8,904 research outputs found
Hospital production in a national health service: the physician's dilemma
There is a paucity of literature concerning the relation between the resource utilization decisions of the salaried hospital based physician and patient outcomes in a national health service. The purpose of our study is to model and test hospital production where the major decision makers are physicians. We view the output of the hospital as a distribution function over final health states of the patient. Our model contains a utility function for physicians whose arguments include the expected final health status of the patient and a pressure function which reflects the resource allocation and hospital financing policy of the Portuguese Health Ministry. Two sets of first order conditions derived from the theoretical model are estimated within a simultaneous equations framework using data consisting of inpatient discharges for the most frequent non-obstetric DRG during the 1992-1999 time period. We find evidence that budget setting methods and the possession of a third party payer outside of the NHS are important predictors for use of the resource in question. Moreover, we find that use of the resource is important in predicting the final health status of the patient.
Beyond the quantum formalism: consequences of a neural-oscillator model to quantum cognition
In this paper we present a neural oscillator model of stimulus response
theory that exhibits quantum-like behavior. We then show that without adding
any additional assumptions, a quantum model constructed to fit observable
pairwise correlations has no predictive power over the unknown triple moment,
obtainable through the activation of multiple oscillators. We compare this with
the results obtained in de Barros (2013), where a criteria of rationality gives
optimal ranges for the triple moment.Comment: 4 pages; to appear in the Advances in Cognitive Neurodynamics,
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics -
201
Hospital production in a national health service: the physician's dilemma
There is a paucity of literature concerning the
relation between the resource utilization decisions of the salaried hospital based physician and patient outcomes in a national health service. The purpose of our study is
to model and test hospital production where the major decision makers are physicians. We view the output of the hospital as a distribution function over final health
states of the patient. Our model contains a utility function for physicians whose arguments include the expected final
health status of the patient and a pressure function which reflects the resource allocation and hospital financing policy of the Portuguese Health Ministry. Two
sets of first order conditions derived from the theoretical model are estimated within a simultaneous equations framework using data consisting of inpatient discharges for the most frequent non-obstetric DRG during the 1992-1999 time period. We find evidence that budget setting methods and the possession of a third party payer outside of the NHS are important predictors for use of the resource in
question. Moreover, we find that use of the resource is important in predicting the final health status of the patient.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT
Decision Making for Inconsistent Expert Judgments Using Negative Probabilities
In this paper we provide a simple random-variable example of inconsistent
information, and analyze it using three different approaches: Bayesian,
quantum-like, and negative probabilities. We then show that, at least for this
particular example, both the Bayesian and the quantum-like approaches have less
normative power than the negative probabilities one.Comment: 14 pages, revised version to appear in the Proceedings of the QI2013
(Quantum Interactions) conferenc
Group Theory analysis of phonons in two-dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have emerged as a new two
dimensional materials field since the monolayer and few-layer limits show
different properties when compared to each other and to their respective bulk
materials. For example, in some cases when the bulk material is exfoliated down
to a monolayer, an indirect-to-direct band gap in the visible range is
observed. The number of layers ( even or odd) drives changes in space
group symmetry that are reflected in the optical properties. The understanding
of the space group symmetry as a function of the number of layers is therefore
important for the correct interpretation of the experimental data. Here we
present a thorough group theory study of the symmetry aspects relevant to
optical and spectroscopic analysis, for the most common polytypes of TMDCs,
i.e. , and , as a function of the number of layers. Real space
symmetries, the group of the wave vectors, the relevance of inversion symmetry,
irreducible representations of the vibrational modes, optical selection rules
and Raman tensors are discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figure
Response adaptation in barrel cortical neurons facilitates stimulus detection during rhythmic whisker stimulation in anesthetized mice
Rodents use rhythmic whisker movements at frequencies between 4 and 12 Hz to sense the environment that will
be disturbed when the animal touches an object. The aim of this work is to study the response adaptation to
rhythmic whisker stimulation trains at 4 Hz in the barrel cortex and the sensitivity of cortical neurons to changes
in the timing of the stimulation pattern. Longitudinal arrays of four iridium oxide electrodes were used to obtain
single-unit recordings in supragranular, granular, and infragranular neurons in urethane anesthetized mice.
The stimulation protocol consisted in a stimulation train of three air puffs (20 ms duration each) in which the
time interval between the first and the third stimuli was fixed (500 ms) and the time interval between the first
and the second stimuli changed (regular: 250 ms; âaccelerandoâ: 375 ms; or âdecelerandoâ stimulation train:
125 ms interval). Cortical neurons adapted strongly their response to regular stimulation trains. Response
adaptation was reduced when accelerando or decelerando stimulation trains were applied. This facilitation
of the shifted stimulus was mediated by activation of NMDA receptors because the effect was blocked by
AP5. The facilitation was not observed in thalamic nuclei. Facilitation increased during periods of EEG
activation induced by systemic application of IGF-I, probably by activation of NMDA receptors, as well. We
suggest that response adaptation is the outcome of an intrinsic cortical information processing aimed at
contributing to improve the detection of âunexpectedâ stimuli that disturbed the rhythmic behavior of exploratio
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