Decision under Uncertainty : the Classical Models

This chapiter of a collective book is dedicated to classical decision models under uncertainty, i.e. under situations where events do not have "objective" probabilities with which the Decision Marker agrees. We present successively the two main theories, their axiomatic, the interpretation and the justification of their axioms and their main properties : first, the general model of Subjective Expected Utility due to Savage (Savage, 1954), second, the Anscombe-Aumann (1963) theory, in a different framework. Both theories enforce the universal use of a probabilistic representation. We then discuss this issue in connection with the experimental result known as the Ellsberg paradox.Uncertainty, subjective probability, Subjective Expected Utility, Savage, Anscombe and Aumann, Ellsberg paradox.

Regular updating

We study the Full Bayesian Updating rule for convex capacities. Following a route suggested by Jaffray (1992), we define some properties one may want to impose on the updating process, and identify the classes of (convex and strictly positive) capacities that satisfy these properties for the Full Bayesian updating rule.

Decision making with belief functions: Compatibility and incompatibility with the sure-thing principle

This article studies situations in which information is ambiguous and only part of it can be probabilized. It is shown that the information can be modeled through belief functions if and only if the nonprobabilizable information is subject to the principles of complete ignorance. Next the representability of decisions by belief functions on outcomes is justified by means of a neutrality axiom. The natural weakening of Savage's sure-thing principle to unambiguous events is examined and its implications for decision making are identified

Androgen receptor acetylation governs trans activation and MEKK1-induced apoptosis without affecting in vitro sumoylation and trans-repression function

This work was supported by grants from the NIH (R01CA86072 to R.G.P. and R01CA72038-01 to S.A.W.F.) and The Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (to R.G.P.). R.T.H. and E.J. were supported by the Medical Research Council. Y.-G.Y. is supported by grant CA26504 to E. R. Stanley. Work conducted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine was supported by Cancer Center Core National Institutes of Health grant 5-P30-CA13330-26.The androgen receptor (AR) is a nuclear hormone receptor superfamily member that conveys both traits repression and ligand-dependent trans-activation function. Activation of the AR by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) regulates diverse physiological functions including secondary sexual differentiation in the male and the induction of apoptosis by the JNK kinase, MEKK1. The AR is posttranslationally modified on lysine residues by acetylation and sumoylation. The histone acetylases p300 and P/CAF directly acetylate the AR in vitro at a conserved KLKK motif. To determine the functional properties governed by AR acetylation, point mutations of the KLKK motif that abrogated acetylation were engineered and examined in vitro and in vivo. The AR acetylation site point mutants showed wild-type trans repression of NF-kappaS, AP-1, and Sp1 activity; wild-type sumoylation in vitro; wild-type ligand binding; and ligand-induced conformational changes. However, acetylation-deficient AR mutants were selectively defective in DHT-induced trans activation of androgen-responsive reporter genes and coactivation by SRC1, Ubc9, TIP60, and p300. The AR acetylation site mutant showed 10-fold increased binding of the N-CoR corepressor compared with the AR wild type in the presence of ligand. Furthermore, histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) bound the AR both in vivo and in cultured cells and HDAC1 binding to the AR was disengaged in a DHT-dependent manner. MEKK1 induced AR-dependent apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. The AR acetylation mutant was defective in MEKK1-induced apoptosis, suggesting that the conserved AR acetylation site contributes to a pathway governing prostate cancer cellular survival. As AR lysine residue mutations that abrogate acetylation correlate with enhanced binding of the N-CoR repressor in cultured cells, the conserved AR motif may directly or indirectly regulate ligand-dependent corepressor disengagement and, thereby, ligand-dependent trans activation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A SUMO-Dependent Protein Network Regulates Chromosome Congression During Oocyte Meiosis

During Caenorhabditis elegans oocyte meiosis, a multi-protein ring complex (RC) localised between homologous chromosomes, promotes chromosome congression through the action of the chromokinesin KLP-19. While some RC components are known, the mechanism of RC assembly has remained obscure. We show that SUMO E3 ligase GEI-17/PIAS is required for KLP-19 recruitment to the RC and proteomic analysis identified KLP-19 as a SUMO substrate in vivo. In vitro analysis revealed that KLP-19 is efficiently sumoylated in a GEI-17-dependent manner, while GEI-17 undergoes extensive auto-sumoylation. GEI-17 and another RC component, the kinase BUB-1, contain functional SUMO Interaction Motifs (SIMs) allowing them to recruit SUMO modified proteins, including KLP-19, into the RC. Thus dynamic SUMO modification and the presence of SIMs in RC components generate a SUMO-SIM network that facilitates assembly of the RC. Our results highlight the importance of SUMO-SIM networks in regulating the assembly of dynamic protein complexes

The Algebraic versus the Topological Approach to Additive Representations

It is proved that, under a nontriviality assumption, an additive function on a Cartesian product of connected topological spaces is continuous, whenever the preference relation, represented by this function, is continuous. The result is used to generalize a theorem of Debreu ((1960). Mathematical methods in the social sciences (pp. 16–26). Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press) on additive representations and to argue that the algebraic approach of KLST to additive conjoint measurement is preferable to the more customary topological approach. Applications to the representation of strength of preference relations and to the characterization of subjective expected utility maximization are given

Making a case for telehealth: measuring the carbon cost of health-related travel

Background: Telehealth services are promoted to reduce the cost of travel for people living in rural areas. The previous Australian Government, through the national Digital Economy Strategy, invested heavily in telehealth service development, at the same time introducing a carbon pricing mechanism. In planning a range of new telehealth services to a rural community the authors sought to quantify the travel conducted by people from one rural area in Australia to access health care, and to calculate the associated carbon emissions.Methods: A population survey was conducted over a 1-week period of health-related travel events for the year 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 of all households on King Island, a community situated between the Australian mainland state of Victoria and the state of Tasmania. Validated emissions calculators were sourced from the Carbon Neutral website, including the vehicle and fuel use calculator and air travel carbon calculator, to calculate the total emissions associated with the fuel burned in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).Results: Thirty nine percent of the population (625 participants) reported a total of 511 healthcare-related travel events. Participants travelled a total of 346 573 km and generated 0.22 tCO2e per capita. Participants paid the cost of their own travel more than 70% of the time.Conclusions: Dependence on fossil fuels for transport in a carbon economy has a significant impact on total healthcare carbon emissions. Alternative models of care, such as telehealth, need be developed for an environmentally sustainable healthcare system for rural and remote areas