A continuum structure function γ is a non-decreasing mapping from the unit hypercube to the unit interval. Minimal path (cut) sets of upper (lower) simple continuum structure functions are introduced and are used to determine bounds on the distribution of γ (Χ) when X is a vector of associated random variables and when γ is right (left)-continuous. It is shown that, if γ admits of a modular decomposition, improved bounds may be obtained.

Regression analysis with stationary errors is extended to the case when observations are not equally spaced. The errors are modelled as either a discrete-time ARMA process with missing observations, or as a continuous-time autoregression with observational error observed at arbitrary times. Using a state-space representation, a Kalman filter is used to calculate the exact likelihood. The linear regression coefficients are separated out of the likelihood so non-linear optimization is required only with respect to the parameters modelling the error structure.

A system is subject to shocks. Each shock weakens the system and makes it more expensive to run. It is desirable to determine a replacement time for the system. Boland and Proschan [4] consider periodic replacement of the system and give sufficient conditions for the existence of an optimal finite period, assuming that the shock process is a non-homogeneous Poisson process and the cost structure does not depend on time. Block et al. [3] establish similar results assuming that cost structure is time dependent, still requiring that the shock process is a non-homogeneous Poisson process. We show via a sample path argument that the results of [3] and [4] hold for any counting process whose jump size is of one unit magnitude.

Using a coupling technique, rates of convergence in total variation of certain k -dimensional diffusion processes to the stationary distribution are obtained. The results place assumptions only on the coefficients of the elliptic differential operator governing the diffusion.

We extend some results of the extreme-value theory of stationary random sequences to non-stationary random sequences. The extremal index, defined in the stationary case, plays a similar role in the extended case. The details show that this index describes not only the behaviour of exceedances above a high level but also above a non-constant high boundary.

In the situations where restrictions on the multivariate subset AR model are known, we propose methods of providing suitable standard errors of estimate and prediction which assist in assessing the importance of the coefficients appearing the ‘derived' moving-average (MA) model. The coefficient patterns of the derived moving-average model are proposed as an alternative basis for detecting Granger-causality.

The process of interest is a controlled random walk in two dimensions: whenever the walker is above the main diagonal, the next increment to his position is chosen from a distribution FA; whenever the walker is below the diagonal, the next increment comes from another distribution FB. The two distributions have mean vectors which tend to push the walker back toward the diagonal. We analyze the problem of first passage to the first quadrant, obtaining explicit representations for the limiting first-entry distribution and expected first-passage time.

We consider tandem queues which have a general arrival process. The queueing system consists of s (s ≧ 2) single-server service stations and the servers have exponential service-time distributions. Firstly we give a new proof for the fact that the departure process does not depend on the particular allocation of the servers to the stations. Secondly, considering the service rates, we prove that the departure process becomes stochastically faster as the homogeneity of the servers increases in the sense of a given condition. It turns out that, given the sum of the service rates, the departure process is stochastically fastest in the case where the servers are homogeneous.

In this paper a planar random motion governed by the two-dimensional telegraph equation is presented. It is proved that the particle performing motion is at any time t within a circle centred at the starting point and with radius . The explicit density of the particle position is obtained. Results concerning the trend of motion are also given.

This paper describes the computer simulation of a coverage problem in geometric probability, that of placing random caps on the surface of a sphere. The simulation results were compared with exact values, where known, and the differences were negligible. This suggested the use of simulation results to assess several approximation formulas in the literature.

Dynamic stationary models for mixed time series and cross-section data are studied. The models are of simple, standard form except that the unknown coefficients are not assumed constant over the cross-section; instead, each cross-sectional unit draws a parameter set from an infinite population. The models are framed in continuous time, which facilitates the handling of irregularly-spaced series, and observation times that vary over the cross-section, and covers also standard cases in which observations at the same regularly-spaced times are available for each unit. A variety of issues are considered, in particular stationarity and distributional questions, inference about the parameter distributions, and the behaviour of cross-sectionally aggregated data.

The transition p.d.f. for a one-dimensional Rayleigh process in the presence of an absorption condition or a zero-flux condition in the origin is obtained in closed form. The first-passage-time problem through an arbitrary constant boundary is then considered and the moment-generating function is determined. In some particular cases the first-passage-time p.d.f. is explicitly derived. Use of some of these results is finally made to obtain the transition p.d.f. of the affine drift-linear infinitesimal-variance diffusion process when the origin is an entrance or a regular boundary in the presence of a reflection condition.

We present sufficient conditions for the weak convergence of the distributions of the kth order statistics from a conditionally mixing array of random variables to limit laws which are represented in terms of a mixed compound Poisson distribution.

We find a ‘natural' measure on the set of convex infinite cylinders touching a convex body K in En. Using the curvature measures, we can calculate the probability that a convex infinite cylinder and a convex body K are tangent in some previously determined regions. As a particular case we obtain a measure on all q-planes touching K.

Move-to-front and move-to-back heuristics are considered for adaptively reordering routing tables in communications networks. Limiting properties are established for Markov chain models of these heuristics. The limiting distributions of the number of path attempts per call for the two heuristics and for a fixed random permutation are stochastically ordered.

Here we introduce two simple models: simple cubic random packing and random packing by Hamming distance. Consider the packing density γ d of dimension d by cubic random packing. From computer simulations up to dimension 11, γ d+1/γ d seems to approach 1. Also, we give simulation results for random packing by Hamming distance and discuss the behavior of packing density when dimensionality is increased. For the case of Hamming distances of 2 or 3, d–α fits the simulation results of packing density where α is an empirical constant. The variance of packing density is larger when k is even and smaller when k is odd, where k represents Hamming distance.

This paper investigates a system whose deterioration is expressed as a continuous-time Markov process. It is assumed that the state of the system cannot be identified without inspection. This paper derives an optimal policy minimizing the expected total long-run average cost per unit time. It gives the optimal time interval between successive inspections and determines the states at which the system is to be replaced. Furthermore, under some reasonable assumptions reflecting the practical meaning of the deterioration, it is shown that the optimal policy has monotonic properties. A control limit rule holds for replacement, and the time interval between successive inspections decreases as the degree of deterioration increases.

The relationship between consistency of model selection and that of parameter estimation is investigated. It is shown that the consistency of model selection is achieved at the cost of a lower order of consistency of the resulting estimate of parameters in some domain. The situation is different when selecting autoregressive moving average models, since the information matrix becomes singular when overfitted. Some detailed analyses of the consistency are given in this case.

This paper extends a result of Godambe's theory of parametric estimation for discrete-time stochastic processes to the continuous-time case. Let P ={P} be a family of probability measures such that (Ω, F, P) is complete, (Ft, t≧0) is a standard filtration, and X = (Xt Ft, t ≧ 0) is a semimartingale for every P ∈ P. For a parameter θ (Ρ), suppose Xt = Vt,θ + Ht,θ where the Vθ process is predictable and locally of bounded variation and the Hθ process is a local martingale. Consider estimating equations for θ of the form process is predictable. Under regularity conditions, an optimal form for α θ in the sense of Godambe (1960) is determined. When Vt,θ is linear in θ the optimal , corresponds to certain maximum likelihood or least squares estimates derived previously in special cases. Asymptotic properties of , are discussed.

Expressions are derived for the expected waiting times for the customers of two types who arrive in batches (in a compound Poisson fashion) at a single-server queueing station with no waiting room. Those who cannot get served immediately keep returning to the system after random exponential amounts of time until they get served. The result is shown to agree with similar results for three special cases studied in the literature.