Do exchange-rate forecasters herd? A note on the zloty/dollar and yen/dollar exchange rate

We used the foreign-exchange rate forecasts of the Consensus Economics Inc. poll to analyze whether exchange-rate forecasters herd or anti-herd. Forecasters herd (anti-herd) if their forecasts are biased towards (away from) the consensus. Upon implementing a robust empirical test developed by Bernhardt, Campello, Kutsoati (2006), we found that forecasters anti-herd.exchange rates, forecasting, herding

Informed capital in a hostile environment: the case of relational investors in Germany

Informed capital is a crucial ingredient to a well-functioning market for start-up finance, especially in times of difficult market conditions. For bank-based systems, the question regarding which investors actually supply informed capital has not yet been answered. To fill this gap, we conduct a survey among 85 German suppliers of start-up finance. We find significant differences between the investors which are linked to banks and those financiers which are not. Although, the bank-related group, including public equity suppliers, delivers some sort of informed capital, venture capital companies and Business Angels are the key providers of informed capital in the German market for start-up finance. --Informed capital,start-up financing,venture capital,banks

Vermeidung von Exklusionsprozessen in der Pflegekinderhilfe

Auch für Kinder und Jugendliche mit körperlichen, geistigen und seelischen Behinderungen, die nicht in ihrer Herkunftsfamilie leben können, soll die Option der Unterbringung in einer Pflegefamilie bestehen. Der vorliegende Abschlussbericht fasst die Erkenntnisse aus dem Praxisforschungsprojekt "Vermeidung von Exklusionsprozessen in der Pflegekinderhilfe" zusammen. Die Untersuchung zeigt auf, wie durch die Identifikation von Risikofaktoren und Qualitätsmerkmalen ein Beitrag für einen gleichberechtigten Zugang, für eine Vermeidung von Abbrüchen sowie zu einer verbesserten Gestaltung von Übergangsprozessen für Pflegekinder mit Behinderung geleistet werden kann. Der Bericht gibt Antworten auf Fragen nach konkreten Orientierungshilfen und Konzepten für eine fachspezifische Beratung, Begleitung und Unterstützung von Pflegefamilien für Pflegekinder mit Behinderung

Informed Capital in a Hostile Environment: The Case of Relational Investors in Germany

Informed capital is a crucial ingredient to a well-functioning market for start-up finance, especially in times of difficult market conditions. For bank-based systems, the question regarding which investors actually supply informed capital has not yet been answered. To fill this gap, we conduct a survey among German suppliers of start-up finance. We find significant differences between the investors which are linked to banks and those financiers which are not. Although, the bankrelated group, including public equity suppliers, delivers some sort of informed capital, venture capital companies and Business Angels are the key providers of informed capital in the German market for start-up finance

Informed capital in a hostile environment: the case of relational investors in Germany

Informed capital is a crucial ingredient to a well-functioning market for start-up finance, especially in times of difficult market conditions. For bank-based systems, the question regarding which investors actually supply informed capital has not yet been answered. To fill this gap, we conduct a survey among 85 German suppliers of start-up finance. We find significant differences between the investors which are linked to banks and those financiers which are not. Although, the bank-related group, including public equity suppliers, delivers some sort of informed capital, venture capital companies and Business Angels are the key providers of informed capital in the German market for start-up finance

Pathogenic Mechanisms and In Vitro Diagnosis of AERD

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) refers to chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyposis, bronchoconstriction, and/or eosinophilic inflammation in asthmatics following the exposure to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). A key pathogenic mechanism associated with AERD is the imbalance of eicosanoid metabolism focusing on prostanoid and leukotriene pathways in airway mucosa as well as blood cells. Genetic and functional metabolic studies on vital and non-vital cells pointed to the variability and the crucial role of lipid mediators in disease susceptibility and their response to medication. Eicosanoids, exemplified by prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and peptidoleukotrienes (pLT), are potential metabolic biomarkers contributing to the AERD phenotype. Also other mediators are implicated in the progress of AERD. Considering the various pathogenic mechanisms of AERD, a multitude of metabolic and genetic markers is suggested to be implicated and were introduced as potential biomarkers for in vitro diagnosis during the past decades. Deduced from an eicosanoid-related pathogenic mechanism, functional tests balancing PGE2 and pLT as well as other eicosanoids from preferentially vital leukocytes demonstrated their applicability for in vitro diagnosis of AERD

Taming Instabilities in Power Grid Networks by Decentralized Control

Renewables will soon dominate energy production in our electric power system. And yet, how to integrate renewable energy into the grid and the market is still a subject of major debate. Decentral Smart Grid Control (DSGC) was recently proposed as a robust and decentralized approach to balance supply and demand and to guarantee a grid operation that is both economically and dynamically feasible. Here, we analyze the impact of network topology by assessing the stability of essential network motifs using both linear stability analysis and basin volume for delay systems. Our results indicate that if frequency measurements are averaged over sufficiently large time intervals, DSGC enhances the stability of extended power grid systems. We further investigate whether DSGC supports centralized and/or decentralized power production and find it to be applicable to both. However, our results on cycle-like systems suggest that DSGC favors systems with decentralized production. Here, lower line capacities and lower averaging times are required compared to those with centralized production.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures This is a pre-print of a manuscript submitted to The European Physical Journal. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-50136-

Nach Hause? : Rückkehrprozesse von Pflegekindern in ihre Herkunftsfamilie

Der Rückkehrprozess von Pflegekindern in ihre Herkunftsfamilien beschreibt einen besonders komplexen Vorgang, der auch die Zeit vor und nach einer Rückkehr umfasst. Ein Rückkehrprozess löst große Veränderungen aus: in der Pflegefamilie und in der Herkunftsfamilie. Er stellt Kinder und Erwachsene vor erhebliche Herausforderungen. Der vorliegende Abschlussbericht fasst die Ergebnisse aus dem Praxisforschungsprojekt "Rückkehrprozesse von Pflegekindern in ihre Herkunftsfamilie" zusammen