Comparison of Cox proportional hazards model,Cox proportional hazards with time-varying coefficients model,and lognormal accelerated failure time model:Application in time to event analysis of melioidosis patients

Objective:To compare the prognostic factors of mortality among melioidosis patients between lognormal accelerated failure time(AFT),Cox proportional hazards(PH),and Cox PH with time-varying coefficient(TVC)models.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted from 2014 to 2019 among 453 patients who were admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah,Kedah and Hospital Tuanku Fauziah,Perlis in Northern Malaysia due to confirmed-cultured melioidosis.The prognostic factors of mortality from melioidosis were obtained from AFT survival analysis,and Cox’s models and the findings were compared by using the goodness of fit methods.The analyses were done by using Stata SE version 14.0.Results:A total of 242 patients(53.4%)survived.In this study,the median survival time of melioidosis patients was 30.0 days(95%CI 0.0-60.9).Six significant prognostic factors were identified in the Cox PH model and Cox PH-TVC model.In AFT survival analysis,a total of seven significant prognostic factors were identified.The results were found to be only a slight difference between the identified prognostic factors among the models.AFT survival showed better results compared to Cox's models,with the lowest Akaike information criteria and best fitted Cox-snell residuals.Conclusions:AFT survival analysis provides more reliable results and can be used as an alternative statistical analysis for determining the prognostic factors of mortality in melioidosis patients in certain situations.

Concave Group Selection of Nonparameter Additive Accelerated Failure Time Model

In this paper, we have studied the nonparameter accelerated failure time (AFT) additive regression model, whose covariates have a nonparametric effect on high-dimensional censored data. We give the asymptotic property of the penalty estimator based on GMCP in the nonparameter AFT model.

Analysis of Numerical Simulation Results of LIPS-200 Lifetime Experiments

Accelerator grid structural and electron backstreaming failures are the most important factors affecting the ion thruster＇s lifetime.During the thruster＇s operation,Charge Exchange Xenon（CEX） ions are generated from collisions between plasma and neutral atoms.Those CEX ions grid＇s barrel and wall frequently,which cause the failures of the grid system.In order to validate whether the 20 cm Lanzhou Ion Propulsion System（LIPS-200） satisfies China＇s communication satellite platform＇s application requirement for North-South Station Keeping（NSSK）,this study analyzed the measured depth of the pit/groove on the accelerator grid＇s wall and aperture diameter＇s variation and estimated the operating lifetime of the ion thruster.Different from the previous method,in this paper,the experimental results after the 5500 h of accumulated operation of the LIPS-200 ion thruster are presented firstly.Then,based on these results,theoretical analysis and numerical calculations were firstly performed to predict the on-orbit lifetime of LIPS-200.The results obtained were more accurate to calculate the reliability and analyze the failure modes of the ion thruster.The results indicated that the predicted lifetime of LIPS-200＇s was about 13218.1 h which could satisfy the required lifetime requirement of 11000 h very well.

A Generalized Accelerated Failure Time Model to Predict Restoration Time from Power Outages

Major disasters such as wildfire, tornado, hurricane, tropical storm, and flooding cause disruptions in infrastructure systems such as power and water supply, wastewater management, telecommunication, and transportation facilities. Disruptions in electricity infrastructure have negative impacts on sectors throughout a region, including education, medical services,financial services, and recreation. In this study, we introduced a novel approach to investigate the factors that can be associated with longer restoration time of power service after a hurricane. Considering restoration time as the dependent variable and using a comprehensive set of county-level data, we estimated a generalized accelerated failure time(GAFT) model that accounts for spatial dependence among observations for time to event data. The model fit improved by 12% after considering the effects of spatial correlation in time to event data. Using the GAFT model and Hurricane Irma's impact on Florida as a case study, we examined:(1) differences in electric power outages and restoration rates among different types of power companies—investor-owned power companies, rural and municipal cooperatives;(2) the relationship between the duration of power outage and power system variables;and(3) the relationship between the duration of power outage and socioeconomic attributes. The findings of this study indicate that counties with a higher percentage of customers served by investor-owned electric companies and lower median household income faced power outage for a longer time. This study identified the key factors to predict restoration time of hurricane-induced power outages, allowing disaster management agencies to adopt strategies required for restoration process.

Semiparametric Bayesian Inference for Accelerated Failure Time Models with Errors-in-Covariates and Doubly Censored Data

This paper proposes a Bayesian semiparametric accelerated failure time model for doubly censored data with errors-in-covariates. The authors model the distributions of the unobserved covariates and the regression errors via the Dirichlet processes. Moreover, the authors extend the Bayesian Lasso approach to our semiparametric model for variable selection. The authors develop the Markov chain Monte Carlo strategies for posterior calculation. Simulation studies are conducted to show the performance of the proposed method. The authors also demonstrate the implementation of the method using analysis of PBC data and ACTG 175 data.

Regression Analysis of Interval-Censored Data with Informative Observation Times Under the Accelerated Failure Time Model

This paper discusses regression analysis of interval-censored failure time data arising from the accelerated failure time model in the presence of informative censoring.For the problem,a sieve maximum likelihood estimation approach is proposed and in the method,the copula model is employed to describe the relationship between the failure time of interest and the censoring or observation process.Also I-spline functions are used to approximate the unknown functions in the model,and a simulation study is carried out to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed approach and suggests that it works well in practical situations.In addition,an illustrative example is provided.

General relative error criterion and M-estimation

Relative error rather than the error itself is of the main interest in many practical applications. Criteria based on minimizing the sum of absolute relative errors （MRE） and the sum of squared relative errors （RLS） were proposed in the different areas. Motivated by K. Chen et al.＇s recent work [J. Amer. Statist. Assoc., 2010, 105： 1104-1112] on the least absolute relative error （LARE） estimation for the accelerated failure time （AFT） model, in this paper, we establish the connection between relative error estimators and the M-estimation in the linear model. This connection allows us to deduce the asymptotic properties of many relative error estimators （e.g., LARE） by the well-developed M-estimation theories. On the other hand, the asymptotic properties of some important estimators （e.g., MRE and RLS） cannot be established directly. In this paper, we propose a general relative error criterion （GREC） for estimating the unknown parameter in the AFT model. Then we develop the approaches to deal with the asymptotic normalities for M-estimators with differentiable loss functions on R or R／{0} in the linear model. The simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimates for the different scenarios. Illustration with a real data example is also provided.

Estimating Survival Treatment Effects with Covariate Adjustment Using Propensity Score

Propensity score is widely used to estimate treatment effects in observational studies.The covariate adjustment using propensity score is the most straightforward method in the literature of causal inference.In this article,we estimate the survival treatment effect with covariate adjustment using propensity score in the semiparametric accelerated failure time model.We establish the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator by simultaneous estimating equations.We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the finite sample performance of the proposed method.A real data set from the German Breast Cancer Study Group is analyzed to illustrate the proposed method.

Multistate Models for the Recovery Process in the Covid-19 Context:An Empirical Study of Chinese Enterprises

The Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected enterprises worldwide.It is thus of practical significance to study the process of enterprise recovery from Covid-19.However,the research on the effects of relevant determinants of business recovery is limited.This article presents a multistate modeling framework that considers the determinants,recovery time,and transition likelihood of Chinese enterprises by the state of those enterprises as a result of the pandemic(recovery state),with the help of an accelerated failure time model.Empirical data from 750 enterprises were used to evaluate the recovery process.The results indicate that the main problems facing non-manufacturing industries are supply shortages and order cancellations.With the increase of supplies and orders,the probability of transition between different recovery states gradually increases,and the recovery time of enterprises becomes shorter.For manufacturing industries,the factors that hinder recovery are more complex.The main problems are employee panic and order cancellations in the initial stage,employee shortages in the middle stage,and raw material shortages in the full recovery stage.This study can provide a reference for enterprise recovery in the current pandemic context and help policymakers and business managers take necessary measures to accelerate recovery.