Normal and weibull distributions

Numerous applications of the Weibull distribution in diverse fields of human endeavor are well known today. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to find applications of the normal distribution in such fields of studies as agriculture, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, sociology and others. At the present time we have at our disposal many more refined statistical techniques for analyzing the normal rather than the Weibull data. Consequently, it is important for applied statisticians to know if some of their data which can be described by the Weibull distribution can also be described by the normal distribution. The present investigation of the author reveals that the normal distri,bution can be considered to be a good approximation to the Weibull distribution as long as its shape parameter is in the open interval (3.25, 3.61). This fact enables them to perform a refined statistical analysis of their data. Conversely, they can now easily compute the desired normal cumulative probabilities from the Weibull distribution function, which would be especially helpful for those standard normal deviates whose cumulative probabilities cannot be read from the available tables of normal cumulative probability. In a similar situation they can also use the Weibull distribution to obtain an approximation to any desired normal deviate for a given normal probability which may be better than those obtained by the linear interpolation method.     

Finite statistical games and linear programming

The dual linear programs associated with finite statistical games are investigated and their optimal solutions are interpreted. The usual statistical game is generalized to a two-sided (inference) game and its possible application as a tactical model is discussed.     

Finite Markov chain models skip-free in one direction

Finite Markov processes are considered, with bidimensional state space, such that transitions from state (n, i) to state (m, j) are possible only if m ≤ n + 1. The analysis leads to efficient computational algorithms, to determine the stationary probability distribution, and moments of first passage times.     

The search for an intelligent evader: Strategies for searcher and evader in the two-region problem

This paper considers the search for an evader concealed in one of two regions, each of which is characterized by its detection probability. The single-sided problem, in which the searcher is told the probability of the evader being located in a particular region, has been examined previously. We shall be concerned with the double-sided problem in which the evader chooses this probability secretly, although he may not subsequently move: his optimal strategy consists of that probability distribution which maximizes the expected time to detection, while the searcher's optimal strategy is the sequence of searches which limits the evader to this expected time. It transpires for this problem that optimal strategies for both searcher and evader may generally be obtained to a surprisingly good degree of approximation by using the optimal strategies for the closely related (but far more easily solved) problem in which the evader is completely free to move between searches.     

Estimation of the survival function of a repairable standby series system

This article deals with the statistical analysis of an N-component series system supported by an active standby and one repair facility. Assuming that the life and repair times of the components are independent exponential random variables, the probability distribution of the first passage to the system failure time is shown to be a convolution of two independent exponential distributions. Three observation schemes are considered to obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of the survival function. Information matrices are supplied. Numerical results based on Monte Carlo simulation are presented. It is noted that component level information (failure rate, repair rate) is not necessary for estimating the survival function of the system.     

Technical note: Traffic intensity estimation

This note examines estimation of the traffic intensity in an M/G/1 queue. We show that the ratio of sample mean service times to the sample mean interarrival times has undesirable sampling properties. To remedy this, two alternative estimators are introduced. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 2009