Testing variance components in balanced linear growth curve models

It is well known that the testing of zero variance components is a non-standard problem since the null hypothesis is on the boundary of the parameter space. The usual asymptotic chi-square distribution of the likelihood ratio and score statistics under the null does not necessarily hold because of this null hypothesis. To circumvent this difficulty in balanced linear growth curve models, we introduce an appropriate test statistic and suggest a permutation procedure to approximate its finite-sample distribution. The proposed test alleviates the necessity of any distributional assumptions for the random effects and errors and can easily be applied for testing multiple variance components. Our simulation studies show that the proposed test has Type I error rate close to the nominal level. The power of the proposed test is also compared with the likelihood ratio test in the simulations. An application on data from an orthodontic study is presented and discussed.     

Development Disparities and Peculiarities: An Empirical Investigation

The vast, sprawling and densely populated province of Punjab, while predominantly agricultural, is marked by considerable regional disparities. An attempt has been made in this paper to see to what extent the differences in the human and social development in its various districts is there. The study exhibits that those regions which are ranked as lagging districts have high disparities in terms of human development and social development with high urban and rural poverty estimates. It is clearly revealed that aggregate national figures mask vast sub regional disparities and speedy development in some regions may not necessarily elevate lagging regions.     

Bayesian Classifiers Applied to the Tennessee Eastman Process

Fault diagnosis includes the main task of classification. Bayesian networks (BNs) present several advantages in the classification task, and previous works have suggested their use as classifiers. Because a classifier is often only one part of a larger decision process, this article proposes, for industrial process diagnosis, the use of a Bayesian method called dynamic Markov blanket classifier that has as its main goal the induction of accurate Bayesian classifiers having dependable probability estimates and revealing actual relationships among the most relevant variables. In addition, a new method, named variable ordering multiple offspring sampling capable of inducing a BN to be used as a classifier, is presented. The performance of these methods is assessed on the data of a benchmark problem known as the Tennessee Eastman process. The obtained results are compared with naive Bayes and tree augmented network classifiers, and confirm that both proposed algorithms can provide good classification accuracies as well as knowledge about relevant variables.     

Bayesian Treatment of Model Uncertainty for Partially Applicable Models

This article discusses how analyst's or expert's beliefs on the credibility and quality of models can be assessed and incorporated into the uncertainty assessment of an unknown of interest. The proposed methodology is a specialization of the Bayesian framework for the assessment of model uncertainty presented in an earlier paper. This formalism treats models as sources of information in assessing the uncertainty of an unknown, and it allows the use of predictions from multiple models as well as experimental validation data about the models’ performances. In this article, the methodology is extended to incorporate additional types of information about the model, namely, subjective information in terms of credibility of the model and its applicability when it is used outside its intended domain of application. An example in the context of fire risk modeling is also provided.     

Education,identity, and ideology: the Islamic movement and Moslem religious education in Israel

The Islamic Movement, which is called in Arabic Al-harakaat al-islamiyya or Al-haraka al-islamiyya, has, since its foundation in the 1970s, placed emphasis on education, especially the dissemination of the Islamic message. After the movement scored significant successes in local authority elections, its influence increased on the ideological guidelines according to which some of the Arab education system is partially or fully shaped. The article discusses the split in the movement within the State of Israel, and the differences between the southern and northern faction. It also compares Islamic education and Arab education within Israel and abroad in Europe, in countries which have large immigrant Moslem populations.

The education system that the Islamic Movement tries to develop symbolizes the complexity of the relations between it and the state authorities. They are aware that the authorities will not help in differentiation and separation and will not cease from the constant supervision of the movement's educational institutions. Therefore, their choice of a synthesis between formal and informal education or of a partition between pedagogic state education and moral study classes, is a rational, calculated choice, taking into consideration the reality of a cultural – ethnic – national minority.     

Measuring servitization progress and outcome: the case of ‘advanced services’

The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for assessing the progress and outcome of a manufacturer’s transformation towards becoming a provider of ‘advanced services’ – a complex bundling of products and services, whereby manufacturers offer capabilities and outcomes instead of products alone. ‘Advanced services’ represent the most complex offering in the current servitization trend amongst manufacturers. However, current performance measures lack the breadth and focus to assess progress or outcomes, and so support research and practice of organisational transformation efforts required. To address this gap the paper investigates how a manufacturer’s efforts to become an ‘advanced services’ provider can be comprehensively measured, and develops a framework for assessing the transformation journey towards becoming an ‘advanced services’ provider. The research method is based on (1) a systematic literature review process to create a comprehensive set of service-related performance measures that are available to assess a manufacturer’s servitization efforts, followed by (2) an engagement with an expert panel to synthesise the identified measures and create a set of ‘advanced services’ performance measures. The proposed framework is presented as a scorecard that can be used in practice to assess the progress and outcome of a manufacturer’s transformation towards becoming a provider of ‘advanced services’.     

Age and total and free prostate-specific antigen levels for predicting prostate volume in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objectives: To investigate the predictive values of free prostate-specific antigen (fPSA), total PSA (tPSA) and age on the prostate volume.

Methods: The data of 2148 patients with lower urinary tract symptoms were analyzed retrospectively. The patients who had transrectal ultrasonography guided 10 core biopsies owing to the findings obtained on digital rectal examination and presence of high PSA levels (PSA?=?2.5–10?ng/dl), and proven to have BPH histopathologically were included in the study. Age, tPSA, fPSA and the prostate volumes (PV) of the patients were noted.

Results: One thousand patients that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The PV of the patients were significantly correlated with age, tPSA and fPSA (p?r?=?0.307, p?r?=?0.382, p?r?=?0.296, respectively). On linear regression model, fPSA was found as a stronger predictive for PV (AUC?=?0.75, p?p?p?=?0.013).

Conclusions: Although tPSA is an important prognostic factor for predicting PV, the predictive value of fPSA is higher. PV can easily be predicted by using age, and serum tPSA and fPSA levels.     

On Comparing Alternative Advertising Policies of Pulsation*

In this paper, five alternative advertising policies that belong to the advertising pulsation class are compared analytically for linear and concave response functions using a modified version of the Vidale-Wolfe model. The results of the research show that (1) For both linear and concave response functions, advertising pulsing/maintenance policy dominates advertising pulsing policy but is dominated by the Uniform Advertising Policy. For convex response functions, the order of dominance is reversed. (2) For linear response functions, uniform advertising policy dominates the impulse advertising policy but is dominated by the chattering advertising policy. (3) For concave response functions, uniform advertising policy dominates both the impulse advertising policy and the chattering advertising policy. (4) For convex response functions, chattering advertising policy dominates both the advertising pulsing policy and the impulse advertising policy. The Vidale-Wolfe model is estimated using the well-known Lydia Pinkham data. Optimality analysis shows that the company was overadvertising about half of the time studied. Overadvertising seems to have produced appreciable gain in sales and created significant barriers to competitive entry at a little cost in terms of foregone profits.     

Prosocial Motivation as a Driver of Social Innovation in the UAE

One important domain of nonmarket-driven innovation is social innovation. Defined as “new ideas that have the potential to improve either the quality or the quantity of life,” social innovation stands in stark contrast to business innovation that focuses on creativity with the intention of making a profit. Drawing on research on motivation, creativity, rentier mentality, and Islamic work ethics, this article takes a motivational approach to social innovation and advances a proposition that prosocial motivation is of particular importance in fostering social innovation in the context of the UAE. We argue that due to policies that grant nationals high financial stability and affluence, UAE locals are less likely to be driven by extrinsic motivation, but rather by intrinsic motivation. We propose that enhancing their prosocial motivation will have a synergetic effect with their intrinsic motivation and therefore lead to higher social innovation. This article extends the literature on prosocial motivation, social innovation, and social entrepreneurship by identifying a geographical/cultural region where the motivational basis for social innovation is amplified. Significantly, this article questions common assumptions about a rentier mentality and proposes a path to leverage social innovation. Implications for policymakers and practitioners are discussed.