Bürgerschaftliche Finanzierungsmodelle in der Land- und Lebensmittelwirtschaft – Anwendungsbereiche, Ausgestaltung, Motive (Arbeitspapier 1 des Forschungsprojektes BioFinanz)

Das vorliegende Arbeitspapier fasst erste, ausgewählte Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojektes BioFinanz zu bürgerschaftlichen Finanzierungsmodellen in der Land- und Lebensmittelwirtschaft zusammen. Es basiert auf einer Literatur- und Projektrecherche, Expert*innen-Interviews sowie einer Online-Befragung von Unternehmen der Land- und Lebensmittelwirtschaft. Neben der Vorstellung des konzeptionellen Rahmens und des methodischen Vorgehens werden die berücksichtigten Finanzierungsmodelle kategorisiert, vorgestellt und ihre Bedeutung für die Praxis anhand erster Ergebnisse aufgezeigt. Auf Basis der verschiedenen Untersuchungsschritte werden Unterscheidungsmerkmale der Finanzierungsmodelle beleuchtet, darunter Art und Umfang der Finanzierung, rechtlicher Rahmen, Governance und soziale Einbettung sowie soziodemographische Merkmale, Motive und Ziele der Beteiligten

Bürgerschaftliche Finanzierungsmodelle – Eine Alternative zur klassischen Kreditfinanzierung für Unternehmen der Land- und Lebensmittelwirtschaft?

In den vergangenen Jahren sind sowohl das Interesse an Geldanlagemöglichkeiten, die sich nicht ausschließlich an finanziellen Motiven orientieren als auch das persönliche Engagement von Bürger*innen für ein nachhaltiges Lebensmittelsystem gestiegen. Diese Entwicklung machen sich insbesondere Unternehmen der Öko-Branche zu Nutze und entscheiden sich zunehmend für bürgerschaftliche Finanzierungsmodelle als Alternative oder Ergänzung zur klassischen Kreditfinanzierung. In der Forschung blieb die mögliche Rolle von Bürger*innen als Kapitalgeber*innen für Unternehmen der Land- und Lebensmittelwirtschaft bisher weitestgehend unberücksichtigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschäftigt sich dieser Beitrag mit bürgerschaftlicher Finanzierung aus Unternehmensperspektive und zeigt, aus welchen Gründen sich Unternehmen für diese Finanzierungsmodelle entscheiden und welche Bedeutung sie für die betriebliche Gesamtfinanzierung haben

Long term results of postoperative Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) in the treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) located in the oropharynx or oral cavity

Background: To report our long-term results with postoperative intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in patients suffering from squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity or oropharynx. Methods: Seventy five patients were retrospectively analyzed. Median age was 58 years and 84 % were male. 76 % of the primaries were located in the oropharynx. Surgery resulted in negative margins (R0) in 64 % of the patients while 36 % suffered from positive margins (R1). Postoperative stages were as follows: stage1:4 %, stage2:9 %, stage3:17 %, stage4a:69 % with positive nodes in 84 %. Perineural invasion (Pn+) and extracapsular extension (ECE) were present in 7 % and 29 %, respectively. All patients received IMRT using the step-and-shoot approach with a simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) in 84 %. Concurrent systemic therapy was applied to 53 patients, mainly cisplatin weekly. Results: Median follow-up was 55 months (5–150). 13 patients showed locoregional failures (4 isolated local, 4 isolated neck, 5 combined) transferring into 5-year-LRC rates of 85 %. Number of positive lymph nodes (n > 2) and presence of ECE were significantly associated with decreased LRC in univariate analysis, but only the number of nodes remained significant in multivariate analysis. Overall treatment failures occurred in 20 patients (9 locoregional only, 7 distant only, 4 combined), transferring into 3-and 5-year-FFTF rates of 77 % and 75 %, respectively. The 3-and 5-year-OS rates were 80 % and 72 %, respectively. High clinical stage, high N stage, number of positive nodes (n > 2), ECE and Pn1 were significantly associated with worse FFTF and OS in univariate analysis, but only number of nodes remained significant for FFTF in multivariate analysis. Maximum acute toxicity was grade 3 in 64 % and grade 4 in 1 %, mainly hematological or mucositis/dysphagia. Maximum late toxicity was grade 3 in 23 % of the patients, mainly long-term tube feeding dependency. Conclusion: Postoperative IMRT achieved excellent LRC and good OS with acceptable acute and low late toxicity rates. The number of positive nodes (n > 2) was a strong prognostic factor for all endpoints in univariate and the only significant factor for LRC and FFTF in multivariate analysis. Patients with feeding tubes due to postoperative complications had an increased risk for long-term feeding tube dependency

Alternative Finanzierungsmodelle entlang der Wertschöpfungskette für ökologische Lebensmittel - Synthesebericht

Das BioFinanz-Projekt analysierte verschiedene alternative Finanzierungsformen entlang der Wertschöpfungskette für ökologische Lebensmittel. Alternativ bezieht sich hier auf Finanzierungsmodelle, die eine direkte, finanzielle Beteiligung von Bürger*innen an Unternehmen des Öko-Sektors ermöglichen. Beispiele für diese bürgerschaftlichen Finanzierungsmodelle sind Crowdfunding, Solidarische Landwirtschaft, Genussrechte, Bürgeraktiengesellschaften & Landkaufgenossenschaften. Ziel des Projekts war, die Merkmale, Potenziale und Herausforderungen der einzelnen Finanzierungsmodelle herauszuarbeiten und praxisgerecht aufzuarbeiten. Das Vorgehen und die Forschungsergebnisse werden im Synthesebericht dargestellt. Abschließend werden Herausforderungen und Erfolgsfaktoren zusammen gefasst und Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet

Community financing in the German organic food sector: a key for sustainable food systems?

The rise of socially responsible and impact investing funds provides evidence for an increased interest private investors have in combining their financial and ethical concerns. At the same time, citizens increasingly engage in food networks and take on a vital role in the governance of agri-food systems. These developments might benefit farms and firms which are committed to sustainable food and seek funding. Through different community financing models, they can involve citizens who aim to support the development of a more sustainable food system. This contribution presents case study evidence on community financing in the German organic food sector and discusses the role it can play in food system transformation

Community financing in the German organic food sector – an alternative to traditional credit financing?

Farms and firms along the value chain for organic food in Germany increasingly complement or substitute traditional credit financing with financing models which base upon citizen participation. However, research on the role of consumers or citizens as investors is quite limited. This contribution presents first insights from a research project on community financing models in the German organic food sector

The Effects of X-Ray Feedback from AGN on Host Galaxy Evolution

Hydrodynamic simulations of galaxies with active galactic nuclei (AGN) have typically employed feedback that is purely local: i.e., an injection of energy to the immediate neighborhood of the black hole. We perform GADGET-2 simulations of massive elliptical galaxies with an additional feedback component: an observationally calibrated X-ray radiation field which emanates from the black hole and heats gas out to large radii from the galaxy center. We find that including the heating and radiation pressure associated with this X-ray flux in our simulations enhances the effects which are commonly reported from AGN feedback. This new feedback model is twice as effective as traditional feedback at suppressing star formation, produces 3 times less star formation in the last 6 Gyr, and modestly lowers the final BH mass (30%). It is also significantly more effective than an X-ray background in reducing the number of satellite galaxies.Comment: 9 emulateapj pages, 8 figures; accepted to Ap

Correction of patient positioning errors based on in-line cone beam CTs: clinical implementation and first experiences

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was the clinical implementation of a kV cone beam CT (CBCT) for setup correction in radiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For evaluation of the setup correction workflow, six tumor patients (lung cancer, sacral chordoma, head-and-neck and paraspinal tumor, and two prostate cancer patients) were selected. All patients were treated with fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, five of them with intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). For patient fixation, a scotch cast body frame or a vacuum pillow, each in combination with a scotch cast head mask, were used. The imaging equipment, consisting of an x-ray tube and a flat panel imager (FPI), was attached to a Siemens linear accelerator according to the in-line approach, i.e. with the imaging beam mounted opposite to the treatment beam sharing the same isocenter. For dose delivery, the treatment beam has to traverse the FPI which is mounted in the accessory tray below the multi-leaf collimator. For each patient, a predefined number of imaging projections over a range of at least 200 degrees were acquired. The fast reconstruction of the 3D-CBCT dataset was done with an implementation of the Feldkamp-David-Kress (FDK) algorithm. For the registration of the treatment planning CT with the acquired CBCT, an automatic mutual information matcher and manual matching was used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Bony landmarks were easily detected and the table shifts for correction of setup deviations could be automatically calculated in all cases. The image quality was sufficient for a visual comparison of the desired target point with the isocenter visible on the CBCT. Soft tissue contrast was problematic for the prostate of an obese patient, but good in the lung tumor case. The detected maximum setup deviation was 3 mm for patients fixated with the body frame, and 6 mm for patients positioned in the vacuum pillow. Using an action level of 2 mm translational error, a target point correction was carried out in 4 cases. The additional workload of the described workflow compared to a normal treatment fraction led to an extra time of about 10–12 minutes, which can be further reduced by streamlining the different steps. CONCLUSION: The cone beam CT attached to a LINAC allows the acquisition of a CT scan of the patient in treatment position directly before treatment. Its image quality is sufficient for determining target point correction vectors. With the presented workflow, a target point correction within a clinically reasonable time frame is possible. This increases the treatment precision, and potentially the complex patient fixation techniques will become dispensable

The evolution of Black Hole scaling relations in galaxy mergers

We study the evolution of black holes (BHs) on the M_BH-sigma and M_BH-M_bulge planes as a function of time in disk galaxies undergoing mergers. We begin the simulations with the progenitor black hole masses being initially below (Delta log M_BH=-2), on (Delta log M_BH=0) and above (Delta log M_BH=0.5) the observed local relations. The final relations are rapidly established after the final coalescense of the galaxies and their BHs. Progenitors with low initial gas fractions (f_gas=0.2) starting below the relations evolve onto the relations (Delta log M_BH=-0.18), progenitors on the relations stay there (Delta log M_BH=0) and finally progenitors above the relations evolve towards the relations, but still remaining above them (Delta log M_BH=0.35). Mergers in which the progenitors have high initial gas fractions (f_gas=0.8) evolve above the relations in all cases (Delta log M_BH=0.5). We find that the initial gas fraction is the prime source of scatter in the observed relations, dominating over the scatter arising from the evolutionary stage of the merger remnants. The fact that BHs starting above the relations do not evolve onto the relations, indicates that our simulations rule out the scenario in which overmassive BHs evolve onto the relations through gas-rich mergers. By implication our simulations thus disfavor the picture in which supermassive BHs develop significantly before their parent bulges.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJL (minor revisions to match accepted version