Influence of the local Universe on weak gravitational lensing surveys

Observations of the large-scale structure (LSS) implicitly assume an ideal FLRW observer with the ambient structure having no influence on the observer. However, due to correlations in the LSS, cosmological observables are dependent on the position of an observer. We investigate this influence in full generality for a weakly non-Gaussian random field, for which we derive expressions for angular spectra of large-scale structure observables conditional on a property of the large-scale structure that is typical for the observer's location. As an application, we then apply to the formalism to angular spectra of the weak gravitational lensing effect and provide numerical estimates for the resulting change on the spectra using linear structure formation. For angular weak lensing spectra we find the effect to be of order of a few percent, for instance we estimate for an overdensity of $\delta =0.5$ and multipoles up to $\ell=100$ the change in the weak lensing spectra to be approximately 4 percent. We show that without accounting for correlation between the density at observer's location and the weak gravitational lensing spectra, the values of the parameters $\Omega_m$ and $\sigma_8$ are underestimated by a few percent. Thus, this effect will be important when analysing data from future surveys such as Euclid, which aim at the percent-level precision. The effect is difficult to capture in simulations, as estimates of the number of numerical simulations necessary to quantify the effect are high.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, figure adde

Aktuelle Entwicklung in der Endlagerbranche

Die Endlagerbranche steht vor einem tiefgreifenden Wechsel. Die bisherigen Organisationseinheiten DBE mbH, ASSE GmbH, Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS) werden neu sortiert und in der neugegründeten Bundes-Gesellschaft für Endlagerung verschmolzen. Eine neue Genehmigungsbehörde, das Bundesamt für Kerntechnische Entsorgungssicherheit (BfE) wird geschaffen. Im Ergebnis dieser Neustrukturierung gibt es eine klare Aufgabentrennung zwischen Regulator und Operator. Darüber hinaus führt die Zusammenlegung der bisher verteilten Aufgaben vom Bauherr und ausführender Baufirma zu Synergieeffekten und einer größeren Umsetzungskompetenz in den Endlagerprojekten. Die neue Bundes-Gesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE) wird sowohl in der Tiefe als auch in der Breite ihre Aktivitäten jede der bisher bestehenden Organisationen übertreffen und daher eine höhere Schlagkraft haben

Early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.

The diagnostic evaluation of acute chest pain has been augmented in recent years by advances in the sensitivity and precision of cardiac troponin assays, new biomarkers, improvements in imaging modalities, and release of new clinical decision algorithms. This progress has enabled physicians to diagnose or rule-out acute myocardial infarction earlier after the initial patient presentation, usually in emergency department settings, which may facilitate prompt initiation of evidence-based treatments, investigation of alternative diagnoses for chest pain, or discharge, and permit better utilization of healthcare resources. A non-trivial proportion of patients fall in an indeterminate category according to rule-out algorithms, and minimal evidence-based guidance exists for the optimal evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of these patients. The Cardiovascular Round Table of the ESC proposes approaches for the optimal application of early strategies in clinical practice to improve patient care following the review of recent advances in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. The following specific 'indeterminate' patient categories were considered: (i) patients with symptoms and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin 99th percentile but without dynamic change; and (iv) patients with symptoms and high-sensitivity troponin >99th percentile and dynamic change but without coronary plaque rupture/erosion/dissection. Definitive evidence is currently lacking to manage these patients whose early diagnosis is 'indeterminate' and these areas of uncertainty should be assigned a high priority for research

Paid and unpaid labor in nonprofit organizations: Does the substitution effect exist?

In nonprofit organizations (NPOs) volunteers often work alongside paid workers. Such a coproduction setting can lead to tension between the two worker groups. This paper examines for the first time if and how volunteers in uence the separation of paid employees, and thus it contributes to the debate over whether volunteers can substitute paid workers. Using Austrian data on an organizational level we find a significant impact of volunteers on the separations of paid workers in NPOs facing increased competition. These findings support the assumption that a partial substitution effect exists between paid workers and volunteers

Cardiovascular care of patients with stroke and high risk of stroke: The need for interdisciplinary action: A consensus report from the European Society of Cardiology Cardiovascular Round Table.

Comprehensive stroke care is an interdisciplinary challenge. Close collaboration of cardiologists and stroke physicians is critical to ensure optimum utilisation of short- and long-term care and preventive measures in patients with stroke. Risk factor management is an important strategy that requires cardiologic involvement for primary and secondary stroke prevention. Treatment of stroke generally is led by stroke physicians, yet cardiologists need to be integrated care providers in stroke units to address all cardiovascular aspects of acute stroke care, including arrhythmia management, blood pressure control, elevated levels of cardiac troponins, valvular disease/endocarditis, and the general management of cardiovascular comorbidities. Despite substantial progress in stroke research and clinical care has been achieved, relevant gaps in clinical evidence remain and cause uncertainties in best practice for treatment and prevention of stroke. The Cardiovascular Round Table of the European Society of Cardiology together with the European Society of Cardiology Council on Stroke in cooperation with the European Stroke Organisation and partners from related scientific societies, regulatory authorities and industry conveyed a two-day workshop to discuss current and emerging concepts and apparent gaps in stroke care, including risk factor management, acute diagnostics, treatments and complications, and operational/logistic issues for health care systems and integrated networks. Joint initiatives of cardiologists and stroke physicians are needed in research and clinical care to target unresolved interdisciplinary problems and to promote the best possible outcomes for patients with stroke

Work–life balance/imbalance: the dominance of the middle class and the neglect of the working class

The paper was stimulated by the question of class in work-life debates. The common conclusion from work-life studies is that work-life imbalance is largely a middle class problem. It is argued here that this assertion is a direct outcome of a particular and narrow interpretation of work-life imbalance in which time is seen to be the major cause of difficulty. Labour market time, and too much of it, dominates the conceptualisation of work-life and its measurement too. This heavy focus on a certain type of work-life imbalance: chronometric overstretched temporal imbalance, has rendered largely invisible from dominant work-life debates the types of imbalance that are more likely to impact the working class. Looking at working class employees in the UK, this paper asserts that ‘too few’ hours working also has work-life ramifications. It thus argues for the necessity of analysing economic – and not just temporal - roots of work-life imbalance. The paper concludes that if we are to continue to pursue work-life analysis, the conceptualisation of work-life needs to more full incorporate economic-based imbalance if it is to better represent class inequalities

The Pattern of Austrian Dairy Farm Household Strategies

Developments in the agriculture sector, such as the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy reforms and the increasing volatility of the markets due to liberalisation processes, pose far-reaching challenges to farm household development, and especially the most affected sectors, such as dairy farming. It is assumed that individual farmers develop strategic approaches to their future farming activities (farm household strategies) in order to react to these developments. This involves reconsidering existing approaches and developing new strategies, both on and off the farm. In order to evaluate these developments, it is necessary to first evaluate the current pattern of farm household strategies. This paper identifies and examines the farm household strategies of Austrian dairy farmers in order to better understand farm household development. Secondary data analyses on the basis of a survey of Austrian dairy farms conducted by the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics Vienna provided the required information for the em-pirical identification of various types of farm household strategy. The analyses revealed a pattern of six types of farm household strategy within Austrian dairy farms: (1) genuine specialisation, (2) concentration, (3) horizontal diversification, (4) lateral diversification, (5) stable reproduction, and (6) disengagement. The study underlines the significance of socio-economic as well as demographic and farm characteristics which were used to identify and describe types of farm household strategy

Die komplementäre Anwendung zweier Verfahren: Korrespondenzanalyse und Konfigurationsfrequenzanalyse

In diesem Beitrag werden komplementäre Verwendungsmöglichkeiten der Korrespondenzanalyse und der Konfigurationsfrequenzanalyse (KFA) sowie Ähnlichkeiten dieser Verfahren aufgezeigt. Es wird dargestellt, daß mit der (Prädikations-)KFA statistisch signifikante 'Typen' und 'Antitypen' ermittelt werden können, wobei jedoch die Anzahl der zu verwendenden Variablen eng limitiert ist. Aus dieser Beschränkung folgt, daß die Auswahl der möglichen Variablen nicht mit dem Verfahren selbst erfolgen kann, sondern daß diese bereits bekannt sein müssen. Wenn dies nicht der Fall ist, können die relevanten Variablen vor der inferenzstatistischen Analyse mit einem explorativen Analyseverfahren ermittelt werden. Die Korrespondenzanalyse eignet sich zum Aufspüren und Beschreiben nicht-trivialer Strukturen in mehrdimensionalen Daten, nicht aber zur Prüfung der Zusammenhänge auf Signifikanz. Sollen Aussagen nicht nur auf der beschreibenden Ebene, sondern auch auf der erklärenden gemacht werden, so muß ein konfirmatorisches Verfahren (z.B die KFA) verwendet werden. Da sowohl die explorative Beschreibung von Zusammenhängen als auch das Testen auf Signifikanz wichtige Ziele der empirischen sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung sind, bietet sich die komplementäre Verwendung der beiden Verfahren an. (ICF