PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review evaluated gender and race/ethnic representation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). RECENT FINDINGS Whites comprise 33% of prevalent SLE cases and comprised 51% of RCT enrollees. Blacks encompass 43% of prevalent SLE cases, but only represented 14% of RCT enrollees. Hispanics comprise 16% of prevalent SLE ca...

Confinement of a plasma for controlled thermonuclear fusion is studied numerically. Toroidal equilibria are considered, with an emphasis on the Modular Helias-like Heliac 2 (MHH2), which is a stellarator of low aspect ratio with just two field periods surrounded by 16 modular coils. The geometry is fully three-dimensional, but there is an axial symmetry of the magnetic structure that is calcula...

Ernest Sosa has lately posed a new skeptical problem and a solution. Setting out a novel account of dreaming, Sosa worries that ‘‘the possibility that we dream now threatens not only our supposed perceptual knowledge but even our supposed introspective knowledge, our supposed takings of the given’’ (2007, p. 9). In what follows, we outline Sosa’s dream argument and evaluate his solution. Accord...

We derive the moduli space for the global symmetry in N = 1 supersymmetric theories. We show, at the generic points, that it coincides with the space of quasi-Nambu-Goldstone (QNG) bosons, which appear besides the ordinary Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons when the global symmetry G breaks down spontaneously to its subgroup H with preserving N = 1 supersymmetry. At the singular points, most of the NG...

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are known to provide the most reliable evidence on intervention. However, RCTs are often conducted and reported incompletely and inadequately, making readers and reviewers unable to judge the validity and reliability of the trials. In this article, we consider the statistical and methodological issues involved in reporting on RCTs, particularly in relation to...

Because public health must operate at scale in widely diverse, complex situations, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have limited utility for public health. Other methodologies are needed. A key conceptual backbone is a detailed "theory of change" to apply appropriate evidence for each operational component. Synthesizing patterns of findings across multiple methodologies provides key insights...

Bias affects the true intervention effect in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), making the results unreliable. We evaluated the risk of bias (ROB) of quasi-RCTs or RCTs reported in the Korean Journal of Anesthesiology (KJA) between 2010 and 2016. Six kinds of bias (selection, performance, detection, attrition, reporting, and other biases) were evaluated by determining low, unclear, or high RO...

Very-brief, web-based alcohol interventions have great potential due to their convenience, ease of dissemination, and college students' stated preference for this intervention modality. To address the efficacy of these interventions, we conducted a review of the literature to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Fifteen published reports were included. All RCTs meeting criteria for inc...

Public health interventions usually operate at the level of groups rather than individuals, and cluster randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are one means of evaluating their effectiveness. Using examples from six such trials in Bangladesh, India, Malawi and Nepal, we discuss our experience of the ethical issues that arise in their conduct. We set cluster RCTs in the broader context of public he...

In 2008, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) set up a new Public Health Research (PHR) programme. This aims to provide ‘new knowledge on the benefits, costs, acceptability and wider impacts of non-NHS interventions intended to improve the health of the public and reduce inequalities in health’. It has a budget of £10 m per annum. It will fund high-quality research to answer questi...