Finding common ground A pragmatic budgetary instrument for the euro area Bertelsmann Stiftung Policy Paper 8 February 2019

We outline a pragmatic proposal for a budgetary instrument for the euro area in line with the decision of the December 2018 Euro Summit. It is based on a very simple principle: any new instrument should make the euro area function better as a currency union. This is the only way to justify a euro area instrument in the first place. This principle has two implications. First, duplication of existing tools needs to be avoided at all cost. In the current situation, we see a looming risk of layering a new instrument onto existing programmes such as EU structural funds, to which the new instrument would add no real value. Second, the two objectives set out in the Euro Summit decision – competitiveness and convergence – ought to be operationalized strictly in terms of their contribution to a better functioning of the euro area as a currency union

Individual Differences in Temporal Selective Attention as Reflected in Pupil Dilation

Attention is restricted for the second of two targets when it is presented within 200-500 ms of the first target. This attentional blink (AB) phenomenon allows one to study the dynamics of temporal selective attention by varying the interval between the two targets (T1 and T2). Whereas the AB has long been considered as a robust and universal cognitive limitation, several studies have demonstrated that AB task performance greatly differs between individuals, with some individuals showing no AB whatsoever.Here, we studied these individual differences in AB task performance in relation to differences in attentional timing. Furthermore, we investigated whether AB magnitude is predictive for the amount of attention allocated to T1. For both these purposes pupil dilation was measured, and analyzed with our recently developed deconvolution method. We found that the dynamics of temporal attention in small versus large blinkers differ in a number of ways. Individuals with a relatively small AB magnitude seem better able to preserve temporal order information. In addition, they are quicker to allocate attention to both T1 and T2 than large blinkers. Although a popular explanation of the AB is that it is caused by an unnecessary overinvestment of attention allocated to T1, a more complex picture emerged from our data, suggesting that this may depend on whether one is a small or a large blinker.The use of pupil dilation deconvolution seems to be a powerful approach to study the temporal dynamics of attention, bringing us a step closer to understanding the elusive nature of the AB. We conclude that the timing of attention to targets may be more important than the amount of allocated attention in accounting for individual differences

Delayed wound repair in sepsis is associated with reduced local pro-inflammatory cytokine expression

Sepsis is one of the main causes for morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Moreover, sepsis associated complications involving impaired wound healing are common. Septic patients often require surgical interventions that in-turn may lead to further complications caused by impaired wound healing. We established a mouse model to the study delayed wound healing during sepsis distant to the septic focus point. For this reason cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was combined with the creation of a superficial wound on the mouse ear. Control animals received the same procedure without CPL. Epithelialization was measured every second day by direct microscopic visualization up to complete closure of the wound. As interplay of TNF-α, TGF-β, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) is important in wound healing in general, TNF-α, TGF-β, MMP7, and TIMP1 were assessed immunohistochemical in samples of wounded ears harvested on days 2, 6, 10 and 16 after wounding. After induction of sepsis, animals showed a significant delay in wound epithelialization from day 2 to 12 compared to control animals. Complete wound healing was attained after mean 12.2± standard deviation (SD) 3.0 days in septic animals compared to 8.7± SD 1.7 days in the control group. Septic animals showed a significant reduction in local pro-inflammatory cytokine level of TNF-α on day 2 and day 6 as well as a reduced expression of TGF-β on day 2 in wounds. A significant lower expression of MMP7 as well as TIMP1 was also observed on day 2 after wounding. The induction of sepsis impairs wound healing distant to the septic focus point. We could demonstrate that expression of important cytokines for wound repair is deregulated after induction of sepsis. Thus restoring normal cytokine response locally in wounds could be a good strategy to enhance wound repair in sepsis

Radiation hardness of diamond and silicon sensors compared

The radiation hardness of silicon charged particle sensors is compared with single crystal and polycrystalline diamond sensors, both experimentally and theoretically. It is shown that for Si- and C-sensors, the NIEL hypothesis, which states that the signal loss is proportional to the Non-Ionizing Energy Loss, is a good approximation to the present data. At incident proton and neutron energies well above 0.1 GeV the radiation damage is dominated by the inelastic cross section, while at non-relativistic energies the elastic cross section prevails. The smaller inelastic nucleon-Carbon cross section and the light nuclear fragments imply that at high energies diamond is an order of magnitude more radiation hard than silicon, while at energies below 0.1 GeV the difference becomes significantly smaller.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figurs, invited talk at the Hasselt Diamond Workshop, Feb. 200

Reducing MOSFET 1/f Noise and Power Consumption by 'switched biasing'

"Switched Biasing" is proposed as a new circuit technique that exploits an intriguing physical effect: cycling a MOS transistor between strong inversion and accumulation reduces its intrinsic 1/f noise. The technique is implemented in a 0.8µm CMOS sawtooth oscillator by periodically off-switching of the bias currents during time intervals that they are not contributing to the circuit operation. Measurements show a reduction of the 1/f noise induced phase noise by more than 8 dB, while the power consumption is reduced by more than 30% as well

Reduction of the 1/f Noise Induced Phase Noise in a CMOS Ring Oscillator by Increasing the Amplitude of Oscillation

Spectrum measurement results of a CMOS ring oscillator are presented that show a 10 dB decrease in 1/f noise induced phase noise at a 2 dB increase in carrier power. Simple ring oscillator theory predicts that the 1/f noise induced phase noise is independent of carrier power. It is shown that an increase in the amplitude of oscillation is accompanied by a reduction of the intrinsic 1/f noise of the periodically switched MOS transistors in the ring. A net reduction of the 1/f noise of a periodically switched NMOS transistor of more than 12 dB is measured in the baseban

Biochemische, molekularbiologische und bioinformatische Untersuchungen zum DsrMKJOP-Komplex von <i>Allochromatium vinosum</i>

Für die Proteine DsrO und DsrJ konnte die Expression in Allochromatium vinosum, sowie die Lokalisation in der Membran nachgewiesen werden. Für DsrO konnte zudem gezeigt werden, dass das Signalpeptid des Proteins abgespalten wird. Die beiden wahrscheinlich periplasmatischen Proteine DsrO und DsrJ wurden gemeinsam mit dem cytoplasmatischen DsrK in Präparationen aus der Membranfraktion gefunden. Dies weist auf die Bildung eines integralen Membrankomplexes hin. Mit Hilfe von Deletionsmutanten wurde gezeigt, dass die Gene dsrMKJOP absolut essentiell für die Schwefeloxidation in A. vinosum sind. Andere Teilprozesse des Schwefelstoffwechsels, wie etwa die Sulfid- oder Thiosulfatoxidation sind nicht betroffen. Durch Komplementation der ?dsrJ-Mutante konnte zudem gezeigt werden, dass in diesem Fall der beobachtete Phänotyp ausschließlich auf die Deletion des dsrJ-Gens zurückzuführen war. Mit Hilfe von BLAST-Suchen in Sequenz-Datenbanken konnten weitere Organismen identifiziert werden, die über dsr-Gene verfügen. Alle diese Organismen verfügen über einen reduktiv- oder oxidativ-dissimilatorischen Schwefelstoffwechsel. Hinsichtlich des Genbestandes gibt es allerdings deutliche Unterschiede zwischen Organismen mit oxidativem und Organismen mit reduktivem Schwefelstoffwechsel. Während z.B. die Gene dsrD und dsrT (mit Ausnahme der Chlorobiaceae) auf Sulfat-/Sulfitreduzierer beschränkt sind, kommen die Gene dsrEFH und L ausschließlich bei Sulfidoxidierern vor. Die Gene dsrR und dsrR treten nur bei A. vinosum und Thiobacillus denitrificans auf. Mit den von diesen Genen abgeleiteten Proteinen wurden phylogenetische Analysen durchgeführt. Dabei zeigte sich, dass sich in der Regel die Sulfidoxidierer klar von den Sulfat-/Sulfitreduzierern absetzen lassen. Eine Ausnahme bilden allerdings die mutmaßlichen Proteine des DsrMKJOP-Komplexes, bei denen die Sequenzen aus den Chlorobiaceae immer und die Sequenzen aus Archaeoglobus fulgidus manchmal "falsch" eingruppiert werden. Wahrscheinlich ist dies auf horizontalen Gentransfer zurückzuführen. Mit Hilfe eines phylogenetischen Baumes für die mutmaßlichen DsrEFH-Proteine und weitere homologe Proteine konnten schließlich Zusammenhänge zwischen der Position der Proteine im Stammbaum und konservierten Cysteinresten festgestellt werden

Intrinsic 1/f device noise reduction and its effect on phase noise in CMOS ring oscillators

This paper gives experimental proof of an intriguing physical effect: periodic on-off switching of MOS transistors in a CMOS ring oscillator reduces their intrinsic 1/f noise and hence the oscillator's close-in phase noise. More specifically, it is shown that the 1/f3 phase noise is dependent on the gate-source voltage of the MOS transistors in the off state. Measurement results, corrected for waveform-dependent upconversion and effective bias, show an 8-dB-lower 1/f3 phase noise than expected. It will be shown that this can be attributed to the intrinsic 1/f noise reduction effect due to periodic on-off switchin

Local Lunar Gravity Field Analysis over the South Pole-aitken Basin from SELENE Farside Tracking Data

We present a method with which we determined the local lunar gravity field model over the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the farside of the Moon by estimating adjustments to a global lunar gravity field model using SELENE tracking data. Our adjustments are expressed in localized functions concentrated over the SPA region in a spherical cap with a radius of 45deg centered at (191.1 deg E, 53.2 deg S), and the resolution is equivalent to a 150th degree and order spherical harmonics expansion. The new solution over SPA was used in several applications of geophysical analysis. It shows an increased correlation with high-resolution lunar topography in the frequency band l = 40-70, and admittance values are slightly different and more leveled when compared to other, global gravity field models using the same data. The adjustments expressed in free-air anomalies and differences in Bouguer anomalies between the local solution and the a priori global solution correlate with topographic surface features. The Moho structure beneath the SPA basin is slightly modified in our solution, most notably at the southern rim of the Apollo basin and around the Zeeman crate