Comparative Analysis Of Healthcare Performance In West And South Regions Of Ukraine

This study examines variations in efficiency among hospitals located in western and southern Ukraine. We estimated efficiency using a nonparemetric modeling technique known as data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA is a very powerful tool to compare relative efficiency among several economic units of study, known as decision making units (DMUS). In our current and previous research we have focused attention on comparative efficiency among hospitals and then explained variation in efficiency based on historical and cultural differences that influence managerial behavior at the hospital level of decision making. This study using current data and an expanded geographic territory provides further support to our findings from previous studies

Teachers and student achievement in the Chicago public high schools

We match administrative data on Chicago public high school students and teachers at the classroom level to estimate the importance of teachers to mathematics test score gains. We show that sampling variation and other measurement issues are important drivers of naïve estimates of teacher effects, in some cases accounting for the majority of dispersion in teacher quality. However, correcting for these problems, teachers are still economically and statistically influential. Replacing a teacher with another that is rated two standard deviations superior in quality can add 0.35 to 0.45 grade equivalents, or 30 to 40 percent of an average school year, to a student's math score performance. Furthermore, the teacher quality ratings are relatively stable within an individual instructor over time and reasonably consistent across most student types, with the notable exception of the lowest achieving students, where the same two standard deviation improvement in teacher quality adds only 0.20 grade equivalents. Finally, we relate our measured teacher effects to observable characteristics of the instructors and show that the vast majority is unexplained by standard observable characteristics of teachers, including those that are typically used for compensation purposesAchievement tests - Illinois ; Education

Tort Liability and Vaccine Manufacturers

This paper has been written with future vaccines in mind. It is true, of course, that most vaccines currently available are extremely safe and not prohibitively expensive. For the few injuries caused by these vaccines, an insurance system paid for by their manufacturers might be feasible and reasonable. The small increase in a manufacturer's cost of doing business could be offset by a similarly small increase in the price of the particular vaccine. Disincentive to create new vaccines would be minimal. But vaccines of the future may only become this safe if government insures them during their earliest stages of development. In this light, a government-paid system may be a necessary bridge between the riskier and safer periods of a vaccine's life

The Acrobatics of BQP

One can fix the randomness used by a randomized algorithm, but there is no analogous notion of fixing the quantumness used by a quantum algorithm. Underscoring this fundamental difference, we show that, in the black-box setting, the behavior of quantum polynomial-time ($\mathsf{BQP}$) can be remarkably decoupled from that of classical complexity classes like $\mathsf{NP}$. Specifically: -There exists an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{NP^{BQP}}\not\subset\mathsf{BQP^{PH}}$, resolving a 2005 problem of Fortnow. As a corollary, there exists an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{P}=\mathsf{NP}$ but $\mathsf{BQP}\neq\mathsf{QCMA}$. -Conversely, there exists an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{BQP^{NP}}\not\subset\mathsf{PH^{BQP}}$. -Relative to a random oracle, $\mathsf{PP}=\mathsf{PostBQP}$ is not contained in the "$\mathsf{QMA}$ hierarchy" $\mathsf{QMA}^{\mathsf{QMA}^{\mathsf{QMA}^{\cdots}}}$. -Relative to a random oracle, $\mathsf{\Sigma}_{k+1}^\mathsf{P}\not\subset\mathsf{BQP}^{\mathsf{\Sigma}_{k}^\mathsf{P}}$ for every $k$. -There exists an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{BQP}=\mathsf{P^{\# P}}$ and yet $\mathsf{PH}$ is infinite. -There exists an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{P}=\mathsf{NP}\neq\mathsf{BQP}=\mathsf{P^{\# P}}$. To achieve these results, we build on the 2018 achievement by Raz and Tal of an oracle relative to which $\mathsf{BQP}\not \subset \mathsf{PH}$, and associated results about the Forrelation problem. We also introduce new tools that might be of independent interest. These include a "quantum-aware" version of the random restriction method, a concentration theorem for the block sensitivity of $\mathsf{AC^0}$ circuits, and a (provable) analogue of the Aaronson-Ambainis Conjecture for sparse oracles.Comment: 63 pages. V2: various writing improvement

Quantum Lower Bounds for Approximate Counting via Laurent Polynomials

We study quantum algorithms that are given access to trusted and untrusted quantum witnesses. We establish strong limitations of such algorithms, via new techniques based on Laurent polynomials (i.e., polynomials with positive and negative integer exponents). Specifically, we resolve the complexity of approximate counting, the problem of multiplicatively estimating the size of a nonempty set S ? [N], in two natural generalizations of quantum query complexity. Our first result holds in the standard Quantum Merlin - Arthur (QMA) setting, in which a quantum algorithm receives an untrusted quantum witness. We show that, if the algorithm makes T quantum queries to S, and also receives an (untrusted) m-qubit quantum witness, then either m = ?(|S|) or T = ?(?{N/|S|}). This is optimal, matching the straightforward protocols where the witness is either empty, or specifies all the elements of S. As a corollary, this resolves the open problem of giving an oracle separation between SBP, the complexity class that captures approximate counting, and QMA. In our second result, we ask what if, in addition to a membership oracle for S, a quantum algorithm is also given "QSamples" - i.e., copies of the state |S? = 1/?|S| ?_{i ? S} |i? - or even access to a unitary transformation that enables QSampling? We show that, even then, the algorithm needs either ?(?{N/|S|}) queries or else ?(min{|S|^{1/3},?{N/|S|}}) QSamples or accesses to the unitary. Our lower bounds in both settings make essential use of Laurent polynomials, but in different ways

Global Advances in Value-Based Payment and Their Implications for Global Health Management Education, Development, and Practice

Global advances in health policy reform, health system improvement and health management education and practice need to be closely aligned to successfully change national health policies and improve the performance of health care delivery organizations. This paper describes the globally acknowledged need for incentive-based organizational performance and relevant implications for health care management education (HCME) and practice. It also outlines the major rationale underlying Value-Based Payment (VBP) or Pay for Performance (P4P) health policy initiatives and their basic elements. Clearly, the major global health policy shift that is underway will likely ultimately have major impacts on the strategic and operational management and performance of health care delivery organizations. Thus, practical specific suggestions are made regarding changes that need to be introduced and strengthened in contemporary health care management education and development programs to help organizational managers in the future

The Grizzly, February 16, 1979

Fraternity Pledging Under College Scrutiny • College Bowl: A Positive Note • Middle States, Course Evaluation Approved By Faculty • Men\u27s Campus Council Explores Centralized Mail • Pledging Begins • Basic Assumption • Letters to the Editor: Community reaction • Roving Reporter: Dorm hours and sexual promiscuity • Ursinus News In Brief: William J. Phillips prize awarded • Marcel Marceau Master Of Mime Thrills Academy Audience • Concert Pianist to Perform • Ski Trips Galore Coming This Week • The Sound Of \u2779 • Audio Corner: Equipment Installation • Portrait Of The Professor: Dr. Joyce Henry • Sports Profile: Tim Todd • Bears Miss Playoffs • Free Throw Playoffs • Mermen Down To 2-7https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1013/thumbnail.jp