Estimand framework: Are we asking the right questions? A case study in the solid tumor setting

The estimand framework requires a precise definition of the clinical question of interest (the estimand) as different ways of accounting for “intercurrent” events post randomization may result in different scientific questions. The initiation of subsequent therapy is common in oncology clinical trials and is considered an intercurrent event if the start of such therapy occurs prior to a recurrence or progression event. Three possible ways to account for this intercurrent event in the analysis are to censor at initiation, consider recurrence or progression events (including death) that occur before and after the initiation of subsequent therapy, or consider the start of subsequent therapy as an event in and of itself. The new estimand framework clarifies that these analyses address different questions (“does the drug delay recurrence if no patient had received subsequent therapy?” vs “does the drug delay recurrence with or without subsequent therapy?” vs “does the drug delay recurrence or start of subsequent therapy?”). The framework facilitates discussions during clinical trial planning and design to ensure alignment between the key question of interest, the analysis, and interpretation. This article is a result of a cross-industry collaboration to connect the International Council for Harmonisation E9 addendum concepts to applications. Data from previously reported randomized phase 3 studies in the renal cell carcinoma setting are used to consider common intercurrent events in solid tumor studies, and to illustrate different scientific questions and the consequences of the estimand choice for study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.     

Lévy‐based Modelling in Brain Imaging

Abstract. A substantive problem in neuroscience is the lack of valid statistical methods for non‐Gaussian random fields. In the present study, we develop a flexible, yet tractable model for a random field based on kernel smoothing of a so‐called Lévy basis. The resulting field may be Gaussian, but there are many other possibilities, including random fields based on Gamma, inverse Gaussian and normal inverse Gaussian (NIG) Lévy bases. It is easy to estimate the parameters of the model and accordingly to assess by simulation the quantiles of test statistics commonly used in neuroscience. We give a concrete example of magnetic resonance imaging scans that are non‐Gaussian. For these data, simulations under the fitted models show that traditional methods based on Gaussian random field theory may leave small, but significant changes in signal level undetected, while these changes are detectable under a non‐Gaussian Lévy model.     

低渗透油田反九点井网面积波及效率影响研究

根据低渗透油藏面积注水开发的特点,在流管模型的基础上,推导出了考虑启动压力梯度的反九点井网面积波及效率和油井见水时间计算公式,解决了低速非达西渗流不同于达西渗流的面积波及效率理论计算问题。研究表明,低渗透油田反九点井网中角井和边井的见水时间和面积波及效率不同,需要对边井和角井采取不同的工作制度以调节水驱均匀程度。为低渗透油藏反九点井网的开发设计和评价提供了理论依据。     

PSPICE在模拟电子技术实验中的运用

结合模拟电子技术实验的教学 ,介绍了运用电路分析软件OrCAD PSpice 9进行实验模拟的方法 ,培养学生计算机模拟实验运用能力 .     

Croissance économique et inégalités à Singapour: plaidoyer pour un salaire minimum

Sur fond de vieillissement de sa population et de dépendance vis‐à‐vis d'une main‐d'?uvre étrangère peu qualifiée, Singapour connaît une stagnation du revenu des travailleurs à bas salaire qui compromet l'objectif d'une croissance profitant à tous. L'auteur plaide pour l'instauration d'un salaire minimum, sans remettre en cause le complément de revenu actuellement versé aux travailleurs peu rémunérés. Il réfute les objections à cette instauration et en précise les modalités. Il propose aussi des mesures pour renforcer le filet de protection sociale et garantir une croissance durable.     

Les gagnants et les perdants de l'emploi informel en Indonésie

Dans la plupart des études, les travailleurs de l’économie informelle sont présentés comme un tout homogène. Les auteurs considèrent pourtant qu'il peut y avoir parmi eux des gagnants et des perdants. En utilisant des régressions quantiles sur distribution non conditionnelle et des données issues d'une enquête auprès des ménages indonésiens (IFLS), ils estiment l’écart de rémunération entre travailleurs formels et travailleurs informels à différents points de la répartition des gains. Ils montrent que la pénalité de revenu aux dépens des travailleurs informels, manifeste et sensible pour certains d'entre eux, n'est pas systématique, confirmant ainsi la thèse de Fields (1990 et 2005) sur l'emploi informel hétérogène.     

Orientalism and ‘saving’ US state identity after 9/11

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 (9/11) radically destabilized the US sense of self and thus necessitated a particular reassertion of state identity that pivots violently on gender and race. This identity draws upon hypermasculinity, a religious code of ethics and the constitutive differences between Self/Other necessitating the persistent and forceful coding, interpretation and targeting of particular actors and politics as Islamic fundamentalist. In particular, 9/11's post-traumatic space requires US participation in an orientalist project that institutionalizes gendered and racialized violence through the infantilization, demonization, dehumanization and sexual commodification of the ‘Other’. The US state project to ‘save’ its identity intertwines religion, ideology and conflict so as to permanently etch within the American psyche a fear/loathing/paternalism regarding the ‘Orient’ abroad and within. This article proposes a feminist theoretical framework for empirically understanding and recognizing orientalism's logic in US state identity making.     

Psychosocial Capacity Building in New York: Building Resiliency with Construction Workers Assigned to Ground Zero after 9/11

Construction workers who worked on “Ground Zero” after 9/11 in New York City were exposed to stressful and traumatic conditions. Clinicians, trade union leaders and the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations designed a psychosocial capacity-building project which helped workers to recognize, understand and respond to their reactions through a series of interventions that included peer training, psychosocial workshops, brochures, and outreach and referral services. The project emphasized the use of mutual aid and social support through group interventions facilitated by clinicians and offered by trade unions. The article describes the planning and implementation of the project as well as the results of qualitative evaluations of the effectiveness of the project.     

The Impact of 9/11 on the Noncitizen Welfare Caseload: A Time-Series Analysis

ABSTRACT

The tragedy of 9/11 had more far-reaching social and economic consequences for the nation than those found for many individuals on that day. Between October 2001 and May 2002, Nevada witnessed a 25% increase in the total number of households on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, commonly referred to as welfare. During the same time, households headed by a noncitizen increased their participation in the TANF program by 40%. This study examines the differential impact of 9/11, as well as of the economy and other external developments, on noncitizen and citizen welfare caseloads in a single state. Two monthly time series models are specified that explain and compare trends in the noncitizen and citizen welfare caseloads from April 1998 to June 2002. The findings suggest that, all else constant, 9/11 had a differential impact on the noncitizen and the citizen caseloads. All else constant, 9/11 events increased the noncitizen welfare caseload whereas a similar impact for the citizen caseload was not found. The findings also strongly suggest that the business cycle shapes noncitizens' participation in public assistance programs more closely than citizens' participation. Future research should investigate the extent to which 9/11 affected the behaviors of families on welfare over the long run.     

Breaking the germline barrier in a moral vacuum

ABSTRACT

In November 2018 a Chinese scientist claimed to have used CRISPR/Cas 9 technology to genetically modify two human embryos that were then gestated in one adult woman through an IVF pregnancy and brought to term. The twin girls are allegedly the first babies born with their prenatal genomes edited. Using both English language and Chinese supporting documents, this paper discusses the background of this human experiment, the social context of Chinese science, and the alleged ethical transgressions of its principal scientist.