Forced Migration and the Effects of an Integration Policy in Post-WWII Germany.

After World War II, about 8 million ethnic Germans — so called expellees — were forced to leave their homelands and settle within the new borders of West Germany. Subsequently, a law (Federal Expellee Law) was introduced to foster their labor market integration. We evaluate this law by comparing the employment situation between expellees and groups of West Germans and GDR refugees over time. We define our comparison groups to uncover even small effects of the law. Still, we find no evidence that the law met its goal to foster the expellees’ labor market integration

The Evils of Forced Migration: Do Integration Policies Alleviate Migrants' Economic Situations?

Armed conflicts, natural disasters and infrastructure projects continue to force millions into migration. This is especially true for developing countries. After World War II, about 8 million ethnic Germans experienced a similar situation when forced to leave their homelands and settle within the new borders of West Germany. Subsequently, a law was introduced to foster their labor market integration. We evaluate the success of this law using unique retrospective individual-level panel data. We find that the law improved expellees' overall situation but failed to restore their pre-war occupation status. This holds implications for the design of integration policies today.forced migration, integration policy, difference-in-differences, Germany

The Evils of Forced Migration: Do Integration Policies Alleviate Migrants' Economic Situations?

Armed conflicts, natural disasters and infrastructure projects continue to force millions into migration. This is especially true for developing countries. After World War II, about 8 million ethnic Germans experienced a similar situation when forced to leave their homelands and settle within the new borders of West Germany. Subsequently, a law was introduced to foster their labor market integration. We evaluate the success of this law using unique retrospective individual-level panel data. We find that the law improved expellees’ overall situation but failed to restore their pre-war occupation status. This holds implications for the design of integration policies today

An MINLP Model for designing decentralized energy supply network

In this report, a detailed description of an MINLP model for decentralized energy supply network optimization is given. This model includes the possibility of extending gas transmission lines, local choice of heating technology, as well as local decisions for energy-efficient house renovation. Ultimately, the model is aimed at finding cost-efficient network plans while reducing carbon emissions to a specified amount

Altered activation and connectivity of the supplementary motor cortex at motor initiation in Parkinson's disease patients with freezing

OBJECTIVE Motor initiation failure is a key feature of freezing of gait (FOG) due to Parkinson's disease (PD). The supplementary motor cortex (SMC) plays a central role in its pathophysiology. We aimed at investigating SMC activation, connectivity and plasticity with regard to motor initiation in FOG. METHODS Twelve patients with FOG and eleven without FOG underwent a multimodal electrophysiological evaluation of SMC functioning including the Bereitschaftspotential and movement-related desynchronisation of cortical beta oscillations. SMC plasticity was modulated by intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) and its impact on gait initiation was assessed by a three-dimensional gait analysis. RESULTS Prior to volitional movements the Bereitschaftspotential was smaller and beta power was less strongly attenuated over the SMC in patients with FOG compared to those without. Pre-motor coherence between the SMC and the primary motor cortex in the beta frequency range was also stronger in patients with FOG. iTBS resulted in a relative deterioration of gait initiation. CONCLUSIONS Reduced activation of the SMC along with increased SMC connectivity in the beta frequency range hinder a flexible shift of the motor set as it is required for gait initiation. SIGNIFICANCE Altered SMC functioning plays an important role for motor initiation failure in PD-related FOG

Chiral Plasmonic Pinwheels Exhibit Orientation-Independent Linear Differential Scattering under Asymmetric Illumination

Plasmonic nanoantennas have considerably stronger polar- ization-dependent optical properties than their molecular counterparts, inspiring photonic platforms for enhancing molecular dichroism and providing fundamental insight into light-matter interactions. One such insight is that even achiral nanoparticles can yield strong optical activity when they are asymmetrically illuminated from a single oblique angle instead of evenly illuminated. This effect, called extrinsic chirality, results from the overall chirality of the experimental geometry and strongly depends on the orientation of the incident light. Although extrinsic chirality has been well-characterized, an analogous effect involving linear polarization sensitivity has not yet been discussed. In this study, we investigate the differential scattering of rotationally symmetric chiral plasmonic pinwheels when asymmetrically irradiated with linearly polarized light. Despite their high rotational symmetry, we observe substantial linear differential scattering that is maintained over all pinwheel orientations. We demonstrate that this orientation-independent linear differential scattering arises from the broken mirror and rotational symmetries of our overall experimental geometry. Our results underscore the necessity of considering both the rotational symmetry of the nanoantenna and the experimental setup, including illumination direction and angle, when performing plasmon- enhanced chiroptical characterizations. Our results demonstrate spectroscopic signatures of an effect analogous to extrinsic chirality for linear polarizations

Tests of the nature and of the gluon content of the \sigma(0.6) from D and D_{s} semileptonic decays

We summarize the different features which show that QCD spectral sum rule analyses of the scalar two- and three-point functions do not favour the $\bar uu+\bar dd$ interpretation of the broad and low mass $\sigma (0.6)$ and emphasize that a measurement of the $D_s$ semileptonic decays into $\pi\pi$ can reveal in a model-independent way its eventual gluon component $\sigma_B$. The analysis also implies that one expects an observation of the $K\bar K$ final states from the $\sigma_B$ which may compete (if phase space allowed) with the one from a low mass $\bar ss$ state assumed in the literature to be the SU(3) partner of the observed $\sigma (0.6)$ if the latter is a $\bar uu+\bar dd$ stateComment: 6 pages latex file. 4 fig.ep

Characterization data of reference cement CEM I 42.5 R used for priority program DFG SPP 2005 “Opus Fluidum Futurum – Rheology of reactive, multiscale, multiphase construction materials”

A thorough characterization of starting materials is the precondition for further research, especially for cement, which contains various phases and presents quite a complex material for fundamental scientific investigation. In the paper at hand, the characterization data of the reference cement CEM I 42.5 R used within the priority program 2005 of the German Research Foundation (DFG SPP 2005) are presented from the aspects of chemical and mineralogical compositions as well as physical and chemical properties. The data were collected based on tests conducted by nine research groups involved in this cooperative program. For all data received, the mean values and the corresponding errors were calculated. The results shall be used for the ongoing research within the priority program.DFG, 313773090, SPP 2005: Opus Fluidum Futurum - Rheologie reaktiver, multiskaliger, mehrphasiger Baustoffsystem