Occupational cancer in Germany.

As in probably mostly all other European countries, the incidence of occupational cancer in Germany increased steadily after World War II. In 1994 about 1,600 cases of occupational cancer were compensated--more than ever before. More than half of these cases were lung cancer, most caused either by asbestos (n=545) or by ionizing radiation ((italic)n(/italic)=306). Other frequent target organs of asbestos were the pleura and the peritoneum with 495 cases of mesotheliomas. Asbestos was the single most important risk factor for occupational cancer, causing more than 1000 deaths per year. All other malignant diseases, such as bladder cancer, leukemia, angiosarcoma of the liver, adenocarcinoma of the nose or nasal sinuses, and skin cancer, were comparatively rare. Although primary exposure to ionizing radiation in uranium ore mining occurred in the 1950s and attributable lung cancers seem to be on the decline, this is not true for asbestos, where the peak incidence in lung cancer and mesothelioma has not been reached yet

Temporal Changes in Total Serum Immunoglobulin E Levels in East German Children and the Effect of Potential Predictors

Background: Elevated total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels are a prominent feature of allergic and parasitic diseases. An epidemiologic study was conducted in East German children to describe trends in the development of total serum IgE levels and analyze the impact of potential determinants. Methods: The study consisted of three cross-sectional surveys in 1992-1993, 1995-1996 and 1998-1999 and was conducted in three areas of the former German Democratic Republic. In total, 8,051 questionnaires were completed by the parents of children aged 5-14 years, supplying information on allergic symptoms and potential risk factors. A total of 5,918 measurements of total serum IgE and specific IgE to 5 common aeroallergens were available from 4,353 schoolchildren. Generalized estimating equations were applied to data from all children and stratified for atopic and nonatopic children to identify trends and estimate the effect of potential determinants on total IgE. Results: Total serum IgE levels decreased significantly with a linear trend in East German schoolchildren between 1992 and 1999, the effect being stronger in nonatopic children. The following factors were associated with lower total serum IgE levels: female gender, living in a household with fewer than 4 people, no history of helminth infestation, younger age group (5-7 years), no parental allergy and high socioeconomic status. No association was seen for `smoking at home' and close contact to pets. Conclusion: Total serum IgE declined parallel to helminth infestation; however, the latter explained the decrease only in part. Furthermore, total IgE developed in an opposite direction to specific IgE, indicating that it has determinants other than allergic sensitization. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Materialities and Mobilities: A Note on the Political Geography of Contemporary Caribbean Art

Caribbean art offers a useful vantage point onto current controversies about the materiality of culture and the geography of movement. Where the rhetoric of globalisation has taken hold in the public funding, exhibiting, and scholarly conceptualising of contemporary art, artists have come to experience a mixed picture of the opportunities that are posed by global flows of money, artworks, and the ideas about them. This is the view taken from a round up of fieldwork conducted since 2010 at multiple sites: Suriname, Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, and Guyana, and their connections to the wider Atlantic. I suggest that the ground-level perspectives of artists – formed from their efforts to make art, to make a living, and to create community – offer a political and geographical field. This article sketches out how the current demands being placed on Caribbean artists and their art to participate in movement presents various choices for the study of materiality and mobility, and with the potential to consolidate a sense of Caribbean community through the arts

Regression analysis of time trends in perinatal mortality in Germany 1980-1993.

Numerous investigations have been carried out on the possible impact of the Chernobyl accident on the prevalence of anomalies at birth and on perinatal mortality. In many cases the studies were aimed at the detection of differences of pregnancy outcome measurements between regions or time periods. Most authors conclude that there is no evidence of a detrimental physical effect on congenital anomalies or other outcomes of pregnancy following the accident. In this paper, we report on statistical analyses of time trends of perinatal mortality in Germany. Our main intention is to investigate whether perinatal mortality, as reflected in official records, was increased in 1987 as a possible effect of the Chernobyl accident. We show that, in Germany as a whole, there was a significantly elevated perinatal mortality proportion in 1987 as compared to the trend function. The increase is 4.8% (p = 0.0046) of the expected perinatal death proportion for 1987. Even more pronounced levels of 8.2% (p = 0. 0458) and 8.5% (p = 0.0702) may be found in the higher contaminated areas of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), including West Berlin, and of Bavaria, respectively. To investigate the impact of statistical models on results, we applied three standard regression techniques. The observed significant increase in 1987 is independent of the statistical model used. Stillbirth proportions show essentially the same behavior as perinatal death proportions, but the results for all of Germany are nonsignificant due to the smaller numbers involved. Analysis of the association of stillbirth proportions with the (137)Cs deposition on a district level in Bavaria discloses a significant relationship. Our results are in contrast to those of many analyses of the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident and contradict the present radiobiologic knowledge. As we are dealing with highly aggregated data, other causes or artifacts may explain the observed effects. Hence, the findings should be interpreted with caution, and further independent evidence should be sought

Da(ny) goes (auto)graphic

Dans ma contribution, je me propose d’étudier la question de l’adoption de nouvelles formes médiales chez Laferrière qui l’amène à recourir au genre hybride du roman graphique, situé à mi-chemin entre littérature et art visuel. Partant de l’exemple de Vers d’autres rives (2019), mon analyse portera sur la fonction de ce revirement pour le projet laferrien et sur les déplacements qui en résultent pour la relation entre la production autofictionnelle et son positionnement par rapport à différents espaces et différentes villes. Comment le discours des romans graphiques évolue-t-il en ce qui concerne l’espace et l’appartenance culturelle de l’artiste ? Pour répondre à de telles questions, je présenterai premièrement l’œuvre autofictionnelle de Laferrière pour ensuite situer ses « romans dessinés » dans le contexte québécois et haïtien, et partagerai enfin quelques réflexions concernant le récit « autographique » (Whitlock 2006) ainsi que la façon dont il construit, par le biais de l’écriture et des images, l’espace social et médial du récit. La dernière partie sera consacrée à l’analyse de Vers d’autres rives sous l’angle de l’autoreprésentation, des espaces socioculturels et de l’apport de l’intermédial aux réflexions autofictionnelles, spatiales et poétologiques de Laferrière.  

Two inbred rat strains contrasting for anxiety-related behaviors show similar levels of defensive responses to cat odor

Rodents are known to display fear-related responses when exposed to the odor of natural predators, such as cats, even when they are totally naïve to these stimuli. Based on that, a behavioral test in which rats are exposed to cat odor has been developed and proposed to model some forms of anxiety. The objective of the present study was thus to compare the LEW (Lewis) and SHR (spontaneously hypertensive rats) inbred rat strains, which display genetic differences in other classical models of anxiety, in the cat odor test. As expected, cat odor produced an increase in fear-related behaviors. However, no clear differences were found between the two strains tested. These results suggest that the type of stress experienced by LEW and SHR strains exposed to cat odor is different from that elicited by exposure to classical models of anxiety such as the elevated plus-maze, black/white box and open-field tests

Erfassung der Langzeitergebnisse (10 Jahre) der kombinierten Tele-/High-Dose-Rate-Brachytherapie (Kieler Methode) beim Prostata-Karzinom

Bei der Arbeit wurden die ersten 5 Jahre mit der Behandlung nach dem Kieler Protokoll 3 der HDR-Brachytherapie mit der Onlineplanung bewertet. Es wurden primäre Endpunkte nach 60 Monaten ausgewertet bei 98 Patienten

Power Semiconductor Rating Analysis and Balancing of the Neutral Point Potential for 3-Level Inverter Topologies in Electric Vehicles

In elektrisch angetriebenen Fahrzeugen mit einer Batterie als Energiespeicher und einem Drehstrommotor wird Leistungselektronik zur Wandlung der Batteriegleichspannung in eine entsprechende Wechselspannung benötigt. Hierzu ist mindestens ein Wechselrichter notwendig, der im motorischen Betrieb die geforderte Fahrleistung bereitstellt und im generatorischen Betrieb die Bremsenergie zurück in die Batterie speist. In dieser Arbeit werden zwei 3-Level-Wechselrichtertopologien für den Einsatz als Antriebswechselrichter im Elektrofahrzeug analysiert und mit der in heutigen Elektrofahrzeugen vorwiegend eingesetzten 2-Level-Wechselrichtertopologie verglichen. Hierzu wird als Bewertungskriterium für die Chipfläche der Leistungshalbleiter die Bauleistung verwendet, deren Konzept in dieser Arbeit auf 3-Level-Wechselrichtertopologien erweitert wird. Des Weiteren wird das Kriterium der Bauleistung für die Auslegung für einen definierten Arbeitsbereich vorgestellt. Anhand der Bauleistung und dem Wirkungsgrad werden die drei Wechselrichtertopologien exemplarisch für verschiedene Konfigurationen des elektrischen Antriebsstranges verglichen. Außerdem wird die Auslegung im Anfahrmoment für die drei Wechselrichtertopologien untersucht und für die 3-Level-Wechselrichtertopologien spezielle Schaltreihenfolgen zur gleichmäßigen Verteilung der Verluste auf die Leistungshalbleiter aufgezeigt. Die als Prototyp realisierten 3-Level-Wechselrichtertopologien werden im Hinblick auf den Wirkungsgrad experimentell untersucht. Als ein wesentlicher Nachteil der beiden 3-Level-Wechselrichtertopologien ist die Notwendigkeit der Balancierung des Neutralpunkt-Potentials zu nennen, die in jedem Betriebspunkt sicherzustellen ist. Es wird ein Verfahren vorgestellt, welches die Balancierung des Neutralpunkt-Potentials durch Veränderung der Ansteuersignale ermöglicht und dabei in den nicht-kritischen Arbeitspunkten eine im Vergleich zum Referenzverfahren niedrigere Ausgangsstromwelligkeit aufzeigt.Power electronics is necessary in electrically driven vehicles with a battery and a three-phase motor for the conversion of the DC battery voltage into an AC motor voltage. The minimum basic configuration consists of an inverter which generates the desired AC voltage from the DC battery voltage during motor operation and vice-versa during generator mode. In this thesis, two 3-level inverter topologies are investigated for the application as drive inverter in electric vehicles and compared with the standard 2-level inverter topology. For the comparison of the semiconductor area, the criteria of the virtual power design rating is applied which is extended to 3-level inverters in this thesis. Additionally, the concept of the virtual power design rating is extended so that the inverter can be designed for a prede- fined operation area. The comparison of the three inverter topologies is done for different exemplarily chosen drive train topologies on the basis of the criteria of the virtual power design rating and the inverter efficiency. Furthermore, the design of the inverter topologies will be investigated for zero-speed operation. Different switching sequences for 3-level inverter topologies will be investigated regarding the potential of an equal loss distribution on the power semiconductors at zero-speed operation. Finally, the experimental results of the efficiency measurements of the two 3-level inverter topologies are presented. One main drawback of 3-level inverters is the necessity to balance the neutral-point potential which must be guaranteed for stationary and dynamic operations. A new method is presented which is able to balance the neutral point potential by online adaption of the modulation signals with a lower harmonic distortion at non-critical operation points in comparison to the reference method. The presented method can be configured individually regarding the required output performance and the maximum allowed voltage fluctuation of the DC link voltages