In this study, we use three process-based terrestrial ecosystem models (Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model — LPJ-DGVM; ORganizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems – ORCHIDEE; ...Sheffield model – SDGVM) to investigate the historical response of ecosystem Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP) over East Asia to climate change and rising atmospheric CO
2. The results suggest that between 1901 and 2002, the modeled NPP has significantly increased by 5.5–8.5
Tg C yr
−
1
(15–20% growth). Such increase in NPP has caused an increased cumulated terrestrial C storage by about 5–11
Pg C. About 50–70% fraction of this total C sink is located in vegetation biomass. Our modeling results also suggest that 40–60% of the accumulate C uptake of the 20th century is credited to the period of 1980–2002. Although all models tend to agree at the continental scale that East Asia played a role of net C sink (0.14–0.18
Pg C yr
−
1
) during 1980s and 1990s, the trends of NEP are different among the models. Both LPJ and ORCHIDEE estimate a slight but insignificant NEP decrease from 1980 to 2002 (
P
>
0.05), while SDGVM estimates a statistically significant increase in NEP at a rate of 0.005
Pg C yr
−
2
(
P
<
0.05). Also, there is no consensus among models on the dominant driving factors controlling interannual variation in NPP and NEP at the continental scale, implying that more efforts are needed to investigate the vulnerability of the East Asian terrestrial carbon cycle.
This is a thorough, yet understandable text about the boundary element method (BEM), an attractive alternative to the finite element method (FEM). It not only explains the theory, but also deals with ...the implementation into computer code written in FORTRAN 95 (software can be freely downloaded). Applications range from potential problems to static and dynamic problems in elasticity and plasticity. The book also addresses the issue of fast solution of large scale problems, using parallel processing hardware. Special topics such as the treatment of inclusions, heterogeneous domains and changing geometry are also addressed. Most chapters contain exercises and this makes the book suitable for teaching. Applications of the method to industrial problems are shown. The book is designed for engineers and scientists that want to understand how the method works and to apply the method and solve real problems.
Dedifferentiation and proliferation of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are characteristics
of retinal diseases. Dedifferentiation is likely associated with changes of inwardly rectifying
...potassium (Kir) channels. The roles of Kir4.2 channels in viability, and proliferation of cultured RPE
cells were investigated. Gene expression levels were determined using qRT-PCR. RPE cells expressed
Kir2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 6.1, and 7.1 mRNA. Kir4.2 protein was verified by immunocytochemistry
and Western blotting. Kir4.2 mRNA in cultured cells was upregulated by hypoxia (hypoxia mimetic
CoCl2 or 0.2% O2) and extracellular hyperosmolarity (addition of high NaCl or sucrose). Kir4.2
mRNA was suppressed by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), blood serum, and thrombin
whereas platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and transforming
growth factor-1 (TGF-1) increased it. Hyperosmotic Kir4.2 gene expression was mediated
by TGF-1 receptor signaling while hypoxic gene transcription was dependent on PDGF receptor
signaling. VEGF receptor-2 blockade increased Kir4.2 mRNA level under control, hyperosmotic,
and hypoxic conditions. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of Kir4.2 decreased the cell viability and
proliferation under control and hyperosmotic conditions. Kir4.2 channels play functional roles in
maintaining the viability and proliferation of RPE cells. Downregulation of Kir4.2 by VEGF, via
activation of VEGF receptor-2 and induction of blood-retinal barrier breakdown, may contribute to
decreased viability of RPE cells under pathological conditions.
We report results of the most sensitive search to date for periodic gravitational waves from Cassiopeia A, Vela Jr. and G347.3 with frequency between 20 and 1500 Hz. The search was made possible by ...the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project and improves on previous results by a factor of 2 across the entire frequency range for all targets. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to sensitivity depths between 54 \(1/ {\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}}\) and 83 \(1/ {\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}}\), depending on the target and the frequency range. At the frequency of best strain sensitivity, near \(172\) Hz, we set 90% confidence upper limits on the gravitational wave intrinsic amplitude of \(h_0^{90\%}\approx 10^{-25}\), probing ellipticity values for Vela Jr. as low as \(3\times 10^{-8}\), assuming a distance of 200 pc.
In this paper we design a search for continuous gravitational waves from three supernova remnants: Vela Jr., Cassiopeia A (Cas A) and G347.3. These systems might harbor rapidly rotating neutron stars ...emitting quasi-periodic gravitational radiation detectable by the advanced LIGO detectors. Our search is designed to use the volunteer computing project Einstein@Home for a few months and assumes the sensitivity and duty cycles of the advanced LIGO detectors during their first science run. For all three supernova remnants, the sky-positions of their central compact objects are well known but the frequency and spin-down rates of the neutron stars are unknown which makes the searches computationally limited. In a previous paper we have proposed a general framework for deciding on what target we should spend computational resources and in what proportion, what frequency and spin-down ranges we should search for every target, and with what search set-up. Here we further expand this framework and apply it to design a search directed at detecting continuous gravitational wave signals from the most promising three supernova remnants identified as such in the previous work. Our optimization procedure yields broad frequency and spin-down searches for all three objects, at an unprecedented level of sensitivity: The smallest detectable gravitational wave strain \(h_0\) for Cas A is expected to be 2 times smaller than the most sensitive upper-limits published to date, and our proposed search, which was set-up and ran on the volunteer computing project Einstein@Home, covers a much larger frequency range.
This paper describes indicators that were developed to analyze the exposure of enterprises and households to financial risks. In this context, we distinguish three types of risk: interest rate risk, ...price risk and exchange rate risk. Our indicators measure risk exposure by the share of financial instruments exposed to these risks in the assets and liabilities of enterprises and households. Specific conceptual and technical problems arise when recording indirect investment via financial intermediaries. Statistics compiled by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) are used as the primary data basis. Although the indicators lack informative value at the micro level, they facilitate an analysis of corporate and household risk performance at the sectoral level. JEL classification: E44, G30
12% of all Austrian households reporting a housing loan in a 2004 financial wealth survey had borrowed in foreign currency. Given the importance of such “household carry trades,” their peculiar ...character, and immediate policy concerns, too little is known about the attitudes and characteristics of the households involved. We use the 2004 survey (covering 2,556 Austrian households) to sketch a comprehensive profile of the attitudes and characteristics of the households involved. For this purpose, we employ both univariate tests and multivariate multinomial logit models. Our analysis suggests that risk-loving, wealthy, and married households are more likely to take out a housing loan in a foreign currency than other households. Housing loans as such are, moreover, most likely taken out by high-income households. These findings may partially assuage policy concerns about household default risk on foreign currency housing loans. JEL classification: G21, G15, F34, F37
