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Sie sind nicht weniger intelligent als ihre gleichaltrigen Mitschüler, und doch sind ihre schulischen Leistungen meist schlechter: Kinder, die unter einer Störung mit Aufmerksamkeitsdefi zit und Hyperaktivität (ADHS) leiden, haben es schwer im Schulsystem. Wie können sie lernen, ihre Gefühle, Gedanken und Handlungen bewusst zu beeinfl ussen und sich nicht ständig ablenken zu lassen? Frankfurter Studien zeigen zum Beispiel, dass konkrete "Wenn-Dann-Pläne" ihre Konzentrationsfähigkeit deutlich verbessern können.
Two species of the genus Tefflus Latreille (Coleoptera: Carabidae), commonly known as “peaceful giant ground beetles,” are recorded from the Republic of South Africa: T. carinatus carinatus Klug and T. meyerlei delagorguei Guérin-Méneville. Distribution records from the Republic of South Africa are summarized and mapped for both species. Tefflus c. carinatus has been collected in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga Provinces, while T. m. delagorguei has been recorded from Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga Provinces. Adults of both species are illustrated. Seasonal and temporal activity patterns and defensive and foraging behaviors are characterized for T. m. delagorguei based on recent field studies in the Kruger National Park, Republic of South Africa.
Eight species of the genus Psilotreta Banks (Trichoptera: Odontoceridae) are currently known from Vietnam: P. albogera Mey 1997, P. androconiata Mey 1997, P. bidens Mey 1995, P. enikoae Oláh and Johanson 2010, P. frigidaria Mey 1996, P. jaroschi Malicky 1995, P. papaceki Malicky 1995, P. spitzeri Malicky 1995. A new species, Psilotreta kurenschikovorum, from Thua Thien-Hue Province is herein described. The new species differs from other species of the genus by peculiarities in wing venation, by the unusual shape of epicranial suture on the head, and by the bifid apical segment of the inferior appendage. Additional province and collection information for previously recorded species are included.
Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) of the West Indian island of Dominica are composed of 111 genera and 214 species and subspecies. Some of the species listed are morphospecies, or are known to be undescribed, but all are identified at least to genus. Previously the fauna was recorded as 31 species. Numbers presented herein represent a seven-fold increase in species diversity. Furthermore, the widespread nature of many species demonstrates that the supposedly endemic faunas of many West Indian islands may be based on collecting biases or a lack of people capable of providing species level identifications.
The beetles of Martinique, Lesser Antilles (Insecta: Coleoptera); diversity and distributions
(2011)
This paper summarizes the published information on the beetle fauna of the island of Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles. The fauna is known to contain 42 families, with 201 genera, and 270 species. The families with the largest numbers of species are Cerambycidae (57), Curculionidae (43), Scarabaeidae (42), Tenebrionidae (18), and Staphylinidae (17). At least 15species (5.5%) were probably accidentally introduced to the island by human activities. Forty six species (17.0%) are endemic (restricted) to the island and likely speciated on the island. Sixty seven species (24.8%) are shared only with other islands of the Lesser Antilles (Lesser Antillean endemics), and 26 species (9.6%) are more widespread Antilles endemics. The remaining 116 species (42.8%) in the fauna are otherwise mostly widely distributed in the Antilles and the Neotropical Region. The Martinique beetle fauna has mostly originated elsewhere than on Martinique and is largely an immigrant fauna from other islands of the West Indies or the continental Neotropics. The numbers of Martinique species shared with other larger islands of the Lesser Antilles are (north to south) Montserrat (73), Guadeloupe (175), Dominica (98), St. Lucia (68), St. Vincent (93), and Grenada (88). Undoubtedly, the real number of species on Martinique is much higher than now reported and may actually be around 1600 or more species.
Saba Island (Caribbean Netherlands) is one of the northernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles. It is only 13 square kilometers but contains a wide variety of potential spider habitats including dry, moist, and elfin forests. As part of a collaborative effort between Conservation International and Saba Conservation Foundation, during a several week period in March and May 2008 we briefly surveyed the island for spiders and other arthropods. This survey, the first for spiders of Saba, resulted in the identification of 18 families and 76 spider species, including six new species that will be described elsewhere and may be endemic to Saba. The species richness of Saba’s spider fauna is considerably higher than that reported from other small Caribbean islands. We conclude this is probably a combined result of undersampling and lower habitat diversity on these other islands.
A list of taxa belonging to Xylotrupes Hope (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Dynastini) is presented which incorporates several taxonomic actions: X. australicus darwinia Rowland comb. nov.; X. damarensis Rowland stat. nov.; X. lorquini zideki Rowland comb. nov.; X. macleayi szekessyi Endrödi comb. nov.; X. pachycera Rowland stat. nov.; X. philippinensis philippinensis Endrödi stat. nov.; X. philippinensis peregrinus Rowland comb. nov.; X. sumatrensis tanahmelayu Rowland comb. nov.; X. tadoana Rowland stat. nov.; X. telemachos Rowland stat. nov.; X. wiltrudae Silvestre stat. nov. Two new taxa are described: X. carinulus sp. nov. and X. clinias buru ssp. nov. Lectotypes are designated for X. lamachus Minck and X. clinias Schaufuss. Xylotrupes lamachus is found to be a junior subjective synonym of X. ulysses (Guérin-Méneville), new synonymy.
Neoma, a new genus of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Prioninae: Macrotomini) is described for Mallodonopsis corrosus Bates, 1879, compared to related genera (Aplagiognathus Thomson, 1861; Archodontes Lameere, 1903; and Mallodonopsis Thomson, 1861), and its tribal position discussed. A lectotype for Mallodonopsis corrosus is here designated with the species redescribed and figured.
Wie entsteht Schmerz? Und wie kann man ihn lindern? Um diese Fragen beantworten zu können, untersuchen Forscher eine Gruppe von Schlüsselmolekülen, die Eicosanoide, und ihre Abbauprodukte. Dabei machen sie immer wieder überraschende Entdeckungen: Blockiert man etwa durch Schmerzmittel wie Acetylsalicylsäure gezielt die Entstehung des Abbauprodukts Prostaglandin, schützt dies auch vor Krebs. Verhindert man die Entstehung von Leukotrienen, lassen sich allergische Reaktionen wie Asthma, aber auch Krebs, Osteoporose und Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen beeinflussen.
Over the past two decades the “one drug – one target – one disease” concept became the prevalent paradigm in drug discovery. The main idea of this approach is the identification of a single protein target whose inhibition leads to a successful treatment of the examined disease. The predominant assumption is that highly selective ligands would avoid unwanted side effects caused by binding to secondary non-therapeutic targets. In recent years the results of post-genomic and network biology showed that proteins rarely act in isolated systems but rather as a part of a highly connected network [1]. In addition this connectivity leads to more robust systems that cannot be interfered by the inhibition of a single target of that network and consequently might not lead to the desired therapeutic effect [2]. Furthermore studies prove that robust systems are rather affected by weak inhibitions of several parts than by a complete inhibition of a single selected element of that system [3]. Therefore there is an increasing interest in developing drugs that take effect on multiple targets simultaneously but is concurrently a great challenge for medicinal chemists. There has to be a sufficient activity on each target as well as an adequate pharmacokinetic profile [4]. Early design strategies tried to link the pharmacophors of known inhibitors, however these methods often lead to high molecular weight and low ligand efficacy. We present a new rational approach based on a retrosynthetic combinatorial analysis procedure [5] on approved ligands of multiple targets. These RECAP fragments are used to design a large combinatorial library containing molecules featuring chemical properties of each ligand class. The molecules are further validated by machine learning models, like random forests and self-organizing maps, regarding their activity on the targets of interest.
Introduction: Systemic inflammation (e.g. following surgery) involves Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling and leads to an endocrine stress response. This study aims to investigate a possible influence of TLR2 and TLR4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on perioperative adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol regulation in serum of cardiac surgical patients. To investigate the link to systemic inflammation in this context, we additionally measured 10 different cytokines in the serum. Methods: 338 patients admitted for elective cardiac surgery were included in this prospective observational clinical cohort study. Genomic DNA of patients was screened for TLR2 and TLR4 SNPs. Serum concentrations of ACTH, cortisol, interferon (IFN)-, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- and granulocyte macro-phage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were determined before surgery, immediately post surgery and on the first postoperative day. Results: 13 patients were identified as TLR2 SNP carrier, 51 as TLR4 SNP carrier and 274 pa-tients as non-carrier. Basal levels of ACTH, cortisol and cytokines did not differ between groups. In all three groups a significant, transient perioperative rise of cortisol could be ob-served. However, only in the non-carrier group this was accompanied by a significant ACTH rise, TLR4 SNP carriers had significant lower ACTH levels compared to non-carriers ((mean[95% confidence intervals]) non-carriers: 201.9[187.7 to 216.1]pg/ml; TLR4 SNP car-riers: 149.9[118.4 to 181.5]pg/ml; TLR2 SNP carriers: 176.4[110.5 to 242.3]pg/ml). Compared to non-carriers, TLR4 SNP carriers showed significant lower serum IL-8, IL-10 and GM-CSF peaks ((mean[95% confidence intervals]): IL-8: non-carriers: 42.6[36.7 to 48.5]pg/ml, TLR4 SNP carriers: 23.7[10.7 to 36.8]pg/ml; IL-10: non-carriers: 83.8[70.3 to 97.4]pg/ml, TLR4 SNP carriers: 54.2[24.1 to 84.2]pg/ml; GM-CSF: non-carriers: 33.0[27.8 to 38.3]pg/ml, TLR4 SNP carriers: 20.2[8.6 to 31.8]pg/ml). No significant changes over time or between the groups were found for the other cytokines. Conclusions: Regulation of the immunoendocrine stress response during systemic inflamma-tion is influenced by the presence of a TLR4 SNP. Cardiac surgical patients carrying this ge-notype showed decreased serum concentrations of ACTH, IL-8, IL-10 and GM-CSF. This finding might have impact on interpreting previous and designing future trials on diagnosing and modulating immunoendocrine dysregulation (e.g. adrenal insufficiency) during systemic inflammation and sepsis.
Adhesion and host cell modulation: critical pathogenicity determinants of Bartonella henselae
(2011)
Bartonella henselae, the agent of cat scratch disease and the vasculoproliferative disorders bacillary angiomatosis and peliosis hepatis, contains to date two groups of described pathogenicity factors: adhesins and type IV secretion systems. Bartonella adhesin A (BadA), the Trw system and possibly filamentous hemagglutinin act as promiscous or specific adhesins, whereas the virulence locus (Vir)B/VirD4 type IV secretion system modulates a variety of host cell functions. BadA mediates bacterial adherence to endothelial cells and extracellular matrix proteins and triggers the induction of angiogenic gene programming. The VirB/VirD4 type IV secretion system is responsible for, e.g., inhibition of host cell apoptosis, bacterial persistence in erythrocytes, and endothelial sprouting. The Trw-conjugation system of Bartonella spp. mediates host-specific adherence to erythrocytes. Filamentous hemagglutinins represent additional potential pathogenicity factors which are not yet characterized. The exact molecular functions of these pathogenicity factors and their contribution to an orchestral interplay need to be analyzed to understand B. henselae pathogenicity in detail.
IFLS-Journal. Nr. 16, 2011
(2011)
The title I have chosen seems to signal a tension, even a contradiction, in a number of respects. Democracy appears to be a form of political organisation and government in which, through general and public participatory procedures, a sufficiently legitimate political will is formed which acquires the force of law. Justice, by contrast, appears to be a value external to this context which is not so much linked to procedures of “input” or “throughput” legitimation but is understood instead as an output- or outcome-oriented concept. At times, justice is even understood as an otherworldly idea which, when transported into the Platonic cave, merely causes trouble and ends up as an undemocratic elite project. In methodological terms, too, this difference is sometimes signalled in terms of a contrast between a form of “worldly” political thought and “abstract” and otherworldly philosophical reflection on justice. In my view, we are bound to talk past the issues to be discussed under the heading “transnational justice and democracy” unless we first root out false dichotomies such as the ones mentioned. My thesis will be that justice must be “secularised” or “grounded” both with regard to how we understand it and to its application to relations beyond the state.
Seit der Meiji-Zeit spielte die Germanistik unter den Fremdsprachenphilologien an japanischen Universitäten eine Sonderrolle. Von konservativen Politikern gefördert, um den aus England und Frankreich importieren demokratischen Ideen entgegenzuwirken (vgl. Naka 1998), konnte das Deutsche unter den zweiten Fremdsprachen bis in die jüngste Zeit seine führende Rolle behaupten. Inzwischen ist das Fach jedoch aus internen und externen Gründen in eine Krise geraten. Die seit der Nachkriegszeit mehrfach in Angriff genommene, aber erst seit Ende der 80er Jahre tatsächlich einsetzende Universitätsreform spielt dabei eine entscheidende Rolle. Es wird im folgenden darum gehen, die Germanistik innerhalb dieses wesentlich politisch bestimmten Feldes zu verorten. Ich werde zunächst einige Grundlinien der japanischen Universität in Erinnerung bringen, wie sie bis in die 80er Jahre hinein einigermaßen unbefragt galten, anschließend die Probleme skizzieren, die sich daraus ergaben und die Universitätsreform erläutern. Abschließend wird es um die Folgen für die Germanistik, die zweiten Fremdsprachen und das Deutsche gehen. Sämtliche Ausführungen beziehen sich, wenn nicht anders vermerkt, auf die staatlichen Universitäten. Die privaten Universitäten haben naturgemäß mehr Freiheiten bei der Gestaltung ihrer Studiengänge und spielen daher teilweise eine Vorreiterrolle. In Ausrichtung, Zielgruppe und finanziellen Möglichkeiten sind sie aber so unterschiedlich, daß sie nur schwer als Gruppe zu fassen sind. Dennoch ergeben sich Übereinstimmungen mit den staatlichen Universitäten, weil sie deren ökonomisches und demographisches Umfeld teilen. Zudem müssen sich auch die privaten Hochschulen an die Richtlinien des Erziehungsministeriums halten. Auch für sie gelten also die Grundlinien der Reformen, es müssen hier aber je nach Ausrichtung der Hochschule verschieden starke Abstriche gemacht werden.
Schwerpunkt: Digitale Medien in der Lehrerbildung: - Interview mit Prof. Britta Viebrock über Neue Medien in der Englischdidaktik - Die elektronische Supertafel? - Nachgefragt - Projekt Lehr@amt - Portfolioarbeit im Projekt „eLPort“ - Lehrerbildung für alle mit ‚wiLM@‘ - Religiöse Stätten in Second Life - SL-Quests: Entdeckendes Lernen im Klassenzimmer - Neue Möglichkeiten für das selbstgesteuerte Lernen: Serious Games in der Lehrerbildung - Podcasts im Unterricht - Schülern sinnvolle Internetrecherche vermitteln - Online-Self Assessments - Pilze für Einsteiger - L-Wiki
In this thesis, laboratory investigations have been conducted to investigate several processes occurring during the melt segregation (crystal settling and compaction processes), as well as during emplacement of plutons. With the help of three different sets of centrifuge experiments rates of these three magmatic processes have been evaluated. In the first series of the centrifuge experiments, the diapiric ascent of buoyant material from two source layers at different depths was studied. Through five models, the hypothesis of ascending diapirs was tested and it was demonstrated whether a rising diapir ascends straight upward or if its ascent might be deviated by another buoyant, softer – and consequently easier to travel through – layer which is located within the overburden strata. We were interested under which conditions they can be formed. For this purpose we placed perturbations on top of both the buoyant layers; either with a set-off of both the protrusions (for three of these experiments), or with both protrusion sitting directly on top of each other (for one of the experiments). In the first experiment, we omitted the perturbations, to test which pathways diapirs take which grow from natural Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. Three others experiments differed in the viscosity contrast between the overburden and the buoyant material. Through the experimental runs, the effects of different overburden viscosities and perturbation positions on the number of the diapirs were observed. The modeling results show that two diapirs rising from the offset perturbations do not take the same pathway through the overburden layer. Rather, each diapir takes a different pathway, with the deeper diapir piercing through its overburden while rising, regardless if it was a buoyant layer or denser overburden layers. However, when the two perturbations were situated directly above each other in the different PDMS layers, this resulted in the formation of one big diapir rather than several smaller ones, and the overburden layer was less deformed than with offset perturbations. Diapiric structures as those derived from the models without perturbation and where the perturbation are offset occur within Great Kavir Basin (Iran), where numerous salt diapirs grew from several salt horizons, which show a similar spatial distribution. The resulting structure observed in the model where the two perturbations situated directly above each other, is close to what is observed in composite batholiths such as the Flasergranitoid Zone within the Bergsträßer Odenwald Crystalline Complex (Germany). The second series of models were aimed to study crystal settling within a magma. For this purpose experiments with an artificial magma of 30 vol% olivine in 70 vol% basaltic melt were conducted to elucidate the formation mechanisms and time scales of gravitational cumulates. Through the experiments, two physical processes have been observed: (i) purely mechanical compaction, and (ii) chemical compaction induced by dissolution and re-precipitation of settled crystals. The results reveals that the mechanical settling of the dense olivine suspension occurs at about 1/6 the speed of simple Stokes settling, and a sedimentation exponent n of 4.1 is found. Evidences of chemical compaction induced by dissolution and re-precipitation of settled crystals have been highlighted by a detailed analysis of the fine structure of olivine grain boundaries. This last has revealed (1) the presence of Ca, which is characteristic only for MORB-melt, at the interface of two adjacent Ol-grains even when no melt is present; (2) a not fully crystallized boundary layer between two adjacent olivine grains. The crystal size distribution curves and the grain size growth exponent n ~3.6 indicate that diffusion controlled Ostwald ripening is the dominant crystal growth mechanism in concentrated magmatic suspensions. Finally, the formation times in natural olivine adcumulates have been calculated. The last series of centrifuge experiments deals with the crystal-melt settling-floating mechanism in a system composed of natural two pyroxene gabbro. The results have revealed a vertical evolution of the major and trace elements in the melt phase. Then, a numerical modelling of the sedimentation process of the crystals has been made in order to describe the compaction evolution with time. In comparing the numerical simulation with the centrifuge modelling, the stratification of the compacted layer in the runs is reproduced in numerical models. Moreover, on the base of the numerical and centrifuge modelling, a sedimentation exponent describing a deviation of settling in concentrated suspensions from Stokes sedimentation has been evaluated. Finally, the numerical simulation is applied to the Muskox intrusion to estimate the formation time and the melt fraction evolution in using the hindered sedimentation model calculations.
The energy dependence of the local and violation in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions in a large energy range is estimated within a simple phenomenological model. It is expected that at LHC the chiral magnetic effect will be about 20 times weaker than at RHIC. At lower energy range, covered by the low-energy scan at RHIC and future NICA/FAIR facilities, the created magnetic field strength and energy density of deconfined matter are rather high providing necessary conditions for the chiral magnetic effect. However, the particular model for the chiral magnetic effect predicts that this effect should vanish sharply at energy somewhere above the top SPS one. To elucidate CME background effects the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport model including electromagnetic fields is put forward. Importance of new planning experiments at LHC and for the low-energy RHIC scan program is emphasized.
Der Text Konstitutive Regeln – normativ oder nicht? Ein Blick auf ihre Rolle in Praktiken geht der Frage nach, ob – und wenn ja, in welcher Weise – konstitutive Regeln normativ sind. Die Herausforderung besteht darin, dass diese Regeln bzw. ihre Befolgung womöglich durchweg in nicht-normativen Begriffen beschrieben werden können – nämlich im Wesentlichen als Erfüllung notwendiger und/oder hinreichender Bedingungen. Natürlich kann man, aus welchen Gründen auch immer, jederzeit fordern, einer konstitutiven Regel Folge zu leisten. Aber damit würde Normativität ‚von außen‘ an solche Regeln herangetragen; in Frage steht aber, ob diese Regeln selbst normativ sind. Für eine derartige ‚interne‘ Normativität spricht sicherlich unser Umgang mit diesen Regeln und auch unser alltägliches Reden über sie. So beschreiben wir in unserer Alltagspraxis etwa das Befolgen von Spielregeln (als Paradebeispiele für konstitutive Regeln) als etwas, das korrekt ist oder getan werden soll – und Abweichungen entsprechend als Verletzungen. Der Überlegungsgang des Textes ist zweigeteilt: In einem ersten Schritt werden einige Arten von konstitutiven Regeln unterschieden. Der systematische Ertrag dieser begrifflichen Überlegungen besteht in dem Vorschlag, dass manche Arten von konstitutiven Regeln ganz problemlos als auch normative Phänomene charakterisierbar sind, andere hingegen nicht. In einem zweiten Schritt wird vor allem zu zeigen versucht, dass einige der wirklichen ‚Problemfälle‘ konstitutiver Regeln zumindest als schwach-normative Regeln beschrieben werden können (im Unterschied zu stark-normativen Phänomenen wie Verpflichtungen oder Verbote). Die ‚schwache Normativität‘ dieser Regeln kommt zum Vorschein, wenn man ihre Rolle in Praktiken betrachtet – insbesondere die Art und Weise, wie sich Akteure in diesen Praktiken unter Berufung auf konstitutive Regeln kritisieren, ohne sich dabei bereits als verpflichtet zu behandeln, diese Regeln zu befolgen.
We examine the scaling trends in particle multiplicity and flow observables between SPS, RHIC and LHC, and discuss their compatibility with popular theoretical models. We examine the way scaling trends between SPS and RHIC are broken at LHC energies, and suggest experimental measurements which can further clarify the situation.
NCQ scaling of elliptic flow is studied in a non-equilibrium hadronization and freeze-out model from ideal, deconfined and chirally symmetric Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), to final non-interacting hadrons. In this transition the quarks gain constituent quark mass while the background Bag-field breaks up. The constituent quarks then recombine into simplified hadron states, while chemical, thermal and flow equilibrium break down. Then the resulting temperatures and flow velocities of baryons and mesons will be different. In a simplified model, we reproduce the constituent quark number scaling.
We derive the equations of second order dissipative fluid dynamics from the relativistic Boltzmann equation following the method of W. Israel and J. M. Stewart [1]. We present a frame independent calculation of all first- and second-order terms and their coefficients using a linearised collision integral. Therefore, we restore all terms that were previously neglected in the original papers of W. Israel and J. M. Stewart.
We present results on Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) radii extracted from the Ultra-relativistic Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) approach to relativistic heavy ion collisions. The present investigation provides a comparison of results from pure hadronic transport calculations to a Boltzmann + Hydrodynamic hybrid approach with an intermediate hydrodynamic phase. For the hydrodynamic phase different Equations of State (EoS) have been employed, i.e. bag model, hadron resonance gas and a chiral EoS. The influence of various freeze-out scenarios has been investigated and shown to be negligible if hadronic rescatterings after the hydrodynamic evolution are included. Furthermore, first results of the source tilt from azimuthal sensitive HBT and the direct extraction from the transport model are presented and exhibit a very good agreement with E895 data at AGS.
A mechanism for locally density-dependent dynamic parton rearrangement and fusion has been implemented into the Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) approach. The same mechanism has been previously built in the Quark Gluon String Model (QGSM). This rearrangement and fusion approach based on parton coalescence ideas enables the description of multi-particle interactions, namely 3 -> 3 and 3 -> 2, between (pre)hadronic states in addition to standard binary interactions. The UrQMD model (v2.3) extended by these additional processes allows to investigate implications of multi-particle interactions on the reaction dynamics of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. The mechanism, its implementation and first results of this investigation are presented and discussed.
We present the current status of hybrid approaches to describe heavy ion collisions and their future challenges and perspectives. First we present a hybrid model combining a Boltzmann transport model of hadronic degrees of freedom in the initial and final state with an optional hydrodynamic evolution during the dense and hot phase. Second, we present a recent extension of the hydrodynamical model to include fluctuations near the phase transition by coupling a chiral field to the hydrodynamic evolution.
Fast thermalization and a strong build up of elliptic flow of QCD matter were investigated within the pQCD based 3+1 dimensional parton transport model BAMPS including bremsstrahlung 2 <-> 3 processes. Within the same framework quenching of gluonic jets in Au+Au collisions at RHIC can be understood. The development of conical structure by gluonic jets is investigated in a static box for the regimes of small and large dissipation. Furthermore we demonstrate two different approaches to extract the shear viscosity coefficient n from a microscopical picture.
We study the kinetic and chemical equilibration in 'infinite' parton-hadron matter within the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partons matched to reproduce lattice-QCD results – including the partonic equation of state – in thermodynamic equilibrium. The 'infinite' matter is simulated within a cubic box with periodic boundary conditions initialized at different baryon density (or chemical potential) and energy density. The transition from initially pure partonic matter to hadronic degrees of freedom (or vice versa) occurs dynamically by interactions. Different thermody-namical distributions of the strongly-interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) are addressed and discussed.
Prepared by Christian Laux, Vienna University of Economics and Business & Center for Financial Studies (CFS) for the “Workshop on Liquidity Premium in Solvency II: Conceptual and Measurement Issues,” DNB Amsterdam, March 18, 2011. The insurance industry and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pension Supervisors (CEIOPS) propose to add a liquidity premium to the risk-free rate when discounting liabilities in times of financial turmoil. The objective is to counterbalance adverse effects on regulatory capital due to a decrease in asset values caused by illiquidity in a crisis. As I argue in this note, although the motive might be sensible, the proposal to add a liquidity premium when discounting liabilities is not the right approach to tackle the problem.
The aim of this paper is to examine what has been the role of information provision to the market throughout the crisis. We consider two main sources of information to the market, financial statements and information provided by credit rating agencies. We examine how these sources of information work and the effectiveness of their disclosure process during the crisis. Contrary to the commonly held view, fair value accounting did not have a major impact on the crisis development and severity. However, the structure and lack of accountability of credit rating agencies had a profound impact on their incentives, which may have jeopardized the accuracy of the whole rating process. We claim that the crisis experience has changed the way we think about information as well as market discipline and discuss policy implications and proposals for regulation. JEL Classification: G01, G24, G28, M41, M48
In this paper we challenge the view that corporate bonds are always arm’s length debt. We analyze the effect of bond ratings on the stock price return to acquirers in M&A transactions, which tend to have significant effects on creditor wealth. We find acquirers abnormal returns to be higher if they are unrated, controlling for a wide variety of other effects identified in the literature. Tracing the difference in returns to distinct managerial decisions, we find that, everything else constant, rated firms increase their leverage in takeover transactions by less than their unrated counterparts. Consistent with a significant role for rating agencies, we find monitoring effects to be strongest when acquirer bonds are rated at the borderline between investment grade and junk. Finally, we are able to empirically exclude a large number of alternative explanations for the empirical regularities that we uncover. JEL Classification: G21, G24, G32, G34 Keywords: Acquisitions, Credit Ratings, Mergers and Acquisitions, Arm’s Length Debt, Abnormal Returns
The Orizabus Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Pentodini) of the USA are reviewed. Orizabus pinalicus new species and O. mcclevei new species are described. Lectotypes are here designated for eight species names: Bothynus pyriformis LeConte, Pseudaphonus lucidus Casey, Orizabus snowii Horn, Orizabus cultripes Fairmaire, Orizabus isodonoides Fairmaire, Orizabus sallei Fairmaire, Orizabus fontinalis Casey, and Orizabus ponderosus Casey. Illustrations of diagnostic characters and a key to the five included species are presented. The Mexican species O. isodonoides and O. rubricollis Prell are also illustrated for comparison to the new species.
A revision of the genus Gymnetina Casey, 1915 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini)
(2011)
The genus Gymnetina Casey (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini) is redescribed and revised. Three new species and one new subspecies are described: G. borealis Warner and Ratcliffe, G. grossepunctata Ratcliffe and Warner, G. howdeni Warner and Ratcliffe, and G. cretacea sundbergi Warner and Ratcliffe. Gymnetina salicis (Bates), new status, is removed from synonymy with G. cretacea (LeConte), and G. alboscripta (Janson) is transferred from Gymnetis MacLeay to Gymnetina becoming Gymnetina alboscripta (Janson), new combination. Redescriptions of previously known species, a key for identification, and illustrations of the six species are provided. A brief biogeographical analysis suggests that ancestral taxa dispersed northwards from Guatemala and Mexico to the southwestern United States.
Acoma howdenorum, Acoma westcotti, Acoma quadrilaminata, and Acoma cimarron (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae), all new species, are described from Yuma County, Arizona, USA, and Baja California Sur, Baja California (Norte), and Sonora, Mexico, respectively. Habitus of the four new species is illustrated, and an updated key to the described species in the genus is provided. Distribution and variation of Acoma glabrata Cazier are also discussed.
Heavy quark and charmonium production as well as their space-time evolution are studied in transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. In the partonic transport model Boltzmann Approach of MultiParton Scatterings (BAMPS) heavy quarks can be produced in initial hard parton scatterings or during the evolution of the quark-gluon plasma. Subsequently, they interact with the medium via binary scatterings with a running coupling and a more precise Debye screening which is derived from hard thermal loop calculations, participate in the flow and lose energy. We present results of the elliptic flow and nuclear modification factor of heavy quarks and compare them to available data. Furthermore, preliminary results on J/psi suppression at forward and mid-rapidity are reported for central and non-central collisions at RHIC. For this, we study cold nuclear matter effects and the dissociation as well as regeneration of J/psi in the quark-gluon plasma. XLIX International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics 24-28 January 2011 BORMIO, Italy
It has become commonplace to say that, in the past, international governance has been legitimated mainly, if not exclusively, by its welfare-enhancing ‘output’. There has been very little research, however, on the history of legitimating international governance by its output to validate this point. In this essay I begin to address this gap by inquiring into the origins of output-oriented strategies for legitimating international organizations. Scrutinizing the programmatic literature on international organizations from the early 20th century, I illustrate how a new and distinctive account of technocratic legitimation emerged and in the 1920s separated from other types of liberal internationalism. My inquiry, centring on the works of James Arthur Salter, David Mitrany, Paul S. Reinsch and Pitman B. Potter, explores their respective conceptions of ‘good functional governance’, executed by a non-political international technocracy. Their account is explicitly pitched against a notion of ‘international politics’, perceived as violent, polarizing, and irrational. The emergence of such a technocratic legitimation of international governance, I submit, needs to be seen in the context of societal modernization and bureaucratization that unfolded in the first half of the 20th century. I also highlight how in this account the material output of governance is intimately linked to the virtues of the organizational form that brings it about.