Utility of Adaptive Sample Size Designs and A Review Example

Sample size can be a key design feature that not only affects the probability of a trial＇s success but also determines the duration and feasibility of a trial. If an investigational drug is expected to be effective and address unmet medical needs of an orphan disease, where the accrual period may require many years with a large sample size to detect a minimal clinically relevant treatment effect, a minimum sample size may be set to maintain nominal power. In limited situations such as this, there may be a need for flexibility in the initial and final sample sizes; thus, it is useful to consider the utility of adaptive sample size designs that use sample size re-estimation or group sequential design. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive performance measure to consider the utility of an adaptive sample size design in a trial simulation. Considering that previously proposed sample size re-estimation methods do not take into account errors in estimation based on interim results, we propose Bayesian sample size re-estimation criteria that take into account prior information on treatment effect, and then, we assess its operating characteristics in a simulation study. We also present a review example of sample size re-estimation mainly based on published paper and review report in Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency （PMDA）.

How to signcrypt a message to designated group

In an open network environment, the protection of group communication is a crucial problem. In this article, a novel broadcast group-oriented signcryption scheme is presented for group communication scenarios in distributed networks, Anyone in this scheme can signcrypt a message and distribute it to a designated group, and any member in the receiving group can unsigncrypt the ciphertext. The ciphertext and public key in the scheme are of constant size. In addition, this new scheme offers public verification of the ciphertext. This property is very important to the large-scale group communication since the gateway can filter the incorrect ciphertext and alleviate the receiver＇s workload. Finally, a proof in the random oracle model is given to show that the scheme is secure against chosen ciphertext attack and existential forgery.

Incomplete Group Divisible Designs with Block Size Four and General Index

In this paper, we investigate the existence of incomplete group divisible designs （IGDDs） with block size four, group-type （g, h） u and general index λ. The necessary conditions for the existence of such a design are that u ≥ 4, g ≥ 3h, λg（u 1） ≡ 0 （mod 3）, λ（g h）（u 1） ≡ 0 （mod 3）, and λu（u 1）（g 2 h 2 ） ≡ 0 （mod 12）. These necessary conditions are shown to be sufficient for all λ≥ 2. The known existence result for λ = 1 is also improved.

Super-simple （5, 4）-GDDs of group type g^u

In statistical planning of experiments, super-simple designs are the ones providing samples with maximum intersection as small as possible. Super- simple group divisible designs are useful in constructing other types of super- simple designs which can be applied to codes and designs. In this article, the existence of a super-simple （5, 4）-GDD of group type gU is investigated and it is shown that such a design exists if and only if u ≥ 5, g（u - 2） ≥ 12, and u（u - 1）g^2≡ 0 （mod 5） with some possible exceptions.

Evaluating the implementation of rapid diagnostic tests in a malaria elimination setting

Background It was recommended that malaria rapid diagnostic tests(RDTs)should be available in all epidemiological situations.But evidence was limited on the implementation of RDTs and its effectiveness in malaria elimination settings.This study examined the implementation of RDTs and how it affected the diagnosis of imported malaria patients in Jiangsu Province,China.Methods To scale up RDTs,this study developed an intervention package with four major elements covering the supply of RDT test,the training on RDTs,the monitoring and management of RDT use,and the advocacy of RDTs.By using a pretest-posttest control group design,we implemented the interventions in 4 cities in Jiangsu Province with the rest nine cities as controlled areas,from January 2017 to January 2018.Difference-in-Difference approach was used to evaluate the impact of the scale-up of RDTs on the identification of malaria cases.Three binary outcome measures were included to indicate delayed malaria diagnosis,malaria cases with confirmed malaria diagnosis at township-level institutions,and severe malaria cases,respectively.Linear probability regression was performed with time and group fixed effects and the interaction term between time and group.Results Intervention areas received sufficient RDT test supply,regular professional training programs,monthly tracking and management of RDT supply and use,and health education to targeted population.The implementation of interventions was associated with 10.8%(P=0.021)fewer patients with delayed diagnosis.But intervention areas did not see a higher likelihood of having confirmed diagnosis from township-level institutions(coefficient=-0.038,P=0.185)or reduced severe malaria cases(coef.=0.040,P=0.592).Conclusions The comprehensive package of RDT implementation in this study is promising in scaling up RDT use and improving access to care among malaria patients,especially in malaria elimination settings.

Constructions for Anonymous Secret Sharing Schemes Using Combinatorial Designs

In an anonymous secret sharing scheme the secret can be reconstructed without knowledge of which participants hold which shares. In this paper some constructions of anonymous secret sharing schemes with 2 thresholds by using combinatorial designs are given. Let v（t, w, q） denote the minimum size of the set of shares of a perfect anonymous （t, w） threshold secret sharing scheme with q secrets. In this paper we prove that v（t, w, q） - Θ（q） if t and w are fixed and that the lower bound of the size of the set of shares in [4] is not optimal under certain condition.

Frame Self-orthogonal Mendelsohn Triple Systems

A Mendelsohn triple system of order v,MTS(v)for short,is a pair(X,B)where X is a v-set(of points)and B is a collection of cyclic triples on X such that every ordered pair of distinct points from X appears in exactly one cyclic triple of B.The cyclic triple(a,b,c)contains the ordered pairs(a,b),(b,c)and(c,a).An MTS(v)corresponds to an idempotent semisymmetric Latin square (quasigroup)of order v.An MTS(v)is called frame self-orthogonal,FSOMTS for short,if its associated semisymmetric Latin square is frame self-orthogonal.It is known that an FSOMTS(1~n)exists for all n≡1(mod 3)except n=10 and for all n≥15,n≡0(mod 3)with possible exception that n=18.In this paper,it is shown that(i)an FSOMTS(2~n)exists if and only if n≡0,1(mod 3)and n>5 with possible exceptions n ∈{9,27,33,39};(ii)an FSOMTS(3~n)exists if and only if n≥4,with possible exceptions that n ∈{6,14,18,19}.

Existence of Three HMOLS of Type 2~nu^1

A Latin squares of order v with ni missing sub-Latin squares （holes） of order hi （1 〈= i 〈 k）, which are disjoint and spanning （i.e. ∑k i=l1 nihi = v）, is called a partitioned incomplete Latin squares and denoted by PILS. The type of PILS is defined by （h1n1 h2n2…hknk ）. If any two PILS inaset of t PILS of type T are orthogonal, then we denote the set by t-HMOLS（T）. It has been proved that 3-HMOLS（2n31） exist for n ≥6 with 11 possible exceptions. In this paper, we investigate the existence of 3-HMOLS（2nu1） with u ≥ 4, and prove that 3-HMOLS（2~u1） exist if n ≥ 54 and n ≥7/4u ＋ 7.

Pinning-down molecules in their self-assemblies with multiple weak hydrogen bonds of C-H···F and C-H···N

Two-dimensional self-assemblies of four partially fluorinated molecules, 1,4-bis（2,6-difluoropyridin-4-yl）benzene, 4,4＇-bis（2,6-difluoropyridin-4-yl）-1,1＇-biphenyl, 4,4＇-bis（2,6-difluoropyridin-4-yl）-1,1＇：4＇,1＇-terphenyl and 4,4＇-bis（2,6-difluoropyridin-3-yl）-1,1＇-biphenyl, involving weak intermolecular C-H···F and C-H···N hydrogen bonds were systematically investigated on Au（111） with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. The inter-molecular connecting modes and binding sites were closely related to the backbones of the building blocks, i.e., the molecule length determines its binding sites with neighboring molecules in the assemblies while the attaching positions of the N and F atoms dictate its approaching and docking angles. The experimental results demonstrate that multiple weak hydrogen bonds such as C-H···F and C-H···N can be efficiently applied to tune the molecular orientations and the self-assembly structures accordingly.

CONSTRUCTING SELF-CONJUGATE SELF-ORTHOGONAL DIAGONAL LATIN SQUARES

In this paper, we give some constructions of self-conjugate self-orthogonal diagonal Latinsquares (SCSODLS). As an application of such constructions we disproof the conjecture aboutSCSODLS and show that there exist SCSODLS of order V, whenever w=1 (mod 12), with thepossible exception of v∈ {13, 85, 133}.