Doves and hawks in economics revisited [An evolutionary quantum game theory-based analysis of financial crises]

The last financial and economic crisis demonstrated the dysfunctional long-term effects of aggressive behaviour in financial markets. Yet, evolutionary game theory predicts that under the condition of strategic dependence a certain degree of aggressive behaviour remains within a given population of agents. However, as the consequences of the financial crisis exhibit, it would be desirable to change the 'rules of the game' in a way that prevents the occurrence of any aggressive behaviour and thereby also the danger of market crashes. The paper picks up this aspect. Through the extension of the in literature well-known Hawk-Dove game by a quantum approach, we can show that dependent on entanglement, also evolutionary stable strategies can emerge, which are not predicted by classical evolutionary game theory and where the total economic population uses a non aggressive quantum strategy.Evolutionary game theory; financial crisis; hawk-dove game; quantum game theory

General cost analysis for scholarly communication in Germany : results of the "Houghton Report" for Germany

Management Summary: Conducted within the project “Economic Implications of New Models for Information Supply for Science and Research in Germany”, the Houghton Report for Germany provides a general cost and benefit analysis for scientific communication in Germany comparing different scenarios according to their specific costs and explicitly including the German National License Program (NLP). Basing on the scholarly lifecycle process model outlined by Björk (2007), the study compared the following scenarios according to their accounted costs: - Traditional subscription publishing, - Open access publishing (Gold Open Access; refers primarily to journal publishing where access is free of charge to readers, while the authors or funding organisations pay for publication) - Open Access self-archiving (authors deposit their work in online open access institutional or subject-based repositories, making it freely available to anyone with Internet access; further divided into (i) CGreen Open Access’ self-archiving operating in parallel with subscription publishing; and (ii) the ‘overlay services’ model in which self-archiving provides the foundation for overlay services (e.g. peer review, branding and quality control services)) - the NLP. Within all scenarios, five core activity elements (Fund research and research communication; perform research and communicate the results; publish scientific and scholarly works; facilitate dissemination, retrieval and preservation; study publications and apply the knowledge) were modeled and priced with all their including activities. Modelling the impacts of an increase in accessibility and efficiency resulting from more open access on returns to R&D over a 20 year period and then comparing costs and benefits, we find that the benefits of open access publishing models are likely to substantially outweigh the costs and, while smaller, the benefits of the German NLP also exceed the costs. This analysis of the potential benefits of more open access to research findings suggests that different publishing models can make a material difference to the benefits realised, as well as the costs faced. It seems likely that more Open Access would have substantial net benefits in the longer term and, while net benefits may be lower during a transitional period, they are likely to be positive for both ‘author-pays’ Open Access publishing and the ‘over-lay journals’ alternatives (‘Gold Open Access’), and for parallel subscription publishing and self-archiving (‘Green Open Access’). The NLP returns substantial benefits and savings at a modest cost, returning one of the highest benefit/cost ratios available from unilateral national policies during a transitional period (second to that of ‘Green Open Access’ self-archiving). Whether ‘Green Open Access’ self-archiving in parallel with subscriptions is a sustainable model over the longer term is debateable, and what impact the NLP may have on the take up of Open Access alternatives is also an important consideration. So too is the potential for developments in Open Access or other scholarly publishing business models to significantly change the relative cost-benefit of the NLP over time. The results are comparable to those of previous studies from the UK and Netherlands. Green Open Access in parallel with the traditional model yields the best benefits/cost ratio. Beside its benefits/cost ratio, the meaningfulness of the NLP is given by its enforceability. The true costs of toll access publishing (beside the buyback” of information) is the prohibition of access to research and knowledge for society

Lifshitz transition in the phase diagram of two-leg tt-JJ ladder systems at low filling

We use a combination of numerical matrix product states (MPS) and analytical approaches to investigate the phase diagram of the two-leg $t$-$J$ ladder in the region of low to intermediate fillings. We choose the same coupling strength along the leg- and rung-directions, but study the effect of adding a nearest-neighbor repulsion $V$. We observe a rich phase diagram and analytically identify a Lifshitz-like band filling transition, which can be associated to a numerically observed crossover from s-wave to d-wave like superconducting quasi-long range order (QLRO). Due to the strong interactions, the Lifshitz transition is smeared into a crossover region which separates two distinct Luttinger theories with unequal physical meaning of the Luttinger parameter. Our numerically exact MPS results spotlight deviations from standard Luttinger theory in this crossover region and is consistent with Luttinger theory sufficiently far away from the Lifshitz transition. At very low fillings, studying the Friedel-like oscillations of the local density identifies a precursor region to a Wigner crystal at small values of the magnetic exchange interaction $J/t$. We discuss analytically how tuning parameters at these fillings modifies the phase diagram, and find good agreement with MPS results.Comment: 14 pages, 4 appendices, 17 figure

Heterologous Expression, Purification, and Biochemical Characterization of α-Humulene Synthase from Zingiber zerumbet Smith

The α-humulene synthase from Zingiber zerumbet Smith was expressed as a polyhistidine-tagged protein in an E. coli BL21(DE3) strain. Induction time and inductor (isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside) concentration were optimized. The enzyme was successfully purified directly from cell lysate by NTA affinity column chromatography and careful selection of coordinated metal ion and imidazole elution conditions. Bioactivity assays were conducted with the natural substrate farnesyl diphosphate (FDP) in a two-phase system with in situ extraction of products. The conversion of FDP to α-humulene (~94.5 %) and β-caryophyllene (~5.5 %) could be monitored by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). Optimal pH and temperature as well as kinetic parameters KM and kcat were determined using a discontinuous kinetic assay. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1888-4.EFRE/ZW-8-8013094

Genome Editing am Menschen. TAB-Fokus

- Neue gentechnische Verfahren des Genome Editings erlauben gezielte Eingriffe in somatische sowie in Keim(bahn)zellen des Menschen. - Somatische Gentherapien können durch Genome Editing verbessert und ihr Anwendungsbereich erweitert werden. Erste Ansätze werden klinisch erprobt. - Für die Entwicklung gen- und zellbasierter Therapien, insbesondere für seltene Erkrankungen, sind forschungs- und innovationspolitische Impulse nötig. Den voraussichtlich weiterhin hohen Kosten der Verfahren kann durch neuartige Erstattungsmodelle begegnetwerden. - Einer klinischen Anwendung von Keimbahneingriffen stehen ungeklärte gesundheitliche Risiken und grundsätzliche ethische Fragen entgegen

Genome Editing am Menschen. Endbericht zum Monitoring

Genome Editing bezeichnet die jüngste Generation gentechnischer Verfahren, darunter das Werkzeug CRISPR/Cas9, dessen Entdeckung 2020 mit einem Nobelpreis ausgezeichnet wurde. Die Anwendung von Genome Editing am Menschen weckt Hoffnungen auf neue medizinische Therapien. Mit der Möglichkeit von Keimbahninterventionen, also dauerhaften, vererbbaren Eingriffen in das menschliche Genom, stellen sich aber auch grundsätzliche ethische Fragen. Der TAB-Arbeitsbericht Nr. 191 bietet einen aktuellen, interdisziplinären Überblick über die umfangreiche Diskussion zum Thema Genome Editing am Menschen. Keimbahneingriffe werden durch Genome Editing erst ermöglicht. Auf sie richtet sich der Fokus der öffentlichen Diskussion. Die Zahl realistischer Anwendungsszenarien ist jedoch sehr gering, die Ungewissheit bezüglich ihrer Realisierungsmöglichkeiten groß. Die allermeisten Fachleute sehen die Voraussetzungen für solche Eingriffe bisher als nicht gegeben an, auch wenn sie etwa vom Deutschen Ethikrat nicht prinzipiell abgelehnt werden. Sollte in Deutschland die Regulierung der Forschung an Embryonen geändert werden, müsste dem eine breite gesellschaftliche Meinungsbildung und Debatte vorausgehen. Auf internationaler Ebene könnte auf eine Beobachtung und Begleitung der Forschung zu Keimbahneingriffen durch kompetente Institutionen hingewirkt werden. Anwendungen an somatischen Zellen, also gen- und zellbasierte Therapien an Zellen, die nicht Teil der Keimbahn sind, werden bisher vor allem in Fachkreisen diskutiert, erste klinische Studien sind gestartet. Durch den zielgenaueren Einbau von Genen ins Genom sollen die Therapien effizienter und sicherer werden, außerdem lassen sich Erkrankungen adressieren, die sich mit bisherigen Gentherapien nicht behandeln lassen (z. B. Huntington-Krankheit). Der (in)effiziente Gentransfer stellt allerdings weiterhin eine Herausforderung dar, zudem kann es zu unbeabsichtigten Schäden im Genom (am Zielort – on target – oder an anderen Stellen als der eigentlichen Zielsequenz – off target) und zu Immunreaktionen kommen. Die voraussichtlich weiterhin hohen Kosten werfen die Frage des gerechten Zugangs zu diesen Gentherapien auf. Um ihn zu erleichtern, könnten bestehende Erstattungsmodelle durch erfolgsabhängige Modelle ergänzt werden, zudem wäre die Wirkung von Innovationsanreizen auf die Arzneimittelentwicklung für seltene Erkrankungen genauer zu untersuchen. Als Optionen der Forschungsförderung werden im Bericht neben öffentlichen Mitteln auch indirekte Ansätze wie die Gewährung von Steuervorteilen für FuE-Investitionen sowie Mega-Fonds-Modelle zur Finanzierung risikoreicher, aber möglicherweise hochprofitabler Vorhaben diskutiert

Synthetic biology – The next phase of biotechnology and genetic engineering. Summary

For a good ten years now, the term "synthetic biology" (Synbio for short) has been used to describe research projects, methods and procedures for a "transformation" of natural organisms that goes further than was previously possible with the help of genetic engineering. The creation of (completely) artificial "biological" systems (synbio in the narrow sense) is envisaged, although their practical use is still a long way off and is therefore unlikely to have much social and political relevance in the coming years. The situation is quite different with synbio in the broader sense - understood as the next stage of biotechnology and genetic engineering, which includes in particular the recently developed methods of so-called genome editing (including CRISPR/Cas). Due to the increasingly simple and faster possibilities of targeted molecular biological modification of known organisms, a large number of applications in microorganisms, plants and animals can be expected in the coming years. As expected, the debate on the responsible use and necessary regulation of genetic engineering gained momentum in autumn 2015. The TAB report provides a comprehensive account of the state of research, development and application, safety and governance issues of synbio, as well as a detailed portrait of actors and perspectives of do-it-yourself biology. It places the debates on the potentials and perspectives of synbio in larger science, research and innovation policy contexts and elaborates central questions for the future and fields of action - including in the area of biosafety research and with a view to expanding the groups of actors in the planning and implementation of research programmes and projects

Highly efficient passive Tesla valves for microfluidic applications

A multistage optimization method is developed yielding Tesla valves that are efficient even at low flow rates, characteristic, e.g., for almost all microfluidic systems, where passive valves have intrinsic advantages over active ones. We report on optimized structures that show a diodicity of up to 1.8 already at flow rates of 20 μl s−1 corresponding to a Reynolds number of 36. Centerpiece of the design is a topological optimization based on the finite element method. It is set-up to yield easy-to-fabricate valve structures with a small footprint that can be directly used in microfluidic systems. Our numerical two-dimensional optimization takes into account the finite height of the channel approximately by means of a so-called shallow-channel approximation. Based on the three-dimensionally extruded optimized designs, various test structures were fabricated using standard, widely available microsystem manufacturing techniques. The manufacturing process is described in detail since it can be used for the production of similar cost-effective microfluidic systems. For the experimentally fabricated chips, the efficiency of the different valve designs, i.e., the diodicity defined as the ratio of the measured pressure drops in backward and forward flow directions, respectively, is measured and compared to theoretical predictions obtained from full 3D calculations of the Tesla valves. Good agreement is found. In addition to the direct measurement of the diodicities, the flow profiles in the fabricated test structures are determined using a two-dimensional microscopic particle image velocimetry (μPIV) method. Again, a reasonable good agreement of the measured flow profiles with simulated predictions is observed