The bright optical companion to the eclipsing millisecond pulsar in NGC 6397

We report the possible optical identification of the companion to the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR J1740-5340 in the globular cluster NGC 6397. A bright variable star with an anomalous red colour and optical variability which nicely correlates to the orbital period of the pulsar has been found close to the pulsar position. If confirmed, the optical light curve, reminiscent of tidal distorsions similar to those observed in detached and contact binaries, support the idea that this is the first case of a Roche lobe filling companion to a millisecond pulsar.Comment: 9 pages, 4 embedded figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

Who is responsible for your health: is it you, your doctor or the new technologies?

The aim of the paper is to disentangle the roles that patients, physicians and technology can have on patient health outcomes. The analysis focuses on patients suffering from hypercholesterolemia. Using a large and detailed dataset of patients collected by the Italian College of General Practitioners (SIMG) over the period 2001–2006, we observe the existence of heterogeneity in the time needed to reach an optimal level of health stock. We firstly explore whether patients recovering faster exhibit lower hospitalization rates. Secondly, we study the determinants of the speed of recovery to a good health status. Results suggest that a 10 % increase in the speed of recovery reduces hospitalization rates by 1 % in the general sample and by 1.25 % in patients in primary prevention. Furthermore, we show that recovering to a good health status is a multifaceted phenomenon, with technology explaining from 54 to 68 % of the total effect

National evaluation of Partnerships for Older People Projects

Executive Summary The Partnership for Older People Projects (POPP) were funded by the Department of Health to develop services for older people, aimed at promoting their health, well-being and independence and preventing or delaying their need for higher intensity or institutional care. The evaluation found that a wide range of projects resulted in improved quality of life for participants and considerable savings, as well as better local working relationships. • Twenty-nine local authorities were involved as pilot sites, working with health and voluntary sector partners to develop services, with funding of £60m • Those projects developed ranged from low level services, such as lunch-clubs, to more formal preventive initiatives, such as hospital discharge and rapid response services • Over a quarter of a million people (264,637) used one or more of these services • The reduction in hospital emergency bed days resulted in considerable savings, to the extent that for every extra £1 spent on the POPP services, there has been approximately a £1.20 additional benefit in savings on emergency bed days. This is the headline estimate drawn from a statistically valid range of £0.80 to £1.60 saving on emergency bed days for every extra £1 spent on the projects. • Overnight hospital stays were seemingly reduced by 47% and use of Accident & Emergency departments by 29%. Reductions were also seen in physiotherapy/occupational therapy and clinic or outpatient appointments with a total cost reduction of £2,166 per person • A practical example of what works is pro-active case coordination services, where visits to A&E departments fell by 60%, hospital overnight stays were reduced by 48%, phone calls to GPs fell by 28%, visits to practice nurses reduced by 25% and GP appointments reduced by 10% • Efficiency gains in health service use appear to have been achieved without any adverse impact on the use of social care resources • The overwhelming majority of the POPP projects have been sustained, with only 3% being closed – either because they did not deliver the intended outcomes or because local strategic priorities had changed • PCTs have contributed to the sustainability of the POPP projects within all 29 pilot sites. Moreover, within almost half of the sites, one or more of the projects are being entirely sustained through PCT funding – a total of 20% of POPP projects. There are a further 14% of projects for which PCTs are providing at least half of the necessary ongoing funding • POPP services appear to have improved users’ quality of life, varying with the nature of individual projects; those providing services to individuals with complex needs were particularly successful, but low-level preventive projects also had an impact • All local projects involved older people in their design and management, although to varying degrees, including as members of steering or programme boards, in staff recruitment panels, as volunteers or in the evaluation • Improved relationships with health agencies and the voluntary sector in the locality were generally reported as a result of partnership working, although there were some difficulties securing the involvement of GP

Prompt-particle-events in ESA's Envisat/MERIS and Sentinel-3/OLCI data: observations, analysis and recommendations.

La tesi fornisce per la prima volta una profonda analisi sul rumore generato da particelle ad alta energia (prompt-particle-events, PPEs) in dati acquisiti dai sensori satellitari elettro-ottici MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, a bordo di Envisat, ESA) ed OLCI (Ocean and Land Color Instrument, a bordo di Sentinel-3, ESA). Lo studio ha riguardato dati MERIS di livello 0 (correnti di buio e dati non calibrati), livello 1B (segnali in radianza/riflettanza) e livello 2 (immagini Maximum Chlorpphyll Index) acquisiti dal satellite una volta in orbita e dati OLCI acquisiti durante attività on-ground di tipo Assembly, Integration and Test svolti presso Thales Alenia Space (Francia). La tesi si propone inoltre di offrire delle possibilità di mitigazione del rumore tramite opportune tecniche di filtraggio, un modello statistico di predizione di tale rumore su dati OLCI di livello 0 e 1B una volta lanciato Sentinel-3 ed infine un'indicazione a proseguire la ricerca su quali e quanti possano essere gli effetti dei PPEs su ulteriori prodotti scientifici ESA di livello 2 con l'apporto di un modello statistico appositamente sviluppato

What is the relationship between the quality of care experience and quality of life outcomes? Some evidence from long-term home care in England

Quality of care has multiple dimensions, including safety, experience and effectiveness. Understanding the relationship between these dimensions is important for policy and practice, since there may be both synergies and trade-offs that occur when attempting to maximise them. For long-term care effectiveness is understood as care that promotes a good quality of life (QoL). Here we investigate the relationship between care experience and QoL in long-term home care. Data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2008/09 were analysed using fractional response regression models to explore the relationship between experience, measured through items capturing perceptions of the care delivery process, and patient-reported QoL-outcomes, measured using ASCOT, controlling for relevant individual characteristics. The analysis included 14,172 people aged 65 and over using home care services from across England. After controlling for the confounding effect of individual characteristics, a ten percentage point increase in overall process quality is found to be associated on average with a 2.13 percentage point increase in ASCOT. Interpersonal aspects of care, such as the responsiveness and caring behaviour of staff, have a stronger relationship with ASCOT than those related to the organisation of care by the provider, such as timekeeping and continuity of care, with a ten percentage point increase in the former associated on average with a 1.9 percentage point increase in ASCOT and a ten percentage point increase in the latter associated on average with a 0.3 percentage point increase in ASCOT. Perceptions of care experience, particularly those related to the interpersonal care aspects, have an important association with QoL-outcomes. Measures of the experience of interpersonal aspects of care may therefore be useful indicators of QoL-outcomes for the routine monitoring of long-term home care services. Although associated, the two dimensions are distinctive and for policymakers there is value in assessing both care experience and QoL-outcomes

Targeting Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Several studies have recognized the strong impact that the acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) have on the morbidity and mortality of patients affected by cardiovascular diseases. Still open, however, is the field concerning the mediators and the pathways involved in the etiology of this cardiovascular event. The present review would support the relatively new discovered role that the polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) have in the pathogenesis of the AMI, through a brief analysis of past and ongoing research. Particularly, it is reviewed here the possibility that inhibition of the activity of PMNs and inhibition of the signaling pathways related to their activity may result useful in AMI and may improve the prognosis of this pathology. This review, indeed, presents and discusses new data on one of the lipid kinase, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ), and its role in neutrophil recruitment during AMI

Extra virgin olive oil and cardiovascular diseases: benefits for human health

The cardioprotective properties of Mediterranean Diet were demonstrated for the first time from the Seven Country Study. In the last few decades, numerous epidemiological studies, as well as intervention trial, confirmed this observation, pointing out the close relationship between the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular diseases. In this context, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), the most representative component of this diet, seems to be relevant in lowering the incidence of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and stroke. From a chemical point of view, 98-99% of the total weight of EVOO is represented by fatty acids, especially monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid. Tocopherols, polyphenols and other minor constituents represent the remaining 1-2%. All these components may potentially contribute to "health maintenance" with their beneficial effects by EVOOO

Picking out a wine: Consumer motivation behind different quality wines choice

The quality scale of Italian wines is mainly organized in four categories: PDO, PGI, basic and bulk wine. Our analysis explicitly investigates the patterns and determinants of consumption for these four different types of wine by analyzing a representative sample of consumers from a traditional wine-producing country. This study provides for first time insights on quality perceptions of wines and verifies whether Italian consumers perceive significant differences among the different categories of wines. The overall results, obtained through a system of equation estimates, show that consumer motivations and wine consumption determinants change according to each different range of wine quality and thereby support a hierarchical scale of quality wines, as a fact consumers' motivation progressively changes as the quality scales of the wine increase or decrease. In addition, this study highlights for first time any differences in the consumption determinants between the PDO and the PGI wines in a national context and it suggests that the influence of the two different GI labels on the wine choice of consumers is truly different. Important insights were also provided for bulk wine whose consumption seems to be closely related to wine tourism and the desire to buy locally produced wines. Keywords: Basic wines, Bulk wines, Local wines, PDO, PG