The optical and near-infrared properties of nearby groups of galaxies

We present a study of the optical (BRI) and near-infrared (JHK) luminosity fuctions (LFs) of the GEMS sample of 60 nearby groups of galaxies between 0<z<0.04, with our optical CCD photometry and near-IR photometry from the 2MASS survey. The LFs in all filters show a depletion of galaxies of intermediate luminosity, two magnitudes fainter than L*, within 0.3 R{500} from the centres of X-ray faint groups. This feature is not as pronounced in X-ray bright gropus, and vanishes when LFs are found out to R{500}, even in the X-ray dim groups. We argue that this feature arises due to the enhanced merging of intermediate-mass galaxies in the dynamically sluggish environment of low velocity-dispersion groups, indicating that merging is important in galaxy evolution even at z~0.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of the ESO workshop "Groups of Galaxies in the Nearby Universe", Santiago, Dec 5-9, 2005. Eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov, & J. Borissova (Springer Verlag); 5 page

Pengaruh Persepsi Konsumen Pada Kualitas Makanan, Kualitas Layanan Dan Harga Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Konsumen Di Loving Hut Surabaya

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh dari kualitas makanan, kualitas layanan dan harga terhadap keputusan pembelian, serta mengetahui faktor mana yang paling berpengaruh terhadap keputusan pembelian. Jenis penelitian yang dilakukan adalah kuantitatif dengan analisa causal research. Obyek yang diteliti adalah restoran Loving Hut di Surabaya. Penulis menggunakan 150 sampel untuk diteliti dengan melakukan survei. Hasil dari penelitian membuktikan bahwa kualitas makanan, kualitas layanan dan harga berpengaruh secara serempak terhadap keputusan pembelian, tetapi faktor kualitas layanan tidak berpengaruh secara parsial terhadap keputusan pembelian. Dari ketiga faktor tersebut, faktor kualitas produk adalah faktor yang paling berpengaruh terhadap keputusan pembelian konsumen

Photorespiration: metabolic pathways and their role in stress protection

Photorespiration results from the oxygenase reaction catalysed by ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase. In this reaction glycollate-2-phosphate is produced and subsequently metabolized in the photorespiratory pathway to form the Calvin cycle intermediate glycerate-3-phosphate. During this metabolic process, CO2 and NH3 are produced and ATP and reducing equivalents are consumed, thus making photorespiration a wasteful process. However, precisely because of this ine¤ciency, photorespiration could serve as an energy sink preventing the overreduction of the photosynthetic electron transport chain and photoinhibition, especially under stress conditions that lead to reduced rates of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation. Furthermore, photorespiration provides metabolites for other metabolic processes, e.g. glycine for the synthesis of glutathione, which is also involved in stress protection. In this review, we describe the use of photorespiratory mutants to study the control and regulation of photorespiratory pathways. In addition, we discuss the possible role of photorespiration under stress conditions, such as drought, high salt concentrations and high light intensities encountered by alpine plants

XMM-Newton study of 0.012<z<0.024 groups. I: Overview of the IGM thermodynamics

We study the thermodynamic properties of the hot gas in a sample of groups in the 0.012-0.024 redshift range, using XMM-Newton observations. We present measurements of temperature, entropy, pressure and iron abundance. Non-parametric fits are used to derive the mean properties of the sample and to study dispersion in the values of entropy and pressure. The scaling of the entropy at 0.2r500 matches well the results of Ponman et al. (2003). However, compared to cool clusters, the groups in our sample reveal larger entropy at inner radii and a substantially flatter slope in the entropy in the outskirts, compared to both the prediction of pure gravitational heating and to observations of clusters. This difference corresponds to the systematically flatter group surface brightness profiles, reported previously. The scaled pressure profiles can be well approximated with a Sersic model with n=4. We find that groups exhibit a systematically larger dispersion in pressure, compared to clusters of galaxies, while the dispersion in entropy is similar.Comment: 11 pages, MNRAS in press, the 25 page version with all 176 figures included is at ftp://ftp.xray.mpe.mpg.de/people/alexis/2dxgs_astroph.ps.g

‘All in all it is just a judgement call’: issues surrounding sexual consent in young people’s heterosexual encounters

In the UK, there has been growing concern about young people’s understanding of sexual consent, with the views of young people themselves often lost in academic and educational policy debates. However, the focus on high rates of sexual violence has meant a lack of attention on the everyday negotiation of consensual heterosexual activity, leading to assumptions being made regarding young people’s lack of understanding of sexual consent. This paper emerges from a wider study of over 500 young people which sought to uncover their understanding of the issues. Drawing on data from workshops and the open text responses to an on-line survey the findings presented in this paper show that the majority of heterosexual young people understood the complexity of sexual consent as an embodied process, which can be difficult to define, talk about or practice uniformly. This complex understanding, in which sexual consent is a continuum rather than a dichotomy, has implications for sexual education initiatives. We argue that it is only by providing a closer understanding of how - within consensual sexual activities - young people understand and enact sexual consent through a range of embodied communication strategies that education surrounding sexual assault will become meaningful

Commentary : Disentangling the contributions of childhood and adult weight to cardiovascular disease risk

Non peer reviewe

Community awareness of green roofs in Sydney

There are environmental, economic and social benefits of installing green roofs and walls on city buildings. The environmental benefits are lower building related operational carbon emissions, reductions in the urban heat island, increases in bio-diversity and reductions in storm-water run-off. Economically, the benefits are reduced roof maintenance costs, lower running costs, higher capital and rental values for commercial buildings. Finally the social or community gains are the creation of aesthetically pleasing spaces, landmarksand cultural capital as well as provision of recreational spaces. Furthermore social, psychological and therapeutic gains accrue when the roof or wall is visible to people andis used for social interaction and leisure activities. The perceived drawbacks are perceived greater risk of building leaks, high costs of installation and maintenance, and access and security issues. Whilst the technology to design and install green roofs and walls has existed for hundreds of years the uptake and the demand for green roofs and walls has not been high. Overall, the environmental social and economic gains are not perceived sufficient to create significant demand to set up green roofs and walls. In Sydney Australia, the existing number of green roofs and walls are testimony to this observation. With the aim of addressing the barriers to the uptake of green roofs and walls; it is essential to understand the way in which the key stakeholders; here the community, perceive the technology. With this knowledge it is then feasible to develop an agenda to mitigate any erroneous perceptions that exists. This research reports on a survey with the Sydney community to determine their perceptions of green roofs and walls