A Goodness-of-fit Test for Exponentiality Based on the Memoryless Property

In this investigation a test of goodness of fit for exponentiality is proposed. This procedure applies equally whether the scale and/or the location parameters of the distribution are known or not. The limiting null and non-null distributions of the test statistic are normal under minimal conditions. Monte Carlo critical values for small sample sizes are given and the power of the test is calculated for various alternatives showing that it compares favourably relatively to other more complicated published procedures.     

Determination of a new mixed variable lot-size multiple dependent state sampling plan based on the process capability index

This article proposes a new mixed variable lot-size multiple dependent state sampling plan in which the attribute sampling plan can be used in the first stage and the variables multiple dependent state sampling plan based on the process capability index will be used in the second stage for the inspection of measurable quality characteristics. The proposed mixed plan is developed for both symmetric and asymmetric fraction non conforming. The optimal plan parameters can be determined by considering the satisfaction levels of the producer and the consumer simultaneously at an acceptable quality level and a limiting quality level, respectively. The performance of the proposed plan over the mixed single sampling plan based on C_pk and the mixed variable lot size plan based on C_pk with respect to the average sample number is also investigated. Tables are constructed for easy selection of plan parameters for both symmetric and asymmetric fraction non conforming and real world examples are also given for the illustration and practical implementation of the proposed mixed variable lot-size plan.     

Transnational Caregiving for My Father: An Opportunity and a Blessing

Transnational caregiving can be daunting, yet it often brings out the strengths of the caregiver that he or she may not have been aware of. Thus, it is a wonderful opportunity to know oneself and use those strengths to become better in other areas of life. Transnational caregiving is also a blessing, in that one can still continue to provide care for a loved one by surmounting the barriers of geographical distance. To transform what often is a challenging situation into a blessing, a fresh eye is needed to seek different ways of fulfilling the needs of the loved one by focusing on one thing: How can the caregiver, in his or her individual capacity, make a difference in the quality of life of the family member? This article, while relating personal experience in caring for a parent, traverses these issues.     

Representation of Muslim characters living in the West in Ontario’s language textbooks

This study examined how Muslims living in the West were represented in English language textbooks in Ontario, Canada. The review showed that Muslims were consistently placed in inferior and dependent positions in relation to ‘white folks’ by focusing on their origins in violent and backward societies, their cultural deficits, social ineptitudes, conflicted identities, and low-status jobs. It is suggested that textbooks should encourage critical literacy by including a wider, more accurate range of depictions of Muslims in western societies to combat stereotyping.     

Maternal,prenatal and traditional practice factors associated with perinatal mortality in Yemen

Background

Perinatal mortality remains a major international problem responsible for nearly six million stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

Do public representatives in local governments know about “disability rights” in Pakistan? An awareness assessment case from Southern Punjab

Local self-government systems have been adopted in many countries to supervise local interests in development and provide a range of goods and services to localities. It is believed that awareness of certain issues itself guides duty-bearers to reshape and divert development in a certain direction. In Pakistan, elected representatives in district governments are the key duty-bearers at the local level. Hence, their awareness is indispensable to decision-making for local development and, thus, it is pertinent to assess it from a disability rights perspective. In-depth information collected from two districts has reflected that most of the public representatives are ill-informed about disability, day-to-day problems of disabled persons and their rights, which results in inadvertently disability-biased local development planning. An overriding impression gained from the results is that raising elected representatives’ awareness on disability and the rights of disabled people is imperative to embracing disability rights practice in local development.     

On improvement in estimating the population mean in simple random sampling

Kadilar and Cingi [Ratio estimators in simple random sampling, Appl. Math. Comput. 151 (3) (2004), pp. 893–902] introduced some ratio-type estimators of finite population mean under simple random sampling. Recently, Kadilar and Cingi [New ratio estimators using correlation coefficient, Interstat 4 (2006), pp. 1–11] have suggested another form of ratio-type estimators by modifying the estimator developed by Singh and Tailor [Use of known correlation coefficient in estimating the finite population mean, Stat. Transit. 6 (2003), pp. 655–560]. Kadilar and Cingi [Improvement in estimating the population mean in simple random sampling, Appl. Math. Lett. 19 (1) (2006), pp. 75–79] have suggested yet another class of ratio-type estimators by taking a weighted average of the two known classes of estimators referenced above. In this article, we propose an alternative form of ratio-type estimators which are better than the competing ratio, regression, and other ratio-type estimators considered here. The results are also supported by the analysis of three real data sets that were considered by Kadilar and Cingi.     

Estimation of population distribution function involving measurement error in the presence of non response

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of estimating population distribution function for simple random sampling in the presence of non response and measurement error together. We suggest a general class of estimators for estimating the cumulative distribution function using the auxiliary information. The expressions for the bias and mean squared error are derived up to the first order of approximation. The performance of the proposed class of estimators is compared with considered estimators both theoretically and numerically. A real data set is used to support the theoretical findings.     

Comprehensive needs assessment as basis for equitable distribution of nutrition education and training services

The purpose of this article is to describe the attempts of the Nutrition Education and Training Program to provide equitable services to its target populations. The article stresses the effectiveness of a comprehensive needs assessment in identifying the need for program services relative to the characteristics of target populations, setting priorities for service delivery. Equitable distribution of program services is tied to the needs assessment methodology.     

Multi-modal tempered stable distributions and prosses with applications to finance

Abstract

The assumption of underlying return distribution plays an important role in asset pricing models. While the return distribution used in the traditional theories of asset pricing is the unimodal distribution, numerous studies which have investigated the empirical behavior of asset returns in financial markets use multi-modal distribution. We introduce a new parsimonious multi-modal distribution, referred to as the multi-modal tempered stable (MMTS) distribution. In this article we also generate the exponential Lévy market models and derive the value-at-risk (VaR) induced from them. To demonstrate the advantages, we will present the results of the parameter estimation and the VaRs for financial data.