Legacy of Boson Clouds on Black Hole Binaries.

Superradiant clouds of ultralight bosons can leave an imprint on the gravitational waveform of black hole binaries through "ionization" and "resonances." We study the sequence of resonances as the binary evolves and show that there are only two possible outcomes, each with a distinct imprint on the waveform. If the cloud and the binary are nearly counterrotating, then the cloud survives in its original state until it enters the sensitivity band of future gravitational wave detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.

Perspectives on fundamental cosmology from Low Earth Orbit and the Moon.

The next generation of space-based experiments will go hunting for answers to cosmology's key open questions which revolve around inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Low earth orbit and lunar missions within the European Space Agency's Human and Robotic Exploration programme can push our knowledge forward in all of these three fields. A radio interferometer on the Moon, a cold atom interferometer in low earth orbit and a gravitational wave interferometer on the Moon are highlighted as the most fruitful missions to plan and execute in the mid-term.

Sharp Signals of Boson Clouds in Black Hole Binary Inspirals.

Gravitational waves (GWs) are an exciting new probe of physics beyond the standard models of gravity and particle physics. One interesting possibility is provided by the so-called "gravitational atom," wherein a superradiant instability spontaneously forms a cloud of ultralight bosons around a rotating black hole. The presence of these boson clouds affects the dynamics of black hole binary inspirals and their associated GW signals.

'Everyone is trying to outcompete each other': a qualitative study of medical student attitudes to a novel peer-assessed undergraduate teamwork module.

The centrality of teamwork in ensuring the effective functioning of institutions across all sectors is undeniable. However, embedding teamwork into higher education has been hampered due to a range of deeply entrenched practices associated broadly with the foregrounding of knowledge, beliefs about the place of skill training and routines of assessment. As a result, despite an urgent need to address teamwork, little progress has been made with respect to progressing teamwork education.

A new era in the search for dark matter.

There is a growing sense of 'crisis' in the dark-matter particle community, which arises from the absence of evidence for the most popular candidates for dark-matter particles-such as weakly interacting massive particles, axions and sterile neutrinos-despite the enormous effort that has gone into searching for these particles. Here we discuss what we have learned about the nature of dark matter from past experiments and the implications for planned dark-matter searches in the next decade. We argue that diversifying the experimental effort and incorporating astronomical surveys and gravitational-wave observations is our best hope of making progress on the dark-matter problem.

Searching for Primordial Black Holes in the Radio and X-Ray Sky.

We model the accretion of gas onto a population of massive primordial black holes in the Milky Way and compare the predicted radio and x-ray emission with observational data. We show that, under conservative assumptions on the accretion process, the possibility that O(10)M_{⊙} primordial black holes can account for all of the dark matter in the Milky Way is excluded at 5σ by a comparison with a Very Large Array radio catalog at 1.4 GHz and at ≃40σ by a comparison with a Chandra x-ray catalog (0.

The importance of a shared definition of left ventricular hypertrophy: The case of obese women.

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a risk factor for all-cause mortality. Left ventricular (LV) mass is usually indexed for normalizing the value to the patients phenotype and a correction by body surface area (BSA) is widely utilized being the only approved one according to the last echocardiography guidelines. However indexing LV mass by BSA may cause an underestimation of LVH prevalence in obese subjects and many authors have utilized in the obese subset of patients a correction by height.

Enhancing behavioral change with motivational interviewing: a case study in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit.

Background: Psychological interventions in cardiac rehabilitation programs appear relevant in as much they significantly contribute to achieve the goals of rehabilitation, to reduce the risk of relapses and to improve patients' adherence to therapy. To this aim, motivational interviewing (MI) has shown promising results in improving motivation to change and individuals' confidence in their ability to do so.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to integrate theory with practice by describing a three-session case scenario.

The moment of truth for WIMP dark matter.

We know that dark matter constitutes 85 per cent of all the matter in the Universe, but we do not know of what it is made. Amongst the many dark matter candidates proposed, WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) occupy a special place, because they arise naturally from new theories that seek to extend the standard model of particle physics. With the advent of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and a new generation of astroparticle experiments, the moment of truth has come for WIMPs: either we will discover them in the next five to ten years, or we will witness their inevitable decline.

Syndrome surveillance and molecular epidemiology for early detection and tracing of an outbreak of measles in Liguria, Italy.

The performances of surveillance systems for measles in Europe are poorly investigated, despite the fundamental role they should play in the early detection of outbreaks and in the assessment of the progress towards elimination. A new chief complaint syndrome surveillance system has been developed in Genoa, Italy, using data from the Emergency Department records of the regional reference university hospital and its ability to early detect an outbreak of measles that began during the winter months of 2007/2008 was evaluated. For the 23-month period from January 2007 to November 2008, the Emergency Department registration and triage software was used to obtain the time series of daily counts, that were related with cases notified by the statutory notification system and detection and characterization data from the measles regional reference laboratory.

Emergency department syndromic surveillance system for early detection of 5 syndromes: a pilot project in a reference teaching hospital in Genoa, Italy.

Early detection is fundamental for achieving effective control of infectious disease outbreaks. We described the development of a local chief complaint emergency department (ED)-based syndromic surveillance system to improve public health response in Genoa, Italy. The five syndromes under investigation by the syndromic surveillance system were influenza-like illness (ILI), low-respiratory tract illness (LRTI), not-haemorrhagic gastroenteritis, acute hepatitis, fever-with-rash (maculo-papular or vescicular) syndrome.

Improved aetiological diagnosis of ischaemic stroke in a Vascular Medicine Unit--the significance of transesophageal echocardiogram.

Background: The TOAST study estimates that 34% of ischaemic strokes are of undetermined aetiology. Improvements in the diagnosis of the pathogenetic mechanism of ischaemic stroke would translate into a better care, in analogy to other fields of vascular and internal medicine.

Objective: To measure the reduction of undetermined aetiology strokes performing a set of additional diagnostic tests.

Identification of weakly interacting massive particles through a combined measurement of axial and scalar couplings.

We study the prospects for detecting weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in a number of phenomenological scenarios, with a detector composed of a target simultaneously sensitive to both spin-dependent and spin-independent couplings, as is the case of COUPP (Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics). First, we show that sensitivity to both couplings optimizes chances of initial WIMP detection. Second, we demonstrate that, in case of detection, a comparison of the signal on two complementary targets, such as in COUPP CF3I and C4F10 bubble chambers, allows a significantly more precise determination of the dark matter axial and scalar couplings.

Gamma-ray Constraint on galactic positron production by MeV dark matter.

The Galactic positrons, as observed by their annihilation gamma-ray line at 0.511 MeV, are difficult to account for with astrophysical sources. It has been proposed that they are produced instead by dark matter annihilation or decay in the inner Galactic halo.

Efficacy and safety comparative evaluation of orlistat and sibutramine treatment in hypertensive obese patients.

Aim: The aim of our study was to comparatively evaluate the efficacy and safety of orlistat and sibutramine treatment in obese hypertensive patients, with a specific attention to cardiovascular effects and to side effects because of this treatment.

Methods: Patients were enrolled, evaluated and followed at three Italian Centres of Internal Medicine. We evaluated 115 obese and hypertensive patients.

Comparison of fluvastatin + fenofibrate combination therapy and fluvastatin monotherapy in the treatment of combined hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease: a 12-month, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Background: Diabetes risk is often complicated by a mixed hyperlipoproteinemia not sufficiently controlled by a single antihyperlipidemic drug; however, there are some concerns about the safety of combined statin and fibrate treatments.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety profile of fluvastatin + fenofibrate combination therapy and those of fluvastatin monotherapy in the treatment of combined hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and coronary heart disease (CHD) (ie, high risk for cardiovascular disease [CVD]).

Methods: This 12-month, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial was conducted at the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.

Comparison of the effects of telmisartan and nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system on blood pressure control, glucose metabolism, and the lipid profile in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and mild hypertension: a 12-month, randomized, double-blind study.

Background: Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) provide effective blood pressure control. Whereas none of the ARBs appear to affect glucose homeostasis, some ARBs have been associated with a decrease in cholesterolemia.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate blood pressure control glucose homeostasis, and the plasma lipid profile in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and mild hypertension during 12 months of treatment with the ARB telmisartan or nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS).

Association between low-molecular weight apolipoprotein(a) isoforms and obesity in Italian women.

Objective: Low-molecular weight (MW) apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] isoforms are closely associated with an increased incidence of atherothrombotic disease, prevalence of which is higher in obese individuals, particularly in women. The hypothesis of this study was to assess whether there are differences in the distribution of apo(a) phenotypes between obese patients and healthy controls.

Research Methods And Procedures: One hundred three obese Italian women (BMI > or = 30.

Metabolic effects of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone in patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome treated with glimepiride: a twelve-month, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial.

Background: Glimepiride is approved as monotherapy and in combination with metformin or with insulin, whereas the combination of glimepiride with other antihyperglycemic drugs is under investigation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the differential effect on glucose and lipid variables and tolerability of the combination of glimepiride plus pioglitazone or rosiglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and metabolic syndrome.

Methods: This 12-month, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial was conducted at 3 study sites in Italy.

Relationship between erectile dysfunction and silent myocardial ischemia in apparently uncomplicated type 2 diabetic patients.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). In diabetic patients, CAD is often silent. Among diabetic patients with silent CAD, the prevalence of ED has never been evaluated.

Gamma rays from the Galactic bulge and large extra dimensions.

An intriguing feature of extra dimensions is the possible production of Kaluza-Klein gravitons by nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung, in the course of core collapse of massive stars, with gravitons then being trapped around the newly born neutron stars and decaying into two gamma rays, making neutron stars gamma-ray sources. We strengthen the limits on the radius of compactification of extra dimensions for a small number n of them, or alternatively the fundamental scale of quantum gravity, considering the gamma-ray emission of the whole population of neutron stars sitting in the Galactic bulge, instead of the closest member of this category. For n=1 the constraint on the compactification radius is R<400 microm.

[Tryptase determination in nasal washings in patients with allergic rhinitis].

Triptase is an enzymatic protein found in the mastocytes. Although the biological role of this substance is not fully understood, significant amounts of it are found in the nasal secretions of allergic subject both when naturally exposed to the allergen and when subject to specific nasal provocation tests. The present study uses a radioimmunological method (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden) to assay the amount of triptase in two groups: one composed of 10 subjects suffering from allergic rhinitis and the other of 10 non allergic controls.

Inhibition by aldehydes as a possible further mechanism for glucose-6-phosphatase inactivation during CCl4-poisoning.

Diffusable aldehydes are known to be produced during lipoperoxidative deterioration of unsaturated fatty acids. Malealdehyde (MLA) and 4-hydroxy-2,3-trans-penten-1-al (4-HPE) inhibit rat liver glucose-6-phosphatase activity in vitro. With MLA inhibition is significant at 0.