  General log-linear models specified by non-negative integer design matrices
have a potentially wide range of applications, although using models without
the genuine overall effect, that is, ones which cannot be reparameterized to
include a normalizing constant, is still rare. The log-linear models without
the overall effect arise naturally in practice, and can be handled in a similar
manner to models with the overall effect. A novel iterative scaling procedure
for the MLE computation under such models is proposed, and its convergence is
proved. The results are illustrated using data from a recent clinical study.
