Time truncated acceptance sampling plans for generalized exponential distribution

Acceptance sampling plans for generalized exponential distribution when the lifetime experiment is truncated at a pre-determined time are provided in this article. The tables are provided for the minimum sample size required to ensure a certain median life of the experimental unit when the shape parameter is two. The operating characteristic function values of the sampling plans and the associated producer's risks are also presented. It is shown that the tables presented here can be used if instead of median life, other percentile life is chosen as the criterion or if the shape parameter is not two. Examples are provided for illustrative purposes.     

Professional and Functional Alternative Social Workers: A Case Study of Malaysia

The objective of this study was to compare “professional” (PW) and “functional alternative” (FA) social workers. The findings suggested that there were no significant differences between PWs and FAs in intervention, evaluation methods, work ethics, and values. The PWs, in clients' eyes, were better at delivering services, while FAs' services were more satisfactory to the clients. While PWs were supposed to be “professional,” FAs were more “professional” than PWs in their performance despite their lack of recognition as “professional social workers”. These critical findings should encourage academics and practitioners for further discussion on conceptual implications of both practices and expand future research.     

Study on lumbar kinematics and the risk of low back disorder in female university students by using shoes of different heel heights

The study was taken up to investigate the effects of heel heights on lumbar kinematics and the risk of Low Back Disorder (LBD) in females. Nineteen female university students (24.5 ± 3.36 yrs) volunteered in the study. Lumbar kinematics was measured by using Industrial Lumbar Motion Monitor (iLMM). The volunteers were asked to walk for a distance of 50 meters in 3 different given conditions i.e bare foot (Heel 0), with flat heels (Heel 1) and with high heels (Heel 2). Heights of Heel 1 and Heel 2 were 1.5 ± 0.84 cm and 5.5 ± 1.70 cm respectively. The Lumbar kinematic parameters studied were- Average Twisting Velocity (ATV), Maximum Sagital Flexion (MSF) and Maximum Lateral Velocity (MLV). It was observed that all the above mentioned Lumbar kinematics - ATV, MSF and MLV increases with increase of heel heights, which in turn increases the risk of LBD. As a result of increase in Lumbar kinematic values with increase in heel heights, LBD risk has also increased. Mean and SD of the LBD risk with Heel 0, Heel 1 and Heel 2 were 16.79 ± 6.04%, 19.00 ± 7.38% and 22.11 ± 6.98% respectively. Lower stature with high heels showed higher risk of LBD than the higher stature with high heels.     

Enhancing community-based organizations’ capacity for HIV/AIDS education and prevention

The catalytic potential of community-based organizations to promote health, prevent disease, and address racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in local communities is well recognized. However, many CBOs, particularly, small- to medium-size organizations, lack the capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate their successes. Moreover, little assistance has been provided to enhance their capacity and the effectiveness of technical assistance to enhance capacity is likewise limited. A unique private–academic partnership is described that simultaneously conducted program evaluation and addressed the capacity needs of 24 CBOs funded by the Pfizer Foundation Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative. Assessments of key program staff members at 12 and 18 months after the initial cross-site program assessment survey indicated a significant improvement in the CBOs’ knowledge, skills, and abilities and a substantial reduction in their technical assistance needs for HIV/AIDS prevention. Full participation of CBOs in technical assistance and a concurrent empowerment evaluation framework were necessary to enhance prevention capacity.     

The role of apathy,personal insecurity,and socio-economic status in formation of risk-taking behavior among university students

The primary purpose of the current study was to explore the role of apathy and personal insecurity in risk-taking behavior among university students. Furthermore, it examined the influence of socio-economic factors (such as age, gender, and education) on risk-taking behavior. For this purpose, 882 university students elicited their responses through self-structured questionnaire. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were applied to test the reliability, validity, and robustness of scales. Bivariate analysis was used to test hypothesis, independent T-test was used to examine the differences in categories of risk-taking behavior, and multiple linear regression was used to scrutinize model fit. There was association between apathy, personal insecurity, socio-economic characteristics (such as gender, education, and father education) and risk-taking behavior of the university students. The current study would add to empirical foundation to build a theoretical framework of risk-taking behavior based on education, age, income, and residential background. This study contributes to the academic scholarship by explaining individual differences based on socio-economic status in prediction of risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, it provides a different theoretical insight and logical explanation of risk-taking propensity for constructs of apathy and personal insecurity. To the best knowledge of the researchers, it is first study to explain the association apathy, personal insecurity and risk-taking behavior through quantification of data among resourceful group of youth.     

Elements of Social Capital and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students

Lifetime childlessness has increased in Europe. The relationship between childlessness and psychological wellbeing varies by the wellbeing measures employed, life stage and societal context. Health-related predictors of childlessness (health selection) may mediate the relationship between childlessness and wellbeing and/or influence wellbeing directly. This paper examines the relationship between lifetime childlessness, depressive mood and quality of life in early old age using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (N = 21,295). Region-specific Ordinary Least Squares Analysis is performed to investigate this relationship and the mediating roles of health selection and marital status are explored. No main effect of childlessness is observed in any of the regions net of socio-demographic, economic and health factors. The significant role of health selection in this relationship is only evident in Eastern Europe. The findings of this study support a more in-depth analysis of the role of marital status in mediating the relationship between childlessness and psychological wellbeing. Consistent relationships between marital status and both measures of wellbeing support further analysis of marital selection in this regard.     

Understanding the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

The purpose of this article is to develop a deeper understanding of a negative behavior at work through a study of the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces. Although there is considerable research available on workplace bullying, extant research largely provides empirical examinations of the prevalence, causes, and consequences of the phenomenon. By contrast, the research herein reported offers an in-depth account of bullying from the frame of reference of those who have experienced it and demonstrates the difficulties faced by them when coping with it. The study’s data source is drawn from reports submitted to the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry on workplace bullying. The reports were analyzed by using the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study highlights the impact of bullying at work on individuals’ lives and the coping mechanisms used for dealing with the impact. This article also reveals that bullying destroys organizations’ succession planning efforts as competent and talented individuals leave jobs as a way of coping with bullying. The study further shows that some individuals eventually choose to end their lives as a way of coping with bullying. The article thus adds evidence to anecdotal suggestions of the link between bullying and suicide in Australia.     

Location‐invariant Multi‐sample U‐tests for Covariance Matrices with Large Dimension

For two or more multivariate distributions with common covariance matrix, test statistics for certain special structures of the common covariance matrix are presented when the dimension of the multivariate vectors may exceed the number of such vectors. The test statistics are constructed as functions of location‐invariant estimators defined as U‐statistics, and the corresponding asymptotic theory is used to derive the limiting distributions of the proposed tests. The properties of the test statistics are established under mild and practical assumptions, and the same are numerically demonstrated using simulation results with small or moderate sample sizes and large dimensions.     

Comparison between count of cumulative conforming sampling plans and Dodge–Romig single sampling plan

In this research, a new sampling system is introduced based on the concept of count of cumulative conforming control charts (CCC-charts). The proposed method is based on Markov modeling and negative binomial distribution. The proposed sampling system is compared with traditional sampling methods like Dodge–Romig single sampling plan based on lot tolerance percent defective (LTPD) and Dodge–Romig single sampling plan based on average outgoing quality limit (AOQL) and its superiority for larger values of lot sizes and process average is denoted using a comparison study.