Did the Bundesbank Follow a Taylor Rule? An Analysis Based on Real-Time Data

Using a real-time data set for German GDP over the period from 1973 to 1998 we calculate various measures of real-time output gaps and use these to calibrate and estimate Taylor-type reaction functions for the Bundesbank. Most of the reaction functions we find fit the Bundesbank´s actual policy, as represented by the short-run interest rate, quite well. In contrast to previous findings based on ex post revised data for the output gap, we find the reaction coefficients to resemble quite closely those originally proposed by Taylor for some of our real-time measures of the output gap. Broad monetary aggregates such as M3, in contrast, only played a small role for the Bundesbank´s interest rate decisions. Given the good record of the Bundesbank in fighting inflation, the results give support for the use of the Taylor rule for monetary policy.German real-time data; output gap; monetary policy rules

COMPARATIVE FAST PYROLYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES FOR USE IN BIOREFINERIES

In the light of depleting fossil resources, biomass is gaining renewed interest as a source of renewable carbon, which can be used for energy and chemicals. The production of biofuels such as ethanol, palm oil and bio-diesel has come under criticism for its likely competition with food. These production systems need either huge areas of monocultures or use some parts of plant material such as the carbohydrate fraction only for fermentation to produce ethanol. Other technologies such as fast pyrolysis offer the advantage of using whole plant material for the production of so called \u27bio-oils\u27, which adheres to the condensates of the pyrolysis process. Bio-oils are complex mixture of various molecules with different polarities. Their content of monomers, oligomers and water depend not only on the pyrolysis conditions but also on the characteristics of the feedstock. In order to broaden the palette of feedstocks to be considered, 12 agricultural waste types from annual plants were comparatively pyrolyzed in a laboratory fluidized-bed reactor against white wood from beech wood. Agricultural wastes such as wheat straw, wheat grains, whole corn plants (cobs, stems, leaves) were used untreated, whereas corn, rape, barley, oat, sorghum, whole plant silage, and winter peas were used after silage. Moreover, press cakes from hemp seeds and flax seeds were also investigated. Pyrolysis temperature was kept constant at 475 °C. The residence time was varied and set to 1 or 2 s. Organic yields were highest with beech wood (55 wt.%) and lowest with flax seeds (13 wt.%). Detailed quantitative GC/MS analyses of the bio-oils were carried out. In total, 44 components were used for the comparison of the feedstocks. The components were grouped into distinct chemical categories such as organic acids, aldehydes, aromatics, furans, guaiacols, ketones, phenols, pyrans, anhydrosugars, and syringols. Interestingly, sorghum silage gave similar bio-oil composition compared to beech wood. Corn silage gave superior results in comparison to whole plant material. Other properties of the bio-oils such as pH and elemental composition were also determined

Synthesis and complex self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers with a branched hydrophobic poly(2-oxazoline) into multicompartment micelles, pseudo-vesicles and yolk/shell nanoparticles

We report on the synthesis and self-assembly of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(2-(3-ethylheptyl)-2-oxazoline) (PEO-b-PEHOx), a new amphiphilic diblock copolymer obtainedviamicrowave-assistedpolymerization of EHOx using a new nosylated PEO macroinitiator. The kinetics of the polymerization indifferent solvents was crucial to optimize the synthesis and revealed a controlled, yet fast polymerizationof the AB diblock copolymer. Differential scanning calorimetry proved that PEO-b-PEHOx shows glasstransition temperatures below room temperature, making it suitable for a wide range of self-assemblymethods, especially under mild and solvent-free conditions. Self-assembly of PEO-b-PEHOx was thenperformed usingfilm rehydration and solvent switch. In both cases, we were able to show the formationof various complex structures (multi-compartment micelles (MCMs), pseudo-vesicles and yolk/shellnanoparticles) by light scattering, TEM and Cryo-TEM. Our results show that PEO-b-PEHOx is a potentnew AB diblock copolymer due to its fast synthesis and unique self-assembly behavior

Decentralized Finance: A Configurational Perspective on UTAUT

Blockchain-based decentralized finance (DeFi) enables financial transactions without intermediaries. Among its most diffused applications is DeFi borrowing, which allows users to borrow money from other users. DeFi borrowing relies on sufficient users requesting money, making it essential for blockchain technology platform providers to understand why users intend to use DeFi borrowing. To explain this, we turn to the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Given that existing studies differ in how the beliefs of UTAUT influence use intention, we explain previous findings by suggesting that multiple beliefs together, so-called configurations, lead to high and low use intention. Following a configurational approach on potential users of DeFi borrowing, we reveal three configurations resulting in high use intention and two configurations resulting in low use intention. We contribute by explaining DeFi borrowing use intention and resolving previous differing findings on UTAUT by taking a configurational perspective

Structured patient information management for efficient treatment and healthcare quality assurance in oncology

Die Behandlung von Patienten mit Tumoren im Kopf-Hals-Bereich gestaltet sich als komplexer und herausfordernder Prozess sowohl für den Patienten als auch für die behandelnden Ärzte und Chirurgen. Zur Gewährleistung der bestmöglichen individuellen Therapie werden vor Beginn der Behandlung zahlreiche diagnostische Verfahren durchgeführt. Hierzu zählen unter anderem medizinische bildgebende Verfahren wie z.B. Computertomographie (CT) oder Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) sowie die Entnahme von tumorverdächtigem Gewebe während einer Panendoskopie zur exakten Bestimmung der Tumorart (Histologie, Grading, TNM-Klassifikation nach UICC, genaue Lokalisation des Primärtumors, der lokoregionären Metastasen und ggf. Fernmetastasen). Die gewonnenen Informationen bilden anschließend die Grundlage für die Entscheidung über die durchzuführende Therapie und stehen in unterschiedlichen klinischen Informationssystemen sowie auf Papierakten zur Verfügung. Leider werden die Daten im klinischen Alltag häufig nur unstrukturiert und schwer auffindbar präsentiert, da die führenden Informationssysteme nur unzureichend in den klinischen Arbeitsprozess integriert und untereinander schlecht vernetzt sind. Die präzise und erschöpfende Darstellung der jeweiligen individuellen Situation und die darauf aufbauende Therapieentscheidung sind aber entscheidend für die Prognose des Patienten, da der erste, gut geplante \"Schuss\" entscheidend für den weiteren Verlauf ist und nicht mehr korrigiert werden kann. In dieser Arbeit werden neue Konzepte zur Verbesserung des Informationsmanagements im Bereich der Kopf-Hals-Tumorbehandlung entwickelt, als prototypische Software implementiert und im klinischen Alltag in verschiedenen Studien wissenschaftlich evaluiert. Die Erlangung eines tiefgreifenden Verständnisses über die klinischen Abläufe sowie über beteiligte Informationssysteme und Datenflüsse stellte den ersten Teil der Arbeit dar. Aufbauend auf den Erkenntnissen wurde ein klinisches Informationssystem oncoflow entwickelt. Oncoflow importiert vollautomatisch relevante Patientendaten von verschiedenen klinischen Informationssystemen, restrukturiert die Daten und unterstützt Ärzte und Chirurgen im gesamten Therapieprozess. Das System wurde anschließend in unterschiedlichen Studien evaluiert und der klinische Nutzen in Bezug auf effizientere Arbeitsabläufe und eine verbesserte Informationsqualität gezeigt. Im folgenden Teil der Arbeit wurden Machine Learning Methoden genutzt um von Daten in der elektronischen Patientenakte auf den aktuellen Prozessschritt im Therapieprozess zu schließen. Der letzte Teil der Arbeit zeigt Möglichkeiten zur Erweiterung des Systems zur Nutzung in weiteren klinischen Fachdisziplinen auf

Esports: Explaining Willingness to Pay for Streaming Services

Online multiplayer computer game competitions—so-called esports—attract millions of spectators around the world and show spectator numbers comparable to the Super Bowl. Despite that, game publishers, which often organize these large-scale competitions, still struggle to establish esports as a profitable business venture. One way they can do so involves how they position fee-based streaming services for watching esports online. To draw spectators to their streaming services, esports organizers need to focus on attracting spectators with a high willingness to pay (WTP), and the streaming services need to satisfy spectators’ motivations. Grounded in uses and gratifications theory and a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, our results show that four different configurations of motivations relate to WTP for esports streaming services. We contribute by showing that 1) motivations form WTP in the esports context, 2) multiple interacting motivations explain WTP, and 3) spectators follow different rationales for their high WTP

One-Pot Synthesis of an Amphiphilic ABC Triblock Copolymer PEO-b-PEHOx-b-PEtOz and Its Self-Assembly into Nanoscopic Asymmetric Polymersomes

We report an efficient one-pot synthesis of a new biocompatible amphiphilic ABC triblock terpolymer: poly(ethylene oxide)- block -poly(2-(3-ethylheptyl)-2-oxazoline)- block -poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEO- b -PEHOx- b -PEtOz) using sequential microwave-assisted polymerization. Depending on the hydrophilic weight fraction of the terpolymers, nanoscopic micelles, worms, and polymersomes, as well as multicompartment vesicles, were formed. The self-assemblies were thoroughly analyzed regarding their size and shape using dynamic and static light scattering, TEM, and cryogenic TEM. By varying the ratio of PEO to PEtOz, we were able to drive the asymmetry of the polymersome membranes, which was proved by two independent methods, bicinchoninic acid assay and 2D- 1 H-NOESY NMR spectroscopy, which confirmed the presence of a longer PEO block (45 units) and the absence of a shorter PEtOz (less than 32 units) on the outer surface of the polymersomes. Thus, from this new family of ABC triblock terpolymers, asymmetric polymersomes with a thin membrane (6-10 nm) can be obtained, justifying the potential use in biomedical applications with the direct insertion of transmembrane proteins

Spin-polarization of platinum (111) induced by the proximity to cobalt nanostripes

We measured a spin polarization above a Pt (111) surface in the vicinity of a Co nanostripe by spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The spin polarization is exponentially decaying away from the Pt/Co interface and is detectable at distances larger than 1 nm. By performing self-consistent ab-initio calculations of the electronic-structure for a related model system we reveal the interplay between the induced magnetic moments within the Pt surface and the spin-resolved electronic density of states above the surface.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure

ECG Beat Representation and Delineation by Means of Variable Projection

Objective: The electrocardiogram (ECG) follows a characteristic shape, which has led to the development of several mathematical models for extracting clinically important information. Our main objective is to resolve limitations of previous approaches, that means to simultaneously cope with various noise sources, perform exact beat segmentation, and to retain diagnostically important morphological information. Methods: We therefore propose a model that is based on Hermite and sigmoid functions combined with piecewise polynomial interpolation for exact segmentation and low-dimensional representation of individual ECG beat segments. Hermite and sigmoidal functions enable reliable extraction of important ECG waveform information while the piecewise polynomial interpolation captures noisy signal features like the baseline wander (BLW). For that we use variable projection, which allows the separation of linear and nonlinear morphological variations of the according ECG waveforms. The resulting ECG model simultaneously performs BLW cancellation, beat segmentation, and low-dimensional waveform representation. Results: We demonstrate its BLW denoising and segmentation performance in two experiments, using synthetic and real data. Compared to state-of-the-art algorithms, the experiments showed less diagnostic distortion in case of denoising and a more robust delineation for the P and T wave. Conclusion: This work suggests a novel concept for ECG beat representation, easily adaptable to other biomedical signals with similar shape characteristics, such as blood pressure and evoked potentials. Significance: Our method is able to capture linear and nonlinear wave shape changes. Therefore, it provides a novel methodology to understand the origin of morphological variations caused, for instance, by respiration, medication, and abnormalities