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Analysis of Newspaper Research Report Results

Sunday, September 9, 2012
Analysis of Newspaper Research Report Results
On May 1, 2009, Reuters Health reported that combined treatment with chemotherapy drugs topotecan and docetaxel is effective in treating women who had a return of uterine or ovarian cancer after having been treated with other drug combos. The study involved 15 women with recurrent ovarian cancer, 9 with recurrent uterine cancer, and 3 with cancer of the tissue lining the inside of the abdomen. The findings revealed that out of 24 women only six had complete response to treatment. This study sets to examine the statistical procedures mentioned in the report, describes the finding and conclusions and based on these analysis the study concludes whether they were appropriate or not.

Hypothesis Statement from the Cancer Research Report
The hypothesis statement is that combined treatment with the week chemotherapy drugs topotecan and docetaxel is effective for women who have had a return of their uterine or ovarian cancer and have already been treated with other drug combos.

Analysis of the Sampling Methods
The method used for selecting a sample from the population to study the effect of combined chemotherapy together with topotecan and docetaxel drug treatment was purposive non probability sampling. It is non probability because not all the members in the population were given an equal chance as opposed to random sampling. This method of sampling lacks accuracy because of the selection bias associated with it.

The sampling of 15 women with recurrent ovarian cancer, 9 with recurrent uterine cancer, and 3 with cancer of the tissue lining the inside of the abdomen  was purposive in that it was to fulfill the specific purpose of investigating women with three different types of cancer. Other types of cancer like the lung cancer were left out, and also in this case only the women were targeted for this study.  This purposive sampling method will therefore be limited in terms of inferences because it is confined and selective.

This technique is prone to sampling errors since a sample is chosen with the intention of obtaining specific results about effect of topotecan and docetaxel in treating ovarian, uterine and cancer of the tissue lining. Since the research was conducted by trained and competent personalities like Dr. Dr. Mark H. Einstein, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, the sampling error due to faulty definitions and planning would not result.

Sampling Distribution
This clinical trial research draws inference from only one sample of 15 women with recurrent ovarian cancer, 9 with recurrent uterine cancer, and 3 with cancer of the tissue lining the inside of the abdomen and there has no sampling distribution. A sample distribution would only occur when more than one sample is undertaken and sample statistics computed. No sampling distribution means, standard deviation and variances are available for this study.

Discussion of the Findings and Conclusions
The research was comprehensive since it involved a total of 86 treatment cycles. And out of 27 participants selected fro inclusion in the sample results were established for 24 individuals which was a reasonable success rate. The cooperation from the participants ensured the success of the experiment. Of the 24 patients a mere 6 of the participants had a satisfactory response to treatment while another three had no worsening of their cancer. Six out of 24 individuals is a small number which may not merit making inference on the whole population because this represents a probability of  only 0.25(6/24) or 25%. This implies that only 25 % of the patients with ovarian, uterine and cancer of the tissue lining could benefit from the treatment of topotecan and docetaxel while the rest 75% may not benefit from the program. The report by the Reuters Health that combined treatment with topotecan and docetaxel is effective in treating women with a return of uterine or ovarian cancer may not after all portent a breakthrough in cancer research because few women may stand to benefit.

Computation
Assuming a cancer population N of 480,000 individuals

The sample size n = 24

Sample proportion, p= 24/480,000= 0.00005

Therefore, q= 1-p= 0.99995

The Standard Error of p, SE (P) =pq/n=(0.00005X0.99995)/24= 2.0 X106

The 95% confidence interval for the population assuming a Z value of 2.58 is given by

=0.00005 + 2.58+ 2.0 X106 * (480,000-24)/(480,000-1)

=0.00005+ 0.048

The confidence interval for P is (0.04805, 0.04795) giving only about 23, 016 to 23, 064 individuals out of 480,000 population that could benefit from the treatment on a 95% confidence scale.

Appropriateness of the Statistical Procedures
Primary endpoint statistical analysis plan specify how the outcomes are measured. Binary measurements in the testing of combined chemotherapy together with topotecan and docetaxel drug treatment reveal that there was a partial response to the treatment with the odd ratio of complete treatment being at 0.25. The count which measures the frequent of the planned treatment in 86 cycles could not be established from the given data because no incidence density ratios are supplied. The time to event which typically measures the time it takes to see the outcome of treatment is censored because averaged hazard/risk ratios between groups are not available. Patients' preferences for intravenous, oral or combined treatment as a non-ordered ordinal scale were not reported in this cancer treatment.

Appropriate statistical tests such as correlation coefficients are not given there it will be difficult to test whether they are normally distributed. No mention is made on the t-tests, and F tests. If the said aforementioned statistical tests are not necessary the alternative statistical procedure such as category classification must be outlined. The original data on the patients was not categorized for instance if its good, acceptable or simply poor quality of life and besides mathematical transformations such as square roots and logarithms which are required to normalize the resulting variables are missing.

Conclusions
Based on the above problems and deficiencies in the data and results reported, it's a therefore  follows  that weekly dosing of topotecan and docetaxel is very unlikely to preserve their benefits while and decrease the  side effects of cancer especially after prior treatments with other drugs. The standard clinical procedures were not fully followed and besides the outcome may not portent the best news for cancer patients for only a few stands to benefit from the breakthrough in treatment. Therefore the statistical procedures, findings and conclusions were inappropriate.

Cash Flow Analysis

Thursday, September 6, 2012
Cash Flow Analysis

Firstly, we should analyse the structure of cash flow statement.

It can be classified into: operating, investing and financing. The operating activities shows it is sufficient to repay the debt, pay dividends and invest or not without the external funds. It represents the net increase of decrease in cash form the operations. The investing activities includes: that paid and received for property, plant and equipment and other non-current assets, interest and dividends received on investments. The financing activities comprise receipts or repayments of principal from or to external providers of finance.

Here we need to learn the direct and indirect method of cash flow. The direct and indirect method from operating activities can be used to prepare the cash flow statement, the direct and indirect method have their advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of the direct method is that it shows operating receipts and payments. The disadvantage is the significant cost that there may be in preparing the information. The advantage of the indirect method is that it highlights the differences between reported profit and net cash flow from operating activities. The disadvantage is the lack of information on the significant elements of trading.
Through the investing activities, you can know the resources transferred in order to obtain the earning in the future and cash flow, and the cash inflows arising from the resources transferred previously.

The financing activities can help the investors and creditors estimate the claim for the cash flow of the company in the future, and the price to obtain the cash inflows previously.

Financial Advisor Stockport; Choosing A Financial Advisor

Monday, September 3, 2012
Financial Advisor Stockport; Choosing A Financial Advisor

We are not all versed with the details of mortgages, insurance, investments, loans and other financial matters. Yet whenever we are faced with major financial decisions we want to get it right. While setting major financial goals and during minor financial crisis one thing always come to our mind, how are we going to handle this to get it right? The truth is we need the services of a good financial advisor. And financial advisor Stockport might as well be our best guess here. Remember this has to do with your assets and any mistake might cost you a lot than you can forget within months.


The very first step towards getting perfect financial advisor is to start asking questions. Asking has a way of exposing some details you might not even need now but will sure come handy later. You shouldn't step out blindly and pick something because he or she answers a financial advisor – no, you might be in for a big risk and negative surprises.

Most people get to meet a financial advisor through recommendations of friends, co-workers, and relatives. While these recommended people have worked for them, you need to understand whether they will be willing to tailor their services to satisfying your needs and if not, they are simply not for you. In order to make things easier for you, financial advisor Stockport has all this covered.

While meeting these financial advisors, there are certain criteria that you must focus your attentions on. One of those factors includes the education qualifications of the financial advisor, is the person legitimately certified as a financial planner or a public accountant, etc.

This qualification is very important because they confirm that the person in question has undergone the necessary training required of him or her to perform optimally in his or her services.

Secondly, you might want to know the financial services that the advisor is offering. It is obvious that it is not every advisor that offers all the financial analysis and management packages available. They generally offer services covered by their certifications, license, work credentials and financial knowledge. In addition to this, the person must be registered with the Security and Exchange Commission, hence why financial advisor Stockport is important.


Check out the work experience of the advisor. How many years have he or she lasted in the job? Don't use an advisor that is less than 5 years in the job and without enough clients that you can contact to confirm his or her services. You should also know whether he or she can handle your financial needs specifically.


You should go through the contract of each advisor on your list. You must express your needs for alternative actions if things are not working as you planned after the contract is signed. The cost of hiring the services and the rules guiding refunding and payment issues must be clearly stated too. For financial advisor Stockport, your target should be to grab the most favorable deal.



Financial advisor Stockport provide independent financial advice to individuals, trustees and business owners to help them to build, manage and protect their wealth. You can be confident that you will be dealing with personalities wholly committed to providing the best possible advice, service and support.



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