633 research outputs found
On the binary nature of the γ-ray sources AGL J2241+4454 (= MWC 656) and HESS J0632+057 (= MWC 148)
No full textWe present optical spectroscopy of MWC 656 and MWC 148, the proposed optical counterparts of the gamma-ray sources AGL J2241+4454 and HESS J0632+0 57, respectively. The main parameters of the Halpha emission line (EW, FWHM and centroid velocity) in these stars are modulated on the proposed orbital periods of 60.37 and 321 days, respectively. These modulations are likely produced by the resonant interaction of the Be discs with compact stars in eccentric orbits. We also present radial velocity curves of the optical stars folded on the above periods and obtain the first orbital elements of the two gamma-ray sources thus confirming their binary nature. Our orbital solution support eccentricities e~0.4 and 0.83+-0.08 for MWC 656 and MWC 148, respectively. Further, our orbital elements imply that the X-ray outbursts in HESS J0632+057/MWC 148 are delayed ~0.3 orbital phases after periastron passage, similarly to the case of LS I +61 303. In addition, the optical photometric light curve maxima in AGL J2241+4454/MWC 656 occur ~0.25 phases passed periastron, similar to what is seen in LS I +61 303. We also find that the orbital eccentricity is correlated with orbital period for the known gamma-ray binaries. This is explained by the fact that small stellar separations are required for the efficient triggering of VHE radiation. Another correlation between the EW of Halpha and orbital period is also observed, similarly to the case of Be/X-ray binaries. These correlations are useful to provide estimates of the key orbital parameters Porb and e from the Halpha line in future Be gamma-ray binary candidates
Determination of Spatially-Distributed Hydrological Ecosystem Services (HESS) in the Red River Delta Using a Calibrated SWAT Model
No full textThe principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), conservation of natural capital, and water accounting requires Hydrological Eco-System Services (HESS) to be determined. This paper presents a modeling approach for quantifying the HESS framework using the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). SWAT was used–after calibration against remote sensing data–to quantify and spatially identify total runoff, natural livestock feed production, fuelwood from natural forests, dry season flow, groundwater recharge, root zone storage for carrying over water from wet to dry season, sustaining rainfall, peak flow attenuation, carbon sequestration, microclimate cooling, and meeting environmental flow requirements. The environmental value of the current land use and vegetation was made explicit by carrying out parallel simulations for bare soil and vegetation conditions and reporting the incremental ecosystem services. Geographical areas with more and fewer HESS are identified. The spatial and temporal variability of annual HESS services is demonstrated for the Day Basin—which is part of the Red River delta (Vietnam)—for the period 2003 to 2013. The result shows that even though the basin is abundant with HESS, e.g., 7482 m3/ha of runoff, 3820 m3/ha of groundwater recharge, the trend for many HESS values, e.g., micro-climate cooling, meeting environmental flow requirements, and rootzone storage, are declining. It is found and proven that quantified HESS indicators highlighted the provisioning and regulating characters of ecosystem services, as well as geographical hotspots across the basin. The SWAT model shows the capability of simulating terrestrial eco-hydrological processes such as climate, soil, and current land use. The methodology illustrates how eco-hydrologists can benchmark ecosystem values and include HESS in exploring river basin management scenarios, climate change studies, and land use planning
Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) 4.0 software and data package
No full textThis package provides version 4.0 of OPAC as described by Koepke, P., Gasteiger, J., and Hess, M.: Technical Note: Optical properties of desert aerosol with non-spherical mineral particles: data incorporated to OPAC, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5947–5956, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5947-2015, 2015.
The original software and data package was available for download at http://www.rascin.net since 30/05/2015.
Sadly, the maintainer of this website and co-author of OPAC, Michael Hess, is no longer among us and www.rascin.net was shut down.
The package provided here is a repacked version of OPAC 4.0 where only the archive format was changed.
Packaged by Josef Gasteiger (02/11/2022) - E-Mail: contact(at)mopsmap.ne
Characterizing the function of human toll-like receptor 10
No full textToll-like Receptors (TLRs) are important constituents of the immune response, capable of both protecting the host from danger and inciting harm from within. In this Thesis, I present evidence that the last human orphan toll-like receptor, TLR10, has a unique function that differs from its other family members in that TLR10 is capable of suppressing inflammatory responses. I will describe the relationship between pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) and the maintenance and induction of chronic inflammation to underscore the importance of TLR10’s novel suppressive function. I will then present multiple different lines of evidence that TLR10 is a suppressor of inflammatory responses. Our experimental approaches included transfected cell lines, antibody-mediated engagement on primary human leukocytes and the development of two different transgenic mouse lines. Taken together, our data show that TLR10 is capable of suppressing both TLR-dependent and –independent stimulatory signals within both monocytes and B cells as evidenced by inhibitory effects on phosphorylation of signaling proteins, the transcriptome, secretion of cytokines, proliferation, differentiation, cellular co-stimulation and antibody generation. The research findings suggests that TLR10 could be a useful therapeutic target in the resolution of chronic inflammatory conditions, especially autoimmune diseases that are driven by overactive B cells. In summary, this Thesis outlines the novel understanding that as a previously uncharacterized TLR, TLR10 can function as a broad immune suppressor on primary human leukocytes.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-05-01The student, Nicholas Hess, accepted the attached license on 2017-03-24 at 14:53.The student, Nicholas Hess, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-03-24 at 14:58.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-03-28 at 13:41.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #10616 on 2017-08-10 at 15:05:02Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T20:32:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3
HESS-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 2675516 bytes, checksum: d4e276e35a54d14f3b1b177ae6c5674a (MD5)
LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: 8b79cc8a31e7fa9019eba38b12b2b978 (MD5)
PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4556 bytes, checksum: 9a5b0ec97982408408a4457bcb45921f (MD5)
Previous issue date: 2017-03-28Embargo set by: Colleen Fallaw for item 102720
Lift date: 2019-08-10T21:27:21Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemU of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 102720 on 2019-08-11T09:15:16Z
Governance of public pension funds : lessons from corporate governance and international evidence
No full textAn understanding of corporate governance theory can promote the adoption of appropriate governance tools to limit agency problems in public pension fund management. The absence of a market for corporate control hinders the translation of lessons from the private sector corporate world to public pension governance. The establishment of a fit, and proper governing body for public pension funds, thus may be even more important than the maintenance of a comparable body for private sector corporations. In particular, behavioral controls should be carefully designed.Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Decentralization,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform
Observation of the Gamma-Ray Binary HESS J0632+057 with the HESS, MAGIC, and VERITAS Telescopes
No full text© 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Artículo firmado por 412 autores. The support of the Namibian authorities and of the University of Namibia in facilitating the construction and operation of H.E.S.S. is gratefully acknowledged, as is the support by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Max Planck Society, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Helmholtz Association, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/IN2P3 and CNRS/INSU), the Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA), the U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the National Science Centre, Poland grant no. 2016/22/M/ST9/00382, the South African Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation, the University of Namibia, the National Commission on Research, Science & Technology of Namibia (NCRST), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the University of Amsterdam. We appreciate the excellent work of the technical support staff in Berlin, Zeuthen, Heidelberg, Palaiseau, Paris, Saclay, Tubingen, and Namibia in the construction and operation of the equipment. This work benefited from services provided by the H.E.S.S. Virtual Organisation, supported by the national resource providers of the EGI Federation.; The MAGIC collaboration would like to thank the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias for the excellent working conditions at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. The financial support of the German BMBF, MPG and HGF; the Italian INFN and INAF; the Swiss National Fund SNF; the ERDF under the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) (PID2019-104114RB-C31, PID2019-104114RB-C32, PID2019-104114RB-C33, PID2019-105510GB-C31,PID2019-107847RB-C41, PID2019-107847RB-C42, PID2019-107988GB-C22); the Indian Department of Atomic Energy; the Japanese ICRR, the University of Tokyo, JSPS, and MEXT; the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, National RI Roadmap Project DO1-268/16.12.2019 and the Academy of Finland grant nr. 320045 is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Excelencia "Severo Ochoa" (SEV-2016-0588, CEX2019-000920-S), the Unidad de Excelencia "María de Maeztu" (CEX2019-000918-M, MDM-2015-0509-18-2), and the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya; by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project 13.12.1.3.02; by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3; the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382; and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq and FAPERJ.; VERITAS is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution, by NSERC in Canada, and by the Helmholtz Association in Germany. We acknowledge the excellent work of the technical support staff at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and at the collaborating institutions in the construction and operation of the instrument. This research used resources provided by the Open Science Grid, which is supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, and resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.; D.F.T. acknowledges support by grants PGC2018-095512-B-I00, SGR2017-1383, and AYA2017-92402-EXP.; This research has made use of data obtained from the Chandra Data Archive and the Chandra Source Catalog; it has made use of data obtained from the Suzaku satellite, a collaborative mission between the space agencies of Japan (JAXA) and the USA (NASA); it is based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA; it made use of data from the NuSTAR mission, a project led by the California Institute of Technology, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and funded by the NASA.The results of gamma-ray observations of the binary system HESS J0632 + 057 collected during 450 hr over 15 yr, between 2004 and 2019, are presented. Data taken with the atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS at energies above 350 GeV were used together with observations at X-ray energies obtained with Swift-XRT, Chandra, XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and Suzaku. Some of these observations were accompanied by measurements of the H alpha emission line. A significant detection of the modulation of the very high-energy gamma-ray fluxes with a period of 316.7 +/- 4.4 days is reported, consistent with the period of 317.3 +/- 0.7 days obtained with a refined analysis of X-ray data. The analysis of data from four orbital cycles with dense observational coverage reveals short-timescale variability, with flux-decay timescales of less than 20 days at very high energies. Flux variations observed over a timescale of several years indicate orbit-to-orbit variability. The analysis confirms the previously reported correlation of X-ray and gamma-ray emission from the system at very high significance, but cannot find any correlation of optical H alpha parameters with fluxes at X-ray or gamma-ray energies in simultaneous observations. The key finding is that the emission of HESS J0632 + 057 in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands is highly variable on different timescales. The ratio of gamma-ray to X-ray flux shows the equality or even dominance of the gamma-ray energy range. This wealth of new data is interpreted taking into account the insufficient knowledge of the ephemeris of the system, and discussed in the context of results reported on other gamma-ray binary systems.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)/FEDERMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)Centro de Excelencia Severo OchoaUnidad de Excelencia María de MaeztuGerman Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF)Max Planck Society Foundation CELLEXGerman Research Foundation (DFG)Helmholtz AssociationAlexander von Humboldt FoundationFrench Ministry of Higher Education, Research and InnovationCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/IN2P3)Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/INSU)Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA) French Atomic Energy CommissionU.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)Knut and Alice Wallenberg FoundationNational Science Centre, PolandSouth African Department of Science and TechnologyNational Research FoundationNational Commission on Research, Science & Technology of Namibia (NCRST)Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and ResearchAustrian Science Fund (FWF)Australian Research Council (ARC)Australian Research Council (ARC)Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)University of AmsterdamGerman BMBF Federal Ministry of Education & ResearchGerman HGFItalian INFN Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)Italian INAF Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF)Swiss National Fund SNF Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)Indian Department of Atomic EnergyJapanese ICRRJapanese University of TokyoJapanese JSPS Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyJapanese MEXT Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyBulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, National RI Roadmap ProjectAcademy of Finland European CommissionCERCA program of the Generalitat de CatalunyaCroatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) ProjectUniversity of Rijeka ProjectDFG Collaborative Research Centers German Research Foundation (DFG)Polish National Research Centre grantBrazilian MCTICBrazilian CNPq Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoBrazilian FAPERJU.S. Department of Energy Office of Science United States Department of Energy (DOE)U.S. National Science FoundationSmithsonian InstitutionNSERC in Canada Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)Helmholtz Association in GermanyNational Science FoundationU.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science United States Department of Energy (DOE)National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User FacilityESA Member States European Space AgencyNASA National Aeronautics & Space AdministrationDepto. de Estructura de la Materia, Física Térmica y ElectrónicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEpu
Lessons learned from a pan-European study of large housing estates : origin, trajectories of change and future prospects
No full textThe research leading to this work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 655601. Support also came from three grants from the Estonian Research Council: Institutional Research Grant IUT2-17 on Spatial Population Mobility and Geographical Changes in Urban Regions, Infotechnological Mobility Observatory, and RITA-Ränne. The European Research Council funded this research under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC [Grant Agreement No. 615159] (ERC Consolidator Grant DEPRIVEDHOODS, Socio-spatial inequality, deprived neighbourhoods, and neighbourhood effects).Mid-twentieth-century large housing estates, which can be found all over Europe, were once seen as modernist urban and social utopias that would solve a variety of urban problems. Since their construction, many large housing estates have become poverty concentrating neighbourhoods, often with large shares of immigrants. In Northern and Western Europe, an overlap of ethnic, social and spatial disadvantages have formed as ethnic minorities, often living on low incomes, settle in the most affordable segments of the housing market. The aim of this introductory chapter is to synthesise empirical evidence about the changing fortunes of large housing estates in Europe. The evidence comes from 14 cities—Athens, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Moscow, Prague, Stockholm and Tallinn—and is synthesised into 10 takeaway messages. Findings suggest that large housing estates are now seen as more attractive in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. The chapter also provides a diverse set of visions and concrete intervention measures that may help to improve the fortunes of large housing estates and their residents
Parents studying medicine : the dichotomy of studying with a family
No full textIntroduction: In this article the personal study and life situation of parents who are also medical students at the Medical School of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main is discussed. There is a special focus on the topics "studying with children" and "family-friendly university", which have been present in discussions about university development and in the daily life of academics, especially during the last decade. The workgroup "Individual Student Services" at the medical faculty at the Goethe University tries to meet the necessities of the individual study courses and to support the study success with a new counselling and student service concept.
Methods: The experience of parents studying medicine was recorded in semi-structured interviews (Date: April 2010), which were held as part of the sponsored pilot project on part-time medical studies ("Pilot Project Part-time Medical Studies"). Additionally, study results from the Medical School of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main were integrated as well as a literature analysis.
Results: It was found that the teaching demands and support services, which have been suggested and needed for years now, have been partially implemented and are without sufficient support at the faculty level to date. Thus the current situation of medical students with children is still difficult and seems a big challenge for everyone involved.
Solution: As part of the "Individual Student Services" a new pilot project on part-time medical studies was established in November 2009. Only the use of new, unconventional and innovative ideas allows universities to adequately support the changing and heterogeneous student population and support them to successfully completing their medical studies
Identification and regionalization of dominant runoff processes – a GIS-based and a statistical approach
No full textIn this study two approaches are presented to identify Dominant Runoff Processes (DRP) with respect to regionalization. The approaches are a simplification of an existing method to determine DRP by means of an extensive field campaign. The first approach combines the permeability of the substratum, land-use and slope of the basin in a GIS-based analysis. The second approach makes use of discriminant analysis of the physiographic characteristics of the basin and links it to the GIS analysis. The results of the developed approaches are maps, which identify dominant runoff processes and represent a spatial distribution of the hydrological behaviour of the soil during prolonged rainfall events. The approaches have been developed in a micro-scale basin (Germany). An additional meso-scale basin was introduced in which the two approaches were applied for quality control. The thus generated maps for the micro-scale basin were compared with an existing DRP map, which was derived with the existing method. The first approach showed a resemblance of 79% when compared to this map, whereas the second approach showed only a resemblance of 51%. The generated maps for the meso-scale basin were compared to DRP that were determined point wise according to the existing method. The first approach showed in this case a resemblance of 81%, whereas the second approach showed a resemblance of 68%. Therefore, the first approach is preferred to the second approach when accuracy, data input and calculation time are concerned.WatermanagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience
HESS Opinions <q>Catchments as meta-organisms – a new blueprint for hydrological modelling</q>
No full textCatchment-scale hydrological models frequently miss essential characteristics
of what determines the functioning of catchments. The most important active
agent in catchments is the ecosystem. It manipulates and partitions moisture
in a way that supports the essential functions of survival and productivity:
infiltration of water, retention of moisture, mobilization and retention of
nutrients, and drainage. Ecosystems do this in the most efficient way,
establishing a continuous, ever-evolving feedback loop with the landscape and
climatic drivers. In brief, hydrological systems are alive and have a strong
capacity to adjust themselves to prevailing and changing environmental
conditions. Although most models take Newtonian theory at heart, as best they
can, what they generally miss is Darwinian theory on how an ecosystem evolves
and adjusts its environment to maintain crucial hydrological functions. In
addition, catchments, such as many other natural systems, do not only evolve
over time, but develop features of spatial organization, including surface or
sub-surface drainage patterns, as a by-product of this evolution. Models that
fail to account for patterns and the associated feedbacks miss a critical
element of how systems at the interface of atmosphere, biosphere and
pedosphere function.
In contrast to what is widely believed, relatively simple, semi-distributed
conceptual models have the potential to accommodate organizational features
and their temporal evolution in an efficient way, a reason for that being
that because their parameters (and their evolution over time) are effective
at the modelling scale, and thus integrate natural heterogeneity within the
system, they may be directly inferred from observations at the same scale,
reducing the need for calibration and related problems. In particular, the
emergence of new and more detailed observation systems from space will lead
towards a more robust understanding of spatial organization and its
evolution. This will further permit the development of relatively simple
time-dynamic functional relationships that can meaningfully represent spatial
patterns and their evolution over time, even in poorly gauged environments
- …
