New computer system simplifies programming of mathematical equations

Automatic Mathematical Translator /AMSTRAN/ permits scientists or engineers to enter mathematical equations in their natural mathematical format and to obtain an immediate graphical display of the solution. This automatic-programming, on-line, multiterminal computer system allows experienced programmers to solve nonroutine problems

The hyaluronan-binding serine protease from human plasma cleaves HMW and LMW kininogen and releases bradykinin

The influence of the hyaluronanbinding protease (PHBSP), a plasma enzyme with FVII- and pro-urokinase-activating potency, on components of the contact phase (kallikrein/kinin) system was investigated. No activation or cleavage of the proenzymes involved in the contact phase system was observed. The procofactor high molecular weight kininogen (HK), however, was cleaved in vitro by PHBSP in the absence of any charged surface, releasing the activated cofactor and the vasoactive nonapeptide bradykinin. Glycosoaminoglycans strongly enhanced the reaction. The cleavage was comparable to that of plasma kallikrein, but clearly different from that of coagulation factor FXIa. Upon extended incubation with PHBSP, the light chain was further processed, partially removing about 60 amino acid residues from the Nterminus of domain D5 of the light chain. These cleavage site(s) were distinct from plasma kallikrein or FXIa cleavage sites. PHBSP and, more interestingly, also plasma kallikrein could cleave low molecular weight kininogen in vitro, indicating that domains D5(H) and D6(H) are no prerequisite for kininogen cleavage. PHBSP was also able to release bradykinin from HK in plasma where the pro-cofactor circulates predominantly in complex with plasma kallikrein or FXI. In conclusion, PHBSP represents a novel kininogen-cleaving and bradykinin-releasing enzyme in plasma that shares significant catalytic similarities with plasma kallikrein. Since they are structurally unrelated in their heavy chains (propeptide), their similar in vivo catalytic activities might be directed at distinct sites where PHBSP could induce processes that are related to the kallikrein/kinin system

Domestic Violence, Employment and Divorce

Using unique, representative data on domestic violence, we document several stylized facts on abuse: the average characteristics of abused wives and abusive husbands are markedly different than the characteristics of individuals in non-violent marriages, the vast majority of violent marriages end in divorce, and employment rates are lower for women who experience abuse. We then construct a sequential model of employment, marriage and abuse. The results indicate abuse is the primary factor in the decision to divorce and witnessing violence as a child is a strong predictor of becoming an abusive spouse. Policy experiments suggest men are more responsive to policies designed to increase the costs of abuse than women are to policies reducing the cost of leaving violent marriages and policies designed to reduce the inter-generational effects of domestic violence may be promising strategies for preventing abuse.Domestic Violence, Abuse, Employment, Marriage, Divorce

Transient thermal effects in solid noble gases as materials for the detection of Dark Matter

The transient phenomena produced in solid noble gases by the stopping of the recoils resulting from the elastic scattering processes of WIMPs from the galactic halo were modelled, as dependencies of the temperatures of lattice and electronic subsystems on the distance to the recoil's trajectory, and time from its passage. The peculiarities of these thermal transients produced in Ar, Kr and Xe were analysed for different initial temperatures and WIMP energies, and were correlated with the characteristics of the targets and with the energy loss of the recoils. The results were compared with the thermal spikes produced by the same WIMPs in Si and Ge. In the range of the energy of interest, up to tens of keV for the self-recoil, local phase transitions solid - liquid and even liquid - gas were found possible, and the threshold parameters were established.Comment: Minor corrections and updated references; accepted to JCA

Effect of Peculiar Motion in Weak Lensing

We study the effect of peculiar motion in weak gravitational lensing. We derive a fully relativistic formula for the cosmic shear and the convergence in a perturbed Friedmann Universe. We find a new contribution related to galaxies peculiar velocity. This contribution does not affect cosmic shear in a measurable way, since it is of second order in the velocity. However, its effect on the convergence (and consequently on the magnification, which is a measurable quantity) is important, especially for redshifts z < 1. As a consequence, peculiar motion modifies also the relation between the shear and the convergence.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; v2: discussion on the reduced shear added (5.C), additional references, version accepted in PRD; v3: mistakes corrected in eqs. (26), (31), (33) and (44); results unchange

Weak Lensing by High-Redshift Clusters of Galaxies - I: Cluster Mass Reconstruction

We present the results of a weak lensing survey of six high-redshift (z > 0.5), X-ray selected clusters of galaxies. We have obtained ultra-deep R-band images of each cluster with the Keck Telescope, and have measured a weak lensing signal from each cluster. From the background galaxy ellipticities we create two-dimensional maps of the surface mass density of each cluster. We find that the substructure seen in the mass reconstructions typically agree well with substructure in both the cluster galaxy distributions and X-ray images of the clusters. We also measure the one-dimensional radial profiles of the lensing signals and fit these with both isothermal spheres and "universal" CDM profiles. We find that the more massive clusters are less compact and not as well fit by isothermal spheres as the less massive clusters, possibly indicating that they are still in the process of collapse.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, uses aastex, submitted to ApJ 4 color plates produced here as jpg's, larger versions of the jpgs can be found at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~clow

HST/ACS weak lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927 at z=1.24

We present a weak lensing analysis of one of the most distant massive galaxy cluster known, RDCS 1252.9-2927 at z=1.24, using deep images from the Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). By taking advantage of the depth and of the angular resolution of the ACS images, we detect for the first time at z>1 a clear weak lensing signal in both the i (F775W) and z (F850LP) filters. We measure a 5-\sigma signal in the i band and a 3-\sigma signal in the shallower z band image. The two radial mass profiles are found to be in very good agreement with each other, and provide a measurement of the total mass of the cluster inside a 1Mpc radius of M(<1Mpc) = (8.0 +/- 1.3) x 10^14 M_\odot in the current cosmological concordance model h =0.70, \Omega_m=0.3, \Omega_\Lambda=0.7, assuming a redshift distribution of background galaxies as inferred from the Hubble Deep Fields surveys. A weak lensing signal is detected out to the boundary of our field (3' radius, corresponding to 1.5Mpc at the cluster redshift). We detect a small offset between the centroid of the weak lensing mass map and the brightest cluster galaxy, and we discuss the possible origin of this discrepancy. The cumulative weak lensing radial mass profile is found to be in good agreement with the X-ray mass estimate based on Chandr and XMM-Newton observations, at least out to R_500=0.5Mpc.Comment: 38 pages, ApJ in press. Full resolution images available at http://www.eso.org/~prosati/RDCS1252/Lombardi_etal_accepted.pd

Single Proton Knock-Out Reactions from 24,25,26F

The cross sections of the single proton knock-out reactions from 24F, 25F, and 26F on a 12C target were measured at energies of about 50 MeV/nucleon. Ground state populations of 6.6+-.9 mb, 3.8+-0.6 mb for the reactions 12C(24F,23O) and 12C(25F,24O) were extracted, respectively. The data were compared to calculations based on the many-body shell model and the eikonal theory. In the reaction 12C(26F,25O) the particle instability of 25O was confirmed