I present novel empirical evidence on the term structure of the equity risk premium. In contrast to previous research that documented high discount rates for the short-term component of the market ...portfolio, I show evidence for an unconditionally flat term structure of equity risk premia. The tension with previous literature arises largely as a result of differential treatments of heterogeneous investment taxes, manifested in micro evidence on abnormal equity returns on ex-dividend days, and liquidity. The results not only help resolve an important recent "puzzle" but provide further important insights on the role of investment taxes in asset pricing.
Objective: This study measured and compared the attitudes of German women and men towards sharing total housework, routine housework and non-routine housework in couples.
Background: Although ...attitudes towards gender roles and the notion of separate spheres are important for understanding many aspects of family life, knowledge about situational variations of women’s and men’s attitudes towards housework sharing is limited.
Method: Original data from a factorial survey of 1,120 German women and men from 2016 were used to describe variations in the attitudes of women and men towards three sets of housework using multilevel regression models.
Results: Women and men expressed their attitudes towards equal sharing of total and routine housework, but non-routine housework was assigned to male partners in couples. Attitudes differed widely according to the context of the couple: In couples with similar economic resources, respondents favored equal sharing of housework, and in couples with unequal arrangements, the partner with fewer resources was tied to more housework and vice versa.
Conclusion: When evaluating housework responsibilities, women and men in this study seemed to follow the principles of equity and balanced exchange.
The decay of a plasmon leads to a hot electron distribution in metallic nanoparticles. Depending on the processes involved in the excitation, different distributions are obtained, which thermalize ...differently. We experimentally investigate excitation-wavelength and size-dependences on the generation and thermalization of the hot-electrons. We can confirm the absence of size-dependences, and we clearly observe two regimes with significantly different relaxation dynamics depending on the photon energy. The hot electron generation is more efficient when exciting with light that enables interband transitions.
In the regime of deep strong light-matter coupling, the coupling strength exceeds the transition energies of the material
, fundamentally changing its properties
; for example, the ground state of ...the system contains virtual photons and the internal electromagnetic field gets redistributed by photon self-interaction
. So far, no electronic excitation of a material has shown such strong coupling to free-space photons. Here we show that three-dimensional crystals of plasmonic nanoparticles can realize deep strong coupling under ambient conditions, if the particles are ten times larger than the interparticle gaps. The experimental Rabi frequencies (1.9 to 3.3 electronvolts) of face-centred cubic crystals of gold nanoparticles with diameters between 25 and 60 nanometres exceed their plasmon energy by up to 180 per cent. We show that the continuum of photons and plasmons hybridizes into polaritons that violate the rotating-wave approximation. The coupling leads to a breakdown of the Purcell effect-the increase of radiative damping through light-matter coupling-and increases the radiative polariton lifetime. The results indicate that metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles can be used as building blocks for an entire class of materials with extreme light-matter interaction, which will find application in nonlinear optics, the search for cooperative effects and ground states, polariton chemistry and quantum technology
.
Abstract
The assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles into ordered 2D- and 3D-superlattices could pave the way towards new tailored materials for plasmonic sensing, photocatalysis and manipulation of ...light on the nanoscale. The properties of such materials strongly depend on their geometry, and accordingly straightforward protocols to obtain precise plasmonic superlattices are highly desirable. Here, we synthesize large areas of crystalline mono-, bi- and multilayers of gold nanoparticles >20 nm with a small number of defects. The superlattices can be described as hexagonal crystals with standard deviations of the lattice parameter below 1%. The periodic arrangement within the superlattices leads to new well-defined collective plasmon-polariton modes. The general level of achieved superlattice quality will be of benefit for a broad range of applications, ranging from fundamental studies of light–matter interaction to optical metamaterials and substrates for surface-enhanced spectroscopies.
In this report, we show how the classical and widely used Turkevich synthesis can be improved significantly by simple adjustments. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) produced with the optimized protocol ...have a much narrower size distribution (5–8% standard deviation), and their diameters can be reproduced with unrivaled little variation (<3%). Moreover, large volumes of these particles can be produced in one synthesis; we routinely synthesize 1000 mL of ∼3.5 nM AuNPs. The key features of the improved protocol are the control of the pH by using a citrate buffer instead of a citrate solution as the reducing agent or stabilizer and optimized mixing of reagents. Further, the shape uniformity of the particles can be improved by addition of 0.02 mM EDTA. While the proposed protocol is as straightforward as the original Turkevich protocol, it is more tolerant against variations in precursor concentration.
Radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity is closely linked to endothelial cell (EC) damage and dysfunction (acute effects). However, the underlying mechanisms of radiation-induced adverse late ...effects with respect to the vascular compartment remain elusive, and no causative radioprotective treatment is available to date.
The importance of injury to EC for radiation-induced late toxicity in lungs after whole thorax irradiation (WTI) was investigated using a mouse model of radiation-induced pneumopathy. We show that WTI induces EC loss as long-term complication, which is accompanied by the development of fibrosis. Adoptive transfer of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) either derived from bone marrow or aorta (vascular wall-resident MSCs) in the early phase after irradiation limited the radiation-induced EC loss and fibrosis progression. Furthermore, MSC-derived culture supernatants rescued the radiation-induced reduction in viability and long-term survival of cultured lung EC. We further identified the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) as a MSC-secreted factor. Importantly, MSC treatment restored the radiation-induced reduction of SOD1 levels after WTI. A similar protective effect was achieved by using the SOD-mimetic EUK134, suggesting that MSC-derived SOD1 is involved in the protective action of MSC, presumably through paracrine signaling.
In this study, we explored the therapeutic potential of MSC therapy to prevent radiation-induced EC loss (late effect) and identified the protective mechanisms of MSC action.
Adoptive transfer of MSCs early after irradiation counteracts radiation-induced vascular damage and EC loss as late adverse effects. The high activity of vascular wall-derived MSCs for radioprotection may be due to their tissue-specific action. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 563-582.
Carbon nanodots with opposite chirality possess the same major physicochemical properties such as optical features, hydrodynamic diameter, and colloidal stability. Here, a detailed analysis about the ...comparison of the concentration of both carbon nanodots is carried out, putting a threshold to when differences in biological behavior may be related to chirality and may exclude effects based merely on differences in exposure concentrations due to uncertainties in concentration determination. The present study approaches this comparative analysis evaluating two basic biological phenomena, the protein adsorption and cell internalization. We find how a meticulous concentration error estimation enables the evaluation of the differences in biological effects related to chirality.
The data analysis was based on 41 patient-relative dyads (patients: 39% women, mean age 53.5; relatives: 66% women, mean age 52.16). A significant actor effect from self-efficacy to distress was ...found for patients (r = -0.47) but not for relatives (r = -0.15). Partner effects from self-efficacy to distress were not significant (r = -0.03, r = -0.001). The actor effect from self-efficacy to anxiety for patients (r = -0.61) as well as relatives was significant (r = -0.62), whereas the partner effect was significant for patients (r = 0.16) but not for relatives (r = -0.46). The results suggest that patients' and relatives' self-efficacy is associated with their distress and anxiety. Partner effects were visible for patients' self-efficacy and relatives' anxiety. These findings suggest that self-efficacy is an important factor for the psychological well-being of patients and relatives and that it may additionally be associated with the partners' well-being. Longitudinal research with larger samples is needed to support the findings.
This article analyses the changing division of housework between husbands and wives in western Germany. Using representative longitudinal data from the Bamberg Panel Study of Married Couples, the ...authors analyse how the division of household labour changes over the first 14 years of marriage. In particular, they assess when and under what conditions the husband’s share of traditionally ‘female’ housework increases or decreases. They consider shifts in spouses’ employment hours, relative earnings and family transitions as time-varying predictor variables in event-history models. It is found that almost half of all newlyweds begin by sharing household tasks equally. But over the course of marriage, the husband’s contribution to housework declines significantly, mostly independent of spouses’ income or working hours. The husband increasing his share of housework is uncommon, even when the wife works longer hours or realizes higher earnings. Traditional gender norms seem to trump earnings. This is particularly true when children are born.
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