Back to the Future – the Marginal Utility of History in Economics

Economics and economic history share many fundamental research problems and have a rich shared intellectual history. Still, works by economic historians are rarely read or referenced in economics. In this essay we attempt to identify the cost of this negligence. In particular, we argue that a restrictive understanding of the economic research programme excludes available evidence and precludes analysis of complex situational constraints on economic decision-making.

Sediment Composition of periplatform sediments and calciturbidites around Pedro Bank, Southwestern Caribbean Sea

Spatial and temporal variations in the carbonate production and sediment export of the Pedro Bank carbonate platform were studied in response to the late Quaternary sea level fluctuations. A set of nine sediment cores were obtained from up- and downcurrent position to Pedro Bank to form a downcurrent offbank transect that covers the proximal toe-of-slope to a distal basinal setting. The sediments studied were deposited between 650 to 2520 meter below recent sea level, and reach back until oxygen isotope stage 9, i.e. until approximately 300-310 ky. The sediments recovered are rather uniform, and consist of foraminifer- and pteropod-bearing aragonite-rich mud- to wackstones. This typical periplatform lithology incorporates calciturbidites, which are of pelagic as well as neritic origin. The pelagic sourced turbidites are generally evident as fine tail-end turbidites, whereas the few neritic calciturbidites are present as coarse pack- to grainstones. The sediments were analysed on their ability to record the export patterns of neritic sediment from the shallow tops of Pedro Bank. Therefore mineralogical, sedimentological and geochemical analyses were performed. The aragonite and strontium content were found to be good indicators for variations in shallow-water sediment export. The geochemistry data, as well as the grainsize and component distribution patterns, were useful to differentiate between primary sediment input signals and secondary processes such as dissolution and preservation of metastable carbonates at the seafloor. This study shows that during the last 300 ky (1) sea-level fluctuations, but also the (2) ocean currents, (3) pelagic and neritic sediment production, (4) dissolution of metastable sediment constituents, and (5) input of non-carbonates have had a major control on the sediment dispersal, sediment deposition and composition, especially along the downcurrent margin, where main neritic export occurs. The mineralogical and grain-size composition documents this variability of periplatform sedimentation along the margins off Pedro Bank. In addition, it was found that also the seafloor morphology plays an important role for the spatial and temporal evolution of the periplatform sedimentation in the vicinity of Pedro Bank, which is situated in a tectonically active plate margin setting

Meeresspiegelschwankungen und ihre geologische Überlieferung im Karbonatsystem

The dependency between carbonate sediment production on a carbonate platform and its relation to sea-level changes is discusses here. The topography of the upper slope plays an important role in determining the way in which sedimentation continues during lowstands in sea level. The mineralogy and composition of sediments produced on the platform can clearly be related to those found in sediments deposited in the adjacent basin. Two examples from the Recent are described: (1) Sanganeb Atoll (Red Sea), and (2) Pedro Bank (caribbean). The applicability of the "highstand shedding" principle is shown for ancient carbonate platforms

Knowledge Distribution in German Drama

What do characters in theater plays know about character relations, and how does the distribution of knowledge evolve over the course of a play? We present a dataset of 30 German plays annotated with information about the distribution of knowledge about character relations (such as "A learns from B that C is the parent of D"). All plays were manually annotated by two independent annotators as part of the Q:TRACK research project, which aims to systematically model character knowledge. The dataset is available on GitHub and Zenodo and can be reused, for example, for systematic studies of knowledge in plays or for analyzing disagreements between annotators

Who Knows What in German Drama? A Composite Annotation Scheme for Knowledge Transfer. Annotation, Evaluation, and Analysis

The distribution of knowledge among characters is established as an important feature for drama analysis. Many turning points in plays are triggered by a knowledge transfer. However, knowledge transfers in plays have not yet been targeted in a formal or computational way. This paper aims at developing a framework to digitally model processes of knowledge dissemination concerning family and love relations among fictional characters in plays. We approach this as an annotation task and introduce how our composite annotation scheme models knowledge transfers among characters. We present preliminary results and discuss the question of measuring inter-annotator agreement, the calculation of which is not yet standardised for this type of annotation. Finally, we showcase an analysis of the annotated knowledge transfers on Günderrode’s 1805 play, Udohla

Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on the Gut Microbiota and Antibiotic Resistome Development in Preterm Infants

Objectives: In 2014 probiotic supplementation (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis; InfloranⓇ) was introduced as standard of care to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in extremely preterm infants in Norway. We aimed to evaluate the influence of probiotics and antibiotic therapy on the developing gut microbiota and antibiotic resistome in extremely preterm infants, and to compare with very preterm infants and term infants not given probiotics.Study design: A prospective, observational multicenter study in six tertiary-care neonatal units. We enrolled 76 infants; 31 probiotic-supplemented extremely preterm infants <28 weeks gestation, 35 very preterm infants 28–31 weeks gestation not given probiotics and 10 healthy full-term control infants. Taxonomic composition and collection of antibiotic resistance genes (resistome) in fecal samples, collected at 7 and 28 days and 4 months age, were analyzed using shotgun-metagenome sequencing.Results: Median (IQR) birth weight was 835 (680–945) g and 1,290 (1,150–1,445) g in preterm infants exposed and not exposed to probiotics, respectively. Two extremely preterm infants receiving probiotic developed NEC requiring surgery. At 7 days of age we found higher median relative abundance of Bifidobacterium in probiotic supplemented infants (64.7%) compared to non-supplemented preterm infants (0.0%) and term control infants (43.9%). Lactobacillus was only detected in small amounts in all groups, but the relative abundance increased up to 4 months. Extremely preterm infants receiving probiotics had also much higher antibiotic exposure, still overall microbial diversity and resistome was not different than in more mature infants at 4 weeks and 4 months.Conclusion: Probiotic supplementation may induce colonization resistance and alleviate harmful effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiota and antibiotic resistome.Clinical Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02197468. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT0219746

Autochthonous heritage languages and social media:writing and bilingual practices in Low German on Facebook

This article analyses how speakers of an autochthonous heritage language (AHL) make use of digital media, through the example of Low German, a regional language used by a decreasing number of speakers mainly in northern Germany. The focus of the analysis is on Web 2.0 and its interactive potential for individual speakers. The study therefore examines linguistic practices on the social network site Facebook, with special emphasis on language choice, bilingual practices and writing in the autochthonous heritage language. The findings suggest that social network sites such as Facebook have the potential to provide new mediatized spaces for speakers of an AHL that can instigate sociolinguistic change