5,922 research outputs found
Expression of perforin and granzymes in vivo: potential diagnostic markers for activated cytotoxic cells
No full textPerforin and granzymes are considered to be instrumental in cell-mediated cytolysis by cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. Here, Gillian Griffiths and Christoph Mueller describe the expression of perforin and granzymes, emphasizing studies in vivo, and discuss the possibility that these proteins are useful diagnostic markers for immune responses involving cytolytic cells
On the cost of delayed currency fixing announcements
Full text linkIn Foreign Exchange Markets vanilla and barrier options are traded frequently. The market standard is a cutoff time of 10:00 a.m. in New York for the strike of vanillas and a knock-out event based on a continuously observed barrier in the inter bank market. However, many clients, particularly from Italy, prefer the cutoff and knock-out event to be based on the fixing published by the European Central Bank on the Reuters Page ECB37. These barrier options are called discretely monitored barrier options. While these options can be priced in several models by various techniques, the ECB source of the fixing causes two problems. First of all, it is not tradable, and secondly it is published with a delay of about 10 - 20 minutes. We examine here the effect of these problems on the hedge of those options and consequently suggest a cost based on the additional uncertainty encountered. --exotic options,currency fixings
GC-MS analysis of the designer drug alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone and its metabolites in urine and blood in an acute poisoning case
No full textalpha-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone (alpha-PVP) is a synthetic cathinone belonging to the group of "second generation'' pyrrolidinophenones that becomes more and more popular as a designer psychostimulant. Here we provide toxicological analytical support for a severe poisoning with alpha-PVP. Serum and urine samples that were sent to our laboratory were subjected to a general unknown screening procedure. The procedure includes immunoassay-based screening of drugs of abuse in serum and systematic toxicological analysis of urine and serum after neutral and basic liquid-liquid extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Whereas the immunoassay delivered negative results, analyzing the urine sample by GC-MS in full scan mode disclosed the presence of alpha-PVP and its metabolites alpha-(2 ''-oxo-pyrrolidino)valerophenone (2 ''-oxo-alpha-PVP) and 1-phenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl) pentan-1-ol (OH-alpha-PVP). In the acetylated urine sample we found additionally N,N-bis-dealkyl-PVP. In serum, alpha-PVP could be detected after solid phase extraction and a concentration of 29 ng/mL was determined. Other forensic relevant substances were not detected. The presented data can explain the psychotic symptoms and behavioural pattern of the subject after abuse of alpha-PVP, leading to a clinical condition similar to excited delirium syndrome. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
Aura Satz in conversation with Christoph Cox, April/May 2017
Full text linkA conversation between Aura Satz and Christoph Cox, exploring sirens and emergency signals, acoustic ecology, and economies of attention. Aura Satz is a film-maker and sound artist who has performed, exhibited and screened her work nationally and internationally, including at Tate Modern; Oberhausen Short Film Festival (Oberhausen); the Rotterdam Film Festival (Rotterdam); the New York Film Festival (NY); Gallery 44 (Toronto); InterCommunication Centre (Tokyo) and the Sydney Biennale. In 2012, she was shortlisted for the Samsung Art+ Award and the Jarman Award. She teaches at the Royal College of Art, London. She was in conversation with Christoph Cox, a philosopher, critic, and curator who teaches at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is the author of Sonic Flux: Sound, Art, and Metaphysics (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming) and Nietzsche: Naturalism and Interpretation (University of California Press, 1999), and co-editor of Realism Materialism Art (Sternberg, 2015) and Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music (Continuum, 2004/Bloomsbury, 2017). Cox is editor-at-large at Cabinet magazine. His writing has appeared in numerous journals including October, Artforum, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Journal of Visual Culture, The Review of Metaphysics. He has curated exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Kitchen, CONTEXT Art Miami and other venues
Private Equity und Familienunternehmen: eine Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbauunternehmen
Full text linkDespite the common view that there is inherently a relationship of confliction, it is now impossible to imagine the financing of family-owned enterprises in Germany without the alternative method of Private Equity financing. Based on a survey on Private Equity in family owned companies specialising in the mechanical engineering sector, this working paper identifies that Private Equity in general is not as unwanted as once assumed. Overall more than 3/4 of the surveyed companies do not exclude investment capital. However, the study demonstrates that the time of large buy-outs is arguably up, and minority capital has now come into vogue. This working paper examines, from the viewpoint of the managing directors of the studied companies, the conceptions and beliefs held by such persons about Private Equity. Generally speaking, besides loss of control, managing directors primarily fear Private Equity because of exaggerated returns on investment at the expense of the long-term development of the company. On the other hand, this paper also highlights that managing directors expect that Private Equity can have a positive element as it can enable bank independence, especially at a time when it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain creditworthiness. Further, this paper analyses the relationship between the managing director of the family enterprise and the Private Equity investor. Because of the special situation of the managing director in a family owned company, trust between that person and the Private Equity investor is one of the most important factors. If there is a lack of trust the business relation is troubled from the start. --Private equity,buyout,family owned enterprises,minority capital,credit crisis,MBO,MBI,return on investments,LBO,leveraged finance,M&A
Crown plasticity in mixed forests—Quantifying asymmetry as a measure of competition using terrestrial laser scanning
No full textInterspecific competition is a key process determining the dynamics of mixed forest stands and influencing the yield of multispecies tree plantations. Trees can respond to competitive pressure from neighbors by crown plasticity, thereby avoiding competition. We employed a high-resolution ground-based laser scanner to analyze the 3-dimensional extensions and shape of the tree crowns in a near-natural broad-leaved mixed forest in order to quantify the direction and degree of crown asymmetry of 15 trees (Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Carpinus betulus) in detail. We also scanned the direct neighbors and analyzed the distance of their crown centres and the crown shape with the aim to predict the crown asymmetry of the focal tree from competition-relevant attributes of its neighbors. It was found that the combination of two parameters, one summarizing the size of the neighbor (DBH) and one describing the distance to the neighbor tree (HD), was most suitable for characterizing the strength of the competitive interaction exerted on a target tree by a given neighbor. By summing up the virtual competitive pressure of all neighbors in a single competitive pressure vector, we were able to predict the direction of crown asymmetry of the focal tree with an accuracy of 96 degrees on the full circle (36 degrees). The competitive pressure model was equally applicable to beech, ash and hornbeam trees and may generate valuable insight into competitive interactions among tree crowns in mixed stands, provided that sufficiently precise data on the shape and position of the tree crowns is available. Multiple-aspect laser-scanning proved to be an accurate and practicable approach for analyzing the complex 3-dimensional shape of the tree crowns, needed to quantify the plasticity of growth processes in the canopy. We conclude that the laser-based analysis of crown plasticity offers the opportunity to achieve a better understanding of the dynamics of canopy space exploration and also may produce valuable advice for the silvicultural management of mixed stands. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Cycle time estimation using artificial neural networks
No full textauthor: Christoph Gerhold, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 201
Cycle time estimation using artificial neural networks
No full textauthor: Christoph Gerhold, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 201
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