This new handbook is the definitive resource on advanced topics related to multilevel analysis. The editors assembled the top minds in the field to address the latest applications of multilevel modeling as well as the specific difficulties and methodological problems that are becoming more common as more complicated models are developed. Each chapter features examples that use actual datasets. These datasets, as well as the code to run the models, are available on the book's website http: //www.hlm-online.com . Each chapter includes an introduction that sets the stage for the material to come and a conclusion. Divided into five sections, the first provides a broad introduction to the field that serves as a framework for understanding the latter chapters. Part 2 focuses on multilevel latent variable modeling including item response theory and mixture modeling. Section 3 addresses models used for longitudinal data including growth curve and structural equation modeling. Special estimation problems are examined in section 4 including the difficulties involved in estimating survival analysis, Bayesian estimation, bootstrapping, multiple imputation, and complicated models, including generalized linear models, optimal design in multilevel models, and more. The book's concluding section focuses on statistical design issues encountered when doing multilevel modeling including nested designs, analyzing cross-classified models, and dyadic data analysis. Intended for methodologists, statisticians, and researchers in a variety of fields including psychology, education, and the social and health sciences, this handbook also serves as an excellent text for graduate and PhD level courses in multilevel modeling. A basic knowledge of multilevel modeling is assumed.

This book consists of eight chapters, authored by distinguished researchers and practitioners, that highlight the state of the art and recent trends in addressing the project portfolio selection and scheduling problem (PPSSP) across a variety of domains, particularly defense, social programs, supply chains, and finance. Many organizations face the challenge of selecting and scheduling a subset of available projects subject to various resource and operational constraints. In the simplest scenario, the primary objective for an organization is to maximize the value added through funding and implementing a portfolio of projects, subject to the available budget. However, there are other major difficulties that are often associated with this problem such as qualitative project benefits, multiple conflicting objectives, complex project interdependencies, workforce and manufacturing constraints, and deep uncertainty regarding project costs, benefits, and completion times. It is well known that the PPSSP is an NP-hard problem and, thus, there is no known polynomial-time algorithm for this problem. Despite the complexity associated with solving the PPSSP, many traditional approaches to this problem make use of exact solvers. While exact solvers provide definitive optimal solutions, they quickly become prohibitively expensive in terms of computation time when the problem size is increased. In contrast, evolutionary and memetic computing afford the capability for autonomous heuristic approaches and expert knowledge to be combined and thereby provide an efficient means for high-quality approximation solutions to be attained. As such, these approaches can provide near real-time decision support information for portfolio design that can be used to augment and improve existing human-centric strategic decision-making processes. This edited book provides the reader with a broad overview of the PPSSP, its associated challenges, and approaches to addressing the problem using evolutionary and memetic computing.

This book consists of eight chapters, authored by distinguished researchers and practitioners, that highlight the state of the art and recent trends in addressing the project portfolio selection and scheduling problem (PPSSP) across a variety of domains, particularly defense, social programs, supply chains, and finance. Many organizations face the challenge of selecting and scheduling a subset of available projects subject to various resource and operational constraints. In the simplest scenario, the primary objective for an organization is to maximize the value added through funding and implementing a portfolio of projects, subject to the available budget. However, there are other major difficulties that are often associated with this problem such as qualitative project benefits, multiple conflicting objectives, complex project interdependencies, workforce and manufacturing constraints, and deep uncertainty regarding project costs, benefits, and completion times. It is well known that the PPSSP is an NP-hard problem and, thus, there is no known polynomial-time algorithm for this problem. Despite the complexity associated with solving the PPSSP, many traditional approaches to this problem make use of exact solvers. While exact solvers provide definitive optimal solutions, they quickly become prohibitively expensive in terms of computation time when the problem size is increased. In contrast, evolutionary and memetic computing afford the capability for autonomous heuristic approaches and expert knowledge to be combined and thereby provide an efficient means for high-quality approximation solutions to be attained. As such, these approaches can provide near real-time decision support information for portfolio design that can be used to augment and improve existing human-centric strategic decision-making processes. This edited book provides the reader with a broad overview of the PPSSP, its associated challenges, and approaches to addressing the problem using evolutionary and memetic computing.

Did you ever have a conversation with someone that so intrigued you that when you walked away you longed to know more? .The kind of stimulating conversation that in the ensuing days your mind exploded with deeper thoughts and questions? .Where there was a divine bond that you knew God was up to something big? What began as a casual lunch between two women resulted in a divine invitation from God. God gave Kyle Roberts and Beverly Plimpton the ultimate invitation to fulfill His call on their lives. The invitation to: .a friendship orchestrated by a sovereign God .the deeper life in Christ .lock arms to disciple and spiritually direct others .follow God's call to teach women how to disciple and spiritually direct others onto maturity in Christ We invite you to accept God's invitation to more! You're personally invited to live out your divine calling to depth, dignity, and delight in Christ.

Did you ever have a conversation with someone that so intrigued you that when you walked away you longed to know more? .The kind of stimulating conversation that in the ensuing days your mind exploded with deeper thoughts and questions? .Where there was a divine bond that you knew God was up to something big? What began as a casual lunch between two women resulted in a divine invitation from God. God gave Kyle Roberts and Beverly Plimpton the ultimate invitation to fulfill His call on their lives. The invitation to: .a friendship orchestrated by a sovereign God .the deeper life in Christ .lock arms to disciple and spiritually direct others .follow God's call to teach women how to disciple and spiritually direct others onto maturity in Christ We invite you to accept God's invitation to more! You're personally invited to live out your divine calling to depth, dignity, and delight in Christ.

The purpose of this book is to be a practical and biblical guide to help women learn the following: The goal of discipleship Biblical examples of discipleship Biblical traits of a discipler Requirements of the discipler and the disciple How to get to know the disciple How to set expectations and limits for healthy relationships How to encourage and pray for the disciple How to listen prayerfully How to be a good steward of your time, health, and resources How to know when you are finished Practical tools to disciple another Our prayer is that individuals invest in discipling a younger believer in the faith in one-on-one relationships. The Bible has called us to come alongside others and help them grow in the faith and in their personal walk and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have written Two, Please to help women learn how to disciple young believers to maturity in the faith and help disciples receive Christ's invitation to the truly joy-filled, abundant life. Sadly, joy and the abundant life are all too often missing in the busy 21st-century Christian. The biblical command to make disciples is waning in our individual lives. What is at stake if we do nothing differently?

In this latest addition to the Two Horizons New Testament Commentary series, biblical scholar Jeannine Brown and theologian Kyle Roberts together illuminate the Gospel of Matthew for pastors, scholars, and serious students of Scripture. Including an original translation of the text along with section-by-section commentary, this volume features chapters on "thinking theologically with Matthew" about such themes as kingdom, Christology, the Holy Spirit, and discipleship. Brown and Roberts also offer constructive theological engagement with a number of contemporary viewpoints, including feminist, global, political, and ethical (post-Holocaust) perspectives. At once interdisciplinary and insightful, their commentary will appeal to a wide readership.