NLTE modelling of integrated light spectra. Abundances of barium, magnesium, and manganese in a metal-poor globular cluster

We study the effects of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) on the abundance analysis of barium, magnesium, and manganese from integrated light spectroscopy, as typically applied to the analysis of extra-galactic star clusters and galaxies. In this paper, our reference object is a synthetic simple stellar population (SSP) representing a mono-metallic alpha-enhanced globular cluster with the metallicity [Fe/H]=-2.0 and the age of 11 Gyr. We used the MULTI2.3 program to compute LTE and NLTE equivalent widths of spectral lines of Mg I, Mn I, and Ba II ions, which are commonly used in abundance analyses of extra-galactic stellar populations. We used ATLAS12 model atmospheres for stellar parameters sampled from a model isochrone to represent individual stars in the model SSP. The NLTE and LTE equivalent widths calculated for the individual stars were combined to calculate the SSP NLTE corrections. We find that the NLTE abundance corrections for the integrated light spectra of the the metal-poor globular cluster are significant in many cases, and often exceed 0.1 dex. In particular, LTE abundances of Mn are consistently under-estimated by 0.3 dex for all optical lines of Mn I studied in this work. On the other hand, Ba II, and Mg I lines show a strong differential effect: the NLTE abundance corrections for the individual stars and integrated light spectra are close to zero for the low-excitation lines, but they amount to -0.15 dex for the strong high-excitation lines. Our results emphasise the need to take NLTE effects into account in the analysis of spectra of individual stars and integrated light spectra of stellar populations.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in A&

Zunehmende Stabilisierung der Beschäftigtenentwicklung in den Industriebetrieben Ostdeutschlands

Die Intensität des Strukturwandels in Ostdeutschland hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren abgeschwächt. Die Stärke der Anpassung an westdeutsche Strukturen hat dabei klar an Kraft verloren. Untersucht werden daher die Entwicklung der Beschäftigung und des Umsatzes der ostdeutschen Industrie, die in immer stärkerem Maße zum Aufholprozess der ostdeutschen Wirtschaft beigetragen hat. Dabei kann gezeigt werden, dass die Beschäftigungsentwicklung, der Tendenz nach, einem positivem Wachstumspfad folgt. Hingegen haben sich die Schwankungen in den Beiträgen zur Wachstumsrate der Zahl der Arbeitsplätze deutlich abgeschwächt. Dieser Pfad zur Stabilisierung lässt sich hingegen bei einer Untersuchung der Umsätze, trotz einer ebenfalls positiven Gesamtentwicklung, nicht feststellen. Charakteristisch ist zudem, dass Betriebe, die schon am Markt bestehen, die Entwicklung der Beschäftigung sowie der Umsätze verstärkt vorantreiben. Insbesondere die Wachstumsbeiträge der schrumpfenden Betriebe verlieren für die Wachstumsraten von Beschäftigung und Umsatz an Bedeutung. Die Auswertungen anhand der Industriestatistik für die technologischen Klassen der Spitzentechnik, Höherwertigen Technik und der Sonstigen Technik zeigen zudem eine divergente Entwicklung innerhalb der ostdeutschen Industrie

Zunehmende Stabilisierung der Beschäftigtenentwicklung in den Industriebetrieben Ostdeutschlands

Die Intensität des Strukturwandels in Ostdeutschland hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren abgeschwächt. Die Stärke der Anpassung an westdeutsche Strukturen hat dabei klar an Kraft verloren. Untersucht werden daher die Entwicklung der Beschäftigung und des Umsatzes der ostdeutschen Industrie, die in immer stärkerem Maße zum Aufholprozess der ostdeutschen Wirtschaft beigetragen hat. Dabei kann gezeigt werden, dass die Beschäftigungsentwicklung, der Tendenz nach, einem positivem Wachstumspfad folgt. Hingegen haben sich die Schwankungen in den Beiträgen zur Wachstumsrate der Zahl der Arbeitsplätze deutlich abgeschwächt. Dieser Pfad zur Stabilisierung lässt sich hingegen bei einer Untersuchung der Umsätze, trotz einer ebenfalls positiven Gesamtentwicklung, nicht feststellen. Charakteristisch ist zudem, dass Betriebe, die schon am Markt bestehen, die Entwicklung der Beschäftigung sowie der Umsätze verstärkt vorantreiben. Insbesondere die Wachstumsbeiträge der schrumpfenden Betriebe verlieren für die Wachstumsraten von Beschäftigung und Umsatz an Bedeutung. Die Auswertungen anhand der Industriestatistik für die technologischen Klassen der Spitzentechnik, Höherwertigen Technik und der Sonstigen Technik zeigen zudem eine divergente Entwicklung innerhalb der ostdeutschen Industrie.

Patients with IgA nephropathy exhibit high systemic PDGF-DD levels

Background. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a central mediator of mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (GN). In experimental mesangioproliferative GN, PDGF-DD serum levels, unlike PDGF-BB, increased up to 1000-fold. Methods. We assessed disease activity in 72 patients with GN, established a novel PDGF-D ELISA and then determined their PDGF-DD levels. In parallel, we studied renal PDGF-DD mRNA expression by RT-PCR. Results. PDGF-DD serum levels in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) were significantly higher (1.67 ± 0.45 ng/ml) and in patients with lupus nephritis significantly lower (0.66 ± 0.86 ng/ml) compared to healthy controls (1.17 ± 0.46 ng/ml), while patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous GN and ANCA-positive vasculitis did not differ from controls. The subgroup of IgAN patients with elevated PDGF-DD levels (27% of samples) did not differ in their clinical features from those with normal PDGF-DD levels. In IgAN patients with repetitive PDGF-DD determinations, most exhibited only minor fluctuations of serum levels over time. Intrarenal PDGF-DD mRNA expression did not differ between controls and patients, suggesting an extrarenal source of the elevated PDGF-DD in IgAN. Conclusions. Serum PDGF-DD levels were specifically elevated in patients with IgAN, in particular in those with early disease, i.e. preserved renal function. Our data support the rationale for anti-PDGF-DD therapy in mesangioproliferative G

Meaningful Consultation with Tribal Governments: A Uniform Standard to Guarantee that Federal Agencies Properly Consider Their Concerns

Mount Tenabo is the source of our creation stories and is a central part of our spiritual world view. . . . It holds the Puha, or life force, of the Creator. We pray to the Mountain for renewal, which comes from Mt. Tenabo\u27s special place in Western Shoshone religion.\u27 \u27 - Sandy Dann, Western Shoshone The obligation that federal agencies consult with Indian tribes regarding undertakings that impact tribal interests is grounded in various statutes, implementing regulations, and Executive Order 13,175. Currently, tribes confront a variety of approaches to consultation because each agency develops its own standards for conducting consultation. Once an agency has reached a final decision on a proposed undertaking, any consultation that occurred to comply with Executive Order 13,175 will not be reviewed in court because Executive Order 13,175 and the consultation policy that an agency developed as required by Executive Order 13,175 do not provide tribal governments with a cause of action to challenge the adequacy of consultation. While courts will review tribal-agency consultation mandated by a federal statute or implementing regulation, judicial review tends to focus on the procedural aspects of consultation rather than examining the substantive decision made by an agency. Thus, Indian tribes are unable to challenge whether an agency\u27s final determination adequately considered the concerns that tribal governments raised during the consultative process. In recognition of the federal government\u27s general trust responsibility to protect the general welfare of tribes and the government-to-government relationship that exists with Indian tribes, Congress should enact a statute that creates a uniform standard for agency-tribal consultation. The statute will create one standard for conducting tribal consultation. Additionally, the consultation statute will permit judicial review of the procedural and substantive aspects of the interaction between tribal governments and federal agencies. To ensure agency decisions adequately consider tribal interests and concerns, agencies will have to overcome a rebuttable presumption that will be granted to tribal assertions raised during consultation. If an agency cannot produce sufficient evidence to support its determination, a federal court will have the power to overturn the decision. The statutory approach to agency-tribal consultation will ensure the federal government honors the unique relationship it has with Indian tribes

A Unique Copy of Leaves of Grass, 1882

Describes a unique copy of the 1882 Camden "Author\u27s Edition" of Leaves of Grass, inscribed by Whitman to Frances ("Fannie") Taylor (1846-1907) and containing "nine printed poems (from magazines and newspapers) Whitman evidently sent Fannie Taylor.

Walt Whitman\u27s Western Jaunt

In 1879, when Walt Whitman was sixty, he made a trip to the West—first to Kansas to attend the quarter-centennial celebration of Kansas settlement, then on to Denver and the Rockies. Biographers have only briefly reported this trip, if they have dealt with it at all; here for the first time is a thorough reconstruction of Whitman’s western experience. From his own extensive research in newspapers of the period, as well as from Whitman’s published daybooks and notebooks and his collected correspondence. Walter H. Eitner is able to piece together a well detailed itinerary, and to compare the record of the actual journey with Whitman’s imaginative account in Specimen Days. This study in part constitutes a criticism of the sections of Specimen Days dealing with the West by examining the ways in which Whitman reordered his experiences to have them support a bardic pose he wished to maintain. For the first time Whitman’s three journalist traveling companions—whom Whitman did not even mention in Specimen Days—are fully on record. This account also shows Whitman very much his own press agent, engaging in a wide range of self-promoting activities such as writing his own interviews and sending back to the press in the East accounts of his whereabouts, his health, and his plans. Description Walter H. Eitner was a professor of English at Kansas State University, where he taught early American literature and nineteenth-century American poetry, and directed seminars on Whitman. This Kansas Open Books title is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/kansas_open_books/1020/thumbnail.jp

Data mining methods for the prediction of different forms of asthma

The article examines the diagnosis of bronchial asthma, cites the classification of the disease, proves the relevance of this research, and represents the result of primary data analysis by using a powerful tool for data analysis - Rapid Miner

Groundwater ages, recharge conditions and hydrochemical evolution of a barrier island freshwater lens (Spiekeroog, Northern Germany)

Freshwater lenses below barrier islands are dynamic systems affected by changes in morphodynamic patterns, groundwater recharge and discharge. They are also vulnerable to pollution and overabstraction of groundwater. Basic knowledge on hydrogeological and hydrochemical processes of freshwater lenses is important to ensure a sustainable water management, especially when taking into account possible effects of climate change. This is the first study which gives a compact overview on the age distribution, recharge conditions and hydrochemical evolution of a barrier island freshwater lens in the southern North Sea (Spiekeroog Island, Eastfrisian Wadden Sea). Two ground- and surface water sampling campaigns were carried out in May and July 2011, supplemented by monthly precipitation sampling from July to October. 3H–3He ages, stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes and major ion concentrations show that the freshwater lens reaches a depth of 44 mbsl, where an aquitard constrains further expansion in vertical direction. Groundwater ages are increasing from 4.4 years in 12 mbsl up to >70 years at the freshwater– saltwater interface. Stable isotope signatures reflect average local precipitation signatures. An annual recharge rate of 300–400 mm was calculated with 3H–3He data. Freshwater is primarily of Na–Ca–Mg–HCO3– and Ca–Na–HCO3–Cl type, while lowly mineralized precipitation and saltwater are of Na–Cl types. A trend towards heavier stable isotope signatures and higher electric conductivities in the shallower, younger groundwater within the freshwater lens may indicate increasing atmospheric temperatures in the last 30 years

Cosmopolis, integrating migrant communities into local environments in Helsinki

Nowadays the high flow of population migrations from developing to developed countries is converging on most of the segregated areas in the urban environments. The grouping of these population groups that have gathered in specific locations are becoming physically and mentally segregated communities. Immigrant groups clustering in specific zones or neighbourhoods of cities make native residents to avoid or move out for various reasons causing mental barriers and bad reputation areas within urban contexts. In sub urban areas, this mental barriers are complemented by physical barriers, giving rise to mentally and physically segregated areas in developed metropolis. Finland presents a great potential to develop multicultural urban environments, due to the existing social mixing policy. On the other hand, the vast inhabitant migration from rural areas in the 60’s (Vaattovaara et al. 2010) resulted in urgent need of housing buildings, developing high rise neighbourhoods in sub urban areas based on the modern model of a car-based city. This model is evidently problematic nowadays due to the various physical barriers, isolating this areas from urban life, therefore producing spatial segregation. The main aim of the thesis is to study spatial segregation of neighbourhoods with high percentage of immigrant groups in Helsinki. Jakomäki, a suburb located on the northern borders of Helsinki, is chosen as a case study to develop a strategic proposal for better integration. There is a potential to integrate the suburb in parallel to the development of the capital city latest master plan; the developing of Malmi airport and the Boulevardization. The aim of this thesis is to integrate the physical space and the migrant communities in the local environment, in order to reach a cosmopolis. By taking in consideration urban goals established by UN Habitat Europe and the City of Helsinki, the project aims to impact at the urban, the district and the neighbourhood level; for triggering the development of the north part of Helsinki while benefiting local inhabitant communities and encourage mental and spatial integration