Fitting bivariate multilevel models to assess long-term changes in body mass index and cigarette smoking

Using data from the National Health interview Survey from 1997 to 2006, we present a multilevel analysis of change in body mass index (BMI) and number of cigarettes smoked per day in the USA. Smoking and obesity are the leading causes of preventable mortality and morbidity in the USA and most parts of the developed world. A two-stage bivariate model of changes in obesity and number of cigarette smoked per day is proposed. At the within subject stage, an individual's BMI status and the number of cigarette smoked per day are jointly modeled as a function of an individual growth trajectory plus a random error. At the between-subject stage, the parameters of the individual growth trajectories are allowed to vary as a function of differences between subjects with respect to demographic and behavioral characteristics and with respect to the four regions of the USA (Northeast, West, South and North central). Our two-stage modeling techniques are more informative than standard regression because they characterize both group-level (nomothetic) and individual-level (idiographic) effects, yielding a more complete understanding of the phenomena under study.     

Style repertoire and social change in British Asian English

This study has two goals: empirically, it accounts for variation found in the use of ethnically‐marked variants among British‐born Asians; methodologically, it assesses the variationist approach against a repertoire approach. In Part I, analysis of one Punjabi‐derived phonetic trait, examined in interview data only, suggests that younger women shift to exclusive use of the British prestige variant. Part II expands the analysis to four variables and to broader speech repertoires for four individuals. The repertoire analysis shows the conclusions in Part I to be inaccurate, and instead reveals: (1) retention of Punjabi traits by young women in the home domain; (2) two types of repertoire – flexible and fused; (3) a gendered reversal in repertoire type over time; and (4) a network diversity basis for these differences. Unlike the initial variationist analysis, the use of repertoire analysis and a new Network Diversity Index leads to the discovery of a shift among lower‐middle‐class British Asians from traditional Punjabi to urban British social structures.     

A New Genre of Social Protection Policy for Older People: A Critical Analysis of Legislative Development in Nepal

This commentary critically discusses recent legislation promulgated in Nepal to safeguard older people's rights and promote their well-being. Using a human-rights–based framework, the legislation is analyzed for its strengths and weaknesses. Emphasis has also been placed on discussing various aspects overlooked by the legislation, such as changing family structure, relations, and social values; the impact of employment structure and migration; and, importantly, maintaining a desired balance between the roles of the state and of the family in providing social security, support, and care to older people. Efforts have been made to reflect the promulgated law in light of the contemporary developments taking place globally, particularly in regions of Asia. Areas for future policy work are also identified in order to make legislation more inclusive and effective.     

Bayesian inference using product of spacings function for Progressive hybrid Type-I censoring scheme

This article is devoted to the development of product of spacings estimator for a Progressive hybrid Type-I censoring scheme with binomial removals. The experimental units are assumed to follow inverse Lindley distribution. We propose a Bayes estimator of associated scale parameter based on the product of spacings function and simultaneously compare it with that obtained under a usual Bayesian estimation procedure. The estimators are obtained under the squared error loss function along with corresponding HP intervals evaluated by using the Markov chain Monte-Carlo technique. The classical product of spacings estimator has also been derived and compared with the maximum likelihood estimator in addition to 95% average asymptotic confidence intervals. The applicability of the proposed methods is demonstrated by analysing a real data of guinea pigs affected with tuberculosis for the considered censoring scheme.     

Transient analysis of an M/M/c queuing system with balking and retention of reneging customers

In this paper, we study an infinite capacity multi-server Markovian queuing system with balking and retention of reneging customers. The transient analysis of the model is performed. The probability generating function technique along with Bessel function properties is used to derive the time-dependent state probabilities explicitly.     

On two-person Nash implementable choice functions

An elementary proof of a theorem on two-person Nash implementable choice functions is provided.     

Selection of logistics service provider: An analytic network process (ANP) approach

This article presents a comprehensive methodology for the selection of a logistic service provider. The proposed methodology consists of two parts: (i) preliminary screening of the available providers, and (ii) analytic network process (ANP)-based final selection. The criteria, which are relevant in the selection of a provider, have been identified and used to construct an ANP model. Thereafter, the application of ANP for the final selection of a provider has been demonstrated through an illustrative example. The results of this example indicate that compatibility between the user and the provider companies is the most important determinant, which influences the final selection process. This approach also enables the decision-makers to better understand the complex relationships of the relevant attributes in the decision-making, which may subsequently improve the reliability of the decision.     

Corporate social responsibility and multinational enterprise identity: insights from a mining company's attempt to localise in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates how a US gold mining multinational enterprise (MNE) – one of the world's largest – operates its subsidiaries in various parts of the world by creating a unique ‘glocal identity’. The US parent company has experienced several significant challenges across its network of subsidiaries. These challenges were mostly linked to the enforcement of the MNE's identity and culture in its host environment. We contribute by describing, in detail, the attempts made by this company to localise its corporate social responsibility practices in Ghana as it sought to gain legitimacy and create an identity that would overcome the issues relating to the liability of foreignness. Our data come from a combination of sources, including questionnaires and detailed semi-structured interviews conducted with the key management employees of the mining company, members and opinion leaders of the company's host communities, and secondary sources. Our main finding is that the construction of a ‘host-friendly’ identity was centred around the mining company's involvement with the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation.     

Making the Human Development Index (HDI) gender-sensitive

The Human Development Index (HDI), introduced in 1990 by the UN Development Program, offers an alternative to the gross national product and consumer utility in its ability to measure relative socioeconomic progress over time and identify priorities for policy intervention. On the other hand, as an overall development index, the HDI is unable to reveal disparities based on gender, race, social class, and region. Its failure to incorporate disaggregated variables has impeded government awareness that particular subgroups experience very different levels of socioeconomic development concealed by the HDI. Only when the HDI is more gender-sensitive will it be an accurate measure of human development. The creators of the HDI are urged to ensure that their data base of critical measures such as employment, income, mortality, education, consumption, and housing are disaggregated by sex. Moreover, models should assign an economic value to women's unpaid domestic labor as well as their underpaid, under-reported work in the formal and informal sectors.     

Bayesian Estimation for Poisson-exponential Model under Progressive Type-II Censoring Data with Binomial Removal and Its Application to Ovarian Cancer Data

In this article, we propose Maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) and Bayes estimators of parameters of Poisson-exponential distribution (PED) under General entropy loss function (GELF) and Squared error loss function (SELF) for Progressive type-II censored data with binomial removals (PT-II CBRs). The MLEs and corresponding Bayes estimators are compared in terms of their risks based on simulated samples from PED. The proposed methodology is illustrated on a real dataset of ovarian cancer.