No Medal for the Olympics on Labour Rights

The report utilizes the research of four of the companies awarded licenses to produce official Olympic goods and calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure all Olympic products are manufactured in conditions aligned with the Olympic Charter

Annual Report (2008): Greater Hazleton Health Alliance; Community Service

https://scholarlyworks.lvhn.org/reports/1050/thumbnail.jp

Lobbying in Malta : environmental NGOs and social capital

This paper explores the usage of social capital by Maltese Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations in their lobbying strategies and access to resources, particularly within the context of Malta as a new EU member state. The findings of the empirical research carried out in this regard show that as regards lobbying, Maltese ENGOs tend to prefer forming homogenous alliances with similar organisations. Besides, there is no direct link between access to resources and usage of social capital.peer-reviewe

Standard error estimation for EM applications related to Latent class models

The EM algorithm is a popular method for computing maximum likelihood estimates. It tends to be numerically stable, reduces execution time compared to other estimation procedures and is easy to implement in latent class models. However, the EM algorithm fails to provide a consistent estimator of the standard errors of maximum likelihood estimates in incomplete data applications. Correct standard errors can be obtained by numerical differentiation. The technique requires computation of a complete-data gradient vector and Hessian matrix, but not those associated with the incomplete data likelihood. Obtaining first and second derivatives numerically is computationally very intensive and execution time may become very expensive when fitting Latent class models using a Newton-type algorithm. When the execution time is too high one is motivated to use the EM algorithm solution to initialize the Newton Raphson algorithm. We also investigate the effect on the execution time when a final Newton-Raphson step follows the EM algorithm after convergence. In this paper we compare the standard errors provided by the EM and Newton-Raphson algorithms for two models and analyze how this bias is affected by the number of parameters in the model fit.peer-reviewe

Analyzing dropout rates of B.Sc students

Survival analysis is a useful statistical technique for analyzing failure time data. It overcomes the limitations of cross-sectional analysis and convention regression analysis. This study proposes three statistical models that analyze the failure time when university students withdraw from B.Sc courses. The sample comprises all the 91 students who commenced their four-year studies with the Faculty of Science in 2002. The first approach uses the Kaplan-Meier product limit method for estimating the survival functions under non-informative censoring. The second approach uses the Cox regression model, which involves the assumption of proportional hazard functions. The third approach uses a parametric model to estimate the hazard function using an appropriate distribution. The aim of the study is to fit survival models that predict the probabilities of retention and dropout of B.Sc students within each study area using the facilities of SPSS and STATA.peer-reviewe

Villanova University School of Law Commencement Program - Class of 2008

The Program for the Commencement Exercises of the 53th graduating class of the Villanova University School of Law in 200

Villanova University School of Law Commencement Program - Class of 2008

The Program for the Commencement Exercises of the 53th graduating class of the Villanova University School of Law in 200

Resurrecting the Dead: Artforum 1978 Review

This paper examines the evolution of painting throughout 1978, citing various reviews from Artforum magazine to mark the transitions and progress in paint theory. The conclusion helps stifle a long running debate on the objecthood and purity of paintings