Bad guys, good guys, or something in between? Corporate governance contributions in zones of violent conflict

In der Friedens- und Konfliktforschung wurden Unternehmen über lange Zeit hinweg als Akteure betrachtet, die Gewaltkonflikte eher verschärfen oder verlängern. Dies wurde insbesondere durch die Forschung zu Kriegsökonomien und zur Rolle natürlicher Ressourcen in Konflikten bekräftigt. In der Global Governance-Forschung wurde in den letzten Jahren jedoch auch diskutiert, inwieweit privatwirtschaftliche Akteure bzw. Unternehmen Steuerungsleistungen erbringen können und welche spezifische Rolle sie in Konfliktregionen haben. Das Forschungsprojekt zu 'Unternehmen in Konfliktzonen' an der Hessischen Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung greift diese Debatte über die potenziell positive Rolle von Unternehmen auf und geht der Frage nach, wie und unter welchen Bedingungen Unternehmen in Konfliktzonen zu Sicherheit und Frieden beitragen. Es wird dabei angenommen, dass Unternehmen dies auf zwei unterschiedlichen Wegen tun können: erstens unintentional durch ihre Geschäftstätigkeit und zweitens durch intentionale Aktivitäten im Rahmen von Corporate Governance. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden hierzu vier Fallstudien vorgestellt: (1) die Nahrungs- und Getränkeindustrie in Ruanda, (2) das Logistikunternehmen 'Kühne+Nagel' in Nordirland, (3) der Reiseveranstalter 'Studiosus' in Israel und (4) der Mineralölkonzern 'Shell' in Nigeria. (ICG

Mechanical losses in low loss materials studied by Cryogenic Resonant Acoustic spectroscopy of bulk materials (CRA spectroscopy)

Mechanical losses of crystalline silicon and calcium fluoride have been analyzed in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K by our novel mechanical spectroscopy method, cryogenic resonant acoustic spectroscopy of bulk materials (CRA spectrocopy). The focus lies on the interpretation of the measured data according to phonon-phonon interactions and defect induced losses in consideration of the excited mode shape.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of the PHONONS 2007, submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Distinct roles of exogenous opioid agonists and endogenous opioid peptides in the peripheral control of neuropathy-triggered heat pain

Neuropathic pain often results from peripheral nerve damage, which can involve immune response. Local leukocyte-derived opioid peptides or exogenous opioid agonists inhibit neuropathy-induced mechanical hypersensitivity in animal models. Since neuropathic pain can also be augmented by heat, in this study we investigated the role of opioids in the modulation of neuropathy-evoked heat hypersensitivity. We used a chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve in wild-type and opioid peptide-knockout mice, and tested opioid effects in heat and mechanical hypersensitivity using Hargreaves and von Frey tests, respectively. We found that although perineural exogenous opioid agonists, including peptidergic ligands, were effective, the endogenous opioid peptides β-endorphin, Met-enkephalin and dynorphin A did not alleviate heat hypersensitivity. Specifically, corticotropin-releasing factor, an agent triggering opioid peptide secretion from leukocytes, applied perineurally did not attenuate heat hypersensitivity in wild-type mice. Exogenous opioids, also shown to release opioid peptides via activation of leukocyte opioid receptors, were equally analgesic in wild-type and opioid peptide-knockout mice, indicating that endogenous opioids do not contribute to exogenous opioid analgesia in heat hypersensitivity. Furthermore, exogenously applied opioid peptides were ineffective as well. Conversely, opioid peptides relieved mechanical hypersensitivity. Thus, both opioid type and sensory modality may determine the outcome of neuropathic pain treatment

Techno-Economic Analysis of Intermediate Pyrolysis with Solar Drying: A Chilean Case Study

Intermediate pyrolysis can be used to obtain high-quality biofuels from low-value residues such as sewage sludge or digestate. A major obstacle is the high water content of sludgy biomass, which requires an energy-intensive and expensive drying step before pyrolysis. Solar greenhouse drying is an efficient and sustainable alternative to a thermally heated belt dryer. In this study, a techno-economic assessment of intermediate pyrolysis with solar drying is carried out. Marketable products of the process are bio-oil, a substitute for diesel or heating oil, and bio-char with various possible applications. Chile is chosen as the setting of the study as its 4000 km long extension from north to south gives the opportunity to evaluate different locations and levels of solar irradiation. It is found that solar drying results in higher capital investment, but lower fuel costs. Depending on the location and solar irradiation, solar drying can reduce costs by 5–34% compared to belt drying. The break-even price of bio-char is estimated at 300–380 EUR/ton after accounting for the revenue from the liquid bio-oil

Effects of Event-Free Noise Signals on Continuous-Time Simulation Performance

Generating stochastic input signals such as noise in physical systems is traditionally implemented using discrete random number generators based on discrete time-events. Within the Modelica community, random number generators free of time-events have recently been proposed in order to increase the performance of system simulations. However, the impact of such signals on commonly used solvers, such as DASSL or Radau IIA, is still under discussion. In order to provide better understanding for modeling practitioners, we examine the influence of event-free noise models on simulation performance. To this end, we conduct practical simulation experiments with systems of three sizes, two solvers, and different parameters. Results indicate that step-size control can handle event-free noise generators well and that they outperform sampled generators. The findings can be related to other time-dependent system inputs

Homocysteine in cerebrovascular disease: An independent risk factor for subcortical vascular encephalopathy

Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for obstructive large-vessel disease. Here, we studied plasma concentrations of homocysteine and vitamins in patients suffering from subcortical vascular encephalopathy (SVE), a cerebral small-vessel disease leading to dementia. These results were compared to the homocysteine and vitamin plasma concentrations from patients with cerebral large vessel disease and healthy control subjects. Plasma concentrations of homocysteine, vascular risk factors and vitamin status (B-6, B-12, folate) were determined in 82 patients with subcortical vascular encephalopathy, in 144 patients with cerebral large-vessel disease and in 102 control subjects. Patients with SVE, but not those with cerebral large-vessel disease, exhibited pathologically increased homocysteine concentrations in comparison with control subjects without cerebrovascular disease. Patients with SVE also showed lower vitamin B6 values in comparison to subjects without cerebrovascular disease. Logistic regression analysis showed that homocysteine is associated with the highest risk for SVE (odds ratio 5.7; CI 2.5-12.9) in comparison to other vascular risk factors such as hypertension, age and smoking. These observations indicate that hyperhomocysteinemia is a strong independent risk factor for SVE