131 research outputs found
Application Areas of the Shared Service Concept within the Romanian Health System
The Romanian healthcare system can be characterized by chronic under financing, leading to poor services towards the patients, corruption and high debts of the public institutions towards their suppliers. In order to cope with the situation, the Romanian state approved in 2010 the emergency ordinance 48/2010 on the decentralization of the health systems. Due to this legislation more than 370 hospitals across the country had been transferred under the administration of local public administration officials, whereas only roundabout 60 hospitals remained under the control of the Ministry of Health. As a consequence, local authorities have to familiarize themselves with questions concerning the proper management of the assigned hospitals. The present paper explores the different application areas of the shared service concept and the benefits this concept can add to the healthcare system. Three areas from the administration and from the operative function of the hospitals had exemplarily been selected in order to demonstrate the potential of shared services in terms of reducing the existing costs, while increasing the quality and performance of the services in question. In order to provide a holistic picture, possible disadvantages are highlighted and explained. The paper concludes that the benefits of the shared service concept can counterbalance the possible negative aspects and support the Romanian health system in overcoming this crisis and improve overall performance.Healthcare, Local Public Services, Shared Services, Contracting out, Privatization
Interplay between Kondo effect and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction
The interplay between the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction
and the Kondo effect is expected to provide the driving force for the emergence
of many phenomena in strongly correlated electron materials. Two magnetic
impurities in a metal are the smallest possible system containing all these
ingredients and define a bottom up approach towards a long term understanding
of concentrated / dense systems. Here we report on the experimental and
theoretical investigation of iron dimers buried below a Cu(100) surface by
means of low temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) combined with
density functional theory (DFT) and numerical renormalization group (NRG)
calculations. The Kondo effect, in particular the width of the Abrikosov-Suhl
resonance, is strongly altered or even suppressed due to magnetic coupling
between the impurities. It oscillates as function of dimer separation revealing
that it is related to the RKKY interaction mediated by the conduction
electrons. Simulations based on density functional theory support this concept
showing the same oscillation period and trends in the coupling strength as
found in the experiment
Theory of real space imaging of Fermi surfaces
A scanning tunneling microscope can be used to visualize in real space Fermi
surfaces with buried impurities far below substrates acting as local probes. A
theory describing this feature is developed based on the stationary phase
approximation. It is demonstrated how a Fermi surface of a material acts as a
mirror focusing electrons that scatter at hidden impurities.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
A study of the remarkable galaxy system AM 546-324 (the core of Abell S0546)
We report first results of an investigation of the tidally disturbed galaxy
system AM\,546-324, whose two principal galaxies 2MFGC 04711 and AM\,0546-324
(NED02) were previously classified as interacting doubles. This system was
selected to study the interaction of ellipticals in a moderately dense
environment. We provide spectral characteristics of the system and present an
observational study of the interaction effects on the morphology, kinematics,
and stellar population of these galaxies. The study is based on long-slit
spectrophotometric data in the range of 4500-8000 obtained with
the Gemini Multi-Object Spetrograph at Gemini South (GMOS-S). We have used the
stellar population synthesis code STARLIGHT to investigate the star formation
history of these galaxies. The Gemini/GMOS-S direct r-G0303 broad band pointing
image was used to enhance and study fine morphological structures. The main
absorption lines in the spectra were used to determine the radial velocity.
Along the whole long-slit signal, the spectra of the Shadowy galaxy (discovered
by us), 2MFGC 04711, and AM\,0546-324 (NED02) resemble that of an early-type
galaxy. We estimated redshifts of z= 0.0696, z= 0.0693 and z= 0.0718,
corresponding to heliocentric velocities of 20\,141 km s, 20\,057 km
s, and 20\,754 km s for the Shadowy galaxy, 2MFGC 04711 and
AM\,0546-324 (NED02), respectively. ..
Magnetotransport on the nano scale
Transport experiments in strong magnetic fields show a variety of fascinating phenomena like the quantum Hall effect, weak localization or the giant magnetoresistance. Often they originate from the atomic-scale structure inaccessible to macroscopic magnetotransport experiments. To connect spatial information with transport properties, various advanced scanning probe methods have been developed. Capable of ultimate spatial resolution, scanning tunnelling potentiometry has been used to determine the resistance of atomic-scale defects such as steps and interfaces. Here we combine this technique with magnetic fields and thus transfer magnetotransport experiments to the atomic scale. Monitoring the local voltage drop in epitaxial graphene, we show how the magnetic field controls the electric field components. We find that scattering processes at localized defects are independent of the strong magnetic field while monolayer and bilayer graphene sheets show a locally varying conductivity and charge carrier concentration differing from the macroscopic average
Structure and Non-Equilibrium Heat-Transfer of a Physisorbed Molecular Layer on Graphene
The structure of a physisorbed sub-monolayer of 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene
(bpe) on epitaxial graphene is investigated by Low-Energy Electron Diffraction
and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. Additionally, non-equilibrium heat-transfer
between bpe and the surface is studied by Ultrafast Low-Energy Electron
Diffraction. Bpe arranges in an oblique unit cell which is not commensurate
with the substrate. Six different rotational and/or mirror domains, in which
the molecular unit cell is rotated by 28{\pm}0.1{\deg} with respect to the
graphene surface, are identified. The molecules are weakly physisorbed, as
evidenced by the fact that they readily desorb at room temperature. At liquid
nitrogen temperature, however, the layers are stable and time-resolved
experiments can be performed. The temperature changes of the molecules and the
surface can be measured independently through the Debye-Waller factor of their
individual diffraction features. Thus, the heat flow between bpe and the
surface can be monitored on a picosecond timescale. The time-resolved
measurements, in combination with model simulations, show the existence of
three relevant thermal barriers between the different layers. The thermal
boundary resistance between the molecular layer and graphene was found to be
2{\pm}1{\cdot}10-8 K m2 W-1
Long-range Kondo signature of a single magnetic impurity
The Kondo effect, one of the oldest correlation phenomena known in condensed
matter physics, has regained attention due to scanning tunneling spectroscopy
(STS) experiments performed on single magnetic impurities. Despite the
sub-nanometer resolution capability of local probe techniques one of the
fundamental aspects of Kondo physics, its spatial extension, is still subject
to discussion. Up to now all STS studies on single adsorbed atoms have shown
that observable Kondo features rapidly vanish with increasing distance from the
impurity. Here we report on a hitherto unobserved long range Kondo signature
for single magnetic atoms of Fe and Co buried under a Cu(100) surface. We
present a theoretical interpretation of the measured signatures using a
combined approach of band structure and many-body numerical renormalization
group (NRG) calculations. These are in excellent agreement with the rich
spatially and spectroscopically resolved experimental data.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures + 8 pages supplementary material; Nature Physics
(Jan 2011 - advanced online publication
Interrelation between rifting, faulting, sedimentation, and mantle serpentinization during continental margin formation-including examples from the Norwegian Sea
The conditions permitting mantle serpentinization during continental rifting are explored within 2-D thermotectonostratigraphic basin models, which track the rheological evolution of the continental crust, account for sediment blanketing effects, and allow for kinetically controlled mantle serpentinization processes. The basic idea is that the entire extending continental crust has to be brittle for crustal scale faulting and mantle serpentinization to occur. The isostatic and latent heat effects of the reaction are fully coupled to the structural and thermal solutions. A systematic parameter study shows that a critical stretching factor exists for which complete crustal embrittlement and serpentinization occurs. Increased sedimentation rates shift this critical stretching factor to higher values as sediment blanketing effects result in higher crustal temperatures. Sediment supply has therefore, through the temperature-dependence of the viscous flow laws, strong control on crustal strength and mantle serpentinization reactions are only likely when sedimentation rates are low and stretching factors high. In a case study for the Norwegian margin, we test whether the inner lower crustal bodies (LCB) imaged beneath the Møre and Vøring margin could be serpentinized mantle. Multiple 2-D transects have been reconstructed through the 3-D data set by Scheck-Wenderoth and Maystrenko (2011). We find that serpentinization reactions are possible and likely during the Jurassic rift phase. Predicted thicknesses and locations of partially serpentinized mantle rocks fit to information on LCBs from seismic and gravity data. We conclude that some of the inner LCBs beneath the Norwegian margin may be partially serpentinized mantle
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