The Great Famine: Population Losses in Ukraine

У статті представлено нові розрахунки втрат внаслідок голодомору 1932–1933 рр. напідставі даних переписів 1926 та 1939 рр. і даних поточної статистики природного руху населення. Застосовано метод перспективного розрахунку від перепису 1926 року на базі коефіцієнтів народжуваності, смертності й міграції, які мали б місце за відсутності кризи та порівняння отриманого результату з даними перепису 1939 року.В статье представлен новый расчет потерь вследствие катастрофического голода 1932–1933 гг. на основании данных переписей населения 1926 и 1939 гг. Применен метод перспективного расчета от переписи 1926 года на основе коэффициентов рождаемости, смертности и миграции, которые имели бы место в отсутствие кризиса и сравнения полученного результата с данными переписи 1939 года.The new estimates for the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932–33 “Holodomor” losses are given on the basis of census data 1926 and 1939 and vital statistics. The approach of projecting the 1926 population until 1939 on the basis of fertility, mortality and migration rates that would have prevailed without crisis, and comparing it to the observed 1939 population was implemented

Ethnic and gender specific life expectancies of the Singapore population, 1965 to 2009 - Converging, or diverging?

10.1186/1471-2458-13-1012BMC Public Health131

Realizing Double Graded CIGSe Absorbers with the R2R Hybrid CIGSe Process

This article presents an approach for industrial roll to roll R2R deposition of Cu In,Ga Se2 CIGSe thin films on stainless steel foil for use as absorber layers in flexible thin film solar cells. The hybrid CIGSe deposition process combines magnetron sputtering with evaporation techniques and allows the realization of a double graded CIGSe layer, reaching a conversion efficiency of currently up to 14.0 w o antireflective coating . The influence of different power settings of the individual magnetrons on the gallium profile is described. For a deeper understanding of differences between a static and an R2R process, a calculated flux diagram is presented. In the second part of this contribution, the homogeneity of the industrial scale samples is discussed by comparing the change in CGI and GGI over the foil width of 30 cm. The hybrid CIGSe deposition process excels in a straightforward scalability for industrial usage due to the application of planar magnetron sputtering sources as metal vapor suppl

Algorithms for enhancing public health utility of national causes-of-death data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Coverage and quality of cause-of-death (CoD) data varies across countries and time. Valid, reliable, and comparable assessments of trends in causes of death from even the best systems are limited by three problems: a) changes in the <it>International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems </it>(ICD) over time; b) the use of tabulation lists where substantial detail on causes of death is lost; and c) many deaths assigned to causes that cannot or should not be considered underlying causes of death, often called garbage codes (GCs). The Global Burden of Disease Study and the World Health Organization have developed various methods to enhance comparability of CoD data. In this study, we attempt to build on these approaches to enhance the utility of national cause-of-death data for public health analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Based on careful consideration of 4,434 country-years of CoD data from 145 countries from 1901 to 2008, encompassing 743 million deaths in ICD versions 1 to 10 as well as country-specific cause lists, we have developed a public health-oriented cause-of-death list. These 56 causes are organized hierarchically and encompass all deaths. Each cause has been mapped from ICD-6 to ICD-10 and, where possible, they have also been mapped to the <it>International List of Causes of Death </it>1-5. We developed a typology of different classes of GCs. In each ICD revision, GCs have been identified. Target causes to which these GCs should be redistributed have been identified based on certification practice and/or pathophysiology. Proportionate redistribution, statistical models, and expert algorithms have been developed to redistribute GCs to target codes for each age-sex group.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The fraction of all deaths assigned to GCs varies tremendously across countries and revisions of the ICD. In general, across all country-years of data available, GCs have declined from more than 43% in ICD-7 to 24% in ICD-10. In some regions, such as Australasia, GCs in 2005 are as low as 11%, while in some developing countries, such as Thailand, they are greater than 50%. Across different age groups, the composition of GCs varies tremendously - three classes of GCs steadily increase with age, but ambiguous codes within a particular disease chapter are also common for injuries at younger ages. The impact of redistribution is to change the number of deaths assigned to particular causes for a given age-sex group. These changes alter ranks across countries for any given year by a number of different causes, change time trends, and alter the rank order of causes within a country.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>By mapping CoD through different ICD versions and redistributing GCs, we believe the public health utility of CoD data can be substantially enhanced, leading to an increased demand for higher quality CoD data from health sector decision-makers.</p

Don't simplify, complexify : from disjunctive to conjunctive theorizing in organization and management studies

In this paper I argue that, rather than theory development aim at simplifying complex organizational phenomena, it should aim at complexifying theories – theoretical complexity is needed to account for organizational complexity. Defining the latter as the capacity for ‘nontrivial’ action, I explore a complex ‘system of picturing’ organizations as objects of study that provides an alternative to the hitherto dominant disjunctive style of thinking. A complex ‘system of picturing’ consists of an open-world ontology, a performative epistemology, and a poetic praxeology. Complex theorizing is conjunctive: it seeks to make connections between diverse elements of human experience through making those analytical distinctions that will enable the joining up of concepts normally used in a compartmentalized manner. Insofar as conjunctive theorizing is driven by the need to preserve the ‘living-forward – understanding backward’ dialectic, it is better suited to grasping the logic of practice and, thus, to doing justice to organizational complexity. We come close to grasping complexity when we restore the past to its own present and make distinctions that overcome dualisms, preserving as much as possible relationality, temporality, situatedness and, interpretive open-endedness. I illustrate the argument with several examples from organizational and management research

On the way to Ithaka [1] : Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Karl E. Weick’s The Social Psychology of Organizing

Karl E. Weick’s The Social Psychology of Organizing has been one of the most influential books in organization studies, providing the theoretical underpinnings of several research programs. Importantly, the book is widely credited with initiating the process turn in the field, leading to the ‘gerundizing’ of management and organization studies: the persistent effort to understand organizational phenomena as ongoing accomplishments. The emphasis of the book on organizing (rather than on organizations) and its links with sensemaking have made it the most influential treatise on organizational epistemology. In this introduction, we review Weick’s magnum opus, underline and assess its key themes, and suggest ways in which several of them may be taken forward

Influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients: systematic review and meta-analysis from a public health policy perspective.

Immunocompromised patients are vulnerable to severe or complicated influenza infection. Vaccination is widely recommended for this group. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients in terms of preventing influenza-like illness and laboratory confirmed influenza, serological response and adverse events