EU Research and Innovation Policies as Factors of Convergence or Divergence after the Crisis

The 2008 global financial and economic crisis has disturbed the evolution of research and innovation (R&I) policies in Europe and it continues to have significant consequences. This article reviews the evolution of and changes in R&I policy funding and measures before and in the aftermath of the crisis, and analyses reactions in three groups: Southern, Central-Eastern, and Northwest European country groups. Based on the analysis of the Erawatch-TrendChart Inventory, we show that the crisis induced three different responses. In Northwest Europe, it induced further support for R&I activities; in Southern Europe it led to the collapse of national public support and its substitution only to some extent by EU Structural Funds; and in Central-Eastern Europe to an apparently much stronger compensation effect. Overall, these trends suggest that R&I policies have operated as a factor of further divergence between Northwest and South, and as potential factor of convergence between Northwest and Central-East

Determining the 7Li(n,gamma) cross section via Coulomb dissociation of 8Li

The applicability of Coulomb dissociation reactions to determine the cross section for the inverse neutron capture reaction was explored using the reaction 8Li(gamma,n)7Li. A 69.5 MeV/nucleon 8Li beam was incident on a Pb target, and the outgoing neutron and 7Li nucleus were measured in coincidence. The deduced (n,gamma) excitation function is consistent with data for the direct capture reaction 7Li(n,gamma)8Li and with low-energy effective field theory calculations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Inferring Ecological Processes from Taxonomic, Phylogenetic and Functional Trait β-Diversity

Understanding the influences of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering on the structure of ecological communities is a major challenge in ecology. Insight may be gained by combining phylogenetic, functional and taxonomic data to characterize spatial turnover in community structure (β-diversity). We develop a framework that allows rigorous inference of the strengths of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering by combining these three types of β-diversity. Our framework provides model-generated expectations for patterns of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional β-diversity across biologically relevant combinations of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering. After developing the framework we compared the model-generated expectations to the commonly used “intuitive” expectation that the variance explained by the environment or by space will, respectively, increase monotonically with the strength of environmental filtering or dispersal limitation. The model-generated expectations strongly departed from these intuitive expectations: the variance explained by the environment or by space was often a unimodal function of the strength of environmental filtering or dispersal limitation, respectively. Therefore, although it is commonly done in the literature, one cannot assume that the strength of an underlying process is a monotonic function of explained variance. To infer the strength of underlying processes, one must instead compare explained variances to model-generated expectations. Our framework provides these expectations. We show that by combining the three types of β-diversity with model-generated expectations our framework is able to provide rigorous inferences of the relative and absolute strengths of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering. Phylogenetic, functional and taxonomic β-diversity can therefore be used simultaneously to infer processes by comparing their empirical patterns to the expectations generated by frameworks similar to the one developed here

The use of taxonomic relationships among species in applied ecological research: Baseline, steps forward and future challenges

Taxonomy is more than a mere exercise of nomenclature and classification of biological diversity: it profiles the identity of species by investigating their biological and ecological traits. Taxonomy is intimately related to ecology which, in turn, cannot be a mere exercise in describing ecological patterns, but instead requires deep knowledge of species’ biological structures, roles, interactions and functions. Thus, the study of taxonomic and phylogenetic relatedness of species is of paramount importance in ecological research, enabling insights into potential evolutionary patterns and processes, allowing a more comprehensive view of biodiversity, and providing opportunities to improve the assessment and monitoring of ecological changes in time and space. The work of K. Robert (‘Bob’) Clarke forged new pathways in this direction, providing new ideas and statistical tools to include and exploit taxonomic relationships in applied marine ecological studies and beyond, also inspiring the next generation of ecologists. In this short review, we synthesise the application and development of these tools and concepts in marine biodiversity research over the last three decades and suggest future pathways in this evolving field

"1"5N-Kernreaktions-Dopplerspektroskopie von "1H-Schwingungen in ionenbestrahlten CH_x-Schichten

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Pancreatitis in association with hypercalcemia in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition

Six patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) developed hypercalcemia and acute pancreatitis. Four were long-term home TPN patients, and two were short-term hospital TPN patients. Causes of pancreatitis other than hypercalcemia were not found. The etiology of the hypercalcemia remained unclear and in particular was not due to calcium infusion or hyperparathyroidism. In 4 patients in whom it was measured, the plasma parathyroid hormone was normal (in 2) or nondetectable (in 2). Hypercalcemia and pancreatitis subsided with discontinuation of TPN. Thus, some patients receiving TPN develop hypercalcemia, and in some of these pancreatitis ensues