Gaia Theory makes controversial systems-level claims about how environmental factors on a planet tend to be regulated towards conditions favourable to biota. Daisyworld models show how such phenomena may arise, but their subtleties are often misunderstood. Here the core concept of Gaian regulation is shown in an ultra-minimalist model, and defined in terms of fragile hysteresis loops. Insights ...

We present in the following some capabilities of the Gaia mission for performing local test of General Relativity (GR) based on the astrometry of asteroids. This ESA cornerstone mission, to be launched in Spring 2012, will observe—in addition to the stars and QSOs—a large number of small solar system bodies with unprecedented photometric and, mostly, astrometric precisions. Indeed, it is expect...

sellar and parasellar masses blocking inhibitory hypothalamic dopaminergic tonus can produce hyperprolactinemia. one of these conditions, seldom reported, is internal carotid artery aneurysm causing pituitary stalk compression and hyperprolactinemia, the majority of which is related to small increases in serum prolactin levels. the aim of this study is to report the case of a patient with an in...

CONTENTS Executive Summary........................................................

Techniques for the construction of dynamical Galaxy models should be considered essential infrastructure that should be put in place before GAIA flies. Three possible modelling techniques are discussed. Although one of these seems to have significantly more potential than the other two, at this stage work should be done on all three. A major effort is needed to decide how to make a model consis...

The European Space Agency decision to include the Hipparcos satellite into its Science Programme is placed in the context of the years 1965-1980 and in the historical perspective of the progress of astrometry. The motivation and ideas which lead to the Hipparcos design are reviewed as well as its characteristics and performance. The amount and variety of applications represent an impressive evo...

The large galaxies in the Local Group, while all disk galaxies, have diverse stellar populations. A better understanding of these differences, and a physical understanding of the causes, requires more detailed study of the older populations. This presents a significant challenge to GAIA but the scientific returns are also significant.

Preference surveys often strive to reveal the perceptions of respondents with different demographic and habitual characteristics reflect features a local community or city. However, target group can be considered priori homogenous in some cases, which requires an adjusted survey methodology. Apart from smaller sample size, aggregation technique individual preferences into global common priority...