University of Göttingen

Foreign aid and power play: Political cycles in world bank’s procurement allocation

This paper examines the existence of political cycles in the awarding of World Bank procurement contracts around elections. We analyze elections in the home country of firms winning these contracts, distinguishing between firms based in the aid recipient country (i.e., domestic f...

Sulfur and polymer coating on urea enhances antioxidant defense, nutrient balance, secondary metabolites, and nitrogen use efficiency in salt‑stressed wheat

Soil salinity is a growing threat to wheat productivity. This study evaluated whether different coated urea formulations– especially polymer-sulfur-coated urea (PSCU) – could help wheat cope with different salt stress levels: non-saline control (1.3 dS m − 1 , showing the natural...

Bodies of knowledge: experience, commodification and labour in the imperial wildlife trade

The production of zoological knowledge in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth was closely tied to the supply of animal bodies to institutions like zoological gardens and university departments, sustained by a growing wildlife trade. This trade, however, used, deve...

Plasticity Dynamics Improves Reservoir Performance on Mixed-Timescale Memory Tasks

Mixed-timescale signals are ubiquitous in natural stimuli and real-world applications, yet they remain challenging to process with recurrent neural networks. Reservoir computing offers an efficient framework for temporal processing, but extending its temporal range typically requ...

The Early Childhood Curiosity Questionnaire: Development and Psychometric Properties in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Germany

Curiosity in early childhood is associated with exploration, learning, and cognitive growth, yet little is known about how trait curiosity can be reliably assessed in preschoolers. This paper reports the development and validation of a caregiver-report measure designed to assess...

MRI-derived prostate volume assessment: manual segmentation versus two-axis ellipsoid approximation and its implications for PSA density

Abstract Purpose To evaluate how accurately prostate volume estimated with the ellipsoid formula matches manual segmentation (reference standard) and to assess whether an individualized, volume-dependent adjustment of the ellipsoid weighting factor improves performance. Methods I...

German farmers’ attitudes towards renewable energies, biodiversity, and a combination of both – a case study based on results from an online survey and in-depth interviews

Abstract Background Renewable energies (REs) are an important part in mitigating climate change but may compete with biodiversity efforts on agricultural land. Using an online survey and narrative interviews, German farmers’ opportunities, limitations and motivations to implement...

Functional responses of understory vegetation to ungulate exclusion in temperate forest ecosystems—a comparative trait-based approach

Abstract Key message An extensive exclosure-control experiment examining functional responses of forest understory vegetation revealed that ungulate exclusion favored plant traits associated with herbivory vulnerability and competitive ability, while ungulate access promoted rath...

Coordinated neural progenitor adaptations contribute to primate neocortical downscaling

Most primates have a large, highly folded (gyrencephalic) neocortex, a feature present in the primate common ancestor. In contrast, several New World monkey species display a comparatively small and largely smooth, unfolded (lissencephalic) neocortex. One prominent example is the...

Vesicle adhesion in flow

Abstract The dynamic adhesion of lipid vesicles in shear flow is governed by the interplay of membrane-bending rigidity, membrane–substrate adhesion energy, and hydrodynamic stresses. While the equilibrium contact curvature is determined by the transversality condition, shear flo...

Quantifying Actin Persistence Length in S. pombe and S. cerevisiae : The Impact of Data Size, Filament Length and Fitting Strategy

Actin filaments exhibit isoform and species-specific mechanical properties that are commonly quantified via their persistence length, yet the reliability of such measurements depends not only on the analysis method but also on dataset characteristics. Here, we measure and compare...

Accelerated erosion of the Eastern European Alps since ~ 3 Ma: a response to climatic cooling?

Global cooling and repeated glaciations during the late Cenozoic are inferred to have altered the topography of many mountain belts by enhancing the rates of erosion and valley incision. However, quantifying these changes in erosion rate and local relief has proven challenging. I...

Capturing Heterogeneous Time‐Variation in Covariate Effects in Non‐Proportional Hazard Regression Models

ABSTRACT A central focus in survival analysis is examining how covariates affect survival time. These covariate effects are often found to be either time‐varying, heterogeneous—such as being specific to patients, treatments, or subgroups—or exhibit both characteristics simultaneo...

(Hoch‐)Spannende Experimente zur Plasmachemie

In den im Artikel vorgestellten Experimenten wird die Chemie atmosphärischer Luft‐Plasmen mithilfe eines kostengünstigen Tesla‐Transformators untersucht und anhand schulgeeigneter Modelle veranschaulicht. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Experimente zur Oberflächenmodifikation, Plasma‐Reini...

Lysosomal signaling pathways influence heart rhythm, and regulate atrial function

AIMS: In the heart, endogenous nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) triggers lysosomal calcium (Ca2+) release to augment sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ sequestration, producing larger Ca2+ transients. However, the role of lysosomal Ca2+ signals in pacemaker act...

Autumn edible mushrooms’ euphoria in Dzūkija, SE Lithuania: lessons to learn for an ethnobiology of situated and resilient forest practices

Dzūkija is the most heavily forested region of Lithuania, and foragers and ethnographers alike describe it as the country’s epicentre of mushroom enthusiasm. We interviewed 34 foragers there in October 2025 (20 women, 14 men; mean age 56 years) to ask why gathering fungi in this...

Anthropogenic compound inputs decouple particulate and mineral-associated carbon pools in soils of a tropical urban agroecosystem

Urban soils accumulate diverse anthropogenic compounds (hereafter ACs). Yet, AC accumulation and its influence on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remain poorly constrained. Here, we investigate how urbanisation-derived ACs affect SOC pools and composition in 618 arable topsoil...

Deciphering the genomic signatures of climate vulnerability across 77 sheep breeds

Abstract Among domesticated species, sheep ( Ovis aries ) have achieved a wide geographic distribution due to their mobility, rusticity and ability to adapt to diverse environments and climatic conditions. Here, we characterise the genome-wide diversity of >1,000 sheep representi...

Complete genome sequence of Thermincola carboxydiphila DSM 17129 T isolated from a hot spring of the Lake Baikal area

ABSTRACT We report on the complete genome sequence of the carboxydotrophic hydrogenogenic, thermophilic, and alkalitolerant acetogen Thermincola carboxydiphila (DSM 17129 T ). The genome harbors a circular chromosome with a size of 3.519 Mbp and a GC content of 45.6%. The genome...

Consumer Preferences for Electric Vehicle Fuel Taxation: The Role of Revenue Recycling and Tax Salience in South Korea

The rapid diffusion of electric vehicles (EVs) is weakening the conventional fuel tax base, creating new challenges for transport-energy taxation. Although South Korea does not currently tax EV charging electricity, such taxation is becoming increasingly relevant as EV adoption e...