A plethora of new, magnetic chemically peculiar stars from LAMOST DR4

Magnetic chemically peculiar (mCP) stars are important to astrophysics because their complex atmospheres lend themselves perfectly to the investigation of the interplay between such diverse phenomena as atomic diffusion, magnetic fields, and stellar rotation. The present work is aimed at identifying new mCP stars using spectra collected by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). Suitable candidates were selected by searching LAMOST DR4 spectra for the presence of the characteristic 5200A flux depression. Spectral classification was carried out with a modified version of the MKCLASS code and the accuracy of the classifications was estimated by comparison with results from manual classification and the literature. Using parallax data and photometry from Gaia DR2, we investigated the space distribution of our sample stars and their properties in the colour-magnitude diagram. Our final sample consists of 1002 mCP stars, most of which are new discoveries (only 59 previously known). Traditional mCP star peculiarities have been identified in all but 36 stars, highlighting the efficiency of the code's peculiarity identification capabilities. The derived temperature and peculiarity types are in agreement with manually derived classifications and the literature. Our sample stars are between 100 Myr and 1 Gyr old, with the majority having masses between 2M(Sun) and 3M(Sun). Our results could be considered as strong evidence for an inhomogeneous age distribution among low-mass (M < 3M(Sun)) mCP stars. We identified several astrophysically interesting objects: two mCP stars have distances and kinematical properties in agreement with halo stars; an eclipsing binary system hosting an mCP star component; and an SB2 system likely comprising of an mCP star and a supergiant component.Comment: 62 pages, 24 figures, 10 tables, corrected some typos and minor mistakes; corrected wrong number of stars with absolute parallax errors less than 25

Weather derivatives as an instrument to hedge against the risk of high energy cost in greenhouse production

In many areas agriculture is exposed to weather-related risks. Weather derivatives that get more and more in the focus of interest can reduce these risks. In this study we develop a temperature based weather derivative and analyse how it can reduce the weather-related energy cost risk in greenhouse production. We base this study on a temperature index whose stochastic characteristics are analysed. Finally we simulate the heating energy demand of a horticultural firm.Risk and Uncertainty,

Weather Derivatives as an Instrument to Hedge Against the Risk of High Energy Cost in Greenhouse Production

In many areas agriculture is exposed to weather related risks. Weather derivatives that get more and more in the focus of interest can reduce these risks. In this study we develop a temperature based weather derivative and analyse how it can reduce the weather-related energy cost risk in greenhouse production. We base this study on a temperature index whose stochastic characteristics are analysed. Finally we simulate the heating demand for energy of a horticultural firm.Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, C22, D8, Q14,

Aspects of interspecific associations with Diadema

Reprinted from the Proceedings of the German Zoological Meeting in Munchen 1963. Zoological supplement (27):404-417. John D. McEachran, translator; John A. Musick, editor

A nation-wide laboratory: Examining trust and trustworthiness by integrating behavioral experiments into representative surveys

Typically, laboratory experiments suffer from homogeneous subject pools and selfselection biases. The usefulness of survey data is limited by measurement error and by the questionability of their behavioral relevance. Here we present a method integrating interactive experiments and representative surveys thereby overcoming crucial weaknesses of both approaches. One of the major advantages of our approach is that it allows for the integration of experiments, which require interaction among the participants, with a survey of non-interacting respondents in a smooth and inexpensive way. We illustrate the power of our approach with the analysis of trust and trustworthiness in Germany by combining representative survey data with representative behavioral data from a social dilemma experiment. We identify which survey questions intended to elicit peoples trust correlate well with behaviorally exhibited trust in the experiment. People above the age of 65, highly skilled workers and people living in bigger households exhibit less trusting behavior. Foreign citizens, Catholics and people favoring the Social Democratic Party or the Christian Democratic Party exhibit more trust. People above the age of 65 and those in good health behave more trustworthy or more altruistically, respectively. People below the age of 35, the unemployed and people who say they are in favor of none of the political parties behave less trustworthy or less altruistically, respectively. -- Die experimentelle Ökonomie führt typischerweise Labor-Untersuchungen durch, die mit homogenen und selektiven Versuchspersonen arbeiten. Repräsentative Surveys leiden hingegen unter Meßfehlern und der Frage, ob hypothetisches Verhalten, das erhoben wird, mit tatsächlichem Verhalten korrespondiert. Deswegen präsentieren wir eine Methode, mit der man die Schwächen beider Ansätze überwindet, indem man Survey-Daten mit Experimenten kombiniert. Die von uns entwickelte Methode hat den Vorzug, dass sie es auf preiswerte Art und Weise erlaubt, Experimente, die die Interaktion zweier Personen erfordern, mit Standard-Surveys zu kombinieren, die auf der Unabhängigkeit der befragten Personen beruhen. Wir illustrieren die Möglichkeiten unserer Methodik mit einer Untersuchung über Vertrauen und Vertrauenswürdigkeit in Deutschland, bei der eine repräsentative Umfrage mit einem Experiment über eine Dilemma-Situation verbunden wurde. Unsere Resultate zeigen zum einen, dass nicht alle Survey-Fragen über Vertrauen mit den Ergebnissen des Experiments korrelieren. Zum zweiten zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass ältere Menschen (65 Jahre und älter), Hochqualifizierte und Personen, die in grösseren Haushalten leben, im Experiment unterdurchschnittlich Vertrauen offenbaren. Für Ausländer, Katholiken und die Anhänger der großen Volksparteien finden wir überdurchschnittliches Vertrauen. Vertrauenswürdigkeit bzw. Altruismus zeigen im Experiment Ältere und Befragte mit gutem Gesundheitszustand. Unterdurchschnittliche Vertrauenswüdigkeit bzw. Altruismus zeigen jüngere Befragte (bis zu 35 Jahren), arbeitslos Gemeldete und Befragte ohne eine Parteineigung.Experiment,Survey,Trust,Trustworthiness,Altruism

Determination of islet cell antibodies using an ELISA system with a preparation of rat insulinoma (RIN A2) cells

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established for the detection of islet cell antibodies in human sera. The antigen was prepared from rat insulinoma (RIN A2) cells. Cells were dissociated in lysis buffer and the lysate was centrifuged at 100,000 x g. The supernatant was used to coat microtiter ELISA plates (10 micrograms protein/ml in PBS pH 7.2). Non-specific binding sites on the plates were blocked with 2% PBS-BSA. Human test sera were preabsorbed on separate plates using 2% PBS-BSA and incubated on precoated plates at an optimal dilution of 1/10 in 60 mM PBS for 60 min at 37 degrees C. Phosphatase-labeled anti-human IgG serum and phosphatase substrate were applied and the reaction was stopped by adding 3 M NaOH. Out of 90 sera from type I diabetic patients, 47 (52.2%) reacted in the new ELISA whereas none of 15 type II diabetics, 50 sera containing non-islet specific antibodies or 100 normal controls were positive. In the same group of patients, ICA were positive in 63.3%. When both, the ELISA and conventional ICA testing were applied, the number of positives was increased to 83%. The ICA-ELISA with the above described antigen preparation provides a well standardized and reproducible test method which is highly specific for type I diabetes. It may therefore be useful for large screening procedures