ATLAS RPC offline monitoring and data quality assessment

In this work several aspects of ATLAS RPC offline monitoring and data quality assessment are illustrated with cosmics data selected by RPC trigger. These correspond to trigger selection, front-end mapping, detection efficiency and occupancy, which are studied in terms of low level quantities such as: RPC off-line hits and standalone tracks. The tools and techniques presented are also extended to the forthcoming LHC p-p beam collisions.Comment: Poster section at ICHEP08, Philadelphia, USA, July 2008. 3 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figure

Requests for malaria prevention advice to Public Health England, Malaria Reference Laboratory: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The Malaria Reference Laboratory (MRL) provides a specialist advisory service for complex queries from healthcare professionals. This study was conducted to examine the types of queries that general practitioners and nurses ask around malaria prophylaxis, to identify issues which are not obvious from existing easily available sources. METHODS: We reviewed all the faxed requests received over a period of 6 months at the MRL. RESULTS: There were a total of 608 queries (104 concerning children) relating to 450 travellers. 98% of requests were from general practice (GP or practice nurse). The most common enquiries were about travellers to multiple destinations (95/529, 17.96%), prolonged duration of travel (70/529, 13.23%), the immunosuppressed (38/529, 7.18%), potential drug interactions (69/529, 13.04%), pregnancy and conception (36, 6.81%). 79/529 queries related to patients with multiple conditions requiring expert advice from the MRL. 27% of the enquiries could have been answered by consulting the UK malaria prophylaxis guidelines available on the MRL site. CONCLUSION: Most queries where practitioners requested help were not easily answered with existing guidelines. Pregnancy and epilepsy are areas where guidance needs strengthening. Difficulties for practitioners were multifactorial, it would be difficult to address all scenarios in guidelines without making them unwieldy

Risk factors for mortality from imported falciparum malaria in the United Kingdom over 20 years: an observational study

Objectives To determine which travellers with malaria are at greatest risk of dying, highlighting factors which can be used to target health messages to travellers. Design Observational study based on 20 years of UK national data. Setting National register of malaria cases. Participants 25 054 patients notified with Plasmodium falciparum malaria, of whom 184 died, between 1987 and 2006. Main outcome measures Comparison between those with falciparum malaria who died and non-fatal cases, including age, reason for travel, country of birth, time of year diagnosed, malaria prophylaxis used. Results Mortality increased steadily with age, with a case fatality of 25/548 (4.6%) in people aged >65 years, adjusted odds ratio 10.68 (95% confidence interval 6.4 to 17.8), P<0.001 compared with 18–35 year olds. There were no deaths in the ≤5 year age group. Case fatality was 3.0% (81/2740 cases) in tourists compared with 0.32% (26/8077) in travellers visiting friends and relatives (adjusted odds ratio 8.2 (5.1 to 13.3), P<0.001). Those born in African countries with endemic malaria had a case fatality of 0.4% (36/8937) compared with 2.4% (142/5849) in others (adjusted odds ratio 4.6 (3.1 to 9.9), P<0.001). Case fatality was particularly high from the Gambia. There was an inverse correlation in mortality between region of presentation and number of cases seen in the region (R2=0.72, P<0.001). Most delay in fatal cases was in seeking care. Conclusions Most travellers acquiring malaria are of African heritage visiting friends and relatives. In contrast the risks of dying from malaria once acquired are highest in the elderly, tourists, and those presenting in areas in which malaria is seldom seen. Doctors often do not think of these as high risk groups for malaria; for this reason they are important groups to target in pre-travel advice

SnO₂ nanoparticles in silica: nanosized tools for femtosecond-laser machining of refractive index patterns

We show that SnO2 nanoclusters in silica interact with ultrashort infrared laser pulses focused inside the material generating a hydrostatic compression and photoelastic response of the surrounding glass. This effect, together with the laser-induced nanocluster amorphization, gives rise to positive or negative refractive-index changes, up to 10–2, depending on the beam-power density. This result points out a wide tuning of the refractive index patterns obtainable in silica-based optical technology

Magma degassing episodes and volcanic unrest periods in quiescent volcanoes

Long time series of fumarolic chemical and isotopic compositions, at Solfatara (Campi Flegrei) and Vulcano highlight the occurrence of mixing processes among magmatic and hydrothermal fluids. At Solfatara temperatures of about 360°C of the hydrothermal system are inferred by methane chemical-isotopic geoindicators and by the H2/Ar geothermometer. These high temperatures are representative of a deep zone where magmatic gases flash hydrothermalliquid forming a gas pIume where the kinetically fast reactive species (H2 and CO) re-equilibrate at temperatures of 200240°C. The stable isotope compositions of the two dominant species, i.e, H20 and C02, shows that sampled effluents are mixture between magmatic fluids and the vapor generated at about 360°C by the vaporization of hydrothermalliquids of meteotic origino Similar mixing processes between magmatic fluids and a hydrothermal component of marine origin have been recognized at Vulcano high temperature fumaroleso In both the system a typical 'andesitic' water type composition and high C02 contents characterizes the magmatic component. Our hypothesis is that pulsing injections of these C02-rich magmatic fluids at the bottom of the hydrothermal systems trigger the bradyseismic crises, periodically affecting Campi Flegrei, and the periodical volcanic unrest periods of Vulcano. At Campi Flegrei a strong increase of the fraction of the magmatic component, marked in fact the bradyseismic crisis of 1982-84 and four minor episodes occurred in 1989, 1994 and 2000 and 2006. Increases of the magmatic component in the fumaroles of Vulcano were recorded in 1979-1981, 1985, 1988, 1996, 2004 and 2005 concurrently with anomalous seismic activity localized in the erater area. Physical-numerical simulations of the injection of hot, C02 rich fluids at the base of a hydrothermal system, asses the physical feasibility the processo Ground deformations, gravitational anomalies and seismic crisis can be well explained by the complex fluid dynamic processes caused by magma degassing episodes. Data on the fumaroles of other volcanoes, for example Vesuvio, Panarea, Nisyros (Greece), Mammoth (California), suggest that magma degassing episodes frequently occur in dormant volcanoes causing volcanic unrest processes not necessarily linked to magma movement but rather to pulsating degassing processes from deep pressurized, possibly stationary, magma bodies

The Role of Health Professionals in Community Based Programs

The research is part of a project promoted by the Municipality of Florence in order to planning a program of HIV prevention and promoting the access to free HIV test. Theoretical approaches come from studies about health attitudes, healthy behavior and perceived control on wellbeing (Albarracin, Kumkale, &amp;Johnson,2004; Davis, Hughes, Sloan, Tang, &amp; McMaster, 2009; Fishbein,2008), different interventions in health promotion (Boone &amp; Lefkowitz, 2004; Fortenberry, Tu, Harezlak, Katz &amp; Orr, 2002; Harper, Bangi, Contreras, Pedraza Tolliver &amp; Vess, 2004), importance of professionals (Durantini, Albarracin, Mitchell, Earl, &amp; Gillette, 2006; Fisher, Bryan, &amp; Misovich, 2002), particularly general practitioners (Schreibman &amp; Friedland, 2003). The purpose of the research is to identify useful indications for community based interventions addressed to adult people. Our aim is collecting information about professionals’ perception of citizens’ attitude and behavior in order to find strengths and weakness in health promotion activities carried out by public services. The qualitative study was aimed to investigate attitudes towards the primary and secondary prevention, and willingness and motivation to taking HIV test. Participants were physicians, psychologists and volunteers, involved in health services addressed both to the whole of population (e.g. professionals working in surgeries and in consulting rooms) and to HIV positive people. Instrument was a semi-structured interview for exploring professionals’ perception of patients’ attitudes towards this disease, risky behaviors, preventive behaviors and evaluation about health services practices. Findings show a positive evaluation of available health services and their cooperation in facing the problem, despite difficulties in involving all the professionals. Prevention follows well-established paths but is not able to reach all citizens. There is a need of a wider information, and prevention involving people as individuals and groups. General practitioners may have a critical and important role, because of their trust relationship with their patients, and can be able to disseminate preventive practices