A multimodal skewed extension of normal distribution: its properties and applications

A multimodal skewed extension of normal distribution is proposed by applying the general method as in [Huang WJ, Chen YH. Generalized skew-Cauchy distribution. Stat Probab Lett. 2007;77:1137–1147] for the construction of skew-symmetric distributions by using a trigonometric periodic skew function. Some of its distributional properties are investigated. Properties of maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters are studied numerically by simulation. The suitability of the proposed distribution in empirical data modelling is investigated by carrying out comparative fitting of two real-life data sets.     

Sexuality-Related Risks are Judged more Harshly than Comparable Health Risks

Objectives: In three studies, the authors examined the extent to which STIs and sexual behavior were perceived negatively compared to objectively riskier behaviors. Methods: In Study 1, participants estimated the risk of death as a result of contracting HIV from one instance of unprotected sex (with a noninjection drug user) relative to the risk of death as a result of an automobile accident (a 300 mile drive). In Study 2a, participants read one of two vignettes, in which a target either unknowingly transmitted an STI (chlamydia) or a nonsexual disease (H1N1) to another person through a sexual encounter. In Study 2b, participants read one of 12 vignettes; the type of disease (chlamydia or H1N1), severity of the disease outcome (mild, moderate, or severe), and sex of transmitter (female or male) were manipulated. In Study 3, state-level public health and driving websites were coded for risk-reduction recommendations. Results: In Studies 1 and 2, participants rated the target who transmitted chlamydia more negatively than the target who transmitted H1N1; participants also perceived the target who transmitted chlamydia with a mild severity outcome (the sexual partner took antibiotics for one week) more negatively than the target who transmitted H1N1 with a severe outcome (the sexual partner died from contracting H1N1; Study 2). In Study 3, most state-level public health websites promoted safety through a recommendation that the public abstain from sex; no similar recommendations were provided on driving websites (an objectively riskier behavior). Conclusions: The stigmatization of STIs is beyond the degree of severity (relative to other diseases) and viewed as unjustifiably risky (relative to other risky activities).     

Corruption,lack of Transparency and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis: An introduction

Public Organization Review -     

Community banking and economic development: Lessons from Los Angeles

Among the changes in the field of community development is thegrowing importance of microfinance, both to provide access tocredit and as a vehicle for empowerment. Community banks arerecognized for their role in meeting these goals, although theyremain controversial, as the goals of microfinance are not alwaysagreed upon, with government officials and community membersemphasizing different interests. We examine the Los AngelesCommunity Development Bank to glean further lessons regardingthe role community banks can play in community development.Among the lessons from this experience are that politics areinescapable in the design of community banks; the economicsof banking tends to undervalue community needs; and culturalfactors include both professional and community-level challenges.Accounting for these factors can help community banks empowercommunities to meet the challenges of eliminating poverty.     

Fingerprinting and Biopolitical Police Surveillance in Turkey

This paper problematises the 2007 amendments to Article 5 of the Police Powers and Duties Law (PPDL) in Turkey that categorises all citizens as ‘potential suspects’ through fingerprinting technology. The amended article requires everyone to submit fingerprint samples when applying for certain official documents such as driver's licences, passports, and ID cards. Consequently, the result has been dramatic: the police have so far proactively recorded more than 60 million people's fingerprints in the process of issuing these documents. Yet, there has been no research into this phenomenon. This paper suggests that this sort of biometric police surveillance is not a recent development, rather part of a long tradition within policing ‘Turkish’ national interests. Following Foucault's genealogical methodology, the paper argues that the governability of a large heterogeneous population across a vast territory has always demanded biometric policing technologies, addressing biopolitical proximity between the capacity building of modern security apparatus and identifying the unknown masses. Studying the historical data comparatively reveals that fingerprinting first started with recording exceptional groups such as criminals and convicts in Europe, while from the late Ottoman Empire to modern Turkey, large sections of the population have always persistently been targeted by police regulations.     

Sampling refugee groups: The example of Syrians in Turkey

Quantitative surveys among refugees not only advance our scientific understanding of forced migration, but they also provide political and civil society actors with the information they need to take measures to improve their protection and living conditions. These actors often need to acquire such information within a short period of time. However, the methods to access and survey this group to gain valid findings are subject to scientific debates. Based on a survey among Syrian refugees in Turkey, this article demonstrates a study design that generated valid knowledge about this population within a limited amount of time and resources. As a unique feature of the article, we compare our sample with four other sources of information to scrutinize how well it resembles the target population. As we can show, although point estimations differ to some extent, the internal distributions of sample characteristics are comparable across sources confirming the success of our sampling method.     

The effect of dependence on distribution of the functions of random variables

In this article, we study the effect of dependence on the distributional properties of functions of two random variables. Expressions for the cumulative distribution functions of the linear combinations, products, and ratios of two dependent random variables in terms of their associated copula are derived. We discuss the effect of dependence on quantities such as the variances of linear combinations of functions, the value-at-risk measure, and the stress–strength parameter. Several examples, a simulation study, and a real data analysis are provided to illustrate the result.     

Measures of radial asymmetry for bivariate random vectors

This article considers the problem of measuring radial asymmetry of a bivariate vector of continuous random variables whose components are symmetric about the center of symmetry. We introduce a set of axioms for measures of radial asymmetry, define new measures satisfying the axiomatic, study some properties, and present corresponding results for sample statistics. Several examples illustrate our results.     

Particle swarm optimization-based variable selection in Poisson regression analysis via information complexity-type criteria

Modeling of count responses is widely performed via Poisson regression models. This paper covers the problem of variable selection in Poisson regression analysis. The basic emphasis of this paper is to present the usefulness of information complexity-based criteria for Poisson regression. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was adopted to minimize the information criteria. A real dataset example and two simulation studies were conducted for highly collinear and lowly correlated datasets. Results demonstrate the capability of information complexity-type criteria. According to the results, information complexity-type criteria can be effectively used instead of classical criteria in count data modeling via the PSO algorithm.