The Distribution of the Domination Number of a Family of Random Interval Catch Digraphs

We study a new kind of proximity graphs called proportional-edge proximity catch digraphs (PCDs)in a randomized setting. PCDs are a special kind of random catch digraphs that have been developed recently and have applications in statistical pattern classification and spatial point pattern analysis. PCDs are also a special type of intersection digraphs; and for one-dimensional data, the proportional-edge PCD family is also a family of random interval catch digraphs. We present the exact (and asymptotic) distribution of the domination number of this PCD family for uniform (and non-uniform) data in one dimension. We also provide several extensions of this random catch digraph by relaxing the expansion and centrality parameters, thereby determine the parameters for which the asymptotic distribution is non-degenerate. We observe sudden jumps (from degeneracy to non-degeneracy or from a non-degenerate distribution to another) in the asymptotic distribution of the domination number at certain parameter values.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figure

A contingency table approach based on nearest neighbour relations for testing self and mixed correspondence

Nearest neighbour methods are employed for drawing inferences about spatial patterns of points from two or more classes. We introduce a new pattern called correspondence which is motivated by (spatial) niche/habitat specificity and segregation, and define an associated contingency table called a correspondence contingency table, and examine the relation of correspondence with the motivating patterns (namely, segregation and niche specificity). We propose tests based on the correspondence contingency table for testing self and mixed correspondence and determine the appropriate null hypotheses and the underlying conditions appropriate for these tests. We compare finite sample performance of the tests in terms of empirical size and power by extensive Monte Carlo simulations and illustrate the methods on two artificial data sets and one real-life ecological data set.Peer Reviewe

Segregation Indices for Disease Clustering

Spatial clustering has important implications in various fields. In particular, disease clustering is of major public concern in epidemiology. In this article, we propose the use of two distance-based segregation indices to test the significance of disease clustering among subjects whose locations are from a homogeneous or an inhomogeneous population. We derive their asymptotic distributions and compare them with other distance-based disease clustering tests in terms of empirical size and power by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The null pattern we consider is the random labeling (RL) of cases and controls to the given locations. Along this line, we investigate the sensitivity of the size of these tests to the underlying background pattern (e.g., clustered or homogenous) on which the RL is applied, the level of clustering and number of clusters, or differences in relative abundances of the classes. We demonstrate that differences in relative abundance has the highest impact on the empirical sizes of the tests. We also propose various non-RL patterns as alternatives to the RL pattern and assess the empirical power performance of the tests under these alternatives. We illustrate the methods on two real-life examples from epidemiology.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figures, 3 table

Nearest Neighbor Methods for Testing Reflexivity and Species-Correspondence

Nearest neighbor (NN) methods are employed for drawing inferences about spatial patterns of points from two or more classes. We consider Pielou's test of niche specificity which is defined using a contingency table based on the NN relationships between the data points. We demonstrate that Pielou's contingency table for niche specificity is actually more appropriate for testing reflexivity in NN structure, hence we call this table as NN reflexivity contingency table (NN-RCT) henceforth. We also derive an asymptotic approximation for the distribution of the entries of the NN-RCT and consider variants of Fisher's exact test on it. Moreover, we introduce a new test of class- or species-correspondence inspired by spatial niche/habitat specificity and the associated contingency table called species-correspondence contingency table (SCCT). We also determine the appropriate null hypotheses and the underlying conditions appropriate for these tests. We investigate the finite sample performance of the tests in terms of empirical size and power by extensive Monte Carlo simulations and the methods are illustrated on a real-life ecological data set.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figur