13,609 research outputs found
Efficiency and Technological Change in Health Care Services in Ontario
This paper presents productivity measurement results for hospital services using panel data for Ontario hospitals between 2003 and 2006. The study uses the Malmquist Productivity index (MPI) obtained through the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) which is decomposed into efficiency change (ECH), i.e., movement towards the best practice frontier and technological change (TCH), i.e., movement of the frontier itself (Färe et al. [12]). The study also uses kernel density estimation techniques for analysis of efficiency distributions of the productivity scores and their components across different types of hospitals (e.g. small /large and rural /urban) and over time. Our results suggest that in addition to average productivity it is important to examine distributions of productivity and of its components which we find differs by hospital type and over time. We find that productivity growth occurred mostly through improvement in technology and in spite of declining efficiency. The results provide useful insight into the underlying mechanisms of observed changes in overall productivity, in technological change and in technical efficiency change in this vital sector of the health care market.
Time-resolved measurement of single pulse femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structure formation
Time-resolved diffraction microscopy technique has been used to observe the
formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) from the
interaction of a single femtosecond laser pulse (pump) with a nano-scale groove
mechanically formed on a single-crystal Cu substrate. The interaction dynamics
(0-1200 ps) was captured by diffracting a time-delayed, frequency-doubled pulse
from nascent LIPSS formation induced by the pump with an infinity-conjugate
microscopy setup. The LIPSS ripples are observed to form sequentially outward
from the groove edge, with the first one forming after 50 ps. A 1-D analytical
model of electron heating and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) excitation
induced by the interaction of incoming laser pulse with the groove edge
qualitatively explains the time-evloution of LIPSS formation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Dynamic instability of microtubules: effect of catastrophe-suppressing drugs
Microtubules are stiff filamentary proteins that constitute an important
component of the cytoskeleton of cells. These are known to exhibit a dynamic
instability. A steadily growing microtubule can suddenly start depolymerizing
very rapidly; this phenomenon is known as ``catastrophe''. However, often a
shrinking microtubule is ``rescued'' and starts polymerizing again. Here we
develope a model for the polymerization-depolymerization dynamics of
microtubules in the presence of {\it catastrophe-suppressing drugs}. Solving
the dynamical equations in the steady-state, we derive exact analytical
expressions for the length distributions of the microtubules tipped with
drug-bound tubulin subunits as well as those of the microtubules, in the
growing and shrinking phases, tipped with drug-free pure tubulin subunits. We
also examine the stability of the steady-state solutions.Comment: Minor corrections; final published versio
The DC Electrical Conduction Mechanism of Heat-treated Plasma-polymerized Diphenyl (PPDP) Thin Films
Revisiting Logarithmic Correction to Five Dimensional BPS Black Hole Entropy
We compute logarithmic correction to five dimensional BPS black hole entropy
using finite temperature black hole geometry and find perfect agreement with
the microscopic results and macroscopic computations based on zero temperature
near horizon geometry. We also reproduce the Bekenstein-Hawking term for zero
temperature black hole entropy from the corresponding term for finite
temperature black hole.Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages; v2: typos corrected, references adde
Aerodynamic analysis of Speedo Fastskin-I Swimsuit
Swimming is one of the most energy intensive sporting events, where a winner is decided by a short margin. The winning time margin can be increased by various means, including engineered outfits within the game's regulations. In swimming, apart from optimisation of the swimmer's body, an appropriately devised swimsuit can play a significant role in reducing the drag, thereby enhancing the winning time margin. The main motivation for undertaking this study stems from the increasing levels of technical sophistication in the swimsuits that are claimed by the manufacturers for performance enhancement. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to undertake an experimental study with microscopic illustration of the swimsuit fabric, and its effects on aerodynamic properties. The study utilised a commercial swimsuit under stretched and un-stretched conditions of fabric morphology, and their impact on aerodynamic drag. This study was conducted using a wind tunnel for a range of Reynolds numbers. The simplified body shape was used to determine the aerodynamic drag. The finding of this study illustrates that there is a significant difference between the aerodynamic drag for the stretched and un-stretched surface morphology of the Speedo FS-I swimsuit. Furthermore, the microscopic analysis of the stretched and un-stretched fabric was undertaken to extend our undertstanding
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