The origin of peak-offsets in weak-lensing maps

Centroid positions of peaks identified in weak lensing mass maps often show offsets with respect to other means of identifying halo centres, like position of the brightest cluster galaxy or X-ray emission centroid. Here we study the effect of projected large-scale structure (LSS), smoothing of mass maps, and shape noise on the weak lensing peak positions. Additionally we compare the offsets in mass maps to those found in parametric model fits. Using ray-tracing simulations through the Millennium Run $N$-body simulation, we find that projected LSS does not alter the weak-lensing peak position within the limits of our simulations' spatial resolution, which exceeds the typical resolution of weak lensing maps. We conclude that projected LSS, although a major contaminant for weak-lensing mass estimates, is not a source of confusion for identifying halo centres. The typically reported offsets in the literature are caused by a combination of shape noise and smoothing alone. This is true for centroid positions derived both from mass maps and model fits.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, significant additions to v

Core curriculum and school quality. On certain misunderstandings in an important debate

"In Heft 3/99 wurde in Beiträgen von Böttcher/Hirsch und von der Groeben kontrovers diskutiert über den Sinn und die Notwendigkeit eines verbindlichen Kerncurriculums. Die Abwehr eines solchen Gedankens könnte auf Mißverständnissen beruhen, die zu falschen Vorstellungen und entsprechenden Erwartungen und Befürchtungen führen. Dies zu korrigieren, soll eine sachliche Diskussion fördern, in der Intentionen und Verfahren zu klären sein werden." Der Autor behandelt dazu folgende Schwerpunkte: 1.Curriculum, Didaktik, Methodik und Lehrbücher. 2. Auswahl der Inhalte und Bildung. 3. Zur Chancengleichheit. 4. Qualitätsfragen. (DIPF/Sch.)Böttcher/Hirsch and von der Groeben discussed the necessity of a compulsory core curriculum in No. 3/99. - Resisting such a proposal could be based on a misunderstanding leading to mistaken notions and wrong expectations and fears. A sober discussion clarifying intentions and procedures shall rectify this tendency. The discussion will be continued. (DIPF/Orig.

Microbial production of polyunsaturated fatty acids : high-value ingredients for aquafeed, superfoods, and pharmaceuticals

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), primarily docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), have received worldwide attention in recent years due to an increasing awareness of their uniqueness in improving diet and human health and their apparently inevitable shortage in global availability. Microbial cell factories are a major solution to supplying these precious molecules in sufficient amounts and providing PUFA-rich aquafeed, superfoods, and medical formulations. This review assesses the PUFA world markets and highlights recent advances in upgrading and streamlining microalgae, yeasts, fungi, and bacteria for high-level PUFA production and broadening of the PUFA spectrum

Quasars as Probes of Late Reionization and Early Structure Formation

Observations of QSOs at z ~ 5.7 - 6.4 show the appearance of Gunn-Peterson troughs around z ~ 6, and a change in the slope of the IGM optical depth tau(z) near z ~ 5.5. These results are interpreted as a signature of the end of the reionization era, which probably started at considerably higher redshifts. However, there also appears to be a substantial cosmic variance in the transmission of the IGM, both along some lines of sight, and among different lines of sight, in this intriguing redshift regime. We suggest that this is indicative of a spatially uneven reionization, possibly caused by the bias-driven primordial clustering of the reionization sources. There is also some independent evidence for a strong clustering of QSOs at z ~ 4 - 5 and galaxies around them, supporting the idea of the strong biasing of the first luminous sources at these redshifts. Larger samples of high-z QSOs are needed in order to provide improved, statistically significant constraints for the models of these phenomena. We expect that the Palomar-Quest (PQ) survey will soon provide a new set of QSOs to be used as cosmological probes in this redshift regime.Comment: To appear in proceedings of UC Irvine May 2005 workshop on "First Light & Reionization", eds. E. Barton & A. Cooray, New Astronomy Reviews, in pres

Identifying Business Process Activity Mappings by Optimizing Behavioral Similarity

This paper describes an approach designed to create a mapping between corresponding activities from two business processes that is geared towards handling noisy similarity values for the labels describing these activities. This is achieved by formulating an optimization problem – maximize the behavioral similarity of the processes as a whole – whose target value depends on the mapping. Thereby, the mapping is created not only with respect to label similarities but also with respect to the overall control flow structure, which avoids some mistakes resulting from erroneous label similarities. A preliminary evaluation demonstrates the improvement

HOW TO MODEL SERVICE PRODUCTIVITY FOR DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS? A META-DESIGN APPROACH

The rise of the service economy is increasingly reflected in the IS discipline. Since services depend on a co-creation of value between service providers and customers, productivity measurement needs to account for both points of view. Contrasting this evolution, current productivity management concepts often remain limited to the firm instead of focusing on dyadic relationships. Also, software tools frequently constitute expert systems that are focused on solving an optimization problem based on a linear program, but do not guide users in setting up a suitable productivity model in the first place. To account for this need, we conceptualize a software tool support for setting up productivity models for services. Our concept encompasses an extended Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach as its analytical core, but in addition features various tools that help users to collaboratively define a productivity measurement model. Since the suitability of such a model is contingent on the environment in which it is applied, the proposed concept constitutes a meta-design that is intended to be applicable to a class of productivity management problems. As an outlook we present ideas for further research focusing on the implementation and evaluation of IT artefacts compliant with the proposed meta-design

constant domain exchanged fab enables specific light chain pairing in heterodimeric bispecific seed antibodies

Abstract Background Bispecific antibodies promise to broadly expand the clinical utility of monoclonal antibody technology. Several approaches for heterodimerization of heavy chains have been established to produce antibodies with two different Fab arms, but promiscuous pairing of heavy and light chains remains a challenge for their manufacturing. Methods We have designed a solution in which the CH1 and CL domain pair in one of the Fab fragments is replaced with a CH3-domain pair and heterodimerized to facilitate correct modified Fab-chain pairing in bispecific heterodimeric antibodies based on a strand-exchange engineered domain (SEED) scaffold with specificity for epithelial growth factor receptor and either CD3 or CD16 (FcγRIII). Results Bispecific antibodies retained binding to their target antigens and redirected primary T cells or NK cells to induce potent killing of target cells. All antibodies were expressed at a high yield in Expi293F cells, were detected as single sharp symmetrical peaks in size exclusion chromatography and retained high thermostability. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed specific heavy-to-light chain pairing for the bispecific SEED antibodies as well as for one-armed SEED antibodies co-expressed with two different competing light chains. Conclusion Incorporation of a constant domain-exchanged Fab fragment into a SEED antibody yields functional molecules with favorable biophysical properties. General significance Our results show that the novel engineered bispecific SEED antibody scaffold with an incorporated Fab fragment with CH3-exchanged constant domains is a promising tool for the generation of complete heterodimeric bispecific antibodies with correct light chain pairing

Level densities and γ\gamma-ray strength functions in 170,171,172^{170,171,172}Yb

Level densities and radiative strength functions in $^{171}$Yb and $^{170}$Yb nuclei have been measured using the $^{171}$Yb($^3$He,$^3$He$^\prime\gamma$)$^{171}$Yb and $^{171}$Yb($^3$He,$\alpha\gamma$)$^{170}$Yb reactions. New data on $^{171}$Yb are compared to a previous measurement for $^{171}$Yb from the $^{172}$Yb($^3$He,$\alpha\gamma$)$^{171}$Yb reaction. Systematics of level densities and radiative strength functions in $^{170,171,172}$Yb are established. The entropy excess in $^{171}$Yb relative to the even-even nuclei $^{170,172}$Yb due to the unpaired neutron quasiparticle is found to be approximately 2$k_B$. Results for the radiative strength function from the two reactions lead to consistent parameters characterizing the ``pygmy'' resonances. Pygmy resonances in the $^{170,172}$Yb populated by the ($^3$He,$\alpha$) reaction appear to be split into two components for both of which a complete set of resonance parameters are obtained.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Finiteness and children with specific language impairment: an exploratory study

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) are well known for their difficulties in mastering the inflectional paradigms; in the case of learning German they also have problems with the appropriate verb position, in particular with the verb in second position. This paper explores the possibilities of applying a broader concept of finiteness to data from children with SLI in order to put their deficits, or rather their skills, into a wider perspective. The concept, as developed by Klein (1998, 2000), suggests that finiteness is tied to the assertion that a certain state of affairs is valid with regard to some topic time; that is, finiteness relates the propositional content to the topic component. Its realization involves the interaction of various grammatical devices and, possibly, lexical means like temporal adverbs. Furthermore, in the acquisition of finiteness it has been found that scope particles play a major role in both first- and second-language learning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent three German-learning children with SLI have mastered these grammatical and lexical means and to pinpoint the phase in the development of finiteness they have reached. The data to be examined are mostly narrative and taken from conversations and experiments. It will be shown that each child chooses a different developmental path to come to grips with the interaction of these devices

Weiterführung der Begleitforschung zur Einstiegsqualifizierung (EQ): 2. Zwischenbericht ; im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS)

Für den zweiten Zwischenbericht wurden erneut Akteure vor Ort (Kammern, Agenturen für Arbeit, Grundsicherungsstellen und Betriebe) zur Umsetzung befragt. Des Weiteren wurden die jungen Menschen aus der ersten Befragungswelle zu ihrem weiteren Werdegang befragt. Hinzu kamen vertiefte Analysen von Prozessdaten der Bundesagentur für Arbeit