BACKGROUND To speed up the evaluation of new therapies, the multi-arm, multi-stage trial design was suggested previously by the authors. METHODS In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the two-stage, multi-arm design using four cancer trials conducted at the MRC CTU. The performance of the design at fictitious interim analyses is assessed using a conditional bootstrap approach. RESULT...

This document outlines an architecture and implementation plan for the National Science Foundation's Interagency Interim National Research and Education Network (NREN) component of the HPCC Program. The Interagency Interim NREN is intended as a near term research and development program to extend the capabilities and breadth of connectiv-ity of today's research and education (R&E) networks. Thi...

We look at a principal–agent model in which the agent has to perform an action, the difficulty of which is better known ex interim than ex ante. We compare two contracting regimes; one with commitment to an ex ante negotiated contract, and one with an ex interim negotiated contract. The ex ante contract can not be too steep, but attempts to negotiate a steeper ex interim contract may result in ...

Interim analysis of accumulating data in a clinical trial is now an established practice for ethical and scientific reasons. Repeatedly testing interim data can inflate false positive error rates if not handled appropriately. Group sequential methods are a commonly used frequentist approach to control this error rate. Motivated by experience of clinical trials, the alpha spending function is on...

Learning experiments are complex procedures which generate high volumes of data due to the number of updates which occur during training and the number of trials necessary for hyper-parameter selection. Often during runtime, interim result data is purged as the experiment progresses. This purge makes rolling-back to interim experiments, restarting at a specific point or discovering trends and p...

We analyze the interaction between risk sharing and capital accumulation in a stochastic OLG model with production. We give a complete characterization of interim Pareto optimality. Our characterization also subsumes equilibria with a PAYG social security system. In a competitive equilibrium interim Pareto optimality is equivalent to intergenerational exchange e¢ciency, which in turn implies dy...

The Research Services Branch plans and coordinates new facilities for the Institute, operates and maintains existing facilities and provides other support functions including centralized glassware and media preparation; instrumentation development and maintenance; arts, graphics and photography; space management; security; landscaping and grounds maintenance and janitorial. Facilities NIEHS is ...

The treatment of hematologic malignancies is moving towards risk-stratified directed therapy, whereby treatment is based on the disease's biological characteristics and response to treatment. We investigated whether BCL2 and BCL6 status could add to the prognostic information yielded by an interim positron emission tomography (PET) scan in the ability to predict outcome. Negative interim scans ...

Implant therapy is becoming the treatment of choice for the replacement of teeth in partially edentulous arches. The interim phase of implant treatment often presents particular problems because of the position of the remaining teeth, their periodontal status, and the loss of vertical dimension of occlusion. This case report will discuss the design and fabrication of a cast bar reinforced long-...

Data extraction: Twelve reviewers working independently and in duplicate abstracted data on content area and type of intervention tested, reporting of funding, type of end point driving study termination, treatment effect, length of followup, estimated sample size and total sample studied, role of a data and safety monitoring board in stopping the study, number of interim analyses planned and c...