Das Standortauswahlgesetz und die Anti-Atom-Bewegung

Mit dem Beschluss des sogenannten Atomausstiegs hat die Anti-Atom-Bewegung in der Bundesrepublik viele ihrer Forderungen realpolitisch durchgesetzt. Doch mit dem Atomausstieg und der erneuten Suche hat der Staat die Deutungshoheit im Bereich des Umgangs mit radioaktiven Reststoffen zunächst wiedererlangt. Die protesterprobte Anti-Atom-Bewegung lehnt das Gesetz in der bisherigen Form zwar überwiegend ab - wird sich dem Prozess der Endlagerstandortsuche aber dennoch kaum entziehen können. In diesem Beitrag wird aus drei verschiedenen aktuellen Forschungsansätzen der Bewegungsforschung aufgezeigt, warum eine solche Annäherung zukünftig als wahrscheinlich anzunehmen ist. Eine Kooperation von Staat und Anti-Atom-Bewegung erscheint langfristig wahrscheinlich, was aber nicht mit einer politisch-inhaltlichen Annäherung identisch sein muss

Fluid Automation - A Definition and an Application in Remanufacturing Production Systems

Production systems must be able to quickly adapt to changing requirements. Especially in the field of remanufacturing, the uncertainty in the state of the incoming products is very high. Several adaptation mechanisms can be applied leading to agile and changeable production systems. Among these, adapting the degree of automation with respect to changeover times and high investment costs is one of the most challenging mechanisms. However, not only long-term changes, but also short-term adaptations can lead to enormous potentials, e.g. when night shifts can be supported by robots and thus higher labor costs and unfavorable working conditions at night can be avoided. These changes in the degree of automation on an operational level are referred to as fluid automation, which will be defined in this paper. The mechanisms of fluid automation are presented together with a case study showing its application on a disassembly station for electrical drives

Einschluss oder Zugriff: Tiefenlagerung ohne oder mit Vorkehrungen zur Rückholbarkeit

Sollte die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle in tiefen geologischen Formationen rückholbar gestaltet werden? Im Artikel werden Optionen zur Gestaltung einer Einlagerung beschrieben, Argumente für und gegen eine Rückholbarkeit wiedergegeben und Zielkonflikte dargelegt. Eine Entscheidung zur Rückholbarkeit kann aus technischen Gründen nicht beliebig verzögert werden. Schwierigkeiten auf dem Weg zu einer solchen Entscheidung sind jedoch abzusehen ‐ umso wichtiger ist eine frühzeitige prozedurale Ausgestaltung des hierfür notwendigen Diskurses

Highly Cytotoxic Osmium(II) Compounds and Their Ruthenium(II) Analogues Targeting Ovarian Carcinoma Cell Lines and Evading Cisplatin Resistance Mechanisms

(1) Background: Ruthenium and osmium complexes attract increasing interest as next generation anticancer drugs. Focusing on structure-activity-relationships of this class of compounds, we report on 17 different ruthenium(II) complexes and four promising osmium(II) analogues with cinnamic acid derivatives as O,S bidentate ligands. The aim of this study was to determine the anticancer activity and the ability to evade platin resistance mechanisms for these compounds. (2) Methods: Structural characterizations and stability determinations have been carried out with standard techniques, including NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. All complexes and single ligands have been tested for cytotoxic activity on two ovarian cancer cell lines (A2780, SKOV3) and their cisplatin-resistant isogenic cell cultures, a lung carcinoma cell line (A549) as well as selected compounds on three non-cancerous cell cultures in vitro. FACS analyses and histone γH2AX staining were carried out for cell cycle distribution and cell death or DNA damage analyses, respectively. (3) Results: IC50 values show promising results, specifically a high cancer selective cytotoxicity and evasion of resistance mechanisms for Ru(II) and Os(II) compounds. Histone γH2AX foci and FACS experiments validated the high cytotoxicity but revealed diminished DNA damage-inducing activity and an absence of cell cycle disturbance thus pointing to another mode of action. (4) Conclusion: Ru(II) and Os(II) compounds with O,S-bidentate ligands show high cytotoxicity without strong effects on DNA damage and cell cycle, and this seems to be the basis to circumvent resistance mechanisms and for the high cancer cell specificity

Mood instability and psychosis : analyses of British national survey data

Background: We used British national survey data to test specific hypotheses that mood instability (1) is associated with psychosis and individual psychotic phenomena, (2) predicts the later emergence of auditory hallucinations and paranoid ideation, and (3) mediates the link between child sexual abuse and psychosis. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2000 and 2007 UK national surveys of psychiatric morbidity (N = 8580 and 7403, respectively). The 2000 survey included an 18-month follow-up of a subsample (N = 2406). Mood instability was assessed from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II (SCID-II) questionnaire. Our dependent variables comprised auditory hallucinations, paranoid ideation, the presence of psychosis overall, and a 15-item paranoia scale. Results: Mood instability was strongly associated in cross-sectional analyses with psychosis (2000: OR: 7.5; 95% CI: I 4.1–13.8; 2007: OR: 21.4; CI: 9.7–41.2), paranoid ideation (2000: OR: 4.7; CI: 4.1–5.4; 2007: OR: 5.7; CI: 4.9–6.7), auditory hallucinations (2000: OR: 3.4; CI: 2.6–4.4; 2007: OR 3.5; CI: 2.7–4.7), and paranoia total score (2000: Coefficient: 3.6; CI: 3.3–3.9), remaining so after adjustment for current mood state. Baseline mood instability significantly predicted 18-month inceptions of paranoid ideation (OR: 2.3; CI: 1.6–3.3) and of auditory hallucinations (OR: 2.6; CI: 1.5–4.4). Finally, it mediated a third of the total association of child sexual abuse with psychosis and persecutory ideation and a quarter of that with auditory hallucinations. Conclusions: Mood instability is a prominent feature of psychotic experience and may have a role in its genesis. Targeting mood instability could lead to innovative treatments for psychosis

Help-seeking pathways in early psychosis

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the help-seeking pathways of patients with a putative risk of developing psychosis helps improving development of specialised care services. This study aimed at obtaining information about: type of health professionals contacted by patients at putative risk for psychosis on their help-seeking pathways; number of contacts; type of symptoms leading to contacts with health professionals; interval between initial contact and referral to a specialised outpatient service. METHOD: The help-seeking pathways were assessed as part of a prospective study in 104 patients with suspected at-risk states for psychosis. RESULTS: The mean number of contacts prior to referral was 2.38. Patients with psychotic symptoms more often contacted mental health professionals, whereas patients with insidious and more unspecific features more frequently contacted general practitioners (GPs). CONCLUSIONS: GPs have been found to under-identify the insidious features of emerging psychosis (Simon et al. (2005) Br J Psychiatry 187:274–281). The fact that they were most often contacted by patients with exactly these features calls for focussed and specialised help for primary care physicians. Thus, delays along the help-seeking pathways may be shortened. This may be of particular relevance for patients with the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia

The 2010 very high energy gamma-ray flare & 10 years of multi-wavelength observations of M 87

Abridged: The giant radio galaxy M 87 with its proximity, famous jet, and very massive black hole provides a unique opportunity to investigate the origin of very high energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission generated in relativistic outflows and the surroundings of super-massive black holes. M 87 has been established as a VHE gamma-ray emitter since 2006. The VHE gamma-ray emission displays strong variability on timescales as short as a day. In this paper, results from a joint VHE monitoring campaign on M 87 by the MAGIC and VERITAS instruments in 2010 are reported. During the campaign, a flare at VHE was detected triggering further observations at VHE (H.E.S.S.), X-rays (Chandra), and radio (43 GHz VLBA). The excellent sampling of the VHE gamma-ray light curve enables one to derive a precise temporal characterization of the flare: the single, isolated flare is well described by a two-sided exponential function with significantly different flux rise and decay times. While the overall variability pattern of the 2010 flare appears somewhat different from that of previous VHE flares in 2005 and 2008, they share very similar timescales (~day), peak fluxes (Phi(>0.35 TeV) ~= (1-3) x 10^-11 ph cm^-2 s^-1), and VHE spectra. 43 GHz VLBA radio observations of the inner jet regions indicate no enhanced flux in 2010 in contrast to observations in 2008, where an increase of the radio flux of the innermost core regions coincided with a VHE flare. On the other hand, Chandra X-ray observations taken ~3 days after the peak of the VHE gamma-ray emission reveal an enhanced flux from the core. The long-term (2001-2010) multi-wavelength light curve of M 87, spanning from radio to VHE and including data from HST, LT, VLA and EVN, is used to further investigate the origin of the VHE gamma-ray emission. No unique, common MWL signature of the three VHE flares has been identified.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; Corresponding authors: M. Raue, L. Stawarz, D. Mazin, P. Colin, C. M. Hui, M. Beilicke; Fig. 1 lightcurve data available online: http://www.desy.de/~mraue/m87