Abolishing the Excited Utterance Exception to the Rule Against Hearsay

This is the published version

Save Thousands of Lives Every Year: Resuscitate the Peer Review Privilege

Doctors make mistakes—preventable medical mistakes—that kill or seriously injure patients. The best way to reduce these preventable errors is through a medical peer review process typically referred to as a morbidity and mortality conference. However, over the past twenty years, federal and state courts, state legislatures, and state voters have effectively gutted the morbidity and mortality conference (M&M) as a remedial and preventative tool, resulting in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths every year. Doctors need our help restoring the effectiveness of M&Ms. Congress has created the means to do so; now, all the courts need do is use it. Otherwise, what has been happening over the last two decades will continue—physicians will fear the M&M, will either not participate in M&Ms or not participate fully, medical errors will not be thoroughly investigated and corrected, and the same preventable medical mistakes will continue to occur because physicians are scared if they admit during an M&M that they committed an error then, in a subsequent medical malpractice lawsuit, their admission will be used against them to prove negligence and liability. Part I of this essay summarizes the extent of the problem—many call it a crisis—of preventable deaths plaguing U.S. hospitals. Part II explains peer review, both in the context of physician credentialing/hiring and M&Ms, and the legal protections afforded under the provisions of immunity, confidentiality, and privilege. Part III discusses how federal and state court decisions, state legislative enactments, and voter initiatives have weakened existing protections for peer review, especially regarding M&Ms. Part IV describes the PSQIA and how it can—and should—be the solution to preventable hospital deaths. Part V concludes with a summation of the argument that courts employ the PSQIA privilege to protect M&Ms, and that physicians and hospitals do their part by fulfilling the requirements of the PSQIA such that they may invoke the privilege therein contained

Isolating Excited States of the Nucleon in Lattice QCD

We discuss a robust projection method for the extraction of excited-state masses of the nucleon from a matrix of correlation functions. To illustrate the algorithm in practice, we present results for the positive parity excited states of the nucleon in quenched QCD. Using eigenvectors obtained via the variational method, we construct an eigenstate-projected correlation function amenable to standard analysis techniques. The method displays its utility when comparing results from the fit of the projected correlation function with those obtained from the eigenvalues of the variational method. Standard nucleon interpolators are considered, with $2\times 2$ and $3\times 3$ correlation matrix analyses presented using various combinations of source-smeared, sink-smeared and smeared-smeared correlation functions. Using these new robust methods, we observe a systematic dependency of the nucleon excited-state masses on source- and sink-smearing levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clear indication that a correlation matrix of standard nucleon interpolators is insufficient to isolate the eigenstates of QCD.Comment: May 2009.13pp, Minor changes and references adde

The Group of 77 at the United Nations: An Emergent Force in the Law of the Sea

Authors Friedman and Williams trace briefly the diplomatic history of the Group of 77 in United Nations fora, then detail the role the G-77 plays within the Law of the Sea Conference. By providing illustrations of the G-77 bloc-policy process, the authors construct a model to explain G-77 behavior. They conclude that G-77 unity is now less certain than before because of the many cross-cutting interests at stake in the UNCLOS III milieu. They also cite Western intransigence as a unifying force for the G-77 under the common enemy principle

Low-lying positive-parity excited states of the nucleon

We present an overview of the correlation-matrix methods developed recently by the CSSM Lattice Collaboration for the isolation of excited states of the nucleon. Of particular interest is the first positive-parity excited-state of the nucleon known as the Roper resonance. Using eigenvectors of the correlation matrix we construct parity and eigenstate projected correlation functions which are analysed using standardized methods. The robust nature of this approach for extracting the eigenstate energies is presented. We report the importance of using a variety of source and sink smearings in achieving this. Ultimately the independence of the eigenstate energies from the interpolator basis is demonstrated. In particular we consider $4\times 4$ correlation matrices built from a variety of interpolators and smearing levels. Using FLIC fermions to access the light quark mass regime, we explore the curvature encountered in the energy of the states as the chiral limit is approached. We report a low-lying Roper state contrasting earlier results using correlation matrices. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a low-lying Roper resonance has been found using correlation matrix methods. Finally, we present our results in the context of the Roper results reported by other groups.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures., Presented at the XXVII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 26-31, 2009, Peking University, Beijing, Chin

Ordering of Spin-12\frac{1}{2} Excitations of the Nucleon in Lattice QCD

We present results for the negative parity low-lying state of the nucleon, $N{\frac{1}{2}}^{-}$ (1535 MeV) ${\rm S}_{11}$, from a variational analysis method. The analysis is performed in quenched QCD with the FLIC fermion action. The principal focus of this paper is to explore the level ordering between the Roper (${\rm{P}}_{11}$) and the negative parity ground (${\rm{S}}_{11}$) states of the nucleon. Evidence of the physical level ordering is observed at light quark masses. A wide variety of smeared-smeared correlation functions are used to construct correlation matrices. A comprehensive correlation matrix analysis is performed to ensure an accurate isolation of the $N{\frac{1}{2}}^{-}$ state.Comment: 9 page

Carrier dynamics in α‐Fe2O3 (0001) thin films and single crystals probed by femtosecond transient absorption and reflectivity

Femtosecond transient reflectivity and absorption are used to measure the carrier lifetimes in α‐Fe2O3 thin films and single crystals. The results from the thin films show that initially excited hot electrons relax to the band edge within 300 fs and then recombine with holes or trap within 5 ps. The trapped electrons have a lifetime of hundreds of picoseconds. Transient reflectivity measurements from hematite (α‐Fe2O3)single crystals show similar but slightly faster dynamics leading to the conclusion that the short carrier lifetimes in these materials are due primarily to trapping to Fe d-d states in the band gap. In the hematite single crystal, the transient reflectivity displays oscillations due to the formation of longitudinal acoustic phonons generated following absorption of the ultrashort excitation pulse