Modeling of Transient Trapping of Fatty Acid Tails in Phospholipids

We present the derivation of a new model to describe neutron spin echo spectroscopy and quasi-elastic neutron scattering data on liposomes. We compare the new model with existing approaches and benchmark it with experimental data. The analysis indicates the importance of including all major contributions into modeling of the intermediate scattering function. Simultaneous analysis of the experimental data on lipids with full contrast and tail contrast matched samples, reveals highly confined lipid tail motion. A comparison of their dynamics demonstrates the statistical independ-ence of tail-motion and height-height correlation of the membrane. A more detailed analysis indi-cates that lipid tails are subject to relaxations in a potential with cylindrical symmetry, in addition to the undulation and diffusive motion of the liposome. Despite substantial differences in the chemis-try of the fatty acid tails, the observation indicates a universal behavior. The analysis of partially deuterated systems confirms the strong contribution of the lipid tail to the intermediate scattering function. Within the time range from 5 to 100 ns, the intermediate scattering function can be de-scribed by the height-height correlation function. The existence of the fast-localized tail motion and the contribution of slow translational diffusion of liposomes determines the intermediate scattering function for t 100 ns, respectively. Taking into account the limited time window lowers the bending moduli by a factor of 1.3 (DOPC) to 2 (DMPC) compared to the full range.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, published in Soft Matte

Imperfect Construction of Microclusters

Microclusters are the basic building blocks used to construct cluster states capable of supporting fault-tolerant quantum computation. In this paper, we explore the consequences of errors on microcluster construction using two error models. To quantify the effect of the errors we calculate the fidelity of the constructed microclusters and the fidelity with which two such microclusters can be fused together. Such simulations are vital for gauging the capability of an experimental system to achieve fault tolerance.Comment: 5 pages 2 figure

Explaining the uneven demand for EU parliamentary oversight during the Eurozone crisis

The Eurozone crisis increased calls for institutional reform and closer parliamentary oversight of the EU’s crisis managers. As Federica Genovese and Gerald Schneider show, the national demand for increased parliamentary scrutiny crucially hinged on the exposure to the crisis and the domestic leeway in fighting it

Here, there, everywhere – the gender gap at European Union politics

The gender gap pervades almost all aspects of the academic world. Drawing on a recent co-authored study, Julia Bettecken and Gerald Schneider show the imbalance is also present at the journal European Union Politics (EUP). The gap at EUP manifests itself not only in the underrepresentation of females as editors, authors, or reviewers, but also in their correspondence with the editorial office

Eliciting Substance from ‘Hot Air': Financial Market Responses to EU Summit Decisions on European Defense

The results of deliberations in multilateral fora are often considered ineffective. Decision making in the European Union (EU) and in particular its key intergovernmental body, the European Council, poses no exception. Especially in the domain of EU foreign and security affairs, the unanimity requirement governing this institution allegedly allows nationalist governments to torpedo any attempt to build up a credible European defense force and a unified foreign policy stance. In this article, we take issue with the claim that multilateral summits merely result in "hot air” by looking at whether and how decisions made during EU summit meetings affect the European defense industry. We argue that investors react positively to a successful strengthening of Europe's military component—a vital part of the intensified cooperation within the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)—since such decisions increase the demand for military products and raise the expected profits in the European defense industry. Our findings lend empirical support to the view that financial markets indeed evaluate the substance of European Council meetings and react positively to those summit decisions that consolidate EU military capabilities and the ESDP. Each of the substantial council decisions studied increased the value of the European defense sector by about 4 billion euros on average. This shows that multilateral decisions can have considerable economic and financial repercussion

The change of tide in political cooperation: a limited information model of European integration

European integration follows a puzzling stop-and-go pattern that traditional international reations theories cannot fully explain. The predominating paradigms only account for either the achievements or the setbacks of the integration process. An information based explanation makes it possible to move beyond structural accounts provided by realist and functionalist scholarship. Such an approach yields solid micro-level foundations of international bargaining and focuses on leaders' use of threats in negotiations about regional cooperation. Situations involving governments agreeing on the necessity of further integration, but disagreeing about its level, create room for strategic manipulation of information asymmetries. This type of uncertainty stems from the manipulator's information and control advantages concerning domestic costs. The analysis of different summit meetings demonstrates the empirical relevance of such maneuvers for the dynamics of European integratio