A flexible regression model for diameter prediction

We propose nonparametric methods for functional linear regression which are designed for sparse longitudinal data, where both the predictor and response are functions of a covariate such as time. Predictor and response processes have smooth random trajectories, and the data consist of a small number of noisy repeated measurements made at irregular times for a sample of subjects. In longitudinal studies, the number of repeated measurements per subject is often small and may be modeled as a discrete random number and, accordingly, only a finite and asymptotically nonincreasing number of measurements are available for each subject or experimental unit. We propose a functional regression approach for this situation, using functional principal component analysis, where we estimate the functional principal component scores through conditional expectations. This allows the prediction of an unobserved response trajectory from sparse measurements of a predictor trajectory. The resulting technique is flexible and allows for different patterns regarding the timing of the measurements obtained for predictor and response trajectories. Asymptotic properties for a sample of n subjects are investigated under mild conditions, as n→∞, and we obtain consistent estimation for the regression function. Besides convergence results for the components of functional linear regression, such as the regression parameter function, we construct asymptotic pointwise confidence bands for the predicted trajectories. A functional coefficient of determination as a measure of the variance explained by the functional regression model is introduced, extending the standard R2 to the functional case. The proposed methods are illustrated with a simulation study, longitudinal primary biliary liver cirrhosis data and an analysis of the longitudinal relationship between blood pressure and body mass index.

Checking the adequacy of functional linear quantile regression model

In this paper, we consider rank estimation for partial functional linear regression models based on functional principal component analysis. The proposed rank-based method is robust to outliers in the errors and highly efficient under a wide range of error distributions. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators are established under some regularity conditions. A simulation study conducted to investigate the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators shows that the proposed rank method performs well. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is illustrated by means of an analysis of the Berkeley growth data.

We propose a nonlinear prediction (NOP) method for functional time series. Conventional methods for functional time series are mainly based on functional principal component analysis or functional regression models. These approaches rely on the stationary or linear assumption of the functional time series. However, real data sets are often nonstationary, and the temporal dependence between trajectories cannot be captured by linear models. Conventional methods are also hard to analyze multivariate functional time series. To tackle these challenges, the NOP method employs a nonlinear mapping for functional data that can be directly applied to multivariate functions without any preprocessing step. The NOP method constructs feature space with forecast information, hence it provides a better ground for predicting future trajectories. The NOP method avoids calculating covariance functions and enables online estimation and prediction. We examine the finite sample performance of the NOP method with simulation studies that consider linear, nonlinear and nonstationary functional time series. The NOP method shows superior prediction performances in comparison with the conventional methods. Three real applications demonstrate the advantages of the NOP method model in predicting air quality, electricity price and mortality rate.

Inference in functional linear quantile regression

The functional logit regression model was proposed by Escabias et al. (2004) with the objective of modeling a scalar binary response variable from a functional predictor. The model estimation proposed in that case was performed in a subspace of L2(T) of squared integrable functions of finite dimension, generated by a finite set of basis functions. For that estimation it was assumed that the curves of the functional predictor and the functional parameter of the model belong to the same finite subspace. The estimation so obtained was affected by high multicollinearity problems and the solution given to these problems was based on different functional principal component analysis. The logitFD package introduced here provides a toolbox for the fit of these models by implementing the different proposed solutions and by generalizing the model proposed in 2004 to the case of several functional and non-functional predictors. The performance of the functions is illustrated by using data sets of functional data included in the fda.usc package from R-CRAN.

Partially functional linear regression in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces

Learning from demonstration (LfD) has been confirmed to be an effective method for solving humanoid trajectory-planning problems under dynamic scenarios. Demonstrations, as functional data, can have coupled spatial and temporal features, which need to be treated carefully under the framework of functional data analysis. Previous studies in LfD use a separate pre-processing step to decouple spatial and temporal features. To fully utilize the intrinsic functional feature of demonstrations, an elastic method is used to extract their spatial and temporal features. Based on the decoupled spatial feature, a functional regression model is built to generate dynamic trajectories under varying task parameters. Experiments on a JACO-2 manipulator are conducted by performing different skills and fulfilling related tasks dynamically with new task-parameters. Results demonstrate that a category of humanoid LfD problems can be solved with a theoretically unified and applicable method.

Forecasting journey time distribution with consideration to abnormal traffic conditions

Data loss is a common problem of structural health monitoring and adversely affects many structural health monitoring applications. Tremendous progress in missing structural health monitoring data imputation has been made in recent years, forming an important part of sensor validation. Most of the imputed data are based on estimates obtained by data-driven statistical or machine learning models; quantifying their estimation uncertainties is significant in terms of being able to perform accuracy assessments and providing more insights into the imputed data. However, this procedure has been surprisingly neglected in the structural health monitoring community. This article focuses on uncertainty quantification for the distribution-to-warping function regression method (an indirect distribution-to-distribution regression method) used in reconstructing distributions of missing data. The distribution-to-warping function regression method belongs to the framework of functional data analysis as both the predictor and response are continuous functions. The challenge of performing uncertainty quantification for the distribution-to-warping function regression method comes not only from the functional nature of warping functions but also from their inherent constraints. To this end, a functional transformation is employed to transform warping functions into a vector space, and the confidence estimation for the regression operator is conducted in the vector space based on functional principal component analysis and bootstrapping. Then, the confidence region of the conditional expectation of missing distribution (caused by data loss) can be further estimated and visualized. In addition, a calibration processing procedure is also considered to obtain improved estimates of the confidence intervals with a better coverage accuracy under the desired probability. Simulation studies are conducted to validate and illustrate the proposed method, and then, it is applied to field strain monitoring data.

ABSTRACTIn a plant science Root Image Study, the process of seedling roots bending in response to gravity is recorded using digital cameras, and the bending rates are modeled as functional plant phenotype data. The functional phenotypes are collected from seeds representing a large variety of genotypes and have a three-level nested hierarchical structure, with seeds nested in groups nested in genotypes. The seeds are imaged on different days of the lunar cycle, and an important scientific question is whether there are lunar effects on root bending. We allow the mean function of the bending rate to depend on the lunar day and model the phenotypic variation between genotypes, groups of seeds imaged together, and individual seeds by hierarchical functional random effects. We estimate the covariance functions of the functional random effects by a fast penalized tensor product spline approach, perform multi-level functional principal component analysis (FPCA) using the best linear unbiased predictor of the principal component scores, and improve the efficiency of mean estimation by iterative decorrelation. We choose the number of principal components using a conditional Akaike information criterion and test the lunar day effect using generalized likelihood ratio test statistics based on the marginal and conditional likelihoods. We also propose a permutation procedure to evaluate the null distribution of the test statistics. Our simulation studies show that our model selection criterion selects the correct number of principal components with remarkably high frequency, and the likelihood-based tests based on FPCA have higher power than a test based on working independence. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Bootstrap in functional linear regression

The estimation of large functional and longitudinal data, which refers to the estimation of mean function, estimation of covariance function, and prediction of individual trajectory, is one of the most challenging problems in the field of high-dimensional statistics. Functional Principal Components Analysis (FPCA) and Functional Linear Mixed Model (FLMM) are two major statistical tools used to address the estimation of large functional and longitudinal data; however, the former suffers from a dramatically increasing computational burden while the latter does not have clear asymptotic properties. In this paper, we propose a computationally effective estimator of large functional and longitudinal data within the framework of FLMM, in which all the parameters can be automatically estimated. Under certain regularity assumptions, we prove that the mean function estimation and individual trajectory prediction reach the minimax lower bounds of all nonparametric estimations. Through numerous simulations and real data analysis, we show that our new estimator outperforms the traditional FPCA in terms of mean function estimation, individual trajectory prediction, variance estimation, covariance function estimation, and computational effectiveness.

Forecasting binary longitudinal data by a functional PC-ARIMA model

BackgroundEpistasis plays an essential rule in understanding the regulation mechanisms and is an essential component of the genetic architecture of the gene expressions. However, interaction analysis of gene expressions remains fundamentally unexplored due to great computational challenges and data availability. Due to variation in splicing, transcription start sites, polyadenylation sites, post-transcriptional RNA editing across the entire gene, and transcription rates of the cells, RNA-seq measurements generate large expression variability and collectively create the observed position level read count curves. A single number for measuring gene expression which is widely used for microarray measured gene expression analysis is highly unlikely to sufficiently account for large expression variation across the gene. Simultaneously analyzing epistatic architecture using the RNA-seq and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data poses enormous challenges.MethodsWe develop a nonlinear functional regression model (FRGM) with functional responses where the position-level read counts within a gene are taken as a function of genomic position, and functional predictors where genotype profiles are viewed as a function of genomic position, for epistasis analysis with RNA-seq data. Instead of testing the interaction of all possible pair-wises SNPs, the FRGM takes a gene as a basic unit for epistasis analysis, which tests for the interaction of all possible pairs of genes and use all the information that can be accessed to collectively test interaction between all possible pairs of SNPs within two genome regions.ResultsBy large-scale simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed FRGM for epistasis analysis can achieve the correct type 1 error and has higher power to detect the interactions between genes than the existing methods. The proposed methods are applied to the RNA-seq and WGS data from the 1000 Genome Project. The numbers of pairs of significantly interacting genes after Bonferroni correction identified using FRGM, RPKM and DESeq were 16,2361, 260 and 51, respectively, from the 350 European samples.ConclusionsThe proposed FRGM for epistasis analysis of RNA-seq can capture isoform and position-level information and will have a broad application. Both simulations and real data analysis highlight the potential for the FRGM to be a good choice of the epistatic analysis with sequencing data.