Municipality Size and Efficiency of Local Public Services: Does Size Matter?

Similarly to western Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, the eastern part of Germany has experienced a still ongoing process of numerous amalgamations among counties, towns and municipalities since the mid-1990s. The evidence in the economic literature is mixed with regard to the claimed expenditure reductions and efficiency gains from municipal mergers. We therefore analyze the global efficiency of the municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt, for the first time in this context, using a double-bootstrap procedure combining DEA and truncated regression. This allows including environmental variables to control for exogenous determinants of municipal efficiency. Our focus thereby is on institutional and fiscal variables. Moreover, the scale efficiency is estimated to find out whether large units are necessary to benefit from scale economies. In contrast to previous studies, we chose the aggregate budget of municipal associations (“Verwaltungsgemeinschaften”) as the object of our analysis since important competences of the member municipalities are settled on a joint administrative level. Furthermore, we use a data set that has been carefully adjusted for bookkeeping items and transfers within the communal level. On the “eve” of a mayor municipal reform the majority of the municipalities were found to have an approximately scale-efficient size and centralized organizational forms (“Einheitsgemeinden”) showed no efficiency advantage over municipal associations.efficiency, local government, DEA, bootstrap, demographic change, local institutions

New Insights into Cosmic Ray induced Biosignature Chemistry in Earth-like Atmospheres

With the recent discoveries of terrestrial planets around active M-dwarfs, destruction processes masking the possible presence of life are receiving increased attention in the exoplanet community. We investigate potential biosignatures of planets having Earth-like (N$_2$-O$_2$) atmospheres orbiting in the habitable zone of the M-dwarf star AD Leo. These are bombarded by high energetic particles which can create showers of secondary particles at the surface. We apply our cloud-free 1D climate-chemistry model to study the influence of key particle shower parameters and chemical efficiencies of NOx and HOx production from cosmic rays. We determine the effect of stellar radiation and cosmic rays upon atmospheric composition, temperature, and spectral appearance. Despite strong stratospheric O$_3$ destruction by cosmic rays, smog O$_3$ can significantly build up in the lower atmosphere of our modeled planet around AD Leo related to low stellar UVB. N$_2$O abundances decrease with increasing flaring energies but a sink reaction for N$_2$O with excited oxygen becomes weaker, stabilizing its abundance. CH$_4$ is removed mainly by Cl in the upper atmosphere for strong flaring cases and not via hydroxyl as is otherwise usually the case. Cosmic rays weaken the role of CH$_4$ in heating the middle atmosphere so that H$_2$O absorption becomes more important. We additionally underline the importance of HNO$_3$ as a possible marker for strong stellar particle showers. In a nutshell, uncertainty in NOx and HOx production from cosmic rays significantly influences biosignature abundances and spectral appearance.Comment: Manuscript version after addressing all referee comments. Published in Ap

Efficient photosynthesis of carbon monoxide from CO2 using perovskite photovoltaics

Artificial photosynthesis, mimicking nature in its efforts to store solar energy, has received considerable attention from the research community. Most of these attempts target the production of H2 as a fuel and our group recently demonstrated solar-to-hydrogen conversion at 12.3% efficiency. Here, in an effort to take this approach closer to real photosynthesis, which is based on the conversion of CO2, we demonstrate the efficient reduction of CO2 to carbon monoxide driven solely by simulated sunlight using water as the electron source. Employing series-connected perovskite photovoltaics and high-performance catalyst electrodes, we reach a solar-to-CO efficiency exceeding 6.5%, which represents a new benchmark in sunlight-driven CO2 conversion. Considering hydrogen as a secondary product, an efficiency exceeding 7% is observed. Furthermore, this study represents one of the first demonstrations of extended, stable operation of perovskite photovoltaics, whose large open-circuit voltage is shown to be particularly suited for this process

Consistently Simulating a Wide Range of Atmospheric Scenarios for K2-18b with a Flexible Radiative Transfer Module

The atmospheres of small, potentially rocky exoplanets are expected to cover a diverse range in composition and mass. Studying such objects therefore requires flexible and wide-ranging modeling capabilities. We present in this work the essential development steps that lead to our flexible radiative transfer module, REDFOX, and validate REDFOX for the Solar system planets Earth, Venus and Mars, as well as for steam atmospheres. REDFOX is a k-distribution model using the correlated-k approach with random overlap method for the calculation of opacities used in the $\delta$-two-stream approximation for radiative transfer. Opacity contributions from Rayleigh scattering, UV / visible cross sections and continua can be added selectively. With the improved capabilities of our new model, we calculate various atmospheric scenarios for K2-18b, a super-Earth / sub-Neptune with $\sim$8 M$_\oplus$ orbiting in the temperate zone around an M-star, with recently observed H$_2$O spectral features in the infrared. We model Earth-like, Venus-like, as well as H$_2$-He primary atmospheres of different Solar metallicity and show resulting climates and spectral characteristics, compared to observed data. Our results suggest that K2-18b has an H$_2$-He atmosphere with limited amounts of H$_2$O and CH$_4$. Results do not support the possibility of K2-18b having a water reservoir directly exposed to the atmosphere, which would reduce atmospheric scale heights, hence too the amplitudes of spectral features inconsistent with the observations. We also performed tests for H$_2$-He atmospheres up to 50 times Solar metallicity, all compatible with the observations.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Detectability of atmospheric features of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around M dwarfs

We investigate the detectability of atmospheric spectral features of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around M dwarfs with the future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We use a coupled 1D climate-chemistry-model to simulate the influence of a range of observed and modelled M-dwarf spectra on Earth-like planets. The simulated atmospheres served as input for the calculation of the transmission spectra of the hypothetical planets, using a line-by-line spectral radiative transfer model. To investigate the spectroscopic detectability of absorption bands with JWST we further developed a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) model and applied it to our transmission spectra. High abundances of CH$_4$ and H$_2$O in the atmosphere of Earth-like planets around mid to late M dwarfs increase the detectability of the corresponding spectral features compared to early M-dwarf planets. Increased temperatures in the middle atmosphere of mid- to late-type M-dwarf planets expand the atmosphere and further increase the detectability of absorption bands. To detect CH$_4$, H$_2$O, and CO$_2$ in the atmosphere of an Earth-like planet around a mid to late M dwarf observing only one transit with JWST could be enough up to a distance of 4 pc and less than ten transits up to a distance of 10 pc. As a consequence of saturation limits of JWST and less pronounced absorption bands, the detection of spectral features of hypothetical Earth-like planets around most early M dwarfs would require more than ten transits. We identify 276 existing M dwarfs (including GJ 1132, TRAPPIST-1, GJ 1214, and LHS 1140) around which atmospheric absorption features of hypothetical Earth-like planets could be detected by co-adding just a few transits. We show that using transmission spectroscopy, JWST could provide enough precision to be able to partly characterise the atmosphere of Earth-like TESS planets around mid to late M dwarfs.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Pathways between childhood victimization and psychosis-like symptoms in the ALSPAC Birth Cohort

Background: Several large population-based studies have demonstrated associations between adverse childhood experiences and later development of psychotic symptoms. However, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms involved in this pathway and the few existing studies have relied on cross-sectional assessments. Methods: Prospective data on 6692 children from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were used to address this issue. Mothers reported on children’s exposure to harsh parenting and domestic violence in early childhood, and children self-reported on bullying victimization prior to 8.5 years. Presence of children’s anxiety at 10 years and their depressive symptoms at 9 and 11 years were ascertained from mothers, and children completed assessments of self-esteem and locus of control at 8.5 years. Children were interviewed regarding psychotic symptoms at a mean age of 12.9 years. Multiple mediation analysis was performed to examine direct and indirect effects of each childhood adversity on psychotic symptoms. Results: The association between harsh parenting and psychotic symptoms was fully mediated by anxiety, depressive symptoms, external locus of control, and low self-esteem. Bullying victimization and exposure to domestic violence had their associations with psychotic symptoms partially mediated by anxiety, depression, locus of control, and self-esteem. Similar results were obtained following adjustment for a range of confounders and when analyses were conducted for boys and girls separately. Conclusions: These findings tentatively suggest that specific cognitive and affective difficulties in childhood could be targeted to minimize the likelihood of adolescents exposed to early trauma from developing psychotic symptoms

Sideband Transitions and Two-Tone Spectroscopy of a Superconducting Qubit Strongly Coupled to an On-Chip Cavity

Sideband transitions are spectroscopically probed in a system consisting of a Cooper pair box strongly but non-resonantly coupled to a superconducting transmission line resonator. When the Cooper pair box is operated at the optimal charge bias point the symmetry of the hamiltonian requires a two photon process to access sidebands. The observed large dispersive ac-Stark shifts in the sideband transitions induced by the strong non-resonant drives agree well with our theoretical predictions. Sideband transitions are important in realizing qubit-photon and qubit-qubit entanglement in the circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture for quantum information processing.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, version with high resolution figures available at http://qudev.ethz.ch/content/science/PubsPapers.htm

Outcomes of Hip Fractures at Teaching Hospitals Versus Non-Teaching Hospitals

Hip fractures in adults are associated with a large burden of suffering in the United States and are a major focus of various advocacy groups, professional organizations and government agencies. Strategies for prevention of hip fractures include primary prevention of osteoporosis, secondary prevention of fractures in patients with asymptomatic osteoporosis, tertiary prevention of complications in patients with hip fractures, and quarternary prevention of long-term disability from hip fracture. As a tertiary prevention option, surgery to repair a hip fracture has many benefits but is still associated with negative outcomes. This research establishes the evidence base and proposes a secondary analysis for determining whether patients treated for hip fracture at teaching hospitals experience fewer negative outcomes than do patients treated at non-teaching hospitals. A systematic review of the literature does not permit the drawing of firm conclusions about teaching hospital status, but a secondary analysis of data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database could advance our understanding of the context of hip fracture outcomes. A study sample, based on patients with ICD-9 diagnosis codes for hip fracture, can be drawn from admissions represented in the NIS database, and outcomes including rates of mortality, rates of various postoperative complications, lengths of stay, cost, and discharge dispositions can be correlated with forms of treatment and teaching hospital status.Master of Public Healt

Hubble Space Telescope Imaging in the Chandra Deep Field South: III. Quantitative Morphology of the 1Ms Chandra Counterparts and Comparison with the Field Population

We present quantitative morphological analyses of 37 HST/WFPC2 counterparts of X-ray sources in the 1 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South (CDFS). We investigate: 1) 1-D surface brightness profiles via isophotal ellipse fitting; 2) 2-D, PSF- convolved, bulge+disk+nucleus profile-fitting; 3) asymmetry and concentration indices compared with all ~3000 sources in our three WFPC2 fields; and 4) near- neighbor analyses comparing local environments of X-ray sources versus the field control sample. Significant nuclear point-source optical components appear in roughly half of the resolved HST/WFPC2 counterparts, showing a narrow range of F_X/F_{opt,nuc} consistent with the several HST-unresolved X-ray sources (putative type-1 AGN) in our fields. We infer roughly half of the HST/WFPC2 counterparts host unobscured AGN, which suggests no steep decline in the type-1/type-2 ratio out to the redshifts z~0.5-1 typical of our sources. The concentration indices of the CDFS counterparts are clearly larger on average than those of the field distribution, at 5-sigma, suggesting that the strong correlation between central black hole mass and host galaxy properties (including concentration index) observed in nearby galaxies is already evident by z~0.5-1. By contrast, the asymmetry index distribution of the 21 resolved CDFS sources at I<23 is indistinguishable from the I<23 field. Moreover, the frequency of I<23 near neighbors around the CDFS counterparts is not significantly different from the field sample. These results, combined with previous similar findings for local samples, suggest that recent merger/ interaction history is not a good indicator of AGN activity over a substantial range of look-back time.Comment: 30 pages, incl. 8 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa