76 research outputs found
Bedingungen und Ziele fĂŒr eine Reform der Unternehmensbesteuerung
Bei einem Vergleich der nominalen UnternehmenssteuersÀtze liegt Deutschland in der internationalen Spitzengruppe. Wie kann diese steuerliche Belastung gesenkt und gleichzeitig den Anforderungen einer steuerlichen Gleichbehandlung aller Rechtsformen entsprochen werden? --
From the same hymn sheet
A pilot scheme led by Hannover Re is exploring the standardisation of communication in property placements across Europe. Professor Volker Gruhn, JĂŒrgen Petzold and Clemens SchĂ€fer explain more
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Optical and microphysical properties of smoke over Cape Verde inferred from multiwavelength lidar measurements
Lidar measurements of mixed dust/smoke plumes over the tropical Atlantic ocean were carried out during the winter
campaign of SAMUM-2 at Cape Verde. Profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients, lidar ratios, and Ă
ngstršom
exponents related to pure biomass-burning aerosol from southern West Africa were extracted from these observations.
Furthermore, these findings were used as input for an inversion algorithm to retrieve microphysical properties of pure
smoke. Seven measurement days were found suitable for the procedure of aerosol-type separation and successive
inversion of optical data that describe biomass-burning smoke. We inferred high smoke lidar ratios of 87 ± 17 sr at
355 nm and 79 ± 17 sr at 532 nm. Smoke lidar ratios and Ă
ngstršom exponents are higher compared to the ones for the
dust/smoke mixture. These numbers indicate higher absorption and smaller sizes for pure smoke particles compared
to the dust/smoke mixture. Inversion of the smoke data set results in mean effective radii of 0.22 ± 0.08 Όm with
individual results varying between 0.10 and 0.36 ÎŒm. The single-scattering albedo for pure biomass-burning smoke
was found to vary between 0.63 and 0.89 with a very low mean value of 0.75 ± 0.07. This is in good agreement with
findings of airborne in situ measurements which showed values of 0.77 ± 0.03. Effective radii from the inversion were
similar to the ones found for the fine mode of the in situ size distributions
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Microphysical and optical properties of dust and tropical biomass burning aerosol layers in the Cape Verde region - an overview of the airborne in situ and lidar measurements during SAMUM-2
In the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar and in situ measurements of the particle size, aerosol mixing state and absorption coefficient were conducted. Here, the properties of mineral dust and tropical biomass burning layers in the Cape Verde region in January/February 2008 are investigated and compared with the properties of fresh dust observed in May/June 2006 close the Sahara. In the Cape Verde area, we found a complex stratification with dust layers covering the altitude range below 2 km and biomass burning layers aloft. The aerosol type of the individual layers was classified based on depolarization and lidar ratios and, in addition, on in situ measured Ă
ngström exponents of absorption Ă„ap. The dust layers had a depth of 1.3 ± 0.4 km and showed a median Ă„ap of 3.95. The median effective diameter Deff was 2.5 ÎŒm and the dust layers over Cape Verde yielded clear signals of aging: large particles were depleted due to gravitational settling and the accumulation mode diameter was shifted towards larger sizes as a result of coagulation. The tropical biomass layers had a depth of 2.0 ± 1.1 km and were characterized by a median Ă„ap of 1.34. They always contained a certain amount of large dust particles and showed a median Deff of 1.1 ÎŒm and a fine mode Deff,fine of 0.33. The dust and biomass burning layers had a median aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.23 and 0.09, respectively. The median contributions to the AOD of the total atmospheric column below 10 km were 75 and 37%, respectively
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Regional modelling of Saharan dust and biomass-burning smoke, Part I: Model description and evaluation
The spatio-temporal evolution of the Saharan dust and biomass-burning plume during the SAMUM-2 field campaign
in January and February 2008 is simulated at 28 km horizontal resolution with the regional model-system COSMOMUSCAT.
The model performance is thoroughly tested using routine ground-based and space-borne remote sensing
and local field measurements. Good agreement with the observations is found in many cases regarding transport
patterns, aerosol optical thicknesses and the ratio of dust to smoke aerosol. The model also captures major features
of the complex aerosol layering. Nevertheless, discrepancies in the modelled aerosol distribution occur, which are
analysed in detail. The dry synoptic dynamics controlling dust uplift and transport during the dry season are well
described by the model, but surface wind peaks associated with the breakdown of nocturnal low-level jets are not
always reproduced. Thus, a strong dust outbreak is underestimated. While dust emission modelling is a priori more
challenging, since strength and placement of dust sources depend on on-line computed winds, considerable inaccuracies
also arise in observation-based estimates of biomass-burning emissions. They are caused by cloud and spatial errors of
satellite fire products and uncertainties in fire emission parameters, and can lead to unrealistic model results of smoke
transport
Comparative and functional genomics provide insights into the pathogenicity of dermatophytic fungi
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Millions of humans and animals suffer from superficial infections caused by a group of highly specialized filamentous fungi, the dermatophytes, which exclusively infect keratinized host structures. To provide broad insights into the molecular basis of the pathogenicity-associated traits, we report the first genome sequences of two closely phylogenetically related dermatophytes, Arthroderma benhamiae and Trichophyton verrucosum, both of which induce highly inflammatory infections in humans. RESULTS: 97% of the 22.5 megabase genome sequences of A. benhamiae and T. verrucosum are unambiguously alignable and collinear. To unravel dermatophyte-specific virulence-associated traits, we compared sets of potentially pathogenicity-associated proteins, such as secreted proteases and enzymes involved in secondary metabolite production, with those of closely related onygenales (Coccidioides species) and the mould Aspergillus fumigatus. The comparisons revealed expansion of several gene families in dermatophytes and disclosed the peculiarities of the dermatophyte secondary metabolite gene sets. Secretion of proteases and other hydrolytic enzymes by A. benhamiae was proven experimentally by a global secretome analysis during keratin degradation. Molecular insights into the interaction of A. benhamiae with human keratinocytes were obtained for the first time by global transcriptome profiling. Given that A. benhamiae is able to undergo mating, a detailed comparison of the genomes further unraveled the genetic basis of sexual reproduction in this species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results enlighten the genetic basis of fundamental and putatively virulence-related traits of dermatophytes, advancing future research on these medically important pathogens
Bose-Einstein Correlations of Three Charged Pions in Hadronic Z^0 Decays
Bose-Einstein Correlations (BEC) of three identical charged pions were
studied in 4 x 10^6 hadronic Z^0 decays recorded with the OPAL detector at LEP.
The genuine three-pion correlations, corrected for the Coulomb effect, were
separated from the known two-pion correlations by a new subtraction procedure.
A significant genuine three-pion BEC enhancement near threshold was observed
having an emitter source radius of r_3 = 0.580 +/- 0.004 (stat.) +/- 0.029
(syst.) fm and a strength of \lambda_3 = 0.504 +/- 0.010 (stat.) +/- 0.041
(syst.). The Coulomb correction was found to increase the \lambda_3 value by
\~9% and to reduce r_3 by ~6%. The measured \lambda_3 corresponds to a value of
0.707 +/- 0.014 (stat.) +/- 0.078 (syst.) when one takes into account the
three-pion sample purity. A relation between the two-pion and the three-pion
source parameters is discussed.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, accepted by Eur. Phys. J.
Integrating Data Science and Earth Science
This open access book presents the results of three years collaboration between earth scientists and data scientists, in developing and applying data science methods for scientific discovery. The book will be highly beneficial for other researchers at senior and graduate level, interested in applying visual data exploration, computational approaches and scientifc workflows
dolls/puppets as miniatures - more than small
Weitere Hrsg.: Jana Mikota, Philipp SchmerheimDer Themenschwerpunkt der zweiten Ausgabe von de:do lautet: Puppen als Miniaturen â mehr als klein. Puppen und ihre Kontexte beanspruchen hier, âmehrâ als nur verkleinerte Varianten oder Repliken menschlicher Lebenswelten zu sein. Nicht von ungefĂ€hr gelten sie als ein âFundort der GröĂeâ (Bachelard).
Als âkleine Formateâ generieren sie Bilder und Narrative der eigenen Art, die in Funktion und Wirkung offen sind: so bewegen sie sich zwischen Abbildung, Verdichtung und Transformation von RealitĂ€t, sind Ausdruck von SehnsĂŒchten und/oder KontrollbedĂŒrfnissen ihrer ErschafferInnen, lösen Bezauberung, Verwunderung oder Befremden aus und ermöglichen ganzheitliche WeltzugĂ€nge und Erkenntnis ĂŒber innere ZusammenhĂ€nge. Einmal mehr erweisen sich Puppen als Miniaturen und im Kontext miniaturisierter Welten als hybride Objekte, aufgeladen mit vielerlei Symbolik und BedeutungsĂŒberschuss.
Die Zusammenschau der höchst unterschiedlichen BeitrĂ€ge im vorliegenden Heft vermittelt eine Ahnung von möglichen SpannungsverhĂ€ltnissen â zwischen âkleinâ und âgroĂâ, âSichtbaremâ und âVerstecktemâ, âRealitĂ€tâ und âFiktionâ, âMimesisâ und âPoetikâ. Das heterogene Themenspektrum unterstreicht die subtile Bedeutung der Puppe als einem besonderen Markenzeichen der âkleinen Formâ in vielerlei Disziplinen. Die BeitrĂ€ge stammen aus so unterschiedlichen FĂ€chern bzw. interdisziplinĂ€r offenen Fachkulturen wie ArchĂ€ologie, Anthropologie, Volkskunde, Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, Kunstgeschichte, Spielzeugkunde, Animationsfilm, Bildende Kunst, Mode-Design, Forensik.
Ein Interview mit einer jungen KĂŒnstlerin, Miszellen und Rezensionen ergĂ€nzen die Themenvielfalt.The focus topic of the second edition of the journal denkste: puppe / just a bit of: doll (de:do), a multidisciplinary, peer reviewed online journal for human-doll discourses is: dolls/puppets as miniatures - more than small. Dolls/puppets and their contexts claim to be âmoreâ than just miniaturized variants or replicas of human worlds. Thus, it is not by chance that they are regarded as a âplace to find greatnessâ (Bachelard). As âsmall formatsâ, they generate images and narratives of their own kind which are open in function and effect: they oscillate between representation, condensation and transformation of reality, expressing longings and/or control needs of their creators and triggering enchantment, amazement or alienation while enabling a holistic access to the world and insight into inner contexts. Arguing in this line, dolls/puppets prove to be miniatures and â in the context of miniaturized worlds âhybrid objects, charged with all sorts of symbolism and excess of meaning. The synopsis of the highly diverse contributions in this issue gives us an idea of possible tensions â between âsmallâ and âlargeâ, âvisibleâ and âhiddenâ, ârealityâ and âfictionâ, âmimesisâ and âpoeticsâ. The heterogeneous range of topics underlines the subtle significance of the doll/puppet as a special trademark of the âsmall formâ in many disciplines. The contributions come from subjects as diverse as diverse as archeology, anthropology, folklore, childrenâs and youth literature, art history, toy studies, animated film, fine arts, fashion design, forensics. An interview with a young artist, miscellaneous aspects as well as reviews complete the variety of topics
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