24,725 research outputs found
Coverage with evidence development: applications and issues
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2010OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the current issues surrounding Coverage with Evidence Development (CED). CED is characterized by restricted coverage for a new technology in parallel with targeted research when the stated goal of the research or data collection is to provide definitive evidence for the clinical or cost-effectiveness impact of the new technology. METHODS: Presented here is information summarized and interpreted from presentations and discussions at the 2008 Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) meeting and additional information from the medical literature. This study describes the differences between CED and other conditional coverage agreements, provides a brief history of CED, describes real-world examples of CED, describes the areas of consensus between the stakeholders, discusses the areas for future negotiation between stakeholders, and proposes criteria to assist stakeholders in determining when CED could be appropriate. RESULTS: Payers could interpret the evidence obtained from a CED program either positively or negatively, and a range of possible changes to the reimbursement status of the new technology may result. Striking an appropriate balance between the demands for prompt access to new technology and acknowledging that some degree of uncertainty will always exist is a critical challenge to the uptake of this innovative form of conditional coverage. CONCLUSIONS: When used selectively for innovative procedures, pharmaceuticals, or devices in the appropriate disease areas, CED may provide patients access to promising medicines or technologies while data to minimize uncertainty are collected.The development of the manuscript was funded by Medicines Australi
Flexible high-voltage supply for experimental electron microscope
Scanning microscope uses a field-emission tip for the electron source, an electron gun that simultaneously accelerates and focuses electrons from the source, and one auxiliary lens to produce a final probe size at the specimen on the order of angstroms
Observations of cosmic ray induced phosphenes
Phosphene observations by astronauts on flights near and far from earth atmosphere are discussed. It was concluded that phosphenes could be observed by the naked eye. Further investigation is proposed to determine realistic human tolerance levels for extended missions and to evaluate the need to provide special spacecraft shielding
Non-linear screening of spherical and cylindrical colloids: the case of 1:2 and 2:1 electrolytes
From a multiple scale analysis, we find an analytic solution of spherical and
cylindrical Poisson-Boltzmann theory for both a 1:2 (monovalent co-ions,
divalent counter-ions) and a 2:1 (reversed situation) electrolyte. Our approach
consists in an expansion in powers of rescaled curvature , where
is the colloidal radius and the Debye length of the electrolytic
solution. A systematic comparison with the full numerical solution of the
problem shows that for cylinders and spheres, our results are accurate as soon
as . We also report an unusual overshooting effect where the
colloidal effective charge is larger than the bare one.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure
Realistic Expanding Source Model for Invariant One-Particle Multiplicity Distributions and Two-Particle Correlations in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions
We present a realistic expanding source model with nine parameters that are
necessary and sufficient to describe the main physics occuring during
hydrodynamical freezeout of the excited hadronic matter produced in
relativistic heavy-ion collisions. As a first test of the model, we compare it
to data from central Si + Au collisions at p_lab/A = 14.6 GeV/c measured in
experiment E-802 at the AGS. An overall chi-square per degree of freedom of
1.055 is achieved for a fit to 1416 data points involving invariant pi^+, pi^-,
K^+, and K^- one-particle multiplicity distributions and pi^+ and K^+
two-particle correlations. The 99-percent-confidence region of parameter space
is identified, leading to one-dimensional error estimates on the nine fitted
parameters and other calculated physical quantities. Three of the most
important results are the freezeout temperature, longitudinal proper time, and
baryon density along the symmetry axis. For these we find values of 92.9 +/-
4.4 MeV, 8.2 +/- 2.2 fm/c, and 0.0222 + 0.0096 / - 0.0069 fm^-3, respectively.Comment: 37 pages and 12 figures. RevTeX 3.0. Submitted to Physical Review C.
Complete preprint, including device-independent (dvi), PostScript, and LaTeX
versions of the text, plus PostScript files of all figures, are available at
http://t2.lanl.gov/publications/publications.html or at
ftp://t2.lanl.gov/publications/res
The Submillimeter Polarization Spectrum of M17
We present 450 {\mu}m polarimetric observations of the M17 molecular cloud
obtained with the SHARP polarimeter at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory.
Across the observed region, the magnetic field orientation is consistent with
previous submillimeter and far-infrared polarization measurements. Our
observations are centered on a region of the molecular cloud that has been
compressed by stellar winds from a cluster of OB stars. We have compared these
new data with previous 350 {\mu}m polarimetry and find an anti-correlation
between the 450 to 350 {\mu}m polarization magnitude ratio and the ratio of 21
cm to 450 {\mu}m intensity. The polarization ratio is lower near the east end
of the studied region where the cloud is exposed to stellar winds and
radiation. At the west end of the region, the polarization ratio is higher. We
interpret the varying polarization spectrum as evidence supporting the
radiative alignment torque (RAT) model for grain alignment, implying higher
alignment efficiency in the region that is exposed to a higher anisotropic
radiation field.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure
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