A simple two-stage design for quantitative responses with application to a study in diabetic neuropathic pain

Two-stage designs offer substantial advantages for early phase II studies. The interim analysis following the first stage allows the study to be stopped for futility, or more positively, it might lead to early progression to the trials needed for late phase II and phase III. If the study is to continue to its second stage, then there is an opportunity for a revision of the total sample size. Two-stage designs have been implemented widely in oncology studies in which there is a single treatment arm and patient responses are binary. In this paper the case of two-arm comparative studies in which responses are quantitative is considered. This setting is common in therapeutic areas other than oncology. It will be assumed that observations are normally distributed, but that there is some doubt concerning their standard deviation, motivating the need for sample size review. The work reported has been motivated by a study in diabetic neuropathic pain, and the development of the design for that trial is described in detail.     

政府问责视野中的国家精品课程复核研究

运用新公共服务理论和行政优益权理论分析,国家精品课程建设实质上是教育部为向公众提供优质的高等教育服务、确保优质资源的开放共享,而与申请国家精品课程的高校签订的行政契约,政府作为公共利益的集中代表,有权对国家精品课程建设给予监督并实施复核。     

十七大以来理论界关于当代中国马克思主义大众化研究述评

开展中国特色社会主义理论体系宣传普及活动,推动当代中国马克思主义大众化,是当前理论研究和思想宣传工作的一项重要任务。十七大以来,国内理论界围绕当代马克思主义大众化的丰富内涵、目的意义、途径方法以及其他问题开展了比较全面深入的研究,取得了丰硕成果。但从总体上看,仍需在基本理论、历史比较、方法更新等方面拓展空间,不断深化研究。     

《鼎峙春秋》研究综述

直接研究《鼎峙春秋》的没有论著,没有硕、博论文,单篇论文也只有两篇。戏曲史对《鼎峙春秋》的来源有所涉及,但都相互沿用;《鼎峙春秋》对皮黄戏的影响已经被注意到,亦还没有深入;对《鼎峙春秋》的文本研究尚无前例;对《鼎峙春秋》的表演研究少有涉及;全面地研究《鼎峙春秋》尚属空白。     

体例设置中的自我定位——《东方杂志》（1904-1908）舆论理念考辨

作为月刊“选报”的《东方杂志》,如何在以日报为主的大量报刊与读者之间扮演好舆论“传输者”的角色,其间的信息中转与过滤作用绝不应受到忽视。处于“原报刊”与读者两极中的《东方杂志》,势必受到这种“源头”与“流向”的影响。考察在于此二者作用力之下《东方杂志》的自我表现,有助于透视这份近代重要报刊的办刊理念。     

改革开放以来中国民族理论若干问题研究述评

改革开放30年来,在国内外大势的影响下,中国民族理论研究经历了诸多的变化,但总趋势是:在探讨中发展,在摸索中前进。本文所论及的民族概念问题、民族形成问题、民族结构与民族属性问题、民族意识与民族关系问题,只是改革开放以来中国民族理论研究领域中很少但却是比较重要的几个问题。适逢改革开放30年,对这几个问题的研究成果进行归纳、概括和总结,无疑将有助于进一步推进中国民族理论研究的深入和发展。     

The Best and Worst Times of Life: Narratives and Assessments of Subjective Well-Being by Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) measure of subjective well-being (SWB) aims to reduce the problems of cultural bias and relativity to external standards by allowing people to define the endpoints or ‘anchors’ of the measurement scale. In medical terminology anamnestic denotes ‘based on memory’. The ACSA uses subjects’ memories of the best and worst periods in their lives to define the anchors of the scale. They then assess their current quality of life relative to these personal anchors. The South African pilot study tested the match between self-assessment of SWB with ACSA and the conventional single-item measures of life satisfaction and happiness used in the South African Quality of Life Trends Study and analysed the narratives of the best and worst times of life. The quota sample of 46 consisted of 26 residents of Makana district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and 20 patients undergoing treatment in the local TB hospital. Mean SWB ratings with all three measures of life satisfaction, happiness and ACSA were between 5 and 6 on a 0–10-point scale. Ratings on all three scales were positively correlated. However, on ACSA the TB patients rated their current SWB 1.84 points lower than the community respondents, suggesting a greater sensitivity of this measure. It was observed that the starting points of the life stories produced by respondents to define the anchor periods for ACSA were related to their current assessment of SWB. A typology was developed that combined the starting point of the life stories with current SWB. The majority of community respondents matched the ‘Achiever’ type who scored positively on ACSA (i.e., above the mid-point of the scale) and whose life stories started with the worst period of their lives and proceeded to the best period. The TB patients were the only respondents to represent the ‘Survivor’ type whose morale had recovered after misfortune in life. ‘Survivors’ started their narratives with the best period in their lives, then moved to the worst (often health-related) one, and gave positive ACSA ratings. Based on the qualitative analysis of narratives, it is concluded that ACSA is a sensitive measurement instrument and therefore particularly useful for monitoring the effects of treatments and social interventions in longitudinal studies. However, further research is required to verify its cross-cultural validity.

Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities: a systematic literature review

The transition to motherhood starts early in pregnancy and is completed when the mother feels competent in caring for the infant. Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities is demanding as their needs are complex. The aim of the review was to appraise completed qualitative and quantitative reports on the challenges of mothers of children with disabilities regarding their own transition to motherhood. A review of the literature was carried out through, first, a computerized search strategy to identify relevant studies from selected databases and, second, quality appraisal and thematic analysis of selected studies. The transition to motherhood of children with disabilities takes place in the inside world at home, the outside world external to home and the ‘going-between’ world of travelling between the two worlds. The mothers are challenged at home to integrate basic infant care with technical care of their children. In the outside world they often struggled to ensure that their children got the necessary professional care. Travelling between their homes and healthcare services posed many problems.     

Literature Review of Bozhou Tusi Studies (2001-2013)

Based on the topic of the “Bozhou Tusi”, we obtained 35 publications of Chinese journals from the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database ( 2001 -2013 ) .This article will review and make so...