Foreign direct investment of Central and Eastern European countries, and the investment development path revisited

The present study investigates long-term developments in inward and outward FDI of 10 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries using Dunning’s investment development path (IDP) paradigm as a theoretical framework. Its main purpose is to determine how far the CEE countries have progressed along their IDPs since the beginning of transition. The results show that half of the analyzed countries have already reached Stage 3 of the IDP, while the other half are either firmly in Stage2 or are approaching Stage 3. With some notable exceptions, the study points to conformity of the analyzed IDP trajectories with Dunning’s model.FDI, Central and Eastern European countries, investment development path

Online Facility Location with Linear Delay

In the problem of online facility location with delay, a sequence of n clients appear in the metric space, and they need to be eventually connected to some open facility. The clients do not have to be connected immediately, but such a choice comes with a certain penalty: each client incurs a waiting cost (equal to the difference between its arrival and its connection time). At any point in time, an algorithm may decide to open a facility and connect any subset of clients to it. That is, an algorithm needs to balance three types of costs: cost of opening facilities, costs of connecting clients, and the waiting costs of clients. We study a natural variant of this problem, where clients may be connected also to an already open facility, but such action incurs an extra cost: an algorithm pays for waiting of the facility (a cost incurred separately for each such "late" connection). This is reminiscent of online matching with delays, where both sides of the connection incur a waiting cost. We call this variant two-sided delay to differentiate it from the previously studied one-sided delay, where clients may connect to a facility only at its opening time. We present an O(1)-competitive deterministic algorithm for the two-sided delay variant. Our approach is an extension of the approach used by Jain, Mahdian and Saberi [STOC 2002] for analyzing the performance of offline algorithms for facility location. To this end, we substantially simplify the part of the original argument in which a bound on the sequence of factor-revealing LPs is derived. We then show how to transform our O(1)-competitive algorithm for the two-sided delay variant to O(log n / log log n)-competitive deterministic algorithm for one-sided delays. This improves the known O(log n) bound by Azar and Touitou [FOCS 2020]. We note that all previous online algorithms for problems with delays in general metrics have at least logarithmic ratios

Online Facility Location with Linear Delay

In the problem of online facility location with delay, a sequence of n clients appear in the metric space, and they need to be eventually connected to some open facility. The clients do not have to be connected immediately, but such a choice comes with a certain penalty: each client incurs a waiting cost (equal to the difference between its arrival and its connection time). At any point in time, an algorithm may decide to open a facility and connect any subset of clients to it. That is, an algorithm needs to balance three types of costs: cost of opening facilities, costs of connecting clients, and the waiting costs of clients. We study a natural variant of this problem, where clients may be connected also to an already open facility, but such action incurs an extra cost: an algorithm pays for waiting of the facility (a cost incurred separately for each such "late" connection). This is reminiscent of online matching with delays, where both sides of the connection incur a waiting cost. We call this variant two-sided delay to differentiate it from the previously studied one-sided delay, where clients may connect to a facility only at its opening time. We present an O(1)-competitive deterministic algorithm for the two-sided delay variant. Our approach is an extension of the approach used by Jain, Mahdian and Saberi [STOC 2002] for analyzing the performance of offline algorithms for facility location. To this end, we substantially simplify the part of the original argument in which a bound on the sequence of factor-revealing LPs is derived. We then show how to transform our O(1)-competitive algorithm for the two-sided delay variant to O(log n / log log n)-competitive deterministic algorithm for one-sided delays. This improves the known O(log n) bound by Azar and Touitou [FOCS 2020]. We note that all previous online algorithms for problems with delays in general metrics have at least logarithmic ratios

Exploiting Locally Imposed Anisotropies in (Ga,Mn)As: a Non-volatile Memory Device

Progress in (Ga,Mn)As lithography has recently allowed us to realize structures where unique magnetic anisotropy properties can be imposed locally in various regions of a given device. We make use of this technology to fabricate a device in which we study transport through a constriction separating two regions whose magnetization direction differs by 90 degrees. We find that the resistance of the constriction depends on the flow of the magnetic field lines in the constriction region and demonstrate that such a structure constitutes a non-volatile memory device

Nitrogen limitations on microbial degradation of plant substrates are controlled by soil structure and moisture content

Mineral nitrogen (N) availability to heterotrophic micro-organisms is known to impact organic matter (OM) decomposition. Different pathways determining the N accessibility depend to a large extent on soil structure. Contact between soil mineral and OM substrate particles can facilitate N transport toward decomposition hot spots. However, the impact of soil structure on N availability to microbes and thus heterotrophic microbial activity and community structure is not yet fully understood. We hypothesized that carbon mineralization (Cmin) from low-N substrate would be stimulated by increased N availability caused by closer contact with soil particles or by a higher moisture level, enhancing potential for N-diffusion. Under opposite conditions retarded heterotrophic activity and a dominance of fungi were expected. A 128-days incubation experiment with CO2 emission monitoring from artificially reconstructed miniature soil cores with contrasting soil structures, viz. high or low degree of contact between soil particles, was conducted to study impacts on heterotrophic activity. The soil cores were subjected to different water filled pore space percentages (25 or 50% WFPS) and amended with either easily degradable OM high in N (grass) or more resistant OM low in N (sawdust). X-ray μCT image processing allowed to quantify the pore space in 350 μm around OM substrates, i.e., the microbial habitat of involved decomposers. A lower local porosity surrounding sawdust particles in soils with stonger contact was confirmed, at least at 25% WFPS. Mineral N addition to sawdust amended soils with small particle contact at 25% WFPS resulted in a stimulated respiration. Cmin in the latter soils was lower than in case of high particle contact. This was not observed for grass substrate particles or at 50% WFPS. The interactive effect of substrate type and soil structure suggests that the latter controls Cmin through mediation of N diffusion and in turn N availability. Phospholipid fatty acid did not reveal promotion of fungal over bacterial biomarkers in treatments with N-limited substrate decomposition. Combining X-ray μCT with tailoring soil structure allows for more reliable investigation of effects on the soil microbial community, because as also found here, the established soil pore network structure can strongly deviate from the intended one

Influence of temperature on the δ13C values and distribution of methanotroph‐related hopanoids in Sphagnum‐dominated peat bogs

Methane emissions from peat bogs are mitigated by methanotrophs, which live in symbiosis with peat moss (e.g. Sphagnum ). Here, we investigate the influence of temperature and resultant changes in methane fluxes on Sphagnum and methanotroph‐related biomarkers, evaluating their potential as proxies in ancient bogs. A pulse‐chase experiment using 13C‐labelled methane in the field clearly showed label uptake in diploptene, a biomarker for methanotrophs, demonstrating in situ methanotrophic activity in Sphagnum under natural conditions. Peat cores containing live Sphagnum were incubated at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25°C for two months, causing differences in net methane fluxes. The natural δ13C values of diploptene extracted from Sphagnum showed a strong correlation with temperature and methane production. The δ13C values ranged from −34‰ at 5°C to −41‰ at 25°C. These results are best explained by enhanced expression of the methanotrophic enzymatic isotope effect at higher methane concentrations. Hence, δ13C values of diploptene, or its diagenetic products, potentially provide a useful tool to assess methanotrophic activity in past environments. Increased methane fluxes towards Sphagnum did not affect δ13C values of bulk Sphagnum and its specific marker, the C23 n ‐alkane. The concentration of methanotroph‐specific bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs), aminobacteriohopanetetrol (aminotetrol, characteristic for type II and to a lesser extent type I methanotrophs) and aminobacteriohopanepentol (aminopentol, a marker for type I methanotrophs) showed a non‐linear response to increased methane fluxes, with relatively high abundances at 25°C compared to those at 20°C or below. Aminotetrol was more abundant than aminopentol, in contrast to similar abundances of aminotetrol and aminopentol in fresh Sphagnum . This probably indicates that type II methanotrophs became prevalent under the experimental conditions relative to type I methanotrophs. Even though BHP concentrations may not directly reflect bacterial activity, they may provide insight into the presence of different types of methanotrophs

Iron Speciation in Fram Strait and Over the Northeast Greenland Shelf: An Inter-Comparison Study of Voltammetric Methods

Competitive ligand exchange - adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-AdCSV) is a widely used technique to determine dissolved iron (Fe) speciation in seawater, and involves competition for Fe of a known added ligand (AL) with natural organic ligands. Three different ALs were used, 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-p-cresol (TAC), salicylaldoxime (SA) and 1-nitroso-2-napthol (NN). The total ligand concentrations ([Lt]) and conditional stability constants (log K′Fe'L) obtained using the different ALs are compared. The comparison was done on seawater samples from Fram Strait and northeast Greenland shelf region, including the Norske Trough, Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79N) Glacier front and Westwind Trough. Data interpretation using a one-ligand model resulted in [Lt]SA (2.72 ± 0.99 nM eq Fe) > [Lt]TAC (1.77 ± 0.57 nM eq Fe) > [Lt]NN (1.57 ± 0.58 nM eq Fe); with the mean of log K′Fe'L being the highest for TAC (log ′KFe'L(TAC) = 12.8 ± 0.5), followed by SA (log K′Fe'L(SA) = 10.9 ± 0.4) and NN (log K′Fe'L(NN) = 10.1 ± 0.6). These differences are only partly explained by the detection windows employed, and are probably due to uncertainties propagated from the calibration and the heterogeneity of the natural organic ligands. An almost constant ratio of [Lt]TAC/[Lt]SA = 0.5 - 0.6 was obtained in samples over the shelf, potentially related to contributions of humic acid-type ligands. In contrast, in Fram Strait [Lt]TAC/[Lt]SA varied considerably from 0.6 to 1, indicating the influence of other ligand types, which seemed to be detected to a different extent by the TAC and SA methods. Our results show that even though the SA, TAC and NN methods have different detection windows, the results of the one ligand model captured a similar trend in [Lt], increasing from Fram Strait to the Norske Trough to the Westwind Trough. Application of a two-ligand model confirms a previous suggestion that in Polar Surface Water and in water masses over the shelf, two ligand groups existed, a relatively strong and relatively weak ligand group. The relatively weak ligand group contributed less to the total complexation capacity, hence it could only keep part of Fe released from the 79N Glacier in the dissolved phase.This study was supported by Royal Netherland Institute for Sea Research. Collection and analysis of samples were further supported by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (the Helmholtz Association and the German Research Foundation (DFG Award Number AC 217/1-1 to EA). IA was supported by a doctoral scholarship from Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), and KZ was supported by a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council