The analysis of incontinence episodes and other count data in patients with overactive bladder by Poisson and negative binomial regression

Clinical studies in overactive bladder have traditionally used analysis of covariance or nonparametric methods to analyse the number of incontinence episodes and other count data. It is known that if the underlying distributional assumptions of a particular parametric method do not hold, an alternative parametric method may be more efficient than a nonparametric one, which makes no assumptions regarding the underlying distribution of the data. Therefore, there are advantages in using methods based on the Poisson distribution or extensions of that method, which incorporate specific features that provide a modelling framework for count data. One challenge with count data is overdispersion, but methods are available that can account for this through the introduction of random effect terms in the modelling, and it is this modelling framework that leads to the negative binomial distribution. These models can also provide clinicians with a clearer and more appropriate interpretation of treatment effects in terms of rate ratios. In this paper, the previously used parametric and non‐parametric approaches are contrasted with those based on Poisson regression and various extensions in trials evaluating solifenacin and mirabegron in patients with overactive bladder. In these applications, negative binomial models are seen to fit the data well. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adjusted Supremum Score‐Type Statistics for Evaluating Non‐Standard Hypotheses

Supremum score test statistics are often used to evaluate hypotheses with unidentifiable nuisance parameters under the null hypothesis. Although these statistics provide an attractive framework to address non‐identifiability under the null hypothesis, little attention has been paid to their distributional properties in small to moderate sample size settings. In situations where there are identifiable nuisance parameters under the null hypothesis, these statistics may behave erratically in realistic samples as a result of a non‐negligible bias induced by substituting these nuisance parameters by their estimates under the null hypothesis. In this paper, we propose an adjustment to the supremum score statistics by subtracting the expected bias from the score processes and show that this adjustment does not alter the limiting null distribution of the supremum score statistics. Using a simple example from the class of zero‐inflated regression models for count data, we show empirically and theoretically that the adjusted tests are superior in terms of size and power. The practical utility of this methodology is illustrated using count data in HIV research.     

华语与普通话亲属称谓语的泛化

以问卷方式对马来亚大学中文系和马来西来语文暨应用语言学系中文组共215名学生进行调查,比较大陆和马来西亚的亲属称谓语泛化的情况。结果显示,由于社会背景和西方文化的影响,马来西亚华人和中国大陆亲属称谓语泛化的程度和范围有所差异:对陌生人用亲属称谓语,而用零称谓或者礼貌语言为起始语的现象在马来西亚非常普遍。     

人格化的农地流转促进农户种植结构“趋粮化”了吗？

“谁来种地”的问题始终关系着国家粮食战略安全，农地流转是解决这一问题的有效探索。但我国农地流转市场存在大量的人格化交易，这种交易形式是否会影响农户种粮积极性？利用农地转入零租金衡量人格化农地流转，探究其对粮食种植的影响，以及不同约束条件下人格化农地流转对粮食种植的影响。研究发现：人格化农地流转显著促进了转入户粮食种植的积极性，“趋粮化”效应明显，且这种“趋粮化”效应在普通农户群体中的影响更大；人格化农地流转引致的“趋粮化”效应主要原因在于转入户所面临的成本效应、锚定效应以及机械替代效应；此外，人格化农地流转引致的“趋粮化”效应还存在约束条件，转入户营利性动机和农地细碎化明显阻碍人格化农地流转的“趋粮化”效应。本研究说明在当前农地流转人格化交易特征明显的情境下，“趋粮化”效应尚能保证；但随着农地流转市场逐渐向市场化转型后，如何保障粮食安全将是一项重大课题。     

社会生态学视野下腐败零容忍机制研究

腐败是将“公权力”蜕变成为个人或个别集团牟取私利的工具，是社会生态系统要素变动所形成的公职人员“利益冲突”的结果。对待腐败零容忍，就是要在社会生态要素中对任何轻微腐败行为都不允许其存在，以净化公权力施行的社会生态环境。构建腐败零容忍机制，需要通过社会生态系统的相互制约、相互调节，将其纳入社会生态要素，以在政治、经济、文化各个方面形成惩腐倡廉的社会氛围。