Collaborative computing for decision support in cardiovascular consulting

Vascular medicine is a newly developing discipline heavily based on geographically distributed consulting, and there is thus a strong need for computerized decision support in doctor‐to‐doctor collaboration for the management of vascular patients. The latest achievements in collaborative and multimedia computing for group decision support are incorporated into cardiovascular consulting. Feasibility analysis of the two basic components is addressed: (a) the communication system of collaborative computing as identified subject to the specifics of data flow and networking in geographically distributed cardiovascular consulting; and (b) the structure and representations for intelligent software agents that enable transfer of individual expert cardiovascular knowledge, support group brainstorming, and maintain the ongoing learning of group experience and analysis of patients cases.     

Katallactic Rationality

Abstract IS the well-known finding of experimental economics that talk is correlated with co-operation in prisoner-dilemma contexts related to Adam Smith's claim that trade requires language? Using Smith's postulate of the existence of a desire for approbation and the supposition that language carries approbation, we demonstrate how the ability to exchange approbation enhances the rationality of co-operation.     

Determinants of internal migration in Israel: expected returns and risks

A multinomial logit model of place-to-place migration focusing on economic, geographic and demographic factors is applied to empirical data on inter-regional migration in Israel in 1980. It explains 75% of the (cross-sectional) variance in the data. The results presented in this paper depart from previous empirical work due to its industrialized context and its focus on risk aversion as a determinant of the migration decision. The results support the Harris–Todaro (1970) hypothesis, and indicate that regional similarities in the structure of industrial employment promote migration.     

De Autonomie der bijzondere spaarbanken

F. Lepelletier, Professeur d'Économie politique à la Faculté libre de droit de Paris. Les Caisses d'Épargne (Paris, 1911) blzz. 240.     

Individueele contractverbreking bij collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst

De steun, dien de vakvereenigingen kunnen geven voor het verkrijgen van meer bevredigende arbeids-toestanden in de industrie, brengt de zaak op sociaal-economisch gebied. Voorl. Versl. Eerste Kamer over het Wetsontw. Collectieve Arbeidsovereenkomst.     

Optimal Debt? On the Insurance Value of International Debt Flows to Developing Countries

According to reputation models of sovereign debt, the incentives to repay are proportional to the income insurance benefits provided by the access to international markets. This paper, however, documents that private net lending to developing countries exhibits a procyclical or acyclical pattern, contradicting this premise. By contrast, official debt net flows exhibit a countercyclical patter. In addition, the paper shows that (both current and past) defaults are associated with lower net debt flows. The findings suggest that, while reputation models may explain the preferred creditor status enjoyed by official lenders, they cannot account for the presence of sovereign debt markets in developing countries.     

Prospect Theory and Mean-Variance Analysis

The experimental results of prospect theory (PT) reveal suggestthat investors make decisions based on change of wealth ratherthan total wealth, that preferences are S-shaped with a risk-seekingsegment, and that probabilities are subjectively distorted.This article shows that while PT's findings are in sharp contradictionto the foundations of mean-variance (MV) analysis, counterintuitively,when diversification between assets is allowed, the MV and PT-efficientsets almost coincide. Thus one can employ the MV optimizationalgorithm to construct PT-efficient portfolios.