Public Debt Management & Fiscal Sustainability in Italy

This paper examines the government finances for Italy to determine if they satisfy the Inter-temporal Budget Constraint (IBC) especially since post-Maastricht. Italy met the convergence criteria in order to be accepted as an EMU country. Arghyrou and Luintel (2005) examine the finances of Italy up to the pre-Maastricht convergence period and find that the finances of Italy showed weak form sustainability demonstrating a Maastricht effect. Standard assumptions have been that Italy’s true position of un-sustainability would be inherent post-Maastricht. This paper examines this issue and finds: (i) that the debt to GDP series shows that the finances of Italy are un-sustainable; (ii) however the government revenue and expenditure show weak form sustainability. This paper also finds a downward trend of the government debt to GDP ratio and a convergence of the government revenue and expenditure in recent times. This implies that the finances of Italy satisfy the IBC and indeed continue to maintain the result of weak sustainability even post-Maastricht.

Universality and quantum criticality of the one-dimensional spinor Bose gas

We investigate the universal thermodynamics of the two-component one-dimensional Bose gas with contact interactions in the vicinity of the quantum critical point separating the vacuum and the ferromagnetic liquid regime. We find that the quantum critical region belongs to the universality class of the spin-degenerate impenetrable particle gas which, surprisingly, is very different from the single-component case and identify its boundaries with the peaks of the specific heat. In addition, we show that the compressibility Wilson ratio, which quantifies the relative strength of thermal and quantum fluctuations, serves as a good discriminator of the quantum regimes near the quantum critical point. Remarkably, in the Tonks-Girardeau regime the universal contact develops a pronounced minimum, reflected in a counterintuitive narrowing of the momentum distribution as we increase the temperature. This momentum reconstruction, also present at low and intermediate momenta, signals the transition from the ferromagnetic to the spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid phase and can be detected in current experiments with ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices.Comment: 5+2 pages, RevTeX 4.

Improved Delay Estimates for a Queueing Model for Random Linear Coding for Unicast

Consider a lossy communication channel for unicast with zero-delay feedback. For this communication scenario, a simple retransmission scheme is optimum with respect to delay. An alternative approach is to use random linear coding in automatic repeat-request (ARQ) mode. We extend the work of Shrader and Ephremides, by deriving an expression for the delay of random linear coding over field of infinite size. Simulation results for various field sizes are also provided.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted at the 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theor

Systematic review and meta-analysis of optimal P2Y₁₂ blockade in dual antiplatelet therapy for patients with diabetes with acute coronary syndrome

Background: Patients with diabetes are at increased risk of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and their mortality and morbidity outcomes are significantly worse following ACS events, independent of other comorbidities. This systematic review sought to establish the optimum management strategy with focus on P2Y₁₂ blockade in patients with diabetes with ACS. Methods: MEDLINE (1946 to present) and EMBASE (1974 to present) databases, abstracts from major cardiology conferences and previously published systematic reviews were searched to June 2014. Relevant randomised control trials with clinical outcomes for P2Y₁₂ inhibitors in adult patients with diabetes with ACS were scrutinised independently by 2 authors with applicable data was extracted for primary composite end point of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke; enabling calculation of relative risks with 95% CI with subsequent direct and indirect comparison. Results: Four studies studied clopidogrel in patients with diabetes, with two (3122 patients) having primary outcome data showing superiority of clopidogrel against placebo with RR0.84 (95% CI 0.72–0.99). Irrespective of management strategy, the newer agents prasugrel (2 studies) and ticagrelor (1 study) had a lower primary event rate compared with clopidogrel; RR 0.80 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.97) and RR 0.89 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.02), respectively. When ticagrelor was indirectly compared with prasugrel, there was a trend to an improved primary outcome with prasugrel (RR 1.11 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.31)) particularly in those managed with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (RR 1.23 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.59)). Prasugrel demonstrated a statistical superiority with prevention of further MI with RR 1.48 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.97). This was not at the expense of increased major thrombolysis in MI (TIMI) bleeding rates RR 0.94 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.51). Conclusions: This meta-analysis shows the addition of a P2Y₁₂ inhibitor is superior to placebo, with a trend favouring the use of prasugrel in patients with diabetes with ACS, particularly those undergoing PCI

An investigation of a super-Earth exoplanet with a greenhouse-gas atmosphere using a general circulation model

We use the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (GCM) dynamical core, in conjunction with a Newtonian relaxation scheme that relaxes to a gray, analytical solution of the radiative transfer equation, to simulate a tidally locked, synchronously orbiting super-Earth exoplanet. This hypothetical exoplanet is simulated under the following main assumptions: (1) the size, mass, and orbital characteristics of GJ 1214b (Charbonneau et al., 2009), (2) a greenhouse-gas dominated atmosphere, (3), the gas properties of water vapor, and (4) a surface. We have performed a parameter sweep over global mean surface pressure (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 bar) and global mean surface albedo (0.1, 0.4, and 0.7). Given assumption (1) above, the period of rotation of this exoplanet is 1.58 Earth-days, which we classify as the rapidly rotating regime. Our parameter sweep differs from Heng and Vogt (2011), who performed their study in the slowly rotating regime and using Held and Suarez (1994) thermal forcing. This type of thermal forcing is a prescribed function, not related to any radiative transfer, used to benchmark Earth's atmosphere. An equatorial, westerly, superrotating jet is a robust feature in our GCM results. This equatorial jet is westerly at all longitudes. At high latitudes, the flow is easterly. The zonal winds do show a change with global mean surface pressure. As global mean surface pressure increases, the speed of the equatorial jet decreases between 9 and 15 hours local time (substellar point is located at 12 hours local time). The latitudinal extent of the equatorial jet increases on the nightside. Furthermore, the zonal wind speed in the equatorial and midlatitude jets decreases with increasing surface albedo. Also, the latitudinal width of the equatorial jet decreases as surface albedo increases.Comment: second revision submitted to Icaru

Fall prevention in the community: what older people say they need

Original article can be found at: http://www.bjcn.co.uk/ Copyright MA HealthcareUptake of and adherence to fall prevention interventions is often poor and we know little about how older people’s perceptions of and beliefs about fall prevention interventions affect uptake. This study aimed to explore older people’s perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to participation in fall prevention interventions. We undertook a qualitative study with older people who had taken part in, declined to participate or adhere to fall prevention interventions using semi-structured interviews (n=65), and 17 focus groups (n=122) with older people (including 32 South Asian and 30 Chinese older people) in primary and community care settings in the South of England. A number of factors acted as either barriers or facilitators to uptake of interventions. Older people also made recommendations for improving access to interventions. Community nurses are ideally placed to screen older people, identify those at risk of falling and refer them to appropriate interventions as well as providing health promotion and education.Peer reviewe

Optical Absorptivity versus Molecular Composition of Model Organic Aerosol Matter

Aerosol particles affect the Earth’s energy balance by absorbing and scattering radiation according to their chemical composition, size, and shape. It is generally believed that their optical properties could be deduced from the molecular composition of the complex organic matter contained in these particles, a goal pursued by many groups via high-resolution mass spectrometry, although: (1) absorptivity is associated with structural chromophores rather than with molecular formulas, (2) compositional space is a small projection of structural space, and (3) mixtures of polar polyfunctional species usually exhibit supramolecular interactions. Here we report a suite of experiments showing that the photolysis of aqueous pyruvic acid (a proxy for aerosol α-dicarbonyls absorbing at λ > 300 nm) generates mixtures of identifiable aliphatic polyfunctional oligomers that develop absorptions in the visible upon standing in the dark. These absorptions and their induced fluorescence emissions can be repeatedly bleached and retrieved without carbon loss or ostensible changes in the electrospray mass spectra of the corresponding mixtures and display unambiguous signatures of supramolecular effects. The nonlinear additivity of the properties of the components of these mixtures supports the notion that full structural speciation is insufficient and possibly unnecessary for understanding the optical properties of aerosol particles and their responses to changing ambient conditions

Modernisme en Catalunya: traducción y divulgación

The phenomenon of modernism (Art Nouveau), developed in Catalonia along the last transfer of century, now is under a revival in our country; so the very important literary production inherent to that movement cannot be put aside and do not either the translations which then became more and more frequent and interesting under a literary viewpoint. Thus, the often ungrateful work of the translator then was enthusiastically done by Catalan intellectuals and artists who also very efficiently spread the new European trends as symbolism, preraphaelitism or wagnerism: Cebrià and Manuel de Montoliu, Joan Maragall, Adrià Gual, Jeroni Zanné, Xavier Viura and Alexandre de Riquer among others, were giving their versions of authors and works with a decisive influence on the extraordinary creativity characteristic of Modernisme in CataloniaEl fenómeno del modernisme, coincidente con el último cambio de siglo, experimenta una revalorización en nuestro país y no podemos relegar al olvido la importante producción literaria que acompañó a este movimiento; ni tampoco las traducciones, cada vez más frecuentes y más interesantes bajo el punto de vista literario. Así, la tarea a menudo ingrata de traductor se realizó, entonces, con gran entusiasmo por parte de intelectuales y artistas catalanes que fueron divulgadores eficaces de nuevas corrientes europeas como simbolismo, prerrafaelitismo o wagnerismo: Cebrià i Manuel de Montoliu, Joan Maragall, Adrià Gual, Jeroni Zanné, Xavier Viura y Alexandre de Riquer, entre otros, publican versiones de autores y obras que influyen decisivamente en la extraordinaria creatividad propia del Modernisme en Cataluny

A "Firework" of H2 Knots in the Planetary Nebula NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula)

We present a deep and wide field-of-view (4' × 7') image of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) in the 2.12 μm H2 v = 1 → 0 S(1) line. The excellent seeing (0farcs4) at the Subaru Telescope, allows the details of cometary knots to be examined. The knots are found at distances of 2farcm2-6farcm4 from the central star (CS). At the inner edge and in the inner ring (up to 4farcm5 from the CS), the knot often show a "tadpole" shape, an elliptical head with a bright crescent inside and a long tail opposite to the CS. In detail, there are variations in the tadpole shapes, such as narrowing tails, widening tails, meandering tails, or multipeaks within a tail. In the outer ring (4farcm5-6farcm4 from the CS), the shapes are more fractured, and the tails do not collimate into a single direction. The transition in knot morphology from the inner edge to the outer ring is clearly seen. The number density of knots governs the H2 surface brightness in the inner ring: H2 exists only within the knots. Possible mechanisms which contribute to the shaping of the knots are discussed, including photoionization and streaming motions. A plausible interpretation of our images is that inner knots are being overrun by a faster wind, but that this has not (yet) reached the outer knots. Based on H2 formation and destruction rates, H2 gas can survive in knots from formation during the late asymptotic giant branch phase throughout the PN phase. These observations provide new constraints on the formation and evolution of knots, and on the physics of molecular gas embedded within ionized gas. Based on data taken with the Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (proposal ID S07B-054).Peer reviewe