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Additional file 2: Appendix 2. Interview Topic Guide.

Additional file 3: Appendix 3. Interview schedule for telephone interviews with ambulance staff.

Additional file 1: Appendix 1. Content Analysis Trust Breakdown.

Appendix 4. BMC HSR paper themes and quotes.

Additional file 5: Table S5. Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).

Additional file 2: Table S2. Included publications.

Additional file 1: Table S1. All nine databases with search terms and results.

Additional file 4: Table S4. Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies.

Additional file 3: Table S3. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) assessment of the included qualitative studies.

The Singh-Maddala distribution is very popular to analyze the data on income, expenditure, actuarial, environmental, and reliability related studies. To enhance its scope and application, we propose four parameters transmuted Singh-Maddala distribution, in this study. The proposed distribution is relatively more flexible than the parent distribution to model a variety of data sets. Its basic statistical properties, reliability function, and behaviors of the hazard function are derived. The hazard function showed the decreasing and an upside-down bathtub shape that is required in various survival analysis. The order statistics and generalized TL-moments with their special cases such as L-, TL-, LL-, and LH-moments are also explored. Furthermore, the maximum likelihood estimation is used to estimate the unknown parameters of the transmuted Singh-Maddala distribution. The real data sets are considered to illustrate the utility and potential of the proposed model. The results indicate that the transmuted Singh-Maddala distribution models the datasets better than its parent distribution. La distribución Singh-Maddala es muy popular para analizar datos de ingresos, gastos, actuariales, ambientales y de confiabilidad. Para mejorar su alcance y aplicación se propone su extensión a la distribución de cuatro parámetros Singh-Maddala transmutada. Esta es más flexible en la modelación de diversos conjuntos de datos. Sus propiedades básicas, las funciones de confiabilidad y riesgos son estudiadas. La función de riesgo es decrecientes o tiene forma de bañera invertida. Como se requiere en varios estudios de sobrevivencia se exploran sus estadísticas de orden y los momentos TL, con sus casos especiales L, TL, LL y LH. Se emplea máxima verosimilitud para la estimación de los cuatro parámetros. Datos reales son usados para ilustrar la utilidad y potencialidad del modelo propuesto. Los resultados indican que la distribución propuesta ajusta mejor que la original.

Accurate estimation of parameters of a probability distribution is of immense importance in statistics. Biased and imprecise estimation of parameters can lead to erroneous results. Our focus is to estimate the parameter of Power function distribution accurately because this density is now widely used for modelling various types of data. In this study, L-moments, TL-moments, LL-moments and LH-moments of power function distribution are derived. In addition, the coefficient of variation, skewness and kurtosis are obtained by method of moments, L-moments and TL-moments. Parameters of the density are estimated using linear moments and compared with method of moments and MLE on the basis of bias, root mean square error and coefficients through simulation study. L-moments proved to be superior for the parameter estimation and this conclusion is equally true for different parametric values and sample size. La distribución de función de potencias es ampliamente usada. Dada su importancia, es necesario estimar sus parámetros de manera precisa. En este artículo, los momentos TL de la distribución de función de potencias son derivados así como sus casos especiales tales como los momentos L, LL y LH. Los coeficientes de variación, sesgo y curtosis son obtenidos a partir de los momentos L y TL. Los parámetros desconocidos son estimados y los momentos lineales son comparados con el método de momentos y estimadores máximo verosímiles en la base del sesgo, raíz del error cuadrático medio a través de un estudio de simulación. Los momentos L permiten obtener estimaciones más precisas y esta conclusión es verdad para diferentes valores paramétricos y tamaño de muestra.

The present study explores the impact of tax policy on economic growth using average marginal tax rate and average tax rate for South Asian countries. The data for five developing countries: India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka is used for the period of 1991-2010. This study uses Additive Mixed Models with penalized spline methodology. In this study we have constructed the average marginal tax rates using methodology of Seater (1982). It further identifies that the variables like average marginal tax rate (AMTRs), average tax rate (ATR), population growth rate, trade-openness, investment, human capital and real per capita GDP are the significant determinants of economic growth in the sample countries. On average, AMTRs and population growth rate reduce the performance of economic growth in the developing countries. The main findings further suggest that nonlinear effects are exerted by tax policy on economic growth. The increase in average marginal tax rate at the lower level of taxation, effects more adversely, than at higher levels of taxation. So it suggested that to increase the economic growth a substantial tax cut in prevailing tax level is essential in developing countries. As in developing countries the AMTRs affects the economic growth adversely and significantly, so developing countries should introduce tax reforms in a way that will lead to reduce dependence on AMTRs.

In this article our objective is to evaluate the performance of different measures of associations for hypothesis testing purposes. We have considered different measures of association (including some commonly used) in this study, one of which is parametric and others are non-parametric including three proposed modifications. Performance of these tests are compared under different symmetric, skewed and contaminated probability distributions that include Normal, Cauchy, Uniform, Laplace, Lognormal, Exponential, Weibull, Gamma, t, Chi-square, Half Normal, Mixed Weibull and Mixed Normal. Performances of these tests are measured in terms of power. We have suggested appropriate tests which may perform better under different situations based on their efficiency grading(s). It is expected that researchers will find these results useful in decision making. En este articulo el objetivo es evaluar el desempeño de diferentes medidas de asociación para pruebas de hipótesis. Se consideran diferentes medidas, algunas paramétricas y otras no paramétricas, así como tres modificaciones propuestas por los autores. El desempeño de estas pruebas se evalúa considerando distribuciones simétricas, sesgadas y contaminadas incluyendo la distribución normal, Cauchy, uniforme, Laplace, lognormal, exponencial, Weibull, Gamma, t, Chi-cuadrado, medio normal, Weibull mezclada y normal mezclada. El desempeño se evalúa en términos de la potencia de los tests. Se sugieren tests apropiados que tienen un mejor desempeño bajo diferentes niveles de eficiencia. Se espera que los investigadores encuentren estos resultados útiles en la toma de decisiones.

Modeling income, wage, wealth, expenditure and various other social variables have always been an issue of great concern. The Dagum distribution is considered quite handy to model such type of variables. Our focus in this study is to derive the L-moments and TL-moments of this distribution in closed form. Using L & TL-moments estimators we estimate the scale parameter which represents the inequality of the income distribution from the mean income. Comparing L-moments, TL-moments and conventional moments, we observe that the TL-moment estimator has lessbias and root mean square errors than those of L and conventional estimators considered in this study. We also find that the TL-moments have smaller root mean square errors for the coefficients of variation, skewness and kurtosis. These results hold for all sample sizes we have considered in our Monte Carlo simulation study. La modelación de ingresos, salarios, riqueza, gastos y muchas otras variables de tipo social han sido siempre un tema de gran interés. La distribución Dagum es considerada para modelar este tipo de variables. Nos centraremos en este artículo en la derivación de los momentos L y los momentos TL de esta distribución de manera cerrada. Mediante el uso de los estimadores de momentos L y TL, estimamos el parámetro de escala que representa la desigualdad de la distribución de ingresos a partir de la media. Comparando los momentos L, los momentos TL y los momentos convencionales, concluimos que los momentos TL tienen menor sesgo y errores cuadráticos medios. También concluimos que los momentos TL tiene la menor error cuadrático medio para los coeficientes de variación, sesgo y curtosis. Estas conclusiones son igualmente aplicables para todos los tamaños de muestras considerados en nuestro estudio de simulación de Monte Carlo.

Business as usual will not be enough to tackle the critical issue of having sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and food security, which Pakistan is facing at the moment and in future it can become very alarming. Innovative approach is essential for food policy, for enhancing agriculture productivity on sustainable basis and ensuring food security. This paper figures out how sustainable increase in agriculture productivity and food security is linked with a comprehensive food policy. Agriculture productivity respond to the external environment more than tailor made targeted schemes for agriculture. New Growth Strategy GOP (May, 2011) includes all the basic ingredients, which are important for changing this external environment. These include growth of prosperous cities which derive demand for food upward and compel market activities sequentially create employment, connectivity which makes the flow of market information process efficient besides reducing the cost of transportation as well as reduce post harvest losses, entrepreneurship in agri-business leads to fair market competition and standardization and certification of products. These external aspects complement in enhancing productivity as well as solve the problem of food insecurity by augmenting the purchasing power of the masses. In addition there should be a National strategy in which federal and provincial governments should develop a strategy of bringing hunger to zero level in next 5 to 8 years.

Food is one of the most basic rights of every one living on this earth to get food. Food insecurity has very serious consequences in term of undermining people’s health, productivity and even their very survival. Sufficient food policy should not distract us from the need to find ways to address hunger. In this study we have calculated food security indicators related to food access and utilization by using Household Integrated Economic Survey(HIES) 2007-08 data. Almost 25% of the population is suffering from high food insecurity and 40% population is suffering from medium level of food insecurity. Cereals comprise more than 50% of the calories consumed by all income groups. Better educated household heads have lower food insecurity level than less educated after controlling income effect. Household size and food security are negatively related. Sind province has the highest percentage of food insecure population while in absolute number Punjab has the highest number of food insecure people.