Supersaturated designs with high searching probability

A supersaturated design is essentially a fractional factorial design whose number of experimental variables is greater than or equal to its number of experimental runs. Under the effect sparsity assumption, a supersaturated design can be very cost-effective. In this paper, our prime objective is to compare the existing two-level supersaturated designs for the noisy case through the probability of correct searching—a powerful criterion proposed by Shirakura et al. [1996. Searching probabilities for nonzeroeffects in search designs for the noisy case. Ann. Statist. 24, 2560–2568]. An algorithm is proposed to construct supersaturated designs with high probability of correct searching. Examples are given for illustration.     

Search designs for general asymmetric factorials

This paper is in connection with search designs which permit the estimation of the general mean and main-effects, and allow the search and estimation of the possibly unknown non-zero effect among the two-factor interactions in the general asymmetric factorial set-up. This paper describes the construction of search designs in the above set-up.     

Urban ‘untouchables’ and Hindu nationalism

The ‘untouchables’ of India are excluded from various areas of social and cultural life. Despite this, the higher castes do not exclude them from the category of ‘Hindu’ since, for them, the term is counterposed to the concept of ‘foreigner’. The lowest groups, on the other hand, often do not think of themselves as Hindus, for they use the word in terms of a very different set of conceptual oppositions. For them, ‘Hindus’ are people of high caste. Anderson's (1983) characterization of the nation as an ‘imagined community’ does not adequately explain why Hindu nationalists are now pressing minority ‘untouchables’ to define themselves as Hindus. Western reification of the concept of ‘Hindu’ has implications for political struggles in the sub‐continent.     

Ghostly Images,Phantom Discourses,and the Virtuality of the Global

The central premise of this article is that the conceptual terrain of the global is fundamentally unstable, that its content is far from determined. This opens the door to many different interpretations and uses of the term, where the referent is not so much to a pre-given reality, or even a tangible geographical space. Rather, the global constitutes its own content in the various fields in which it gets deployed, selectively affirming particular images and representations, while denying, repressing, or otherwise excluding others. I draw on the early history of film to argue that the global is a virtual distribution of value and intelligibility, where its images and signs no longer ‘represent’ an independent reality, but actually shape and transform the inter-subjective experiences of its virtual subjects. I use a recent documentary film on call centers in India to demonstrate how distinct regimes of cinematic images enable different kinds of interventions into these virtual distributions, revealing the global as a richly imagined terrain of discourses and representations, which are always already subject to re-distribution.

El argumento principal de este artículo es que en el ámbito conceptual, lo global es fundamentalmente inestable, aún falta mucho para determinar su contenido. El término global tiene muchas interpretaciones y usos variados, dado que el referente no aplica a una realidad preestablecida ni corresponde a un espacio geográfico tangible. El término global constituye su propio contenido en los diferentes campos en los cuales es utilizado, aseverando imágenes y representaciones particulares selectivas, mientras que a la vez niega, reprime, o excluye otras. Me inspiro en los comienzos de la historia del cine para argumentar que lo global es la distribución virtual del valor y de la ininteligibilidad, donde las imágenes y los letreros ya no “representan” una realidad independiente, sino que forman y transforman las experiencias inter-subjetivas de sus sujetos virtuales. Utilizo un documental fílmico reciente sobre los “call centers” de la India para demostrar cómo diferentes regímenes de imágenes fílmicas permiten diferentes tipos de intervenciones a estos distribuidores virtuales, que revelan lo global como un rico imaginario de discursos y representaciones que siempre han sido y son sujetas a una re-distribución.

     

INFERENCE IN DIRICHLET PROCESS MIXED GENERALIZED LINEAR MODELS BY USING MONTE CARLO EM

Generalized linear mixed models are widely used for describing overdispersed and correlated data. Such data arise frequently in studies involving clustered and hierarchical designs. A more flexible class of models has been developed here through the Dirichlet process mixture. An additional advantage of using such mixture models is that the observations can be grouped together on the basis of the overdispersion present in the data. This paper proposes a partial empirical Bayes method for estimating all the model parameters by adopting a version of the EM algorithm. An augmented model that helps to implement an efficient Gibbs sampling scheme, under the non‐conjugate Dirichlet process generalized linear model, generates observations from the conditional predictive distribution of unobserved random effects and provides an estimate of the average number of mixing components in the Dirichlet process mixture. A simulation study has been carried out to demonstrate the consistency of the proposed method. The approach is also applied to a study on outdoor bacteria concentration in the air and to data from 14 retrospective lung‐cancer studies.     

Razorgirls and Cyberdykes: Tracing Cyberfeminism and Thoughts on Its Use in a Legal Context

The present state of cyberstudies poses new questions of embodiment, of (gendered) relationships with technology, and the effects of cyberspace on queer issues such as identity, gender and sexuality. It is notable that in a legal context, whereas there has been much attention paid to technical issues that cyberspace poses, there has been little attention paid to these new issues above, or possible theoretical frameworks within which to contextualize them, or potential feminist perspectives. Put simply, the debates of cyberstudies, and cyberfeminism in particular, have as yet been largely unreflected in mainstream academic and practical legal discourse. The aim of this essay, then, is to begin a process of integration. By looking at the work of some cyberfeminists, the author attempts to give a clearer picture of key debates and strands of thought in cyberfeminism, and to start thinking about how cyberfeminist insights might be used as part of a useful theoretical framework that could inform those academics interested in law, queer issues, and cyberspace.     

Studying improved performance in golf

The topic of improved performances by athletes in both team and individual sports has shown that each sport has its own unique set of characteristics and these have to be analysed accordingly. This paper presents an extensive analysis of the nature and extent of improvement in golf by analysing the performances of the top players in the Masters tournament throughout the entire history of the event. The results indicate that golfers are obtaining lower scores over time and that the variation of the scores has declined. Further, the distributions of scores are symmetric and display a monotonic reduction of peakedness (kurtosis). These findings are indicative of rapid and improved performance and increased competition.     

The impact of information and computer based training on negotiators' performance

This paper presents the results of an experiment on negotiation, designed to measure the impact of (1) computerized training and (2) information on negotiators' performanceThe paper is structured as follows. First, we review the literature on negotiation training. Second, we develop a conceptual framework to link various forms of Negotiation Support Systems to joint and individual negotiation performance. Third, we present the negotiation paradigm — a bilateral monopoly — and the computerized training system we used. Regarding training, our results show an asymmetric impact on individual performance levels and, unexpectedly, a negative impact on negotiators' joint performance. In contrast, more information improves both individual and joint performance. Finally, we discuss these results, and outline further research questions.     

Strategic philanthropy and its challenges in India: A multiple case study of grantmaking organizations

Grantmaking organizations in the United States play an increasingly important role in philanthropic giving toward international development issues. Champions of strategic philanthropy have encouraged grantmakers to set clear goals, use evidence‐based strategies, and monitor programs. This exploratory study delves into grantmaking in one of the largest emerging economies; India. Although India is a major recipient of private philanthropy, it continues to perform below average on various socio‐economic indicators. The impact of grantmaking has been unclear. We conducted in‐depth interviews with managers and leaders (n = 9) engaged in decision‐making within U.S. based grantmaking organizations, including nonprofit intermediaries and philanthropic foundations. We examine how the concept of strategic philanthropy is operationalized by participant organizations. Although the participants acknowledge the importance of starting out with a well‐defined strategy, they also face several challenges. We identify some of these challenges, outline how they are being addressed, and discuss implications.     

A family of efficient estimators of the finite population mean in simple random sampling

In this paper an estimator of the finite population mean using auxiliary information in sample surveys has been proposed. The bias and mean squared error are obtained under large sample approximation. It has been shown that the proposed estimator performs better than some recently published estimators.