Germany’s Continued Productivity Slump: An Industry Analysis

US productivity growth surged twice post 1995 and post 2000. In contrast Germany registered two successive productivity reductions during that same period of time. Previous analysis of the post-2000 decline has been limited, however, by the short time series of the available data. In this paper we extend the Ifo Industry Growth Accounting Database that provides detailed industry-level investment information up to 2004. While much attention has focused on the reduction in German labor hours, our post-2000 data shows that a fledgling recovery in German non-ICT investment was offset by a widespread collapse in German total factor productivity. Almost half of German industries (accounting for over 45 percent of German output) did not experience positive TFP growth post 2000. Industries that constitute over a quarter of Germany’s value-added exhibited negative labor productivity growth during the same period. The negative German productivity trend is thus continuing, which accelerates the country’s departure from the productivity frontier.Growth accounting, industry productivity analysis, information and communication technology

Biomarker case-detection and prediction with potential for functional psychosis screening: development and validation of a model related to biochemistry, sensory neural timing and end organ performance

The Mental Health Biomarker Project aimed to discover case-predictive biomarkers for functional psychosis. In a retrospective, cross-sectional study, candidate marker results from 67 highly characterized symptomatic participants were compared with results from 67 gender- and age-matched controls. Urine samples were analyzed for catecholamines, their metabolites, and hydroxylpyrolline-2-one, an oxidative stress marker. Blood samples were analyzed for vitamin and trace element cofactors of enzymes in catecholamine synthesis and metabolism pathways. Cognitive, auditory, and visual processing measures were assessed using a simple 45-min, office-based procedure. Receiver operating curve (ROC) and odds ratio analysis discovered biomarkers for deficits in folate, vitamin D and B6 and elevations in free copper to zinc ratio, catecholamines and the oxidative stress marker. Deficits were discovered in peripheral visual and auditory end-organ function, intracerebral auditory and visual processing speed and dichotic listening performance. Fifteen ROC biomarker variables were divided into five functional domains. Through a repeated ROC process, individual ROC variables, followed by domains and finally the overall 15 set model, were dichotomously scored and tallied for abnormal results upon which it was found that ≥3 out of 5 abnormal domains achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.952 with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 90%. Six additional middle ear biomarkers in a 21 biomarker set increased sensitivity to 94%. Fivefold cross-validation yielded a mean sensitivity of 85% for the 15 biomarker set. Non-parametric regression analysis confirmed that ≥3 out of 5 abnormally scored domains predicted >50% risk of caseness while 4 abnormally scored domains predicted 88% risk of caseness; 100% diagnostic certainty was reached when all 5 domains were abnormally scored. These findings require validation in prospective cohorts and other mental illness states. They have potential for case-detection, -screening, -monitoring, and -targeted personalized management. The findings unmask unmet needs within the functional psychosis condition and suggest new biological understandings of psychosis phenomenology.Stephanie Fryar-Williams and Jörg E. Strobe

Thinking in action: Need for cognition predicts self-control together with action orientation

Need for Cognition describes relatively stable interindividual differences in cognitive motivation. Previous research has shown relations of Need for Cognition to Self-Control–a capacity that can be broadly defined as resistance to temptation–yet, the processes underlying this relation remain unclear. One explanation for the prediction of Self-Control by Need for Cognition can be an increased motivation to invest cognitive effort with higher levels of Need for Cognition. Another possible link could be that individual differences in the implementation of Self-Control intentions may play a moderating or mediating role for the predictive value of Need for Cognition. Such individual differences in the self-motivated initiation and maintenance of intentions are described by dispositional Action Orientation. Therefore, in the present study, Action Orientation was examined with regard to its possible role in explaining the relation of Need for Cognition to Self-Control. In a sample of 1209 young adults, Self-Control was assessed with two different self-report instruments and moderation and mediation models of the relationship between Need for Cognition, Action Orientation, and Self-Control were tested. While there was no evidence for a moderating role of Action Orientation in explaining the relation of Need for Cognition and Self-Control, Action Orientation was found to partly mediate this relation with a remaining direct effect of Need for Cognition on Self-Control. These results add to the conceptual understanding of Need for Cognition and demonstrate the relevance of trait variables to predict Self-Control

Observing the emergence of chaos in a many-particle quantum system

Accessing the connection between classical chaos and quantum many-body systems has been a long-standing experimental challenge. Here, we investigate the onset of chaos in periodically driven two-component Bose-Einstein condensates, whose small quantum uncertainties allow for exploring the phase space with high resolution. By analyzing the uncertainties of time-evolved many-body states, we find signatures of elliptic and hyperbolic periodic orbits generated according to the Poincar\'e-Birkhoff theorem, and the formation of a chaotic region at increasing driving strengths. The employed fluctuation analysis allows for probing the phase-space structure by use of only short-time quantum dynamics.Comment: 5+2 pages, 4 figure

Combined Heat And Lass Transfer In Mixed Confection Ower A Horizontal Flat Plate

The combined effects of buoyancy forces from thermal and species diffusion on the heat and mass transfer characteristics are analyzed for laminar boundary layer flow over a horizontal flat plate. The analysis is restricted to processes with low concentration levels such that the interfacial velocities due to mass diffusion and the diffusion-thermo/thermo-diffusion effects can be neglected. Numerical results for friction factor, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are presented for gases having a Prandtl number of 0.7, with Schmidt numbers ranging from 0.6 to 2.0. In general, it is found that, for the thermally assisting flow, the surface heat and mass transfer rates as well as the wall shear stress increase with increasing thermal buoyancy force. These quantities are further enhanced when the buoyancy force from species diffusion assists the thermal buoyancy force but are reduced when the two buoyancy forces oppose each other. While a higher heat transfer rate is found to be associated with a lower Schmidt number, a higher mass transfer rate occurs at a higher Schmidt number. © 1980 by ASME

Der deutsche Produktivitätsabschwung: Ursachenforschung auf Branchenebene

Seit 2005 untersucht das ifo Institut die Determinanten der deutschen Produktivitätsschwäche. Hierzu wurde eine Datenbank eingerichtet. Sie stellt breit gefächerte Informationen zu Investitionen und Kapitaldienstleistungen auf Branchenebene zur Verfügung, wodurch eine Unterteilung in IT-produzierende, IT-nutzende und nicht-IT-intensive Wirtschaftszweige möglich ist. Die Angaben zu Softwareinvestitionen beruhen, im Gegensatz zu anderen Datenbanken, nicht auf Schätzungen, sondern auf Studien und Umfragen des ifo Instituts. Und die Datenbank liefert branchenspezifische Zeitreihen zur Bruttowertschöpfung, zu qualitätsadjustierten Arbeitsstunden und zum technologischen Wandel. Die Angaben der ifo Produktivitätsdatenbank zeigen, dass ein verstärktes Wachstum der IT-Kapitalintensität nach 1995 zwar positive Auswirkungen auf das Produktivitätswachstum in Deutschland hatte, aber doch zu schwach war, um den Wachstumsrückgang der Nicht-IT-Kapitalintensität aufzufangen.Produktivität, Branche Wirtschaftswachstum, Datenbank, Deutschland, Vereinigte Staaten

Lowest Order Constrained Variational Calculation of Structure Properties of Protoneutron Star

We calculate the structure properties of protoneutron star such as equation of state, maximum mass, radius and temperature profile using the lowest order constrained variational method. We show that the mass and radius of protoneutron star decrease by decreasing both entropy and temperature. For the protoneutron star, it is shown that the temperature is nearly constant in the core and drops rapidly near the crust.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Int. J. Theor. Phys. (2008) in pres

Factor H autoantibodies in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome correlate with CFHR1/CFHR3 deficiency

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a severe renal disease that is associated with defective complement regulation caused by multiple factors. We previously described the deficiency of factor H-related proteins CFHR1 and CFHR3 as predisposing factor for aHUS. Here we identify in an extended cohort of 147 aHUS patients that 16 juvenile individuals (ie, 11%) who either lacked the CFHR1/CFHR3 completely (n = 14) or showed extremely low CFHR1/CFHR3 plasma levels (n = 2) are positive for factor H (CFH) autoantibodies. The binding epitopes of all 16 analyzed autoantibodies were localized to the C-terminal recognition region of factor H, which represents a hot spot for aHUS mutations. Thus we define a novel subgroup of aHUS, termed DEAP HUS (deficiency of CFHR proteins and CFH autoantibody positive) that is characterized by a combination of genetic and acquired factors. Screening for both factors is obviously relevant for HUS patients as reduction of CFH autoantibody levels represents a therapeutic option

Discovery of carbon monoxide in the upper atmosphere of Pluto

Pluto's icy surface has changed colour and its atmosphere has swelled since its last closest approach to the Sun in 1989. The thin atmosphere is produced by evaporating ices, and so can also change rapidly, and in particular carbon monoxide should be present as an active thermostat. Here we report the discovery of gaseous CO via the 1.3mm wavelength J=2-1 rotational transition, and find that the line-centre signal is more than twice as bright as a tentative result obtained by Bockelee-Morvan et al. in 2000. Greater surface-ice evaporation over the last decade could explain this, or increased pressure could have caused the atmosphere to expand. The gas must be cold, with a narrow line-width consistent with temperatures around 50 K, as predicted for the very high atmosphere, and the line brightness implies that CO molecules extend up to approximately 3 Pluto radii above the surface. The upper atmosphere must have changed markedly over only a decade since the prior search, and more alterations could occur by the arrival of the New Horizons mission in 2015.Comment: 5 pages; accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter