The proportion of Americans who reported no religious preference doubled from 7 to 14 percent in the second half of the 1990s, according to data from the General Social Survey. This dramatic change may be the result of demographic shifts, increasing skepticism, or the politicization of religion. Part of the increase reflects a succession of generations; the percentage of adults who had been rai...

In his 1987 classic book on multiple imputation (MI), Rubin used the fraction of missing information, γ, to define the relative efficiency (RE) of MI as RE = (1 + γ/m)-1/2, where m is the number of imputations, leading to the conclusion that a small m (≤5) would be sufficient for MI. However, evidence has been accumulating that many more imputations are needed. Why would the apparently sufficie...

The use of laser, as a remote sensory instrument, has been in a developing stage for over 30 years. Starting in 1995, the commercial development of Light Detection and Ranging technology (LIDAR) grew fast and became an important technique for obtaining data of digital model of land, as well as digital model of surfaces. In Brazil, the first use of mapping with LIDAR, was performed in 2001 by an...

This paper focuses on the global and country level implications of government 2.0 initiatives. Government 2.0 focuses on the interactive components of e-government. Government 2.0 interaction ranges from message board entries to more sophisticated options such as polls and electronic voting. The implications of the government 2.0 phenomenon can be far-reaching particularly for emerging and deve...

We present preliminary results from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey (SGPS) Test Region and Parkes data. As part of the pilot project for the Southern Galactic Plane Survey, observations of a Test Region (325. 5 ≤ l ≤ 333. 5; −0. 5 ≤ b ≤ 3. 5) were completed in December 1998. Single dish observations of the full survey region (253 ≤ l ≤ 358; |b| ≤ 1) with the Parkes Radio Telescope were compl...

Owing to the rapid developments in the field of remote sensing, it is being used in a wide range of applications. Especially, based on the purpose, the choice has to be made from the different multi-scale images available. Besides, as remote sensing technology includes the work of aerial survey, DEM (Digital Elevation Model) information can also be obtained. So these technologies can provide la...

Obesity is a public health challenge throughout the world. Ongoing monitoring of trends in obesity is important to assess interventions aimed at preventing or reducing the burden of obesity. Since the 1960s, measured height and weight have been collected in the United States as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In Canada, data on measured height and weight h...

Against the Spectrum distortion problem of the IHS method which exists in the Quick-Bird data fusion, the paper proposes visualpan band method and Linear weighted matching two methods to improve it, provides the best value scope of the α in the VisualPan band method as well as the best weighted values of pan and I when the spatial characteristic and the spectrum characteristic of the linear wei...

This study examines the role of perceptions of opinion polls in assessing media performance in the 2010 midterm elections using data collected in a southern state. Results show strong hostile media effect in viewing the favorability of the polls and the third-person effect in assessing the impact of the polls on others and oneself. Moreover, results indicate that the influence of hostile polls ...

OBJECTIVES Obesity and a reduced physical activity are global developments. Physical activity affects the external skeletal robustness which decreased in German children. It was assumed that the negative trend of decreased external skeletal robustness can be found in other countries. Therefore anthropometric data of Russian and German children from the years 2000 and 2010 were compared. METHO...