Multiple-arm superiority and non-inferiority designs with various endpoints

Multiple-arm dose-response superiority trials are widely studied for continuous and binary endpoints, while non-inferiority designs have been studied recently in two-arm trials. In this paper, a unified asymptotic formulation of a sample size calculation for k-arm (k>0) trials with different endpoints (continuous, binary and survival endpoints) is derived for both superiority and non-inferiority designs. The proposed method covers the sample size calculation for single-arm and k-arm (k> or =2) designs with survival endpoints, which has not been covered in the statistic literature. A simple, closed form for power and sample size calculations is derived from a contrast test. Application examples are provided. The effect of the contrasts on the power is discussed, and a SAS program for sample size calculation is provided and ready to use.     

魔兽与母亲——灾难的象征论

1991年10月发生在奥克兰地区的大火灾造成25人丧生,6000多人无家可归。幸存者用各种方式表达自己对这场灾难的认识,其中凸显了有关自然与文化、有序与无序、时间与空间以及传统的男女性别区分与生死等二元结构,尤其是对作为自然象征的母亲与作为灾难象征的魔兽二者之间的对立显示了自然与非自然力量的对比。人们为了解释灾难的去而复来,甚至认定灾难的发生是早已注定的、循环的,从而肯定了上帝对于自然灾害发生的控制权,由此,毁灭者也是创造者。奥克兰大火中隐含着如建筑材料的不当使用和居民区的不合理规划等技术性因素,因此其可部分归结为技术性灾难。而由于技术性灾难产生于一个文化的竞技场,而不是自然自身的,在这种情况下,能满足人们心理需求的合乎情理的灾难意象或隐喻非常少,因此,技术性灾难不会流变为神话,而是作为永远的历史而存在。综观上述过程,灾难被重新界定为＂创造性的毁灭＂,从而被赋予了一种令人敬畏的美。尽管并非所有的文化都会以上述方式去象征地表达灾难,但所有的文化在描述与解释灾难时,象征都将会是他们行动的一部分。这些象征的建立缓解或消解了灾民对于灾难的恐惧,这也可以部分解释为什么灾难多发区的居民大多不愿意搬迁。     

Physician/hospital business relationships. Sorting through the options

Providers recognize the critical role of physician/hospital partnerships in the newly emerging health care delivery system. However, the possibilities available for establishing such partnerships can be overwhelming. The authors provide a critical review of the options for physician/hospital business relationships. They emphasize the need to match physician/hospital strategies to local market characteristics, develop market-based business objectives, and structure physician/hospital relationships to support the achievement of business objectives.     

《西伯利亚的萨满教》一书评介

《西伯利亚的萨满教》(Shamanism in Sibe-ria)一书,由 V·狄奥斯泽吉(Vilmos Diószegi)和 M·霍帕尔(M·Hoppál)编著,S·西蒙自俄文和匈牙利文译出,1978年布达佩斯匈牙利科学院出版,英国科利斯(Collets)出版公司发行。据这本饶有兴味的图书介绍,在欧亚大陆北部以及中亚和北美诸民族中,作为“人类和精神世界之间的占卜者、巫医和请神者”的萨满的存在是一     

尼日利亚的语言和政治

今天下午我所要给大家介绍的是我亲自看到和亲身经历过的尼日利亚的一些情况,一些具有尼日利亚特点,并且在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲地区也具有普遍意义的情况。我要讲讲在一个多种语言的政治整体中某些语言的作用。这个整体指的是把多种民族联合在一起组成的一个独立国家。语言方面的摩擦(或者斗争)在非洲主要表现在两个方面:一是文化方面;一是历史方面。从文化方面来讲,某一部落的成员视自己的语言为部落     

“红种人”的最后一战

“卧牛”、“黑狼”、“白云”、“巨足”以及其他既有诗意又引人着迷的绰号,并不是美国西部电影中虚构的英雄人物。这些名字,过去那些在苦难中煎熬并为本民族的事业而献身的人使用过;而今,那些为民族的生存和平等权力而斗争的人,同样也还在使用。简而言之,他们就是居住在北美的印第安人。生活在美国的这些“红种人”,     

经济与加拿大的民族社区

根据经济的需要和在不同时期对农民、伐木工人、铁路工人、建筑工人、熟练工人和非熟练工人、职员和专业人员的需求,加拿大的移民政策逐年发生着变化。自从加拿大成为英联邦成员国以来,国家的民族和文化构成情况也发生了很大的变化:1931年 1931年盎格鲁-克尔特人 60％ 40％法兰西人 33％ 27％其他民族 7％ 33％民族加拿大人(ethnic Canadians)在加拿大的发展中曾做出过巨大的贡献,诸如修筑横贯加拿大的铁路,在荒原开辟农场,以及兴建众多的加拿大城市。然而,由于这些工作大都属体力劳动性质,此类贡献也多被埋没。近些年来,随着移民法的改变,许多高级熟练工人来到加拿大,并带来他们宝贵的专业经验。本文即准备从国内和国际两个方面,探讨这种     

Opportunities for woman-initiated HIV prevention methods among female sex workers in southern China

Rapid changes in China over the past two decades have led to significant problems associated with population migration and changing social attitudes, including a growing sex industry and concurrent increases in STIs and HIV. This article reports results of an exploratory study of microbicide acceptability and readiness and current HIV prevention efforts among female sex workers in two rural and one urban town in Hainan and Guangxi Provinces in southern China. The study focused on these women's knowledge and cultural understandings of options for protecting themselves from exposure to STIs and HIV, and the potential viability and acceptability of woman-initiated prevention methods. We report on ethnographic elicitation interviews conducted with women working within informal sex-work establishments (hotels, massage and beauty parlors, roadside restaurants, boarding houses). We discuss implications of these findings for further promotion of woman-initiated prevention methods such as microbicides and female condoms among female sex workers in China.     

Does subliminal exposure to sexual stimuli have the same effects on men and women?

Three studies explored gender differences in explicit and implicit components of sexual arousal following brief exposure to a sexual stimulus. Whereas Study 1 assessed reports of sexual arousal following subliminal exposure to a sexual or a neutral picture, Studies 2 and 3 examined the effects of the same priming procedure on accessibility of sex-related thoughts assessed with a pictorial judgment task and a lexical decision task. The subliminal sexual prime did not have an effect on men's reports of sexual arousal, but caused women to report lower levels of sexual arousal. In contrast, the same subliminal sexual prime led to higher accessibility of sex-related thoughts in both men and women. It is therefore suggested that the subliminal sexual prime causes women to activate sex-related mental contents but to experience the result as somewhat aversive.