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The transition from fossil fuels to renewables is reshaping the energy landscape, leading to increased volatility in energy supply. This shift presents significant challenges, particularly given that traditional energy markets were designed for predictable, fossil fuel-based generation. In this context, the ancillary services market is crucial for maintaining grid stability and reliability. Despite its importance, there is a significant lack of established methods for assessing the profitability of industrial companies’ participation in the ancillary services market, particularly in terms of offering energy flexibility. The usage of energy flexibility has been primarily considered for optimizing costs in the spot market. This paper extends this consideration to the ancillary services market, introducing a novel method for economically evaluating industrial energy flexibility within the German control reserve market. It provides an in-depth understanding of the market mechanisms and a profitability analysis for the participation of industrial consumers. It also investigates the stability of the optimal bidding values and gives a guidance for future bids.

Sandy sediments of lowland streams are typically transported at low flow in the form of migrating ripples. In these bedforms, microbial communities spanning all trophic guilds (heterotrophic bacteria, fungi, photoautotrophic and phagotrophic protists) are exposed to highly frequent moving–resting cycles of sediment grains. Up to date, it is unknown to what extent ripple migration impacts community metabolism and composition as well as the vertical zonation of sediment-associated multitrophic microbial communities compared to stationary sediments. We hypothesize that, as a result of mechanical abrasion and limited light supply, migrating ripple sediments have lower microbial abundance, diversity, metabolism and resource acquisition and no vertical zonation compared to stationary sediments. We collected samples from five lowland streams in north-eastern Germany between May and June 2020. The coarser and better sorted sediments of migrating ripples had a higher oxygen concentration and less organic matter than stationary sediments. Photosynthetic pigments, potential extracellular enzyme activities, bacterial cell counts, and fungal gene copies were lower in migrating ripples than in stationary sediments. In contrast, cell-specific bacterial production was higher in migrating ripples. Metabarcoding revealed that bedform migration was important in shaping the community structure of bacteria, fungi, and phagotrophic protists. Dry mass-related net community production, respiration, and bacterial production were higher in superficial compared to underlying layers irrespective of sediment transport. By modulating the abundance, diversity, and structure of different trophic guilds of microbial communities and their resource acquisition, migrating bedforms create streambed heterogeneity, shaping regional biodiversity and the flow of matter through the benthic food web.

This proof-of-concept study explored the use of an RGB colour sensor to identify different blends of vegetable oils in avocado oil. The main aim of this work was to distinguish avocado oil from its blends with canola, sunflower, corn, olive, and soybean oils. The study involved RGB measurements conducted using two different light sources: UV (395 nm) and white light. Classification methods, such as Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM), were employed for detecting the blends. The LS-SVM model exhibited superior classification performance under white light, with an accuracy exceeding 90%, thus demonstrating a robust prediction capability without evidence of random adjustments. A quantitative approach was followed as well, employing Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and LS-SVM, for the quantification of each vegetable oil in the blends. The LS-SVM model consistently achieved good performance (R2 > 0.9) in all examined cases, both for internal and external validation. Additionally, under white light, LS-SVM models yielded root mean square errors (RMSE) between 1.17–3.07%, indicating a high accuracy in blend prediction. The method proved to be rapid and cost-effective, without the necessity of any sample pretreatment. These findings highlight the feasibility of a cost-effective colour sensor in identifying avocado oil blended with other oils, such as canola, sunflower, corn, olive, and soybean oils, suggesting its potential as a low-cost and efficient alternative for on-site oil analysis.

Previous studies about health in prisons conclude that incarceration has detrimental consequences for physical and mental health. It is associated with weight gain, decreased fitness, increased cardiovascular risks, and increased risks for mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety. This article examines the relationships between sports activity and health developments among prisoners. We analyze data from the Hessian Prison Sports Study, conducted in 12 prisons of the federal state of Hesse, Germany. Based on quantitative survey data of 568 prisoners in regular custody, our empirical findings show that inmates perceive substantial health declines since incarceration. They report substantial decreases in general health (d=-0.52) and life satisfaction (d=-0.84) as well as an increased number of health problems (d=0.71). However, sport has a potential to buffer this decline of health. Prisoners engaged in sports report a less negative development of their health compared to inactive prisoners. The greater the amount of time spent with sports activities, the better are the health trajectories found. Findings add to the public health and prison sport literature by demonstrating health benefits of sporting activities in a vulnerable population group that almost inevitably is exposed to manifold strains and burdens.

Climate change and erosion from agricultural areas cause increased drying periods and bedform migration of riverbeds, respectively, worldwide. Both sediment drying and bedform migration can independently stress the microbial community residing in the riverbed. Here, we investigated the microbial response after exposure to these stressors with a focus on long-term recovery. We conducted an in situ experiment to investigate the long-term (8 months) functional and structural recovery of benthic microbial communities from either sediment drying (episodic severe stressor) or bedform migration (frequent moderate stressor). Stressed sediment associated communities were rewetted (dried sediments) and immobilized (migrated sediments) and exposed in the River Spree (north-eastern Germany) to initiate the recovery process. We then evaluated the microbial function (community respiration, net community production and extracellular enzymatic activities) as well as the bacterial, fungal and diatom community structure (16S rRNA gene and ITS region metabarcoding, and microscopic diatom morphotype classification). We observed different recovery times for community respiration (less than 7 days) and gross primary production (more than 5 months), implying a shift toward net heterotrophy in the first few months after stress exposure. Similarly, we observed a strong autotrophic community response (particularly associated with the diatoms Navicula and Fragilaria), especially in migrated sediments. The bacterial and fungal community response to sediment drying was stronger than to bedform migration (particularly associated with the bacterium Flavobacterium and the fungi Alternaria sp. and Aureobasidium pullulans). Our results show that sediment drying and bedform migration had a significant impact on the microbial community function and structure, which persisted for several months after the stress. Due to the surprising long period of recovery, successive stress events combined with seaso

How do military alliances affect public support for defending targets of aggression? We studied this question by fielding an experiment on 14,000 voters in 13 member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Our experiment involved a hypothetical scenario in which Russia attacked a target country. We randomly varied the identity of the target (Bosnia, Finland, Georgia, or Sweden), and whether the target was a member of NATO at the time of the attack. We found that voters in every member country were far more willing to use military force to defend each target when the target was in NATO, than when the target was outside the alliance. The expansion of NATO could, therefore, transform European security by altering the likelihood and scale of future wars. We also uncovered important heterogeneity across targets: the benefits of joining NATO were considerably larger for Bosnia and Georgia than for Finland and Sweden, since most voters in NATO countries would defend Finland and Sweden even if they remained outside the alliance. Finally, the effect of NATO was much stronger among voters who perceived NATO as valuable for their own country. Rhetorical attacks on NATO could, therefore, undermine the alliance by eroding the public's willingness to defend other members, whereas rhetoric highlighting the benefits of NATO could bolster defense and deterrence. These findings advance knowledge about the effects of alliances, while also informing policy debates about the value and size of NATO.

The article presents part of the results of an already completed research that aimed to map the enunciations about nature in the printed newspaper Zero Hora/RS. With this, it intends to enhance problematizations about the contemporary way of life from environmental education. The discursive disputes surrounding the rupture of Dam I of the Córrego do Feijão Mine (Brumadinho/MG) that occurred on January 25, 2019. Are highlighted copies of the newspaper published throughout the year 2020 and which were taken as empirical material in the investigation. The theoretical and methodological framework is supported by Cultural Analysis anchored in Cultural Studies. The results of the investigation enunciate the environmental problems in a country that does not learn from the experiences of other tragedies of the past and the human tragedy resulting from the environmental catastrophe. Such enunciations are analyzed articulating the concepts of Environmental Catastrophe, proposed by Meira-Cartea (2005) and Risk Society, presented by Beck (2011) to reflect on the role of Waste in Modernity, according to Bauman (2005)., O artigo apresenta parte dos resultados de uma pesquisa já concluída que teve como objetivo mapear as enunciações acerca da natureza no jornal impresso Zero Hora/RS. Pretende, com isso, potencializarproblematizações acerca do modo de vida contemporâneo a partir da educação ambiental. Destaca-se as disputas discursivas em torno do rompimento da Barragem I da Mina Córrego do Feijão (Brumadinho/ MG) ocorrido em 25 de janeiro de 2019. Foram selecionadas, a título de amostragem, 6 edições da publicação que fazem parte do conjunto maior de exemplares do jornal publicados ao longo do ano de 2020 e que foram tomados como material empírico na investigação. A metodologia adotada nessa pesquisa é a da Análise Cultural e os procedimentos que foram realizados levaram em conta sua filiação aos chamados Estudos Culturais em Educação. Os resultados da investigação enunciam as problemáticas ambientais em um país que não aprende com as experiências de outras tragédias do passado e a tragédia humana decorrente da catástrofe ambiental. Analisam-se tais enunciações articulando os conceitos de Catástrofe Ambiental, proposto por Meira-Cartea (2005) e Sociedade de Risco, apresentado por Beck (2011), para refletir sobre o papel do Refugo na Modernidade, conforme Bauman (2005)., El artículo presenta parte de los resultados de una investigación ya concluida que tuvo como objetivo mapear los enunciados sobre la naturaleza en el diario impreso Zero Hora/RS. Con ello, pretende potenciar problematizaciones sobre el modo de vida contemporáneo desde la educación ambiental. Se destacan las disputas discursivas en torno a la ruptura de la Presa I de la Mina Córrego do Feijão (Brumadinho/MG) ocurrida el 25 de enero de 2019. Se destacan ejemplares del periódico publicados a lo largo del año 2020 y que fueron tomados como material empírico en la investigación. El marco teórico y metodológico se sustenta en el Análisis Cultural anclado en los Estudios Culturales. Los resultados de la investigación enuncian los problemas ambientales de un país que no aprende de las experiencias de otras tragedias del pasado y de la tragedia humana producto de la catástrofe ambiental. Dichos enunciados son analizados articulando los conceptos de Catástrofe Ambiental, propuesto por Meira-Cartea (2005) y Sociedad del Riesgo, presentado por Beck (2011) para reflexionar sobre el papel de los Residuos en la Modernidad, según Bauman (2005).

Sexual satisfaction (SS) is an important aspect of people’s sexual wellbeing and has been shown to bolster relational and overall wellbeing. Yet, SS is frequently investigated from a perspective of preventing dysfunction rather than enhancing wellbeing. Positive Psychology theory posits that sexual self-esteem (SSE) may play a crucial role in forming sexually satisfying partnerships by enabling people to be sexually assertive and thus facilitate more sexually pleasurable experiences. The present study aimed at further understanding this mechanism by investigating the mediating role of sexual assertiveness (SA) in the relationship between SSE and SS in men and women. In a cross-sectional design, 303 women and 85 men from the Netherlands completed an online survey measuring SSE, SA, and SS. Analyses revealed significant positive bivariate correlations between all study variables for both men and women. Significant results of a mediation analysis showed that SA partially mediated the association between SSE and SS. A subsequent moderated mediation analysis revealed that gender did not moderate any of the associations between SSE, SA, and SS. These findings corroborate prior research into the relationships between SSE, SA, and SS and suggest that there are no meaningful gender differences regarding the examined mechanism behind SS. The results indicate SSE and SA as suitable intervention points for enhancing SS.

Climate change and erosion from agricultural areas cause increased drying periods and bedform migration of riverbeds, respectively, worldwide. Both sediment drying and bedform migration can independently stress the microbial community residing in the riverbed. Here, we investigated the microbial response after exposure to these stressors with a focus on long-term recovery. We conducted an in situ experiment to investigate the long-term (8 months) functional and structural recovery of benthic microbial communities from either sediment drying (episodic severe stressor) or bedform migration (frequent moderate stressor). Stressed sediment associated communities were rewetted (dried sediments) and immobilized (migrated sediments) and exposed in the River Spree (north-eastern Germany) to initiate the recovery process. We then evaluated the microbial function (community respiration, net community production and extracellular enzymatic activities) as well as the bacterial, fungal and diatom community structure (16S rRNA gene and ITS region metabarcoding, and microscopic diatom morphotype classification). We observed different recovery times for community respiration (less than 7 days) and gross primary production (more than 5 months), implying a shift toward net heterotrophy in the first few months after stress exposure. Similarly, we observed a strong autotrophic community response (particularly associated with the diatoms Navicula and Fragilaria), especially in migrated sediments. The bacterial and fungal community response to sediment drying was stronger than to bedform migration (particularly associated with the bacterium Flavobacterium and the fungi Alternaria sp. and Aureobasidium pullulans). Our results show that sediment drying and bedform migration had a significant impact on the microbial community function and structure, which persisted for several months after the stress. Due to the surprising long period of recovery, successive stress events combined with seaso

The bed of fluvial ecosystems plays a major role in global biogeochemical cycles. All fluvial sediments migrate and although responses of aquatic organisms to such movements have been recorded there is no theoretical framework on how the frequency of sediment movement affects streambed ecology and biogeochemistry. We here developed a theoretical framework describing how the moving-resting frequencies of fine-grained sediments constrain streambed communities across spatial scales. Specifically, we suggest that the most drastic impact on benthic and hyporheic communities will exist when ecological and biogeochemical processes are at the same temporal scale as the sediment moving-resting frequency. Moreover, we propose that the simultaneous occurrence of streambed patches differing in morphodynamics should be considered as an important driver of metacommunity dynamics. We surmise that the frequency of patch transition will add new dimensions to the understanding of biogeochemical cycling and metacommunities from micro-habitat to segment scales. This theoretical framework is important for fluvial ecosystems with frequent sediment movement, yet it could be applied to any other dynamic habitat.

Significance Numerous pathogenic viruses are endemic in humans and cause a broad variety of diseases, but what is their potential for causing new pandemics? We show that most human pathogenic RNA viruses form multiple, cocirculating lineages with low turnover rates. These lineages appear to be largely noncompeting and occupy distinct epidemiological niches that are not regionally or seasonally defined, and their persistence appears to stem from limited outbreaks in small communities so that only a small fraction of the global susceptible population is infected at any time. However, due to globalization, interaction and competition between lineages might increase, potentially leading to increased diversification and pathogenicity. Thus, endemic viruses appear to merit global attention with respect to the prevention of future pandemics.

Compared to large-scale funding programs, small-scale ones receive little attention in research. For instance, the funding initiatives of the Volkswagen Foundation (VWS) generates impetus for scientific developments. In small-scale funding programs the knowledge of fellows as informants of funding programs and their impacts can be bet-ter considered. With Cultural Consensus Theory and the notion of an “impact culture” a methodological frame-work will be suggested for evaluation purposes of small-scale funding programs. “Impact culture” is defined as the shared knowledge about perceived impacts of a funding program among fellows. In the study commissioned by the VWS two-stage surveys with different levels of impacts were conducted (individual, institutional, societal) for two funding initiatives of the VWS. One single impact culture of each initiative can be found with consistent response set across all levels.

Pathogens are embedded in multi-trophic food webs, which often include co-occurring cryptic species within the same pathogen complex. Nonetheless, we still lack an understanding of what dimensions of the ecological niche might allow these cryptic species to coexist. We explored the role of climate, host characteristics (tree autumn phenology) and attack by the fungal hyperparasite Ampelomyces (a group of fungi attacking plant pathogens) in defining the niches of three powdery mildew species (Erysiphe alphitoides, E. hypophylla and E. quercicola) within a cryptic pathogen complex on the pedunculate oak Quercus robur at the continental (Europe), national (Sweden and France) and landscape scales (a 5 km2 island in southwestern Finland). Previous studies have shown that climate separated the niches of three powdery mildew species (E. alphitoides, E. hypophylla and E. quercicola) in Europe and two species (E. alphitoides and E. quercicola) in France. In our study, we did not detect a significant relationship between temperature or precipitation and the distribution of E. alphitoides and E. hypophylla present in Sweden, while at the landscape scale, temperature, but not relative humidity, negatively affected disease incidence of E. alphitoides in an exceptionally warm year. Tree variation in autumn phenology did not influence disease incidence of powdery mildew species, and hyperparasite presence did not differ among powdery mildew species at the continental, national and landscape scale. Climate did not affect the distribution of the hyperparasite at the continental scale and at the national scale in Sweden. However, climate affected the hyperparasite distribution in France, with a negative relationship between non-growing season temperature and presence of the hyperparasite. Overall, our findings, in combination with earlier evidence, suggest that climatic factors are more important than species interactions in defining the niches of cryptic species within a pathogen co

Stream sediments move at low flow forming migrating ripples. These ripples can cover substantial areas where benthic communities experience erosion-resting cycles of sand grains. Sediment surface and interstitial space is colonized by meiobenthos, an assemblage of microscopic invertebrates. Here we describe how sediment migration influences the structure of the meiobenthic community. We sampled migrating and stationary sediment patches in five streams. Sediments in migrating ripple patches were characterized by coarser grain size and higher oxygen concentration, but less organic matter and chlorophyll than stationary patches. Meiobenthos was more abundant in the superficial layer of stationary sediment compared to the underlying layer, whereas comparable abundances were observed in both layers of migrating patches. This suggests that ripple migration enhances the vertical mixing of interstitial communities. Among the environmental drivers measured, meiobenthos community structure was most related to sediment transport regime: Rotatoria were more abundant in migrating patches, whereas Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, Copepoda and Hydrachnidia were more abundant in stationary patches. Body-size structure was affected by sediment migration, with fewer larger organisms in migrating ripples. By modifying the distribution of benthic resources and of meiobenthic consumers, ripple migration likely affects energy flow paths through benthic food webs.

The widespread integration of engineered nanomaterials into consumer and industrial products creates new challenges and requires innovative approaches in terms of design, testing, reliability, and safety of nanotechnology. The aim of this review article is to give an overview of different product groups in which nanomaterials are present and outline their safety aspects for consumers. Here, release of nanomaterials and related analytical challenges and solutions as well as toxicological considerations, such as dose-metrics, are discussed. Additionally, the utilization of engineered nanomaterials as pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals to deliver and release cargo molecules is covered. Furthermore, critical pathways for human exposure to nanomaterials, namely inhalation and ingestion, are discussed in the context of risk assessment. Analysis of NMs in food, innovative medicine or food contact materials is discussed. Specific focus is on the presence and release of nanomaterials, including whether nanomaterials can migrate from polymer nanocomposites used in food contact materials. With regard to the toxicology and toxicokinetics of nanomaterials, aspects of dose metrics of inhalation toxicity as well as ingestion toxicology and comparison between in vitro and in vivo conclusions are considered. The definition of dose descriptors to be applied in toxicological testing is emphasized. In relation to potential exposure from different products, opportunities arising from the use of advanced analytical techniques in more unique scenarios such as release of nanomaterials from medical devices such as orthopedic implants are addressed. Alongside higher product performance and complexity, further challenges regarding material characterization and safety, as well as acceptance by the general public are expected.

This article reviews the current status of nanotechnology with emphasis on application and related environmental considerations as well as legislation. Application and analysis of nanomaterials in infrastructure (construction, building coatings, and water treatment) is discussed, and in particular nanomaterial release during the lifecycle of these applications. Moreover, possible grouping approaches with regard to ecotoxicological and toxicological properties, and the fate of nanomaterials in the environment are evaluated. In terms of potential exposure, the opportunities that arise from leveraging advances in several key areas, such as water treatment and construction are addressed. Additionally, this review describes challenges with regard to the European Commission’s definition of ‘nanomaterial’. The revised REACH information requirements, intended to enable a comprehensive risk assessment of nanomaterials, are outlined.

The OSSKAR study received financial support from the Technical University of Dortmund. The EiS-CP project received a research grant from the Federal Institute for Sport Science based on a resolution of the German Bundestag., This research note reports social capital trends in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a comparison of survey data from 2017/18 and 2020/21, i.e., trends reported here inform about changes of social capital levels during the “second lockdown” of the pandemic, when containment policies were in effect throughout the country. Findings point to stable levels of in-group trust, out-group trust and prosocial attitudes. At the same time, sociability orientations are lower and society is generally perceived as less solidary. Members in voluntary organizations have more social capital compared to non-members—this difference is found before as well as during the pandemic. Regarding that changes are generally small, it can be concluded that the pandemic did neither strengthen social capital considerably, nor did it lead to a massive overall decline of social capital., Peer Reviewed

Hybride anorganisch/organischen Systeme können die individuellen Vorteile, etwa eine hohe elektronische Mobilität in anorganischen und starke Licht-Materie-Wechselwirkung in organischen Halbleitern, kombinieren. Ein sinnvoller Nutzen dieser Heterostrukturen benötigt ein umfassendes Verständnis der Grenzfläche. Zwei Grenzflächenprozesse werden in dieser Arbeit behandelt. Förster-Resonanzenergietransfer (FRET) wird zwischen einem InGaN/GaN Quantengraben und dem Polymer Cn-ether PPV untersucht. Trotz des hohen internen elektrischen Feldes im Quantengraben, ist effizienter Energietransfer möglich, solange andere nicht-strahlende Zerfallsprozesse unterdrückt werden. Dies wird mittels temperaturabhängiger PL und PLE Spektroskopie gezeigt. PLE demonstriert eine eindeutige Erhöhung der Emission des Akzeptors. Bei höheren Temperaturen dominieren nicht-strahlende Zerfallskanäle. Ladungstransfer wird zwischen MoS2 und dem Molekül H2Pc untersucht. Die Kombination mit organischen Molekülen kann die Funktionalität von MoS2 erweitern. Photoelektronenspektroskopie (PES) zeigt einen Typ-II Heteroübergang an der MoS2/H2Pc Grenzfläche. Angeregte Elektronen gehen von den H2Pc Molekülen in die MoS2 Monolage über, wie mittels einer Verkürzung der PL Lebenszeit von H2Pc gezeigt wird. Photostrommessungen demonstrieren zudem, dass die transferierten Elektronen zu einer erhöhten Photoleitfähigkeit beitragen. Zusätzlich werden auch einzelne 2D Übergangsmetall Dichalkogenide (TMDCs) untersucht. Um TMDCs von hoher Qualität herzustellen, wurde intern eine Wachstumsmethode entwickelt. Mittels PL Spektroskopie werden die so hergestellten Schichten charakterisiert. Die Vielseitigkeit der Methode wird anhand des Wachstums von Mischkristallen und Heterostrukturen gezeigt. Der Einfluss der dielektrischen Funktion des Substrates wird erforscht. Durch die Kombination von PES und Reflexionsmessungen kann eine gleichzeitige Abnahme sowohl der Bandlücke als auch der Exzitonen Bindungsenergie gezeigt werden, Hybrid inorganic/organic systems can combine the advantages of both materials such as high carrier mobilities in inorganic semiconductors and large light-matter interaction in organic ones. In order to benefit from these heterostructures, a thorough understanding of the interface is needed. Two processes occurring at the interface are looked at in this thesis. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is studied between a single InGaN/GaN quantum well and the polymer Cn-ether PPV. Despite the large internal electric fields in the quantum well, efficient FRET is possible as long as other non-radiative decay channels are suppressed. This is shown by temperature dependent PL and PLE spectroscopy. PLE spectra clearly demonstrate an enhanced light emission from the acceptor. At elevated temperatures, non-radiative decay pathways become dominant. Excited-state charge transfer is studied on MoS2 in combination with the molecule H2Pc. The combination with molecules can extend the functionality of MoS2. Photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) reveals a type II energy level alignment at the MoS2/H2Pc interface. Excited electrons are transferred from H2Pc to MoS2, deduced from a shortening of the H2Pc PL decay time. Photocurrent spectra further show that the transferred electrons contribute to an enhanced photoconductivity. Additionally, bare 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are studied. In order to fabricate high-quality TMDC monolayers, a growth method was developed in-house. The grown monolayers are characterised by optical spectroscopy. The versatility of the method is demonstrated by the growth of alloys and heterostructures. The influence of the substrate dielectric function is investigated by comparing band-gaps measured by PES with the exciton transition energies obtained by reflectance measurements. An almost equal reduction in both energies with the substrate dielectric constant is seen.

Van der Waals heterostructures consisting of 2D semiconductors and conjugated molecules are of increasing interest because of the prospect of a synergistic enhancement of (opto)electronic properties. In particular, perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) on monolayer (ML)-MoS2 has been identified as promising candidate and a staggered type-II energy level alignment and excited state interfacial charge transfer have been proposed. In contrast, it is here found with inverse and direct angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy that PTCDA/ML-MoS2 supported by insulating sapphire exhibits a straddling type-I level alignment, with PTCDA having the wider energy gap. Photoluminescence (PL) and sub-picosecond transient absorption measurements reveal that resonance energy transfer, i.e., electron–hole pair (exciton) transfer, from PTCDA to ML-MoS2 occurs on a sub-picosecond time scale. This gives rise to an enhanced PL yield from ML-MoS2 in the heterostructure and an according overall modulation of the photoresponse. These results underpin the importance of a precise knowledge of the interfacial electronic structure in order to understand excited state dynamics and to devise reliable design strategies for optimized optoelectronic functionality in van der Waals heterostructures., Peer Reviewed

Seasonal life history events are often interdependent, but we know relatively little about how the relationship between different events is influenced by the abiotic and biotic environment. Such knowledge is important for predicting the immediate and evolutionary phenological response of populations to changing conditions. We manipulated germination timing and shade in a multi-factorial experiment to investigate the relationship between spring and autumn phenology in seedlings of the pedunculate oak, Quercus robur, and whether this relationship was mediated by natural colonization of leaves by specialist fungal pathogens (i.e., the oak powdery mildew complex). Each week delay in germination corresponded to about 2 days delay in autumn leaf senescence, and heavily shaded seedlings senesced 5–8 days later than seedlings in light shade or full sun. Within seedlings, leaves on primary-growth shoots senesced later than those on secondary-growth shoots in some treatments. Path analyses demonstrated that germination timing and shade affected autumn phenology both directly and indirectly via pathogen load, though the specific pattern differed among and within seedlings. Pathogen load increased with later germination and greater shade. Greater pathogen load was in turn associated with later senescence for seedlings, but with earlier senescence for individual leaves. Our findings show that relationships between seasonal events can be partly mediated by the biotic environment and suggest that these relationships may differ between the plant and leaf level. The influence of biotic interactions on phenological correlations across scales has implications for understanding phenotypic variation in phenology and for predicting how populations will respond to climatic perturbation.

Climate change can have important effects on plant performance by altering the relationship between spring temperature and other abiotic factors, such as light availability. Higher temperatures can advance plant phenology so that seedling germination takes place when days are shorter, and affect light availability for understory plants by altering the relative timing of seedling germination and canopy closure. To predict the effects of climate-induced changes in phenology and light availability on plant performance and species interactions during the growing season, we need to determine i) how effects of plant phenology on plant performance and the plant-associated community depend on light availability, and ii) to what extent effects of phenology and light availability on plant performance are direct vs. mediated by changes in the plant-associated community. We conducted a multifactorial field experiment to test for the effect of germination timing and light availability on Quercus robur seedling traits and performance, as well as attack by specialist plant pathogens, insects, and small mammals. Germination timing strongly affected seedling performance whereas light availability’s effects were limited. Likewise, germination timing strongly affected herbivore and pathogen attack, whereas light availability and its interaction with germination timing explained a minor part of the variation. Small mammals preferentially attacked later germinating seedlings, which strongly affected plant survival, while insect herbivores and pathogens did not mediate the effect of germination timing and light availability on plant performance. The results showed that the effect of germination timing can have greater influence than light availability on plant performance and plant attack, and that small mammal herbivores can play a larger role than diseases and insect herbivores in mediating the effect of spring phenology on plant performance. Together, these findings advance our unders

Sandy streambeds are mobile even at low flow velocities at which sediments can be transported as bedload, more specifically as migrating ripples. Small variations in discharge can result in transitions between sediment transport and no‐transport. Despite being inherent processes of streams and rivers, the effect of sediment transport and transport regime transition on the phototrophic and heterotrophic activity of streambed microbial communities remains unclear. We performed a microcosm experiment mimicking sediment transport as migrating ripples (i.e., migrating) and no sediment transport (i.e., stationary), and their transition to observe the response of the phototrophic and heterotrophic microbial community. Both net community production and community respiration were respectively 77% and 40% suppressed in migration sediments compared to stationary sediments. In migrating sediments, a combination of mechanical stress, light limitation and limited habitable area likely hampered microbial metabolism. Stationary conditions facilitated an active community of phototrophs, mainly diatoms, as indicated by high net community production, high rates of dissolved organic carbon release and silicon retention. After transitioning migrating to stationary and vice versa, differences were maintained regardless of the change in mechanical stress and associated stressors, most likely as a result of the interaction between their antecedent transport conditions and developmental stage that shaped the microbial community. Our results indicate that sediment transported as migrating ripples at low flow velocity can strongly modulate streambed metabolism, and discharge oscillations resulting in sediment transport transitions will result in a mosaic of microbial activity and biomass that will emerge at larger scales determining reach scale metabolism.

The h-index is a mainstream bibliometric indicator, since it is widely used in academia, research management and research policy. While its advantages have been highlighted, such as its simple calculation, it has also received widespread criticism. The criticism is mainly based on the negative effects it may have on scholars, when the index is used to describe the quality of a scholar. The "h" means "highly-cited" and "high achievement", and should not be confused with the last name of its inventor, Hirsch. Put simply, the h-index combines a measure of quantity and impact in a single indicator. Several initiatives try to provide alternatives to the h-index to counter some of its shortcomings., Comment: In book: Handbook Bibliometrics | Edition: De Gruyter Reference | Chapter: 3.4 | Publisher: De Gruyter Saur

In over fve years, Bornmann, Stefaner, de Moya Anegon, and Mutz (2014b) and Bornmann, Stefaner, de Moya Anegón, and Mutz (2014c, 2015) have published several releases of the www.excellencemapping.net tool revealing (clusters of) excellent institutions worldwide based on citation data. With the new release, a completely revised tool has been published. It is not only based on citation data (bibliometrics), but also Mendeley data (altmetrics). Thus, the institutional impact measurement of the tool has been expanded by focusing on additional status groups besides researchers such as students and librarians. Furthermore, the visualization of the data has been completely updated by improving the operability for the user and including new features such as institutional profle pages. In this paper, we describe the datasets for the current excellencemapping.net tool and the indicators applied. Furthermore, the underlying statistics for the tool and the use of the web application are explained.

The h-index is a mainstream bibliometric indicator, since it is widely used in academia, research management and research policy. While its advantages have been highlighted, such as its simple calculation, it has also received widespread criticism. The criticism is mainly based on the negative effects it may have on scholars, when the index is used to describe the quality of a scholar. The “h” means “highly- cited” and “high achievement”, and should not be confused with the last name of its inventor, Hirsch. Put simply, the h-index combines a measure of quantity and impact in a single indicator. Several initiatives try to provide alternatives to the h-index to counter some of its shortcomings.

Understanding the trends in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) evolution is paramount to control the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed more than 300,000 high-quality genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 variants available as of January 2021. The results show that the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic is characterized primarily by purifying selection, but a small set of sites appear to evolve under positive selection. The receptor-binding domain of the spike protein and the region of the nucleocapsid protein associated with nuclear localization signals (NLS) are enriched with positively selected amino acid replacements. These replacements form a strongly connected network of apparent epistatic interactions and are signatures of major partitions in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny. Virus diversity within each geographic region has been steadily growing for the entirety of the pandemic, but analysis of the phylogenetic distances between pairs of regions reveals four distinct periods based on global partitioning of the tree and the emergence of key mutations. The initial period of rapid diversification into region-specific phylogenies that ended in February 2020 was followed by a major extinction event and global homogenization concomitant with the spread of D614G in the spike protein, ending in March 2020. The NLS-associated variants across multiple partitions rose to global prominence in March to July, during a period of stasis in terms of interregional diversity. Finally, beginning in July 2020, multiple mutations, some of which have since been demonstrated to enable antibody evasion, began to emerge associated with ongoing regional diversification, which might be indicative of speciation., NIH (Grants 1R01-HG009761 and 1DP1-HL141201)

In over five years, Bornmann, Stefaner, de Moya Anegon, and Mutz (2014) and Bornmann, Stefaner, de Moya Anegon, and Mutz (2014, 2015) have published several releases of the www.excellencemapping.net tool revealing (clusters of) excellent institutions worldwide based on citation data. With the new release, a completely revised tool has been published. It is not only based on citation data (bibliometrics), but also Mendeley data (altmetrics). Thus, the institutional impact measurement of the tool has been expanded by focusing on additional status groups besides researchers such as students and librarians. Furthermore, the visualization of the data has been completely updated by improving the operability for the user and including new features such as institutional profile pages. In this paper, we describe the datasets for the current excellencemapping.net tool and the indicators applied. Furthermore, the underlying statistics for the tool and the use of the web application are explained.

The ability to quantify incivility online, in news and in congressional debates, is of great interest to political scientists. Computational tools for detecting online incivility for English are now fairly accessible and potentially could be applied more broadly. We test the Jigsaw Perspective API for its ability to detect the degree of incivility on a corpus that we developed, consisting of manual annotations of civility in American news. We demonstrate that toxicity models, as exemplified by Perspective, are inadequate for the analysis of incivility in news. We carry out error analysis that points to the need to develop methods to remove spurious correlations between words often mentioned in the news, especially identity descriptors and incivility. Without such improvements, applying Perspective or similar models on news is likely to lead to wrong conclusions, that are not aligned with the human perception of incivility., Comment: Accepted at EACL 2021

his study follows on from the analyses of the Austrian Science Fund's (FWF) decision-making procedures for the years 1999-2009. The new study analyses the FWF Stand-Alone Projects programme for the years 2010-2019. The data basis is: 50 board meetings 10,871 funding applications 23,646 international reviews 1,582 final reports 1,317 final report reviews Based on this data, further detailed analyses will follow in the coming months and years.

TV-Übertragungen der Spiele der deutschen Fußballnationalmannschaft besitzen einen starken emotionalen Erlebniswert für das Publikum. Gerade bei WM- und EM-Turnieren scheinen sich starke Emotionen intensiv und kollektiv aufseiten der TV-Zuschauer_innen Bahn zu brechen. Auf Basis eines repräsentativen Surveys während der Fußball-EM 2016 fragt dieser Beitrag, welche Emotionen vom TV-Publikum während der Spiele erlebt wurden und welche Einflussfaktoren diese bedingen. Der Artikel zeigt, dass das Schauen der Spiele bei der Mehrheit der Zuschauenden mit Emotionen der Freude und Spannung verbunden war. Die Intensität dieser Emotionen hängt neben dem Spielergebnis auch von der Identifikation mit der Nationalelf und vom sozialen Kontext des TV-Schauens ab. Fans und Personen, die ein Spiel gemeinsam mit einer größeren Gruppe anschauten, empfanden stärkere Emotionen. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die EM 2016 für weite Bevölkerungsteile ein soziales wie emotionales Event war. Sie bestätigen die zentrale Rolle von Fanbindungen für das Emotionserleben und sind konsistent mit Modellen der emotionalen Ansteckung in Gruppen., Football broadcasts and especially those of matches played by the German national team have a strong emotional impact on their audiences. FIFA World Cups and UEFA EURO's in particular seem to be occasions during which strong emotions are exhibited intensively and collectively by TV viewers. Based on a representative survey conducted during the UEFA EURO 2016, this article investigates what types of emotions were experienced by the TV audience during matches and which factors influenced these emotions. We find that watching these matches was associated with emotions of joy and suspense in a majority of viewers. The intensity of these emotions was significantly influenced by the respective match result, the degree of identification with the national team and the social context of broadcast consumption. Fans and viewers who watched a match together with a larger group felt stronger emotions. These results show that the EURO 2016 was a social and emotional event for large parts of the population. They buttress the notion that fan loyalty is crucial for viewer experiences and are consistent with models of emotional contagion in groups.

Vor dem Hintergrund eines vielfach konstatierten zunehmenden Bewegungsmangels und längerer Sitzzeiten bei Kindern befasst sich der Beitrag mit der Spielplatznutzung und der damit verbundenen Bewegungsaktivität. Auf Basis einer regionalen Stichprobe von Kindern im Grundschulalter (N=150, 6-11 Jahre) und gestützt auf kombinierte Daten aus Aktivitätstagebüchern, Elternfragebögen und objektiven Messungen der Bewegungsaktivität der Kinder per Akzelerometrie kann gezeigt werden, dass 54 Prozent der untersuchten Kinder öffentliche Spielplätze nutzen, darunter überproportional viele Kinder aus Familien mit niedrigeren formalen Bildungsabschlüssen. Pro 30-minütigem Spielplatzaufenthalt absolvierten die Kinder im Durchschnitt 754 Schritte und erreichten sechs Minuten Bewegungsaktivität in einer gesundheitsrelevanten Intensität. Regressionsanalysen zeigen, dass die Nutzung von Spielplätzen positiv und signifikant zur täglichen Bewegung von Kindern beiträgt. Die Größe des Effekts ist etwa vergleichbar mit der einer Mitgliedschaft im Sportverein., Against the backdrop of frequently expressed concerns regarding a lack of exercise and increasing levels of sedentariness among children, this paper addresses the relation between usage of public playgrounds and playground-related physical activity. Employing a regional sample (N=150, 6-11 years) and based on combined data from activity diaries, parent questionnaires and objective measures of the children’s physical activity via accelerometers, it is shown that 54 percent of the children play on public playgrounds, among them an above-average proportion from families with lower formal education. Within 30 minutes of playground use, children completed 754 steps on average and accumulated 6 minutes of physical activity in a health-relevant intensity. Regression analyses demonstrate that playground usage contributes positively and significantly to children’s daily physical activity. The size of the effect is comparable with a sports club membership.

Discussions around the School without a Party movement (Escola sem Partido) have intensified the struggles for Brazilian education in recent years. Given the importance of this debate, we would like to explore in this article a small part of a research developed in the Master’s Degree, but with a focus on other aspects. Thus, we seek to describe statements present in a given discursive formation produced by the movement. To that end, we used the theoretical and methodological tools offered by the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault. The results point to the existence of statements that revitalize neoliberal and conservative ideas in the field of Brazilian education., As discussões em torno do movimento Escola sem Partido vêm acirrando as lutas pela educação brasileira nos últimos anos. Dada a importância desse debate, gostaríamos de explorar, neste artigo, uma pequena parte de uma pesquisa desenvolvida no Mestrado, mas com foco em outros aspectos. Assim, buscamos descrever enunciados presentes em uma determinada formação discursiva produzida pelo movimento. Para tal, fizemos uso das ferramentas teórico-metodológicas oferecidas pelo filósofo e historiador francês Michel Foucault. Os resultados apontam para a existência de enunciados que reatualizam ideias neoliberais e conservadoras no campo da educação brasileira., Las discusiones en torno al movimiento Escuela Sin Partido han intensificado las luchas por la educación brasileña en los últimos años. Dada la importancia de este debate, nos gustaría explorar en este artículo una pequeña parte de una investigación desarrollada en el Máster, pero con foco en otros aspectos. Así, buscamos describir enunciados presentes en una determinada formación discursiva producida por el movimiento. Para ello, se utilizaron las herramientas teóricas y metodológicas ofrecidas por el filósofo e historiador francés Michel Foucault. Los resultados apuntan a la existencia de enunciados que revitalizan las ideas neoliberales y conservadoras en el campo de la educación brasileña.

It is widely believed that civic associations are capable to produce social capital, here understood as an individual asset resulting from relations of mutual support and assistance. Although hardly anybody denies that socializing is widespread in many civic associations, it still remains to be shown that this socializing provides a genuine commitment to support. This paper explores the relationship between involvement in civic organizations and social support. The data analysed come from a nation-wide survey “Organized Sport and Social Capital—Revisited” (OSSCAR) representing the adult population in Germany. Findings show that participation in civic associations is associated with higher levels of social support. This effect is stronger for active participants and weaker for passive members. Path analyses further indicate that this effect is mediated by a person’s sociability orientations as well as her commitment to prosocial values. These findings help providing a more nuanced understanding of mechanisms of social capital formation in civic associations., Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (3114), Peer Reviewed

The localization of self-driving cars is needed for several tasks such as keeping maps updated, tracking objects, and planning. Localization algorithms often take advantage of maps for estimating the car pose. Since maintaining and using several maps is computationally expensive, it is important to analyze which type of map is more adequate for each application. In this work, we provide data for such analysis by comparing the accuracy of a particle filter localization when using occupancy, reflectivity, color, or semantic grid maps. To the best of our knowledge, such evaluation is missing in the literature. For building semantic and colour grid maps, point clouds from a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor are fused with images captured by a front-facing camera. Semantic information is extracted from images with a deep neural network. Experiments are performed in varied environments, under diverse conditions of illumination and traffic. Results show that occupancy grid maps lead to more accurate localization, followed by reflectivity grid maps. In most scenarios, the localization with semantic grid maps kept the position tracking without catastrophic losses, but with errors from 2 to 3 times bigger than the previous. Colour grid maps led to inaccurate and unstable localization even using a robust metric, the entropy correlation coefficient, for comparing online data and the map.

This paper refers to the widespread notion that voluntary (sport) organizations produce social capital, popularized through the works of Robert D. Putnam, and compares social trust levels of sport club members with members in other voluntary associations and non-members. We differentiate between in-group trust and out-group trust, highlighting that not only the level of trust but also the “trust radius” counts for social cohesion in modern societies. Refining Putnam’s claims, we argue that social trust among members varies with the quality and intensity of participation captured (for instance, through volunteering), diverse social contacts and the level of membership trust experienced in an association. Based on a nation-wide survey, carried out in Germany during 2017/2018, it is demonstrated that members of civic associations indicate higher levels of trust towards in-groups and out-groups compared to non-members and they regard present society as more solidary and trusting. A fine-grained analysis among members of associations further shows that increased trust is typical for volunteers and individuals in socially diverse associations which, at the same time, are characterized by high levels of membership trust. We conclude that sports clubs need to provide beneficial context conditions for producing high levels and a wider radius of trust., Peer Reviewed

Growth of science is a prevalent issue in science of science studies. In recent years, two new bibliographic databases have been introduced which can be used to study growth processes in science from centuries back: Dimensions from Digital Science and Microsoft Academic. In this study, we used publication data from these new databases and added publication data from two established databases (Web of Science from Clarivate Analytics and Scopus from Elsevier) to investigate scientific growth processes from the beginning of the modern science system until today. We estimated regression models that included simultaneously the publication counts from the four databases. The results of the unrestricted growth of science calculations show that the overall growth rate amounts to 4.10% with a doubling time of 17.3 years. As the comparison of various segmented regression models in the current study revealed, the model with five segments fits the publication data best. We demonstrated that these segments with different growth rates can be interpreted very well, since they are related to either phases of economic (e.g., industrialization) and / or political developments (e.g., Second World War). In this study, we additionally analyzed scientific growth in two broad fields (Physical and Technical Sciences as well as Life Sciences) and the relationship of scientific and economic growth in UK. The comparison between the two fields revealed only slight differences. The comparison of the British economic and scientific growth rates showed that the economic growth rate is slightly lower than the scientific growth rate.

This paper shows the use of the linguistic landscape method in education in school and university. It helps to gain a better language awareness with pupils ans students.

Zur Relevanz von Forschung zu Hochschulen und Wissenschaft: Die Bedeutung von Hochschulen und der von ihnen erfüllten gesellschaftlichen Leistungen in Forschung und Bildung hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten nochmals erheblich zugenommen. Der gesellschaftliche «Nutzen» von Hochschulen spielt eine zunehmend wichtigere Rolle und die Interaktionen zwischen gesellschaftlichen Akteuren und Hochschulen nehmen zu. Diese Entwicklungen führen zu einem quantitativen und qualitativen Wachstum sowie zu internen Wandlungsprozessen in Hochschulorganisationen und dem Wissenschaftssystem. Im Rahmen solcher tiefgreifenden Veränderungen gewinnt wissenschaftlich fundiertes Wissen über Strukturen, Akteure und Prozesse in Hochschulen und Wissenschaft stark an Relevanz. Besonders für Hochschulen selbst aber auch für Stakeholder in ihrer Umwelt, leistet robustes Wissen über komplexe Sachverhalte und Entwicklungen in Hochschulen und der Wissenschaft eine wichtige Orientierungsfunktion und bietet wesentliche Entscheidungsgrundlagen. Im Ausland hat dies zur Ausdifferenzierung eines interdisziplinären Forschungszweigs geführt. Insofern erstaunt es, dass die Schweiz durch eine sehr geringe Institutionalisierung dieses Forschungszweigs charakterisiert ist. Stärkere Institutionalisierung des Austauschs von Forschenden: Das Ziel der Initiative «Research on Higher Education and Science in Switzerland» (REHES) besteht deshalb darin, Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler, die sich aus unterschiedlichen disziplinären Perspektiven mit Hochschulen und Wissenschaft befassen, stärker miteinander zu vernetzen und in einen stärkeren Austausch zu bringen. Ausserdem sollen auch relevante Stakeholder in diesen Austausch einbezogen werden, um einerseits Einsichten der Forschung in relevante Handlungsfelder wie Hochschulmanagement oder Forschungspolitik zu vermitteln, andererseits aber auch, um Fragen aus diesen Feldern in die Forschung einzuspeisen. Thematische Forschungslinien und Institutionalisierungsformen

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) encompass fluvial ecosystems that eventually stop flowing and run dry at some point in space and time. During the dry phase, channels of IRES consist mainly of dry riverbeds (DRBs), prevalent yet widely unexplored ecotones between dry and wet phases that can strongly influence the biogeochemistry of fluvial networks. DRBs are often overlooked because they do not strictly belong to either domain of soil or freshwater science. Due to this dual character of DRBs, we suggest that concepts and knowledge from soil science can be used to expand the understanding of IRES biogeochemistry. Based on this idea, we propose that DRBs can be conceptually understood as early stage soils exhibiting many similarities with soils through two main forces: i) time since last sediment transport event, and ii) the development status of stabilizing structures (e.g. soil crusts and/or vascular plants). Our analysis suggests that while DRBs and soils may differ in master physical attributes (e.g. soil horizons vs fluvial sedimentary facies), they become rapidly comparable in terms of microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. We further propose that drivers of DRBs biogeochemistry are similar to those of soils and, hence, concepts and methods used in soil science are transferable to DRBs research. Finally, our paper presents future research directions to advance the knowledge of DRBs and to understand their role in the biogeochemistry of intermittent fluvial networks. © 2018 The Authors

The energy level alignment at organic/inorganic (o/i) semiconductor interfaces is crucial for any light-emitting or -harvesting functionality. Essential is the access to both occupied and unoccupied electronic states directly at the interface, which is often deeply buried underneath thick organic films and challenging to characterize. We use several complementary experimental techniques to determine the electronic structure of p -quinquephenyl pyridine (5P-Py) adsorbed on ZnO(1 0 −1 0). The parent anchoring group, pyridine, significantly lowers the work function by up to 2.9 eV and causes an occupied in-gap state (IGS) directly below the Fermi level EF. Adsorption of upright-standing 5P-Py also leads to a strong work function reduction of up to 2.1 eV and to a similar IGS. The latter is then used as an initial state for the transient population of three normally unoccupied molecular levels through optical excitation and, due to its localization right at the o/i interface, provides interfacial sensitivity, even for thick 5P-Py films. We observe two final states above the vacuum level and one bound state at around 2 eV above EF, which we attribute to the 5P-Py LUMO. By the separate study of anchoring group and organic dye combined with the exploitation of the occupied IGS for selective interfacial photoexcitation, this work provides a new pathway for characterizing the electronic structure at buried o/i interfaces., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschafthttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659, Peer Reviewed

It is commonly assumed that international sport reinforces feelings of national pride and national identity. Using large-scale survey data from Germany, covering the period between 1992 and 2008, some unresolved key questions surrounding sportive nationalism are addressed. We examine the relative importance of sport as a source of national pride, analyze the sociodemographics of sportive nationalism, and describe its long-term development in East and West Germany after reunification. Results reveal that sport is an increasingly important source of pride in Germany. Sportive nationalism is more common among younger generations, males, and individuals with lower socioeconomic status. Prevailing differences between East and West Germany document persistent socialization effects of former sport-centered identity politics. Among East Germans, sport is more important for general national pride, and sportive nationalism is much more equally distributed between various social groups (with regard to age, gender, education). From 1992 to 2008, however, a trend toward convergence between East and West Germans is also demonstrated.

With the growing complexity of societal and scientific problems, research centers have emerged to facilitate the conduct of research beyond disciplinary and institutional boundaries. While they have become firmly established in the global university landscape, research centers raise some critical questions for research evaluation. Existing evaluation approaches designed to assess universities, departments, projects, or individual researchers fail to capture some of the core characteristics of research centers and their participants, including the diversity of the involved researchers, at what point in time they join and leave the research center, or the intensity of their participation. In addressing these aspects, this article introduces an advanced approach for the ex post evaluation of research centers. It builds on a quasi-experimental within-group design, bibliometric analyses, and multilevel statistics to assess average and individual causal effects of research center affiliation on participants along three dimensions of research performance. The evaluation approach is tested with archival data from a center in the field of sustainability science. Against a widely held belief, we find that participation in research centers entails no disadvantages for researchers as far as their research performance is concerned. However, individual trajectories varied strongly.

The numerical-algorithmic procedures of fractional counting and field normalization are often mentioned as indispensable requirements for bibliometric analyses. Against the background of the increasing importance of statistics in bibliometrics, a multilevel Poisson regression model (level 1: publication, level 2: author) shows possible ways to consider fractional counting and field normalization in a statistical model (fractional counting I). However, due to the assumption of duplicate publications in the data set, the approach is not quite optimal. Therefore, a more advanced approach, a multilevel multiple membership model, is proposed that no longer provides for duplicates (fractional counting II). It is assumed that the citation impact can essentially be attributed to time-stable dispositions of researchers as authors who contribute with different fractions to the success of a publication’s citation. The two approaches are applied to bibliometric data for 254 scientists working in social science methodology. A major advantage of fractional counting II is that the results no longer depend on the type of fractional counting (e.g., equal weighting). Differences between authors in rankings are reproduced more clearly than on the basis of percentiles. In addition, the strong importance of field normalization is demonstrated; 60% of the citation variance is explained by field normalization.