To assess non-inferiority of an experimental product to an active control in a clinical trial, an ideal design is to include a placebo arm to ensure both the experimental product and the active control is superior to placebo. We aim to identify methodology to control Type I error rate and maintain adequate power in a superiority/non-inferiority seamless clinical trial defined as: 1. selecting the best experimental treatment dose vs. placebo out of multiple treatment doses in Stage I; and 2. assessing non-inferiority of the chosen experimental dose to an active control, after adding subjects to yield adequate power for non-inferiority, in Stage II. The trial design here is an antihypertensive trial with change in systolic blood pressure as the outcome. The trial has three experimental treatment doses arms of experimental, a placebo control arm, and an active control arm. A simulation study of 20,000 such trials was conducted. We apply multiple comparison methodologies in Stage I to detect the most beneficial experimental treatment dose versus placebo, and test non-inferiority of the selected experimental dose to the active control in Stage II. Simulated Type I error rate and power for claiming non-inferiority are calculated for various dose-response trends. The need to adjust alpha to control Type I error either stage is assessed, seeking the optimal approach for doing so. Next, type I error and power for various fixed and variable non-inferiority margins are evaluated, exploring a range of margins informed by the first stage results of the study. A variable non-inferiority margin informed completely by the first stage of the trial approach results in inflated error rate which cannot be controlled by suggested multiplicity adjustments. We assess a synthesis approach between the fixed and variable margins, to both control the family-wise error rates and reach adequate power, depending on a tuning parameter defined in our work. We conclude that well-designed and adequately controlled seamless superiority/non-inferiority trials are possible with appropriate multiple comparisons adjustments and could result in less development time and fewer subjects needed to assess efficacy than separate trials.

Scientific Racism was a method used by some to legitimize racist social thought without any compelling scientific evidence. This study seeks to identify, through the Afrocentric Paradigm, some of these studies and how they have influenced the modern western institution of medicine. It is also the aim of this research to examine the ways Africans were exploited by the western institution of medicine to progress the field. Drawing on The Post Traumatic Slave Theory, I will examine how modern-day Africans in America are affected by the experiences of enslaved Africans. / African American Studies

Comparing the efficacy of different treatments in psychiatry is difficult for many reasons, even when they are investigated in `head-to-head' studies. A consensus meeting was, therefore, held to produce best practice guidelines for such studies. This article presents the conclusions of this consensus and illustrates it using published data in the field of antidepressant treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

Šiame darbe buvo aptartas menkavertiškumo jausmas, jo kompensavimas bei svarba pedagoginiame kontekste. Taip pat aptartas pasitenkinimas darbu, pristatyti jį įtakojantys veiksniai bei pagrindinės teorijos. Darbe pristatyta streso samprata, pedagogų stresogeniniai įvykiai bei pagrindiniai modeliai. Be to pateiktas pedagoginio darbo specifiškumas, pedagogo darbo stiliaus samprata bei sąveikos su mokiniu ypatumai. Šio darbo pagrindinis tikslas yra atskleisti pedagogų lyginamojo menkavertiškumo jausmo svarbą pasitenkinimui darbu, stresogeninių įvykių patyrimui bei klasės valdymo stiliui remiantis individualiosios psichologijos principais. Atliktas tyrimas, kurio metu ištirta 103 pedagogai ( amžiaus vidurkis 43m., pedagoginio darbo stažo vidurkis 20m.). Iš jų 8 vyrai bei 94 moterys. Atlikus duomenų analizę paaiškėjo, jog pedagogų tarpe yra stebimas vidutinis arba žemas menkavertiškumo lygmuo. Tačiau pedagogų menkavertiškumo jausmas n��ra susijęs nei su amžiumi nei su jų pedagoginio darbo stažu. Taip pat pastebėta, jog menkavertiškumo jausmas demografinių rodiklių tokių kaip gimimo eiliškumas yra universalus, tai yra būdingas visoms grupėms. Pedagogų pasitenkinimas darbu nustatytas pakankamai aukštas bei pastebėta, jog pedagogai iki 12 metų augę kartu su abiem tėvais linkę jausti didesnį pasitenkinimą darbu. Taip pat nustatyta, jog pedagogai savo darbe patiria vidutinę stresogeninių įvykių įtampą, tačiau su demografiniais rodikliais sąsajų nepastebėta. Dominuojantis pedagogų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There was analyzed inferiority feeling and it‘s compensation. Also there was a discussion about teacher‘s work satisfaction, it‘s elements and the main theories. Furthermore there was aded the conception of stress, teacher‘s stressful events and teacher‘s stress models either teacher‘s work realities, classrom management styles and teacher-child interaction were aded as well. The purpose of this work is to disclose the importance of teacher‘s inferiority feeling for their work satisfaction, intensity of stressful life events and classroom management style in the frame of individual psychology. Respondents were 103 teachers with 43 years average of age and 20 years of work experience. The sex distrubution was 8 males and 94 females. Results have shown that there is observable feeling of inferiority among teachers. However any correlations between inferiority feeling, age and work experience have been observed. There was noticed that inferiority feeling is universal with regard to demographic variables that is typical for all groups. Also results have shown that teachers are satisfied with their work and also teachers who have been living with their both parents till age of 12 are more satisfied with their work. Furthemore was noticed that intensity of teacher‘s stressfull events are at medium level. Classroom management style Understading is dominant among teachers. Whereas any differences in using classroom management styles with regard to demographic variables and... [to full text]

Les maladies rares sont celles qui touchent un nombre restreint de personnes. Par conséquent, des problèmes spécifiques sont dus par cette rareté.Pour cette raison nous avons systématiquement recherché dans la littérature les publications concernant les caractéristiques des différentes méthodes mathématiques qui ont été utilisées pour l'étude des maladies rares. L'objectif est d'identifier des approches novatrices pour la recherche qui ont été, ou peuvent être, utilisées afin de surmonter les difficultés méthodologiques inhérentes à l'étude des maladies rares.Les méthodes bayésiennes sont recommandées par plusieurs auteurs et dans le cas de ces méthodes il faut introduire une loi informative a priori sur l'effet inconnu du traitement.La détermination de la loi a priori dans le modèle bayésien est difficile. Nous avons travaillé sur les méthodes qui permettent de déterminer de la loi a priori en incluant la possibilité de considérer des informations provenant des études historiques et/ou des données provenant d'autres études "voisines".D'une part, on décrit un modèle bayésien qui a pour but de vérifier l'hypothèse de non-infériorité de l'essai qui repose sur l'hypothèse que le méthotrexate est plus efficace que le corticostéroïde seul.D'autre part, notre travail de thèse se repose sur la méthode epsilon- contamination, qui se base sur le principe de contaminer une loi a priori pas entièrement satisfaisante par une série de lois provenant des informations d'autres études ayant même pathologie de maladie, même traitement ou même population.Enfin, toutes les informations a priori peuvent être résumées par la distribution a priori déterminer à partir des opinions d'experts, leur avis sont recueillis lors d'une réunion où ils ont répondu à un questionnaire qui montre leurs a priori sur les paramètres du modèle bayésien. / In recent years, scientists have difficulties to study rare diseases by conventional methods, because the sample size needed in such studies to meet a conventional frequentist power is not adapted to the number of available patients. After systemically searching in literature and characterizing different methods used in the contest of rare diseases, we remarked that most of the proposed methods are deterministic and are globally unsatisfactory because it is difficult to correct the insufficient statistical power.More attention has been placed on Bayesian models which through a prior distribution combined with a current study enable to draw decisionsfrom a posterior distribution. Determination of the prior distribution in a Bayesian model is challenging, we will describe the process of determining the prior including the possibility of considering information from some historical controlled trials and/or data coming from other studies sufficiently close to the subject of interest.First, we describe a Bayesian model that aims to test the hypothesis of the non-inferiority trial based on the hypothesis that methotrexate is more effective than corticosteroids alone.On the other hand, our work rests on the use of the epsilon-contamination method, which is based on contaminating an a priori not entirely satisfactory by a series of distributions drawn from information on other studies sharing close conditions,treatments or even populations. Contamination is a way to include the proximity of information provided bythese studies.

In this thesis, the researcher observes that one of the most difficult phases in the work of church planting missions is that of the handover stage from pioneer missionaries to indigenous leaders. This is often fraught with suspicions and fightings, and hence tends to delay the work until such issues are finally dealt with. Having observed a different story in the relationship between Olive Doke and Paul Kasonga in the early years of the planting of Baptist work in Zambia, the researcher has argued that the key lay in their mutual respect and admiration. He, therefore, posits that where these two ingredients are nurtured in the early stages of missions there will be a smooth handover process. In order to show that this was not just a philosophical or pragmatic idea, the researcher began his work with a biblical interpretation of missions. Drawing from the way the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles went about their own handing over process to the next generation of leaders, he identified these same attitudes of mutual respect and admiration. He argues that these played an important role in ensuring a meaningful handover process. The researcher then entered upon finding as much information as he could on the lives of Olive Doke and Paul Kasonga, and about their working relationship. This was through unearthing various archived materials and conducting key interviews in the region where they once laboured. This formed the core of this research and, upon subjecting this to analysis, it proved the thesis that the success of their working relationship and handover process at the Kafulafuta Mission lay in their mutual respect and admiration. Finally, the researcher offers a model or strategy to ensure that what may have happened inadvertently between Olive Doke and Paul Kasonga is nurtured among missionaries and indigenous leaders. The researcher works these principles into all the stages of church planting missions—all the way from the training of the missionaries to the time when the work is totally handed over into the hands of local leaders and the missionaries have withdrawn from the work. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

This research examines the manifestation of gender inequality represented in female sculptures during the Classical period and the relevance of such evidence. To achieve the purpose, the female figures and their sculptural developments are compared to their male counterparts, and their differences are examined and interpreted. After that, the essay views how female figures from Greek mythology were represented unequally regarding the “female nakedness” and its manipulation. To conclude, the relevance of the evidence on the manifestation of female inferiority in Classical Greek sculpture is discussed by examining how the Graeco-Roman world is often perceived and how this perception might be improved in the future for the new evidence to become more relevant.  During the Classical period, Greek sculpture embodied the ideals and values of the patriarchal society. This resulted in female figures that were never represented equally and instead were made to embody the societies’ misogynistic view of women and their bodies. While the male statues were nude, athletic, and heroic, the female figures were fully clothed or partially exposed, made erotic and sensual, and with the female nakedness, they were depicted as vulnerable, violated, and always enslaved to their biology.  Not only is the evidence on gender manifestation relevant, but it should be acknowledged on a much larger scale. The misguided perception of the Graeco-Roman world should be corrected, and we should begin a new chapter in art history and create a new generation of non- biased perceptions. Ultimately, the female figures should be acknowledged for what they represent and not ignored.

Eleni-Ioanna Malafouri, International Migration and Ethnic Relations, University of Malmö.Abstract of Master's Thesis, Submitted 22 May 2015: Who are they and why are they here? A media analysis of the negative portrayal of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press. This study is an initial attempt to investigate the negative depiction of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press of the 2000s. Our goal is to identify the dimensions of negativeimage-making and discuss the dichotomy of the ''identity'' and the ''otherness'' projected in the contemporary press. In order to accomplish that, data, collected from selected articles in a number of best-selling Greek newspapers, were scrutinised with regards to their content, style of writing, presentation as well as their readability and triggering of a wider social discourse at the time of their publication. Using a retroductive approach, to wit travelling back and forth from the general phenomenon to specific incidents, we showed that via the presentation of the negative association of the immigrants with a) criminality, b) the obscure market and c) their unworthiness to bear national symbols, the mainstream Greek press intensifies the presence of certain dichotomies. Such dichotomies, as they appeared in the text and presentation of the articles, are the “identity” versus the “otherness”, “we” versus “they”, as well as one’s race “superiority” versus the “inferiority” of the other, “locals” versus “immigrants”.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2014-09-15T14:05:20Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Stefanny Soares de Menezes Dias.pdf: 2240123 bytes, checksum: 816e4a47c4ef004fa3b230924e8cbf60 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-09-15T14:21:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Stefanny Soares de Menezes Dias.pdf: 2240123 bytes, checksum: 816e4a47c4ef004fa3b230924e8cbf60 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-15T14:21:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Stefanny Soares de Menezes Dias.pdf: 2240123 bytes, checksum: 816e4a47c4ef004fa3b230924e8cbf60 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-27 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The present study aims to conduct a historiographical examination of the book El Perfil del Hombre y la Cultura en México from Samuel Ramos, dated 1934. Accordingly, we seek to amalgamate the importance of intellectual to understand the culture and being mexican, from the reading that another Latin American’s intellectuals have made from this book, looking for similarities and differences in their considerations. Therefore, we performed this exam from themes that Samuel Ramos verticalizes in his book, the main ones being the "feeling of inferiority," the "unthinking imitation" and "creole culture". / O presente estudo tem por objetivo realizar um exame historiográfico da obra El Perfil del Hombre y la Cultura en México de Samuel Ramos, datada de 1934. Nesse sentido, busca-se amalgamar a importância desse intelectual para o entendimento da cultura e do ser mexicano, a partir da leitura que outros intelectuais latino-americanos fizeram dessa obra, procurando afinidades e disparidades em suas considerações. Para tanto, realizamos esse exame a partir dos temas que Samuel Ramos verticaliza em sua obra, sendo os principais o “sentimento de inferioridade”, a “imitação irreflexiva” e a “cultura criolla”.

ABSTRACT THE SURVIVORS: ROMA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN TURKEY Diler, Melike M.Sc., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. AySe G&uuml / nd&uuml / z HoSg&ouml / r December 2008, 147 pages This study has two aims regarding the Roma university students in Turkey. First, it attempts to discover the characteristics of their life courses in order to identify the success factors paving the way for their participation in higher education, specifically when the low education level of the Roma people, including even their own families, is concerned. Therefore, their socio-economic environment, early childhood years and school experiences are focused and analyzed respectively to expose the actors and processes making their life stories appear as success stories. Second, it aims to expose whether there are differences between the ones involved in the Roma Rights Movement and the ones not involved in terms of their ethnic identity status. That is, most of the better-off Roma, previously, preferred hiding their ethnic identity not to be excluded from participation in social, economic and political spheres. However, the Roma university students participating in the Roma Rights Movement refuse to hide their identity as they do not want to be assimilated, but integrated into the majority society. That point has a first-rate importance, as the low educational level of the Roma people, especially that of the Roma children, are closely associated with the lack of positive role models showing them how and what education pays off. On the basis of the conclusions drawn from the data analysis collected through in-depth interviews, it is exposed that these Roma youngsters demonstrate high levels of agency for their own social inclusion through education. Although they are all supported by their families / most of their Roma school peers dropped out of either primary or high school due to poverty and discriminative attitudes of their teachers and school administrators. The stigma of inferiority attached to the Roma is so strong that the survivors, who manage to attend the high school, hide their ethnic identity from this point onwards. Therefore, the demand of the Roma university students, participating in Roma Rights Movement, for integration into the majority society appears as an exceptional case among the well-educated Roma, but making them the pioneers of a new Roma identity in Turkey: Roma intelligentsia.