Quantum-Hall to insulator transition

The crossover from the quantum Hall regime to the Hall-insulator is investigated by varying the strength of the diagonal disorder in a 2d tight-binding model. The Hall and longitudinal conductivities and the behavior of the critical states are calculated numerically. We find that with increasing disorder the current carrying states close to the band center disappear first. Simultaneously, the quantized Hall conductivity drops monotonically to zero also from higher quantized values.Comment: 5 pages LaTeX2e, 5 ps-figures included. Proceedings SemiMag13, Nijmegen 1998; to appear in Physica

Dynamical scaling of the quantum Hall plateau transition

Using different experimental techniques we examine the dynamical scaling of the quantum Hall plateau transition in a frequency range f = 0.1-55 GHz. We present a scheme that allows for a simultaneous scaling analysis of these experiments and all other data in literature. We observe a universal scaling function with an exponent kappa = 0.5 +/- 0.1, yielding a dynamical exponent z = 0.9 +/- 0.2.Comment: v2: Length shortened to fulfil Journal criteri

Bowling Together: Scientific Collaboration Networks of Demographers at European Population Conferences

Studies of collaborative networks of demographers are relatively scarce. Similar studies in other social sciences provide insight into scholarly trends of both the fields and characteristics of their successful scientists. Exploiting a unique database of metadata for papers presented at six European Population Conferences, this report explores factors explaining research collaboration among demographers. We find that (1) collaboration among demographers has increased over the past 10 years, however, among co-authored papers, collaboration across institutions remains relatively unchanged over the period, (2) papers based on core demographic subfields such as fertility, mortality, migration and data and methods are more likely to involve multiple authors and (3) multiple author teams that are all female are less likely to co-author with colleagues in different institutions. Potential explanations for these results are discussed alongside comparisons with similar studies of collaboration networks in other related social sciences

Enabling leaders of multispecialty teams via cross-training

Background Teamwork across medical specialties improves patient outcomes. However, it also places an additional strain on team leaders, who must mediate between the medical specialties while at the same time belonging to one of them. We examine whether a cross-training incorporating communication and leadership skills can enhance multispecialty teamwork in Heart Teams and enable Heart Team leaders. Method In a prospective observational study, the authors surveyed physicians working in multispecialty Heart Teams worldwide, who participated in a cross-training course. Survey responses were collected at the beginning of the course and 6 months later, after course completion. Furthermore, for a subsample of participants, external assessments of course participants' communication and presentation skills at the beginning and at the end of the training were elicited. The authors conducted mean comparison tests and difference-in-difference analysis. Results Sixty-four physicians were surveyed. A total of 547 external assessments were collected. The cross-training significantly improved participant-rated teamwork across medical specialties, and communication and presentation skills as rated by participants and external assessors who were blind to the time structure or training context. Conclusion The study highlights how a cross-training can enable leaders of multispecialty teams in their leadership role by raising awareness of other specialties' skills and knowledge. Cross-training combined with communication skills training is an effective measure to improve collaboration in Heart Teams

Why The Best Hospitals Are Managed by Doctors

Healthcare has become extraordinarily complex — the balance of quality against cost, and of technology against humanity, are placing ever-increasing demands on clinicians. These challenges require extraordinary leaders. Doctors were once viewed as ill-prepared for leadership roles because their selection and training led them to become “heroic lone healers.” But this is changing. The emphasis on patient-centered care and efficiency in the delivery of clinical outcomes means that physicians are now being prepared for leadership

The willingness to pay for partial vs. universal equality: Insights from three-person envy games

In three-person envy games, an allocator, a responder, and a dummy player interact. Since agreement payoffs of responder and dummy are exogenously given, there is no tradeoff between allocator payoff and the payoffs of responder and dummy. Rather, the allocator chooses the size of the pie and thus—being the residual claimant—defines his own payoff. While in the dictator variant of the envy game, responder and dummy can only refuse their own shares, in the ultimatum variant, the responder can accept or reject the allocator’s choice with rejection leading to zero payoffs for all three players. Comparing symmetric and asymmetric agreement payoffs for responder and dummy shows that equality concerns are significantly context-dependent: allocators are willing to leave more money on the table when universal equality can be achieved than when only partial equality is at stake. Similarly, equality seeking of responders is most prominent when universal equality is possible