Co-operatives as an Aid to Small Business in Germany

Tridiagonal parametrizations of linear state-space models are proposed for multivariable system identification. The parametrizations are surjective, i.e. all systems up to a given order can be described. The parametrization is based on the fact that any real square matrix is similar to a real tridiagonal form as well as a compact tridiagonal form. These parametrizations has significantly fewer parameters compared to a full parametrization of the state-space matrices

Rapport d'activite du service medical 2003

Le rapport annuel de l'année 2003 fait état de l'activité du service médical et de ses conclusions en matière de santé au travail ou de conditions de travail pour le personnel titulaire du CERN et les étudiants

Dissecting the Gravitational Lens B1608+656. II. Precision Measurements of the Hubble Constant, Spatial Curvature, and the Dark Energy Equation of State

Strong gravitational lens systems with measured time delays between the multiple images provide a method for measuring the "time-delay distance" to the lens, and thus the Hubble constant. We present a Bayesian analysis of the strong gravitational lens system B1608+656, incorporating (i) new, deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations, (ii) a new velocity dispersion measurement of 260+/-15 km/s for the primary lens galaxy, and (iii) an updated study of the lens' environment. When modeling the stellar dynamics of the primary lens galaxy, the lensing effect, and the environment of the lens, we explicitly include the total mass distribution profile logarithmic slope gamma' and the external convergence kappa_ext; we marginalize over these parameters, assigning well-motivated priors for them, and so turn the major systematic errors into statistical ones. The HST images provide one such prior, constraining the lens mass density profile logarithmic slope to be gamma'=2.08+/-0.03; a combination of numerical simulations and photometric observations of the B1608+656 field provides an estimate of the prior for kappa_ext: 0.10 +0.08/-0.05. This latter distribution dominates the final uncertainty on H_0. Compared with previous work on this system, the new data provide an increase in precision of more than a factor of two. In combination with the WMAP 5-year data set, we find that the B1608+656 data set constrains the curvature parameter to be -0.031 < Omega_k < 0.009 (95% CL), a level of precision comparable to that afforded by the current Type Ia SNe sample. Asserting a flat spatial geometry, we find that, in combination with WMAP, H_0 = 69.7 +4.9/-5.0 km/s/Mpc and w=-0.94 +0.17/-0.19 (68% CL), suggesting that the observations of B1608+656 constrain w as tightly as do the current Baryon Acoustic Oscillation data. (abridged)Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, revisions based on referee's comments, accepted for publication in Ap

Rapport d'Activite du Service Medical - 2001/2002

Le rapport annuel de l’année 2002 fait état de l’activité du service médical et de ses conclusions en matière de santé au travail ou de conditions de travail pour les membres du personnel du CERN, c’est à dire!: les titulaires, boursiers, étudiants, utilisateurs, attachés, etc

Exploring the Moderating Effects of CU traits on the Relationship Between Social Intelligence and Aggression

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential moderating effects of CU traits on the relationship between self-reported social intelligence and aggression in a community sample of boys and girls (ages 14-18). Four subtypes of aggression were measured: reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational. Results indicated that there was not a significant association between social intelligence and any of the aggression subtypes. Neither CU traits nor empathy moderated the association between social intelligence and any of the four subtypes of aggression. Supplementary analyses were conducted to investigate whether level and type of aggression was related to levels of social intelligence and CU traits (or an interaction between the two). Results indicated that at high levels of CU traits, youth exhibited significantly higher levels of proactive overt and reactive overt aggression (t(113.06) than at low levels of CU traits

The Environments of Low and High Luminosity Radio Galaxies at Moderate Redshifts

In the local Universe, high-power radio galaxies live in lower density environments than low-luminosity radio galaxies. If this trend continues to higher redshifts, powerful radio galaxies would serve as efficient probes of moderate redshift groups and poor clusters. Photometric studies of radio galaxies at 0.3 < z < 0.5 suggest that the radio luminosity-environment correlation disappears at moderate redshifts, though this could be the result of foreground/background contamination affecting the photometric measures of environment. We have obtained multi-object spectroscopy of in the fields of 14 lower luminosity (L_1.4GHz 1.2x10^25 W/Hz) radio galaxies at z ~ 0.3 to spectroscopically investigate the link between the environment and the radio luminosity of radio galaxies at moderate redshifts. Our results support the photometric analyses; there does not appear to be a correlation between the luminosity of a radio galaxy and its environment at moderate redshifts. Hence, radio galaxies are not efficient signposts for group environments at moderate redshifts.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in A

A determination of H_0 with the CLASS gravitational lens B1608+656: II. Mass models and the Hubble constant from lensing

EDITED FROM PAPER: We present mass models of the four-image gravitational lens system B1608+656. A mass model for the lens galaxies has been determined that reproduces the image positions, two out of three flux-density ratios and the model time delays. Using the time delays determined by Fassnacht et al. (1999a), we find that the best isothermal mass model gives H_0=59^{+7}_{-6} km/s/Mpc for Omega_m=1 and Omega_l=0.0, or H_0=(65-63)^{+7}_{-6} km/s/Mpc for Omega_m=0.3 and Omega_l = 0.0-0.7 (95.4% statistical confidence). A systematic error of +/-15 km/s/Mpc is estimated. This cosmological determination of H_0 agrees well with determinations from three other gravitational lens systems (i.e. B0218+357, Q0957+561 and PKS1830-211), SNe Ia, the S-Z effect and local determinations. The current agreement on H_0 from four out of five gravitational lens systems (i) emphasizes the reliability of its determination from isolated gravitational lens systems and (ii) suggests that a close-to-isothermal mass profile can describe disk galaxies, ellipticals and central cluster ellipticals. The average of H_0 from B0218+357, Q0957+561, B1608+656 and PKS1830-211, gives H_0(GL)=69 +/-7 km/s/Mpc for a flat universe with Omega_m=1 or H_0(GL)=74 +/-8 km/s/Mpc for Omega_m=0.3 and Omega_l=0.0-0.7. When including PG1115+080, these values decrease to 64 +/-11 km/s/Mpc and 68 +/-13 km/s/Mpc (2-sigma errors), respectively.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 34 pages, 4 figure

Exploring the Moderating Effects of CU traits on the Relationship Between Social Intelligence and Aggression

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential moderating effects of CU traits on the relationship between self-reported social intelligence and aggression in a community sample of boys and girls (ages 14-18). Four subtypes of aggression were measured: reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational. Results indicated that there was not a significant association between social intelligence and any of the aggression subtypes. Neither CU traits nor empathy moderated the association between social intelligence and any of the four subtypes of aggression. Supplementary analyses were conducted to investigate whether level and type of aggression was related to levels of social intelligence and CU traits (or an interaction between the two). Results indicated that at high levels of CU traits, youth exhibited significantly higher levels of proactive overt and reactive overt aggression (t(113.06) than at low levels of CU traits