A note on the St. John Co-Cathedral marble tombstones : the artisans, foreign and Maltese

The aim of this brief study is to modestly review the documentation principally in the notarial archives concerning the tombstones, mainly in the period 1678 to 1819 and the marble craftsmen, local and foreign, who executed their masterpieces so expertly.peer-reviewe

Bayesian model selection for dark energy using weak lensing forecasts

The next generation of weak lensing probes can place strong constraints on cosmological parameters by measuring the mass distribution and geometry of the low redshift universe. We show that a future all-sky tomographic cosmic shear survey with design properties similar to Euclid can provide the statistical accuracy required to distinguish between different dark energy models. Using a fiducial cosmological model which includes cold dark matter, baryons, massive neutrinos (hot dark matter), a running primordial spectral index and possible spatial curvature as well as dark energy perturbations, we calculate Fisher matrix forecasts for different dynamical dark energy models. Using a Bayesian evidence calculation we show how well a future weak lensing survey could do in distinguishing between a cosmological constant and dynamical dark energy.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

Management of epilepsy

Figures for the incidence of epilepsy in Malta are not available. The overall figure for epilepsy given by the Royal College of General Practitioners (Reid 1960) is 4.82 per 1,000 population. As there is no reason to expect and difference in the incidence in these Islands, one can expect that there are at least 1,500 epileptics in Malta. This would mean that all general practitioners would, at some time, come across a patient with epilepsy.peer-reviewe

On the contribution of adaptation to originality in Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus and the history of art

This article assesses the manner in which the gesture of adaptation affects notions of originality. Through its fluctuations, the adaptive process can generate divergent thinking about the question of originality. Adaptation appears resourceful for the purposes of originality when it produces innovative works of art by modifying adopted sources. At the same time, any claim towards originality can be compromised whenever the exercise of adaptation turns out to be overtly dependent on the adoptive sources. To this extent, in the first part of the essay, Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus is deployed as a means of exploring whether the novel's bid towards originality is undermined by the adaptation ofthe Faust theme. What further limits the novel's effectiveness as an "original" is the possibility that the protagonist ofthe novel, Adrian Leverkiihn, may be perceived as an adaptation of Friedrich Nietzsche's own biography. The second part of this study investigates whether the work, through the adaptation of recurring motifs in the history of art, can bring about original arrangements in works of art.peer-reviewe

Treating the patient not just the disease? : Delving deeper into the possible link between affective disorders and coronary heart disease through statistical analysis of a random sample of Maltese people

Background: Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in Males in Malta and globally. Affective disorders are the commonest psychological problem. This cross-sectional study utilizes a multiple regression model utilizing binary logistic to delve deeper into the link between affective disorders and coronary heart disease and also the link between coronary heart disease and anxiety and depression separately. Methods: The study was performed in the small Mediterranean island of Malta through the European health interview survey (EHIS), at a national level involving 5500 participants. The response rate attained in the actual field work was 72%. Statistical analysis involved performing chi-squared tests on all contributing variables and retaining those variables that were significant to both diseases. These were then placed in a multiple regression model using forward stepwise binary logistic to retain only the most significant variables. Results: Age, gender, BMI, diabetes prevalence, depression prevalence, anxiety prevalence, hypertension prevalence, affective disorders( having either anxiety or depression), smoking status, frequency of alcohol intake, and educational level all had a significance of <0.05, some; than less than 0.01. On fitting a multiple regression model, Anxiety (p=0.033), age (p=<0.001), gender (p=<0.001), hypertension (p=0.016) retained their significance in the model. Diabetes could not be analyzed due to power issues. Conclusion: BMI was not retained in the model having been replaced by associated conditions such as hypertension, together with age and gender as strongly associated risk factors. Anxiety nevertheless retained its independent association with coronary heart disease, in spite of the presence of the other stronger predictors described above.peer-reviewe