Deep MOS Spectroscopy of NGC 1316 Globular Clusters

The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 is the brightest galaxy in the Fornax cluster, and displays a number of morphological features that might be interpreted as an intermediate age merger remanent ($\sim$3 Gyr). Based on the idea that globular clusters systems (GCS) constitute genuine tracers of the formation and evolution of their host galaxies, we conducted a spectroscopic study of approximately 40 globular clusters (GCs) candidates associated with this interesting galaxy. We determined ages, metallicities, and $\alpha$-element abundances for each GC present in the sample, through the measurement of different Lick indices and their subsequent comparison with simple stellar populations models (SSPs).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Recommendations for HER2 testing in the UK

Determining the HER2 status of breast carcinomas is a prerequisite for the use of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin(R)), which has recently been licensed for the treatment of metastatic disease. This necessitates a test based on archival material. The preferred analyses are immunohistochemistry with fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) as a follow up test for ambiguous results. Guidelines have been developed for standardised, well controlled procedures for the provision of reliable results. A group of three reference laboratories has been established to provide advice, quality assurance, and materials, where needed

Detecting z > 2 Type IIn Supernovae

Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) dominate the brightest supernova events in observed FUV flux (~1200-2000A). We show that multi-band, multi-epoch optical surveys complete to m_r = 27 can detect the FUV emission of ~25 z > 2 SNe IIn deg^-2 yr^-1 rest-frame (~10 SNe IIn deg^-2 yr^-1 observed-frame) to 4 sigma using a technique monitoring color-selected galaxies. Moreover, the strength and evolution of the bright emission lines observed in low redshift SNe IIn imply that the Ly-a emission features in ~70% of z > 2 SNe IIn are above 8m-class telescope spectroscopic thresholds for ~2 yr rest-frame. As a result, existing facilities have the capability to both photometrically detect and spectroscopically confirm z > 2 SNe IIn and pave the way for efficient searches by future 8m-class survey and 30m-class telescopes. The method presented here uses the sensitivities and wide-field capabilities of current optical instruments and exploits (1) the efficiency of z > 2 galaxy color-selection techniques, (2) the intrinsic brightness distribution ( = -19.0 +/-0.9) and blue profile of SNe IIn continua, (3) the presence of extremely bright, long-lived emission features, and (4) the potential to detect blueshifted SNe Ly-a emission shortward of host galaxy Ly-a features.Comment: 26 pages (pre-print), 6 figures, accepted Ap

Novel methods for spatial prediction of soil functions within landscapes (SP0531)

Previous studies showed that soil patterns could be predicted in agriculturally managed landscapes by modelling and extrapolating from extensive existing but related integrated datasets. Based on these results we proposed to develop and apply predictive models of the relationships between environmental data and known soil patterns to predict capacity for key soil functions within diverse landscapes for which there is little detailed underpinning soil information available. Objectives were: To develop a high-level framework in which the non-specialist user-community could explore questions. To generate digital soil maps for three selected catchments at a target resolution of 1:50000 to provide the base information for soil function prediction. To use a modelling approach to predict the performance of key soil functions in catchments undergoing change but where only sparse or low resolution soil survey data are available. To use a modelling approach to assess the impact of different management scenarios and/or environmental conditions on the delivery of multiple soil functions within a catchment. To create a detailed outline of the requirements for ground-truthing to test the predicted model outputs at a catchment scale. To contribute to the development of a high-level framework for decision makers

Influence of Spin Wave Excitations on the Ferromagnetic Phase Diagram in the Hubbard-Model

The subject of the present paper is the theoretical description of collective electronic excitations, i.e. spin waves, in the Hubbard-model. Starting with the widely used Random-Phase-Approximation, which combines Hartree-Fock theory with the summation of the two-particle ladder, we extend the theory to a more sophisticated single particle approximation, namely the Spectral-Density-Ansatz. Doing so we have to introduce a `screened` Coulomb-interaction rather than the bare Hubbard-interaction in order to obtain physically reasonable spinwave dispersions. The discussion following the technical procedure shows that comparison of standard RPA with our new approximation reduces the occurrence of a ferromagnetic phase further with respect to the phase-diagrams delivered by the single particle theories.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, RevTex4, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.