Advantages of a wholly Bayesian approach to assessing efficacy in early drug development: a case study

This paper illustrates how the design and statistical analysis of the primary endpoint of a proof‐of‐concept study can be formulated within a Bayesian framework and is motivated by and illustrated with a Pfizer case study in chronic kidney disease. It is shown how decision criteria for success can be formulated, and how the study design can be assessed in relation to these, both using the traditional approach of probability of success conditional on the true treatment difference and also using Bayesian assurance and pre‐posterior probabilities. The case study illustrates how an informative prior on placebo response can have a dramatic effect in reducing sample size, saving time and resource, and we argue that in some cases, it can be considered unethical not to include relevant literature data in this way. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reforming Professional Training and Protecting Vulnerable Adults from Abuse: A Thematic Analysis of the New Social Work Degree's Prescribed Curriculum

Correspondence to Phil Slater, School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University, Queensway, Enfield EN3 4SF, UK. E-mail: p.slater{at}mdx.ac.uk Summary This paper analyses the Prescribed Curriculum of the new Degreein Social Work in relation to the Department of Health themeof ‘protecting vulnerable adults from abuse’. Areview of post-war social policy first establishes the significanceof these terms, both individually and in varying combinations.Subsequently, the phrase as a whole provides the focus for acontent analysis of the three constituents of the PrescribedCurriculum, namely, the Secretary of State’s Requirementsfor Social Work Training, the employment-focussed National OccupationalStandards for Social Work, and the academically oriented BenchmarkStatement for Social Work. With the exception of ‘abuse’,the key terms are all registered, albeit unevenly. This presenceis subsequently enhanced via strategic considerations of ‘logicalimportance’ and ‘organising rubrics’. Finally,terminological variants of ‘abuse’ are traced, withparticular regard to the emerging language of ‘rights’.     

Challenge of leading in Javanese culture

Scholars in the field of management and culture have developed paradigms regarding the importance of managing people across culture. While most scholars agree that culture plays a vital role in an organization, it has been recognized that research on the sub-cultures within a national culture that impact on an organization, is very limited. One example is the impact of Javanese culture in Indonesian organizations' environments. Indonesia is widely known as a multicultural country, with a population made up of people from approximately 364 ethnicities. Of these ethnicities, the Javanese have come to be recognized over time as the most culturally and politically dominant in Indonesia. The exploration of Javanese culture and its development over time are the central concerns of this article. The values central to Javanese culture are identified and the relationship between these values and Western perspectives of management practices such as communication, change management, and conflict management are discussed.     

Methods for Small Area Population Forecasts: State-of-the-Art and Research Needs

Population Research and Policy Review - Small area population forecasts are widely used by government and business for a variety of planning, research and policy purposes, and often influence major...     

Ranking football players

The Actim index is the official player rating system of the Barclays Premiership, which was introduced for the 2004–2005 football season. It was devised by Ian McHale and Phil Scarf for the Press Association in partnership with the Premier League and Football Data Co. Here they describe the development of the index and take a look at player performance this season.     

Preventive planning for disasters

The authors have analysed the available data on disaster occurence and conclude that disasters are on the increase, especially in underdeveloped countries. They argue that a new approach to disaster is needed, one which emphasizes the continuing man-environment relationship. Within this approach, planning to prevent disaster should concentrate on long-term precautionary planning integrated into development planning utilizing, as far as possible, local awareness of the disaster problem. This long-term approach to disaster planning is a more effective way of offsetting disaster than a heavy emphasis on each individual disaster event and the relief measures which accompany it.