The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax: NPDB Data Continue to Show Medical Liability System Produces Rational Outcomes

Despite claims by business and medical lobbying interests and the Bush administration, there is no medical malpractice lawsuit crisis in America, according to this report by Public Citizen. The report dispels oft-repeated myths of dwindling doctors and spiraling insurance premiums used to support limits on the ability of injured patients to seek redress in the courts.The real problems are a lack of attention to patient safety, the high incidence of preventable medical error and the lack of accountability for a small set of doctors who account for a majority of medical malpractice payments, the report reveals. The report also presents several recommendations for Congress, state governments and hospitals to reduce health care costs and save lives.Public Citizen reviewed publicly available information from 1990 to 2005 from the federal government's National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which contains data on malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors as well as disciplinary actions taken against them by state medical boards or hospitals. According to the analysis, the total number of malpractice payments paid on behalf of doctors, with judgments and settlements, declined 15.4 percent between 1991 and 2005, and the number of payments per 100,000 people in the country declined more than 10 percent. In addition, the average payment for a medical malpractice verdict, adjusted for inflation, dropped eight percent in the same period.The numbers show that patients do not win large jury awards for less serious claims but that payments usually correspond to the severity of injury. In 2005, less than three percent of all payments were for million-dollar verdicts and more than 64 percent of payments involved death or significant injury -- while less than one-third of one percent were for "insignificant injury.

Mixing of Pentaquark and Molecular States

There are experimental evidences for the existence of narrow states $\Theta^+$ and $\Theta_c$ with the same quantum numbers of $uudd\bar s$ and $uudd\bar c$ pentaquarks and also $NK^{(*)}$ and $ND^{(*)}$ molecular states. Their masses deviate from many theoretical estimates of the pure pentaquark and molecular states. In this work we study the possibility that the observed $\Theta^+$ and $\Theta_c$ are mixtures of pure pentaquark and molecular states. The mixing parameters are in general related to non-perturbative QCD which are not calculable at present. We determine them by fitting data from known states and then generalize the mechanism to $\Theta_b$ to predict its mass and width. The mixing mechanism can also naturally explain the narrow width for $\Theta^+$ and $\Theta_c$ through destructive interferences, even if the pure pentaquark and molecular states have much larger decay widths. We also briefly discuss the properties of the partner eigenstates of $\Theta^+$ and $\Theta_c$ and the possibility of experimentally observe them. Moreover, probable consequences of multi-state mixing are also addressed.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. Published version in EPJ

AGN Type-casting: Mrk 590 No Longer Fits the Role

We present multi-wavelength observations that trace more than 40 years in the life of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in Mrk 590, traditionally known as a classic Seyfert 1 galaxy. From spectra recently obtained from HST, Chandra, and the Large Binocular Telescope, we find that the activity in the nucleus of Mrk 590 has diminished so significantly that the continuum luminosity is a factor of 100 lower than the peak luminosity probed by our long baseline observations. Furthermore, the broad emission lines, once prominent in the UV/optical spectrum, have all but disappeared. Since AGN type is defined by the presence of broad emission lines in the optical spectrum, our observations demonstrate that Mrk 590 has now become a "changing look" AGN. If classified by recent optical spectra, Mrk 590 would be a Seyfert ~1.9-2, where the only broad emission line still visible in the optical spectrum is a weak component of Halpha. As an additional consequence of this change, we have definitively detected UV narrow-line components in a Type 1 AGN, allowing an analysis of these emission-line components with high-resolution COS spectra. These observations challenge the historical paradigm that AGN type is only a consequence of the line of sight viewing angle toward the nucleus in the presence of a geometrically-flattened, obscuring medium (i.e., the torus). Our data instead suggest that the current state of Mrk 590 is a consequence of the change in luminosity, which implies the black hole accretion rate has significantly decreased.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. This version includes minor modifications to the text and one figure in response to suggestions from the anonymous referee and members of the communit

The Education Maintenance Allowance (Wales) Scheme 2010

Consultation document seeking views on the draft Education Maintenance Allowance (Wales) Scheme 2010

Kagera Regional and District Projections

This report presents population projections for the period 2003 to 2025 for the Kagera Region and its districts. The projections were made using a Cohort Component Method (Spectrum System), whereby three components responsible for population change, namely: mortality, fertility and migration were projected separately as well as HIV/AIDS prevalence. The projected components were then applied to 2002 midyear base population in order to come up with the desired projections from 2003 to 2025. The report gives mortality, fertility, migration and HIV/AIDS assumptions, which depicts Kagera’s demographic and socio-economic future trends. The results include estimated population by sex in single years and five-year age groups as well as some demographic indicators. Population growth for the period 2003 to 2025 shows an increase in growth rates. The projections show that population growth rate will increase from 3.1 percent in 2003 (with a population of 1,982,612) to 3.7 percent in 2025 (with a population of 4,511,927). Sex Ratio at birth is projected to increase from 96 male births per 100 females in 2003 to 99 male births per 100 females in 2025. Mortality estimates show that Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is expected to decline for both sexes from 117 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025. Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) for both sexes will also decline from 195 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 113 deaths per 1,000 live births in the year 2025. The mortality projected estimates further show that the life expectancy at birth for females is higher compared to that of males, which is expected. Life expectancy at birth for Kagera will increase from 48 years in 2003 to 55 years in 2025 for both sexes. For male population, life expectancy at birth will increase from 46 years in year 2003 to 54 years in 2025, while for female population the life expectancy at birth will increase from 49 years in 2003 to 56 years in 2025

Polarization observables in the processes p+p→Θ++Σ+p+p\to \Theta^+ +\Sigma^+ and n+p→Θ++Λ0n+p\to \Theta^+ +\Lambda^0, for any spin and parity of the Θ+\Theta^+-hyperon in the threshold region

Using the symmetry properties of the strong interaction, such as the Pauli principle, the P-invariance, the conservation of the total angular momentum and isotopic invariance, we establish the spin structure of the threshold matrix elements for the processes $p+p\to \Theta^+ +\Sigma^+$ and $n+p\to \Theta^+ +\Lambda^0$, in a model independent way, which applies to any spin and parity of the $\Theta^+$-hyperon in the near threshold region. We predict the double spin observables for these processes, such as the dependence of the differential cross section on the polarizations of the colliding nucleons, and the coefficients of polarization transfer from a nucleon beam or target to the produced $\Sigma^+$ or $\Lambda^0$ hyperon. We prove that these observables are sensitive to the P-parity of the $\Theta^+$ baryon, for any value of its spin. As an example of dynamical considerations, we analyzed these reactions in the framework of K-meson exchange.Comment: 14 pages 1 figur

GABAH PAN KUTURAN DI DESA PEJATEN TABANAN: ANALISIS BENTUK DAN FUNGSI

Tulisan ini merupakan analisis karya gerabah “Pan Kuturan” Desa Pejaten Tabanan. Beliau lahir dan besar dalam masyarakat pengerajin gerabah, sehingga sebagian aktifitasnya adalah membuat benda-benda gerabah untuk kebutuhan rumah tangga. Karena bakat dan talenta seni yang dimiliki Pan Kuturan selalu menggali ide baru meramu dalam pola-pola tradisi hingga melahirkan karya gerabah yang lebih bermakna dan berfungsi ganda. Salah satu karyanya yang mencerminkan ciri khas kepribadian adalah motif patung primitive naïf berbentuk manusia maupun binatang. Dalam usahanya menciptakan motif baru ia tetap mempertimbangkan bentuk dan fungsi untuk memenuhi selera pasar

Cruise Report 72-KB-14: Sportfish-Kelp habitat project DJ F-27-R

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The Gell-Mann -- Okubo mass relation among baryons from fully-dynamical mixed-action lattice QCD

We explore the Gell-Mann--Okubo mass relation among the octet baryons using fully-dynamical, mixed-action (domain-wall on rooted-staggered) lattice QCD calculations at a lattice spacing of b ~ 0.125 fm and pion masses of m_pi ~ 290 MeV, 350 MeV, 490 MeV and 590 MeV. Deviations from the Gell-Mann--Okubo mass relation are found to be small at each quark mass.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure