Claims-Made and Reported Policies and Insurer Profitability in Medical Malpractice

The liability crisis of the 1970s led to the introduction of a new type of insurance policy designed, according to Doherty (1991), to reduce the un-diversifiable uncertainty associated with writing long-tail liability lines. These new claims-made and reported policies gained favor in place of the traditional occurrence coverage in the early eighties not only in medical malpractice, but also in the general liability arena. Under occurrence coverage, a loss incurred in a given year is covered by the contract for that year, regardless of when the claim is reported. In contrast, a claims-made policy pays only the claims reported in the policy year. Our paper presents a structure, conduct, and performance analysis à la Joskow (1973) of the medical malpractice insurance industry by focusing on the differences between the two contracts. The main question we want to address is why there are two types of contracts that cover the same risk exposure in the medical malpractice insurance industry whereas in other lines of insurance, only one exists primarily. La crise de la responsabilité civile des années 70 a mené à la création d’un nouveau type de contrat d’assurance qui avait pour but, selon Doherty (1991), de réduire le risque systématique associé aux polices d’assurance à longue durée. Ces contrats CMR (Claims-Made and Reported) ont obtenu la faveur du public dans les années 80 particulièrement pour ce qui est de l’assurance de la responsabilité civile des professionnels de la médecine. Nous présentons ainsi une étude de la structure et de la performance de l’industrie de l’assurance de la responsabilité civile des professionnels de la médecine en mettant en relief les deux types de contrats dans ce marché. La question à laquelle nous voudrions ultimement répondre est la suivante : pourquoi dans le marché de l’assurance de la responsabilité civile des professionnels de la médecine retrouvons-nous les deux types de contrats alors qu’un seul type est généralement offert dans les autres marchés?medical malpractice insurance, industry structure and performance analysis, claims-made contracts, assurance de la responsabilité civile des professionnels de la médecine, analyse de la structure et de la performance de l’industrie, contrats CMR

Transient behavior of surface plasmon polaritons scattered at a subwavelength groove

We present a numerical study and analytical model of the optical near-field diffracted in the vicinity of subwavelength grooves milled in silver surfaces. The Green's tensor approach permits computation of the phase and amplitude dependence of the diffracted wave as a function of the groove geometry. It is shown that the field diffracted along the interface by the groove is equivalent to replacing the groove by an oscillating dipolar line source. An analytic expression is derived from the Green's function formalism, that reproduces well the asymptotic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave as well as the transient surface wave in the near-zone close to the groove. The agreement between this model and the full simulation is very good, showing that the transient "near-zone" regime does not depend on the precise shape of the groove. Finally, it is shown that a composite diffractive evanescent wave model that includes the asymptotic SPP can describe the wavelength evolution in this transient near-zone. Such a semi-analytical model may be useful for the design and optimization of more elaborate photonic circuits whose behavior in large part will be controlled by surface waves.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

An electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the Fractional Quantum Hall effect

We compute the interference pattern of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer operating in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Our theoretical proposal is inspired by a remarkable experiment on edge states in the Integer Quantum Hall effect (IQHE). The Luttinger liquid model is solved via two independent methods: refermionization at nu=1/2 and the Bethe Ansatz solution available for Laughlin fractions. The current differs strongly from that of single electrons in the strong backscattering regime. The Fano factor is periodic in the flux, and it exhibits a sharp transition from sub-Poissonian (charge e/2) to Poissonian (charge e) in the neighborhood of destructive interferences

[Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Capabilities]

These poster boards display the United Space Alliance's (USA) systems and equipment used for Nondestructive Evaluation. These include: (1) the Robotic Inspection Facility, (2) CAT-Scan and Laminography, (3) Laser Surface Profilometry, (4) Remote Eddy Current, (5) Ultrasonic Phased Array, (7) Infrared Flash Thermography, and (8) Backscatter X-Ray (BSX

Attentional Repulsion Effects produced by Feature-Guided Shifts of Attention

Attention shifts to particular objects in the visual field can distort perceptual location judgments. Visual stimuli are perceived to be shifted away from the current focus of attention (the Attentional Repulsion Effect, ARE). While links between repulsion effects and stimulus-driven exogenous attentional capture have been demonstrated conclusively, it remains disputed whether AREs can also be elicited as a result of feature-guided attention shifts that are controlled by endogenous task sets. Here, we demonstrate that this is indeed the case. Color singleton cues that appeared together with equiluminant gray items triggered repulsion effects only if they matched a current task-relevant color but not when their color was irrelevant. When target-color and nontarget-color singleton cues appeared in the same display, AREs emerged relative to the position of the target-color cue. By obtaining independent behavioral measures of perceptual repulsion and electrophysiological measures of attentional capture by target-color cues, we also showed that these two phenomena are correlated. Individuals who were more susceptible to attentional capture also produced larger AREs. These results confirm the existence of links between task-set contingent attentional capture and Attentional Repulsion Effects. They also provide the first direct demonstration of the attentional nature of these effects with on-line brain activity measures: Perceptual repulsion arises as the result of prior feature-guided attention shifts to specific locations in the visual field

Regionen in Europa und der Fall Schlesien

The collapse of the communist states in Central and Eastern Europe had far-reaching consequences for the geopolitical situation of this region. Although the borders which were agreed on in Jalta and Potsdam after the Second World War have only been changed slightly, these borders gained huge importance in the course of the transformation process as a delimitation of zones with different speeds and intensities of transformation. In particular the Eastern border of Germany as the furthermost border of the European Union to the hopeful candidates Poland and the Czech Republic is becoming increasingly permeable in the course of the cross-border co-operation. In the context of regional policies within European Union, aspects with regard to the optimum distribution of subsidies are combined with questions of the economic competition between regions of different wealth. In connection with the equal objective of achieving a consistent economic development of the regions and the promotion of economic links between regions, horizontal cooperation concepts between the regions are to promote European integration. Initially conceived only for inner-community regions, the second stage of the INETEREG program extended the co-operation to include non-EU members. The challenges of the political changes in Eastern Europe were given consideration therein in that cross-border co-operation was established with Poland and the Czech Republics, and the funds to prepare the EU accession of these states (PHARE-program) were integrated into the INTEREG subsidisation. The key word "regionalism" is, however, now used to propagate regions with homogenous ethnic inhabitants, culture and history: The reinterpretation of the EU philosophy of European integration on a regional level quite often leads to demands for revisions of borders or the creation of new regional units. Poland's rejection of a centrally administrated economy also made encouraged the voices calling for a strengthening of the regions. On the one hand this was a question of the necessary reorganisation of the Wojewods, which had to be realigned to suit the regional sizes of the EU, but on the other hand of a political decentralisation of the decision-making powers of Warsaw out in the provinces. Although this process has not yet been completed, first conflicts within the ruling coalition with respect to the delegation of power are becoming apparent. This situation is made more difficult by the specific Silesian problem, which -although inhabited by very varied ethnic groups- has developed a regional identity. In the course of the discussion regarding a redrawing of the Wojewods, this movement must be taken into consideration, as must the particularly sensitive question of the German minority living there, forced to seek a middle path between integration and preservation of independence. European political debates between Germans and Silesians, the refugee organisations and the Federal Government convey an image of differing interests and the consideration of a partner state which must find its way between the requirements of the European Union for regionalisation and the interests of groups within the nation state

Quantum Imaging with Incoherent Photons

We propose a technique to obtain sub-wavelength resolution in quantum imaging with potentially 100% contrast using incoherent light. Our method requires neither path-entangled number states nor multi-photon absorption. The scheme makes use of N photons spontaneously emitted by N atoms and registered by N detectors. It is shown that for coincident detection at particular detector positions a resolution of \lambda / N can be achieved.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, improved presentation. Accepted in Physical Review Letter

Evaluating the productivity of four main tree species in Germany under climate change with static reduced models

International audienceAbstract Key messageWe present simple models of forest net primary production (NPP) in Germany that show increasing productivity, especially in mountainous areas, under warming unless water becomes a limiting factor. They can be used for spatially explicit, rapid climate impact assessment. ContextClimate impact studies largely rely on process-based forest models generally requiring detailed input data which are not everywhere available. AimsThis study aims to derive simple models with low data requirements which allow calculation of NPP and analysis of climate impacts using many climate scenarios at a large amount of sites. MethodsWe fitted regression functions to the output of simulation experiments conducted with the process-based forest model 4C at 2342 climate stations in Germany for four main tree species on four different soil types and two time periods, 1951–2006 and 2031–2060. ResultsThe regression functions showed a reasonable fit to measured NPP datasets. Temperature increase of up to 3 K leads to positive effects on NPP. In water-limited regions, this positive effect is dependent on the length of drought periods. The highest NPP increase occurs in mountainous regions. ConclusionRapid analyses, using reduced models as presented here, can complement more detailed analyses with process-based models. Especially for dry sites, we recommend further study of climate impacts with process-based models or detailed measurements

Potentially Inadequate Real-Life Speech Levels by Healthcare Professionals during Communication with Older Inpatients.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate real-life speech levels of health professionals during communication with older inpatients in small group settings. METHODS This is a prospective observational study assessing group interactions between geriatric inpatients and health professionals in a geriatric rehabilitation unit of a tertiary university hospital (Bern, Switzerland). We measured speech levels of health professionals during three typical group interactions (discharge planning meeting (n = 21), chair exercise group (n = 5), and memory training group (n = 5)) with older inpatients. Speech levels were measured using the CESVA LF010 (CESVA instruments s.l.u., Barcelona, Spain). A threshold of <60 dBA was defined as a potentially inadequate speech level. RESULTS Overall, mean talk time of recorded sessions was 23.2 (standard deviation 8.3) minutes. The mean proportion of talk time with potentially inadequate speech levels was 61.6% (sd 32.0%). The mean proportion of talk time with potentially inadequate speech levels was significantly higher in chair exercise groups (95.1% (sd 4.6%)) compared to discharge planning meetings (54.8% (sd 32.5%), p = 0.01) and memory training groups (56.3% (sd 25.4%), p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Our data show that real-life speech level differs between various types of group settings and suggest potentially inadequate speech levels by healthcare professionals requiring further study

Paving the way for research in recruitment and selection:Recent developments, challenges and future opportunities

Considered as one of the cornerstones of work and organizational psychology, it is not surprising that the selection and recruitment literature is vast. In this review, we synthesize and integrate the findings from around 40 meta-analyses and literature reviews from the last decade to identify the most recent meta-trends and future research directions in the selection and recruitment research and practice. We organize our key findings around three superordinate areas: a) recent developments in selection research, covering findings on validities of selection methods, expanding the criterion space, and applicant reactions and impression management; b) recent developments in recruitment research, paying attention to the evidence around recruitment methods and applicant attraction; and c) new technology in recruitment and selection. In our call for future research, we delineate a number of substantive issues and the need for more sophisticated theoretical developments in the field as well as methodological challenges that future efforts should address. We concur with the vast literature in that selection and recruitment research is a vibrant field, which we expect will address a number of ongoing political, cultural, technological, societal, and employment regulations-related issues to keep creating impact and providing meaningful findings for recruitment and selection practices in organizations