Ciało warte obrony. Wyjaśnienie kilku pojęć: rozważania wstępne

[Przekład] Tekst niniejszy jest wprowadzeniem do książki Eda Cohena A Body Worth Defending: Immunity, Biopolitics and the Apotheosis of the Modern Body. Autor bada, w jaki sposób immunologia wpływa na postrzeganie tak ciała ludzkiego, jak i bytów politycznych, ukazując współczesne konceptualizacje tych zjawisk jako wzajemnie od siebie zależne. Zastosowane ujęcie historyczne pozwala na prześledzenie historii metafory odporności w polityce i medycynie

Review of \u3cem\u3eProtecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research.\u3c/em\u3e Constance F Citro, Daniel R. Iglen and Cora B. Marrett (Eds.).

Book book note for Constance F. Citro, Daniel R. Iglen and Cora B. Marrett (Eds.), Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003. $39.00 papercover

A Celebration of the Ties That Bind Us: Connections Between Actuarial Science and Mathematical Finance

The articles in this volume are contributed by scholars who are not only experts in areas of Actuarial Science (AS) and Mathematical Finance (MF), but also those who present diverse perspectives from both industry and academia. Topics from multiple areas, such as Stochastic Modeling, Credit Risk, Monte Carlo Simulation, and Pension Valuation, among others, that were maybe thought to be the domain of one type of risk manager, are shown time and again to have deep value to other areas of risk management as well. The articles in this collection, in my opinion, contribute techniques, ideas, and overviews of tools that folks in both AS and MF will find useful and interesting to implement in their work. It is also my hope that this collection will inspire future collaboration between those who seek an interdisciplinary approach to risk management

Dynamics of Complex Quantum Systems: Dissipation and Kinetic Equations

We present a microscopic approach to quantum dissipation and sketch the derivation of the kinetic equation describing the evolution of a simple quantum system in interaction with a complex quantum system. A typical quantum complex system is modeled by means of parametric banded random matrices coupled to the subsystem of interest. We do not assume the weak coupling limit and allow for an independent dynamics of the ``reservoir''. We discuss the reasons for having a new theoretical approach and the new elements introduced by us. The present approach incorporates known limits and previous results, but at the same time includes new cases, previously never derived on a microscopic level. We briefly discuss the kinetic equation and its solution for a particle in the absence of an external field.Comment: 7 pages, Elsevier style file espcrc2.st

Survival after acute hemodialysis in Pennsylvania, 2005-2007: A retrospective cohort study

Background: Little is known about acute hemodialysis in the US. Here we describe predictors of receipt of acute hemodialysis in one state and estimate the marginal impact of acute hemodialysis on survival after accounting for confounding due to illness severity. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of acute-care hospitalizations in Pennsylvania from October 2005 to December 2007 using data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. Exposure variable is acute hemodialysis; dependent variable is survival following acute hemodialysis. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine propensity to receive acute hemodialysis and then, for a Cox proportional hazards model, matched acute hemodialysis and non-acute hemodialysis patients 1:5 on this propensity. Results: In 2,131,248 admissions of adults without end-stage renal disease, there were 6,657 instances of acute hemodialysis. In analyses adjusted for predicted probability of death upon admission plus other covariates and stratified on age, being male, black, and insured were independent predictors of receipt of acute hemodialysis. One-year post-admission mortality was 43% for those receiving acute hemodialysis, compared to 13% among those not receiving acute hemodialysis. After matching on propensity to receive acute hemodialysis and adjusting for predicted probability of death upon admission, patients who received acute hemodialysis had a higher risk of death than patients who did not over at least 1 year of follow-up (hazard ratio 1.82, 95% confidence interval 1.68-1.97). Conclusions: In a populous US state, receipt of acute hemodialysis varied by age, sex, race, and insurance status even after adjustment for illness severity. In a comparison of patients with similar propensity to receive acute hemodialysis, those who did receive it were less likely to survive than those who did not. These findings raise questions about reasons for lack of benefit. © 2014 Ramer et al

Infrared point source variability between the Spitzer and MSX surveys of the Galactic mid-plane

We present a list of 552 sources with suspected variability, based on a comparison of mid-infrared photometry from the GLIMPSE I and MSX surveys, which were carried out nearly a decade apart. We were careful to address issues such as the difference in resolution and sensitivity between the two surveys, as well as the differences in the spectral responses of the instruments. We selected only sources where the IRAC 8.0 and MSX 8.28 micron fluxes differ by more than a factor of two, in order to minimize contamination from sources where the difference in fluxes at 8 micron is due to a strong 10 micron silicate feature. We present a subset of 40 sources for which additional evidence suggests variability, using 2MASS and MIPSGAL data. Based on a comparison with the variability flags in the IRAS and MSX Point-Source Catalogs we estimate that at least a quarter of the 552 sources, and at least half of the 40 sources are truly variable. In addition, we tentatively confirm the variability of one source using multi-epoch IRAS LRS spectra. We suggest that most of the sources in our list are likely to be Asymptotic Giant Branch stars.Comment: 47 pages, 12 Figures, 3 Tables, accepted for publication in A