieh. 15. The principal component decomposition of the basic martingale / W. Stute -- Papers on time series analysis. 16. Fast scatterplot smoothing using blockwise least squares fitting / A. Aue and T.C.M. Lee. 17. Some recent advances in semiparametric estimation of the GARCH model / J. Di and A. Gangopadhyay. 18. Extreme dependence in multivariate time series: a review / R. Sen and Z. Tan. 19. Dynamic mixed models for irregularly observed water quality data / R.H. Shumway -- Papers on asymptotic theory. 20. Asymptotic behavior of the kernel density estimators for nonstationary dependent random variables with binned data / J.-F. Lenain, M. Harel and M.L. Puri. 21. Convergence rates of an improved isotonic regression estimator / H. Mukerjee. 22. Asymptotic distribution of the smallest eigenvalue of Wishart(N, n) When N, n ' [symbol] such that N/n --> 0 / D. Paul

Although no-one is, probably, too enthused about the idea, it is a fact that the development of most empirical sciences to a great extend depends of the development of data analysis methods and techniques, which, due to the necessity of applications of computers for that pur pose, actually means that it practically depends on the advancements and orientation of computational statistics. This volume contains complete texts of the lectures held during the Summer School on "Computational Aspects of Model Choice" orga nized jointly by Charles University, Prague, and International Associa tion for Statistical Computing (IASC) on July 1-14, 1991, in Prague. Main aims of the Summer School were to review and analyse some of the recent developments concerning computational aspects of the model choice as well as their theoretical background. The topics covers the problems of the change point detection, robust estimation and its computational aspects, classification using binary trees, stochastic ap proximation and optimization including the discussion about available software, computational aspects of graphical model selection and mul tiple hypotheses testing. The bridge between these different approaches is formed by the survey paper about statistical applications of artificial intelligence.

Fast technological development produces systems of ever-increasing complex ity. The demand for reliable functioning of these systems has become more and more important. Thus, there is a need for highly reliable technical devices and systems, for monitoring and controlling their functioning and for planning maintenance and corrective actions to fulfill given requirements considering eco nomic limitations. These tasks reflect the wide field of engineering activities that are accompa nied by and based on a wide range of stochastical models. The book presents the main contributions to a workshop on Stochastic Models of Reliability, Qual ity, and Safety held in Schierke near Magdeburg, Germany. This workshop was part of a series of meetings that take place every two years organized by the Society of Reliability, Quality and Safety. The basic idea of these workshops is to bring together theorists, applied statisticians, and practitioners to exchange experiences and ideas of common interest. The book contains recent results in reliability and related fields. The presentation aims at making at least a part of the results accessible to engineers.

In 24 papers from a 1997 workshop near Magdeburg, Germany, theoreticians, applied statisticians, and practitioners discuss their current work and compare and evaluate models and methods. Within sections on lifetime analysis, reliability analysis, network analysis, and process control, they consider such topics as acceptance regions and their application in lifetime estimation, stochastic models for the return of used devices, a unified approach to the reliability of recurrent structures, and controlling a process with three different states. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR