Candidate exoplanet host HD131399A: a nascent Am star

Direct imaging suggests that there is a Jovian exoplanet around the primary A-star in the triple-star system HD131399. We investigate a high-quality spectrum of the primary component HD131399A obtained with FEROS on the ESO/MPG 2.2m telescope, aiming to characterise the star's atmospheric and fundamental parameters, and to determine elemental abundances at high precision and accuracy. The aim is to constrain the chemical composition of the birth cloud of the system and therefore the bulk composition of the putative planet. A hybrid non-local thermal equilibrium (non-LTE) model atmosphere technique is adopted for the quantitative spectral analysis. Comparison with the most recent stellar evolution models yields the fundamental parameters. The atmospheric and fundamental stellar parameters of HD131399A are constrained to Teff=9200+-100 K, log g=4.37+-0.10, M=1.95+0.08-0.06 Msun, R=1.51+0.13-0.10 Rsun, and log L/Lsun=1.17+-0.07, locating the star on the zero-age main sequence. Non-LTE effects on the derived metal abundances are often smaller than 0.1dex, but can reach up to ~0.8dex for individual lines. The observed lighter elements up to calcium are overall consistent with present-day cosmic abundances, with a C/O ratio of 0.45$\pm$0.07 by number, while the heavier elements show mild overabundances. We conclude that the birth cloud of the system had a standard chemical composition, but we witness the onset of the Am phenomenon in the slowly rotating star. We furthermore show that non-LTE analyses have the potential to solve the remaining discrepancies between observed abundances and predictions by diffusion models for Am stars. Moreover, the present case allows mass loss, not turbulent mixing, to be identified as the main transport process competing with diffusion in very young Am stars.Comment: 5 pages + 3 pages appendix, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis dissertation examines the economic burden of being overweight and obese, paying particular attention to women as the obesity epidemic disproportionately affects women and cultural minorities. The overarching objective of this dissertation is to take a closer look at the indirect costs of obesity, particularly those pertaining to nonmarket costs, as measured by differences in household productivity and market costs, analyzed by assessing whether there is a correlation between occupational status and body mass index (BMI). The nonmarket costs of obesity are measured through time-use differentials by BMI strata, when controlling for cofactors related to housework. Results indicate that being overweight and obese is associated with less time spent on housework. Results indicate that the burden of obesity affects minority group women exactly the same way it does non-Hispanic White women. After discussing the nonmarket and market indirect costs of obesity, the dissertation focuses on the economic benefits associated with a community-based coaching intervention aimed at increasing nutritious diets and physical activity among women in culturally diverse Utah communities. Little is known about the net economic effects of such targeted community-based interventions, and this dissertation seeks to contribute to the literature on this subject. Results show that the health intervention program is cost effective and that the wellness coaching intervention has helped increase healthful lifestyles, as measured by physical activity

Effects of Semantic Quality in Business Process Modeling

In contrast to the increasing meaning of business process management (BPM), there is a lack of knowledge about processes that impedes their analysis, implementation, and execution in business process management systems (BPMS). In this context, process modeling is an opportunity to capture process knowledge. Nevertheless, models are incomplete concerning semantic completeness. Therefore, ontologies as explicit and formal specification are used to enrich models semantically to achieve a high degree of semantic quality, model efficiency and effectiveness. But also ontology engineering needs models to describe the underlying discourse of universe. For this reason, it is the paper’s goal to examine and compare the Resource Event Agent Model (REA) with respect to semantic quality, model effectiveness, and -efficiency in data modeling for ontologies. Moreover, the paper addresses the research question, if REA enables an effective modeling to reduce the precision deficit and complexity in BPM. Keywords (Required

The Necessity for the Reconfiguration of Shakespeare Education in Secondary Schools

Current resources, such as No Fear Shakespeare, translate Shakespeare\u27s works in to modern English. These resources have become a reference for students. Although these resources are common, they do not offer the educational value that complex literary works should. In order to address the common misuse of these resources, the following study examines the history of the study of Shakespeare, as well as the educational value of the use of Shakespeare adaptations in secondary classrooms. Through studying the Ohio State Grade Level Standards and the Common Core learning anchors, this argument for the inclusion of adaptation seems well supported. Not only does this study refer to the supporters of the use of Shakespeare adaptation in schools, but also offers examples of how the effectiveness of Shakespeare education could improve, should adaptations be included

Dammar Resin Degradation Revisited

Dammar, a natural triterpenoid resin, is widely used as a picture varnish in art technology. Several research workers have recently characterised its composition and oxidative degradation. Due to a lack of sensitivity, conventional thermal methods to characterise oxidation stability (like TGA and DSC) often require a high temperature regime. Chemiluminescence measurements turned out to be more sensitive (temperatures below 100 °C) and simultaneously allowed for better selectivity of the signal, which is directly coupled to the oxidation mechanism. The data collected here will enable an advanced kinetic modelling of Dammar degradation

Determinanten der Nachfrage ökologischer Lebensmittel

This paper deals with the question of the psychographic and socio-demographic factors influencing the purchase behaviour for organic food. Based on purchase data from household panels a causal model was developed and tested using the structural equation modelling method with SSI LISREL. The analysis revealed new insights about consumer behaviour regarding organic food. While the influence of the classical consumer segmentation criteria ‘income’ and ‘education’ was proven to be not significant, the purchase behaviour was primarily determined by selfish buying motives. Consumers buy organic products because they taste better, contain fewer residues and are considered to be healthier. In opposite, the influence of altruistic buying motives regarding environmental friendly behaviour was not significant. Up to now the organic market has not yet reached customers with positive attitudes towards fast food and snacks

Ausweitung der individuellen Bedarfsdeckung mit Öko-Lebensmitteln – Identifikation von Sortimentslücken und produktspezifischen Kaufbarrieren für Öko-Käufer

Trotz weiter Verbreitung ökologischer Lebensmittel kaufen auch an Öko-Produkte gewöhnte Verbraucher den überwiegenden Teil ihrer Lebensmittel weiterhin in konventioneller Qualität. Die Ausweitung der Nachfrage nach ökologischen Lebensmitteln bei diesen Konsumenten bietet daher ein enormes Umsatzpotential für den Öko-Gesamtmarkt. Um das Marketing ökologischer Lebensmittel auf diese Zielgruppe ausrichten zu können sind Kenntnisse über die Gründe notwendig, die dazu führen, dass Öko-Konsumenten bestimmte Lebensmittel in konventioneller Qualität kaufen. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Forschungsvorhabens war es daher, zu ermitteln, ob Lücken in den Sortimenten des Handels bestehen oder ob individuelle Kaufbarrieren Öko-Konsumenten von einer Ausweitung ihrer Bedarfsdeckung mit Öko-Produkten abhalten. Mittels einer computergestützten Befragung wurden jene Lebensmittelprodukte ermittelt, die von bestehenden Öko-Konsumenten häufig in konventioneller Qualität gekauft werden und jeweils die Gründe für den Kauf in konventioneller Qualität erhoben. Aus den Ergebnissen wurden dann Schlussfolgerungen für das Marketing von Anbietern im Öko-Bereich abgeleitet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die wichtigsten Gründe für den Kauf konventioneller Waren der Preis, der Geschmack bzw. das Aussehen der Produkte und die Verfügbarkeit ökologischer Alternativen sind. Je nach Produkt ist die Gewichtung dieser Gründe jedoch sehr unterschiedlich. Es konnten Produkte identifiziert werden, bei denen die Ergebnisse auf Sortimentslücken auf Seiten der Hersteller hinweisen (Tiefkühl-Pizza, Margarine, Käse, Fertigdesserts, Süßwaren). Geschmackliche Vorlieben der Konsumenten bei bestimmten Produkten deuten darauf hin, dass Produktentwicklungen, die sich in Geschmack und Aussehen stärker an konventionellen Produkten orientieren, Absatzpotentiale für die Hersteller bieten (Tiefkühl-Pizza, Nuss-Nougat-Creme, Fertigdesserts etc.). Auf Seiten des Handels sollten Möglichkeiten zum Abbau von geschmacklichen Kaufbarrieren ausgeschöpft werden, z. B. durch Verkostungen (u. a. Kaffee, Nuss-Nougat-Creme, Fertigdesserts). Hinweise auf Lücken in den Sortimenten des Handels bestehen vor allem bei den Warengruppen Frischfleisch und frische Wurstwaren. Produktgruppen, bei denen der Preis für die Konsumenten eine große Rolle spielt, sollten bei der Preispolitik besondere Aufmerksamkeit erfahren (Fleisch, Wurst, Fruchtsäfte, Käse, Gemüse, Obst)