3,621 research outputs found
The role of regulation in influencing income-generating activities among public sector doctors in Peru.
OBJECTIVE: To examine in Peru the nature of dual practice (doctors holding two jobs at once - usually public sector doctors with private practices), the factors that influence individuals' decisions to undertake dual practice, the conditions faced when doing so and the potential role of regulatory intervention in this area. METHODS: The study entailed qualitative interviews with a sample of twenty medical practitioners based in metropolitan Lima, representing a cross-section of those primarily employed in either the private or public sectors and engaged in clinical practice or policy making. The interviews focused on: 1. individuals' experience with dual practice; 2. the general underlying pressures that influence the nature and extent of such activities; and 3. attitudes toward, and the influence of, regulation on such activities. RESULTS: Dual practice is an activity that is widespread and well-accepted, and the prime personal motivation is financial. However, there are also a number of important broad macroeconomic influences on dual practice particularly the oversupply of medical services, the deregulated nature of this market, and the economic crisis throughout the country, which combine to create major hardships for those attempting to make a living through medical practice. There is some support among doctors for tighter regulation. CONCLUSION: Research findings suggest appropriate policy responses to dual practice involve tighter controls on the supply of medical practitioners; alleviation of financial pressures brought by macro-economic conditions; and closer regulation of such activities to ensure some degree of collective action over quality and the maintenance of professional reputations. Further research into this issue in rural areas is needed to ascertain the geographical generalizability of these policy responses
Restorative Dentistry: Dental composite depth of cure with halogen and blue light emitting diode technology
Objectives To test the hypothesis that a blue light emitting diode (LED) light curing unit (LCU) can produce an equal dental composite depth of cure to a halogen LCU adjusted to give an irradiance of 300 mWcmâ2 and to characterise the LCU's light outputs. Materials and methods Depth of cure for three popular composites was determined using a penetrometer. The Student's t test was used to analyse the depth of cure results. A power meter and a spectrometer measured the light output. Results The spectral distribution of the LCUs differed strongly. The irradiance for the LED and halogen LCUs were 290 mWcmâ2 and 455 mWcmâ2, when calculated from the scientific power meter measurements. The LED LCU cured all three dental composites to a significantly greater (P < 0.05) depth than the halogen LCU. Conclusions An LED LCU with an irradiance 64% of a halogen LCU achieved a significantly greater depth of cure. The LCU's spectral distribution of emitted light should be considered in addition to irradiance as a performance indicator. LED LCUs may have a potential for use in dental practice because their performance does not significantly reduce with time as do conventional halogen LCUs
Constraining the Inclination of Binary Mergers from Gravitational-wave Observations
Much of the information we hope to extract from the gravitational-waves
signatures of compact binaries is only obtainable when we can accurately
constrain the inclination of the source. In this paper, we discuss in detail a
degeneracy between the measurement of the binary distance and inclination which
limits our ability to accurately measure the inclination using gravitational
waves alone. This degeneracy is exacerbated by the expected distribution of
events in the universe, which leads us to prefer face-on systems at a greater
distance. We use a simplified model that only considers the binary distance and
orientation, and show that this gives comparable results to the full parameter
estimates obtained from the binary neutron star merger GW170817. For the
advanced LIGO-Virgo network, it is only signals which are close to edge-on,
with an inclination greater than that will be distinguishable
from face-on systems. For extended networks which have good sensitivity to both
gravitational wave polarizations, for face-on systems we will only be able to
constrain the inclination of a signal with SNR 20 to be or less,
and even for loud signals, with SNR of 100, the inclination of a face-on signal
will only be constrained to . For black hole mergers observed at
cosmological distances, in the absence of higher modes or orbital precession,
the strong degeneracy between inclination and distance dominates the
uncertainty in measurement of redshift and hence the masses of the black holes
Homeless Utility Vehicle Project
School of Art and Design: Integrative Project ThesisArt and Design, School ofUniversity of MichiganUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60508/1/IPThesis_Mills.pd
Campaign Professionals: party officials and the professionalisation of Australian politics
Australian political parties and election campaigns are often said to have become professionalised, yet the term lacks clear definition and the nature of professionalisation as a process of institutional change is poorly articulated. This thesis elaborates the nature, the timing and the drivers of the changes in Australian elections and political parties, principally through depth interviews with present and former officials of the two major Australian political parties, who occupy the important but long neglected third face in Katz and Mairâs model of political parties. The interview data reveal the distinctive identity of party officials as âcampaign professionalsâ, and provide a robust definition of professionalism in a party context: the officials are paid, they have high levels of technical competence, and they are devoted as partisans to the electoral interests of their client, the party. The interviews also provide new evidence about professionalisation as a process of institutional change. The national party officials are central to this process, creating a professional campaign model through centralising campaign authority in their own hands at the expense of state branches and, at times, of the party leaders; through taking responsibility for developing and implementing campaign strategies; and through acquiring the financial and other resources necessary to sustain this new style of campaigning. Over a three-phase process of professionalisation â identified as an emergent phase (from 1945 to 1972), an intensification phase (1973 â 2000) and a phase of diversification and deadlock (from 2001) - this model has come to dominate Australian party campaigning. Political parties are in some senses increasingly embattled, with radically declining party membership, a weakened linkage role, and increased electoral volatility. But in other respects as this thesis demonstrates, their campaigning capacities, with their campaig n professionals as central agents, continue to become better! resourc ed and they remain strongly entrenched and empowered in Australian elections
Sublime Subjects and Ticklish Objects in Early Modern English Utopias
Critical theory has historically situated the beginning of the âmodernâ era of subjectivity near the end of the seventeenth century. Michel Foucault himself once said in an interview that modernity began with the writings of the late seventeenth-century philosopher Benedict Spinoza. But an examination of early modern English utopian literature demonstrates that a modern notion of subjectivity can be found in texts that pre-date Spinoza. In this dissertation, I examine four utopian textsâThomas Moreâs Utopia, Francis Baconâs New Atlantis, Margaret Cavendishâs Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World, and Henry Nevilleâs Isle of Pinesâthrough the paradigm of Jacques Lacanâs tripartite model of subjectivityâthe Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. To mediate between Lacanâs psychoanalytic model and the historical aspects of these texts, such as their relationship with print culture and their engagement with political developments in seventeenth-century England, I employ the theories of the Marxist-Lacanian philosopher, Slavoj ĆœiĆŸek, to show that âearly modernâ subjectivity is in in fact no different from critical theoryâs âmodernâ subject, despite pre-dating the supposed inception of such subjectivity. In addition, I engage with other prominent theorists, including Fredric Jameson, Jacques Derrida, and Donna Haraway, to come to an understanding about the ways in which critical theory can be useful to understand not only early modern literature, but also the contemporary, ârealâ world and the subjectivity we all seek to attain
Towards Grid Interoperability
The Grid paradigm promises to provide global access to computing resources, data storage and experimental instruments. It also provides an elegant solution to many resource administration and provisioning problems while offering a platform for collaboration and resource sharing. Although substantial progress has been made towards these goals, nevertheless there is still a lot of work to be done until the Grid can deliver its promises. One of the central issues is the development of standards and Grid interoperability. Job execution is one of the key capabilities in all Grid environments. This is a well understood, mature area with standards and implementations. This paper describes some proof of concept experiments demonstrating the interoperability between various Grid environments
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