815 research outputs found
"Are you accepting new patients?" A pilot field experiment on telephone-based gatekeeping and Black patients' access to pediatric care.
STUDY OBJECTIVES:
To determine whether name and accent cues that the caller is Black shape physician offices' responses to telephone-based requests for well-child visits.
METHOD AND DATA:
In this pilot study, we employed a quasi-experimental audit design and examined a stratified national sample of pediatric and family practice offices. Our final data include information from 205 audits (410 completed phone calls). Qualitative data were blind-coded into binary variables. Our case-control comparisons using McNemar's tests focused on acceptance of patients, withholding information, shaping conversations, and misattributions.
FINDINGS:
Compared to the control group, "Black" auditors were less likely to be told an office was accepting new patients and were more likely to experience both withholding behaviors and misattributions about public insurance. The strength of associations varied according to whether the cue was based on name or accent. Additionally, the likelihood and ways office personnel communicated that they were not accepting patients varied by region.
CONCLUSIONS:
Linguistic profiling over the telephone is an aspect of structural racism that should be further studied and perhaps integrated into efforts to promote equitable access to care. Future research should look reactions to both name and accent, taking practice characteristics and regional differences into consideration
Origin of resistivity anomaly in p-type leads chalcogenide multiphase compounds
The electrical resistivity curves for binary phase compounds of p-type lead chalcogenide (PbTe)(0.9âx)(PbSe)0.1(PbS)x, (x = 0.15, 0.2, 0.25), which contain PbS-rich secondary phases, show different behaviour on heating and cooling between 500-700 K. This is contrast to single phase compounds which exhibit similar behaviour on heating and cooling. We correlate these anomalies in the electrical resistivities of multiphase compounds to the variation in phase composition at high temperatures. The inhomogeneous distribution of dopants between the matrix and secondary phase is found to be crucial in the electronic transport properties of the multiphase compounds. These results can lead to further advances in designing composite Pb-chalcogenides with high thermoelectric performance
Localization dynamics in a binary two-dimensional cellular automaton: the Diffusion Rule
We study a two-dimensional cellular automaton (CA), called Diffusion Rule
(DR), which exhibits diffusion-like dynamics of propagating patterns. In
computational experiments we discover a wide range of mobile and stationary
localizations (gliders, oscillators, glider guns, puffer trains, etc), analyze
spatio-temporal dynamics of collisions between localizations, and discuss
possible applications in unconventional computing.Comment: Accepted to Journal of Cellular Automat
Dispersive properties of quasi-phase-matched optical parametric amplifiers
The dispersive properties of non-degenerate optical parametric amplification
in quasi-phase-matched (QPM) nonlinear quadratic crystals with an arbitrary
grating profile are theoretically investigated in the no-pump-depletion limit.
The spectral group delay curve of the amplifier is shown to be univocally
determined by its spectral power gain curve through a Hilbert transform. Such a
constraint has important implications on the propagation of spectrally-narrow
optical pulses through the amplifier. In particular, it is shown that anomalous
transit times, corresponding to superluminal or even negative group velocities,
are possible near local minima of the spectral gain curve. A possible
experimental observation of such effects using a QPM Lithium-Niobate crystal is
suggested.Comment: submitted for publicatio
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Spectral Legacy Survey
Original article can be found at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/loi/pasp Copyright University of Chicago Press / AAS. DOI: 10.1086/511161Stars form in the densest, coldest, most quiescent regions of molecular clouds. Molecules provide the only probes that can reveal the dynamics, physics, chemistry, and evolution of these regions, but our understanding of the molecular inventory of sources and how this is related to their physical state and evolution is rudimentary and incomplete. The Spectral Legacy Survey (SLS) is one of seven surveys recently approved by the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Board of Directors. Beginning in 2007, the SLS will produce a spectral imaging survey of the content and distribution of all the molecules detected in the 345 GHz atmospheric window (between 332 and 373 GHz) toward a sample of five sources. Our intended targets are a low-mass core (NGC 1333 IRAS 4), three high-mass cores spanning a range of star-forming environments and evolutionary states (W49, AFGL 2591, and IRAS 20126), and a photodissociation region (the Orion Bar). The SLS will use the unique spectral imaging capabilities of HARP-B/ACSIS (Heterodyne Array Receiver Programme B/Auto- Correlation Spectrometer and Imaging System) to study the molecular inventory and the physical structure of these objects, which span different evolutionary stages and physical environments and to probe their evolution during the star formation process. As its name suggests, the SLS will provide a lasting data legacy from the JCMT that is intended to benefit the entire astronomical community. As such, the entire data set (including calibrated spectral data cubes, maps of molecular emission, line identifications, and calculations of the gas temperature and column density) will be publicly available.Peer reviewe
A framework for the local information dynamics of distributed computation in complex systems
The nature of distributed computation has often been described in terms of
the component operations of universal computation: information storage,
transfer and modification. We review the first complete framework that
quantifies each of these individual information dynamics on a local scale
within a system, and describes the manner in which they interact to create
non-trivial computation where "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts".
We describe the application of the framework to cellular automata, a simple yet
powerful model of distributed computation. This is an important application,
because the framework is the first to provide quantitative evidence for several
important conjectures about distributed computation in cellular automata: that
blinkers embody information storage, particles are information transfer agents,
and particle collisions are information modification events. The framework is
also shown to contrast the computations conducted by several well-known
cellular automata, highlighting the importance of information coherence in
complex computation. The results reviewed here provide important quantitative
insights into the fundamental nature of distributed computation and the
dynamics of complex systems, as well as impetus for the framework to be applied
to the analysis and design of other systems.Comment: 44 pages, 8 figure
Ab initio and finite-temperature molecular dynamics studies of lattice resistance in tantalum
This manuscript explores the apparent discrepancy between experimental data
and theoretical calculations of the lattice resistance of bcc tantalum. We
present the first results for the temperature dependence of the Peierls stress
in this system and the first ab initio calculation of the zero-temperature
Peierls stress to employ periodic boundary conditions, which are those best
suited to the study of metallic systems at the electron-structure level. Our ab
initio value for the Peierls stress is over five times larger than current
extrapolations of experimental lattice resistance to zero-temperature. Although
we do find that the common techniques for such extrapolation indeed tend to
underestimate the zero-temperature limit, the amount of the underestimation
which we observe is only 10-20%, leaving open the possibility that mechanisms
other than the simple Peierls stress are important in controlling the process
of low temperature slip.Comment: 12 pages and 9 figure
Production of Medical Radioisotopes with High Specific Activity in Photonuclear Reactions with Beams of High Intensity and Large Brilliance
We study the production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine in
photonuclear reactions or ()
photoexcitation reactions with high flux [()/s], small
diameter m and small band width () beams produced by Compton back-scattering of laser
light from relativistic brilliant electron beams. We compare them to (ion,np) reactions with (ion=p,d,) from particle accelerators like
cyclotrons and (n,) or (n,f) reactions from nuclear reactors. For
photonuclear reactions with a narrow beam the energy deposition in the
target can be managed by using a stack of thin target foils or wires, hence
avoiding direct stopping of the Compton and pair electrons (positrons).
isomer production via specially selected cascades
allows to produce high specific activity in multiple excitations, where no
back-pumping of the isomer to the ground state occurs. We discuss in detail
many specific radioisotopes for diagnostics and therapy applications.
Photonuclear reactions with beams allow to produce certain
radioisotopes, e.g. Sc, Ti, Cu, Pd, Sn,
Er, Pt or Ac, with higher specific activity and/or
more economically than with classical methods. This will open the way for
completely new clinical applications of radioisotopes. For example Pt
could be used to verify the patient's response to chemotherapy with platinum
compounds before a complete treatment is performed. Also innovative isotopes
like Sc, Cu and Ac could be produced for the first time
in sufficient quantities for large-scale application in targeted radionuclide
therapy.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys.
Extracting Br(omega->pi^+ pi^-) from the Time-like Pion Form-factor
We extract the G-parity-violating branching ratio Br(omega->pi^+ pi^-) from
the effective rho-omega mixing matrix element Pi_{rho omega}(s), determined
from e^+e^- -> pi^+ pi^- data. The omega->pi^+ pi^- partial width can be
determined either from the time-like pion form factor or through the constraint
that the mixed physical propagator D_{rho omega}^{mu nu}(s) possesses no poles.
The two procedures are inequivalent in practice, and we show why the first is
preferred, to find finally Br(omega->pi^+ pi^-) = 1.9 +/- 0.3%.Comment: 12 pages (published version
Charged pion form factor between Q^2=0.60 and 2.45 GeV^2. II. Determination of, and results for, the pion form factor
The charged pion form factor, Fpi(Q^2), is an important quantity which can be
used to advance our knowledge of hadronic structure. However, the extraction of
Fpi from data requires a model of the 1H(e,e'pi+)n reaction, and thus is
inherently model dependent. Therefore, a detailed description of the extraction
of the charged pion form factor from electroproduction data obtained recently
at Jefferson Lab is presented, with particular focus given to the dominant
uncertainties in this procedure. Results for Fpi are presented for
Q^2=0.60-2.45 GeV^2. Above Q^2=1.5 GeV^2, the Fpi values are systematically
below the monopole parameterization that describes the low Q^2 data used to
determine the pion charge radius. The pion form factor can be calculated in a
wide variety of theoretical approaches, and the experimental results are
compared to a number of calculations. This comparison is helpful in
understanding the role of soft versus hard contributions to hadronic structure
in the intermediate Q^2 regime.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
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