Four case studies to highlight some opportunities and challenges in developing anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal agents

Since the first properly randomized control trial of streptomycin for pulmonary tuberculosis in the late 1940s, society has made great advances in combating bacterial infections and in developing vaccines to prevent such infections. One constant challenge that anti‐bacterial clinical development must grapple with is to determine the potential benefit of newer agents over existing agents, in an era when anti‐bacterial resistance is a constantly shifting target. By contrast, the development of anti‐fungal agents went into high gear only in the late 1980s and early 1990s in an effort to manage fungal infections in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, especially in patients with haematologic malignancies, bone marrow transplantation, or lymphoma. The pursuit of anti‐fungal agents intensified with the AIDS epidemic. The evaluation of anti‐fungal agents often faces complications brought on by competing risks in situations where the underlying infections are associated with a high chance of mortality or severe morbidity. In this paper, we use four case studies to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities in developing anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal agents. The illustrations touch on not only statistical issues, but also issues related to the availability of new anti‐bacterials in the future. Some suggestions on how statisticians could take advantage of the opportunities and answer to the challenges are also included. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of mandatory notification training on the tendency to report hypothetical cases of child abuse and neglect

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of mandated notification training upon the tendency of individuals to report hypothetical cases of abuse and neglect. A second objective was to investigate the factors that influence the decision to report and to determine whether mandated notification training had an effect on these factors. Comparisons were drawn between a no training and a recent training group (with random allocation). An additional group of participants who had received training some time ago was included. Five hypothetical vignettes were responded to by 41 teachers and school personnel who had recently completed training, 31 people who had not completed training and 73 people who had completed training some years previously. Where the quality of evidence of abuse and thus suspicion of abuse was relatively high, there were no differences in the likelihood of reporting between trained and untrained participants, all of whom were very likely to report. Ambiguous evidence of abuse had a strong negative influence on reporting likelihood, although mandatory reporting training reduced this inhibition. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"Are they still having sex?" STI's and unintended pregnancy among mid-life women

Research has shown that women remain sexually active throughout mid-life and into the post-menopausal years. Recent data reveal that significant numbers of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and unintended pregnancies occur among mid-life women. Data on STI prevalence indicate several STIs have relatively high rates among women over age 30, including HIV and HSV-2. Racial/ethnic disparities in STI prevalence between mid-life African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women have also been noted. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth reveal 51% of pregnancies among women 40 and older are unintended. Both STIs and unintended pregnancy can result in serious health consequences for mid-life women. STIs can result in pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy can result in increased morbidity and mortality to the woman and the fetus. Mid-life women are also highly likely to go through relationship transitions (e.g., separation, divorce) and the subsequent initiation of new sexual relationships. As a result, these women are at elevated risk of STIs and unintended pregnancy. Despite these realities, there is a lack of programs addressing these two health issues among mid-life women and the unique life circumstances of women at this stage of life. The authors assert there is a compelling need for interventions to reduce STIs and unintended pregnancy in this population of women, review the literature regarding STIs and unintended pregnancy in mid-life women, identify gaps in current resources, and make recommendations for health care practice and future research.     

Empirical bayes methods for a two-way multiplicative-interaction model

Empirical Bayes methods are used to estimate cell probabi-lities under a multiplicative-Interaction model for a two-way contingency table. The methods assign uniform and normal priors with unknown variances to the main effects and the separable scores. A priori the analysis assumes exchangeability of sets of parameters. The unknown variance components are estimated empirically from the data via the EM algorithm as discussed by Laird (1978)and Dempster, Laird and Rubin (1977). An example Is Included.     

Perfumer,chemist, machine: gas chromatography and the industrial search to “improve” flavor

Abstract

Drawing from published accounts of the use of gas chromatography (GC) in the food industry, found in industry-specific journals, this article examines the role of GC in changing how perfumers and flavorists think about and shape the sense-able world. It shows that the development of a novel twist on GC – the use of an expert’s nose as a detecting device directly connected to the exit gasses of the gas chromatograph, rather than an instrumental detector – opened the door to a new way of categorizing aromatic molecules that changed the purpose of expert practices of smelling within the industrial context. The marriage of human and machine not only offered those tasked with developing the perfect flavor the tools for gaining information about what aspects of a flavor they wished to keep, it also helped identify what aspects they ought to discard or obfuscate in their search to improve the natural world of tastes and smells.     

Culture,Context, or Conflict? Analyzing Union Attitudes in Six Rural Counties in Conservative Right‐to‐Work States

This study fills an important gap in the literature by analyzing the predictors of union attitude formation in rural, conservative, right‐to‐work states. Drawing on a survey of all licensed electrical workers in six counties in northern Utah and southern Idaho, we analyzed the impact of cultural orientation, job context, and perceived risk on union attitudes. We find that a conservative cultural orientation does not significantly predict union attitudes but job context and perceived risks of union activity do. Dissatisfaction with current working conditions and the belief that employers will oppose and retaliate against workers engaged in union activity significantly predict positive union attitudes. We consider the implications of these findings for scholarship on union attitude formation and for union organizing strategies in rural, conservative right‐to‐work contexts.