Objective
Balloon sinuplasty (BSP) is associated with varied practice patterns. This study sought to identify otolaryngologist characteristics associated with BSP utilization.
Study Design
...Retrospective analysis of Medicare claims data and the National Physician Compare database.
Methods
Outlier otolaryngologists were compared to non‐outliers. Otolaryngologist characteristics included sex, practice size, geographic setting, years of experience, procedure setting, 10 or fewer endoscopic sinus surgeries per year for 3 or more years, and high number of services per unique Medicare beneficiary. Outlier status was defined as performing an annual total of balloon procedures of 2 standard deviations (SDs) above the mean for all otolaryngologists in the same year.
Results
Between January 2012 and December 2017, 1,408 otolaryngologists performed 101,662 endoscopic sinus surgeries and 97,680 BSP procedures. Sixty‐six outlier otolaryngologists (4.7%) accounted for 44.3% of all BSP procedures. Outlier status was associated with practice size of 10 or fewer individual providers (OR, 5.15; 95% CI, 2.73–9.74; P < .001), performance of 10 or fewer total endoscopic sinus surgeries per year for 3 or more years (OR, 3.90; 95% CI, 1.59–9.57; P = .003), and high number of overall services per beneficiary (OR 6.70; 95% CI, 1.19–37.84; P = .031). Provider sex, years of experience, and geographic setting were not associated with outlier status.
Conclusion
Outlier BSP patterns are associated with a few otolaryngologists who are more likely to be identified in small practices and record low numbers of endoscopic surgeries. Although BSP is an appropriate and effective tool, identification of outlier patterns may help to facilitate peer‐to‐peer counsel.
Level of Evidence
3 Laryngoscope, 132:1340–1345, 2022
Co-doped TiO2 is one of the most extensively studied oxides for applying as dilute magnetic semiconductors due to its room temperature magnetism. Here we present results of the studies of ...Ti0.97Co0.03O2 nanopowders synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method by means of X-ray diffraction, soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (Ti L2,3 and Co L2,3 spectra), hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (Co K spectra), and 1s3p resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the Co K edge. According to X-ray diffraction data and Ti L2,3 X-ray absorption spectra, all the samples before the thermal treatment exhibit anatase structure with substantial amount of amorphous phase. After annealing the Ti0.97Co0.03O2 samples in vacuum or hydrogen at 700 °C, the anatase structure persists while amorphous phase contribution is eliminated. Surface-sensitive soft X-ray absorption Co L2,3 spectroscopy revealed only Co2+ ions tetrahedrally coordinated by oxygen ions and no sign of metallic Co. Co2+ tetrahedral sites (instead of typical octahedral ones) are an additional evidence for Co2+ localization at the distorted TiO2 particle surface. Bulk-sensitive X-ray diffraction, Co K X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and 1s3p resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the Co K edge revealed clustering of metallic cobalt inside of the large agglomerates formed by TiO2 nanoparticles in annealed TiO2:Co nanopowders.
Increasing competition in all sectors of the economy, caused by the accelerated introduction of new technological advances in manufacturing processes, the creation of innovative products and the use ...of new business models, generates increased uncertainty in the development prospects of each market organization. The natural reaction of many commercial structures is to deepen specialization and competencies in their core activities. The purpose of the study is to identify the circumstances affecting interaction between a company and a bank in the new conditions. The article for the first time examines these relationships from the point of view of the need for each party to improve its own business, which objectively requires closer cooperation between them. Based on the results of the study, the author concludes that strengthening collaboration between a firm and a bank in the field of credit and payment operations and management of related risks is based on pursuit of each party’s own goals and increases the value of each of them. Forms of cooperation between a company and a bank can be different, but the most effective for each organization seems to be a partnership form of relationship, allowing the participants of cooperation to receive the greatest benefits and, at the same time, to strengthen and reinforce their positions in the core activities of each party.
We present X-ray photoelectron, Co
and O
K
X-ray absorption, as well as Co
X-ray emission spectroscopy results of studies of the spin states of trivalent cobalt ions in single-crystal cobaltite LaCoO
...3
. We show that at room temperature, in the bulk of a LaCoO
3
single crystal, Co
3+
ions are in the low-spin state, while high-spin Co
2+
, high-spin Co
3+
, low-spin Co
3+
, and probably also intermediate-spin Co
3+
ions are located on the surface.
The theoretical model for increasing peaking of radial distribution of plasma thermal energy and plasma energy confinement time improvement due to the formation of current profiles those provide the ...increased value of the safety factor
at the outer plasma boundary is considered. The model for the formation and stationary maintenance of the peaked current density profiles those ensure the maintenance of plasma column equilibrium state with increased
value and conservation of
at the magnetic axis is developed. The model is based on the significant ramp down of the
current maintained by the inductor with simultaneous central ECR heating and electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) switching on. It is shown by the computer simulations of the self-consistent time evolution of turbulent plasma for the conditions of T-10 and T-15MD tokamaks that in the shot scenarios with three- or four-fold decrease in the
current at the ECRH stage of shots it was achieved an approximately two-fold enhancement of the electron and ion temperatures at the axis of the plasma column as compared to the standard shots with the same heating powers.
Exciton recombination and spin dynamics in (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with indirect band gap and type-I band alignment were studied. The negligible (less than 0.2 μeV) value of the anisotropic ...exchange interaction in these QDs prevents the mixing of the excitonic basis states and makes the formation of spin-polarized bright excitons possible under quasi-resonant, circularly polarized excitation. The recombination and spin dynamics of excitons are controlled by the hyperfine interaction between the electron and nuclear spins. A QD blockade by dark excitons was observed in the magnetic field, that eliminates the impact of nuclear spin fluctuations. A kinetic model which accounts for the population dynamics of the bright and dark exciton states as well as for the spin dynamics was developed to quantitatively describe the experimental data.
Advances in semiconductor bandgap engineering have resulted in the recent development of the terahertz quantum cascade laser. These compact optoelectronic devices now operate in the frequency range ...1.2-5 THz, although cryogenic cooling is still required. Further progress towards the realization of devices operating at higher temperatures and emitting at longer wavelengths (sub-terahertz quantum cascade lasers) is difficult because it requires maintaining a population inversion between closely spaced electronic sub-bands (1 THz approximate 4 meV). Here, we demonstrate a magnetic-field-assisted quantum cascade laser based on the resonant-phonon design. By applying appropriate electrical bias and strong magnetic fields above 16 T, it is possible to achieve laser emission from a single device over a wide range of frequencies (0.68-3.33 THz). Owing to the suppression of inter-Landau-level non-radiative scattering, the device shows magnetic field assisted laser action at 1 THz at temperatures up to 215 K, and 3 THz lasing up to 225 K.
We have undertaken a search for satellites around edge-on galaxies in the EGIPS catalog, which contains 16 551 objects with declinations above
. We searched for systems with a central galaxy ...dominating in brightness by at least
compared to its companions. As a result, we discovered 1097 candidate satellites around 764 EGIPS galaxies with projected distances less than 500 kpc and a radial velocity difference less than 300 km s
. Of these, 757 satellites around 547 central galaxies have radial velocity accuracies higher than 20 km s
and satisfy the gravitationally bound condition. The ensemble of satellites is characterized by an average projected distance of 84 kpc and an average radial velocity dispersion of 103 km s
. Treating small satellites as test particles moving on isotropic orbits around central EGIPS galaxies, we determined the projected (orbital) masses of the edge-on galaxies. Within the luminosity range of
to
, the total mass of the systems is well described by a linear dependence
with an average total mass-to-
-band luminosity equal to
, which is typical for nearby spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way, M 31 and M 81.
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