Global Nurse Migration Today

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74033/1/j.1547-5069.2007.00201.x.pd

Verschraenkung versus Stosszahlansatz: Disappearance of the Thermodynamic Arrow in a High-Correlation Environment

The crucial role of ambient correlations in determining thermodynamic behavior is established. A class of entangled states of two macroscopic systems is constructed such that each component is in a state of thermal equilibrium at a given temperature, and when the two are allowed to interact heat can flow from the colder to the hotter system. A dilute gas model exhibiting this behavior is presented. This reversal of the thermodynamic arrow is a consequence of the entanglement between the two systems, a condition that is opposite to molecular chaos and shown to be unlikely in a low-entropy environment. By contrast, the second law is established by proving Clausius' inequality in a low-entropy environment. These general results strongly support the expectation, first expressed by Boltzmann and subsequently elaborated by others, that the second law is an emergent phenomenon that requires a low-entropy cosmological environment, one that can effectively function as an ideal information sink.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX

Nurses, nannies and caring work: importation, visibility and marketability

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75248/1/j.1440-1800.2006.00320.x.pd

Development of Uniform Microstructures in Immiscible Alloys by Processing in a Low-Gravity Environment

Highly segregated macrostructures tend to develop during processing of hypermonotectic alloys because of the density difference existing between the two liquid phases. The approximately 4.6 seconds of low-gravity provided by Marshall Space Flight Center's 105 meter drop tube was utilized to minimize density-driven separation and promote uniform microstructures in hypermonotectic Ag-Ni and Ag-Mn alloys. For the Ag-Ni alloys a numerical model was developed to track heat flow and solidification of the bi-metal drop configuration. Results, potential applications, and future work are presented

Using Sociograms to Enhance Power and Voice in Focus Groups

ObjectiveTo discuss the use of sociograms in our focus groups with homeless sheltered mothers and to assess facilitator influence and the distribution of power influence.Design and SampleAn exploratory, descriptive qualitative design that utilizes both focus groups and sociograms. Two focus groups were conducted in December 2009 (N = 7) and January 2010 (N = 4). Data analysis included a content analysis and a process analysis using sociograms to graphically represent group participant dynamics.ResultsUse of the sociogram provided a means to assess the influence of the facilitator as well as quantify the degree to which group participants' voices are included.ConclusionUsing sociograms provides a viable mechanism to complement content analysis and increase the methodological rigor of focus groups in health care research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113728/1/phn12199.pd

Dynamic Stability of a Composite Circular Cylindrical Shell Subjected to Combined Axial and Torsional Loading

The dynamic stability of thin, clamped, composite circular cylindrical shells is studied for combined axial and torsional loading. Each load is taken to be har monically varying; the frequencies of the two loads differ, in general. For the case in which the frequencies are commensurate, the applied load function is periodic. The equa tions of motion for the shell are reduced to a system of Hill equations by means of Fourier series expansions. Instability regions of principal and combination parametric resonance are determined by use of the monodromy matrix. Numerical results are generated for boron-epoxy layered shells for various cases of pure axial, pure torsional, and combined loading. The width of the principal instability region is presented as a function of fiber ori entation for a laminate case. Stability diagrams are presented covering about 6 times the lowest natural frequency for various ratios of the applied axial and torsional frequencies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66879/2/10.1177_002199839302701802.pd

The Boltzmann Entropy for Dense Fluids Not in Local Equilibrium

We investigate, via computer simulations, the time evolution of the (Boltzmann) entropy of a dense fluid not in local equilibrium. The macrovariables $M$ describing the system are the (empirical) particle density f=\{f(\un{x},\un{v})\} and the total energy $E$. We find that $S(f_t,E)$ is monotone increasing in time even when its kinetic part is decreasing. We argue that for isolated Hamiltonian systems monotonicity of $S(M_t) = S(M_{X_t})$ should hold generally for ``typical'' (the overwhelming majority of) initial microstates (phase-points) $X_0$ belonging to the initial macrostate $M_0$, satisfying $M_{X_0} = M_0$. This is a direct consequence of Liouville's theorem when $M_t$ evolves autonomously.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to PR

Fluid/solid transition in a hard-core system

We prove that a system of particles in the plane, interacting only with a certain hard-core constraint, undergoes a fluid/solid phase transition