The Cagliari Airport impact on Sardinia tourism: a Logit-based analysis

In the field of air transportation management, traditionally, airlines have been the main actors in the process for deciding which new flights open in a given airport, while airports acted only as the managers of the operations. The changes in the market due to the introduction of low cost companies, with consequent reduction of the airports’ fares, as well as the increment of the density of regional airports in several European countries are modifying the mutual roles of airlines and airports. The final decision on new flight to be opened, in fact, is nowadays the result of a negotiation between airlines and airports. The airports must prove the sustainability on the new routes and forecast the economic impact on their catchment area. This paper contributes to advance the current state-of-the-art along two axes. From the pure transportation literature point of view, we introduce a Logit model able to predict the passengers flow in an airport when the management introduces a change in the flight schedule. The model is also able to predict the impact of this change on the airports in the surrounding areas. The second contribution is a case study on the tourist market of the Sardinia region, where we show how to use the results of the model to deduce the economic impact of the decisions of the management of the Cagliari airport on its catchment area in terms of tourists and economic growth

The Cagliari Airport impact on Sardinia tourism: a Logit-based analysis

In the field of air transportation management, traditionally, airlines have been the main actors in the process for deciding which new flights open in a given airport, while airports acted only as the managers of the operations. The changes in the market due to the introduction of low cost companies, with consequent reduction of the airports’ fares, as well as the increment of the density of regional airports in several European countries are modifying the mutual roles of airlines and airports. The final decision on new flight to be opened, in fact, is nowadays the result of a negotiation between airlines and airports. The airports must prove the sustainability on the new routes and forecast the economic impact on their catchment area. This paper contributes to advance the current state-of-the-art along two axes. From the pure transportation literature point of view, we introduce a Logit model able to predict the passengers flow in an airport when the management introduces a change in the flight schedule. The model is also able to predict the impact of this change on the airports in the surrounding areas. The second contribution is a case study on the tourist market of the Sardinia region, where we show how to use the results of the model to deduce the economic impact of the decisions of the management of the Cagliari airport on its catchment area in terms of tourists and economic growth

Relationships between different tooth shapes and patients periodontal phenotype

Background and Objective: The purpose of the present study was to establish whether any correlation exists between tooth shapes and patient-related factors such as gingival and periodontal characteristics. Material and Methods: Clinical measurements, including the width and the height of maxillary central incisor crowns, the apico incisal height of the keratinized mucosa (KM), the buccal gingival thickness (GT), the depth of the sulcus (SD), the bone-sounding depth (BS) and the height of the interproximal maxillary central papilla (Ph), were investigated in 50 healthy individuals. These individuals were then divided into three groups based on the shape of their maxillary central incisor crowns: triangular; square; or square-tapered. The three groups were analyzed to determine any significant differences among the groups in the values obtained for clinical measurements. Results: There were no significant differences among the three groups in terms of the SD (p = 0.11) or the BS (p = 0.54), whilst statistically significant differences were observed for the KM (p < 0.001), the GT (p = 0.012) and the Ph (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that different tooth shapes are associated with significantly different values for the extent of the KM, its bucco-lingual thickness and the height of the interproximal maxillary central papilla

Relationships between different tooth shapes and patients periodontal phenotype

Background and Objective: The purpose of the present study was to establish whether any correlation exists between tooth shapes and patient-related factors such as gingival and periodontal characteristics. Material and Methods: Clinical measurements, including the width and the height of maxillary central incisor crowns, the apico incisal height of the keratinized mucosa (KM), the buccal gingival thickness (GT), the depth of the sulcus (SD), the bone-sounding depth (BS) and the height of the interproximal maxillary central papilla (Ph), were investigated in 50 healthy individuals. These individuals were then divided into three groups based on the shape of their maxillary central incisor crowns: triangular; square; or square-tapered. The three groups were analyzed to determine any significant differences among the groups in the values obtained for clinical measurements. Results: There were no significant differences among the three groups in terms of the SD (p = 0.11) or the BS (p = 0.54), whilst statistically significant differences were observed for the KM (p < 0.001), the GT (p = 0.012) and the Ph (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that different tooth shapes are associated with significantly different values for the extent of the KM, its bucco-lingual thickness and the height of the interproximal maxillary central papilla

Verbal autopsy of 80,000 adult deaths in Tamilnadu, South India

BACKGROUND: Registration of the fact of death is almost complete in the city of Chennai and not so in the rural Villupuram district in Tamilnadu, India. The cause of death is often inadequately recorded on the death certificate in developing countries like India. A special verbal autopsy (VA) study of 48 000 adult (aged ≥ 25 yrs) deaths in the city of Chennai (urban) during 1995–97 and 32 000 in rural Villupuram during 1997–98 was conducted to arrive at the probable underlying cause of death to estimate cause specific mortality. METHODS: A ten day training on writing verbal autopsy (VA) report for adult deaths was given to non-medical graduates with at least 15 years of formal education. They interviewed surviving spouse/close associates of the deceased to write a verbal autopsy report in local language (Tamil) on the complaints, symptoms, signs, duration and treatment details of illness prior to death. Each report was reviewed centrally by two physicians independently. Random re-interviewing of 5% of the VA reports was done to check the reliability and reproducibility of the VA report. The validity of VA diagnosis was assessed only for cancer deaths. RESULTS: Verbal autopsy reduced the proportion of deaths attributed to unspecified and unknown causes from 54% to 23% (p < 0.0001) in urban and from 41% to 26% (p < 0.0001) in rural areas in Tamilnadu for adult deaths (≥ 25). The sensitivity of VA to identify cancer was 95% in the age group 25–69. CONCLUSION: A ten day training programme to write verbal autopsy report with adequate feed back sessions and random sampling of 5% of the verbal autopsy reports for re-interview worked very well in Tamilnadu, to arrive at the probable underlying cause of death reliably for deaths in early adult life or middle age (25–69 years) and less reliably for older ages (70+). Thus VA is practicable for deaths in early adult life or middle age and is of more limited value in old age

Analisi dei tempi d\u2019attesa tra le varie fasi di gestione dei carcinomi mammari screening-detected a Trieste nel biennio 2013-2014: come si pu\uf2 migliorare?

Gli indicatori relativi ai tempi di attesa sono difficili da rispettare, come recentemente evidenziato al XIII Convegno ONS 2015 . Per questo motivo \ue8 fondamentale identificare in quale momento della gestione dei carcinomi screening-detected si concentrino i ritardi e stabilirne le cause (se attribuibili alla paziente o all\u2019organizzazione del programma o intrinseci al tipo di lesione) cos\uec da proporre mirate modifiche migliorative. Metodi: L\u2019analisi riguarda 146 carcinomi screening-detected consecutivi (biennio 2013-2014). Sono stati misurati i tempi tra le varie fasi diagnostiche (Mammografia di I\ub0 livello, Richiamo II\ub0 livello, I\ub0 approfondimento cito/microistologico, Comunicazione diagnosi) e i tempi chirurgici (Visita chirurgica, Intervento chirurgico, Referto istologico con marcatori biologici, Visita oncologica). Per ogni fase sono stati calcolati i tempi medi/mediani rappresentati tramite box plot e giustificati gli outliers.Risultati: La latenza nella presa in carico chirurgica \ue8 legato alla complessit\ue0 degli esami preoperatori (3) (tempo mediano tra richiamo al II\ub0 livello ed intervento: 53 giorni (se unico esame pre-operatorio) vs 73 (se pi\uf9 di un esame pre-operatorio, p<0.0001), mentre rispetto ad un recente studio (4) il tempo mediano tra visita chirurgica e intervento non \ue8 aumentato per i casi con necessit\ue0 di RM (28 vs 26 giorni, p=0.13), perch\ue9 gi\ue0 programmata in fase preoperatoria. Per i casi con mastectomia sempre con ricostruzione, si registra un tempo medio dalla visita chirurgica all\u2019intervento di 7 giorni superiore rispetto alle quadrantectomie. Ulteriore criticit\ue0 \ue8 il tempo mediano tra intervento e visita oncologica (44 giorni), attribuibile in parte ad un \u201critardo\u201d nella disponibilit\ue0 dei marcatori biomolecolari (soprattutto HER2/FISH) ed in parte a rinvii dell\u2019appuntamento da parte della paziente stessa Conclusioni: Soltanto un attento monitoraggio del turnaround time dell\u2019intero percorso delle pazienti con carcinoma screening detected consente l\u2019identificazione dei punti di debolezza su cui intervenire efficacemente per garantire il rispetto degli indicatori