经济前景并非一片黯淡

【美国《华尔街日报》12月31日】最近关于经济的消息一直很郁闷,目前大家几乎普遍认为,经济形势会进一步恶化,然后才会好转。一般看法是,本轮经济衰退的持续时间、影响程度及长期危害都将超过大萧条以来的任何一次经济危机。     

Cost-effectiveness of blinatumomab versus salvage chemotherapy in relapsed or refractory Philadelphia-chromosome-negative B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia from a US payer perspective

Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of blinatumomab (Blincyto) vs standard of care (SOC) chemotherapy in adults with relapsed or refractory (R/R) Philadelphia-chromosome-negative (Ph?) B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) based on the results of the phase 3 TOWER study from a US healthcare payer perspective.

Methods: The Blincyto Global Economic Model (B-GEM), a partitioned survival model, was used to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of blinatumomab vs SOC. Response rates, event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), numbers of cycles of blinatumomab and SOC, and transplant rates were estimated from TOWER. EFS and OS were estimated by fitting parametric survival distributions to failure-time data from TOWER. Utility values were based on EORTC-8D derived from EORTC QLQ-C30 assessments in TOWER. A 50-year lifetime horizon and US payer perspective were employed. Costs and outcomes were discounted at 3% per year.

Results: The B-GEM projected blinatumomab to yield 1.92 additional life years and 1.64 additional quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) compared with SOC at an incremental cost of $180,642. The ICER for blinatumomab vs SOC was estimated to be $110,108/QALY gained in the base case. Cost-effectiveness was sensitive to the number and cost of inpatient days for administration of blinatumomab and SOC, and was more favorable in the sub-group of patients who had received no prior salvage therapy. At an ICER threshold of $150,000/QALY gained, the probability that blinatumomab is cost-effective was estimated to be 74%.

Limitations: The study does not explicitly consider the impact of adverse events of the treatment; no adjustments for long-term transplant rates were made.

Conclusions: Compared with SOC, blinatumomab is a cost-effective treatment option for adults with R/R Ph???B-precursor ALL from the US healthcare perspective at an ICER threshold of $150,000 per QALY gained. The value of blinatumomab is derived from its incremental survival and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) benefit over SOC.     

Remote data analysis,visualization and problem solving environment (PSE) based on wavelets in the geosciences

We discuss here the issues faced by earth scientists in analyzing and visualizing large datasets over a GRID-like setup from a client-server perspective. We approach this problem by using a remote, web-based visualization and data analysis framework, called WEB-IS, and by employing second-generation wavelets as a means for reducing the amount of data transferred and for extracting coherent features in complex geophysical flows and surface faulting patterns. As an example, we describe how onboard processors on satellites can function as a server for beaming down extracted information to the client computer on the ground, thus exemplifying WEB-IS as a viable middleware on a GRID network for geosciences.     

How Does Financial Literacy Impact Attitude Toward Student Loan Providers?

ABSTRACT

We examined whether financial literacy changes college students' assessments of their student-loan providers. As predictors in our backward regression, we included (a) financial literacy, (b) perceived importance of loan, (c) satisfaction with college, (d) financial optimism, (e) experience using credit cards, and (f) perceived importance of decisions about credit cards. We also included two-way interactions between financial literacy and the other variables. Our regression explained about 24% of the variance in the dependent variable. Our results indicated that financial literacy was a significant predictor of attitude toward the student loan provider—but only in the interaction terms.     

Brand user profiles seldom change and seldom differ

This study tests and extends the discovery that competing brand user profiles are broadly similar, specifically investigating the consistency of this pattern over time. Examining 700 brands in more than 60 consumer packaged goods categories, for more than 160 variables, the authors document not only that brand user profiles seldom differ but also that they seldom change much over 3 to 6 years. These findings have important implications for marketing theory and practice. For example, marketers need to focus mostly on who buys the category and what features they demand as opposed to thinking their brand buyers are very different to those of competitive brands. This paper extends the empirical results of prior brand profile findings, demonstrating their robustness and durability.     

Gijs Mom. The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectations in the Automobile Age. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. xiii + 423 pp. ISBN 0-8018-7138-7, $54.95.

Automotive historians have long dismissed the electric vehicle;who would want a car with limited speed that had to be rechargedevery hundred miles? But in 1905, Gijs Mom reminds us, "morethan half of all commercial vehicles in the United States wereelectric powered," and by 1940 tens of thousands of electriccars and trucks had been produced (pp. 206, 265). In the UnitedStates and Europe, electric vehicles appeared as taxicabs, deliveryvans, and even fire engines, as     

Women's Wealth and Intimate Partner Violence: Insights from Ecuador and Ghana

Intimate partner violence (IPV) by men against their partners is one of the most glaring indicators of women's lack of empowerment. Drawing upon the 2010 Ecuador Household Asset Survey (EAFF) and the 2010 Ghana Household Asset Survey (GHAS), nationally representative surveys for Ecuador and Ghana, respectively, this study investigates the relationship between women's ownership of assets and physical and emotional abuse by spouses against currently partnered women over the previous twelve months. It uses the value of a woman's total assets compared to those of her partner as the main proxy for a woman's bargaining power. Differentiating between physical and emotional violence in both countries, the study finds that women's share of couple wealth is significantly associated with lower odds of physical violence in Ecuador and emotional violence in Ghana. Moreover, the association between women's share of couple wealth and IPV is contingent on the household's position in the wealth distribution.     

Understanding Truck Driver Need‐Based Segments: Creating a Strategy for Retention

Research on truck driver retention addresses how traditional variables impact drivers’ decisions to stay with a particular carrier, yet many of the traditional research methods have been called into question. Additionally, research is sparse on understanding whether unique driver need‐based segments exist. Therefore, the authors present a theoretical framework and examine an exploratory study for incorporating numerous constructs that pertain to a driver’s intention to drive for a firm. Empirical results indicate that drivers’ value pay, personal safety, and time at home are most important when deciding to remain with a firm. In addition, three unique truck driver need‐based segments were identified. The authors offer retention recommendations based on the specific needs of each segment.