bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Paradox of choice in a mandatory pension savings system: challenges for Australian retirement income policy
Authors: Gallery Gerry , Gallery Natalie 
Published: July 2005

English
As the Australian pension system has become increasingly privatised and less regulated, decisions about the quantum and nature of pension investments have progressively shifted to pension fund members. This choice environment provides members with the ability to control their own pensions, but it also creates challenges for ensuring pension assets are managed in a way that will maximise returns and, ultimately, retirement benefits. Government initiatives to address these challenges have principally focused on disclosure and education and not on the more pervasive behavioural constraints that limit the effectiveness of the existing policy. We advocate policy solutions consistent with libertarian paternalism where the government provides a competitive choice environment, but actively intervenes to set suitable pension savings and investment defaults.
Educational policy: politics, markets and the decline of ‘publicness’
Authors: Stewart Jenny 
Published: July 2005

English
Educational policy represents a distinctive example of the changing public–private boundary that has characterised Australian public policy over the past 20 years. A values-based analysis is used to describe the trajectory of change, and to illuminate points of tension in governance and accountability relationships. As the values that subtend educational policy have changed, so the policy system (and in particular the governance mechanisms through which funding and regulation are dispensed) has responded in ways that have partly defused values conflict, and partly exacerbated it. It is suggested that forms of ‘frame reflection’ will be required in order to transcend traditional Australian notions of ‘publicness’ in education in ways that recognise the growing strength of the private sector in school education, and of competition between institutions in higher education.
Deliberative group dynamics: power, status and affect in interactive policy making
Authors: Stokkom Bas van 
Published: July 2005

English
Many proponents of interactive policy making view citizen consultations as a ‘rational deliberation between equals’. Power, authority, rhetoric and emotions are considered to be obstructive factors. In this article it is argued that interactive policy settings are characterised by status and authority hierarchies and affect dynamics. First, two types of deliberative bodies are introduced: citizen forums and stakeholder committees. Next, eight possible power and emotion dynamics are distinguished, including problems maintaining facilitative authority, trust-building work of experts, occurrence of charisma, persisting fear and distrust, hope turning into disappointment, and increasing mutual recognition. The last sections examine in which respects these dynamics occur in the two types of deliberative organisation.
Social services policy and delivery in Australia: centre–periphery mixes
Authors: Brown Kerry , Keast Robyn 
Published: July 2005

English
The development of social services policy and the delivery of those attendant services have come to occupy a core role for modern governments. The modes of policy development and service delivery and their coordination have shifted between centralised models operated by decision-making elites and a peripheral model in which government divests some level of authority and responsibility for the development and implementation of social services policy to community-based actors and organisations. Changing policy stances bring these models and their associated coordination principles into dominance at different points in history and, importantly, problematise social services policy making and delivery through the continued existence of residual aspects of these multiple approaches.
Distinctive Distribution of Pathogens Associated With Peritonitis in Neonates With Focal Intestinal Perforation Compared With Necrotizing Enterocolitis
Authors: Coates Eric W. , Karlowicz M. Gary , Croitoru Daniel P. , Buescher E. Stephen 
Published: July 2005

Objective. Candida and coagulase-negative staphylococci are emerging pathogens associated with focal intestinal perforation (FIP) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in neonates. The objective of this study was to determine whether there are significant differences in the predominant pathogens in culture-positive cases of peritonitis associated with FIP compared with NEC in neonates.Methods. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted of neonates with peritoneal culture-positive peritonitis associated with FIP or NEC over a 12-year study period (1989–2000). Cases with peritonitis were identified from a microbiology database. NEC was defined by radiologic evidence of pneumatosis intestinalis or portal venous gas or by pathology reports or surgical operative notes describing large areas of transmural bowel necrosis. FIP was defined as a &lt;1-cm intestinal perforation surrounded by otherwise normal tissue in the absence of NEC.Results. Thirty-six cases of FIP were compared with 80 cases of NEC. Birth weight and gestational age were significantly lower in infants with FIP compared with NEC. Age at intestinal perforation and case fatality rates were similar between FIP and NEC. There were striking differences in the distribution of predominant pathogens associated with peritonitis in NEC and FIP cases. Enterobacteriaceae were present in 60 (75%) of 80 NEC cases compared with 9 (25%) of 36 FIP cases. In contrast, Candida species were found in 16 (44%) of 36 FIP cases compared with 12 (15%) of 80 NEC cases, and coagulase-negative staphylococci were present in 18 (50%) of 36 FIP cases versus 11 (14%) of 80 NEC cases. There were no significant differences between FIP and NEC cases for the presence of Enterococcus species (28% vs 23%) or anaerobes (3% vs 6%). Stratified analysis for birth weight &lt;1200 g found similar significant differences in the predominant pathogens for FIP (n = 29) and NEC (n = 38). Results from peritoneal fluid cultures resulted in changes in antimicrobial therapy in 46 (40%) of 116 cases.Conclusions. Candida species and coagulase-negative staphylococci were the predominant pathogens in FIP peritonitis in contrast to Enterobacteriaceae in NEC peritonitis. A peritoneal fluid culture should be obtained in all neonates with intestinal perforation, regardless of cause, because it may help to direct the choice of the most effective antimicrobial.
A Vancomycin-Heparin Lock Solution for Prevention of Nosocomial Bloodstream Infection in Critically Ill Neonates With Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheters: A Prospective, Randomized Trial
Authors: Garland Jeffery S. , Alex Colleen P. , Henrickson Kelly J. , McAuliffe Timothy L. , Maki Dennis G. 
Published: July 2005

Objective.Critically ill neonates are at high risk for vascular catheter–related bloodstream infection (CRBSI), most often caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci. Most CRBSIs with long-term devices derive from intraluminal contaminants. The objective of this study was to ascertain the safety and the efficacy of a vancomycin-heparin lock solution for prevention of CRBSI.
Methods.A prospective, randomized double-blind trial was conducted during 2000–2001 at a community hospital level III NICU. Very low birth weight and other critically ill neonates with a newly placed peripherally inserted central venous catheter were randomized to have the catheter locked 2 or 3 times daily for 20 or 60 minutes with heparinized normal saline (n = 43) or heparinized saline that contained vancomycin 25 μg/mL (n = 42). The origin of each nosocomial bloodstream infection (BSI) was studied by culturing skin, catheter hubs, and implanted catheter segments and blood cultures, demonstrating concordance by restriction-fragment DNA subtyping. Surveillance axillary and rectal cultures were performed to detect colonization by vancomycin-resistant organisms. The main outcome measures were (1) CRBSIs and (2) colonization or infection by vancomycin-resistant Gram-positive bacteria.
Results.Two (5%) of 42 infants in the vancomycin-lock group developed a CRBSI as compared with 13 (30%) of 43 in the control group (2.3 vs 17.8 per 1000 catheter days; relative risk: 0.13; 95% confidence interval: 0.01–0.57). No vancomycin-resistant enterococci or staphylococci were recovered from any cultures. Vancomycin could not be detected in the blood of infants who did not receive systemic vancomycin therapy. Twenty-six neonates (8 vancomycin-lock group, 18 control group) had at the end of a catheter-lock period asymptomatic hypoglycemia that resolved promptly when glucose-containing intravenous fluids were restarted.
Conclusions.Prophylactic use of a vancomycin-heparin lock solution markedly reduced the incidence of CRBSI in high-risk neonates with long-term central catheters and did not promote vancomycin resistance but was associated with asymptomatic hypoglycemia. The use of an anti-infective lock solution for prevention of CRBSI with long-term intravascular devices has achieved proof of principle and warrants selective application in clinical practice.
Risk Assessment
Authors: Armitage Peter 
Published: July 2005

AbstractThe “risk” of a potentially dangerous hazard may be measured either by the probability of its occurrence (perhaps per unit time or unit of exposure), or by combining this with a measure of its severity. Risk assessment may involve estimation of these quantities, evaluation of their significance for individuals and communities, the extent to which individuals may differ in their perceptions of risks, and the measures taken by individuals and communities to reduce the impact of risks. These aspects are considered in turn.
Cluster Randomization
Authors: Klar Neil , Donner Allan 
Published: July 2005

AbstractIt is becoming increasingly common for health researchers to consider randomizing intact social units (e.g. families, schools, communities) rather than independent individuals in experimental trials. Reasons are diverse, but include administrative convenience, a desire to reduce the effect of treatment contamination and the need to avoid ethical issues, which might otherwise arise. Dependencies among cluster members typical of such designs must be considered when determining sample size and analyzing the resulting data. Failure to adjust standard statistical methods for within‐cluster dependencies may result in severely underpowered studies and in spuriously elevated Type I error rates. The purpose of this article is to review the key issues in the design and analysis of cluster randomization trials. These ideas will be illustrated using data from several recently completed studies.
Guidelines On Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials
Authors: Facey Karen M. , Lewis John A. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
This article provides an overview of the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and its work in producing regulatory guidelines that are of interest to medical statisticians. The scope and key issues of the ICH E9 Guideline on Statistical Principles in Clinical Trials are outlined. This includes topics related to minimizing the bias in trial design, analysis and reporting, and includes specific issues such as multicenter trials, interim analysis, analysis sets, and subgroups. Other regulatory guidelines that include statistical issues are mentioned and the manner in which guidelines should be used is debated.
Prevention Trials
Authors: Prentice Ross L. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractRandomized controlled trials provide the gold standard for assessing the health benefits and risks of preventive treatments or interventions. Such trials typically need to be very large‐scale and long‐term. Hence, cost and logistic considerations imply that few such trials can be conducted, and there is a need for careful hypothesis development and preliminary testing, prior to the initiation of a full‐scale disease prevention trial. Aspects of the design, conduct monitoring and analysis of prevention trials are reviewed, along with a discussion of differences from therapeutic trials, and of the interplay with observational studies. The National Institutes of Health‐sponsored Women's Health Initiative, which includes both a multi‐faceted prevention trial, and a large cohort study, among postmenopausal women, provides an illustration of prevention trial considerations and trade‐offs.
Software for Clinical Trials
Authors: Arena Vincent C. , Rockette Howard E. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractThis chapter provides a comprehensive overview of software that is relevant to the design, management, and analysis of clinical trials. Guidance is provided on selecting programs appropriate to the needs of the researcher. There are useful suggestions on keeping software up to date. An extensive table is included referencing most of the available software packages with brief descriptions of the features most relevant to clinical trials, vendor names, contact information, and web URLs.
Data Quality in Vital and Health Statistics
Authors: Swerdlow A. J. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
In this chapter, the importance of data quality in the design and interpretation of analyses of routinely collected vital and health data is discussed. Issues considered include: the quality of information in underlying data sources; completeness of data collection; duplication; late registrations and alterations; validity and precision of data collection; coding, bridge‐coding, and assignment of underlying cause; data processing and editing; quality of denominators; and numerator/denominator discrepancies. Separate consideration is given to particular issues for analysis of clusters and other rare events, and record linkage. While not intrinsically interesting, data quality is worth considerable attention if analyses of routinely collected data are to be correctly interpreted.
Causation
Authors: Greenland Sander 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
The concepts of cause and effect are central to most areas of scientific research, so it is not surprising that the literature on them could fill a small library. What may be surprising, given their importance, is that consensus about basic definitions and methods for causal inferences (at best) limited, despite some three centuries of debate. A brief review cannot do justice to the history and details of this debate, nor to all the schools of thought on causation. This article will, therefore, focus on a few major themes that have affected modern biostatistical practice. Of necessity, some aspects of the discussion are simplified relative to the literature, and the references should be consulted for more thorough descriptions. Entries on related topics are given in the final section.
Cohort Study, Historical
Authors: Samet Jonathan M. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
A historical cohort study, also called a retrospective cohort study or a nonconcurrent cohort study, refers to a cohort whose members were at risk for disease outcomes before the study was initiated. Historical cohort studies are widely used in occupational epidemiology because they allow one to take advantage of employment records to identify cohort membership and exposures, and because one does not need to wait for disease outcomes before analyzing the data. As in other cohort studies, historical cohort studies allow one to estimate disease incidence rates as well as relative risks and other measures of exposure effect. Because administrative databases are often used, however, there is a potential for inadequate data to define cohort membership (selection bias), exposure status, and covariates needed to control for confounding, such as smoking status. In addition, there may be special problems with loss to follow‐up and misclassification of health outcomes. Historical cohort studies may be supplemented with special nested case–control or case–cohort designs to obtain additional detailed information on selected cohort members.
Meta‐Analysis in Epidemiology
Authors: Stroup Donna F. , Thacker Stephen B. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractMeta‐analysis is a quantitative approach for systematically combining the results of previous research in order to arrive at conclusions about the body of research. The pressure for timely, evidence‐based decisions, and the explosion of the information in the scientific literature have resulted in an increased number of published meta‐analysis. Statistical methods are integral to each step of a meta‐analysis. In this chapter, we define meta‐analysis in the context of scientific synthesis, illustrate uses of Meta‐analysis in epidemiology and public health, describe the steps in a meta‐analysis, and illustrate some specific statistical issues, such as bias, and heterogeneity. We illustrate these steps with a case study of the effects of duration of estrogen on breast cancer risk and discuss statistical software and related internet resources. Statistical issues are critical to properly understanding and interpreting the results from meta‐analysis.
Counter‐Matching
Authors: Langholz Bryan 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
Counter‐matching is an exposure‐stratified nested case‐control technique used in epidemiological research. In this article, individually matched and grouped data versions of the design, and analysis methods based on conditional likelihoods, are described. Four data examples are provided, which illustrate the use of counter‐matching in practice. Finally, a general discussion about when and how to use the design, a comparison to matching, and a short comparison to other designs is provided.
Computer‐Aided Diagnosis
Authors: Weiner M. G. , Pifer Eric , Williams Sankey V. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractA provider's ability to make correct decisions regarding patient care is predicated on the correct identification of a patient's diagnoses. However, the process of developing diagnostic certainty remains a challenging task despite an increasingly sophisticated array of available diagnostic modalities and techniques. Clinicians need support to integrate a broad range of findings from these tools along with a patient's symptoms and signs. This chapter discusses the evolution and utility of computer‐aided diagnostic decision support systems including recent developments in neural networks, microarray technology, and syndromic surveillance.
Kappa and Its Dependence on Marginal Rates
Authors: Cook Richard J. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
The kappa statistic is a widely used measure for quantifying agreement between raters using nominal scales. It is advocated on the grounds that it “corrects” for a level of agreement that would be expected by chance alone based on the marginal rates. The operating characteristics of kappa, however, show that it responds in a complicated and unintuitive way to subject‐specific and marginal agreement. Modifications to kappa and supplementary statistics, which have been proposed to help interpret kappa are discussed. Remarks are made as to why the kappa statistic has such problematic features.
Pharmacoepidemiology, Study Designs
Authors: Strom B. L. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
Pharmacoepidemiology studies the use and effects of pharmaceuticals in populations. In general, its study designs are the same as those for other areas of clinical epidemiology. However, because of the existence of previously conducted premarketing clinical trials, and the need in pharmacoepidemiology to conduct very large studies very quickly, there are special issues that attend to the conduct of postmarketing pharmacoepidemiology studies. This chapter reviews the special data resources used to address these issues, the issues of data validity that arise from the use of these databases, and the special methodological approaches used to apply them.
Screening Benefit, Evaluation of
Authors: Prorok Philip C. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractScreening is the testing of apparently healthy individuals from a population for the purpose of separating them into groups with high and low probabilities of having a given disease such as cancer. This article examines various issues encountered in assessing the benefit of screening. The use of observational studies and possible involvement of selection bias is included, together with a discussion of lead time and length bias. Appropriate study endpoints are discussed. Various possibilities for randomized control trials are reviewed, and the use of observational designs to compare cancer incidence and mortality in a population before and after the introduction of a screening program is mentioned. The entry also lists important information requirements for the evaluation of screening programs.
Utility in Health Studies
Authors: Torrance George W. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractUtility is a quantitative expression of strength of preference. The more something is preferred, the greater is its utility. Formal utility theory for decision making under uncertainty was defined by von Neumann & Morgenstern. Utilities in their theory are measured using the standard gamble. Alternatively, time trade‐off and visual analog scales are used to measure preferences, and these also are sometimes called utilities. Utilities are an integrative measure of health‐related quality of life. Utilities, representing quality of life can be combined with quantity of life to form quality‐adjusted life years. These, in turn, are used in cost–utility analyses. For most clinical studies, the simplest and the preferred way to measure utilities is to use one of the multiattribute health status classification systems that include a utility scoring formula; for example, EuroQol EQ‐5D, Health Utilities Index, or Quality of Well‐Being Scale.
Anticipation
Authors: Dawson Deborah V. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract
Anticipation denotes a phenomenon characterized by increasing severity and/or earlier onset of a disease in successive generations. It could be induced by ascertainment bias and this cast serious doubts among many geneticists about its reality as a biological, phenomenon. However, it is now recognised that it may occur as result of trinucleotide repeat expansion. The number of repeats has been found to correlate with severity and onset age, and this is often associated with a parent‐of‐origin effect. Anticipation has also been reported for a growing number of disorders not found to be associated with trinucleotide repeat expansion.
Disease‐Marker Association
Authors: Schaid D. 
Published: July 2005

AbstractDisease–marker association can be due to both genetic and nongenetic causes. The former are either that the marker plays a functional role in the disease process or that it is in close proximity to a disease locus (in linkage disequilibrium with it). Association can also be due to population stratification or admixture. Usual contingency table chi‐square methods assume independence of alleles and/or individuals. In the absence of this independence, it is possible to allow for population heterogeneity by using genomic control (i.e. markers that are unlinked to the disease) or family‐member controls, which provide various degrees of matching on ethnicity. Association studies can also use extended pedigree data provided that allowance is made for the statistical dependence of the members in the same pedigree.
E
lston–
S
tewart Algorithm
Authors: Elston Robert C. 
Published: July 2005

Abstract

The Elston–Stewart algorithm is a recursive algorithm that allows one to calculate the pedigree likelihood of an oligogenic model as a function of founder genotypic probabilities, penetrance functions, and genetic transition probabilities. The amount of time required for the computation increases linearly with the size of the pedigree, but exponentially with the number of loci in the genotype. In contrast, the Lander & Green algorithm has computational time that increases exponentially with the size of the pedigree, but linearly with the number of loci. An analogous algorithm allows the likelihood to be calculated for a pedigree of
n
individuals under polygenic inheritance without needing the inversion of an
n
×
n
symmetric matrix.