Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2102.13287

Exploring the space-time pattern of log-transformed infectious count of COVID-19: a clustering-segmented autoregressive sigmoid model

Xiaoping Shi·Meiqian Chen·Yucheng Dong
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

At the end of April 20, 2020, there were only a few new COVID-19 cases remaining in China, whereas the rest of the world had shown increases in the number of new cases. It is of extreme importance to develop an efficient statistical model of COVID-19 spread, which could help in the global fight against the virus. We propose a clustering-segmented autoregressive sigmoid (CSAS) model to explore the space-time pattern of the log-transformed infectious count. Four key characteristics are included in this CSAS model, including unknown clusters, change points, stretched S-curves, and autoregressive terms, in order to understand how this outbreak is spreading in time and in space, to understand how the spread is affected by epidemic control strategies, and to apply the model to updated data from an extended period of time. We propose a nonparametric graph-based clustering method for discovering dissimilarity of the curve time series in space, which is justified with theoretical support to demonstrate how the model works under mild and easily verified conditions. We propose a very strict purity score that penalizes overestimation of clusters. Simulations show that our nonparametric graph-based clustering method is faster and more accurate than the parametric clustering method regardless of the size of data sets. We provide a Bayesian information criterion (BIC) to identify multiple change points and calculate a confidence interval for a mean response. By applying the CSAS model to the collected data, we can explain the differences between prevention and control policies in China and selected countries.

Explore related subjects

stat.MEstat.APstat.CO

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Xiaoping Shi, Meiqian Chen, Yucheng Dong. 2021-02-26. Exploring the space-time pattern of log-transformed infectious count of COVID-19: a clustering-segmented autoregressive sigmoid model. https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.13287

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Surprise Reduction and Nullification in Bayesian and Inverse Bayesian Inference under Ambiguous Prediction-Error Attribution

In non-stationary environments, prediction errors may signal environmental change or transient outliers, and adaptive systems must track such changes without overreacting to outliers. We distinguish surprise reduction, which updates beliefs to fit observations, from surprise nullification, which weakens constraints imposed by the predictive structure, and formalize both within Bayesian and inverse Bayesian (BIB) inference. Belief and likelihood updates are derived from variational objectives sharing a nullification strength, determined endogenously by minimizing surprise under the candidate post-update predictive distribution. In the Gaussian case, nullification expands belief and likelihood variances by a common factor relative to standard Bayesian updating, leaving the ratio unchanged. BIB thus defers attribution of the prediction error, committing to neither latent-state change nor observation-process uncertainty. The nullification strength is carried over as a candidate and is maintained or released according to the predictive surprise of the next observation. In a mean estimation task with outliers and changepoints, no scanned parameter setting of a Sage-Husa-type adaptive Kalman filter, fixed-strength BIB variant, or belief-forgetting-only variant outperforms BIB in both changepoint tracking and post-outlier stability. An oracle-informed reduced Bayesian model tracks changepoints better but is less stable after outliers. Although BIB maintains no explicit hypotheses about changepoints or outliers, it generates event-dependent dynamics. The learning rate increases after changepoints, whereas after outliers, nullification is released, and this increase is suppressed. Deferring attribution and letting subsequent observations differentiate the responses may constitute a principle of adaptive inference in non-stationary environments.

stat.ME↗
arXiv2026

Generalized Ridge Refitting for the Lasso and Prediction Improvement Bounds

We study a class of Lasso based estimators obtained by applying a quadratic correction on the Lasso equicorrelation set. The penalty matrix determines both the magnitude and geometry of the correction and contains, among other cases, the isotropic Lasso--Ridge correction, least squares refitting, Gram proportional interpolation between the Lasso and least squares, and coordinate specific penalties. We first derive a closed form representation and isolate the positive gain component of the resulting prediction improvement. We then control the remaining stochastic linear term in expectation by localizing the random signed equicorrelation model around a deterministic reference support. This yields a finite sample expectation bound that explicitly accounts for the randomness induced by Lasso model selection. The resulting decomposition provides a unified framework for understanding when Lasso based quadratic corrections can improve prediction.

stat.ME↗
arXiv2026

Discretization in covariate-adaptive randomization: gains and losses

Covariate-adaptive randomization(CAR) is widely implemented in clinical trials to balance prognostic covariates across treatment arms. Continuous covariates are often discretized into strata in practice, yet their consequences are not clearly understood. This paper provides a comprehensive study of the impact of discretization on both the CAR design process and the inferential results thereafter. We establish the asymptotic properties of both imbalance measures and treatment effect estimators under discretized and non-discretized settings. Practical recommendations are given on when and how discretization should be employed. We show that discretization in design is generally recommended, as it enhances robustness against model misspecification. However, if the true model is known, the most efficient strategy is to balance covariates according to that model in the design. The theoretical results are corroborated by extensive simulation studies and an empirical application to a diabetes trial dataset. Together, the results clarify the gains and losses of discretization in CAR and pave the way for learning impact of discretization to other designs and beyond.

stat.ME↗