Vortex Fluctuations in the Critical Casimir Effect of Superfluid and Superconducting Films

Vortex-loop renormalization techniques are used to calculate the magnitude of the critical Casimir forces in superfluid films. The force is found to become appreciable when size of the thermal vortex loops is comparable to the film thickness, and the results for T < Tc are found to match very well with perturbative renormalization theories that have only been carried out for T > Tc. When applied to a high-Tc superconducting film connected to a bulk sample, the Casimir force causes a voltage difference to appear between the film and bulk, and estimates show that this may be readily measurable.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Revtex 4, typo correctio

Sustainable Grazing Management for Temporal and Spatial Variability in North Australian Rangelands–A Synthesis of the Latest Evidence and Recommendations

Rainfall variability is a major challenge to sustainable grazing management in northern Australia, with management often complicated further by large, spatially heterogeneous paddocks. This paper presents the latest grazing research and associated bio-economic modeling from northern Australia and assesses the extent to which current recommendations to manage for these issues are supported. Overall, stocking at around the safe long term carrying capacity will maintain land condition and maximize long term profitability. However, stocking rates should be varied in a risk-averse manner as pasture availability varies between years. Periodic wet season spelling is also essential to maintain pasture condition and allow recovery of overgrazed areas. Uneven grazing distributions can be partially managed through fencing, providing additional waters and in some cases patch burning, although the economics of infrastructure development are extremely context dependent. Overall, multipaddock grazing systems do not appear justified in northern Australia. Provided the key management principles outlined above are applied in an active, adaptive manner, acceptable economic and environmental outcomes will be achieved irrespective of the grazing system applied

Does insurance fraud in automobile theft insurance fluctuate with the business cycle?

[[abstract]]Financial institutions face various cyclical risks, but very few studies have analyzed the cyclicality of operational risk. External fraud is an important operational risk faced by insurers. In this research, we analyze the empirical relationship between insurance fraud and business cycle and we concentrate our study on two insurance contracts that may create an incentive to defraud. We find that residual insurance fraud exists both in the contract with replacement cost endorsement and the contract with no-deductible endorsement in the Taiwan automobile theft insurance market. These results are consistent with previous literature on the relationship between fraud activity and non-optimal insurance contracting. We also show that the severity of insurance fraud is countercyclical. Fraud is stimulated during periods of recession and mitigated during periods of expansion. Although this last result seems intuitive, our contribution is the first to measure its significance.[[notice]]補正完畢[[incitationindex]]SSCI[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子

Managing healthcare budgets in times of austerity: the role of program budgeting and marginal analysis

Given limited resources, priority setting or choice making will remain a reality at all levels of publicly funded healthcare across countries for many years to come. The pressures may well be even more acute as the impact of the economic crisis of 2008 continues to play out but, even as economies begin to turn around, resources within healthcare will be limited, thus some form of rationing will be required. Over the last few decades, research on healthcare priority setting has focused on methods of implementation as well as on the development of approaches related to fairness and legitimacy and on more technical aspects of decision making including the use of multi-criteria decision analysis. Recently, research has led to better understanding of evaluating priority setting activity including defining ‘success’ and articulating key elements for high performance. This body of research, however, often goes untapped by those charged with making challenging decisions and as such, in line with prevailing public sector incentives, decisions are often reliant on historical allocation patterns and/or political negotiation. These archaic and ineffective approaches not only lead to poor decisions in terms of value for money but further do not reflect basic ethical conditions that can lead to fairness in the decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to outline a comprehensive approach to priority setting and resource allocation that has been used in different contexts across countries. This will provide decision makers with a single point of access for a basic understanding of relevant tools when faced with having to make difficult decisions about what healthcare services to fund and what not to fund. The paper also addresses several key issues related to priority setting including how health technology assessments can be used, how performance can be improved at a practical level, and what ongoing resource management practice should look like. In terms of future research, one of the most important areas of priority setting that needs further attention is how best to engage public members

Le plan d’intervention en contexte d’intervention comportementale intensive (ICI) : perception des pratiques et des défis

La mise en oeuvre de l’intervention comportementale intensive (ICI) nécessite une planification des objectifs et des moyens pour chaque enfant. Ce processus d’individualisation est essentiel à une intervention de qualité. Selon la loi, les établissements doivent rendre compte de la planification des interventions pour chacune des personnes à qui ils offrent des services par le biais du plan d’intervention. Cette étude vise à identifier les pratiques et les défis associés à l’élaboration de ces plans, en contexte d’ICI, du point de vue de membres de l’équipe d’intervention (21 intervenantes, 6 superviseures et 4 professionnelles). L’analyse des entretiens semi-structurés permet de préciser les pratiques et les défis perçus, notamment ceux associés aux caractéristiques de l’ICI (p. ex., son intensité), à la participation des parents dans le processus, au travail interdisciplinaire, à l’individualisation, à l’accès aux données probantes venant appuyer la planification de l’intervention et aux normes de l’établissement. The application of Early Intensive Behavior Intervention (EIBI) requires elaborating objectives and strategies for each child. This individualization process is essential for a quality intervention. By law, institutions are accountable for the planning of interventions for each person to whom they provide services through the intervention plan. This study aims to identify the practices and challenges associated with developing these plans, within EIBI, as perceived by members of the intervention team (21 caseworkers, 6 supervisors, and 4 professionals). Analysis of semi-structured interviews helps identify perceived challenges, including those associated with intervention characteristics, parental involvement, interdisciplinary work, individualization, access to evidence-based data to support intervention planning and the standards of the institution

Inclusion in Quebec childcare centers: financial support, adaptation, and training

Abstract Background: Inclusion in childcare centers involves a support system that includes funding policies, inclusive practices and access to ongoing training. The province of Quebec (Canada) benefits from a network of subsidized childcare services for children from birth to 5 years old. Although two financial measures support educational childcare centers welcoming children with disabilities, there is a lack of knowledge about how these measures are used. Research questions: The research questions are: (1) How do childcare centers use financial measures to support inclusion? (2) What adaptations are made in childcare centers? and (3) What is the ongoing training of educators to support inclusion? Method: This research presents the results of an online survey completed by 94 childcare management staff and 154 childcare educators. The survey was developed using a two-way process involving the researchers along with representatives from government ministries and agencies and childcare management staff. Results: Results reveal that just over half of management staff request financial measures for all children with special needs and does so mainly to hire additional and specialized human resources and replace staff in meetings with specialized services. The financial measures are perceived to meet material adaptation needs better than those for human resources. Adaptations made by educators relate to instructions, individual interventions, equipment, group activities, physical environment, and schedule and routines. Over half the educators report that adaptations involving group activities and schedules and routines are the most difficult to implement. Less than half the managers and educators had received ongoing training on inclusive practices. Issues addressed during such training include commonly recognized interventions based on diagnoses, collaboration with parents, collaboration with partner agencies or institutions, instructions, individual interventions, group activities, equipment, physical environment, and schedules and routines. Discussion: Results are discussed in terms of (1) needs met and funding model, and (2) dimensions of quality inclusive practices such as leadership of childcare management staff, training and professional development, collaboration with health and specialized social services, learning environments and partnership with families