Designing Variables Sampling Plans with Process Loss Consideration

For the implementation of an acceptance sampling plan, a problem the quality practitioners have to deal with is the determination of the critical acceptance values and inspection sample sizes that provide the desired levels of protection to both vendors and buyers. Traditionally, most acceptance sampling plans focus on the percentage of defective products instead of considering the process loss, which doesn't distinguish among the products that fall within the specification limits. However, the quality between products that fall within the specification limits may be very different. So how to design an acceptance sampling plan with process loss consideration is necessary. In this article, a variables sampling plan based on L _e is proposed to handle processes requiring low process loss. The required sample sizes n and the critical acceptance value c with various combination of acceptance quality level are tabulated. The proposed sampling plan provides a feasible policy, which can be applied to products requiring low process loss where classical sampling plans cannot be applied.     

A Design For Survival Studies: A Multi-regional Trial With Unrecognized Heterogeneity

A bridging study defined by ICH E5 is usually conducted in the new region after the test product has been approved for commercial marketing in the original region due to its proven efficacy and safety. However, extensive duplication of clinical evaluation in the new region not only requires valuable development resources but also delay availability of the test product to the needed patients in the new regions. To shorten the drug lag or the time lag for approval, simultaneous drug development, submission, and approval in the world may be desirable. Recently, multi-regional trials have attracted much attention from sponsors as well as regulatory authorities. Current methods for sample determination are based on the assumption that true treatment effect is uniform across regions. However, unrecognized heterogeneity among patients as ethnic or genetic factor will effect patients’ survival. Using the simple log-rank test for analysis of treatment effect on survival in studies under heterogeneity may be severely underpowered. In this article, we address the issue that the treatment effects are different among regions to design a multi-regional trial. The optimal log-rank test is employed to deal with the heterogeneous effect size among regions. The test statistic for the overall treatment effect is used to determine the total sample size for a multi-regional trial and the consistent trend and the proposed criteria are used to rationalize partition sample size to each region.     

Dorfman-sterrett screening (group testing) schemes and the effects of faulty inspection

The Dorfman screening procedure is based on first testing a group of items as a whole, proceeding to individual testing only if the group-test indicates existence of at least one nonconforming item. A modification suggested by Sterrett allows for reintroduct-ion of group testing of all items, not yet tested individually, when an item is classified as nonconforming by an individual test. Effects of faulty test inspection on the properties of the modified procedures are studied.     

Popularity as an Affordance for Friendship: The Link Between Group and Dyadic Experience*

The associations between measures of popularity (acceptance, rejection and preference) and friendship were examined in three independent samples of elementary and middle school children. Data were obtained by means of sociometric nomination and rating scale procedures. Results reveal that, regardless of measurement technique, acceptance is generally more strongly related to friendship than is either rejection or preference. The size of the association between popularity and friendship decreases with age. Mean comparisons show that popularity is a predictor and/or is temporally antecedent to friendship rather than vice-versa. These results indicate that the association between popularity and friendship derives from their conceptual dependence on the construct of liking.     

The Influence of Trust and Perceptions of Risks and Benefits on the Acceptance of Gene Technology

A causal model explaining acceptance of gene technology was tested. It was hypothesized that trust in institutions using gene technology or using modified products has a positive impact on perceived benefit and a negative influence on perceived risk of this technology. Furthermore, perceived benefit and perceived risk determine acceptance of biotechnology. In other words, trust has an indirect influence on the acceptance of the technology. The postulated model was tested using structural equation modeling procedures and data from a random quota sample of 1001 Swiss citizens between 18 and 74 years old. Results indicated that the proposed model fits the data very well. The same causal model explains females' and males' acceptance of gene technology. Gender differences were found for the latent variables trust, perceived benefit, and acceptance of gene technology. Females indicated more trust, perceived less benefit, and demonstrated less acceptance than did males. No significant difference was observed for perceived risk. The implications of the results are discussed.     

后现代语境中俄国形式主义的传播与接受

上个世纪90年代以来,俄国形式主义在我国传播与接受是在后现代语境中展开的。在这一语境之下,俄国形式主义一方面因和后现代文学观念抵牾而受到訾议,另一方面因其对文化研究的救弊作用而在文学理论批评的重建中被重新发现价值。俄国形式主义在我国1990年代以来传播与接受从"抑"到"尊"的走向表明,我国文学理论批评正从现代型向后现代型转型,并进而走向成熟。     

Failure–censored reliability sampling plans for the exponential distribution

In this paper we examine the failure-censored sampling plans for the two–parameter exponential distri- bution based on m random samples, each of size n. The suggested procedure is based on exact results and only the first failure time of each sample is needed. The values of the acceptability constant are also tabulated for selected values of p _α ¹ p _β ¹, α and β. Further, a comparison of the proposed sampling plans with ordinary sampling plans using a sample of size mn is made. When compared to ordinary sampling plans, the proposed plan has an advantage in terms of shorter test-time and a saving of resources.     

Where To Go From Here? Thoughts on Future Directions for Research on Individual‐Level Technology Adoption with a Focus on Decision Making*

This article recognizes the maturity of individual‐level technology‐adoption research and suggests three broad future research directions. They are: (i) business process change and process standards, (ii) supply‐chain technologies, and (iii) services. Each of these areas is identified based on the topics likely of interest to the readers of the Decision Sciences by closely examining Decision Sciences' editorial mission and the recent research published in it. Within each of these three different broad topic areas, a few different specific directions are identified. The directions outlined here are not meant to be exhaustive but rather potential directions that can result in a theoretical contribution to individual‐level technology‐adoption research and the specific topic area.     

Trust in Risk Regulation: Cause or Consequence of the Acceptability of GM Food?

Although there is ample empirical evidence that trust in risk regulation is strongly related to the perception and acceptability of risk, it is less clear what the direction of this relationship is. This article explores the nature of the relationship, using three separate data sets on perceptions of genetically modified (GM) food among the British public. The article has two discrete but closely interrelated objectives. First, it compares two models of trust. More specifically, it investigates whether trust is the cause (causal chain account) or the consequence (associationist view) of the acceptability of GM food. Second, this study explores whether the affect heuristic can be applied to a wider number of risk-relevant concepts than just perceived risk and benefit. The results suggest that, rather than a determinant, trust is an expression or indicator of the acceptability of GM food. In addition, and as predicted, "affect" accounts for a large portion of the variance between perceived risk, perceived benefit, trust in risk regulation, and acceptability. Overall, the results support the associationist view that specific risk judgments are driven by more general evaluative judgments The implications of these results for risk communication and policy are discussed.