A Descriptive Study of Health Literacy and Social Determinants of Health as Curricula Topics in Medical School Education

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent to which health literacy and social determinants of health exist together in medical school curricula, and the attitudes and beliefs of medical school educators toward the relevance of these topics taught in the curriculum. The research used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design of institutions that comprised the Accelerating Change in Medical Education (ACE) Consortium of the American Medical Association. The study population was 36 ACE institutions, but only 11 ACE institutions made up the study sample. Results also showed that five health literacy items were taught as curricula topics in medical school education with 100% (n = 10) of the respondents teaching how to use plain language skills for oral communication. Respondents rated the level at which their institution prioritized instructional methods to explicitly teach social determinants of health as a topic in the medical curriculum with three (27.3%) ranking the priority level as extremely high, seven (63.6%) ranking it as high, and one (9.1%) ranking it as low. Medical educators rated five social determinants of health influencing a person’s health status, with “economic stability” and “social and community context” having the first and second highest mean rankings, respectively. Nine (81.5%) medical educators agreed that health literacy is a social determinant of health (M = 8.73) and a predictor of health status (M = 7.82)

Segregation and precipitation of Er in Ge

Although Er-doped Genanomaterials are attractive for photonic applications, very little is known about the basic properties of Er in Ge. Here, the authors study the annealing behavior of Geimplanted with keV Er ions to doses resulting in ≲1at.% of Er. Large redistribution of Er, with segregation at the amorphous/crystalline interface, starts at ≳500°C, while lower temperatures are required for material recrystallization. However, even at 400°C, Er forms precipitates. The concentration of Er trapped in the bulk after recrystallization decreases with increasing temperature but is independent of the initial bulk Er concentration for the range of ion doses studied here.Work at the ANU was supported by the ARC

Deformation behavior of ion-irradiated polyimide

We study nanoindentationhardness, Young’s modulus, and tensile strength of polyimide (Kapton H) films bombarded with MeV light ions in the predominantly electronic stopping power regime. Results show that, for all the ion irradiation conditions studied, bombardment increases the hardness and Young’s modulus and decreases the tensile strength. These changes depend close to linearly on ion fluence and superlinearly (with a power-law exponent factor of ∼1.5) on electronic energy loss. Physical mechanisms of radiation-induced changes to mechanical properties of polyimide are discussed.This work was performed under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Energy by the University of California, LLNL under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48. The project (03-FS- 027) was funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at LLNL

Growth and evolution of tetracyanoquinodimethane and potassium coadsorption phases on Ag(111)

Alkali-doping is a very efficient way of tuning the electronic properties of active molecular layers in (opto-) electronic devices based on organic semiconductors. In this context, we report on the phase formation and evolution of charge transfer salts formed by 7, 7, 8, 8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in coadsorption with potassium on a Ag(111) surface. Based on an in-situ study using low energy electron microscopy and diffraction we identify the structural properties of four phases with different stoichiometries, and follow their growth and inter-phase transitions. We label these four phases α to δ, with increasing K content, the last two of which (γ and δ-phases) have not been previously reported. During TCNQ deposition on a K-precovered Ag(111) surface we find a superior stability of δ-phase islands compared to the γ-phase; continued TCNQ deposition leads to a direct transition from the δ to the β-phase when the K : TCNQ ratio corresponding to this phase regime is reached, with no intermediate γ-phase formation. When, instead, K is deposited on a surface precovered with large islands of the low density commensurate (LDC) TCNQ phase that are surrounded by a TCNQ 2D-gas, we observe two different scenarios: on the one hand, in the 2D-gas phase regions, very small α-phase islands are formed (close to the resolution limit of the microscope, 10–15 nm), which transform to β-phase islands of similar size with increasing K deposition. On the other hand, the large (micrometer-sized) TCNQ islands transform directly to similarly large single-domain β-phase islands, the formation of the intermediate α-phase being suppressed. This frustration of the LDC-to-α transition can be lifted by performing the experiment at elevated temperature. In this sense, the morphology of the pure TCNQ submonolayer is conserved during phase transitions

Effects of carbon on ion-implantation-induced disorder in GaN

Wurtzite GaN films bombarded with 40keV C ions to high doses (5×10¹⁷ and 1×10¹⁸cm⁻²) are studied by a combination of Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Results show that, contrary to other ion species, implanted C forms nitrilelike carbon-nitride bonds (—C≡N) and suppresses ion-beam-induced material decomposition involving the formation and agglomeration of ≳5-nm-large N₂ gas bubbles.Work at the ANU was supported by the ARC. The ALS is supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of BES, Materials Sciences Division, of the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098 at LBNL

Comparative experimental study of x-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy on passivated U surfaces

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy are complementary analytical techniques on energy and spatial resolution. These techniques are based on the same fundamental physical process of core excitation with either an incident photon or incident electron. In the proper experimental configuration the electron and photon inelastic scattering amplitudes are comparable and thus the x-ray and electron absorption edges look identical. We have applied these two complementary analytical techniques to investigate the electronic structure of C ion implanted U. Implantation of C{sup +} ions into U{sup 238} has been shown to produce a physically and chemically modified surface layer that passivates the surface preventing further air oxidation and corrosion. Comparison of the resultant spectra reveal that transitions between the initial state and a series of final states yield numerous strong features at the absorption edge that can provide structural information and information on the local chemical environment, including the character of the U 5f state

Hydrogen adsorption on Pd(133) surface

In this study used is an approach based on measurements of the total energy distribution (TED) of field emitted electrons in order to examine the properties of Pd (133) from the aspect of both hydrogen adsorption and surface hydrides formation. The most favourable sites offered to a hydrogen atom to be adsorbed have been indicated and an attempt to describe the peaks of the enhancement factor R spectrum to the specific adsorption sites has also been made.Comment: to be submitted to the Centr. Eur. J. Phy

The lowa farmer and world war II

World War II is the biggest fact in the Iowa farm situation. Though Iowa is far removed from air bombing and submarine torpedoing, it is on the battle front so far as economic and social effects of the war are concerned. Iowa’s commercial agriculture underwent terrific strain during and following World War I, and the pressures arising out of World War II promise to be similar, although less severe. It is the purpose of this report to estimate what some of these pressures will be. An understanding of the social and economic forces at work is necessary before plans can be made and action taken to ease the shock of war. The experience of the earlier war helps us to understand these forces, but that experience must be interpreted in light of the changed situation today

Uranium passivation by C+ implantation: a photoemission and secondary ion mass spectrometry study

Implantation of 33 keV C{sup +} ions into polycrystalline U{sup 238} with a dose of 4.3 x 10{sup 17} cm{sup -2} produces a physically and chemically modified surface layer that prevents further air oxidation and corrosion. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry were used to investigate the surface chemistry and electronic structure of this C{sup +} ion implanted polycrystalline uranium and a non-implanted region of the sample, both regions exposed to air for more than a year. In addition, scanning electron microscopy was used to examine and compare the surface morphology of the two regions. The U 4f, O 1s and C 1s core-level and valence band spectra clearly indicate carbide formation in the modified surface layer. The time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling results reveal an oxy-carbide surface layer over an approximately 200 nm thick UC layer with little or no residual oxidation at the carbide layer/U metal transitional interface

Theory of adsorbate induced surface reconstruction on W(100)

We report results of a theoretical study on an adsorbate induced surface reconstruction. Hydrogen adsorption on a W(100) surface causes a switching transition in the symmetry of the displacements of the W atoms within the ordered c(2x2) phase. This transition is modeled by an effective Hamiltonian, where the hydrogen degrees of freedom are integrated out. Based on extensive Monte Carlo renormalisation group calculations we show that the switching transition is of second order at high temperatures and of first order at low temperatures. This behavior is qualitatively explained in terms of an XY model where there is an interplay between four and eight fold anisotropy fields. We also compare the calculated phase diagrams with a simple mean field theory.Comment: CSC Preprint, 31 pages (plain TeX file, no figures