Solid and liquid modernity: A comparison of the social geography of places to die in the UK and Australia.

Preferred place of care and death is a widely used quality measure for palliative and end of life care services. In this article we explore the use of Zygmunt Bauman's ideas on solid and liquid modernity to understand the complexity of the social geographical contexts of delivering and receiving care. Although solid ways of dying offer certainty and standardized care, more liquid ways allow for individualized care connected to family and communities. Understanding the complex tensions between solid and liquid aspects of palliative care may allow practitioners to help dying people to die in the ways and places they prefer

Mortality From Postoperative Myocardial Infarction in Nonthoracic Surgical Patients at a Community Hospital

In a 20-month prospective study, 35 patients with postoperative myocardial infarction were identified. All patients referred to cardiologists by nonthoracic surgeons were evaluated for evidence of postoperative myocardial infarction as defined by symptoms, electrocardiographic changes, and cardiac enzyme elevation. Ten of the 35 patients (29%) subsequently died, seven (20%) from the myocardial infarction. Twenty-five of the 35 patients (71%) had preexisting coronary artery disease. Reported experience with patient mortality following postoperative myocardial infarction varies from 28% to 69%. Our patient mortality rate at 29%, though still substantial, is lower than many current reports. Despite close perioperative surveillance of patients with coronary artery disease, the morbidity and mortality remains unacceptably high. Physicians should routinely evaluate the surgical patient thoroughly for cardiac risk

Clusters of galaxies : observational properties of the diffuse radio emission

Clusters of galaxies, as the largest virialized systems in the Universe, are ideal laboratories to study the formation and evolution of cosmic structures...(abridged)... Most of the detailed knowledge of galaxy clusters has been obtained in recent years from the study of ICM through X-ray Astronomy. At the same time, radio observations have proved that the ICM is mixed with non-thermal components, i.e. highly relativistic particles and large-scale magnetic fields, detected through their synchrotron emission. The knowledge of the properties of these non-thermal ICM components has increased significantly, owing to sensitive radio images and to the development of theoretical models. Diffuse synchrotron radio emission in the central and peripheral cluster regions has been found in many clusters. Moreover large-scale magnetic fields appear to be present in all galaxy clusters, as derived from Rotation Measure (RM) studies. Non-thermal components are linked to the cluster X-ray properties, and to the cluster evolutionary stage, and are crucial for a comprehensive physical description of the intracluster medium. They play an important role in the cluster formation and evolution. We review here the observational properties of diffuse non-thermal sources detected in galaxy clusters: halos, relics and mini-halos. We discuss their classification and properties. We report published results up to date and obtain and discuss statistical properties. We present the properties of large-scale magnetic fields in clusters and in even larger structures: filaments connecting galaxy clusters. We summarize the current models of the origin of these cluster components, and outline the improvements that are expected in this area from future developments thanks to the new generation of radio telescopes.Comment: Accepted for the publication in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. 58 pages, 26 figure

Detection of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae with Fermi

Gamma-Ray Pulsar Bonanza Most of the pulsars we know about were detected through their radio emission; a few are known to pulse gamma rays but were first detected at other wavelengths (see the Perspective by Halpern ). Using the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, Abdo et al. (p. 840 , published online 2 July; see the cover) report the detection of 16 previously unknown pulsars based on their gamma-ray emission alone. Thirteen of these coincide with previously unidentified gamma-ray sources, solving the 30-year-old mystery of their identities. Pulsars are fast-rotating neutron stars. With time they slow down and cease to radiate; however, if they are in a binary system, they can have their spin rates increased by mass transfer from their companion stars, starting a new life as millisecond pulsars. In another study, Abdo et al. (p. 845 ) report the detection of gamma-ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, which is coming from an ensemble of millisecond pulsars in the cluster's core. The data imply that there are up to 60 millisecond pulsars in 47 Tucanae, twice as many as predicted by radio observations. In a further companion study, Abdo et al. (p. 848 , published online 2 July) searched Fermi Large Area Telescope data for pulsations from all known millisecond pulsars outside of stellar clusters, finding gamma-ray pulsations for eight of them. Their properties resemble those of other gamma-ray pulsars, suggesting that they share the same basic emission mechanism. Indeed, both sets of pulsars favor emission models in which the gamma rays are produced in the outer magnetosphere of the neutron star