Network organizations of general practitioners: antecedents of formation and consequences of participation

BACKGROUND: Network forms of organization are increasingly popular in primary care. At the end of the 1990s General Practitioners (GPs) in Italy were given the opportunity to adopt network forms of organization with the aim of improving the quality of their services. However factors affecting GPs' choices to join a network and the consequences of network membership have not been evaluated. METHODS: Administrative data of a Local Health Authority in Central Italy were analyzed using statistical methods at individual and dyadic levels of analysis. RESULTS: Homophily factors seem to influence a GP's choice of network. The consequences of network membership on GP performances seem very limited. CONCLUSIONS: When considering to foster the diffusion of network organizational forms in health care creating a network structure, like that of Italian GPs, is not sufficient. Other features of the implementation phase, work organization and human resource management should also be considered

Activity variations attending tungsten skarn formation, Pine Creek, California

An integrated geochemical analysis of the well-exposed Pine Creek, California tungsten skarn deposit has been undertaken to evaluate changes in chemical gradients across various lithologies. Thermodynamic calculations using available experimental and thermodynamic data allow limits to be assigned to the activities of important chemical components in the metasomatic environment. Quantifiable changes in “non-volatile” component activites (CaO, MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , WO 3 ) and in fugacities (O 2 , F 2 ) have been traced across the system. The activities of Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 and WO 3 generally increase from the marble (<10 2 , <10 −6 , <10 −5 respectively), through the outer skarn zone and into the massive garnet skarn (10 −1.7±0.3 , 10 −3.4±0.4 , 10 −4.8±0.1 ) While CaO and MgO activities decrease for the same traverse from 10 −5 and 10 −2.1±1 respectively, to <10 −5.7 and <10 −3 . Calculated oxygen fugacities are 10 −23.5+1.0 at T =800 K (527° C), about one log unit below QFM, and more reducing than that required by Mt-Py-Po. The high variance of the garnet-pyroxene-quartz assemblages adds sufficient uncertainty to the calculated activities for individual specimens that only the large-scale trends survive the small-scale scatter. None of the chemical variables emerge as major independent or controlling factors for the mineralogy or phase compositions. Changes in the activity of one component may be offset by compensatory changes in another resulting in an environment that, while different from Pine Creek, could still host scheelite mineralization. Mass balance calculations indicate that the exposed endoskarn cannot have supplied the necessary chemical components to convert the country rock to skarn.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47341/1/410_2004_Article_BF00381557.pd

Population genomics of domestic and wild yeasts

The natural genetics of an organism is determined by the distribution of sequences of its genome. Here we present one- to four-fold, with some deeper, coverage of the genome sequences of over seventy isolates of the domesticated baker&#x27;s yeast, _Saccharomyces cerevisiae_, and its closest relative, the wild _S. paradoxus_, which has never been associated with human activity. These were collected from numerous geographic locations and sources (including wild, clinical, baking, wine, laboratory and food spoilage). These sequences provide an unprecedented view of the population structure, natural (and artificial) selection and genome evolution in these species. Variation in gene content, SNPs, indels, copy numbers and transposable elements provide insights into the evolution of different lineages. Phenotypic variation broadly correlates with global genome-wide phylogenetic relationships however there is no correlation with source. _S. paradoxus_ populations are well delineated along geographic boundaries while the variation among worldwide _S. cerevisiae_ isolates show less differentiation and is comparable to a single _S. paradoxus_ population. Rather than one or two domestication events leading to the extant baker&#x27;s yeasts, the population structure of _S. cerevisiae_ shows a few well defined geographically isolated lineages and many different mosaics of these lineages, supporting the notion that human influence provided the opportunity for outbreeding and production of new combinations of pre-existing variation

Optimal measurement of visual motion across spatial and temporal scales

Sensory systems use limited resources to mediate the perception of a great variety of objects and events. Here a normative framework is presented for exploring how the problem of efficient allocation of resources can be solved in visual perception. Starting with a basic property of every measurement, captured by Gabor's uncertainty relation about the location and frequency content of signals, prescriptions are developed for optimal allocation of sensors for reliable perception of visual motion. This study reveals that a large-scale characteristic of human vision (the spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity function) is similar to the optimal prescription, and it suggests that some previously puzzling phenomena of visual sensitivity, adaptation, and perceptual organization have simple principled explanations.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, 2 appendices; in press in Favorskaya MN and Jain LC (Eds), Computer Vision in Advanced Control Systems using Conventional and Intelligent Paradigms, Intelligent Systems Reference Library, Springer-Verlag, Berli

Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs

While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance

Culture-independent molecular analysis of bacterial diversity in uranium-ore/-mine waste-contaminated and non-contaminated sites from uranium mines

Soil, water and sediment samples collected from in and around Jaduguda, Bagjata and Turamdih mines were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and cultured, and yet to be cultured microbial diversity. Culturable fraction of microbial community measured as Colony Forming Unit (CFU) on R2A medium revealed microbes between 104 and 109 CFU/g sample. Community DNA was extracted from all the samples; 16S rRNA gene amplified, cloned and subject to Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis. Clones representing each OTU were selected and sequenced. Sequence analyses revealed that non-contaminated samples were mostly represented by Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria (β-, γ-, and/or δ-subdivisions) along with less frequent phyla Nitrospira, Deferribacteres, Chloroflexi. In contrast, samples obtained from highly contaminated samples showed distinct abundance of β-,γ- and α-Proteobacteria along with Acidobacteria,Bacteroidetes and members of Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Candidate division, Planctomycete, Cyanobacteria and Actinobacteria as minor groups. Our data represented the baseline information on bacterial community composition within non-contaminated samples which could potentially be useful for assessing the impact of metal and radionuclides contamination due to uranium mine activities

Brokering Trust to Enhance Leadership: A Self-Monitoring Approach to Leadership Emergence

What kind of person is likely to emerge as an informal leader in the workplace? Experimental research shows that high self-monitors—who tend to adjust their attitudes and behaviors to the demands of different situations—emerge as informal leaders in temporary groups. By contrast, low self-monitors—who tend to be true to themselves in terms of consistency in attitudes and behaviors across different situations—are less likely to emerge as leaders. But this prior research does not address the criticism that the emergence of high self-monitors as leaders represents ephemeral impression management in the context of laboratory experiments. To address this issue, we collected and analyzed data from a 116-member high-technology firm. Our results show that self-monitoring is related not only to leadership emergence, but also to the provision of advice to co-workers. Further, people who occupied brokerage positions (being trusted by those who did not trust each other) tended to be seen as leaders if they were high rather than low self-monitors. From these results, we build a picture of the high self-monitoring emergent leader as someone who notices problems and ameliorates them through the provision of advice and the brokerage of relationships across social divides. The occupation of a structurally advantageous position may well be more advantageous for some (i.e., high self-monitors) relative to others (i.e., low self-monitors)

Characteristics of Mothers Caring for Children During Episodes of Homelessness

This study provides a description of the physical, psychological, and substance use problems of adult homeless women who are and are not caring for children. We also examined differences in the characteristics of these two groups of women. Interviews were conducted with 148 homeless women from three mid-sized U.S. cities, 24.3% of whom were caring for at least one child. Our results showed that women caring for children were more likely to be sheltered and have health insurance. Homeless women caring for children and solitary homeless women were generally similar in terms of substance abuse problems. However, rates of Borderline Personality Disorder were higher among women caring for children than among solitary homeless women. Our results are somewhat consistent with previous research, with the exception of substance abuse problems and mental health problems, which were shown to be equally problematic for all women, regardless of current caregiving status