The PCA Lens-Finder: application to CFHTLS

We present the results of a new search for galaxy-scale strong lensing systems in CFHTLS Wide. Our lens-finding technique involves a preselection of potential lens galaxies, applying simple cuts in size and magnitude. We then perform a Principal Component Analysis of the galaxy images, ensuring a clean removal of the light profile. Lensed features are searched for in the residual images using the clustering topometric algorithm DBSCAN. We find 1098 lens candidates that we inspect visually, leading to a cleaned sample of 109 new lens candidates. Using realistic image simulations we estimate the completeness of our sample and show that it is independent of source surface brightness, Einstein ring size (image separation) or lens redshift. We compare the properties of our sample to previous lens searches in CFHTLS. Including the present search, the total number of lenses found in CFHTLS amounts to 678, which corresponds to ~4 lenses per square degree down to i=24.8. This is equivalent to ~ 60.000 lenses in total in a survey as wide as Euclid, but at the CFHTLS resolution and depth.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on A&

On the Maximum Crossing Number

Research about crossings is typically about minimization. In this paper, we consider \emph{maximizing} the number of crossings over all possible ways to draw a given graph in the plane. Alpert et al. [Electron. J. Combin., 2009] conjectured that any graph has a \emph{convex} straight-line drawing, e.g., a drawing with vertices in convex position, that maximizes the number of edge crossings. We disprove this conjecture by constructing a planar graph on twelve vertices that allows a non-convex drawing with more crossings than any convex one. Bald et al. [Proc. COCOON, 2016] showed that it is NP-hard to compute the maximum number of crossings of a geometric graph and that the weighted geometric case is NP-hard to approximate. We strengthen these results by showing hardness of approximation even for the unweighted geometric case and prove that the unweighted topological case is NP-hard.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Determination of the effect of collars containing 10% w/w imidacloprid and 4.5% w/w flumethrin (Seresto®) on the incidence of Leishmania and other canine vector-borne pathogen infections in Greece

Background: The objective of this field study was to assess the effect of treating a considerable portion of a dog population naturally exposed to canine vector-borne pathogens (CVBPs) in endemic areas with a 10% w/w imidacloprid/4.5% w/w flumethrin collar (Seresto®) on the transmission of CVBPs and the resulting incidence of infection. Methods: A total of 479 dogs from two sites were enrolled in the study. Collars were placed on all dogs continuously for 21 months, with replacement of the collar every 7 months. All dogs were examined, including body weight and blood/conjunctival swab collections, every 7 months. Serum samples were analysed for the presence of antibodies against Leishmania infantum, Ehrlichia canis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. PCR assays were also performed on blood samples and conjunctival swab collected from the dogs for the presence of L. infantum, and on blood samples only for the presence of Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. Sand flies were collected, identified to species level and molecularly tested for L. infantum throughout two vector activity seasons. Results: The results showed that the Seresto collar was safe with continuous use. At study inclusion, 419, 370 and 453 dogs tested negative for L. infantum, Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp., respectively (353 dogs tested negative for any pathogen). Overall, 90.2% of the dogs were protected from L. infantum infection on both sites combined. The entomological survey confirmed the presence of competent vectors of L. infantum at all monitored locations, namely the sand flies Phlebotomus neglectus and Phlebotomus tobbi, both of which are regarded as the most important competent vectors in the Mediterranean basin. All captured sand flies tested negative for L. infantum. Protection against ticks and fleas was high, with only two dogs showing a low number of ticks and seven dogs having low numbers of fleas at single evaluation time points. Across the entire study population, a number of dogs became infected with tick-transmitted pathogens, but prevention of transmission was 93% for E. canis and 87.2% for Anaplasma spp. when all cases from both sites were combined. Conclusions: The Seresto® (10% w/w imidacloprid/4.5% w/w flumethrin) collar significantly reduced the risk of CVBP transmission when compared to previously observed incidences of CVBP infections in two highly endemic areas under field conditions

Dispositional optimism as a correlate of decision-making styles in adolescence

Despite the numerous psychological areas in which optimism has been studied, including career planning, only a small amount of research has been done to investigate the relationship between optimism and decision-making styles. Consequently, we have investigated the role of dispositional optimism as a correlate of different decision-making styles, in particular, positive for effective styles and negative for ineffective ones (doubtfulness, procrastination, and delegation). Data were gathered through questionnaires administered to 803 Italian adolescents in their last 2 years of high schools with different fields of study, each at the beginning stages of planning for their professional future. A paper questionnaire was completed containing measures of dispositional optimism and career-related decision styles, during a vocational guidance intervention conducted at school. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression. Results supported the proposed model by showing optimism to be a strong correlate of decision-making styles, thereby offering important intervention guidelines aimed at modifying unrealistically negative expectations regarding their future and helping students learn adaptive decision-making skills

Biofabrication: an overview of the approaches used for printing of living cells

The development of cell printing is vital for establishing biofabrication approaches as clinically relevant tools. Achieving this requires bio-inks which must not only be easily printable, but also allow controllable and reproducible printing of cells. This review outlines the general principles and current progress and compares the advantages and challenges for the most widely used biofabrication techniques for printing cells: extrusion, laser, microvalve, inkjet and tissue fragment printing. It is expected that significant advances in cell printing will result from synergistic combinations of these techniques and lead to optimised resolution, throughput and the overall complexity of printed constructs

Concentrated solar drying of tomatoes

Fruits and vegetables are an integral part of the human diet. Many developing countries such as Tanzania experience post-harvest losses of 40%, and there is little ability to preserve and store foods for off-season consumption due to expensive or unreliable energy and a lack of access to refrigeration. Alternatively, fruits and vegetables can be dehydrated using solar crop dryers. Because many developing countries are in tropical regions, properly dehydrating fruits and vegetables to moisture levels appropriate for storage and off-season consumption can be difficult. In an attempt to overcome the challenges of the high humidity, intermittent clouds, and haze often present in tropical climates, this paper investigates the effectiveness of adding a concave solar concentrator built from low-cost, locally available materials to a typical Tanzanian solar crop dryer. Two identical solar crop dryers were constructed, with one serving as the control and the other for testing the solar concentrator. Drying trials using Roma tomatoes with initial moisture content of approximately 90% were conducted in Davis, California (38° 32' 42″ N/121° 44' 21″ W) in various climatic conditions throughout the summer and fall. Tomatoes were considered dried at 10% moisture content. Temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation were measured outside as well as within each of the dryers to determine how the addition of a solar concentrator can affect the drying rate of tomatoes in solar crop dryers. The concentrator proved to be effective, reducing drying time by 21% in addition to increasing internal dryer temperature and reducing relative humidity. An additional study on the quality of the fresh and dried tomatoes found that the pH, titratable acidity, color, Brix, lycopene, and vitamin C determined there was no significant difference in quality between tomatoes dried with and without the concentrator. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Concentrated solar drying of tomatoes

Fruits and vegetables are an integral part of the human diet. Many developing countries such as Tanzania experience post-harvest losses of 40%, and there is little ability to preserve and store foods for off-season consumption due to expensive or unreliable energy and a lack of access to refrigeration. Alternatively, fruits and vegetables can be dehydrated using solar crop dryers. Because many developing countries are in tropical regions, properly dehydrating fruits and vegetables to moisture levels appropriate for storage and off-season consumption can be difficult. In an attempt to overcome the challenges of the high humidity, intermittent clouds, and haze often present in tropical climates, this paper investigates the effectiveness of adding a concave solar concentrator built from low-cost, locally available materials to a typical Tanzanian solar crop dryer. Two identical solar crop dryers were constructed, with one serving as the control and the other for testing the solar concentrator. Drying trials using Roma tomatoes with initial moisture content of approximately 90% were conducted in Davis, California (38° 32' 42″ N/121° 44' 21″ W) in various climatic conditions throughout the summer and fall. Tomatoes were considered dried at 10% moisture content. Temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation were measured outside as well as within each of the dryers to determine how the addition of a solar concentrator can affect the drying rate of tomatoes in solar crop dryers. The concentrator proved to be effective, reducing drying time by 21% in addition to increasing internal dryer temperature and reducing relative humidity. An additional study on the quality of the fresh and dried tomatoes found that the pH, titratable acidity, color, Brix, lycopene, and vitamin C determined there was no significant difference in quality between tomatoes dried with and without the concentrator. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Diversity in Teams: was macht diverse Teams erfolgreich?

Teams in Organisationen sind zunehmend divers zusammengesetzt. Mit Diversity sind neben Unterschieden bezüglich demografischer Merkmale beispielsweise auch Differenzen in unmittelbar aufgabenbezogenen Merkmalen sowie in Werten, Einstellungen und Eigenschaften gemeint, welche oftmals nicht sofort ersichtlich sind. Die weiterhin zu erwartende Zunahme von Diversity in Organisationen, die Möglichkeit positiver sowie negativer Effekte von Diversity auf den Teamerfolg und die damit verbundene Notwendigkeit eines aktiven Diversity Managements erklären das sowohl auf Praktiker- als auch auf Forschungsseite große Interesse an Diversity. In diesem Kapitel zeigen wir mittels der Literatur im Bereich der organisationspsychologischen und Managementforschung auf, welche Konsequenzen Diversity in Teams haben kann. Als Strategien zum effektiven Management von Diversity heben wir die Bedeutung von drei Arten von Einflussfaktoren für den Erfolg diverser Teams hervor, nämlich Einstellungen, Denkweisen und Wahrnehmungen in Bezug auf Diversity, Diversity Training sowie Führung, indem wir diese mittels empirischer Befunde beleuchten. Da diese Erfolgsfaktoren grundsätzlich beeinflussbar sind, können sie einen wichtigen Beitrag zum effektiven Diversity Management in Organisationen leisten