3,641 research outputs found
Automobility
Cars are machines with which we have complicated and ambivalent relations. Automobility considers the car as vehicle in multiple senses: as a vehicle of mobility and constraint, of representation and rituals, of communication and cultural meaning, of production and power, of desire and destruction. The artwork and research are rooted in an examination of my own relationship to the car, of relations I have observed in other people, and an exploration of the spaces, places, and practices designed for cars
On the Eikonal Approximation in AdS Space
We explore the eikonal approximation to graviton exchange in AdS_5 space, as
relevant to scattering in gauge theories. We restrict ourselves to the regime
where conformal invariance of the dual gauge theory holds, and to large 't
Hooft coupling where the computation involves pure gravity. We give a heuristic
argument, a direct loop computation, and a shock wave derivation. The scalar
propagator in AdS_3 plays a key role, indicating that even at strong coupling,
two-dimensional conformal invariance controls high-energy four-dimensional
gauge-theory scattering.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures; published version: updated references and
several clarifying remarks adde
Influence factor of Chinese elders' wealth management behaviour: an empirical study
The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the influential demographic variables of eldersâ wealth management behaviour. Purpose sampling for 122 older consumers (aged over 65) who participate in wealth management programme with instrument, was conducted in April 2007 in China (Taiwan area). Regression was performed for the data analysis. The results showed gender, educational background, and living location being key factors affecting elder consumersâ wealth-management behaviours, including consumersâ familiarity with financial products/services, sources of professional information, sources of word-of-mouth information, investment intention, and investment confidence. The main contributions of this not only include enhancing existing literature concerning wealth management, marketing, and elder behaviours (especially for clarifying how the controversial factors work), but unveiling eldersâ behaviour tendency in such a blooming emerging market. Practical implications to bank marketers are also given
Public policy and retirement saving incentives in the UK
With ageing populations, OECD governments are searching for policies to increase retirement incomes. The UK government has introduced a series of policies, including the introduction of Personal Pensions from April 1988, of Stakeholder Pensions from April 2001, and the planned introduction of a National Pensions Saving Scheme (NPSS), designed to encourage individuals to save in retirement accounts rather than relying on state provision of social security in old age. These changes have been accompanied by changes in the tax treatment of private pensions. Arguably, the frequency and complexity of these reforms heightens the difficulties that households face in implementing consistent lifetime saving strategies. We examine some of these reform episodes in order to discover how households responded given the micro-incentives implied by this sequence of reforms â in particular those arising from the introduction of Personal and Stakeholder Pensions.Retirement saving pensions.
Increased hazard of myocardial infarction with insulinâprovision therapy in actively smoking patients with diabetes mellitus and stable ischemic heart disease: The BARI 2D (Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes) trial
Background
In the BARI 2D (Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes) trial, randomization of diabetic patients with stable ischemic heart disease to insulin provision (
IP
) therapy, as opposed to insulin sensitization (
IS
) therapy, resulted in biochemical evidence of impaired fibrinolysis but no increase in adverse clinical outcomes. We hypothesized that the prothrombotic effect of
IP
therapy in combination with the hypercoagulable state induced by active smoking would result in an increased risk of myocardial infarction (
MI
).
Methods and Results
We analyzed
BARI
2D patients who were active smokers randomized to
IP
or
IS
therapy. The primary end point was fatal or nonfatal
MI
.
PAI
â1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor 1) activity was analyzed at 1, 3, and 5Â years. Of 295 active smokers,
MI
occurred in 15.4% randomized to
IP
and in 6.8% randomized to
IS
over the 5.3Â years (
P
=0.023).
IP
therapy was associated with a 3.2âfold increase in the hazard of
MI
compared with
IS
therapy (hazard ratio: 3.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.43â7.28;
P
=0.005). Baseline
PAI
â1 activity (19.0 versus 17.5Â Au/mL,
P
=0.70) was similar in actively smoking patients randomized to
IP
or
IS
therapy. However,
IP
therapy resulted in significantly increased
PAI
â1 activity at 1Â year (23.0 versus 16.0Â Au/mL,
P
=0.001), 3Â years (24.0 versus 18.0Â Au/mL,
P
=0.049), and 5Â years (29.0 versus 15.0Â Au/mL,
P
=0.004) compared with
IS
therapy.
Conclusions
Among diabetic patients with stable ischemic heart disease who were actively smoking,
IP
therapy was independently associated with a significantly increased hazard of
MI
. This finding may be explained by higher
PAI
â1 activity in active smokers treated with
IP
therapy.
Clinical Trial Registration
URL
:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier:
NCT
00006305.
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