4,809 research outputs found
The Assessment and Application of Patient Satisfaction Variables in Marketing a Psychiatric Practice
As the health care industry becomes increasingly more competitive, marketing functions will take on increasingly more importance. At the core of the marketing concept is the pursuit of customer satisfaction, or, for medical services, patient satisfaction. This study reports on the administration of a 33-item patient satisfaction questionnaire to the consumers of services in four outpatient offices of a large, group private psychiatric practice. Data are analyzed descriptively and recommendations are made for improvements of service delivery based on the findings of the survey
Protein structure validation and refinement using amide proton chemical shifts derived from quantum mechanics
We present the ProCS method for the rapid and accurate prediction of protein
backbone amide proton chemical shifts - sensitive probes of the geometry of key
hydrogen bonds that determine protein structure. ProCS is parameterized against
quantum mechanical (QM) calculations and reproduces high level QM results
obtained for a small protein with an RMSD of 0.25 ppm (r = 0.94). ProCS is
interfaced with the PHAISTOS protein simulation program and is used to infer
statistical protein ensembles that reflect experimentally measured amide proton
chemical shift values. Such chemical shift-based structural refinements,
starting from high-resolution X-ray structures of Protein G, ubiquitin, and SMN
Tudor Domain, result in average chemical shifts, hydrogen bond geometries, and
trans-hydrogen bond (h3JNC') spin-spin coupling constants that are in excellent
agreement with experiment. We show that the structural sensitivity of the
QM-based amide proton chemical shift predictions is needed to refine protein
structures to this agreement. The ProCS method thus offers a powerful new tool
for refining the structures of hydrogen bonding networks to high accuracy with
many potential applications such as protein flexibility in ligand binding.Comment: PLOS ONE accepted, Nov 201
Zero-temperature random-field Ising model on a bilayered Bethe lattice
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Quasicrystalline Weyl points and dense Fermi-Bragg arcs
We introduce a general mechanism for obtaining Weyl points in a stack of 2D
quasicrystals, which can be extended to any stack of aperiodic layers. We do so
by driving a topological phase transition with the vertical crystal-momentum as
the tuning parameter, which leads to gap closures at the critical points
sourcing Berry curvature. To illustrate, we use a simple 3D generalization of
the Qi-Wu-Zhang model defined on a Penrose quasicrystal. The presence of Weyl
points is established via the local Chern marker, projected band structure and
density of states. Interestingly, we uncover an analogue of Fermi arcs in the
quasicrystalline setting, which we deem Fermi-Bragg arcs, densely distributed
lines connecting the band degeneracies and indexed by the Bragg peaks.
Signatures of such surface states in quantum oscillations and the prospect of a
fully quasicrystalline Weyl system are also discussed. The flexibility of our
proposal brings new opportunities for realizing other gapless topological
phases in aperiodic systems, paving the way for a significantly expanded role
for topological band theory.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Life cycle modelling of environmental impacts of application of processed organic municipal solid waste on agricultural land (EASEWASTE)
A model capable of quantifying the potential environmental impacts of agricultural application of composted or anaerobically digested source-separated organic municipal solid waste (MSW) is presented. In addition to the direct impacts, the model accounts for savings by avoiding the production and use of commercial fertilizers. The model is part of a larger model, Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Systems and Technology (EASEWASTE), developed as a decisionsupport model, focusing on assessment of alternative waste management options. The environmental impacts of the land application of processed organic waste are quantified by emission coefficients referring to the composition of the processed waste and related to specific crop rotation as well as soil type. The model contains several default parameters based on literature data, field experiments and modelling by the agro-ecosystem model, Daisy. All data can be modified by the user allowing application of the model to other situations. A case study including four scenarios was performed to illustrate the use of the model. One tonne of nitrogen in composted and anaerobically digested MSW was applied as fertilizer to loamy and sandy soil at a plant farm in western Denmark. Application of the processed organic waste mainly affected the environmental impact categories global warming (0.4â0.7 PE), acidification (â0.06 (saving)â1.6 PE), nutrient enrichment (â1.0 (saving)â3.1 PE), and toxicity. The main contributors to these categories were nitrous oxide formation (global warming), ammonia volatilization (acidification and nutrient enrichment), nitrate losses (nutrient enrichment and groundwater contamination), and heavy metal input to soil (toxicity potentials). The local agricultural conditions as well as the composition of the processed MSW showed large influence on the environmental impacts. A range of benefits, mainly related to improved soil quality from long-term application of the processed organic waste, could not be generally quantified with respect to the chosen life cycle assessment impact categories and were therefore not included in the model. These effects should be considered in conjunction with the results of the life cycle assessment
Has the regulation of non-GAAP disclosures influenced managers' use of aggressive earnings exclusions?
The frequency of non-GAAP (âpro formaâ) reporting has continued to increase in the U.S. over the last decade despite preliminary evidence that regulatory intervention led to a decline in non-GAAP disclosures. In particular, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and Regulation G (2003) impose strict requirements related to the reporting of non-GAAP numbers. More recently, the SEC has renewed its emphasis on non-GAAP reporting and declared it a âfraud risk factor.â Given the SECâs renewed emphasis on non-GAAP disclosures, we explore the extent to which regulation has curbed potentially misleading disclosures by investigating two measures of aggressive non-GAAP reporting. Consistent with the intent of Congress and the SEC, we find some evidence that managers report adjusted earnings metrics more cautiously in the post-SOX regulatory environment. Specifically, the results suggest that firms reporting non-GAAP earnings in the post-SOX period are less likely to (1) exclude recurring items incremental to those excluded by analysts and (2) use non-GAAP exclusions to meet strategic earnings targets on a non-GAAP basis that they miss based on I/B/E/S actual earnings. However, we also find that some firms exclude specific recurring items aggressively. Overall, the results suggest that while regulation has generally reduced aggressive non-GAAP reporting, some firms continue to disclose non-GAAP earnings numbers that could be misleading in the post-SOX regulatory environment
Study of an Alternate Mechanism for the Origin of Fermion Generations
In usual extended technicolor (ETC) theories based on the group
, the quarks of charge 2/3 and -1/3 and the charged
leptons of all generations arise from ETC fermion multiplets transforming
according to the fundamental representation. Here we investigate a different
idea for the origin of SM fermion generations, in which quarks and charged
leptons of different generations arise from ETC fermions transforming according
to different representations of . Although this
mechanism would have the potential, {\it a priori}, to allow a reduction in the
value of relative to conventional ETC models, we show that, at least
in simple models, it is excluded by the fact that the technicolor sector is not
asymptotically free or by the appearance of fermions with exotic quantum
numbers which are not observed.Comment: 6 pages, late
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