Klara Hitler's Son: Reading the Langer Report on Hitler's Mind

This essay is a spin-off from my book on psychological warfare in the Melville Revival, 1919-1999. Unbelievably, leading scholars in the twentieth-century "revival" of Herman Melville (1819-1891) read their subject as a bad Jew; bad because, like the abolitionists and other radical puritans, he thought Judeo-Christian morality ought to be lived out in everyday lift and could not be compromised in the interests of "expediency." Such rigorous and consistent moralism was viewed as wild-eyed zealotry or monomania by the pragmatic moderate men who intervened between readers and Melville's texts, annexing Melville's art and the lessons of his bumpy career to their own corporatist agendas. The same scholars (Dr. HenryA. Murray, Charles Olson, and Jay Leyda) who frowned upon Melville/ Ahab the Hebraic moralist were simultaneously involved in the creation of propaganda during the Roosevelt administration. Neither antisemitism in the Melville Revival nor Murray's Jungian reading of Hitler's soma and psyche can be understood without reference to theTory response to Hebraic radical puritanism as it surfaced in the English Civil War. With Herman Melville and Captain Ahab on his mind, Dr.Henry A. Murray and his Harvard colleague Walter Langer suggested to FDR that Nazi evil was drawn from Jewish blood, applying racial theory to the long-distance psychoanalysis of Hitler. Of course, Murray and Langer did not profess antisemitism; quite the contrary. Such a deficit in self-understanding was the inevitable outcome of conservative Enlightenment

Inhuman or overman: Arendt and Badiou on the short century

Alain Badiou\u27s perception of the twentieth century\u27s "passion for the real" toward radical revolutionary change, contrasts markedly with Hannah Arendt\u27s own perspectives of this period, with the imposition of ideologies as systems of thought which resulted in pernicious processes of mass dehumanisation. Through a reading of Badiou\u27s The Century (2008), and Arendt\u27s political thinking of the twentieth century, this chapter not only explores the differences in their political theories, but also assesses the legacy that century bequeathed to the twenty-first century

Data Mining of Telematics Data: Unveiling the Hidden Patterns in Driving Behaviour

With the advancement in technology, telematics data which capture vehicle movements information are becoming available to more insurers. As these data capture the actual driving behaviour, they are expected to improve our understanding of driving risk and facilitate more accurate auto-insurance ratemaking. In this paper, we analyze an auto-insurance dataset with telematics data collected from a major European insurer. Through a detailed discussion of the telematics data structure and related data quality issues, we elaborate on practical challenges in processing and incorporating telematics information in loss modelling and ratemaking. Then, with an exploratory data analysis, we demonstrate the existence of heterogeneity in individual driving behaviour, even within the groups of policyholders with and without claims, which supports the study of telematics data. Our regression analysis reiterates the importance of telematics data in claims modelling; in particular, we propose a speed transition matrix that describes discretely recorded speed time series and produces statistically significant predictors for claim counts. We conclude that large speed transitions, together with higher maximum speed attained, nighttime driving and increased harsh braking, are associated with increased claim counts. Moreover, we empirically illustrate the learning effects in driving behaviour: we show that both severe harsh events detected at a high threshold and expected claim counts are not directly proportional with driving time or distance, but they increase at a decreasing rate

A Posteriori Risk Classification and Ratemaking with Random Effects in the Mixture-of-Experts Model

A well-designed framework for risk classification and ratemaking in automobile insurance is key to insurers' profitability and risk management, while also ensuring that policyholders are charged a fair premium according to their risk profile. In this paper, we propose to adapt a flexible regression model, called the Mixed LRMoE, to the problem of a posteriori risk classification and ratemaking, where policyholder-level random effects are incorporated to better infer their risk profile reflected by the claim history. We also develop a stochastic variational Expectation-Conditional-Maximization algorithm for estimating model parameters and inferring the posterior distribution of random effects, which is numerically efficient and scalable to large insurance portfolios. We then apply the Mixed LRMoE model to a real, multiyear automobile insurance dataset, where the proposed framework is shown to offer better fit to data and produce posterior premium which accurately reflects policyholders' claim history

Children's verbal, visual and spatial processing and storage abilities: An analysis of verbal comprehension, reading, counting and mathematics

The importance of working memory (WM) in reading and mathematics performance has been widely studied, with recent research examining the components of WM (i.e., storage and processing) and their roles in these educational outcomes. However, the differing relationships between these abilities and the foundational skills involved in the development of reading and mathematics have received less attention. Additionally, the separation of verbal, visual and spatial storage and processing and subsequent links with foundational skills and downstream reading and mathematics has not been widely examined. The current study investigated the separate contributions of processing and storage from verbal, visual and spatial tasks to reading and mathematics, whilst considering influences on the underlying skills of verbal comprehension and counting respectively. Ninety-two children aged 7- to 8-years were assessed. It was found that verbal comprehension (with some caveats) was predicted by verbal storage and reading was predicted by verbal and spatial storage. Counting was predicted by visual processing and storage, whilst mathematics was related to verbal and spatial storage. We argue that resources for tasks relying on external representations of stimuli related mainly to storage, and were largely verbal and spatial in nature. When a task required internal representation, there was an draw on visual processing and storage abilities. Findings suggest a possible meaningful separability of types of processing. Further investigation of this could lead to the development of an enhanced WM model, which might better inform interventions and reasonable adjustment for children who struggle with reading and mathematics due to WM deficits

Should beta-blocker therapy be reduced or withdrawn after an episode of decompensated heart failure? Results from COMET.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether beta-blocker therapy should be reduced or withdrawn in patients who develop acute decompensated heart failure (HF). We studied the relationship between changes in beta-blocker dose and outcome in patients surviving a HF hospitalisation in COMET. METHODS: Patients hospitalised for HF were subdivided on the basis of the beta-blocker dose administered at the visit following hospitalisation, compared to that administered before. RESULTS: In COMET, 752/3029 patients (25%, 361 carvedilol and 391 metoprolol) had a non-fatal HF hospitalisation while on study treatment. Of these, 61 patients (8%) had beta-blocker treatment withdrawn, 162 (22%) had a dose reduction and 529 (70%) were maintained on the same dose. One-and two-year cumulative mortality rates were 28.7% and 44.6% for patients withdrawn from study medication, 37.4% and 51.4% for those with a reduced dosage (n.s.) and 19.1% and 32.5% for those maintained on the same dose (HR,1.59; 95%CI, 1.28-1.98; p<0.001, compared to the others). The result remained significant in a multivariable model: (HR, 1.30; 95%CI, 1.02-1.66; p=0.0318). No interaction with the beneficial effects of carvedilol, compared to metoprolol, on outcome was observed (p=0.8436). CONCLUSIONS: HF hospitalisations are associated with a high subsequent mortality. The risk of death is higher in patients who discontinue beta-blocker therapy or have their dose reduced. The increase in mortality is only partially explained by the worse prognostic profile of these patients

The pleasures and perils of inheritance

Facing death, reflecting on one’s legacies (material and ethical, personal and political) and the legal and interpersonal attempts to resolve or prevent inheritance conflicts, all bring to the fore constructions of memory and identity, intergenerational relations, and the complexities of doing and undoing family and kinship. Consequently, drawing attention to inheritance, keeping sight of it, and bringing it into play is a useful piece of the puzzle of ageing across a range of disciplines and this article provides an overview of some of the key themes in this emerging field

A coaching program to improve dietary intake of patients with CKD: ENTICE-CKD

The dietary self-management of CKD is challenging. Telehealth interventions may provide an effective delivery method to facilitate sustained dietary change.This pilot, randomized, controlled trial evaluated secondary and exploratory outcomes after a dietitian-led telehealth coaching intervention to improve diet quality in people with stage 3-4 CKD. The intervention group received phone calls every 2 weeks for 3 months (with concurrent, tailored text messages for 3 months), followed by 3 months of tailored text messages without telephone coaching, to encourage a diet consistent with CKD guidelines. The control group received usual care for 3 months, followed by nontailored, educational text messages for 3 months.Eighty participants (64% male), aged 62±12 years, were randomized to the intervention or control group. Telehealth coaching was safe, with no adverse events or changes to serum biochemistry at any time point. At 3 months, the telehealth intervention, compared with the control, had no detectable effect on overall diet quality on the Alternative Health Eating Index (3.2 points, 95% confidence interval, -1.3 to 7.7), nor at 6 months (0.5 points, 95% confidence interval, -4.6 to 5.5). There was no change in clinic BP at any time point in any group. There were significant improvements in several exploratory diet and clinical outcomes, including core food group consumption, vegetable servings, fiber intake, and body weight.Telehealth coaching was safe, but appeared to have no effect on the Alternative Healthy Eating Index or clinic BP. There were clinically significant changes in several exploratory diet and clinical outcomes, which require further investigation.Evaluation of Individualized Telehealth Intensive Coaching to Promote Healthy Eating and Lifestyle in CKD (ENTICE-CKD), ACTRN12616001212448

Sorption-Desorption Behavior of Atrazine on Soils Subjected to Different Organic Long-Term Amendments

Sorption of atrazine on soils subjected to three different organic amendments was measured using a batch equilibrium technique. A higher K(F) value (2.20 kg(-1)(mg L(-1))(-)N) was obtained for soil fertilized with compost, which had a higher organic matter (OM) content. A correlation between the K(Foc) values and the percentage of aromatic carbon in OM was observed. The highest K(Foc) value was obtained for the soil with the highest aromatic content. Higher aromatic content results in higher hydrophobicity of OM, and hydrophobic interactions play a key role in binding of atrazine, On the other hand, the soil amended with farmyard manure had a higher content of carboxylic units, which could be responsible for hydrogen bonding between atrazine and OR Dominance of hydrogen bonds compared to hydrophobic interactions can be responsible for the lower desorption capacity observed with the farmyard manure soil, The stronger hydrogen bonding can reduce the leaching of atrazine into drinking water resources and runoff to rivers and other surface waters