Ethical resource allocation: a proposed framework

The purpose of the essay will be to discuss an ethical resource allocation decision support tool the author of this essay helped design for use by United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care administrators. This will include discussions of the process of the tool’s purpose and design, related business ethics and management literature, and ways in which the tool was improved through multiple revision cycles based on user feedback and the management literature. As civil servants, VA health care administrators are fiduciaries of public funds and are accountable to the public for their disposition of those funds and other public resources. They are obligated to allocate the limited resources provided to them from tax revenues as effectively and efficiently as possible and in accordance with public wishes. The success of VA in allocating its limited resources also has significant public health relevance. Public health, as broadly defined by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, is “what we as a society do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy.” Given that VA is publicly funded and government-run, its public health actions are our actions as a society. Focusing primarily on a specific but large population, viz., military Veterans and their immediate families, VA engages directly in many various activities that ensure people can be healthy and that help them return to health when they become unhealthy. These activities include a full range of direct health care services, population-level infectious disease management, epidemiological research, and health and wellness promotion

Conservation Easements and Climate Change

The current law of conservation easements does not recognize the full potential for carbon capture resulting from land conservation, in part because the tax code limits the types of land that may benefit from such easements. Current laws will need to be revised and expanded to better recognize the climate change benefits that could be achieved from placing land under conservation easements

Modal quantum theory

We present a discrete model theory similar in structure to ordinary quantum mechanics, but based on a finite field instead of complex amplitudes. The interpretation of this theory involves only the "modal" concepts of possibility and necessity rather than quantitative probability measures. Despite its simplicity, our model theory includes entangled states and has versions of both Bell's theorem and the no cloning theorem.Comment: Presented at the 7th Workshop on Quantum Physics and Logic, Oxford University (29-30 May 2010). Revised 1 Aug 2011 in response to referee comment

The computational complexity of PEPS

We determine the computational power of preparing Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS), as well as the complexity of classically simulating them, and generally the complexity of contracting tensor networks. While creating PEPS allows to solve PP problems, the latter two tasks are both proven to be #P-complete. We further show how PEPS can be used to approximate ground states of gapped Hamiltonians, and that creating them is easier than creating arbitrary PEPS. The main tool for our proofs is a duality between PEPS and postselection which allows to use existing results from quantum compexity.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Published version, plus a few extra

Carbon-Rich Mira Variables: Radial Velocities and Distances

Optical radial velocities have been measured for 38 C-type Mira variables. These data together with others in the literature are used to study the differences between optical and CO mm observations for C-Miras and the necessary corrections to the optical velocities are derived in order to obtain the true radial velocities of the variables. The difference between absorption and emission line velocities is also examined. A particularly large difference (+30 km\s) is found in the case of the H-alpha emission line. A catalogue is given of 177 C-Miras with estimated distances and radial velocities. The distances are based on bolometric magnitudes derived in Paper I using SAAO observations or (for 60 of the stars) using non-SAAO photometry. In the latter case the necessary transformations to the SAAO system are derived. These data will be used in paper III to study the kinematics of the C-Miras.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

Changes in employment status, barriers to, and facilitators of (return to) work in breast cancer survivors 5-10 years after diagnosis

Purpose: To qualitatively investigate changes in employment status, barriers to and facilitators of (return to) work in breast cancer survivors 5-10 years after diagnosis. Materials and methods: Women were eligible to participate in the focus groups if they were younger than 55 years and were employed at time of diagnosis. Data were analysed by two independent researchers using thematic content analysis. Results: Nineteen women participated in three semi-structured focus groups, of whom 18 reported a change in employment status 5-10 years after diagnosis. Perceived barriers to (return to) work shortly after breast cancer diagnosis tended to be disease- and treatment-related, while 5-10 years later, they were personal- and work-related. Participants recommended open communication and support at the workplace, and comprehensive information from (occupational) health care professionals to facilitate dealing with breast cancer at work. Conclusions: Breast cancer survivors still experience changes in employment status 5-10 years after diagnosis. (Occupational) health care professionals should be alert that perceived barriers for returning to work change over time. Future research should focus on increasing awareness (at work) of breast cancer survivors' needs, providing adequate information and support to all involved, and developing interventions to sustain survivors' work ability at the long term.</p

Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90252/1/phco.29.6.691.pd