Topologica Defects and Corrections to the Nambu Action

The effective action of a (1+2)-dimensional defect is obtained as an expansion in powers of the thickness.Considering non-straight solutions as the zero order term, the corrections to the Nambu action are found to depend on the curvature scalar and on the gaussian curvature .Comment: UNB.FIS.FM-002/92, Marcos@FNAL, 12 pages, Late

Mobilization for Low Intensity Conflict

On 22 July 1982 President Reagan revised US mobilization policy through NSDD 47. His goal was to develop an emergency mobilization preparedness capability that will ensure that government at all levels, in partnership with the private sector and the American people, can respond decisively and effectively to any major national emergency, with defense of the United States as the first priority

Employer Health Benefits 2016 Annual Survey

This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions. The 2016 survey included almost 1,900 interviews with non-federal public and private firms.Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $18,142 this year, up 3 percent from last year, with workers on average paying$5,277 towards the cost of their coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Education Trust 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey. The 2016 survey includes information on the use of incentives for employer wellness programs, plan cost-sharing as well as firm offer rate. Survey results are released here in a variety of ways, including a full report with downloadable tables on a variety of topics, summary of findings, and an article published in the journal Health Affairs

The Parthenon, January 23, 2015

The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper, is published by students Monday through Friday during the regular semester and weekly Thursday during the summer. The editorial staff is responsible for the news and the editorial content

Defect mediated manipulation of nanoclusters on an insulator

With modern scanning probe microscopes, it is possible to manipulate surface structures even at the atomic level. However, manipulation of nanoscale objects such as clusters is often more relevant and also more challenging due to the complicated interactions between the surface, cluster and apparatus. We demonstrate the manipulation of nanometer scale gold clusters on the NaCl(001) surface with a non-contact atomic force microscope, and show that the movement of clusters is in certain cases constrained to specific crystallographic directions. First principles calculations explain this kinetic anisotropy as the result of the cluster attaching to surface defects: cation vacancies allow the clusters to bond in such a way that they only move in one direction. Constraining the movement of clusters could be exploited in the construction of nanostructures or nanomechanical devices, and the manipulation signatures may also be used for identifying cluster-defect complexes.Peer reviewe

Advance directives in home health and hospice agencies: United States, 2007

This report provides nationally representative data on policies, storage, and implementation of advance directives (ADs) in home health and hospice (HHH) agencies in the United States using the National Home and Hospice Care Survey. Federally mandated ADs policies were followed in >93% of all agencies. Nearly all agencies stored ADs in a file at the agency, but only half stored them at the patient's residence. Nearly all agencies informed staff about the AD, but only 77% and 72% of home health agencies informed the attending physician and next-of-kin, respectively. Home health and hospice agencies are nearly universally compliant with ADs policies that are required in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, but have much lower rates of adoption of ADs policies beyond federally mandated minimums