Maternal care receptivity--an innovative approach for the evaluation of MCH services

Despite rapid expansion in the maternal and child health and family planning services, there have been few attempts made to study the extent of utilisation of these services and their impact. The present study reports a simple method evolved in the quantification of utilisation of maternal care services (called maternal care receptivity - MCR), the relationship of factors such as age, parity, caste of the women and the distance of the health centre on the MCR and the impact of MCR on perinatal and neonatal mortalities. An inverse relationship was observed between MCR and perinatal and neonatal mortality rates and the two rates were three times less among babies born to mothers with high MCR scores compared to those with poor MCR scores.     

Burr-XII Distribution Parametric Estimation and Estimation of Reliability of Multicomponent Stress-Strength

In this paper, we estimate multicomponent stress-strength reliability by assuming Burr-XII distribution. The research methodology adopted here is to estimate the parameter using maximum likelihood estimation. Reliability is estimated using the maximum likelihood method of estimation and results are compared using the Monte Carlo simulation for small samples. Using real data sets we illustrate the procedure clearly.     

Linear regression model with new symmetric distributed errors

Regression models play a dominant role in analyzing several data sets arising from areas like agricultural experiment, space experiment, biological experiment, financial modeling, etc. One of the major strings in developing the regression models is the assumption of the distribution of the error terms. It is customary to consider that the error terms follow the Gaussian distribution. However, there are some drawbacks of Gaussian errors such as the distribution being mesokurtic having kurtosis three. In many practical situations the variables under study may not be having mesokurtic but they are platykurtic. Hence, to analyze these sorts of platykurtic variables, a two-variable regression model with new symmetric distributed errors is developed and analyzed. The maximum likelihood (ML) estimators of the model parameters are derived. The properties of the ML estimators with respect to the new symmetrically distributed errors are also discussed. A simulation study is carried out to compare the proposed model with that of Gaussian errors and found that the proposed model performs better when the variables are platykurtic. Some applications of the developed model are also pointed out.     

Acceptance sampling based on life tests: log-logistic model

The problem of acceptance sampling when the life test is truncated at a preassigned time is considered. For various acceptance numbers, confidence levels and values of the ratio of the fixed experimental time to the specified average life, the minimum sample size necessary to ensure the specified average life, are obtained under the assumption that the lifetime variate of the test items follows a distribution belonging to Burr's family XII of distributions - called the log-logistic model. The operating characteristic values of the sampling plans and producer's risk are presented. The results are illustrated by an example.     

Object-oriented design of a distributed agent-based framework for e-Procurement

Procurement is an important function in any manufacturing organization and it also has strategic business value attached to it. Hence, any improvements in the process would result in tremendous benefits. E-Procurement exploits the Internet and agent technologies to conduct procurement-related processes. In this paper, we design and develop a software agent-based framework for a typical e-Procurement process by decomposing it into three business processes: e-Negotiations, reverse auctions and e-Settlement. The artefacts of the system for each of the three business processes have been designed and developed using Unified Modeling Language (UML). A prototype of one of the processes, viz. reverse auction, has also been implemented.     

A control chart for multivariate Poisson distribution using repetitive sampling

Control charts using repetitive group sampling have attracted a great deal of attention during the last few years. In the present article, we attempt to develop a control chart for the multivariate Poisson distribution using the repetitive group sampling scheme. In the proposed control chart, the monitoring statistic from the multivariate Poisson distribution has been used for the quick detection of the deteriorated process to avoid losses. The control coefficients have been estimated using the specified in-control average run lengths. The procedure of the proposed control chart has been explained by using the real-world example and a simulated data set. It has been observed that the proposed control chart is an efficient development for the quick detection of the nonrandom change in the manufacturing process.     

Estimation of reliability in multicomponent stress–strength based on two parameter exponentiated Weibull Distribution

In this research article, we estimate the multicomponent stress–strength reliability of a system when strength and stress variates are drawn from an exponentiated Weibull distribution with different shape parameters α?and?β, and common shape and scale parameters γ and λ, respectively. We estimate the parameters by using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and hence the estimate of reliability obtained applying the MLE method of estimation when samples are drawn from stress and strength distributions. The small sample comparison of the reliability estimates is made through Monte Carlo simulation.     

Optimum group limits for estimation in scaled log-logistic distribution from a grouped data

The well known logistic distribution is considered. A transformation of the logistic variate in terms of exponential function results in a new distribution called log-logistic distribution suggested by Balakrishnanet al (1987). Estimation of its scale parameter from a grouped data is presented. Optimal group limits in the case of equispaced as well as unequispaced groupings so as to have a maximum asymptotic relative efficiency are worked out. The grouping correction in the case of equispaced grouped data with a mid point type estimator is also suggested. The results are expalined by an example.     

Early Indicators of Male Reproductive Toxicity

Longitudinal data were analyzed for seminal characteristics of rhesus monkeys and beagles. The monkeys were exposed to DBCP; the beagles were exposed to acute or chronic whole body gamma irradiation. The semen was analyzed for volume and sperm concentration. Sperm were measured for percent motility, swimming speed, and head dimensions. Abnormalities of the sperm tail were also noted. All treatments resulted in measurable effects on the semen parameters. Sperm production, as evaluated by seminal sperm concentration or total sperm numbers in the ejaculate, was as informative of testicular toxicity as any other parameter or combination of parameters. A consistent finding was that changes in sperm output occurred concomitantly with changes in sperm motility.