The shadow economy in Colombia: size and effects on economic growth

Using the currency demand approach size and development of the Colombian shadow economy are estimated over the period from 1976 to 2002. In the 70s the size fluctuated around 20% of official GDP and rose to 50% in the 90s. The most important factors driving the shadow economy are unemployment and taxation. Analyzing the interaction between shadow and official economy, the shadow economy has a positive effect on the official one. Average growth rate of real per capita GDP is 1.11% between 1976 and 2002 and the shadow economy "explains" on average between 0.09 and 0.27 of this growth.Colombian shadow economy; currency demand method; taxation; unemployment; interaction between the shadow and official economy

The Attitudes towards the Euro: An Empirical Study Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

This paper investigates the attitudes towards the Euro and their changes over time in Germany by using longitudinal micro data from the German Socio Economic Panel Study (SOEP). We observe that a large part of the German population was worried about the new currency before its implementation. Individual changes of worries can be explained by theories of self-perception and cognitive dissonance. According to these theories, concerns should diminish after the Euro notes and coins are distributed. In contrast, the theory of reactance predicts an increase, while the theories of attitude changes as learning processes offer both its increase and decrease. The latter seems to be the most suitable explanation for the development of concerns about the Euro. We discover that problems with the handling of the new money and the time of questioning are strong predictors. The time pattern goes hand in hand with the time of press coverage on price rises. As worries are connected with problems in handling the new money, future member states of the European Monetary Union should prepare their population in a better manner than the existing member states did.Euro; European Union; Attitudes; Changes of attitudes; National identity

Implementing Structured Participation for Regional Level Waste Management Planning

The authors present a case study example of a well-structured public participation project that was incorporated into the formal decision-making process in Germany

Cumulant expansions for atmospheric flows

The equations governing atmospheric flows are nonlinear. Consequently, the hierarchy of cumulant equations is not closed. But because atmospheric flows are inhomogeneous and anisotropic, the nonlinearity may manifest itself only weakly through interactions of mean fields with disturbances such as thermals or eddies. In such situations, truncations of the hierarchy of cumulant equations hold promise as a closure strategy. We review how truncations at second order can be used to model and elucidate the dynamics of atmospheric flows. Two examples are considered. First, we study the growth of a dry convective boundary layer, which is heated from below, leading to turbulent upward energy transport and growth of the boundary layer. We demonstrate that a quasilinear truncation of the equations of motion, in which interactions of disturbances among each other are neglected but interactions with mean fields are taken into account, can capture the growth of the convective boundary layer even if it does not capture important turbulent transport terms. Second, we study the evolution of two-dimensional large-scale waves representing waves in Earth's upper atmosphere. We demonstrate that a cumulant expansion truncated at second order (CE2) can capture the evolution of such waves and their nonlinear interaction with the mean flow in some circumstances, for example, when the wave amplitude is small enough or the planetary rotation rate is large enough. However, CE2 fails to capture the flow evolution when nonlinear eddy--eddy interactions in surf zones become important. Higher-order closures can capture these missing interactions. The results point to new ways in which the dynamics of turbulent boundary layers may be represented in climate models, and they illustrate different classes of nonlinear processes that can control wave dissipation and momentum fluxes in the troposphere.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the New Journal of Physic

Die Einstellung zum Euro: eine empirische Analyse mit Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP)

There is a large part of the population worried about the implementation of the Euro in Germany. This study deals with the individual factors influencing these worries and with the development of them. In psychological research on anxiety, worries are the cognitive component of anxiety and therefore they are attitudes. The level of knowledge and general believes, influence the attitude towards the new money before and after its implementation. Using logistic regression models with data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) we can show, that persons with a higher educational level and larger financial literacy have less apprehension connected with the Euro. This is also true for persons with positive expectations of the future, who are post-materialists and have an internal 'locus of control'. Strong differences can be seen for national and regional origin: East Germans are the most worried (they get the D-Mark first by the German-German Monetary Union in 1990) and foreigners from the EU the least (they have the largest individual advantages from the single currency). The strong decline in worries after the implementation of the Euro cash is discussed with respect to theories of attitude change. Here, the so called Learning Model is the most plausible one. In der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist der Anteil der Personen, die sich im Zusammenhang mit der Einführung des Euro sorgen, hoch. Welche individuellen Eigenschaften das Vorliegen dieser Sorgen beeinflussen und wie diese sich im Zeitverlauf entwickeln, ist Gegenstand der Arbeit. In der psychologischen Angstforschung werden Sorgen als kognitive Komponente der Angst aufgefasst und sind somit als Einstellungen zu sehen. Der Grad an Informiertheit und allgemeine Grundüberzeugungen beeinflussen die Einstellung gegenüber dem neuen Geld sowohl vor als auch nach seiner Einführung. Logistische Regressionsmodell mit den Daten des SOEP zeigen, dass Personen mit höherer Bildung und größerer "Financial Literacy" sich seltener über den Euro sorgen, ebenso diejenigen mit positiven Zukunftserwartungen, "Postmaterialisten" und "internal Kontrollierte". Im Hinblick auf die nationale und regionale Herkunft der Befragten sind ebenfalls deutliche Unterschiede feststellbar: Ostdeutsche, die erst 1990 durch die Deutsch-deutsche Währungsunion die D-Mark erhalten haben, sorgen sich am häufigsten, EU-Ausländer, die sehr starke individuelle Vorteile durch die Einheitswährung haben, am seltensten. Die starke Abnahme der Sorgen nach Einführung des Euro-Bargelds wird anhand sozialpsychologischer Theorien der Einstellungsänderungen diskutiert. Hier überzeugt der Ansatz von Einstellungsänderungen als Lernprozess.

Cybersecurity Governance – An Adapted Practical Framework for Small Enterprises

Digitalization is advancing and the associated risks are a strategic task for enterprises of all sizes. One risk area to which small businesses often do not pay enough attention are cyber risks. Often, the governance of cyber risks is not embedded at the owner or management level. However, it is important to evaluate, direct and monitor cyber risk mitigation activities by a company's leaders or its owner. A ´cybersecurity governance framework´ for small enterprises was developed and validated by applying Design Science Research. The framework focuses on criteria that are essential for small businesses, such as simplicity of understanding and ease of use (both for non-experts). Six principles identified relevant build the common thread of the framework, which guides the main activities to be implemented: 'responsibility', 'strategy', 'cybersecurity threats and risks', 'development and change', 'conformance' and 'people, skills and competencies'

PhAST : pharmacophore alignment search tool

We developed the Pharmacophore Alignment Search Tool (PhAST), a text-based technique for rapid hit and lead structure searching in large compound databases. For each molecule, a two-dimensional graph of potential pharmacophoric points (PPPs) is created, which has an identical topology as the original molecule with implicit hydrogen atoms. Each vertex is coloured by a symbol representing the corresponding PPP. The vertices of the graph are canonically labelled. The symbols associated with the vertices are combined to a so-called PhAST-Sequence beginning with the vertex with the lowest canonical label. Due to the canonical labelling the created PhAST-Sequence is characteristic for each molecule. For similarity assessment, PhAST-Sequences are compared using the sequence identity in their global pairwise alignment. The alignment score lies between 0 (no similarity) and 1 (identical PhAST-Sequences). In order to use global pairwise sequence alignment, a score matrix for pharmacophoric symbols was developed and gap penalties were optimized. PhAST performed comparably and sometimes superior to other similarity search tools (CATS2D, MOE pharmacophore quadruples) in retrospective virtual screenings using the COBRA collection of drugs and lead structures. Most importantly, the PhAST alignment technique allows for the computation of significance estimates that help prioritize a virtual hit list

Sudden death after open gastric bypass surgery

Purpose: Gastric bypass surgery has become a relatively low-risk bariatric surgical intervention in a high-risk patient population (Nguyen et al., Arch Surg, 141:445-449, 2006; Buchwald et al. JAMA, 13:1724-1737, 2004). Surgical interventions in patients suffering from morbid obesity are typically associated with excess morbidity (Parikh et al., Am Surg, 73:959-962, 2007). Though overall mortality after bariatric surgery is <1% is low (Mason et al., Obes Surg, 17:9-14, 2007), some surgical complications such as anastomotic leaks, staple line disruption and bowel obstruction may still impact on postoperative outcome (Parikh et al., Am Surg, 73:959-962, 2007; Mason et al., Obes Surg, 17:9-14, 2007). Early symptoms are often missed, as clinical presentation may be discreet, inexistent or falsely attributed to obesity. Methods: This case report refers to a patient in whom discomfort and agitation associated with a rise in temperature heralded a fulminant septic shock syndrome precipitating his death. Literature on early complications and management after gastric bypass is reviewed. Conclusion: A high level of suspicion should be present in the case of an unexpected postoperative deterioration of the patient's general condition. Time to treat may be very short (Mason et al., Obes Surg, 17:9-14, 2007). Computed tomography is mandatory to rule out pulmonary embolism and bypass obstructio

Touching Space: Distributed Ledger Technology for Tracking and Tracing Certificates

Components built into space vehicles and equipment (space products) must meet different regulatory requirements; in detail, each component must be certified and sustainably traceable at all times. Space engineers have expressed the need for an interoperable system to collect, manage and route certifications for components, parts and materials that go into space products. The lack of a unified approach in the European space industry is a challenge for companies involved in product development. This research proposes an open-source, secure, fast and distributed ledger technology (DLT) based solution that fits into any IT environment and is well adapted to the needs of manufacturing companies in the space sector. The results show that a blockchain-based solution based on 'Hyperledger Fabric' combined with the InterPlanetary File System is viable. The results can guide other researchers and practitioners to consider DLTs when changing their certification management paradigm with suppliers, customers and auditors