Confronting uncertainty: Anthropology and zones of the extraordinary

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below, copyright @ 2013 the American Anthropological Association.Anthropological theory has privileged consideration of the regularities of everyday life and has paid far less attention to irregular events that disrupt the social order. In this article, I contribute to ongoing theoretical attempts to redress this imbalance. While I acknowledge the potential historical importance of irregular and extraordinary events, I do not see them as entirely free-floating. Here I concur with Marshall Sahlins, who convincingly shows how people order unusual events through mythopraxis and also how social structures facilitate individual agency. I contemplate a third possible relation between structure and event, namely, “framing.” Drawing on my fieldwork in Bushbuckridge, South Africa, I show how people located and framed unfortunate and destructive events in zones that stood apart from everyday life. This process provides insight into witchcraft and homicide, topics that can no longer be understood only in terms of systemic agency

Through Rebel Eyes: Rebel Groups, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Law

Trafikolyckor är ett globalt folkhälsoproblem som leder till svåra ekonomiska konsekvenser och psykiskt lidande. Ungdomar mellan 15-24 år och framförallt män är en särskilt utsatt grupp av olika anledningar. De har ofta en övertro på sin egen körförmåga, kör ofta över hastighetsgränserna och är överrepresenterade i alkoholrelaterade trafikolyckor. Vissa socioekonomiska skillnader finns i risken att råka ut för trafikolyckor. Ungdomar med låg utbildning samt barn från lägre socioekonomiska grupper, framförallt barn till lantbrukare, är överrepresenterade i motorfordonsolyckor. Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva uppfattningar av trafiksäkerhet, risker i trafiken samt den egna omgivningen bland unga, nya eller blivande manliga körkortstagare. Frågeställningarna lyder: Hur uppfattar unga män sig själva som bilförare? Vad har unga män för uppfattning av risker i trafiken? Vad har unga män för uppfattning av sin omgivning? Åtta enskilda djupgående intervjuer med gymnasieelever mellan 17-18 år, samtliga män, har gjorts. Flertalet av dessa är uppväxta i lantbrukarfamilj. Intervjuerna har behandlat frågor om den egna körerfarenheten, trafiksäkerhet, risker samt uppfattning av samhället och tillit tillandra människor. Resultaten visar att intervjupersonerna uppfattar sig som bättre förare jämfört med jämnåriga men något sämre än äldre. Det förekommer skilda uppfattningar om vadrisker i trafiken innebär och hur risker skall kunna förebyggas. Vidare finns en generell tillit till trafikregler och myndigheter som upprätthåller dessa. Uppfattningar av dagens samhälle och känslan av att vara delaktig speglas till viss del av intervjupersonernas egen bakgrund som lantbrukarbarn. Generellt har de även en när relation till familj och släkt.ISBN: 91-89556-62-3</p

Quality of Life in Patients with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators

Background: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a life saving device for individuals with life threatening ventricular arrhythmias. There is no doubt that it is a cost effective therapy in various congenital and acquired arrhythmogenic disorders. Nevertheless, shock delivery may be painful and frightening which causes psychological distress and deterioration of perceived quality of life. Methods: A systematic meta-analysis on studies reporting quality of life in patients implanted with ICDs was done using professional databases. Related articles and references of the relevant articles were also searched for suitable studies. Results: Thirty studies with a total of 3412 patients on implantable defibrillators were identified. Five of them were large randomised studies with a total of 1680 patients, while 25 were non-randomised studies. Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short Form health survey (SF - 36) was the most common instrument used for assessment of quality of life. Only one of the 5 major randomised trial reported worsening of quality of life after implantation of a defibrillator. In the subgroup of patients receiving shocks, three out of the five trials reported worsening of quality of life. Summary: Most of the randomised studies showed either neutral or better quality of life in patients on implantable defibrillators. In the subset of patients receiving shocks, worsening of quality of life was found in most randomised studies. Therefore, activation of antitachycardia pacing should be performed in every ICD-patient in order to miminze painful shocks and consequent deterioration of quality of life

Brief review related to the foundations of time-dependent density functional theory

The electron density n(\rb,t), which is the central tool of time-dependent density functional theory, is presently considered to be derivable from a one-body time-dependent potential V(\rb,t), via one-electron wave functions satisfying a time- dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation. This is here related via a generalized equation of motion to a Dirac density matrix now involving $t$. Linear response theory is then surveyed, with a special emphasis on the question of causality with respect to the density dependence of the potential. Extraction of V(\rb,t) for solvable models is also proposed

Higher harmonics and ac transport from time dependent density functional theory

We report on dynamical quantum transport simulations for realistic molecular devices based on an approximate formulation of time-dependent Density Functional Theory with open boundary conditions. The method allows for the computation of various properties of junctions that are driven by alternating bias voltages. Besides the ac conductance for hexene connected to gold leads via thiol anchoring groups, we also investigate higher harmonics in the current for a benzenedithiol device. Comparison to a classical quasi-static model reveals that quantum effects may become important already for small ac bias and that the full dynamical simulations exhibit a much lower number of higher harmonics. Current rectification is also briefly discussed.Comment: submitted to J. Comp. Elec. (special issue