2,452 research outputs found
Becoming war: towards a martial empiricism
Under the banner of martial empiricism, we advance a distinctive set of theoretical and methodological commitments for the study of war. Previous efforts to wrestle with this most recalcitrant of phenomena have sought to ground research upon primary definitions or foundational ontologies of war. By contrast, we propose to embrace war’s incessant becoming, making its creativity, mutability, and polyvalence central to our enquiry. Leaving behind the interminable quest for its essence, we embrace war as mystery. We draw on a tradition of radical empiricism to devise a conceptual and contextual mode of enquiry that can follow the processes and operations of war wherever they lead us. Moving beyond the instrumental appropriations of strategic thought and the normative strictures typical of critical approaches, martial empiricism calls for an unbounded investigation into the emergent and generative character of war. Framing the accompanying special issue, we outline three domains around which to orient future research: mobilization, design, and encounter. Martial empiricism is no idle exercise in philosophical speculation. It is the promise of a research agenda apposite to the task of fully contending with the momentous possibilities and dangers of war in our time
Fixed-parameter tractability of multicut parameterized by the size of the cutset
Given an undirected graph , a collection of
pairs of vertices, and an integer , the Edge Multicut problem ask if there
is a set of at most edges such that the removal of disconnects
every from the corresponding . Vertex Multicut is the analogous
problem where is a set of at most vertices. Our main result is that
both problems can be solved in time , i.e.,
fixed-parameter tractable parameterized by the size of the cutset in the
solution. By contrast, it is unlikely that an algorithm with running time of
the form exists for the directed version of the problem, as
we show it to be W[1]-hard parameterized by the size of the cutset
Asymptotic Behavior of Inflated Lattice Polygons
We study the inflated phase of two dimensional lattice polygons with fixed
perimeter and variable area, associating a weight to a
polygon with area and bends. For convex and column-convex polygons, we
show that , where , and . The
constant is found to be the same for both types of polygons. We argue
that self-avoiding polygons should exhibit the same asymptotic behavior. For
self-avoiding polygons, our predictions are in good agreement with exact
enumeration data for J=0 and Monte Carlo simulations for . We also
study polygons where self-intersections are allowed, verifying numerically that
the asymptotic behavior described above continues to hold.Comment: 7 page
Characteristics of patients receiving allergy vaccination: to which extent do socio-economic factors play a role?
Background: Little is known about characteristics of patients receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy. Identifying obstacles to appropriate treatment according to guidelines may facilitate the development of strategies aiming at improved treatment of patients with allergic respiratory diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in disease severity, demographic and socioeconomic status between allergic rhinitis patients receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy and allergic rhinitis patients not receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy. Methods: A total of 366 patients were studied of whom 210 were going to receive subcutaneously administrated immunotherapy (SIT) against grass pollen and/or house dust mite allergy. The severity of rhino-conjunctivitis (hay fever) and/or asthma was classified according to international guidelines. The questionnaires included an EQ-5D visual analogue scale instrument and some socio-economic questions. Results: Severity of disease, young age, high level of education as well as greater perceived impairment of health-related quality of life due to allergic symptoms were significantly associated with use of SIT. Somewhat unexpectedly, household income was not associated with use of SIT. Conclusion: Use of SIT was associated with both disease severity measures and educational level, but not income level. These results suggest social inequality as reflected by lower use of SIT among patients with lower educational level may represent an obstacle to treatment with SIT
Exact enumeration of Hamiltonian circuits, walks, and chains in two and three dimensions
We present an algorithm for enumerating exactly the number of Hamiltonian
chains on regular lattices in low dimensions. By definition, these are sets of
k disjoint paths whose union visits each lattice vertex exactly once. The
well-known Hamiltonian circuits and walks appear as the special cases k=0 and
k=1 respectively. In two dimensions, we enumerate chains on L x L square
lattices up to L=12, walks up to L=17, and circuits up to L=20. Some results
for three dimensions are also given. Using our data we extract several
quantities of physical interest
On finitely ambiguous B\"uchi automata
Unambiguous B\"uchi automata, i.e. B\"uchi automata allowing only one
accepting run per word, are a useful restriction of B\"uchi automata that is
well-suited for probabilistic model-checking. In this paper we propose a more
permissive variant, namely finitely ambiguous B\"uchi automata, a
generalisation where each word has at most accepting runs, for some fixed
. We adapt existing notions and results concerning finite and bounded
ambiguity of finite automata to the setting of -languages and present a
translation from arbitrary nondeterministic B\"uchi automata with states to
finitely ambiguous automata with at most states and at most accepting
runs per word
Scaling of the atmosphere of self-avoiding walks
The number of free sites next to the end of a self-avoiding walk is known as
the atmosphere. The average atmosphere can be related to the number of
configurations. Here we study the distribution of atmospheres as a function of
length and how the number of walks of fixed atmosphere scale. Certain bounds on
these numbers can be proved. We use Monte Carlo estimates to verify our
conjectures. Of particular interest are walks that have zero atmosphere, which
are known as trapped. We demonstrate that these walks scale in the same way as
the full set of self-avoiding walks, barring an overall constant factor
Fostering the exchange of real-life data across different countries to answer primary care research questions: a protocol for an UNLOCK study from the IPCRG
[Excerpt] This protocol describes a study that will explore the lessons of UNLOCK (Uncovering and Noting Long-term COPD and asthma to enhance Knowledge) over the past 5 years of sharing real-life primary care data from different countries to answer research questions on the diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases.
UNLOCK is an international collaboration between primary care researchers and practitioners to coordinate and share data sets of relevant diagnostic and follow-up variables for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma management in primary care. It was set up by members of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) in response to the identified research need for research in primary care, which recruits patients representative of primary care populations, evaluates interventions realistically delivered within primary care and draws conclusions that will be meaningful to professionals working within primary care.1,2 [...]The IPCRG provided funding for this research project as an UNLOCK Group study for which the funding was obtained through an unrestricted grant by Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland. Novartis has no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Światowy Sojusz przeciwko Przewlekłym Chorobom Układu Oddechowego
Hundreds of millions of people of all ages suffer from chronic respiratory diseases which include asthma and respiratory
allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, occupational lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension. More than 500
million patients live in developing countries or in deprived populations. Chronic respiratory diseases are increasing in
prevalence. Although the cost of inaction is clear and unacceptable, chronic respiratory diseases and their risk factors receive
insufficient attention from the healthcare community, government officials, media, patients and families. The Fifty-Third World
Health Assembly recognised the enormous human suffering caused by chronic diseases and requested the World Health
Organization (WHO) Director General to give priority to the prevention and control of chronic diseases, with special emphasis on
developing countries. This led to the formation of the WHO Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD). GARD
is a voluntary alliance of organisations, institutions and agencies working towards a common vision to improve global lung
health according to local needs. GARD is developed in a stepwise approach using the following three planning steps: estimate
population need and advocate action; formulate and adopt policy; and identify policy implementation steps.Na całym świecie setki milionów ludzi w różnym wieku cierpi z powodu przewlekłych chorób układu oddechowego, w tym
astmy i alergii wziewnych, przewlekłej obturacyjnej choroby płuc, zawodowych schorzeń płuc oraz nadciśnienia płucnego.
Ponad 500 milionów chorych żyje w krajach rozwijających się lub należy do grup o niskim statusie społecznym. Zapadalność na
przewlekłe choroby układu oddechowego wciąż wzrasta. Brak aktywnych działań w tej dziedzinie pociąga za sobą ogromne
koszty i nie powinien być akceptowany. Jednak zainteresowanie przewlekłymi schorzeniami dróg oddechowych i ich czynnikami
ryzyka, zarówno wśród środowisk medycznych, rządzących, mediów, jak i samych pacjentów oraz ich rodzin, jest niedostateczne.
Dlatego 53. Światowe Zgromadzenie Zdrowia (WHA, World Health Assembly) zwróciło się do Dyrektora Generalnego
Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia (WHO, World Health Organization) o nadanie priorytetu działaniom w zakresie profilaktyki
i kontroli przewlekłych schorzeń, szczególnie w krajach rozwijających się. W odpowiedzi na ten apel WHO utworzyło Światowy
Sojusz przeciwko Przewlekłym Chorobom Układu Oddechowego (GARD, Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases).
Jest to w pełni dobrowolny sojusz organizacji, instytucji i agencji aktywnie dążących do realizacji wspólnego celu, jakim jest
poprawa stanu zdrowia w zakresie chorób płuc na świecie poprzez działania dostosowane do lokalnych potrzeb. Aktywność
GARD jest sukcesywnie rozwijana w 3 etapach: poprzez ocenę potrzeb danej populacji i poparcie inicjatyw lokalnych; sformułowanie
i przyjęcie odpowiedniej polityki zdrowotnej oraz ustalenie zasad wprowadzenia tej polityki w życie
- …