Investment choice under uncertainty: A review essay

An investment opportunity whose return is perfectly predictable, hardly exists at all. Instead, investor makes his decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Theory of expected utility is the main analytical tool for description of choice under uncertainty. Critics of the theory contend that individuals have bounded rationality and that the theory of expected utility is not correct. When agents are faced with risky decisions they behave differently, conditional on their attitude towards risk. They can be risk loving, risk averse or risk neutral. In order to make an investment decision it is necessary to compare probability distribution functions of returns. Investment decision making is much simpler if one uses expected values and variances instead of probability distribution functions

Пројекти дигиталне заштите Националне библиотеке Чешке Републике

The National Library of the Czech Republic (NKP) made the first steps in digital preservation of the Czech scientific and cultural heritage in the beginning of the 1990s. During the time three projects have stabilized among other digital preservation activities at NKP: Manuscriptorium for digitized manuscripts and old printed books, Kramerius for monographic and serial publications and WebArchiv as digital archive of online-born documents. This paper reviews these projects, but also presents the main information about present and future work in digital preservation at NKP

Темпоралност и дисконтинуитет као аспекти избијања епидемије великих богиња у Југославији

The paper demonstrates interconnection and role of certain social, political and cultural factors in 1972 Yugoslavian smallpox outbreak. It focuses on a cultural concept of time, denoted as temporal distance, and discontinuity between pre-socialist and socialist period in Yugoslavian history, as determinants that shaped the understanding of smallpox, risk perception and behavior with regard to the disease. The argument is that those two factors caused forgetting and disregarding of smallpox and thereby contributed to its abrupt distribution in the beginning of the outbreak. In the end are considered contemporary epidemiological implications of the reasoning that relies on the cultural notions of temporal distance and discontinuity.Рад показује повезаност и улогу одређених друштвених, политичких и културних фактора у избијању епидемије великих богиња у Југославији 1972. године. Како је акценат првенствено стављен на биокултурни аспект ове епидемије, теоријски приступ је постављен у оквире културне епидемиологије. Тумачење је усмерено на темпоралну удаљеност, као културну концептуализацију времена, и на перцепцију дисконтинуитета између два социо-политичка система, оличена у предсоцијалистичкој и социјалистичкој Југославији. Аргументује се да су ова два фактора утицала на формирање значења која су приписивана великим богињама, перцепцију ризика и понашање по питању ове болести, што је заједно узроковало њено заборављање и занемаривање, те допринело њеном наглом ширењу у почетку епидемије. У социо-културном погледу, ова епидемија разоткрила је занимљиве односе између идеологије, социјалне структуре и схватања о неподложности обољењу. На крају су размотрене савремене епидемиолошке импликације резоновања које се ослања на културне концептуализације темпоралне удаљености и дисконтинуитета.Тема броја – Антропологија државе (ур. Марина Симић и МилошНичић) / Topic of the Issue – Anthropology of the State (eds. Marina Simić and Miloš Ničić

Elements of Critical Infrastructure Resilience

This Article points to key elements of Critical Infrastructure Resilience (CIR) and how they differ from Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). CIP is still very important and one of the key systems that the society relies upon to ensure the continuity of operation of CI. However, CIP cannot predict an adequate number of major threats that would allow to conduct the preparedness and response at the level which would ensure the sufficient operation of CI in all cases. In that sense CIR sets a new paradigm with a quality that reduces vulnerability, minimizes the consequences of threats, accelerates response and recovery, and facilitates adaptation to a disruptive event. Some selected concepts of CIR with examples are presented in the Article that should assist in further development and enhancement of resilience of subsystems and infrastructures as a whole, resulting in more secure CI

Occupation, Repression and Resistance Čačak District, Serbia, in 1915–1918

The paper analyses the Austro-Hungarian occupation regime in Serbia 1915-1918 from the perspective both of its treatment of civilians and of resistance to occupation, focusing on the Čačak District, western Serbia. It examines actions against the occupation authorities, the composition of k. u k. military presence in the district, the measures applied to suppress armed resistance (e.g. disarmament, internment, public executions), the estimated number of military and civilian casualties

High Resolution Gene Expression Analysis in the Human Retina

Inherited retinal disorders are characterized by a remarkable genetic heterogeneity; so far, over 160 genes have been identified as responsible for this kind of diseases. Nevertheless, it is believed that the total number of retinal disease genes is much higher then what is currently known. Central to the first part of this PhD thesis was to identify new candidate genes for retinal disorders. The approach used to achieve this goal was based on in silico prediction of genes with exclusive or predominant retinal expression in human retina, followed by experimental verification of their predicted expression by both RT-PCR and RNA in situ hybridization. The work carried out for this part of the thesis provided a list of new candidate disease genes for inherited retinal disorders. The second part of this PhD project aimed at the generation of a high resolution gene expression atlas of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) genes in human and murine retina. RP is one of the leading causes of visual handicap in the world population. The study of the disease mechanisms and the development of efficient therapeutic approaches have mostly relied on the availability of animal models for this condition, so far. Nevertheless, little information is available about the RNA expression profiles of RP genes in the human retina. To overcome this lack of information, I generated the first gene expression atlas of 34 known RP genes in human and murine retinas. Differences observed in the expression patterns of some genes in human and mouse will open new perspectives on the function of these genes and on their putative roles in disease pathogenesis

Post-Socialist Transformation and New Forms of Identification in the Serbian Society

Постсоцијалистичка трансформација у Србији је, као носилац многобројних и разноврсних промена и новина, утицала и на појаву посебних категорија губитника и добитника транзиције. Параметри на основу којих су ове категорије препознате пружају могућност идентификације припадника овог друштва са једном од њих. У овом раду се представљају аналитички појмови који су погодни за разматрање дате идентификације, као и проблеми који се том приликом могу јавити, а који указују на комплексност овог феномена. Категорије губитника и добитника транзиције постоје онолико дуго колико траје и сам процес друштвене трансформације, што значи да су ефемерне. Ипак, то не значи и да су ирелевантне, с обзиром на то да представљају свест о себи, као и о другоме, у једном временском периоду који карактеришу важна социјална, економска, политичка и културна превирања.Post-socialist transformation in Serbia has introduced various changes and novelties including a formation of special categories of losers and winners of transition. The parameters defining these categories allow a possibility of identification with either one within the society. This paper presents analytical terms appropriate for discussing the given identification, as well as problems associated with it, further pointing out to the complexity of this issue. The categories of losers and winners of transition are ever-lasting, accompanying a process of social transformation itself. This however does not imply they are irrelevant considering they represent a sense of self and others in time characterized by important economic, political and cultural turbulences