Physicians Among Us: The Lived Experience of Unlicensed Foreign Born and Educated Physicians Present in the US as they Retrain for Non-Physician Primary Care Roles.

There are as many as 65,000 unlicensed foreign born and trained doctors across the United States who are credentialed in their home countries but unable to practice in the U.S. The primary goal of this study was to describe and understand an understudied human experience: the lived experience of unlicensed foreign educated physicians who are present in the U.S. as they retrain for non-physician primary care roles. The theoretical frameworks undergirding the study are Jack Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory (TL), also referred to as Perspective Transformation as well as the complimentary perspectives of Otherness and Liminality theories. Seven FEPs were purposively sampled and chosen for this study. A ten-questionnaire instrument was developed. While site selection was an important consideration during the initial iteration of the methodology, due to disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews were conducted using ZOOM video conferencing technology. Participants were interviewed using the semi-structured interview protocol. Data were collected via 45-70 minute one-on-one interviews. A coding table consisting of five columns was designed for use in this study. The column headings included the participants’ pseudonym, direct quotes, units of meaning, deductive quotes, and notes. A separate table was used for each participant. As units of meaning emerged from the direct quotes, they were coded and organized by topic. From the topics, three main themes were generated (a) Migratory Patterns of FEPs (b) Beliefs about Obstacles and Challenges, and (c) Beliefs about Reclaiming the Self. The data were inductively and deductively thematically analyzed. Validity and Reliability were promoted by use of a) Member Checking, b) use of Rich, Thick Description, c) Theoretical Triangulation, and d) Clarifying Bias (bracketing & reflectivity). Results revealed that FEPs all experienced, though to varying degrees, all ten phases of Transformative Learning. Participants also, without exception experienced feelings of ambiguity, translocal identity, and self-doubt, particularly during the BSN phase of the BSN to MSN program. These feelings were all characteristic of Transformative, Othered and Liminal experiences. Findings also revealed that participants experienced a reclamation of the self, having endured the threshold, liminal, and othered encounters. Both Theory and Practice may be enriched through this research, as TL, Otherness and Liminality theories have not been extended to undergirding research around unlicensed FEPs. Future research is warranted as there are significant gaps in the formulation of a comprehensive body of knowledge around the phenomenon

Geologic framework of the 2005 Keathley Canyon gas hydrate research well, northern Gulf of Mexico

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine and Petroleum Geology 25 (2008): 906-918, doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.01.012.The Keathley Canyon sites drilled in 2005 by the Chevron Joint Industry Project are located along the southeastern edge of an intraslope minibasin (Casey basin) in the northern Gulf of Mexico at 1335 m water depth. Around the drill sites, a grid of 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic data designed to image depths down to at least 1000 m sub-bottom reveals 7 unconformities and disconformities that, with the seafloor, bound 7 identifiable seismic stratigraphic units. A major disconformity in the middle of the units stands out for its angular baselapping geometry. From these data, three episodes of sedimentary deposition and deformation are inferred. The oldest episode consists of fine-grained muds deposited during a period of relative stability in the basin (units e, f, and g). Both the BSR and inferred gas hydrate occur within these older units. The gas hydrate occurs in near-vertical fractures. A second episode (units c and d) involved large vertical displacements associated with infilling and ponding of sediment. This second interval corresponds to deposition of intercalated fine and coarse-grained material that was recovered in the drill hole that penetrated the thin edges of the regionally much thicker units. The final episode of deposition (units a and b) occurred during more subdued vertical motions. Hemipelagic drape (unit a) characterizes the modern seafloor. The present-day Casey basin is mostly filled. Its sill is part of a subsiding graben structure that is only 10–20 m shallower than the deepest point in the basin, indicating that gravity-driven transport would mostly bypass the basin. Contemporary faulting along the basin margins has selectively reactivated an older group of faults. The intercalated sand and mud deposits of units c and d are tentatively correlated with Late Pleistocene deposition derived from the western shelf-edge delta/depocenter of the Mississippi River, which was probably most active from 320 ka to 70 ka [Winker, C.D., Booth, J., 2000. Sedimentary dynamics of the salt-dominated continental slope, Gulf of Mexico: integration of observations from the seafloor, near-surface, and deep subsurface. In: Proceedings of the GCSSEPM Foundation 20th Annual Research Conference, Deep-water Reservoirs of the World, pp. 1059–1086]. The presence of sand within the gas hydrate stability zone (in units c and d) is not sufficient to concentrate gas hydrate even though dispersed gas hydrate occurs deeper in the fractured mud/clay-rich sections of units e and f.Partial support for the field and interpretive aspects of this project were provided by the Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Lab (NETL)

Elevated gas hydrate saturation within silt and silty clay sediments in the Shenhu area, South China Sea

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): B05102, doi:10.1029/2010JB007944.Gas hydrate saturations were estimated using five different methods in silt and silty clay foraminiferous sediments from drill hole SH2 in the South China Sea. Gas hydrate saturations derived from observed pore water chloride values in core samples range from 10 to 45% of the pore space at 190–221 m below seafloor (mbsf). Gas hydrate saturations estimated from resistivity (Rt) using wireline logging results are similar and range from 10 to 40.5% in the pore space. Gas hydrate saturations were also estimated by P wave velocity obtained during wireline logging by using a simplified three-phase equation (STPE) and effective medium theory (EMT) models. Gas hydrate saturations obtained from the STPE velocity model (41.0% maximum) are slightly higher than those calculated with the EMT velocity model (38.5% maximum). Methane analysis from a 69 cm long depressurized core from the hydrate-bearing sediment zone indicates that gas hydrate saturation is about 27.08% of the pore space at 197.5 mbsf. Results from the five methods show similar values and nearly identical trends in gas hydrate saturations above the base of the gas hydrate stability zone at depths of 190 to 221 mbsf. Gas hydrate occurs within units of clayey slit and silt containing abundant calcareous nannofossils and foraminifer, which increase the porosities of the fine-grained sediments and provide space for enhanced gas hydrate formation. In addition, gas chimneys, faults, and fractures identified from three-dimensional (3-D) and high-resolution two-dimensional (2-D) seismic data provide pathways for fluids migrating into the gas hydrate stability zone which transport methane for the formation of gas hydrate. Sedimentation and local canyon migration may contribute to higher gas hydrate saturations near the base of the stability zone.Our research is supported by the National Basic Research Program (2009CB219505), International Science & Technology Cooperation program of China (2010DFA21740), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (40930845)

Characterizing the accumulation and distribution of gas hydrate in marine sediments using numerical models and seismic data

Ph.D.Committee Chair: Carolyn Ruppe

Cathode strip chamber interface with support structure for SSC GEM detector muon subsystem

Structural design and analysis and other practical engineering considerations indicate that the 3-point, kinematic chamber support concept in the GEM Technical Design Report should be replaced by a 4-point, {open_quotes}partial{close_quotes} kinematic support design. Detector physics performance may increase due to a resulting decreased mass in the secondary support structure

Ocean bottom seismometer investigations in the Ormen Lange area offshore mid-Norway provide evidence for shallow gas layers in subsurface sediments

A multi-component Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) survey in the Ormen Lange area of the Storegga Slide constrained the existence of free gas and possibly gas hydrates in the shallow subsurface. The three investigated areas (A, B, C) lie in close vicinity to the slide scar above one of the largest deep-water gas reservoirs on the mid-Norwegian margin. Generally, P-wave and S-wave velocities are high compared to average velocities at a given burial depth due to an exposure of deeper sediments as a consequence of sediment mass movement by the Storegga slide. Indications for the presence of gas within the sediments exist for two of the three investigated areas. The gas accumulates beneath less permeable layers of glacigenic debris flow deposits. Average gas concentration of pore space in both areas is 0.9% (area A) and 0.15% (area B). The geophysical data do not allow a conclusive answer about the occurrence of gas hydrates. Their presence might be masked by high-velocity debris flow deposits, which occur in the subsurface. Nevertheless, gas hydrate concentrations of pore space have been estimated to about 9% in area A and 7% in area B