Media Reporting and Business Cycles: Empirical Evidence based on News Data

Recent literature suggests that news shocks could be an important driver of economic cycles. In this article, we use a direct measure of news sentiment derived from media reports. This allows us to examine whether innovations in the reporting tone correlate with changes in the assessment and expectations of the business situation as reported by firms in the German manufacturing sector. We fi nd that innovations in news reporting affect business expectations, even when conditioning on the current business situation and industrial production. The dynamics of the empirical model con rm theoretical predictions that news innovations affect real variables such as production via changes in expectations. Looking at individual sectors within manufacturing, we fi nd that macroeconomic news is at least as important for business expectations as sector-spefici c news. This is consistent with the existence of information complementarities across sectors

Using industrial and commercial waste heat for residential heat supply : a case study from Hamburg, Germany

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Combination of In Situ Feeding Rate Experiments and Chemical Body Burden Analysis to Assess the Influence of Micropollutants in Wastewater on Gammarus pulex

Wastewater discharge is one of the main sources of micropollutants within the aquatic environment. To reduce the risks for the aquatic environment, the reduction of the chemical load of wastewater treatment plant effluent is critical. Based on this need, additional treatment methods, such as ozonation, are currently being tested in several wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, effects were investigated using in situ feeding experiments with Gammarus pulex and body burden analyses of frequently detected micropollutants which used a Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) multi-residue method to quantify internal concentrations in collected gammarids. Information obtained from these experiments complemented data from the chemical analysis of water samples and bioassays, which predominantly cover hydrophilic substances. When comparing up- and downstream feeding rates of Gammarus pulex for seven days, relative to the WWTPs, no significant acute effects were detected, although a slight trend of increased feeding rate downstream of the WWTP Aachen-Soers was observed. The chemical load released by the WWTP or at other points, or by diffuse sources, might be too low to lead to clear acute effects on G. pulex. However, some compounds found in wastewater are able to alter the microbial community on its leaves, leading to an increase in the feeding rate of G. pulex. Chemical analysis of internal concentrations of pollutants in the tissues of collected gammarids suggests a potential risk for chronic effects with the chemicals imidacloprid, thiacloprid, carbendazim, and 1H-benzotriazole when exceeding the critical toxic unit value of −3. This study has demonstrated that a combination of acute testing and measurement of the internal concentration of micropollutants that might lead to chronic effects is an efficient tool for investigating river systems, assuming all relevant factors (e.g., species or season) are taken into account

Red fluorescence of European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) spines results from free-base porphyrins of potential microbial origin

Bioluminescence has been recognized as an important means for inter- and intra-species communication. A growing number of reports of red fluorescence occurring in keratinaceous materials have become available. The fluorophore(s) in these cases were shown to be, or suspected to be, free base porphyrins. The red fluorescence found in the downs of bustards was associated with inter-species signaling in mate selection. First reported in 1925, we confirm that spines of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) when irradiated with UV (365–395 nm) light display red fluorescence localized in the light-colored sections of their proximal ends. Using reflectance fluorescence spectroscopy, we confirmed that the fluorophores responsible for the emission are free-base porphyrins, as suspected in the original report. Base-induced degradation of the spine matrix and subsequent HPLC, UV-vis, and ESI+ mass spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of a mixture of coproporphyrin III and uroporphyrin III as predominant porphyrins and a minor fraction of protoporphyrin IX. Investigation of the spine microbiome uncovered the abundant presence of bacteria known to secrete and/or interconvert porphyrins and that are not present on the non-fluorescing quills of the North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). Given this circumstantial evidence, we propose the porphyrins could originate from commensal bacteria. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the fluorescence may be incidental and of no biological function for the hedgehog