Parameter Estimation for Two Logistic Populations with Fuzzy Data: A Comparative Study of MLE and Bayesian Methods

The Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) algorithm is a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, which combines the advantages of Hamiltonian dynamics methods and Metropolis Monte Carlo approach, to sample from complex distributions. The HMC algorithm incorporates gradient information in the dynamic trajectories and thus suppresses the random walk nature in traditional Markov chain simulation methods. This ensures rapid mixing, faster convergence, and improved efficiency of the Markov chain. The leapfrog method is generally used in discrete simulation of the dynamic transitions. In this paper, we refer to this as the leapfrog–HMC. The primary goal of this paper is to present the HMC algorithm as a tool for rapid sampling of high dimensional and complex distributions, and demonstrate its advantages over the classical Metropolis Monte Carlo technique. We demonstrate that the use of an adaptive–step discretization scheme in simulating the dynamic transitions results in an algorithm which significantly outperforms the leapfrog–HMC algorithm. Relevance to reservoir parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification will be discussed.

We apply the hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC) algorithm to the financial time sires analysis of the stochastic volatility (SV) model for the first time. The HMC algorithm is used for the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) update of volatility variables of the SV model in the Bayesian inference. We compute parameters of the SV model from the artificial financial data and compare the results from the HMC algorithm with those from the Metropolis algorithm. We find that the HMC decorrelates the volatility variables faster than the Metropolis algorithm. We also make an empirical analysis based on the Yen/Dollar exchange rates.

Estimation under equality restrictions is an age old problem and has been considered by several researchers in the past due to practical applications and theoretical challenges involved in it. Particularly, the problem has been extensively studied from classical as well as decision theoretic point of view when the underlying distribution is normal. In this paper, we consider the problem when the underlying distribution is non-normal, say, logistic. Specifically, estimation of the common scale parameter of two logistic populations has been considered when the location parameters are unknown. It is observed that closed forms of the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) for the associated parameters do not exist. Using certain numerical techniques the MLEs have been derived. The asymptotic confidence intervals have been derived numerically too, as these also depend on the MLEs. Approximate Bayes estimators are proposed using non-informative as well as conjugate priors with respect to the squared error (SE) and the LINEX loss functions. A simulation study has been conducted to evaluate the proposed estimators and compare their performances through mean squared error (MSE) and bias. Finally, two real life examples have been considered in order to show the potential applications of the proposed model and illustrate the method of estimation.

This article reviews the Bayesian inference with the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) and the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) samplers as a competitor of the classical likelihood statistical inference for pharmacometricians. The MCMC and the HMC samplers have greatly contributed to realization of the Bayesian methods with minimal requirement of mathematical theory. They do not require any closed form of the posterior density nor linear approximation of complex nonlinear models in high dimension even with non-conjugate priors. The HMC even weakens the dependency of the chain and improves computational efficiency. Pharmacometrics is one of great beneficiaries since they use complex multivariate multilevel nonlinear mixed effects models based on the restricted maximum likelihood estimation. Comprehension of the Bayesian approach will help pharmacometricians to access the data analysis more conveniently.

Event Abstract Back to Event Statistical uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of intracellular signaling models - through approximate Bayesian computation and variance based global sensitivity analysis Olivia Eriksson1, 2*, Alexandra Jauhiainen1, 3, Sara Maad Sasane4, Anu G Nair5, Carolina Sartorius4 and Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski2, 5, 6 1 Contributed equally to this work, Sweden 2 Stockholm University, Department of Numerical Analysis and Computer Science, Sweden 3 AstraZeneca AB R&D, Early Clinical Biometrics, Sweden 4 Lund University, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Sweden 5 KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Computer Science and Communication, Sweden 6 Karolinska Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Sweden Computational dynamical models describing intracellular signaling pathways of nerve cells are increasing in size and complexity as more information is obtained from experiments. Models describing protein interactions within neurons can contain over hundred protein reactions [1, 2]. These models are built from knowledge about the interaction topology, inferred from e.g. gene knock-out experiments, as well as from experimental quantitative data describing the input-output relationship of the observed system. The quantitative data are often sparse as compared to the size of the system, and translating the experimental information into dynamical models often results in large uncertainties in the parameter (e.g reaction rates) values. This uncertainty is partly due to the sparseness in experimental time series data (practical unidentifiability), but it is also an intrinsic feature of the modeled system (structural unidentifiability) and could reflect the possibility for biological variation [3]; in many biological systems the same function can be achieved in partly different ways due to degeneracy and redundancy. Here we investigate the extent of this parameter uncertainty, in a model describing calcium (Ca)-dependent activation of Calmodulin (CaM), Protein phosphatase 2B (PP2B) and Ca/CaM-dependent protein kinase II (CamKII) [4], which is an intracellular pathway of importance to synaptic plasticity. We presume that the structure of the model is correct and then characterize the uncertainty in the parameters based on data. This is done by sampling the subspace of parameter values which has an equally good fit to data (corresponding to the “viable space” in [5]), through a statistical approach known as Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) [6]. ABC has been proposed for parameter estimation in system biology models previously, albeit in slightly different settings, e.g. [7, 8], and can be applied to a wide range of problems. In order to characterize the viable space efficiently with several experimental datasets, we employ multivariate probability distributions called copulas as a part of the ABC sampling. The result is a multivariate posterior distribution for the parameters, which represents how much they are constrained by the data (i.e. the uncertainty) as illustrated in Figure 1 (pairwise plots of viable space for four parameters indicating constraints and dependencies before and after calibration to data). The next step is to look into how the parameter uncertainty is translated to uncertainty of the predictions made from the model. We also investigate the role and importance of different parameters, with respect to different model outputs including the predictions, by means of global sensitivity analysis [9]. Figure 2 illustrates the sensitivity of one of the outputs calculated by a method based on the decomposition of the variance [10, 11, 12], showing different types of sensitivity measures. Finally, we explore how the sensitivity of different subsets of parameters change as different parts of the viable space are investigated, which is shown in Figure 3, where sensitivity profiles are clustered into groups with different sensitivity characteristics. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Acknowledgements This research was supported by funding from the Swedish e-Science Research Centre and the Human Brain Project References [1] Gutierrez-Arenas O, Eriksson O, Hellgren Kotaleski J (2014) Segregation and Crosstalk of D1 Receptor-Mediated Activation of ERK in Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons upon Acute Administration of Psychostimulants. PLoS Comput Biol 10, e1003445. [2] Nair AG, Gutierrez-Arenas O, Eriksson O, Vincent P, and Hellgren Kotaleski J (2015) Sensing Positive versus Negative Reward Signals through Adenylyl Cyclase-Coupled GPCRs in Direct and Indirect Pathway Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons. J. Neuroscience 35, 14017-14030. [3] Marder E, Goeritz ML, Otopalik AG (2015) Robust circuit rhythms in small circuits arise from variable circuit components and mechanisms. Curr Opin Neurobiol 31, 156-163. [4] Nair AG, Gutierrez-Arenas O, Eriksson O, Jauhiainen A, Blackwell KT and Kotaleski, JH (2014). Modeling intracellular signaling underlying striatal function in health and disease. Progress in molecular biology and translational science, 123, 277 [5] Zamora-Sillero E, Hafner M, Ibig A, Stelling J, and Wagner, A. (2011). Efficient characterization of high-dimensional parameter spaces for systems biology. BMC systems biology 5, 142. [6] Marjoram P, Molitor J, Plagnol V, and Tavare S (2003) Markov chain Monte Carlo without likelihoods. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 15324–15328. [7] Toni T, Welch D, Strelkowa N, Ipsen A, and Stumpf MP. Approximate Bayesian computation scheme for parameter inference and model selection in dynamical systems. J R Soc Interface, 6, 187–202. [8] Liepe J, Kirk P, Filippi S, Toni T, Barnes CP, and Stumpf MP. A framework for parameter estimation and model selection from experimental data in systems biology using approximate Bayesian computation. Nat Protoc, 9, 439–456. [9] Saltelli A, Ratto M, Andres T, Campolongo F, Cariboni J, Gatelli D, Saisana M, Tarantola S Global sensitivity analysis: the primer. In Wiley 2008 New York, NY:Wiley. [10] Sobol IM (2001) Global sensitivity indices for nonlinear mathematical models and their Monte Carlo estimates, Math. Comput. Simul. 55, 271–280. [11] Saltelli A (2002) Making best use of model evaluations to compute sensitivity indices. Comp Phys Comm 145, 280 – 297. [12] Halnes G, Ulfhielm E Ljunggren EE, Kotaleski JH and Rospars JP (2009) Modelling and sensitivity analysis of the reactions involving receptor, G-protein and effector in vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons. Journal of computational neuroscience 27, 471-491. Keywords: sensitivity analysis, Approximate Bayesian Computation, copulas, intracellular signalling, Dynamical Modeling, global sensitivity analysis, Markov chain Monte Carlo, variance decomposition Conference: Neuroinformatics 2016, Reading, United Kingdom, 3 Sep - 4 Sep, 2016. Presentation Type: Investigator presentations Topic: Computational neuroscience Citation: Eriksson O, Jauhiainen A, Maad Sasane S, Nair A, Sartorius C and Hellgren Kotaleski J (2016). Statistical uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of intracellular signaling models - through approximate Bayesian computation and variance based global sensitivity analysis. Front. Neuroinform. Conference Abstract: Neuroinformatics 2016. doi: 10.3389/conf.fninf.2016.20.00014 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 31 May 2016; Published Online: 18 Jul 2016. * Correspondence: PhD. Olivia Eriksson, Contributed equally to this work, Stockholm, Sweden, olivia@kth.se Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Olivia Eriksson Alexandra Jauhiainen Sara Maad Sasane Anu G Nair Carolina Sartorius Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski Google Olivia Eriksson Alexandra Jauhiainen Sara Maad Sasane Anu G Nair Carolina Sartorius Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski Google Scholar Olivia Eriksson Alexandra Jauhiainen Sara Maad Sasane Anu G Nair Carolina Sartorius Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski PubMed Olivia Eriksson Alexandra Jauhiainen Sara Maad Sasane Anu G Nair Carolina Sartorius Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Using a class of claim distributions, we introduce the Weibull claim distribution, which is a new extension of the Weibull distribution with three parameters. The maximum likelihood estimation method is used to estimate the three unknown parameters, and the asymptotic confidence intervals and bootstrap confidence intervals are constructed. In addition, we obtained the Bayesian estimates of the unknown parameters of the Weibull claim distribution under the squared error and linear exponential function (LINEX) and the general entropy loss function. Since the Bayes estimators cannot be obtained in closed form, we compute the approximate Bayes estimates via the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure. By analyzing the two data sets, the applicability and capabilities of the Weibull claim model are illustrated. The fatigue life of a particular type of Kevlar epoxy strand subjected to a fixed continuous load at a pressure level of 90% until the strand fails data set was analyzed.

Timely detection of localised COVID-19 surges is essential for targeting limited health resources, yet most routine surveillance algorithms ignore spatial dependence and many Bayesian spatio-temporal models are computationally demanding. Evidence on Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) performance for outbreak detection in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings remains limited. We applied a Bayesian spatio-temporal hidden Markov model (HMM) to South African COVID-19 hospital mortality, comparing data-augmented Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) with dynamic HMC. We conducted a retrospective ecological time-series study of in-hospital COVID- 19 deaths across 52 districts over 28 months (March 2020-June 2022), using national hospital surveillance linked to district-level health-system and population indicators. Death counts were modelled with a Poisson log-linear specification incorporating a smooth temporal trend, cyclic seasonality, spatial smoothing, and selected covariates, offset by expected deaths from admissions and a case-fatality ratio. Outbreaks were represented by a two-state HMM with latent indicators integrated out analytically and estimated via dynamic HMC in Stan. Eight candidate models were ranked using marginal likelihoods; the preferred model was re-fitted with both samplers to compare runtime, ESS, and convergence. A spatial HMM with marginalised outbreak states was strongly favoured over nonoutbreak and threshold-based alternatives. Posterior outbreak probabilities reproduced the four recognised national waves while revealing marked district-level heterogeneity, with early intense outbreaks in Western Cape and Gauteng districts and later peaks inland. Outbreaks were short-lived (mean around three months), and residual spatial risks indicated persistent excess mortality in the Eastern Cape and Free State. Dynamic HMC and MCMC yielded similar outbreak probability surfaces; however, HMC produced substantially larger ESS 1 (approximately 5,000 versus 63) and near-ideal convergence, whereas MCMC showed poor mixing. ESS per second was similar, so HMC's extra computation yielded more informative samples. A Bayesian spatio-temporal HMM fitted with dynamic HMC delivers coherent, spatially resolved outbreak probabilities and captures short-lived district-level mortality surges within broader national waves. Despite greater computational intensity, dynamic HMC offers superior mixing and convergence and is preferable for routine surveillance when adequate computing resources are available. The framework is transferable to other routinely collected surveillance data in South Africa and similar LMIC settings.

The analysis of lifetime data under censoring schemes plays a vital role in reliability studies and survival analysis, where complete information is often difficult to obtain. This work focuses on the estimation of the parameters of the recently proposed generalized Kavya–Manoharan exponential (GKME) distribution under progressive Type-I interval censoring, a censoring scheme that frequently arises in medical and industrial life-testing experiments. Estimation procedures are developed under both classical and Bayesian paradigms, providing a comprehensive framework for inference. In the Bayesian setting, parameter estimation is carried out using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques under two distinct loss functions: the squared error loss function (SELF) and the general entropy loss function (GELF). For interval estimation, asymptotic confidence intervals as well as highest posterior density (HPD) credible intervals are constructed. The performance of the proposed estimators is systematically evaluated through a Monte Carlo simulation study in terms of mean squared error (MSE) and the average lengths of the interval estimates. The practical usefulness of the developed methodology is further demonstrated through the analysis of a real dataset on survival times of guinea pigs exposed to virulent tubercle bacilli. The findings indicate that the proposed methods provide flexible and efficient tools for analyzing progressively interval-censored lifetime data.

저수분석(low flow analysis)은 수자원공학에서 중요한 분야 중 하나이며, 특히 저수량 빈도분석(low flow frequency analysis)의 결과는 저수(貯水)용량의 설계, 물 수급계획, 오염원의 배치 및 관개와 생태계의 보존을 위한 수량과 수질의 관리에 중요하게 사용된다. 그러므로 본 연구에서는 저수량 빈도분석을 위한 점 빈도분석을 수행하였으며, 특히 빈도분석에 있어서의 불확실성을 탐색하기 위하여 Bayesian 방법을 적용하고 그 결과를 기존에 사용되던 불확실성 탐색방법과 비교하였다. 본 논문의Ⅰ편에서는 Bayesian 방법 중 사전분포(prior distribution)와 우도함수(likelihood function)의 복잡성에 상관없이 계산이 가능한 Bayesian MCMC(Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo) 방법과 Metropolis-Hastings 알고리즘을 사용하기 위한 여러 과정의 이론적 배경과 Bayesian 방법에서 가장 중요한 요소인 사전분포를 구축하고 이를 비교 및 평가하였다. 고려된 사전분포는 자료에 기반하지 않은 사전분포와 자료에 기반한 사전분포로써 두 사전분포를 이용하여 Metropolis-Hastings 알고리즘을 수행하고 그 결과를 비교하여 저수량 빈도분석에 합리적인 사전분포를 선정하였다. 또한 알고리즘의 수행과정에서 필요한 제안분포(proposal distribution)를 적용하여 그에 따른 알고리즘의 효율성을 채택률(acceptance rate)을 산정하여 검증해 보았다. 사전분포의 분석 결과, 자료에 기반한 사전분포가 자료에 기반하지 않은 사전분포보다 정확성 및 불확실성의 표현에 있어서 우수한 결과를 제시하는 것을 확인할 수 있었고, 채택률을 이용한 알고리즘의 효용성 역시 기존 연구자들이 제시하였던 만족스러운 범위를 가지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 최종적으로 선정된 사전분포는 본 연구의 II편에서 Bayesian MCMC방법의 사전분포로 이용되었으며, 그 결과를 기존 불확실성의 추정방법의 하나인 2차 근사식을 이용한 최우추정(maximum likelihood estimation)방법의 결과와 비교하였다. The low flow analysis is an important part in water resources engineering. Also, the results of low flow frequency analysis can be used for design of reservoir storage, water supply planning and design, waste-load allocation, and maintenance of quantity and quality of water for irrigation and wild life conservation. Especially, for identification of the uncertainty in frequency analysis, the Bayesian approach is applied and compared with conventional methodologies in at-site low flow frequency analysis. In the first manuscript, the theoretical background for the Bayesian MCMC (Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo) method and Metropolis-Hasting algorithm are studied. Two types of the prior distribution, a non-data- based and a data-based prior distributions are developed and compared to perform the Bayesian MCMC method. It can be suggested that the results of a data-based prior distribution is more effective than those of a non-data-based prior distribution. The acceptance rate of the algorithm is computed to assess the effectiveness of the developed algorithm. In the second manuscript, the Bayesian MCMC method using a data-based prior distribution and MLE(Maximum Likelihood Estimation) using a quadratic approximation are performed for the at-site low flow frequency analysis.

Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) is used to estimate unknown parameter values, as well as their uncertainties, in Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations of turbulent flows. The ABC method approximates posterior distributions of model parameters, but does not require the direct computation, or estimation, of a likelihood function. This method thus enables relatively simple and flexible parameter estimation for complex models and a wide range of reference data. This paper describes the ABC approach, including the use of a calibration step, adaptive proposal, and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique to accelerate the parameter estimation, resulting in an ABC approach with improved MCMC, denoted ABC-IMCMC. As a test of the classic ABC rejection algorithm and ABC-IMCMC, parameters are estimated in a nonequilibrium RANS model using reference data from direct numerical simulations of periodically sheared homogeneous turbulence. The use of ABC-IMCMC is then demonstrated to estimate parameters in the Menter shear-stress-transport (SST) model using experimental reference data for an axisymmetric transonic bump. This paper shows that the accuracy of the SST model for this test case can be improved using ABC-IMCMC, indicating that ABC-IMCMC is a promising method for the calibration of RANS models using a wide range of reference data.

Recent catastrophic failures of the rocket motor on a US missile caused concern in the US Navy that the missile might not be serviceable past its estimated service life of 20 years. This paper analyzes nearly 2000 firings of the motor under field conditions using classical maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) methods and Bayesian methods. MLE methods indicate that there could be less than a 1% chance that the motor will survive past 20 years of life and are not considered credible. Bayesian methods indicate that there is better than a 99% chance that the motors will survive past 20 years of life. The authors present reasons for preferring the Bayesian analysis and discuss testing schemes for more precise estimates. They comment on the lack of data to perform degradation analysis as a function of temperature cycling for the motor and make recommendations for future missile system data collection.

<div>We present a framework to solve geophysical inverse problems using the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) method, with a focus on Bayesian tomography. Recent work in the geophysical community has shown the potential for gradient-based Monte Carlo sampling for a wide range of inverse problems across several fields.</div><div> </div><div>Many high-dimensional (non-linear) problems in geophysics have readily accessible gradient information which is unused in classical probabilistic inversions. Using HMC is a way to help improve traditional Monte Carlo sampling while increasing the scalability of inference problems, allowing access to uncertainty quantification for problems with many free parameters (>10'000). The result of HMC sampling is a collection of models representing the posterior probability density function, from which not only "best" models can be inferred, but also uncertainties and potentially different plausible scenarios, all compatible with the observed data. However, the amount of tuning parameters required by HMC, as well as the complexity of existing statistical modeling software, has limited the geophysical community in widely adopting a specific tool for performing efficient large-scale Bayesian inference.</div><div> </div><div>This work attempts to make a step towards filling that gap by providing an HMC sampler tailored for geophysical inverse problems (by e.g. supplying relevant priors and visualizations) combined with a set of different forward models, ranging from elastic and acoustic wave propagation to magnetic anomaly modeling, traveltimes, etc.. The framework is coded in the didactic but performant languages Julia and Python, with the possibility for the user to combine their own forward models, which are linked to the sampler routines by proper interfaces. In this way, we hope to illustrate the usefulness and potential of HMC in Bayesian inference. Tutorials featuring an array of physical experiments are written with the aim of both showcasing Bayesian inference and successful HMC usage. It additionally includes examples on how to speed up HMC e.g. with automated tuning techniques and GPU computations.</div>

Appropriate models in biostatistics are often quite complicated. Such models are typically most easily fit using Bayesian methods, which can often be implemented using simulation techniques. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are an important set of tools for such simulations. We give an overview and references of this rapidly emerging technology along with a relatively simple example. MCMC techniques can be viewed as extensions of iterative maximization techniques, but with random jumps rather than maximizations at each step. Special care is needed when implementing iterative maximization procedures rather than closed-form methods, and even more care is needed with iterative simulation procedures: it is substantially more difficult to monitor convergence to a distribution than to a point. The most reliable implementations of MCMC build upon results from simpler models fit using combinations of maximization algorithms and noniterative simulations, so that the user has a rough idea of the location and scale of the posterior distribution of the quantities of interest under the more complicated model. These concerns with implementation, however, should not deter the biostatistician from using MCMC methods, but rather help to ensure wise use of these powerful techniques.

In this article, the estimation of the parameters and the reliability and hazard functions for Weibull inverted exponential (WIE) distribution is considered based on progressive first-failure censoring (PFFC) data. For non-Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood (ML) estimators are acquired; meanwhile, their existence is verified. Via asymptotic normality of ML estimators and delta method, the corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) of the parameters and the reliability and hazard functions are constructed. For Bayesian inference, Lindley’s approximation and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques are proposed to obain the Bayes estimators and the corresponding credible intervals (CRIs). To this end, both symmetric and asymmetric loss functions are used. A large number of Monte Carlo simulations are implemented to evaluate the efficiency of the developed methods. Eventually, a numerical example is analyzed for illustrative purposes.

It is known that various types of location privacy attacks can be carried out using a personalized transition matrix that is learned for each target user, or a population transition matrix that is common to all target users. However, since many users disclose only a small amount of location information in their daily lives, the training data can be extremely sparse. The aim of this paper is to clarify the risk of location privacy attacks in this realistic situation. To achieve this aim, we propose a learning method that uses tensor factorization (or matrix factorization) to accurately estimate personalized transition matrices (or a population transition matrix) from a small amount of training data. To avoid the difficulty in directly factorizing the personalized transition matrices (or population transition matrix), our learning method first factorizes a transition count tensor (or matrix), whose elements are the number of transition counts that the user has made, and then normalizes counts to probabilities. We focus on a localization attack, which derives an actual location of a user at a given time instant from an obfuscated trace, and compare our learning method with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method in both the personalized matrix mode and the population matrix mode. The experimental results using four real data sets show that the ML estimation method performs only as well as a random guess in many cases, while our learning method significantly outperforms the ML estimation method in all of the four data sets.