Monitoring Subjective Well-Being: Some New Empirical Evidence for Germany

What is subjective well-being influenced by? Since the Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress by Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi a huge number of studies has raised this question - with partly different findings. In addition, international organizations are increasingly addressing subjective well-being issues. The post-2015 development agenda of the United Nations as well as the inclusive growth strategy of the OECD may be quoted as examples. Facing the current state of national and international discussion, this paper analyses appropriate indicators for the mostly named factors influencing subjective well-being. The goal of the empirical study for Germany is twofold: First of all, the indicators discussed prominently are analysed with regard to the relevance for explaining the degree of subjective well-being (micro level). Secondly, it is examined, whether the relevance of these indicators changes over time. The empirical results presented in this paper are mainly based on yearly longitudinal data of private households in Germany. Currently, the data set covers about 21,000 individuals living in more than 12,000 private households. The data set provides information on various indicators for subjective well-being mentioned by most of the recent studies, like for instance people's life-circumstances and individual assessments. Concluding remarks concern on one hand the question if data from EU-SILC (because of its Europe-wide coverage) are useful in this context. On the other hand the combination of data at the micro level with indicators at the aggregate level is discussed as well.Paper prepared for the 33rd General Conference of The International Association for Research in Income and Wealth Rotterdam, Netherlands, August 24-30, 201

Comparison of Different Methods of Automated Landform Classification at the Drainage Basin Scale: Examples from the Southern Italy

In this work, we tested the reliability of two different methods of automated landform classification (ACL) in three geological domains of the southern Italian chain with contrasting morphological features. ACL maps deriving from the TPI-based (topographic position index) algorithm are strictly dependent to the search input parameters and they are not able to fully capture landforms of different size. Geomorphons-based classification has shown a higher potential and can represent a powerful method of ACL, although it should be improved with the introduction of additional DEM-based parameters for the extraction of landform classe

Trend and interannual variability in southeast Greenland sea ice: Impacts on coastal Greenland climate variability

We describe the recent occurrence of a region of diminished sea ice cover or “notch” offshore of the Kangerdlugssuaq Fiord, the site of the largest tidewater glacier along Greenland's southeast coast. The notch's location is consistent with a topographically forced flux of warm water toward the fiord, and the decrease of the sea ice cover is shown to be associated with a regional warming of the upper ocean that began in the mid‐1990s. Sea ice in the vicinity of the notch also exhibits interannual variability that is shown to be associated with a seesaw in surface temperature and sea ice between southeast and northeast Greenland that is not describable solely in terms of the North Atlantic Oscillation. We therefore argue that other modes of atmospheric variability, including the Lofoten Low, are required to fully document the changes to the climate that are occurring along Greenland's east coast

Damping mechanisms of the Delta resonance in nuclei

The damping mechanisms of the Delta(1232) resonance in nuclei are studied by analyzing the quasi-free decay reactions 12C(pi+,pi+ p)11B and 12C(3He,t pi+ p)11B and the 2p emission reactions 12C(pi+,pp)10B and 12C(3He,t pp)10B. The coincidence cross sections are calculated within the framework of the isobar-hole model. It is found that the 2p emission process induced by the decay of the Delta resonance in the nucleus can be consistently described by a pi+rho+g' model for the Delta+N -> N+N decay interaction.Comment: 9 pages, 5 Postscript figures, uses RevTex, psfig.sty. Accepted by Physical Review

Coherent pion production in neutrino nucleus collision in the 1 GeV region

We calculate cross sections for coherent pion production in nuclei induced by neutrinos and antineutrinos of the electron and muon type. The analogies and differences between this process and the related ones of coherent pion production induced by photons, or the (p,n) and $(^3 He, t)$ reactions are discussed. The process is one of the several ones occurring for intermediate energy neutrinos, to be considered when detecting atmospheric neutrinos. For this purpose the results shown here can be easily extrapolated to other energies and other nuclei.Comment: 13 pages, LaTex, 8 post-script figures available at [email protected]

How does the arctic affect north atlantic climate? fresh perspectives on a long-standing question

Recent decades have been characterised by amplified Arctic warming and increased occurrence of extreme weather events in the North Atlantic region. While earlier studies noticed statistical links between high-latitude warming and mid-latitude weather extremes, the underlying dynamical connections remained elusive. Combining different data products, I will demonstrate a new mechanism linking Arctic ice losses with cold anomalies and storms in the subpolar region in winter, and with heat waves and droughts over Europe summer. Considering feedbacks of the identified mechanism on the Arctic Ocean circulation, I will further present new support for the potential of Arctic warming to trigger a rapid change in climate

Inflammatory Transcriptome Profiling of Human Monocytes Exposed Acutely to Cigarette Smoke

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Cigarette smoking is responsible for 5 million deaths worldwide each year, and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and lung diseases. Cigarette smoke contains a complex mixture of over 4000 chemicals containing 10¹⁵ free radicals. Studies show smoke is perceived by cells as an inflammatory and xenobiotic stimulus, which activates an immune response. The specific cellular mechanisms driving cigarette smoke-induced inflammation and disease are not fully understood, although the innate immune system is involved in the pathology of smoking related diseases.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principle findings</h3><p>To address the impact of smoke as an inflammagen on the innate immune system, THP-1 cells and Human PBMCs were stimulated with 3 and 10% (v/v) cigarette smoke extract (CSE) for 8 and 24 hours. Total RNA was extracted and the transcriptome analysed using Illumina BeadChip arrays. In THP-1 cells, 10% CSE resulted in 80 genes being upregulated and 37 downregulated by ≥1.5 fold after 8 hours. In PBMCs stimulated with 10% CSE for 8 hours, 199 genes were upregulated and 206 genes downregulated by ≥1.5 fold. After 24 hours, the number of genes activated and repressed by ≥1.5 fold had risen to 311 and 306 respectively. The major pathways that were altered are associated with cell survival, such as inducible antioxidants, protein chaperone and folding proteins, and the ubiquitin/proteosome pathway.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our results suggest that cigarette smoke causes inflammation and has detrimental effects on the metabolism and function of innate immune cells. In addition, THP-1 cells provide a genetically stable alternative to primary cells for the study of the effects of cigarette smoke on human monocytes.</p> </div

Mapping of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Rivers From Very High Resolution Image Data, Using Object Based Image Analysis Combined with Expert Knowledge

The use of remote sensing for monitoring of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in fluvial environments has been limited by the spatial and spectral resolution of available image data. The absorption of light in water also complicates the use of common image analysis methods. This paper presents the results of a study that uses very high resolution (VHR) image data, collected with a Near Infrared sensitive DSLR camera, to map the distribution of SAV species for three sites along the Desselse Nete, a lowland river in Flanders, Belgium. Plant species, including Ranunculus aquatilis L., Callitriche obtusangula Le Gall, Potamogeton natans L., Sparganium emersum L. and Potamogeton crispus L., were classified from the data using Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and expert knowledge. A classification rule set based on a combination of both spectral and structural image variation (e.g. texture and shape) was developed for images from two sites. A comparison of the classifications with manually delineated ground truth maps resulted for both sites in 61% overall accuracy. Application of the rule set to a third validation image, resulted in 53% overall accuracy. These consistent results show promise for species level mapping in such biodiverse environments, but also prompt a discussion on assessment of classification accuracy

Ocean heat convergence and North Atlantic multidecadal heat content variability

We construct an upper ocean (0-1000m) North Atlantic heat budget (26°-67°N) for the period 1950-2020 using multiple observational datasets and an eddy-permitting global ocean model. On multidecadal timescales ocean heat transport convergence controls ocean heat content (OHC) tendency in most regions of the North Atlantic with little role for diffusive processes. In the subpolar North Atlantic (45°N-67°N) heat transport convergence is explained by geostrophic currents whereas ageostrophic currents make a significant contribution in the subtropics (26°N-45°N). The geostrophic contribution in all regions is dominated by anomalous advection across the time-mean temperature gradient although other processes make a significant contribution particularly in the subtropics. The timescale and spatial distribution of the anomalous geostrophic currents are consistent with a simple model of basin scale thermal Rossby waves propagating westwards/northwestwards in the subpolar gyre and multidecadal variations in regional OHC are explained by geostrophic currents periodically coming into alignment with the mean temperature gradient as the Rossby wave passes through. The global ocean model simulation shows that multidecadal variations in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation are synchronized with the ocean heat transport convergence consistent with modulation of the west-east pressure gradient by the propagating Rossby wave