On Updating Algorithms and Inference for Stochastic Point Processes

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (S1) ◽  
pp. 239-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Vere-Jones

This paper is an attempt to interpret and extend, in a more statistical setting, techniques developed by D. L. Snyder and others for estimation and filtering for doubly stochastic point processes. The approach is similar to the Kalman-Bucy approach in that the updating algorithms can be derived from a Bayesian argument, and lead ultimately to equations which are similar to those occurring in stochastic approximation theory. In this paper the estimates are derived from a general updating formula valid for any point process. It is shown that almost identical formulae arise from updating the maximum likelihood estimates, and on this basis it is suggested that in practical situations the sequence of estimates will be consistent and asymptotically efficient. Specific algorithms are derived for estimating the parameters in a doubly stochastic process in which the rate alternates between two levels.

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (A) ◽  
pp. 275-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Brillinger

The model Y(t) = s(t | θ) + ε(t) is studied in the case that observations are made at scattered points τ j in a subset of Rp and θ is a finite-dimensional parameter. The particular cases of 0 = (α, β) and (α, β, ω) are considered in detail. Consistency and asymptotic normality results are developed assuming that the spatial series ε(·) and the point process {τ j} are independent, stationary and mixing. The estimates considered are equivalent to least squares asymptotically and are not generally asymptotically efficient.Contributions of the paper include: study of the Rp case, management of irregularly placed observations, allowance for abnormal domains of observation and the discovery that aliasing complications do not arise when the point process {τ j} is mixing. There is a brief discussion of the construction and properties of maximum likelihood estimates for the spatial-temporal case.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (A) ◽  
pp. 275-289
Author(s):  
David R. Brillinger

The model Y(t) = s(t | θ) + ε(t) is studied in the case that observations are made at scattered points τ j in a subset of Rp and θ is a finite-dimensional parameter. The particular cases of 0 = (α, β) and (α, β, ω) are considered in detail. Consistency and asymptotic normality results are developed assuming that the spatial series ε(·) and the point process {τ j } are independent, stationary and mixing. The estimates considered are equivalent to least squares asymptotically and are not generally asymptotically efficient. Contributions of the paper include: study of the Rp case, management of irregularly placed observations, allowance for abnormal domains of observation and the discovery that aliasing complications do not arise when the point process {τ j } is mixing. There is a brief discussion of the construction and properties of maximum likelihood estimates for the spatial-temporal case.


1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Albrecht

This paper considers a particular credibility model for the claim numbers N1, N2, …, Nn, … of a single risk within a collective in successive periods 1, 2, …, n, … In the terminology of Jewell (1975) the model is an evolutionary credibility model, which means that the underlying risk parameter Λ is allowed to vary in successive periods (the structure function is allowed to be time dependent). Evolutionary credibility models for claim amounts have been studied by Bühlmann (1969, pp. 164–165), Gerber and Jones (1975), Jewell (1975, 1976), Taylor (1975), Sundt (1979, 1981, 1983) and Kremer (1982). Again in Jewell's terminology the considered model is on the other hand stationary, in the sense that the conditional distribution of Ni given the underlying risk parameter does not vary with i.The computation of the credibility estimate of Nn+1 involves the considerable labor of inverting an n × n covariance matrix (n is the number of observations). The above mentioned papers have therefore typically looked for model structures for which this inversion is unnecessary and instead a recursive formula for the credibility forecast can be obtained. Typically nth order stationary a priori sequences (e.g., ARMA (p, q)-processes) lead to an nth order recursive scheme. In this paper we impose the restriction that the conditional distribution of Ni is Poisson (which by the way leads to a model identical to the so called “doubly stochastic Poisson sequences” considered in the theory of stochastic point processes). What we gain is a recursive formula for the coefficients of the credibility estimate (not for the estimate itself!) in case of an arbitrary weakly stationary a priori sequence. In addition to this central result the estimation of the structural parameters is considered in this case and some more special models are analyzed. Among them are EARMA-processes (which are positive-valued stationary sequences possessing exponentially distributed marginals and the same autocorrelation structure as ARMA-processes) as a priori sequence and models which can be considered as (discrete) generalizations of the Pólya process.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1973-1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Staude ◽  
Stefan Rotter ◽  
Sonja Grün

There has been a long and lively debate on whether rate covariance and temporal coordination of spikes, regarded as potential origins for correlations in cortical spike signals, fulfill different roles in the cortical code. In this context, studies that report spike coordination have often been criticized for ignoring fast nonstationarities, which would result in wrongly assigned spike coordination. The underlying hypothesis of this critique is that spike coordination is essentially identical to rate covariation, only on a shorter timescale. This study investigates the validity of this critique. We provide a decomposition for the cross-correlation function of doubly stochastic point processes, where each of the components corresponds precisely to the concepts of dependence under investigation. This allows us to correct the correlation function for rate effects, which implies that spike coordination and rate covariation are statistically separable concepts of dependence. Furthermore, we present direct and intuitive model implementations of the discussed concepts and illustrate that their difference is not a matter of timescale. Analysis of data generated by our models and analytical description of the relevant estimators reveals, however, that spike coordination dramatically influences the accuracy of rate covariance estimation. As a consequence, extreme parameter combinations can lead to situations where the concept of dependence cannot be identified empirically. However, for a wide range of parameters, the concept of dependence underlying a given data set can be identified regardless of its timescale.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 1779-1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos D Bustamante ◽  
John Wakeley ◽  
Stanley Sawyer ◽  
Daniel L Hartl

Abstract In this article we explore statistical properties of the maximum-likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the selection and mutation parameters in a Poisson random field population genetics model of directional selection at DNA sites. We derive the asymptotic variances and covariance of the MLEs and explore the power of the likelihood ratio tests (LRT) of neutrality for varying levels of mutation and selection as well as the robustness of the LRT to deviations from the assumption of free recombination among sites. We also discuss the coverage of confidence intervals on the basis of two standard-likelihood methods. We find that the LRT has high power to detect deviations from neutrality and that the maximum-likelihood estimation performs very well when the ancestral states of all mutations in the sample are known. When the ancestral states are not known, the test has high power to detect deviations from neutrality for negative selection but not for positive selection. We also find that the LRT is not robust to deviations from the assumption of independence among sites.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 1429-1437
Author(s):  
Oliver G Pybus ◽  
Andrew Rambaut ◽  
Paul H Harvey

Abstract We describe a unified set of methods for the inference of demographic history using genealogies reconstructed from gene sequence data. We introduce the skyline plot, a graphical, nonparametric estimate of demographic history. We discuss both maximum-likelihood parameter estimation and demographic hypothesis testing. Simulations are carried out to investigate the statistical properties of maximum-likelihood estimates of demographic parameters. The simulations reveal that (i) the performance of exponential growth model estimates is determined by a simple function of the true parameter values and (ii) under some conditions, estimates from reconstructed trees perform as well as estimates from perfect trees. We apply our methods to HIV-1 sequence data and find strong evidence that subtypes A and B have different demographic histories. We also provide the first (albeit tentative) genetic evidence for a recent decrease in the growth rate of subtype B.


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