Balanced Budget and Investment Rule: Two Sides of the Same Coin?! Analyzing the economic effects of a binding public investment commitment in Germany. Bertelsmann Stiftung Inclusive Growth for Germany|7

In their statement from December 2016, the independent commission of experts for strengthening investment in Germany, appointed by then-Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel, calls for a significant expansion of investment dynamics in Germany. Along with proposed measures to strengthen private investments, the commission stresses the importance of creating the kind of institutional and political framework needed to push public investments so as to not endanger welfare and economic growth in Germany. In light of this, this study shows what effects an increase and stabilization of the public investment level in Germany would have. To do this, distinct investment scenarios have been created and their impact on a number of economic and politico-economic indicators up to the year 2025 was measured. The results clearly show that an increase in public investments in Germany would lead to a significant rise in German GDP growth over the following years. Factors like productivity, volume of work and the state’s capital stock similarly show higher increases in scenarios with more public investments relative to scenarios with a lower investment level. Another important result of the study is that such a proposed rule of investment would not have to be in conflict with the already existing debt rule of the federal government. Although scenarios with a higher level of public investment first lead to a lower budget balance, the differences between the individual scenarios become insignificant over time due to both the higher economic growth in those scenarios with more investments and the underlying assumptions regarding the counter-financing of these investments. In all five scenarios observed, the debt / GDP ratio swiftly falls below 50 percent in the year 2025. For the purpose of this study’s calculations, additional investments will be financed through an increase in taxes and a cut in spending on public consumption. The focus of this paper is purely macroeconomic, taking a look at the effects of different levels of public investment on the German economy

Migrant Entrepreneurs in Germany from 2005 to 2014 Their Extent, Economic Impact and Influence in Germany’s Länder. Bertelsmann Stiftung Inclusive Growth for Germany|5

The increasing gaps in income and wealth observed in developed economies around the globe are indicators of problems with inclusive growth. To be sure, the extent of these gaps varies across and within these economies, including Germany. The OECD has found that certain population groups benefit disproportionately from this group, while others are left behind (OECD 2015: 9 and 17). This is not a purely monetary phenomenon, but rather is closely related to the distribution of participation opportunities (e.g., with regard to working life) in a society

Globalization report 2014. Who benefits most from globalization?

The “Globalization report 2014: Who benefits most from globalization?” study comprises two parts. The first part focuses on the question to what extent different countries have benefited from globalization in the past and to which degree this is possible in the future. The second part uses the Prognos Free Trade and Investment Index to offer a differentiated measure for the attractiveness of foreign markets for German companies

Mitochondrial DNA Content in Human Omental Adipose Tissue

Background: Impairment of mitochondrial function plays an important role in obesity and the development of insulin resistance. The aim of this project was to investigate the mitochondrial DNA copy number in human omental adipose tissue with respect to obesity. Methods: The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content per single adipocyte derived from abdominal omental adipose tissue was determined by quantitative RT-PCR in a group of 75 patients, consisting of obese and morbidly obese subjects, as well as non-obese controls. Additionally, basal metabolic rate and fat oxidation rate were recorded and expressed as total values or per kilogram fat mass. Results: MtDNA content is associated with obesity. Higher body mass index (BMI) resulted in a significantly elevated mtDNA count (ratio = 1.56; p = 0.0331) comparing non-obese (BMI < 30) to obese volunteers (BMI ≥ 30). The mtDNA count per cell was not correlated with age or gender. Diabetic patients showed a trend toward reduced mtDNA content. A seasonal change in mtDNA copy number could not be identified. In addition, a substudy investigating the basal metabolic rate and the fasting fat oxidation did not reveal any associations to the mtDNA count. Conclusions: The mtDNA content per cell of omental adipose tissue did not correlate with various clinical parameters but tended to be reduced in patients with diabetes, which may partly explain the impairment of mitochondrial function observed in insulin resistance. Furthermore, the mtDNA content was significantly increased in patients suffering from obesity (BMI above 30). This might reflect a compensatory response to the development of obesity, which is associated with impairment of mitochondrial functio

Assessing the role of advanced artificial intelligence as a tool in multidisciplinary tumor board decision-making for primary head and neck cancer cases

BackgroundHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a complex malignancy that requires a multidisciplinary approach in clinical practice, especially in tumor board discussions. In recent years, artificial intelligence has emerged as a tool to assist healthcare professionals in making informed decisions. This study investigates the application of ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4.0, natural language processing models, in tumor board decision-making.MethodsWe conducted a pilot study in October 2023 on 20 consecutive head and neck cancer patients discussed in our multidisciplinary tumor board (MDT). Patients with a primary diagnosis of head and neck cancer were included. The MDT and ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4.0 recommendations for each patient were compared by two independent reviewers and the number of therapy options, the clinical recommendation, the explanation and the summarization were graded.ResultsIn this study, ChatGPT 3.5 provided mostly general answers for surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. For clinical recommendation, explanation and summarization ChatGPT 3.5 and 4.0 scored well, but demonstrated to be mostly an assisting tool, suggesting significantly more therapy options than our MDT, while some of the recommended treatment modalities like primary immunotherapy are not part of the current treatment guidelines.ConclusionsThis research demonstrates that advanced AI models at the moment can merely assist in the MDT setting, since the current versions list common therapy options, but sometimes recommend incorrect treatment options and in the case of ChatGPT 3.5 lack information on the source material

Tubakia spp., Didymella macrostoma and Apiognomonia errabunda causing leaf spot and anthracnose of Quercus robur in the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve

The Mura-Drava-Danube transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve represents one of the best-preserved wetlands in Europe. The Reserve’s riparian forests play a significant role in ecosystem functioning and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) is one of the keystone species of these forests. In recent years, pedunculate oak trees in the Reserve displayed symptoms of necrotic lesions on their leaves. The lesions varied in size, from small, circular to irregular reddish brown to grayish spots to larger necrotic areas that resembled leaf anthracnose and extended along the leaf nerves. In 2021, symptomatic leaves were collected in three countries of the Reserve, i.e. Austria, Slovenia, and Serbia to identify the causative agents of these diseases. Fungal cultures were obtained from symptoms and identified using morphology and multilocus phylogenetic analyses of the ITS rDNA, partial LSU rDNA, tef 1-α, BT2, CAL, ACT, and RPB2 genes. The fungi were identified as Tubakia dryina, Tubakia sp. (Tubakia dryinoides sensu lato), Didymella macrostoma, and Apiognomonia errabunda. Pathogenicity tests done by inoculating the leaves of one-year old pedunculate oak plants revealed that the isolated fungi caused symptoms as those seen in the forest. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of D. macrostoma as the cause of pedunculate oak leaf spot disease in Serbia and worldwide. It is also the first finding of Tubakia leaf spot disease of pedunculate oak caused by T. dryina in Austria and Serbia. Moreover, Tubakia sp. was proven to be another causative agent of Tubakia leaf spot disease. Additionally, oak anthracnose caused by A. errabunda was found for the first time on pedunculate oak leaves in Austria and Slovenia. During the past decade, pedunculate oak trees have been facing increasing threats from multiple abiotic and biotic factors which has resulted in decline and absence of natural regeneration of these trees. The results of this study add to the understanding of the contributing factors to the decline of pedunculate oak in riparian forests and are important for the development of management strategies to counteract this decline

Reversible and Noisy Progression towards a Commitment Point Enables Adaptable and Reliable Cellular Decision-Making

Cells must make reliable decisions under fluctuating extracellular conditions, but also be flexible enough to adapt to such changes. How cells reconcile these seemingly contradictory requirements through the dynamics of cellular decision-making is poorly understood. To study this issue we quantitatively measured gene expression and protein localization in single cells of the model organism Bacillus subtilis during the progression to spore formation. We found that sporulation proceeded through noisy and reversible steps towards an irreversible, all-or-none commitment point. Specifically, we observed cell-autonomous and spontaneous bursts of gene expression and transient protein localization events during sporulation. Based on these measurements we developed mathematical population models to investigate how the degree of reversibility affects cellular decision-making. In particular, we evaluated the effect of reversibility on the 1) reliability in the progression to sporulation, and 2) adaptability under changing extracellular stress conditions. Results show that reversible progression allows cells to remain responsive to long-term environmental fluctuations. In contrast, the irreversible commitment point supports reliable execution of cell fate choice that is robust against short-term reductions in stress. This combination of opposite dynamic behaviors (reversible and irreversible) thus maximizes both adaptable and reliable decision-making over a broad range of changes in environmental conditions. These results suggest that decision-making systems might employ a general hybrid strategy to cope with unpredictably fluctuating environmental conditions

Pre-Fibrillar α-Synuclein Mutants Cause Parkinson's Disease-Like Non-Motor Symptoms in Drosophila

Parkinson's disease (PD) is linked to the formation of insoluble fibrillar aggregates of the presynaptic protein α-Synuclein (αS) in neurons. The appearance of such aggregates coincides with severe motor deficits in human patients. These deficits are often preceded by non-motor symptoms such as sleep-related problems in the patients. PD-like motor deficits can be recapitulated in model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster when αS is pan-neurally expressed. Interestingly, both these deficits are more severe when αS mutants with reduced aggregation properties are expressed in flies. This indicates that that αS aggregation is not the primary cause of the PD-like motor symptoms. Here we describe a model for PD in Drosophila which utilizes the targeted expression of αS mutants in a subset of dopadecarboxylase expressing serotonergic and dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Our results show that targeted expression of pre-fibrillar αS mutants not only recapitulates PD-like motor symptoms but also the preceding non-motor symptoms such as an abnormal sleep-like behavior, altered locomotor activity and abnormal circadian periodicity. Further, the results suggest that the observed non-motor symptoms in flies are caused by an early impairment of neuronal functions rather than by the loss of neurons due to cell death

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems II: A 1 to 20 Micron Spectrum of the Planetary-Mass Companion VHS 1256-1257 b

We present the highest fidelity spectrum to date of a planetary-mass object. VHS 1256 b is a $<$20 M$_\mathrm{Jup}$ widely separated ($\sim$8\arcsec, a = 150 au), young, planetary-mass companion that shares photometric colors and spectroscopic features with the directly imaged exoplanets HR 8799 c, d, and e. As an L-to-T transition object, VHS 1256 b exists along the region of the color-magnitude diagram where substellar atmospheres transition from cloudy to clear. We observed VHS 1256~b with \textit{JWST}'s NIRSpec IFU and MIRI MRS modes for coverage from 1 $\mu$m to 20 $\mu$m at resolutions of $\sim$1,000 - 3,700. Water, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sodium, and potassium are observed in several portions of the \textit{JWST} spectrum based on comparisons from template brown dwarf spectra, molecular opacities, and atmospheric models. The spectral shape of VHS 1256 b is influenced by disequilibrium chemistry and clouds. We directly detect silicate clouds, the first such detection reported for a planetary-mass companion.Comment: Accepted ApJL Iterations of spectra reduced by the ERS team are hosted at this link: https://github.com/bemiles/JWST_VHS1256b_Reduction/tree/main/reduced_spectr

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems IV: NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometry Performance and Lessons Learned

We present a performance analysis for the aperture masking interferometry (AMI) mode on board the James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (JWST/NIRISS). Thanks to self-calibrating observables, AMI accesses inner working angles down to and even within the classical diffraction limit. The scientific potential of this mode has recently been demonstrated by the Early Release Science (ERS) 1386 program with a deep search for close-in companions in the HIP 65426 exoplanetary system. As part of ERS 1386, we use the same dataset to explore the random, static, and calibration errors of NIRISS AMI observables. We compare the observed noise properties and achievable contrast to theoretical predictions. We explore possible sources of calibration errors, and show that differences in charge migration between the observations of HIP 65426 and point-spread function calibration stars can account for the achieved contrast curves. Lastly, we use self-calibration tests to demonstrate that with adequate calibration, NIRISS AMI can reach contrast levels of $\sim9-10$ mag. These tests lead us to observation planning recommendations and strongly motivate future studies aimed at producing sophisticated calibration strategies taking these systematic effects into account. This will unlock the unprecedented capabilities of JWST/NIRISS AMI, with sensitivity to significantly colder, lower mass exoplanets than ground-based setups at orbital separations inaccessible to JWST coronagraphy.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, submitted to AAS Journal