Firm Investment and Monetary Policy Transmission in the Euro Area.

We present a comparable set of results on the monetary transmission channels on firm investment for the four largest euro-area countries (Germany, France, Italy and Spain). With particularly rich micro datasets for each country containing over 215,000 observations from 1985 to 1999, we ex-plore what can be learned about the interest channel and the broad credit channel. For each of those countries, we estimate neo-classical investment relationships, explaining investment by its user cost, sales and cash flow. We find investment to be sensitive to user cost changes in all those four countries. This implies an operative interest channel in these euro-area countries. We also find in-vestment in all countries to be quite sensitive to cash flow movements. However, only in Italy do smaller firms react more to cash flow movements than large firms, implying that a broad credit channel might not be equally pervasive in all countries.Investment, Monetary transmission channels, User cost of capital.

Structure and Magnetic Fields in the Precessing Jet System SS 433 II. Intrinsic Brightness of the Jets

Deep Very Large Array imaging of the binary X-ray source SS 433, sometimes classified as a microquasar, has been used to study the intrinsic brightness distribution and evolution of its radio jets. The intrinsic brightness of the jets as a function of age at emission of the jet material tau is recovered by removal of the Doppler boosting and projection effects. We find that intrinsically the two jets are remarkably similar when compared for equal tau, and that they are best described by Doppler boosting of the form D^{2+alpha}, as expected for continuous jets. The intrinsic brightnesses of the jets as functions of age behave in complex ways. In the age range 60 < tau < 150 days, the jet decays are best represented by exponential functions of tau, but linear or power law functions are not statistically excluded. This is followed by a region out to tau ~ 250 days during which the intrinsic brightness is essentially constant. At later times the jet decay can be fit roughly as exponential or power law functions of tau.Comment: 30 Pages, 11 Figures, Submitted to Ap

A view of the European carbon flux landscape through the lens of the ICOS atmospheric observation network

The ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) network of atmospheric measurement stations produces standardized data on greenhouse gas concentrations at 46 stations in 16 different European countries (March 2023). The placement of instruments on tall towers and mountains results in large influence regions (“concentration footprints”). The combined footprints for all the individual stations create a “lens” through which the network sees the European CO2 flux landscape. In this study, we summarize this view using quantitative metrics of the fluxes seen by individual stations and by the current and extended ICOS networks. Results are presented from both country level and pan-European perspectives, using open-source tools that we make available through the ICOS Carbon Portal. We target anthropogenic emissions from various sectors, as well as the land cover types found across Europe and their spatiotemporally varying fluxes. This recognizes different interests of different ICOS stakeholders. We specifically introduce “monitoring potential maps” to identify which regions have a relative underrepresentation of biospheric fluxes. This potential changes with the introduction of new stations, which we investigate for the planned ICOS expansion with 19 stations over the next few years. In our study focused on the summer of 2020, we find that the ICOS atmospheric station network has limited sensitivity to anthropogenic fluxes, as was intended in the current design. Its representation of biospheric fluxes follows the fractional representation of land cover and is generally well balanced considering the pan-European view. Exceptions include representation of grass and shrubland and broadleaf forest which are abundant in south-eastern European countries, particularly Croatia and Serbia. On the country scale, the representation shows larger imbalances, even within relatively densely monitored countries. The flexibility to consider individual ecosystems, countries, or their integrals across Europe demonstrates the usefulness of our analyses and can readily be reproduced for any network configuration within Europe.</p

Situational Awareness & Incident Management SAIM2014. 5th JRC ECML Crisis Management Technology Workshop

The 5th JRC ECML Crisis Management Technology Workshop on Software and data formats used in Crisis Management Rooms and Situation Monitoring Centres for information collection and display, organised by the European Commission Joint Research Centre in collaboration with the DRIVER Consortium Partners, took place in the European Crisis Management Laboratory (ECML) of the JRC in Ispra, Italy, from 16 to 18 June 2014. 32 participants from stakeholders in civil protection, academia, and industry attended the workshop. The workshop's purpose was to present, demonstrate, and explore IT solutions for Situation Awareness and Incident Management and the related design considerations, applied within the context of humanitarian aid and civil protection. During the first day the demonstrators set up in the JRC environment. A week before they were provided the contents to be processed. The second day was devoted to the presentations including: - Beyond the Myth of Control: toward the Trading Zone by Kees Boersma & Jeroen Wolbers, Department of Organization Sciences, VU University of Amsterdam - The organizers’ descriptions, the JRC and the DRIVER project - The software to be demonstrated on day three - Data exchange Challenges (From computer-readable data to meaningful information) by Christian Flachberger, FREQUENTIS AGJRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

TransCom N2O model inter-comparison - Part 2:Atmospheric inversion estimates of N2O emissions

This study examines N2O emission estimates from five different atmospheric inversion frameworks based on chemistry transport models (CTMs). The five frameworks differ in the choice of CTM, meteorological data, prior uncertainties and inversion method but use the same prior emissions and observation data set. The posterior modelled atmospheric N2O mole fractions are compared to observations to assess the performance of the inversions and to help diagnose problems in the modelled transport. Additionally, the mean emissions for 2006 to 2008 are compared in terms of the spatial distribution and seasonality. Overall, there is a good agreement among the inversions for the mean global total emission, which ranges from 16.1 to 18.7 TgN yr(-1) and is consistent with previous estimates. Ocean emissions represent between 31 and 38% of the global total compared to widely varying previous estimates of 24 to 38%. Emissions from the northern mid- to high latitudes are likely to be more important, with a consistent shift in emissions from the tropics and subtropics to the mid- to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere; the emission ratio for 0-30A degrees N to 30-90A degrees N ranges from 1.5 to 1.9 compared with 2.9 to 3.0 in previous estimates. The largest discrepancies across inversions are seen for the regions of South and East Asia and for tropical and South America owing to the poor observational constraint for these areas and to considerable differences in the modelled transport, especially inter-hemispheric exchange rates and tropical convective mixing. Estimates of the seasonal cycle in N2O emissions are also sensitive to errors in modelled stratosphere-to-troposphere transport in the tropics and southern extratropics. Overall, the results show a convergence in the global and regional emissions compared to previous independent studies

Atmospheric transport and chemistry of trace gases in LMDz5B: evaluation and implications for inverse modelling

Representation of atmospheric transport is a major source of error in the estimation of greenhouse gas sources and sinks by inverse modelling. Here we assess the impact on trace gas mole fractions of the new physical parameterizations recently implemented in the atmospheric global climate model LMDz to improve vertical diffusion, mesoscale mixing by thermal plumes in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and deep convection in the troposphere. At the same time, the horizontal and vertical resolution of the model used in the inverse system has been increased. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of these developments on the representation of trace gas transport and chemistry, and to anticipate the implications for inversions of greenhouse gas emissions using such an updated model. Comparison of a one-dimensional version of LMDz with large eddy simulations shows that the thermal scheme simulates shallow convective tracer transport in the PBL over land very efficiently, and much better than previous versions of the model. This result is confirmed in three-dimensional simulations, by a much improved reproduction of the radon-222 diurnal cycle. However, the enhanced dynamics of tracer concentrations induces a stronger sensitivity of the new LMDz configuration to external meteorological forcings. At larger scales, the inter-hemispheric exchange is slightly slower when using the new version of the model, bringing them closer to observations. The increase in the vertical resolution (from 19 to 39 layers) significantly improves the representation of stratosphere/troposphere exchange. Furthermore, changes in atmospheric thermodynamic variables, such as temperature, due to changes in the PBL mixing modify chemical reaction rates, which perturb chemical equilibriums of reactive trace gases. One implication of LMDz model developments for future inversions of greenhouse gas emissions is the ability of the updated system to assimilate a larger amount of high-frequency data sampled at high-variability stations. Others implications are discussed at the end of the paper

Ethnic differences in adverse iron status in early pregnancy: a cross-sectional population-based study

We studied ethnic differences in terms of iron status during pregnancy between Dutch women and other ethnicities and explore to what extent these differences can be explained by environmental factors. This cross-sectional population-based study (2002–2006) was embedded in the Generation R study and included a total of 4737 pregnant women from seven ethnic groups (Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, Cape Verdean, Surinamese-Hindustani, Surinamese-Creole and Antillean). Ethnicity was defined according to the Dutch classification of ethnic background. Ferritin, iron and transferrin were measured in early pregnancy. The overall prevalence of iron deficiency was 7 %, ranging from 4 % in both Dutch and Surinamese-Creoles, to 18 % in Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese-Hindustani women. Iron overload was most prevalent in Surinamese-Creole (11 %) and Dutch (9 %) women. Socioeconomic factors accounted for 5–36 % of the differences. Income was the strongest socioeconomic factor in the Cape Verdean and Surinamese-Hindustani groups and parity for the Turkish and Moroccan groups. Lifestyle determinants accounted for 8–14 % of the differences. In all groups, the strongest lifestyle factor was folic acid use, being associated with higher iron status. In conclusion, in our population, both iron deficiency and iron overload were common in early pregnancy. Our data suggest that ethnic differences in terms of socioeconomic and lifestyle factors only partly drive the large ethnic differences in iron status. Our data support the development of more specific prevention programmes based on further exploration of socioeconomic inequities, modifiable risk and genetic factors in specific ethnic subgroups, as well as the need for individual screening of iron status before supplementation

Long-term exposure to ultrafine particles and natural and cause-specific mortality

BACKGROUND: Health implications of long-term exposure to ubiquitously present ultrafine particles (UFP) are uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between long-term UFP exposure and natural and cause-specific mortality (including cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease, and lung cancer) in the Netherlands. METHODS: A Dutch national cohort of 10.8 million adults aged >/= 30 years was followed from 2013 until 2019. Annual average UFP concentrations were estimated at the home address at baseline, using land-use regression models based on a nationwide mobile monitoring campaign performed at the midpoint of the follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard models were applied, adjusting for individual and area-level socio-economic status covariates. Two-pollutant models with the major regulated pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and fine particles (PM(2)(.)(5) and PM(10)), and the health relevant combustion aerosol pollutant (elemental carbon (EC)) were assessed based on dispersion modelling. RESULTS: A total of 945,615 natural deaths occurred during 71,008,209 person-years of follow-up. The correlation of UFP concentration with other pollutants ranged from moderate (0.59 (PM(2)(.)(5))) to high (0.81 (NO(2))). We found a significant association between annual average UFP exposure and natural mortality [HR 1.012 (95 % CI 1.010-1.015), per interquartile range (IQR) (2723 particles/cm(3)) increment]. Associations were stronger for respiratory disease mortality [HR 1.022 (1.013-1.032)] and lung cancer mortality [HR 1.038 (1.028-1.048)] and weaker for CVD mortality [HR 1.005 (1.000-1.011)]. The associations of UFP with natural and lung cancer mortality attenuated but remained significant in all two-pollutant models, whereas the associations with CVD and respiratory mortality attenuated to the null. CONCLUSION: Long-term UFP exposure was associated with natural and lung cancer mortality among adults independently from other regulated air pollutants