Globalization Report 2016: Who Benefits Most from Globalization? Bertelsmann Policy Brief #2018/02

The globalization report appears regularly and sets an authoritative standard for the comprehensive analysis of current globalization issues and global economic development. The 2016 globalization report comes in two parts. Building on the previous report, the first part focuses on the question of to what extent different countries have benefited from globalization in the past and to which degree this is possible in the future. The second part analyses the export performance and the development of the international competitiveness of 42 globally important economies. The first part of the investigation creates a globalization index which takes into account the economic, political and social aspects of globalization. Subsequently, the index data are used, together with a regression analysis, to quantify and compare the impacts on growth caused by globalization in the various countries. Then the country is identified which has achieved the most growth as a result of globalization

Biomasseaufbereitung zur Vergärung - Aufarbeitung landwirtschaftlicher Biomasse für den Vergärungsprozess

Die Studie »Aufarbeitung landwirtschaftlicher Biomasse für den Vergärungsprozess« zeigt, dass eine dem Vergärungsprozess vorgeschaltete Aufarbeitung landwirtschaftlicher Biomasse mittels Doppelschneckenextruder, Multischroter oder Enzymen die Energieproduktion um bis zu 26,6 % steigern kann. Die beispielhafte Darstellung von Aufarbeitungsmöglichkeiten anhand einer Biogasanlage mit 500 kWel beweist, dass sich die Biogaserzeugung beim Einsatz von Maissilage lohnen kann. Eine Rentabilitätserhöhung ist dabei kaum ersichtlich, es kann jedoch mit frei werdender Anbaufläche für die Nahrungsmittelproduktion gerechnet werden. Eine wirtschaftliche Biogaserzeugung auf der Basis vorzerkleinerter Grassilagen konnte nicht nachgewiesen werden, lediglich eine deutliche Effizienzsteigerung. Wie sich die Gewinnerwartung bei zunehmendem Gülleanteil bei Grassilage verhält sowie ausführliche Betrachtungen der Versuche und deren Wertung lesen Sie im kompletten Ergebnisbericht

Innovation strategies for education: Liberal and Utilitarian Educational Tendencies in the Higher Education System

This paper discusses innovation strategies for education. The authors of the paper argue that the leading modern universities are the educational and training ones. The global changes in higher education have happened due to several reasons: information playing a key role in modern society (nowadays, it is possible to find plenty of information on any questions); the task of education is to develop educational, professional and cultural skills of students, which is not the original central idea of modern European countries as well as Russia; the tendency to unite several higher education institutions. The authors acknowledge that there are several trends in higher education: the multilevel system; modern information technologies; the distant educational system and development; university complexes; new educational standards; new educational technologies and management structures etc. At the same time, the authors claim that there are at least two systems (tendencies) in the theory of university development: liberal and pragmatic. The former is connected with the educational university’s mission; the later is related to the needs of modern society

Massive Open Online Courses: Kategorisierung und Analyse des Teilnehmerverhaltens am Beispiel der OPCOs 2011 und 2012

Ziel des Beitrags ist, einen Überblick über aktuelle Entwicklungen und Ausprägungen von MOOCs sowie die Erfahrungen und Ergebnisse aus der Untersuchung von zwei MOOCs vorzustellen, die 2011 und 2012 durchgeführt wurden. Besondere Schwerpunkte liegen dabei auf der Bedeutung und Ausprägung der Beteiligungsformen in den verschiedenen MOOC-Formaten, der Beteiligung in den beiden untersuchten MOOCs sowie auf deren Unterschiede auch aufgrund von Veränderungen des Kursdesigns

Globalization Report 2016: Who Benefits Most from Globalization?

The "Globalization Report 2016" examines how far individual countries benefited from increasing globalization between 1990 and 2014. Using the real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as indicator for measuring these benefits, industrialized countries such as Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Finland achieved the largest gains from increased globalization. Emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil also had a higher GDP per capita due to globalization. However, their globalization-induced increases in GDP are much lower

Positive effect of the combination of multilevel contracture release and glucocorticoid treatment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Purpose: In the 1980s the first results of an early multilevel contracture release (MLCR) in patients suffering from progressive Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) showed a positive effect on ambulation. Despite the demonstrated positive effects of prolongation of walking this treatment is not part of current guidelines. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of MLCR as well as its combination with glucocorticoid (GC) treatment on ambulation. Methods: Data of all boys (n = 86) with DMD treated in our outpatient department were analyzed regarding the treatment and loss of independent ambulation. In all, 23 were treated with GC only, ten were operated on, 21 received GC and underwent MLCR and 32 received neither of the two treatments. Results: The analysis of the loss of independent ambulation in our cohort showed a comparable extension of the ambulatory period between the GC-treated and MLCR-treated boys (p = 0.008 and p = 0.005, respectively). Furthermore, an additive effect of both therapies was found; patients with DMD who had both treatments were able to walk two years longer than those with only one of the two treatment options (p<0.001). Conclusion: Standard GC treatment and early MLCR in lower limbs have an independent positive effect on prolongation of ambulation in patients with DMD. In our cohort, the combination of both therapies is significantly more effective than each therapy alone. We suggest both should be offered to all DMD patients eligible. Level of evidence: III

Marktforschung in der Praxis: Kundenpräferenzen beim Kauf eines neuen Fernsehgerätes

In der heutigen Zeit sind Medien aller Art im alltäglichen Leben anzutreffen. Ob früh am Morgen die frisch gedruckte Zeitung, das Radio in der Küche, der Lieblingsfilm im Fernsehen oder das Internet via Mobiltelefon. Viele Menschen können sich heutzutage ein Leben ohne Mobiltelefon oder Fernsehgerät nicht mehr vorstellen. Die Industrie hat dies erkannt und bringt fast täglich neue Weiterentwicklungen auf den Markt. Smartphones, die beinahe so viel können wie ein Laptop oder Fernseher, die den Zuschauer via 3D-Technologie in das Geschehen eintauchen lassen, entwickeln sich zu Standardprodukten. Bei der heutigen Geschwindigkeit der Neuentwicklungen und den immer kürzer werdenden Produktlebenszyklen ist es besonders wichtig, den Endverbraucher vom Mehrwert zu überzeugen. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es notwendig herauszukristallisieren, worauf der Endkunde Wert legt und welche Informationsschwächen er hat. Hierzu haben acht Studierende der TH Wildau aus dem Fachbereich Betriebswirtschaft/Wirtschaftsinformatik eine empirische Studie entwickelt.In your everyday life, media of all kinds are found. Whether early in the morning, freshly printed newspaper, the radio in the kitchen, favorite movies on TV or the Internet via mobile phone. Many people can not imagine a life without mobile phone or TV. The industry has recognized that and almost every day they have new developments for the market. Smartphones have nearly as much as functions as a laptop or a television and are able to bring the viewers into actions via 3D technology as a standard. Because of the speed of new developments and the shortening product life cycle it is especially important to convince the consumer«s added value. In this case it is important to have a look what is significant for the end consumer and what lack of information does the consumer have. Concerning these problems, eight students of the University of Applied Science Wildau from the Department of Business Administration and Business Informatics designed an empirical study

Beechwood carbohydrates for enzymatic synthesis of sustainable glycolipids

Moving away from crude oil to renewable resources for the production of a wide range of compounds is a challenge for future generations. To overcome this, the use of lignocellulose as substrate can contribute to drastically reduce the consumption of crude oil. In this study, sugars from lignocellulose were used as a starting material for the enzymatic synthesis of surface-active sugar esters. The substrates were obtained by an acid-catalyzed, beechwood pretreatment process, which resulted in a fiber fraction that is subsequently hydrolyzed to obtain the monosaccharides. After purification and drying, this glucose- and xylose-rich fraction was used to create a deep eutectic solvent, which acts both as solvent and substrate for the lipase-catalyzed reaction at the same time. Finally, the successful synthesis of glycolipids from a sustainable resource was confirmed by ESI–Q–ToF mass spectrometry and multidimensional NMR experiments. Moreover, conversion yields of 4.8% were determined by LC–MS/MS

Entwicklung der Eutergesundheit im Zeitraum der Trockenperiode in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben

As a part of the study „Health and performance of dairy cows in organic farming from an interdisciplinary point of view – an (intervention-) study on metabolic disorders and mastitis with regard to forage production, feeding management and husbandry practices” quarter milk samples from cows at dry off and after calving were taken by farmers in 101 dairy farms in Germany between January 2008 and April 2010. The objective of this study was to evaluate mastitis prevalence at dry off and at calving and the evaluation of different therapeutic regimes at dry off. 3460 cows from 101 dairy farms were examined. Mastitis prevalence at dry off was comparable to conventional farms. At calving organic farms have high mastitis prevalence due to a low cure rate and a high new infection rate in the dry period. The non-use of dry cow antibiotics or teat sealers result in significantly lower cure rates on quarter level (28.7% vs. 33,2%) and higher new infection rates (29.7% vs. 26.4%). The results show, that dry period is a high-risk period for udder health in organic dairy farms. Improvements of the hygienic conditions, the immune defence and the therapeutic regimes offer high potentials for improvement of udder health