Observing Galaxy Clusters with eROSITA: Simulations

The eROSITA instrument on board the Russian Spectrum Roentgen Gamma spacecraft, which will be launched in 2013,will conduct an all sky survey in X-rays. A main objective of the survey is to observe galaxy clusters in order to constrain cosmological parameters and to obtain further knowledge about dark matter and dark energy. For the simulation of the eROSITA survey we present a Monte-Carlo code generating a mock catalogue of galaxy clusters distributed accordingto the mass function of [1]. The simulation generates the celestial coordinates as well as the cluster mass and redshift. From these parameters, the observed intensity and angular diameter are derived. These are used to scale Chandra cluster images as input for the survey-simulation

Electron phonon coupling in ultrathin Pb films on Si(111): Where the heck is the energy?

In this work, we study the heat transfer from electron to phonon system within a five monolayer thin epitaxial Pb film on Si(111) upon fs-laser excitation. The response of the electron system is determined using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy while the lattice excitation is measured by means of the Debye-Waller effect in time-resolved reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The electrons lose their heat within 0.5 ps while the lattice temperature rises slowly in 3.5 to 8 ps, leaving a gap of 3-7 ps. We propose that the hidden energy is transiently stored in high-frequency phonon modes for which diffraction is insensitive and which are excited in 0.5 ps. Within a three-temperature model we use three heat baths, namely electrons, high-frequency and low-frequency phonon modes to simulate the observations. The excitation of low-frequency acoustic phonons, i.e., thermalization of the lattice is facilitated through anharmonic phonon-phonon interaction

Effects of bodyweight neuromuscular training with and without instability on balance control in active universitarians

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of a nine-week unstable vs stable bodyweight neuromuscular training programme on balance control. Seventy-seven physically active universitarians were randomly distributed into an unstable training group (UTG), a stable training group (STG), and a control group (CG). The intervention was conducted three times a week for nine weeks. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included static balance control under an unstable surface (eyes open (EOFS), eyes closed (ECFS), challenging visual-vestibular system (CVVS)), assessed as centre-of pressure fluctuations with a force plate. A mixed ANOVA was performed to test the within- and between-subjects factors. After the intervention, no significant differences were found between groups. All groups presented significant improvements in balance measurements in EOFS (p = 0.01), ECFS (p = 0.01; p = 0.02), and CVVS (p = 0.01) conditions. The training groups tended to have significantly better balance control (antero-posterior) than the CG on EOFS. In the CVVS condition, the UTG tended to have better balance control than the CG. There was no overall significant train ing advantage gained by using unstable or stable surfaces in terms of the improvement in static balance control in active universitar ians. Both training groups exhibited similar training adaptations.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

(Il)Legitimisation of the role of the nation state: Understanding of and reactions to Internet censorship in Turkey

This study aims to explore Turkish citizen-consumers' understanding of and reactions to censorship of websites in Turkey by using in-depth interviews and online ethnography. In an environment where sites such as YouTube and others are increasingly being banned, the citizen-consumers' macro-level understanding is that such censorship is part of a wider ideological plan and their micro-level understanding is that their relationship with the wider global network is reduced, in the sense that they have trouble accessing full information on products, services and experiences. The study revealed that citizen-consumers engage in two types of resistance strategies against such domination by the state: using irony as passive resistance, and using the very same technology used by the state to resist its domination

Effect of instability and bodyweight neuromuscular training on dynamic balance control in active young adults

The aims of this study were to analyse the effects of unstable and stable bodyweight neuromuscular training on dynamic balance control and to analyse the between-group differences after the training period. Seventy-seven physically active young adults (48 males, 29 females, 19.1 ? 1.1 years, 170.2 ? 9.2 cm, 64.1 ? 10.7 kg) were distributed into an unstable training group (UTG), a stable training group (STG), and a control group (CG). Training was conducted three times a week for nine weeks. Pre-intervention and post-intervention measures included dynamic balance control using a Y Balance Test (YBT), anterior (A), posteromedial (PM), and posterolateral (PL) reach direction. A mixed ANOVA was executed to test the within-subjects factor and the between-subjects factor. Statistically significant differences were found for all YBT measures within groups (p = 0.01) and between groups (p = 0.01). After the intervention, UTG and STG presented meaningfully improved results in all YBT measures (A: 7%, p = 0.01; 4%, p = 0.02, PM: 8%, p = 0.01; 5%, p = 0.01, PL: 8%, p = 0.01; 4%, p = 0.04, respectively). No statistical changes were found for any of the measures in the CG. After the intervention, significant differences were observed between the UTG and CG for the YBTA and PM (p = 0.03; p = 0.01). The results suggest that neuromuscular training using an unstable surface had similar effects on dynamic balance control as training using a stable surface. When compared to CG, UTG showed better performance in YBTA and PM.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

Enhanced flight performance by genetic manipulation of wing shape in Drosophila

Insect wing shapes are remarkably diverse and the combination of shape and kinematics determines both aerial capabilities and power requirements. However, the contribution of any specific morphological feature to performance is not known. Using targeted RNA interference to modify wing shape far beyond the natural variation found within the population of a single species, we show a direct effect on flight performance that can be explained by physical modelling of the novel wing geometry. Our data show that altering the expression of a single gene can significantly enhance aerial agility and that the Drosophila wing shape is not, therefore, optimized for certain flight performance characteristics that are known to be important. Our technique points in a new direction for experiments on the evolution of performance specialities in animals

Local magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic FeBr2

The antiferromagnet FeBr2 has been studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy in external fields both in the metamagnetic region below the multicritical temperature TM&p and in the second-order transition region above. The local magnetization shows that the metamagnetic transition occurs by spin flips, as in simple models. However, in the second-order transition region, the local magnetization of the sublattice oriented antiparallel to the external field varies continuously but remains parallel to the c axis. This can only be understood if the external magnetic field induces strong transversal spin precession of the moments on the antiparallel sublattice. This shows that the anomalous maxima in the imaginary part y" recently found in the ac susceptibility [M.M. Pereira de Azevedo et a/. , J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 140-144, 1557] and denoted H below the critical field Hc(T), and H+ above, can be understood as being caused by noncritical transversal spin fiuctuations

Local Magnetic Properties of Antiferromagnetic FeBr2

The antiferromagnet FeBr2 has been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy in external fields both in the metamagnetic region below the multicritical temperature TMCP and in the second-order transition region above. The local magnetization shows that the metamagnetic transition occurs by spin flips, as in simple models. However, in the second-order transition region, the local magnetization of the sublattice oriented antiparallel to the external field varies continuously but remains parallel to the c axis. This can only be understood if the external magnetic field induces strong transversal spin precession of the moments on the antiparallel sublattice. This shows that the anomalous maxima in the imaginary part χ\u27\u27 recently found in the ac susceptibility [M.M. Pereira de Azevedo et al., J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 140-144, 1557 (1995)] and denoted H_ below the critical field HC(T), and H+ above, can be understood as being caused by noncritical transversal spin fluctuations

First Steps towards Underdominant Genetic Transformation of Insect Populations

The idea of introducing genetic modifications into wild populations of insects to stop them from spreading diseases is more than 40 years old. Synthetic disease refractory genes have been successfully generated for mosquito vectors of dengue fever and human malaria. Equally important is the development of population transformation systems to drive and maintain disease refractory genes at high frequency in populations. We demonstrate an underdominant population transformation system in Drosophila melanogaster that has the property of being both spatially self-limiting and reversible to the original genetic state. Both population transformation and its reversal can be largely achieved within as few as 5 generations. The described genetic construct {Ud} is composed of two genes; (1) a UAS-RpL14.dsRNA targeting RNAi to a haploinsufficient gene RpL14 and (2) an RNAi insensitive RpL14 rescue. In this proof-of-principle system the UAS-RpL14.dsRNA knock-down gene is placed under the control of an Actin5c-GAL4 driver located on a different chromosome to the {Ud} insert. This configuration would not be effective in wild populations without incorporating the Actin5c-GAL4 driver as part of the {Ud} construct (or replacing the UAS promoter with an appropriate direct promoter). It is however anticipated that the approach that underlies this underdominant system could potentially be applied to a number of species. Figure

On the Completeness of Verifying Message Passing Programs under Bounded Asynchrony

We address the problem of verifying message passing programs, defined as a set of parallel processes communicating through unbounded FIFO buffers. We introduce a bounded analysis that explores a special type of computations, called k-synchronous. These computations can be viewed as (unbounded) sequences of interaction phases, each phase allowing at most k send actions (by different processes), followed by a sequence of receives corresponding to sends in the same phase. We give a procedure for deciding k-synchronizability of a program, i.e., whether every computation is equivalent (has the same happens-before relation) to one of its k-synchronous computations. We also show that reachability over k-synchronous computations and checking k-synchronizability are both PSPACE-complete. Furthermore, we introduce a class of programs called {\em flow-bounded} for which the problem of deciding whether there exists a k>0 for which the program is k-synchronizable, is decidable