441 research outputs found
Sufficient burn-in for Gibbs samplers for a hierarchical random effects model
We consider Gibbs and block Gibbs samplers for a Bayesian hierarchical
version of the one-way random effects model. Drift and minorization conditions
are established for the underlying Markov chains. The drift and minorization
are used in conjunction with results from J. S. Rosenthal [J. Amer. Statist.
Assoc. 90 (1995) 558-566] and G. O. Roberts and R. L. Tweedie [Stochastic
Process. Appl. 80 (1999) 211-229] to construct analytical upper bounds on the
distance to stationarity. These lead to upper bounds on the amount of burn-in
that is required to get the chain within a prespecified (total variation)
distance of the stationary distribution. The results are illustrated with a
numerical example
Evaluation of Formal posterior distributions via Markov chain arguments
We consider evaluation of proper posterior distributions obtained from
improper prior distributions. Our context is estimating a bounded function
of a parameter when the loss is quadratic. If the posterior mean of
is admissible for all bounded , the posterior is strongly
admissible. We give sufficient conditions for strong admissibility. These
conditions involve the recurrence of a Markov chain associated with the
estimation problem. We develop general sufficient conditions for recurrence of
general state space Markov chains that are also of independent interest. Our
main example concerns the -dimensional multivariate normal distribution with
mean vector when the prior distribution has the form on the parameter space . Conditions on for strong
admissibility of the posterior are provided.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AOS542 the Annals of
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Evaluating default priors with a generalization of Eaton's Markov chain
We consider evaluating improper priors in a formal Bayes setting according to the consequences of their use. Let Φ be a class of functions on the parameter space and consider estimating elements of Φ under quadratic loss. If the formal Bayes estimator of every function in Φ is admissible, then the prior is strongly admissible with respect to Φ. Eaton’s method for establishing strong admissibility is based on studying the stability properties of a particular Markov chain associated with the inferential setting. In previous work, this was handled differently depending upon whether ϕ ∈ Φ was bounded or unbounded. We consider a new Markov chain which allows us to unify and generalize existing approaches while simultaneously broadening the scope of their potential applicability. We use our general theory to investigate strong admissibility conditions for location models when the prior is Lebesgue measure and for the p-dimensional multivariate Normal distribution with unknown mean vector θ and a prior of the form ν(‖θ‖²)dθ
«Grey zone» of heart failure
The review is devoted to modern understanding of heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction. The formation of the paradigm of «two phenotypes» of heart failure began around the end of the last century. As a result of a number of large epidemiological studies on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, so-called «grey zone» of ejection fraction values was formed in the range of about 40-50%. This situation arose because of the lack of clearly established level of normal ejection fraction and underlines imperfection of this parameter as the only classification criterion. But no more convenient «tool» for research work was offered. In the past decade, «grey zone» of heart failure has been actively explored by clinical epidemiologists and clinicians. Should we classify these patients as one of the existing phenotypes of heart failure or present them as a new, separate phenotype? Both the first and second decisions require information about the population «portrait» of subgroup, about their response to treatment, and presumptive pathophysiological mechanisms of heart failure. In 2016 European society of cardiology guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure, heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction was determined as a separate subgroup to stimulate the search for such data. At the moment mid-range ejection fraction is known to be recorded in about 10-20% of patients with heart failure. They have substantial comorbidities as patients with preserved ejection fraction but the prevalence of ischemic heart disease in this subgroup makes it similar to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The response to treatment with beta-blockers and aldosterone antagonists is similar to that of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. It is important that the mortality rates in all three groups of patients are approximately the same. This circumstance underlines the importance of further searche. Perhaps the research of «grey zone» of the syndrome will help to better understand pathophysiology of the existing heart failure phenotypes and confirm the validity of their identification based on ejection fraction
Laplacian Growth and Whitham Equations of Soliton Theory
The Laplacian growth (the Hele-Shaw problem) of multi-connected domains in
the case of zero surface tension is proven to be equivalent to an integrable
systems of Whitham equations known in soliton theory. The Whitham equations
describe slowly modulated periodic solutions of integrable hierarchies of
nonlinear differential equations. Through this connection the Laplacian growth
is understood as a flow in the moduli space of Riemann surfaces.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, typos corrected, new references adde
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