Extragalactic Source Counts in the Spitzer 24-micron Band: What Do We Expect From ISOCAM 15-micron Data and Models?

The comparison between the new Spitzer data at 24 micron and the previous ISOCAM data at 15 micron is a key tool to understand galaxy properties and evolution in the infrared and to interpret the observed number counts, since the combination of Spitzer with the ISO cosmological surveys provides for the first time the direct view of the Universe in the Infrared up to z~2. We present the prediction in the Spitzer 24-micron band of a phenomenological model for galaxy evolution derived from the 15-micron data. Without any ``a posteriori'' update, the model predictions seem to agree well with the recently published 24-micron extragalactic source counts, suggesting that the peak in the 24-micron counts is dominated by ``starburst'' galaxies like those detected by ISOCAM at 15 micron, but at higher redshifts (1 < z < 2 instead of 0.5 < z < 1.5).Comment: 8 pages: 4 pages of main text + 5 postscript figures, use aastex. Accepted for publication in ApJL. Replaced with the proof version (added missing references and corrected a few sentences

Is quality of life measurement likely to be a proxy for health needs assessment in patients with coronary artery disease?

BACKGROUND: The identification of patients' health needs is pivotal in optimising the quality of health care, increasing patient satisfaction and directing resource allocation. Health needs are complex and not so easily evaluated as health-related quality of life (HRQL), which is becoming increasingly accepted as a means of providing a more global, patient-orientated assessment of the outcome of health care interventions than the simple medical model. The potential of HRQL as a surrogate measure of healthcare needs has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVES AND METHOD: A generic (Short Form-12; SF-12) and a disease-specific questionnaire (Seattle Angina Questionnaire; SAQ) were tested for their potential to predict health needs in patients with acute coronary disease. A wide range of healthcare needs were determined using a questionnaire specifically developed for this purpose. RESULTS: With the exception of information needs, healthcare needs were highly correlated with health-related quality of life. Patients with limited enjoyment of personal interests, weak financial situation, greater dependency on others to access health services, and dissatisfaction with accommodation reported poorer HRQL (SF-12: p < 0.001; SAQ: p < 0.01). Difficulties with mobility, aids to daily living and activities requiring assistance from someone else were strongly associated with both generic and disease-specific questionnaires (SF-12: r = 0.46-0.55, p < 0.01; SAQ: r = 0.53-0.65, p < 0.001). Variables relating to quality of care and health services were more highly correlated with SAQ components (r = 0.33-0.59) than with SF-12 (r = 0.07-0.33). Overall, the disease-specific Seattle Angina Questionnaire was superior to the generic Short Form-12 in detecting healthcare needs in patients with coronary disease. Receiver-operator curves supported the sensitivity of HRQL tools in detecting health needs. CONCLUSION: Healthcare needs are complex and developing suitable questionnaires to measure these is difficult and time-consuming. Without a satisfactory means of measuring these needs, the extent to which disease impacts on health will continue to be underestimated. Further investigation on larger populations is warranted but HRQL tools appear to be a reasonable proxy for healthcare needs, as they identify the majority of needs in patients with coronary disease, an observation not previously reported in this patient grou

On the nature of the ISO-selected sources in the ELAIS S2 region

We have studied the optical, near-IR and radio properties of a complete sample of 43 sources detected at 15-micron in one of the deeper ELAIS repeatedly observed region. The extragalactic objects in this sample have 15-micron flux densities in the range 0.4-10 mJy, where the source counts start diverging from no evolution models. About 90% of the sources (39 out of 43) have optical counterparts brighter than I=21 mag. Eight of these 39 sources have been identified with stars on the basis of imaging data, while for another 22 sources we have obtained optical spectroscopy, reaching a high identification percentage (30/43, ~70%). All but one of the 28 sources with flux density > 0.7 mJy are identified. Most of the extragalactic objects are normal spiral or starburst galaxies at moderate redshift (z_med~0.2); four objects are Active Galactic Nuclei. We have used the 15-micron, H_alpha and 1.4-GHz luminosities as indicators of star-formation rate and we have compared the results obtained in these three bands. While 1.4-GHz and 15-micron estimates are in good agreement, showing that our galaxies are forming stars at a median rate of ~40 Mo/yr, the raw H_alpha-based estimates are a factor ~5-10 lower and need a mean correction of ~2 mag to be brought on the same scale as the other two indicators. A correction of ~2 mag is consistent with what suggested by the Balmer decrements H_alpha/H_beta and by the optical colours. Moreover, it is intermediate between the correction found locally for normal spirals and the correction needed for high-luminosity 15-micron objects, suggesting that the average extinction suffered by galaxies increases with infrared luminosity.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures (3 in JPEG format), MNRAS, accepte

Unmet health needs in patients with coronary heart disease: implications and potential for improvement in caring services

BACKGROUND: Improving the quality of health care services requires tailoring facilities to fulfil patients' needs. Satisfying patients' healthcare needs, listening to patients' opinions and building a closer provider-user partnership are central to the NHS. Few published studies have discussed cardiovascular patients' health needs, but they are not comprehensive and fail to explore the contribution of outcome to needs assessment. METHOD: A comprehensive self-administered health needs assessment (HNA) questionnaire was developed for concomitant use with generic (Short Form-12 and EuroQOL) and specific (Seattle Angina Questionnaire) health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments on 242 patients admitted to the Acute Cardiac Unit, Nottingham. RESULTS: 38% reported difficulty accessing health facilities, 56% due to transport and 32% required a travelling companion. Mean HRQOL scores were lower in those living alone (P < 0.05) or who reported unsatisfactory accommodation. Dissatisfaction with transport affected patients' ease of access to healthcare facilities (P < 0.001). Younger patients (<65 y) were more likely to be socially isolated (P = 0.01). Women and patients with chronic disease were more likely to be concerned about housework (P < 0.05). Over 65 s (p < 0.05) of higher social classes (p < 0.01) and greater physical needs (p < 0.001) had more social needs, correlating moderately (0.32 < r < 0.63) with all HRQL domains except SAQ-AS. Several HRQL components were highly correlated with the HNA physical score (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients wanted more social (suitable accommodation, companionship, social visits) and physical (help aids, access to healthcare services, house work) support. The construct validity and intra-class reliability of the HNA tool were confirmed. Our results indicate a gap between patients' health needs and available services, highlighting potential areas for improvement in the quality of service

The obscured X-ray source population in the HELLAS2XMM survey: the Spitzer view

Recent X-ray surveys have provided a large number of high-luminosity, obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), the so-called Type 2 quasars. Despite the large amount of multi-wavelength supporting data, the main parameters related to the black holes harbored in such AGN are still poorly known. Here we present the results obtained for a sample of eight Type 2 quasars in the redshift range 0.9-2.1 selected from the HELLAS2XMM survey, for which we used Ks-band, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS data at 24 micron to estimate bolometric corrections, black hole masses, and Eddington ratios.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in "The Multicoloured Landscape of Compact Objects and their Explosive Progenitors: Theory vs Observations" (Cefalu, Sicily, June 2006). Eds. L. Burderi et al. (New York: AIP

A New Method for ISOCAM Data Reduction - I. Application to the European Large Area ISO Survey Southern Field: Method and Results

We have developed a new data reduction technique for ISOCAM LW data and have applied it to the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) LW3 (15 micron) observations in the southern hemisphere (S1). This method, known as LARI technique and based on the assumption of the existence of two different time scales in ISOCAM transients (accounting either for fast or slow detector response), was particularly designed for the detection of faint sources. In the ELAIS S1 field we obtained a catalogue of 462 15 micron sources with signal-to-noise ratio >= 5 and flux densities in the range 0.45 - 150 mJy (filling the whole flux range between the Deep ISOCAM Surveys and the IRAS Faint Source Survey). The completeness at different flux levels and the photometric accuracy of this catalogue have been tested with simulations. Here we present a detailed description of the method and discuss the results obtained by its application to the S1 LW3 data.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, MNRAS style, 20 postscript figures, full catalogue not yet available at http://boas5.bo.astro.it/~elais/catalogues/. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Reinsurance Approach in a Two-Dimensional Model with Dependent Risks

We consider an insurer having two classes of insurance risks dependent through the number of claims of each risk in a given period of time. We assume that the insurer chooses a reinsurance strategy related to the first class of risk by means a proportional reinsurance contract; we also assume that the reinsurance strategy related to the second class of risk is of Excess of Loss reinsurance type. Within this paper, we study the possible optimal couples of proportional retention level and Excess of Loss retention limit

Single top production in the tt-channel at LHC: a realistic test of electroweak models

We compute the complete electroweak one-loop effect on the process of $t$-channel single top production at LHC in the Standard Model and in the MSSM within the mSUGRA symmetry breaking scheme. We find that the one-loop electroweak SM effect is large, and decreases the cross section of an amount that is of the same size as that of the NLO QCD one. The genuine SUSY effect in the mSUGRA scheme, for a general choice of benchmark points, is rather small. It might become large and visible in more general scenarios around thresholds involving light stop and neutralino mass values.Comment: 28 pages, 10 eps figure

Dividends and Dynamic Solvency Insurance in Two-Dimensional Risk Models

In this paper we consider two-dimensional risk models where the claim counting processes of the two classes of business are assumed to be Poisson processes. We assume that the dividends are paid because of the presence of a reflecting upper barrier. Furthermore, in order to avoid ruin, we consider dynamic solvency insurance contracts that depend on two different definitions of time of ruin. We present a rather general model and, under different assumptions, we obtain the equations fulfilled by the discounted dividend payments and by the net single premium of dynamic solvency insurance. We also derive some boundary conditions and provide explicit solutions for some special cases