SRTR Program-Specific Reports on Outcomes: A Guide for the New Reader

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72405/1/j.1600-6143.2008.02178.x.pd

Patient Selection and Volume in the Era Surrounding Implementation of Medicare Conditions of Participation for Transplant Programs

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110882/1/hesr12188.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110882/2/hesr12188-sup-0001-AuthorMatrix.pd

Phase Space Structures Explain Hydrogen Atom Roaming in Formaldehyde Decomposition

We re-examine the prototypical roaming reaction—hydrogen atom roaming in formaldehyde decomposition—from a phase space perspective. Specifically, we address the question “why do trajectories roam, rather than dissociate through the radical channel?” We describe and compute the phase space structures that define and control all possible reactive events for this reaction, as well as provide a dynamically exact description of the roaming region in phase space. Using these phase space constructs, we show that in the roaming region, there is an unstable periodic orbit whose stable and unstable manifolds define a conduit that both encompasses all roaming trajectories exiting the formaldehyde well and shepherds them toward the H2···CO well

Spinons in a Crossed-Chains Model of a 2D Spin Liquid

Using Random Phase Approximation, we show that a crossed-chains model of a spin-1/2 Heisenberg spins, with frustrated interchain couplings, has a non-dimerized spin-liquid ground state in 2D, with deconfined spinons as the elementary excitations. The results are confirmed by a bosonization study, which shows that the system is an example of a `sliding Luttinger liquid'. In an external field, the system develops an incommensurate field-induced long range order with a finite transition temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; added references; scaling analysis, preserving spin rotational invariance, is extended to finite temperatur

Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters).

Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of "bare attention"--a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history

Optimal model complexity for terrestrial carbon cycle prediction

The terrestrial carbon cycle plays a critical role in modulating the interactions of climate with the Earth system, but different models often make vastly different predictions of its behavior. Efforts to reduce model uncertainty have commonly focused on model structure, namely by introducing additional processes and increasing structural complexity. However, the extent to which increased structural complexity can directly improve predictive skill is unclear. While adding processes may improve realism, the resulting models are often encumbered by a greater number of poorly determined or over-generalized parameters. To guide efficient model development, here we map the theoretical relationship between model complexity and predictive skill. To do so, we developed 16 structurally distinct carbon cycle models spanning an axis of complexity and incorporated them into a model–data fusion system. We calibrated each model at six globally distributed eddy covariance sites with long observation time series and under 42 data scenarios that resulted in different degrees of parameter uncertainty. For each combination of site, data scenario, and model, we then predicted net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and leaf area index (LAI) for validation against independent local site data. Though the maximum model complexity we evaluated is lower than most traditional terrestrial biosphere models, the complexity range we explored provides universal insight into the inter-relationship between structural uncertainty, parametric uncertainty, and model forecast skill. Specifically, increased complexity only improves forecast skill if parameters are adequately informed (e.g., when NEE observations are used for calibration). Otherwise, increased complexity can degrade skill and an intermediate-complexity model is optimal. This finding remains consistent regardless of whether NEE or LAI is predicted. Our COMPLexity EXperiment (COMPLEX) highlights the importance of robust observation-based parameterization for land surface modeling and suggests that data characterizing net carbon fluxes will be key to improving decadal predictions of high-dimensional terrestrial biosphere models.</p

Hairy Black Holes in String Theory

Solutions of bosonic string theory are constructed which correspond to four-dimensional black holes with axionic quantum hair. The basic building blocks are the renormalization group flows of the CP1 model with a theta term and the SU(1,1)/U(1) WZW coset conformal field theory. However the solutions are also found to have negative energy excitations, and are accordingly expected to decay to the vacuum.Comment: 14 pages (References added