Biomedical subjects

W E Lamb

Publications and source records attributed to W E Lamb.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Cold fusion in palladium: a more realistic calculation.

The Thomas-Fermi-Mott equation is modified to take account of the fact that conduction electrons in a metal may be considered to have an effective mass at wave-numbers comparable with or less than the inverse Debye screening length, but they should be considered to have the free-electron mass at much larger wavenumbers. This modification allows for a more realistic calculation of the fusion rate of deuteron pairs in palladium, this rate being 10(-23) sec-1, comparable with some experimental results. The Oppenheimer-Phillips process enhances the rate by a factor of 2.262.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1990

More cold fusion in metals: corrected calculations and other considerations.

A simple model of a metal containing deuterons is considered. The example of palladium is treated in detail. In contrast to a previous calculation, it is shown that the effect of screening of Coulomb fields by conduction electrons is sufficient to allow a deuteron pair to fuse at a rate of 10(-18) sec-1, five powers of 10 larger than some experimental results. It is shown that the Oppenheimer-Phillips process enhances the rate by a factor of 1.77. Difficulties with applying the model to titanium are discussed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1989

Cold fusion in metals.

A simple model of a metal containing deuterons is considered. The example of palladium is treated in detail. It is shown that the effect of screening of Coulomb fields by conduction electrons is sufficient to allow deuteron pairs to fuse at rates of 10(-30) sec(-1), seven orders of magnitude smaller than those reported by Jones et al. [Jones, S. E., Palmer, E. P., Czirr, J. B., Decker, D. L., Jensen, G. L., Thorne, J. M., Taylor, S. F. & Rafelski, J. (1989) Nature (London) 388, 737-740].

Journal Article↗

PubMed1985

Avoiding evaluation cooptation. Lessons from a renal dialysis evaluation.

An evaluation of the impact of terminating contracts to transport low-income patients for renal dialysis demonstrates how evaluators may become apologists for management and conduct studies too narrow for effective decision making. The evaluation found that patients continued to receive treatment; their death rates had not increased. Changes in their economic and emotional status were not studied; consequently, the evaluators erroneously concluded that the clients had not been seriously harmed. The article reviews the process the evaluation used. The authors conclude that to avoid cooptation, evaluators need independent information available through conducting and analyzing pilot studies and meeting with program constituents. To avoid overly narrow studies, the next level of management should participate in their design. To use the information effectively, evaluators need to see themselves as advisors rather than technicians.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗