Bayesian sample‐size determination methods considering both worthwhileness and unpromisingness for exploratory two‐arm randomized clinical trials with binary endpoints

A randomized exploratory clinical trial comparing an experimental treatment with a control treatment on a binary endpoint is often conducted to make a go or no‐go decision. Such an exploratory trial needs to have an adequate sample size such that it will provide convincing evidence that the experimental treatment is either worthwhile or unpromising relative to the control treatment. In this paper, we propose three new sample‐size determination methods for an exploratory trial, which utilize the posterior probabilities calculated from predefined efficacy and inefficacy criteria leading to a declaration of the worthwhileness or unpromisingness of the experimental treatment. Simulation studies, including numerical investigation, showed that all three methods could declare the experimental treatment as worthwhile or unpromising with a high probability when the true response probability of the experimental treatment group is higher or lower, respectively, than that of the control treatment group.     

Marital Status and Self-Rated Health in Rural Inhabitants in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Poor self-rated health is considered to be a predictor of short survival, and self-rated health is associated with several lifestyle and sociodemographic factors. To determine whether marital status is an independent risk factor for poor self-rated health among inhabitants in rural areas, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of inhabitants in Japan. Complete responses were obtained from 10,268 individuals. Self-ratings of mental health, demographics, and symptoms were used to predict self-rated health. Being male; having disease, questionnaire-based physical complaints, and depressive state; having lower levels of education; and being divorced resulted in higher odds (95% confidence interval) for poor self-rated health, presenting 1.41 (1.18–1.69), 10.8 (8.62–13.7), 1.11 (1.09–1.12), 1.11 (1.08–1.13), 1.22 (1.02–1.46), and 1.53 (1.01–2.31), respectively. In contrast, age, friendship, and other marital status such as single or bereaved showed no significant relationship with poor self-rated health. To improve self-rated health among rural inhabitants, attention should be focused on divorced inhabitants, especially men.     

重庆国民政府与日本人士的反战运动

抗战时期,重庆国民政府所辖之军事委员会政治部第三厅和后之文化工作委员会(主要领导为共产党人)与日本人士所组成的"日本人民反战同盟"在成立前后均有事实上的指导、支援关系,且有制度上的规定,双方共同进行了抗战文化宣传方面的一系列活动.     

关于中国古代都市文明的形成

金属器、文字、礼仪性建筑物以及从大型环状壕沟聚落发展到城郭都市的真正出现,才能作为中国古代都市文明形成的重要标志.所以说,其形成的上限年代并不是相当于夏代的二里头文化,而应是河南安阳殷墟文化的晚期.     

Vetoer and tie-making group theorems for indifference-transitive aggregation rules

A binary relation is indifference-transitive if its symmetric part satisfies the transitivity axiom. We investigated the properties of Arrovian aggregation rules that generate acyclic and indifference-transitive social preferences. We proved that there exists unique vetoer in the rule if the number of alternatives is greater than or equal to four. We provided a classification of decisive structures in aggregation rules where the number of alternatives is equal to three. Furthermore, we showed that the coexistence of a vetoer and a tie-making group, which generates social indifference, is inevitable if the rule satisfies the indifference unanimity. The relationship between the vetoer and the tie-making group, i.e., whether the vetoer belongs to the tie-making group or not, determines the power structure of the rule.     

Sleep disturbance as a clinical sign for severe hypogonadism: efficacy of testosterone replacement therapy on sleep disturbance among hypogonadal men without obstructive sleep apnea

Objective: The present subanalysis of the EARTH study investigates the effects of one year testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on sleep disturbance among hypogonadal men without obstructive sleep apnea.

Methods: Sleep disturbance was defined as three or more points in question 4 of the aging males symptoms (AMS) questionnaire. All participants completed the AMS scale, International Prostatic Symptoms Score (IPSS), Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) and Short Form 36 (SF-36) health survey at baseline and after 12?months. Sexual symptoms were also evaluated based on three AMS subscores (Q15, 16 and 17).

Results: We identified 100 patients with sleep disturbance, of whom 48 (24 each in the TRT and control groups) were ultimately included for analysis. All SF-36 categories , AMS scale, IPSS and SHIM score subdomains were significantly worse in patients with sleep disturbance than in those without disturbance. Statistically significant differences in sleep disturbance, erectile symptoms, sexual desire and some domains of the SF-36 were observed between the TRT and control groups after 12?months.

Conclusion: Sleep disturbance may be one of the clinical signs for severe hypogonadism. Moreover, TRT improved sleep conditions, sexual function and quality of life among hypogonadal men with sleep disturbance.     

Foraging for patchily-distributed leaf miners by the parasitic wasp,Dacnusa sibirica

Summary We studied the rules used by the female parasitoid,Dacnusa sibirica Telenga (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), for deciding when to leave a tomato leaflet on which she is searching for larvae of the leafminer,Liriomyza bryoniae Kalt. (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Females would deposit a marking pheromone on the leaflet and would leave the leaflet when the amount of the pheromone accumulated to the thresholdL, which is proportional to the amount of search effort on the leaflet.L appears to increase with host density since it rises after every encounter with a host (or mine).D. sibirica would employ an area-concentrated search, which is advantageous in foraging for hosts showing a clumped distribution.     

Stopping rule of host search by the parasitoid,Chrysocharis pentheus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), in host patches

Summary We studied the stopping rule obeyed by the female parasitoid,Chrysocharis pentheus, in deciding when to leave the leaflet on which she is searching for larvae ofPhytomyza ranunculi. She seemed not to employ some stopping rules that have been suggested; i.e., a fixed-number rule and a fixed-time rule and others. The stopping model formulated forDapsilarthra rufiventris parasitic on the same host species fitted well to the results. The model assumes that the searching female will deposit a marking pheromone on the leaflet at a rate proportional to the search speed and will leave the leaflet when the amount of the pheromone that has accumulated on the leaflet reaches the threshold,L. In this model,L denotes the amount of search effort spent on the leaflet. A comparison of the observed results with the predictions from the model suggested thatL increased markedly at the first encounter with the mine (host), but less at later encounters.C. pentheus appears to employ a mixed strategy of a fixed search-effort and an area-concentrated search. This would confer an adaptive advantage in foraging forP. ranunculi larvae, which are distributed in clumps among leaflets in the field.