White Coat, Blue Collar: Physician Unionization and Managed Care

Ms. Luepke provides a historical review of the rise of the physician unionization movement in the United States. This article also examines the barriers faced by employed and independent physicians that prevent or limit their collective bargaining, and reviews the responses of the various organized medical societies to the physician unionization movement

Locating subsurface gravel with thermal imagery

A method was discussed for using 6 band thermal imagery to locate subsurface gravel deposits in vegetated areas. Geologic history is reviewed to select potential areas of study. An overflight was made using a thermal scanner. The data were processed with a computerized system to delineate areas showing a quartz signature radiated by a gravel deposit. The method was developed during a search for gravel on National Forest land in Louisiana. Processed data from thermal imagery was compared with known gravel deposits and exploratory drill hole logs. A high correlation was noted for a wide range of deposits, from commercial pits to trace deposits only a foot thick. Overburden at these sites varied from zero to sixty feet, near the maximum annual penetration by the thermal wave. It was concluded that the method can be used to locate buried gravel deposits and that more time and effort are needed to verify the usefulness for developing gravel pits adjacent to proposed construction sites

AP Physics Course Enrollments: The Impact of Middle School Algebra and Physics First

The position of the United States in the global STEM economy is being challenged by other countries. There is national concern that the STEM pipeline be strengthened to ensure more students pursue STEM degrees and join the STEM workforce. Although it is important to inspire youth in STEM programs, it is also important to provide all students access to the STEM gatekeeper courses of calculus, chemistry, and physics. This study determined if taking algebra in middle school and Physics First impacted AP Physics enrollments in a suburban high school. Taking physics in ninth grade, or Physics First, is part of a course sequence known as PCB, or physics-chemistry-biology. This study focused on Physics First without a PCB sequence. Eight years of AP Physics enrollment data was used in this quantitative observational study to look for associations between middle school algebra, Physics First, and AP Physics enrollment, particularly for women. Pearson’s Chi-square tests for independence were used to determine if the strength of the association between two variables was statistically significant. Effect size was also determined. Findings showed a significant association between middle school algebra and AP Physics enrollment during the first four years of data but not the last four years of data. There was a significant association between Physics First and AP Physics enrollment with a medium to large effect size. Taking Physics First benefitted women as increasing numbers enrolled in AP Physics over the eight-year period. Schools should examine math and science course pathways to ensure that all students have access to STEM gatekeeper courses in preparation for STEM degrees and careers. It is important for students to be algebra ready by eighth grade to access calculus in high school. Physics First provides an initial physics experience with access to AP Physics as a capstone course earning college credit. The conceptual understanding of physics and greater understanding of science and engineering practices developed in Physics First will help students be critical thinkers and problem solvers

Evaluation of A Post-Treatment Follow-Up Program in Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objectives The duration and the frequency of follow-up after treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma are not standardized in the current literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our local standard post-treatment and follow-up protocol. Materials and methods Overall, 228 patients treated curatively from 01/2006 to 07/2013 were reviewed. To evaluate the follow-up program, data on the secondary event were used. To determine risk groups, all patients with tumor recurrence were specifically analyzed. Relapse-free rate were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier product limit method. The chi-square test was used to identify independent risk factors for tumor relapse. Results In total, 29.8 % patients had a secondary event. The majority of the relapse cases (88.2 %) were detected within 2 years postoperatively, 61.8 % of them within the first year. Most events were local recurrences (34.7 %). UICC-stage IV was significantly associated with tumor recurrence (p = 0.001). Gender (p = 0.188), age (p = 0.195), localization (p = 0.739), T-stage (p = 0.35), N-stage (p = 0.55), histologic grade (p = 0.162), and tobacco and alcohol use (p = 0.248) were not significantly associated with tumor recurrence. Patients with positive neck nodes relapsed earlier (p = 0.011). The majority of relapses (86.3 %) were found in asymptomatic patients at routine follow-up. Conclusions The results of this study suggest an intensified follow-up within the first 2 years after surgery. Clinical relevance Given the higher relapse rate of patients exhibiting an UICC-stage IV and/or positive neck nodes, it seems to be from special interest to perform in this group a risk-adapted follow-up with monthly examinations also in the second year

Assessment of the Calibration of Periodontal Diagnosis and Treatment Planning Among Dental Students at Three Dental Schools

Calibration in diagnosis and treatment planning is difficult to achieve due to variations that exist in clinical interpretation. To determine if dental faculty members are consistent in teaching how to diagnose and treat periodontal disease, variations among dental students can be evaluated. A previous study reported high variability in diagnoses and treatment plans of periodontal cases at Indiana University School of Dentistry. This study aimed to build on that one by extending the research to two additional schools: Marquette University School of Dentistry and West Virginia University School of Dentistry. Diagnosis and treatment planning by 40 third- and fourth-year dental students were assessed at each of the schools. Students were asked to select the diagnosis and treatment plans on a questionnaire pertaining to 11 cases. Their responses were compared using chi-square tests, and multirater kappa statistics were used to assess agreement between classes and between schools. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the effects of school, class year, prior experience, and GPA/class rank on correct responses. One case had a statistically significant difference in responses between third- and fourth-year dental students. Kappas for school agreement and class agreement were low. The students from Indiana University had higher diagnosis and treatment agreements than the Marquette University students, and the Marquette students fared better than the West Virginia University students. This study can help restructure future periodontal courses for a better understanding of periodontal diagnosis and treatment planning

Ultrafast quasi-particle dynamics of charge/orbital ordered and ferromagnetic clusters in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3

We report on the quasi- particle dynamics of the charge/orbital ordered (COO) and ferromagnetic clusters in the optimally doped manganite, La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) single crystal by time-resolved two-color pump-probe spectroscopy. Pump photons with energies of similar to 1.55 and similar to 0.21 eV were employed in our transient optical spectroscopy to investigate the percolative phase separation including the COO and ferromagnetic clusters from 4 to 480 K. At 1.55 eV, the transient reflectivity change, Delta R/R, at Delta t = 0 shows a similar temperature dependence as that in resistivity and in neutron scattering intensity. We attribute the reflectivity signal to the characteristic optical response of the COO domains. We identify a new temperature scale T* similar to 400K for the clean limit to the formation of COO clusters in LCMO. In contrast, the temperature-dependent amplitude of the transient reflectivity change in the mid-infrared(IR) absorption band (similar to 5 mu m) scales with the volume fraction of the ferromagnetic metallic (FM) phases. Our results suggest ultrafast optical spectroscopy to be a powerful probe to reveal the correlated polarons and charge disorders in phase-separated manganites

Control of magnetic contrast with nonlinear magneto-plasmonics

The interaction between surface plasmons (SP) and magnetic behavior has generated great research interest due to its potential for future magneto-optical devices with ultra-high sensitivity and ultra-fast switching. Here we combine two surface sensitive effects: magnetic second-harmonic generation (MSHG) and SP to enhance the detection sensitivity of the surface magnetization in a single-crystal iron film. We show that the MSHG signal can be significantly enhanced by SP in an attenuated total reflection (ATR) condition, and that the magnetic contrast can be varied over a wide range by the angle-of-incidence. Furthermore, the magnetic contrast of transverse and longitudinal MSHG display opposite trends, which originates from the change of relative phase between MSHG components. This new effect enhances the sensing of magnetic switching, which has potential usage in quaternary magnetic storage systems and bio-chemical sensors due to its very high surface sensitivity and simple structure

The accessible Chaucer

In this thesis I explore the ways in which twenty-first century Americans have access to Geoffrey Chaucer and his works. I look at issues surrounding Chaucer within the canon debate, high school history and literature textbooks, and Chaucer in popular culture, such as in movies like A Knight's Tale. I also take an in depth look at The Pardoner's Tale and The Wife of Bath's Tale, since they most frequently appear in textbooks and anthologies. Ultimately, I argue that access is limited for the average person interested in Chaucer and other historical writers, but that it would not be difficult to improve access for all readers

Nonlinear magneto-plasmonics

Nonlinear magneto-plasmonics (NMP) describes systems where nonlinear optics, magnetics and plasmonics are all involved. In such systems, nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect (nonlinear MOKE) plays an important role as a characterization method, and Surface Plasmons (SPs) work as catalyst to induce many new effects. Magnetization-induced second-harmonic generation (MSHG) is the major nonlinear magneto-optical process involved. The new effects include enhanced MSHG, controlled and enhanced magnetic contrast, etc. Nanostructures such as thin films, nanoparticles, nanogratings, and nanoarrays are critical for the excitation of SPs, which makes NMP an interdisciplinary research field in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this review article, we organize recent work in this field into two categories: surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) representing propagating surface plasmons, and localized surface plasmons (LSPs), also called particle plasmons. We review the structures, experiments, findings, and the applications of NMP from various groups. (C) 2015 Optical Society of Americ

Role of antisite disorder on intrinsic Gilbert damping in L1(0) FePt films

The impact of antisite disorder x on the intrinsic Gilbert damping alpha(0) in well-ordered L1(0) FePt films is investigated by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. The variation of x mainly affects the electron scattering rate 1/tau(e), while other leading parameters remain unchanged. The experimentally observed linear dependence of alpha(0) on 1/tau(e) indicates that spin relaxation is through electron interband transitions, as predicted by the spin-orbit coupling torque correlation model. Measurements at low temperature show that alpha(0) remains unchanged with temperature even for FePt with very high chemical order, indicating that electron-phonon scattering is negligible. Moreover, as x decreases, the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy increases, and the Landau g factor exhibits a negative shift due to an increase in orbital momentum anisotropy. Our results will facilitate the design and exploration of magnetic alloys with large magnetic anisotropy and desirable damping properties