Assessment of futility in clinical trials

The term 'futility' is used to refer to the inability of a clinical trial to achieve its objectives. In particular, stopping a clinical trial when the interim results suggest that it is unlikely to achieve statistical significance can save resources that could be used on more promising research. There are various approaches that have been proposed to assess futility, including stochastic curtailment, predictive power, predictive probability, and group sequential methods. In this paper, we describe and contrast these approaches, and discuss several issues associated with futility analyses, such as ethical considerations, whether or not type I error can or should be reclaimed, one-sided vs two-sided futility rules, and the impact of futility analyses on power.     

Developing a measure of local agency adaptation to emergencies: a metric

Local public health agencies often must respond to health-related emergencies or disasters, while continuing to fulfill all public health functions for which they are funded. This article reports the development and initial pilot test of a method for measuring the nature and degree of a public health agency's response to such an emergency or disaster. How the instrument was developed as well as the initial results from the pilot study of four local public health systems (LPHSs) are presented and discussed. The instrument measured the extent to which each function and division of each of the four LPHSs were affected and provided a metric that could be used across LPHSs to indicate the burden experienced by each due to the emergency. Results obtained from the pilot study indicate that size and complexity of an LPHS was not predictive of its ability to respond to the emergency. These results support the use of the framework and associated measurement procedures to provide valuable information to managers responsible for such LPHSs. Such information should provide a foundation for comparing variations in performance and outcomes to various types of emergencies that vary in their severity and focus.     

Social media in the 2011 Egyptian uprising

This paper uses Gallup poll data to assess two narratives that have crystallized around the 2011 Egyptian uprising: (1) New electronic communications media constituted an important and independent cause of the protests in so far as they enhanced the capacity of demonstrators to extend protest networks, express outrage, organize events, and warn comrades of real‐time threats. (2) Net of other factors, new electronic communications media played a relatively minor role in the uprising because they are low‐cost, low‐risk means of involvement that attract many sympathetic onlookers who are not prepared to engage in high‐risk activism. Examining the independent effects of a host of factors associated with high‐risk movement activism, the paper concludes that using some new electronic communications media was associated with being a demonstrator. However, grievances, structural availability, and network connections were more important than was the use of new electronic communications media in distinguishing demonstrators from sympathetic onlookers. Thus, although both narratives have some validity, they must both be qualified.     

Still Trapped in the U.S. Media’s Closet: Representations of Gender-Variant,Pre-Adolescent Children

Many studies have examined representations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. media. Yet they have centered on portrayals of adults or teenagers. This investigation considered a potential LGBT population that has been neglected in media research, namely gender-variant, preadolescent children. Surveying the U.S. media at large but with an emphasis on television, the article reveals that gender-creative youth are nearly invisible. When depictions of gender-variant kids do appear, they often focus on either children who express extreme gender dysphoria or in some way signify the “tragic queer” motif (or both). The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE ORDERING OF SCHEDULING RULES

This paper applies stochastic dominance (SD) preference-ordering criteria to job shop scheduling rules. A simulation model of a hypothetical dual-constrained job shop is used to derive several measures of shop performance for a number of dispatching/due-date scheduling policies. The results presented suggest that previous research conclusions concerning the relative performance of dispatching scheduling rules may need to be reconsidered if production schedulers are risk-averse utility maximizers.     

Forming Effective Employee Information and Consultation: A Five‐Stage Trust and Justice Process

In this paper we show how trust and justice influence the efficacy of employee information and consultation (I&C) bodies. Evidence is drawn from a 2‐year qualitative study of I&C participants in two organizations in the UK. The research builds on Dietz and Fortin's conceptual five‐stage model of the I&C process to provide a more nuanced understanding of I&C trust and justice outcomes. In particular, we point to crucial stages in the process, and how these influence the effectiveness of I&C mechanisms. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Philosophy of interculturality: philosophy of humanism for our time

Referring to the philosophical reflection on interculturality as presented by Raúl Fornet-Betancourt, I confront the process of globalization, which is based on a single economy, homogenization of culture, and equalization of differences, with the interculturality that is based on a dialogue and movement toward a union of nations and cultures economically, politically, socially, and spiritually. The starting point of Fornet-Betancourt’s philosophy of interculturality is culture, understood as the realm of freedom, creativity, and realization of each human being. A right to material necessities and economic development represents the precondition for free development, liberation, and realization of every culture, especially the poor. Interculturality is always rooted in a specific context of philosophical thought. Contextualization of the thought does not prevent us from communication and the search for universality, but it teaches us that our search for universality cannot be based on some abstract and formal principles. True universality is based on a historical contextualization of human life in a given culture. Each culture is a micro-universe, which, together with other universes, through interaction creates a macro-universe. By creating conditions of social justice and equality, we guarantee a free interaction of cultures on the one side, and on the other, a mutual transformation of their lifestyles, work, community organization, education, and so forth. The philosophy of interculturality promulgates a debordering process for the cultures to go beyond the borders of globalization homogeneity with its unilateral future based on consumerism and profit, towards a humanity of different and mutually enriching futures.     

Algorithms for Computing the Sample Variance: Analysis and Recommendations

The problem of computing the variance of a sample of N data points {x_i } may be difficult for certain data sets, particularly when N is large and the variance is small. We present a survey of possible algorithms and their round-off error bounds, including some new analysis for computations with shifted data. Experimental results confirm these bounds and illustrate the dangers of some algorithms. Specific recommendations are made as to which algorithm should be used in various contexts.     

The Modern Colonial Politics of Citizenship and Whiteness in France

While there is no blatantly racist discourse among the French political class per se, the modern politics of citizenship in France is rooted in France's racialized colonial legacy. Upon critical examination, contemporary French political discourse and policy implementations indeed speak to France's colonial past. The concept of ‘otherness’ is situated at the centre of French political discourse, and is manifested in constructions of whiteness. ‘Otherness’ has created a double standard for legal non-European immigrants compared with French and European citizens. The politics of integration and assimilation are founded on the ideological backdrop of universality, which falsely represents French society in colour-blind terms. This is evident in both moderate and extremist political party rhetoric in regards to new policies of immigration, citizenship and nationality. We contend that the contemporary political discourses in France closely resemble the colonial period in spite of (and precisely because of) France's historical amnesia. In this article, we explore the redefinition of French citizenship as an expansion of whiteness as rooted in the concept of ‘otherness’. In so doing, we contextualize the contemporary discourse of inclusion, exclusion, citizenship, and whiteness on the backdrop of France's colonial legacy.