Manhood Trials and the Law of Mortality

The present paper introduces a continuous eight-parameter survival function intended to model mortality in modern male populations.accident hump, applied mathematics, cumulative distribution function, mortality law, statistical methodology

An extension of relational methods in mortality estimations

Actuaries and demographers have a long tradition of utilising collateral data to improve mortality estimates. Three main approaches have been used to accomplish the improvement- mortality laws, model life tables, and relational methods. The present paper introduces a regression model that incorporates all of the beneficial principles from each of these approaches. The model is demonstrated on mortality data pertaining to various groups of life insured people in Sweden.applied mathematics, collateral data, model life table, mortality law, relational method

The Network of Perspectives - Between the Division of Labor and Occupational Subcultures

This article was originally a lecture held at the Conference on "Building Bridges between Cultures of Users, Practitioners and Researchers within the Field of Architecture and Environmental Design" at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, November 13, 1995

A new family of survival functions and a method for measuring risk inequalities

The present compilation thesis is divided into two sections, one for each of two separate methodological issues: reduction of random errors in mortality estimates and offsetting random variation related bias in data generated estimators of risk inequalities. Summary of section A In regard to the first issue a new family of survival functions is proposed. Its purpose is to provide valid and reliable age-specific estimates of death probabilities and life expectancies for all ages in the entire human life span. In Paper I, I introduced a five-parameter survival function intended to model mortality in modern female populations. It is shown that (i) the complement of the proposed survival function is a bona fide cumulative distribution function, and (ii) that the expected value of a random variable with such a distribution exists and is finite. In Paper II, I showed that the age pattern of mortality among Swedish males differed significantly from the age pattern among Swedish females and that some extra parameters were needed to accommodate an added risk of fatal injuries among males in the early adulthood. To address this shortcoming, I introduced an eight-parameter survival function intended to model mortality among males as a solution to the problem associated with the gender difference in mortality patterns. In Paper III, I addressed the use of collateral data as a means of improving the statistical precision of mortality estimates. A brief description of three main approaches that actuaries and demographers use to accomplish such improvements, namely, mortality laws, model life tables, and relational methods was given. I thereafter introduced a novel regression model that incorporates several beneficial principles from each of these approaches. The survival functions introduced in [Hannerz, 1999] resulted in an, on average, five-fold decrease in the standard error of estimated sex and age-specific one-year death probabilities, compared with frequency substitution estimates, when applied to mortality in the total population of Sweden 1982. In papers IV – VI, I applied the methods delineated in Papers I – III to estimate age, sex and diagnosisspecific life expectancies among individuals with a history of psychiatric and cerebrovascular disorders, respectively. Summary of section B The second methodological issue studied resulted in a Monte Carlo simulation procedure, which can be used to estimate excess fractions in the absence of a natural reference group. The procedure is based on the assumptions that the number of events in each group is Poisson distributed and that the true risk rates in the groups increases geometrically with their rank order. The methodological aspects of the procedure are described and discussed in Paper VII. In paper VIII the procedure is applied to industrial inequalities in rates of disability retirement and in paper IX to hospital contact due to mood disorders, in both studies among economically active people in Denmark. The Monte Carlo simulation procedure is designed to estimate excess fractions in situations where no natural reference group exists. Simpler methods are available when a reference group does exist. An overview of such measures is included in the thesis, and examples of excess fractions in relation to prespecified reference groups are given in Papers X and XI

Anthropology's World

A work that reassesses the issues that have always affected anthropology: what is anthropology for; how do anthropologists want their work to be understood; for whom do they write, and in what language? In his panoramic new book, Ulf Hannerz cements his reputation as one of anthropology's finest writers. He describes how anthropology came to be a major intellectual discipline, why it is vital that it remains so, and the problems it might face in the immediate future. Turning the anthropologist’s toolkit upon the discipline itself, and asking searching questions of the purpose, ethics and future of the subject, Anthropology's World should be required reading for all students and practitioners of anthropology

Cluster-like Headache Secondary to Cerebral Venous Thrombosis

Cluster headache (CH) is considered a primary headache syndrome. However, symptomatic cases that resemble CH have also been reported. A patient with cerebral venous thrombosis presented with ipsilateral frontal pain accompanied by ophthalmoparesis, nasal congestion, and lacrimation. The patient's headache showed a dramatic response to oxygen. He experienced no further cluster-like headaches after treatment with an anticoagulant. This case suggests the possible role of venous stasis of the cavernous sinus in cluster-like headache

Enterprise size and risk of hospital treated injuries among manual construction workers in Denmark: a study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In most countries throughout the world the construction industry continues to account for a disturbingly high proportion of fatal and nonfatal injuries. Research has shown that large enterprises seem to be most actively working for a safe working environment when compared to small and medium-sized enterprises. Also, statistics from Canada, Italy and South Korea suggest that the risk of injury among construction workers decreases with enterprise size, that is the smaller the enterprise the greater the risk of injury. This trend, however, is neither confirmed by the official statistics from Eurostat valid for EU-15 + Norway nor by a separate Danish study - although these findings might have missed a trend due to severe underreporting. In addition, none of the above mentioned studies controlled for the occupational distribution within the enterprises. A part of the declining injury rates observed in Canada, Italy and South Korea therefore might be explained by an increasing proportion of white-collar employees in large enterprises.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To investigate the relation between enterprise size and injury rates in the Danish construction industry.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>All male construction workers in Denmark aged 20-59 years will be followed yearly through national registers from 1999 to 2006 for first hospital treated injury (ICD-10: S00-T98) and linked to data about employment status, occupation and enterprise size. Enterprise size-classes are based on the Danish business pattern where micro (less than 5 employees), small (5-9 employees) and medium-sized (10-19 employees) enterprises will be compared to large enterprises (at least 20 employees). The analyses will be controlled for age (five-year age groups), calendar year (as categorical variable) and occupation. A multi-level Poisson regression will be used where the enterprises will be treated as the subjects while observations within the enterprises will be treated as correlated repeated measurements.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This follow-up study uses register data that include all people in the target population. Sampling bias and response bias are thereby eliminated. A disadvantage of the study is that only injuries requiring hospital treatment are covered.</p