Forward to the Past: Short-Term Effects of the Rent Freeze in Berlin

In 2020, Berlin enacted a rigorous rent-control policy: the “Mietendeckel” (rent freeze), aiming to stop rapidly growing rental prices. We evaluate this newly enacted but old-fashionably designed policy by analyzing its immediate supply-side effects. Using a rich pool of rent advertisements reporting asking rents and comprehensive dwelling characteristics, we perform hedonic-style Difference-in-Difference analyses comparing trajectories of dwellings inside and outside the policy’s scope. We find no immediate effect upon announcement of the policy. Yet advertised rents drop significantly upon the policy’s enactment. Additionally, we document a substitution effect affecting the rental markets of Berlin’s (unregulated) satellite city Potsdam and adjacent smaller municipalities. On top, the supplemental quantity analyses reveal a stark reduction of the number of advertised rental units hampering a successful housing search for newcomers, (young) first-time renters and tenants aiming for a different housing opportunity.Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Serie

Advanced Modeling of Charge Trapping: RTN, 1/f noise, SILC, and BTI (Invited Paper)

Abstract-In the course of years, several models have been put forward to explain noise phenomena, bias temperature instability (BTI), and gate leakage currents amongst other reliability issues. Mostly, these models have been developed independently and without considering that they may be caused by the same physical phenomenon. However, new experimental techniques have emerged, which are capable of studying these reliability issue on a microscopic level. One of them is the time-dependent defect spectroscopy (TDDS). Its intensive use has led to several interesting findings, including the fact that the recoverable component of BTI is due to reaction-limited processes. As a consequence, a quite detailed picture of the processes governing BTI has emerged. Interestingly, this picture has also been found to match the observations made for other reliability issues, such as random telegraph noise, 1/f noise, as well as gate leakage currents. Furthermore, the findings based on TDDS have lead to the development of capture/emission time (CET) maps, which can be used to understand the dynamic response of the defects given their widely distributed parameters

Mulsemedia: State of the art, perspectives, and challenges

Mulsemedia-multiple sensorial media-captures a wide variety of research efforts and applications. This article presents a historic perspective on mulsemedia work and reviews current developments in the area. These take place across the traditional multimedia spectrum-from virtual reality applications to computer games-as well as efforts in the arts, gastronomy, and therapy, to mention a few. We also describe standardization efforts, via the MPEG-V standard, and identify future developments and exciting challenges the community needs to overcome

Advanced Modeling of Charge Trapping: RTN, 1/f noise, SILC, and BTI (Invited Paper)

Abstract-In the course of years, several models have been put forward to explain noise phenomena, bias temperature instability (BTI), and gate leakage currents amongst other reliability issues. Mostly, these models have been developed independently and without considering that they may be caused by the same physical phenomenon. However, new experimental techniques have emerged, which are capable of studying these reliability issue on a microscopic level. One of them is the time-dependent defect spectroscopy (TDDS). Its intensive use has led to several interesting findings, including the fact that the recoverable component of BTI is due to reaction-limited processes. As a consequence, a quite detailed picture of the processes governing BTI has emerged. Interestingly, this picture has also been found to match the observations made for other reliability issues, such as random telegraph noise, 1/f noise, as well as gate leakage currents. Furthermore, the findings based on TDDS have lead to the development of capture/emission time (CET) maps, which can be used to understand the dynamic response of the defects given their widely distributed parameters

Body weight prediction using body size measurements in Fleckvieh, Holstein, and Brown Swiss dairy cows in lactation and dry periods

The objective of this study was to predict cows' body weight from body size measurements and other animal data in the lactation and dry periods. During the whole year 2014, 6306 cows (on 167 commercial Austrian dairy farms) were weighed at each routine performance recording and body size measurements like heart girth (HG), belly girth (BG), and body condition score (BCS) were recorded. Data on linear traits like hip width (HW), stature, and body depth were collected three times a year. Cows belonged to the genotypes Fleckvieh (and Red Holstein crosses), Holstein, and Brown Swiss. Body measurements were tested as single predictors and in multiple regressions according to their prediction accuracy and their correlations with body weight. For validation, data sets were split randomly into independent subsets for estimation and validation. Within the prediction models with a single body measurement, heart girth influenced relationship with body weight most, with a lowest root mean square error (RMSE) of 39.0&thinsp;kg, followed by belly girth (39.3&thinsp;kg) and hip width (49.9&thinsp;kg). All other body measurements and BCS resulted in a RMSE of higher than 50.0 kg. The model with heart and belly girth (ModelHG BG) reduced RMSE to 32.5&thinsp;kg, and adding HW reduced it further to 30.4&thinsp;kg (ModelHG BG HW). As RMSE and the coefficient of determination improved, genotype-specific regression coefficients for body measurements were introduced in addition to the pooled ones. The most accurate equations, ModelHG BG and ModelHG BG HW, were validated separately for the lactation and dry periods. Root mean square prediction error (RMSPE) ranged between 36.5 and 37.0&thinsp;kg (ModelHG BG HW, ModelHG BG, lactation) and 39.9 and 41.3&thinsp;kg (ModelHG BG HW, ModelHG BG, dry period). Accuracy of the predictions was evaluated by decomposing the mean square prediction error (MSPE) into error due to central tendency, error due to regression, and error due to disturbance. On average, 99.6&thinsp;% of the variance between estimated and observed values was caused by disturbance, meaning that predictions were valid and without systematic estimation error. On the one hand, this indicates that the chosen traits sufficiently depicted factors influencing body weight. On the other hand, the data set was very heterogeneous and large. To ensure high prediction accuracy, it was necessary to include body girth traits for body weight estimation.</p

Strategies for keeping dairy cows and calves together - a cross-sectional survey study

Although it is still most common to rear dairy calves separately from adult cattle, the interest in pro-longed contact between dairy calves and lactating cows during early life is increasing. Previous research has documented positive effects of cow-calf contact (CCC) on for example early calf growth and udder health of suckled cows, but also negative effects such as increased separation distress and reduced weight gains after weaning. The aim of this study was to use information from European farms with prolonged cow-calf contact to identify innovative solutions to common challenges for CCC farms. Commercial dairy farms that kept calves with adult lactating cows for seven days or more after birth were invited to participate, and interviews were performed with 104 farmers from six countries. During interviews, information about farm management, calf rearing, farmers' perception of animal health on their farm, and farmers' drivers and barriers for implementing CCC were collected. We found that CCC was practised in a large variety of housing and management systems, and that calves could be reared together with their dam, with foster cows, or using a combination of the two. The contact period varied considerably (7-305 days) between farms and about 25% of the farms manually milk fed the calves during parts of the milk feeding period. Daily contact time varied between farms, from 30 minutes per day to permanent contact except at milking. Behaviours indicative of separation distress, most commonly vocalisation in cows and calves, were reported by 87% of the farmers. Strategies to alleviate separation distress, for example simultaneous gradual weaning and separation, were used on some farms. Building constraints were most often mentioned as a barrier for implementing CCC. Our findings suggest that CCC is practised in a variety of commonly used husbandry systems. Reported challenges were primarily related to weaning and separation, and to building constraints; these aspects should be areas of future research.@2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Strategies for keeping dairy cows and calves together – a cross-sectional survey study

Although it is still most common to rear dairy calves separately from adult cattle, the interest in prolonged contact between dairy calves and lactating cows during early life is increasing. Previous research has documented positive effects of cow-calf contact (CCC) on for example early calf growth and udder health of suckled cows, but also negative effects such as increased separation distress and reduced weight gains after weaning. The aim of this study was to use information from European farms with prolonged cow-calf contact to identify innovative solutions to common challenges for CCC farms. Commercial dairy farms that kept calves with adult lactating cows for seven days or more after birth were invited to participate, and interviews were performed with 104 farmers from six countries. During interviews, information about farm management, calf rearing, farmers’ perception of animal health on their farm, and farmers’ drivers and barriers for implementing CCC were collected. We found that CCC was practised in a large variety of housing and management systems, and that calves could be reared together with their dam, with foster cows, or using a combination of the two. The contact period varied considerably (7–305 days) between farms and about 25% of the farms manually milk fed the calves during parts of the milk feeding period. Daily contact time varied between farms, from 30 minutes per day to permanent contact except at milking. Behaviours indicative of separation distress, most commonly vocalisation in cows and calves, were reported by 87% of the farmers. Strategies to alleviate separation distress, for example simultaneous gradual weaning and separation, were used on some farms. Building constraints were most often mentioned as a barrier for implementing CCC. Our findings suggest that CCC is practised in a variety of commonly used husbandry systems. Reported challenges were primarily related to weaning and separation, and to building constraints; these aspects should be areas of future research