A standard result states that under decreasing absolute risk aversion the indifference premium of the insured is a decreasing function of wealth. This has been interpreted to mean that insurance is an inferior good, which has been considered as a puzzle in insurance theory, in particular since the result does not seem to explain observed behavior in insurance markets. We reformulate the standar...

In this paper, we are concerned with regression problems where covariates can be grouped in nonoverlapping blocks, and where only a few of them are assumed to be active. In such a situation, the group Lasso is an attractive method for variable selection since it promotes sparsity of the groups. We study the sensitivity of any group Lasso solution to the observations and provide its precise loca...

The relative reduction of risk for all-cause mortality among the elderly has been described as attenuated compared to younger subjects, but the risk for all-cause mortality increases with age when absolute risk is considered. The objectives of the present inquiry were to calculate the relative and absolute risks of all-cause mortality based on incidence rate ratios, and summarize these risks fo...

Soft-thresholding is a sparse modeling method typically applied to wavelet denoising in statistical signal processing. It is also important in machine learning since it is an essential nature of the well-known LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator). It is known that soft-thresholding, thus, LASSO suffers from a problem of dilemma between sparsity and generalization. This is cau...

We consider the problem of distributedly estimating Gaussian random fields in multi-agent frameworks. Each sensor collects few measurements and aims to collaboratively reconstruct a common estimate based on all data. Agents are assumed to have limited computational and communication capabilities and to gather M noisy measurements in total on input locations independently drawn from a known comm...

CONTEXT Ongoing efforts to improve the quality of reporting for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) include the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement. We examined the frequency of explicit reporting of the number needed to treat (NNT) and the absolute risk reduction (ARR) in RCTs. METHODS Five frequently cited journals were investigated: Annals of Internal Medicine, B...

Informed participation in population based screening programmes requires an explicit sharing of information about risks and benefits. However, many factors influence perceptions of risk and the value of risk reduction promised through screening. Campaigns that selectively quote incidence to “frighten” women into undergoing mammography have been criticised. Perceived risk, not objective risk, ex...

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention guidelines are generally based on the absolute risk of a CVD event, but there is increasing interest in using 'heart age' to motivate lifestyle change when absolute risk is low. Previous studies have not compared heart age to 5-year absolute risk, or investigated the impact of younger heart age, graphical format, and numeracy. OBJECTIVE Compa...