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Evaluating candidate reactions to selection practices using organisational justice theory
Objectives: This study aimed to examine candidate reactions to selection practices in postgraduate medical training using organisational justice theory.
Methods: We carried out three independent cross-sectional studies using samples from three consecutive annual recruitment rounds. Data were gathered from candidates applying for entry into UK general practice (GP) training during 2007, 2008 and 2009. Participants completed an evaluation questionnaire immediately after the short-listing stage and after the selection centre (interview) stage. Participants were doctors applying for GP training in the UK. Main outcome measures were participants’ evaluations of the selection methods and perceptions of the overall fairness of each selection stage (short-listing and selection centre).
Results: A total of 23 855 evaluation questionnaires were completed (6893 in 2007, 10 497 in 2008 and 6465 in 2009). Absolute levels of perceptions of fairness of all the selection methods at both the short-listing and selection centre stages were consistently high over the 3 years. Similarly, all selection methods were considered to be job-related by candidates. However, in general, candidates considered the selection centre stage to be significantly fairer than the short-listing stage. Of all the selection methods, the simulated patient consultation completed at the selection centre stage was rated as the most job-relevant.
Conclusions: This is the first study to use a model of organisational justice theory to evaluate candidate reactions during selection into postgraduate specialty training. The high-fidelity selection methods are consistently viewed as more job-relevant and fairer by candidates. This has important implications for the design of recruitment systems for all specialties and, potentially, for medical school admissions. Using this approach, recruiters can systematically compare perceptions of the fairness and job relevance of various selection methods
Magnetic cloaking by a paramagnet/superconductor cylindrical tube in the critical state
Cloaking of static magnetic fields by a finite thickness type-II
superconductor tube being in the full critical state and surrounded by a
coaxial paramagnet shell is studied. On the basis of exact solutions to the
Maxwell equations, it is shown that, additionally to previous studies assuming
the Meissner state of the superconductor constituent, perfect cloaking is still
realizable at fields higher than the field of full flux penetration into the
superconductor and for arbitrary geometrical parameters of both constituents.
It is also proven that simultaneously the structure is fully undetectable under
the cloaking conditions. Differently from the case of the Meissner state the
cloaking properties in the application relevant critical state are realized,
however, only at a certain field magnitude.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Applied Physics Letters. arXiv
admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1401.356
Direct observation of the proliferation of ferroelectric loop domains and vortex-antivortex pairs
We discovered "stripe" patterns of trimerization-ferroelectric domains in
hexagonal REMnO3 (RE=Ho, ---, Lu) crystals (grown below ferroelectric
transition temperatures (Tc), reaching up to 1435 oC), in contrast with the
vortex patterns in YMnO3. These stripe patterns roughen with the appearance of
numerous loop domains through thermal annealing just below Tc, but the stripe
domain patterns turn to vortex-antivortex domain patterns through a freezing
process when crystals cross Tc even though the phase transition appears not to
be Kosterlitz-Thouless-type. The experimental systematics are compared with the
results of our six-state clock model simulation and also the Kibble-Zurek
Mechanism for trapped topological defects
Stability criterion for self-similar solutions with a scalar field and those with a stiff fluid in general relativity
A stability criterion is derived in general relativity for self-similar
solutions with a scalar field and those with a stiff fluid, which is a perfect
fluid with the equation of state . A wide class of self-similar
solutions turn out to be unstable against kink mode perturbation. According to
the criterion, the Evans-Coleman stiff-fluid solution is unstable and cannot be
a critical solution for the spherical collapse of a stiff fluid if we allow
sufficiently small discontinuity in the density gradient field in the initial
data sets. The self-similar scalar-field solution, which was recently found
numerically by Brady {\it et al.} (2002 {\it Class. Quantum. Grav.} {\bf 19}
6359), is also unstable. Both the flat Friedmann universe with a scalar field
and that with a stiff fluid suffer from kink instability at the particle
horizon scale.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity,
typos correcte
Exact Dynamics of Multicomponent Bose-Einstein Condensates in Optical Lattices in One, Two and Three Dimensions
Numerous exact solutions to the nonlinear mean-field equations of motion are
constructed for multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates on one, two, and three
dimensional optical lattices. We find both stationary and nonstationary
solutions, which are given in closed form. Among these solutions are a
vortex-anti-vortex array on the square optical lattice and modes in which two
or more components slosh back and forth between neighboring potential wells. We
obtain a variety of solutions for multicomponent condensates on the simple
cubic lattice, including a solution in which one condensate is at rest and the
other flows in a complex three-dimensional array of intersecting vortex lines.
A number of physically important solutions are stable for a range of parameter
values, as we show by direct numerical integration of the equations of motion.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
Signatures of superconducting gap inhomogeneities in optical properties
Scanning tunneling spectroscopy applied to the high- cuprates has
revealed significant spatial inhomogeneity on the nanoscale. Regions on the
order of a coherence length in size show variations of the magnitude of the
superconducting gap of order or more. An important unresolved question
is whether or not these variations are also present in the bulk, and how they
influence superconducting properties. As many theories and data analyses for
high- superconductivity assume spatial homogeneity of the gap magnitude,
this is a pressing question. We consider the far-infrared optical conductivity
and evaluate, within an effective medium approximation, what signatures of
spatial variations in gap magnitude are present in various optical quantities.
In addition to the case of d-wave superconductivity, relevant to the high-
cuprates, we have also considered s-wave gap symmetry in order to provide
expected signatures of inhomogeneities for superconductors in general. While
signatures of gap inhomogeneities can be strongly manifested in s-wave
superconductors, we find that the far-infrared optical conductivity in d-wave
is robust against such inhomogeneity.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
New constraints on primordial black holes abundance from femtolensing of gamma-ray bursts
The abundance of primordial black holes is currently significantly
constrained in a wide range of masses. The weakest limits are established for
the small mass objects, where the small intensity of the associated physical
phenomenon provides a challenge for current experiments. We used gamma- ray
bursts with known redshifts detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM)
to search for the femtolensing effects caused by compact objects. The lack of
femtolensing detection in the GBM data provides new evidence that primordial
black holes in the mass range 5 \times 10^{17} - 10^{20} g do not constitute a
major fraction of dark matter.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Tunable tunneling: An application of stationary states of Bose-Einstein condensates in traps of finite depth
The fundamental question of how Bose-Einstein condensates tunnel into a
barrier is addressed. The cubic nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a finite
square well potential, which models a Bose-Einstein condensate in a
quasi-one-dimensional trap of finite depth, is solved for the complete set of
localized and partially localized stationary states, which the former evolve
into when the nonlinearity is increased. An immediate application of these
different solution types is tunable tunneling. Magnetically tunable Feshbach
resonances can change the scattering length of certain Bose-condensed atoms,
such as Rb, by several orders of magnitude, including the sign, and
thereby also change the mean field nonlinearity term of the equation and the
tunneling of the wavefunction. We find both linear-type localized solutions and
uniquely nonlinear partially localized solutions where the tails of the
wavefunction become nonzero at infinity when the nonlinearity increases. The
tunneling of the wavefunction into the non-classical regime and thus its
localization therefore becomes an external experimentally controllable
parameter.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Relativistic linear stability equations for the nonlinear Dirac equation in Bose-Einstein condensates
We present relativistic linear stability equations (RLSE) for
quasi-relativistic cold atoms in a honeycomb optical lattice. These equations
are derived from first principles and provide a method for computing
stabilities of arbitrary localized solutions of the nonlinear Dirac equation
(NLDE), a relativistic generalization of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.
We present a variety of such localized solutions: skyrmions, solitons,
vortices, and half-quantum vortices, and study their stabilities via the RLSE.
When applied to a uniform background, our calculations reveal an experimentally
observable effect in the form of Cherenkov radiation. Remarkably, the Berry
phase from the bipartite structure of the honeycomb lattice induces a
boson-fermion transmutation in the quasi-particle operator statistics.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Stable one-dimensional periodic waves in Kerr-type saturable and quadratic nonlinear media
We review the latest progress and properties of the families of bright and
dark one-dimensional periodic waves propagating in saturable Kerr-type and
quadratic nonlinear media. We show how saturation of the nonlinear response
results in appearance of stability (instability) bands in focusing (defocusing)
medium, which is in sharp contrast with the properties of periodic waves in
Kerr media. One of the key results discovered is the stabilization of
multicolor periodic waves in quadratic media. In particular, dark-type waves
are shown to be metastable, while bright-type waves are completely stable in a
broad range of energy flows and material parameters. This yields the first
known example of completely stable periodic wave patterns propagating in
conservative uniform media supporting bright solitons. Such results open the
way to the experimental observation of the corresponding self-sustained
periodic wave patterns.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure
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