An integral that counts the zeros of a function

Given a real function $f$ on an interval $[a,b]$ satisfying mild regularity conditions, we determine the number of zeros of $f$ by evaluating a certain integral. The integrand depends on $f, f'$ and $f''$. In particular, by approximating the integral with the trapezoidal rule on a fine enough grid, we can compute the number of zeros of $f$ by evaluating finitely many values of $f,f'$ and $f''$. A variant of the integral even allows to determine the number of the zeros broken down by their multiplicity.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure, final versio

Combined biological and chemical assessment of estrogenic activities in wastewater treatment plant effluents

Five wastewater treatment plant effluents were analyzed for known endocrine disrupters and estrogenicity. Estrogenicity was determined by using the yeast estrogen screen (YES) and by measuring the blood plasma vitellogenin (VTG) concentrations in exposed male rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). While all wastewater treatment plant effluents contained measurable concentrations of estrogens and gave a positive response with the YES, only at two sites did the male fish have significantly increased VTG blood plasma concentrations after the exposure, compared to pre-exposure concentrations. Estrone (E1) concentrations ranged up to 51ngL−1, estradiol (E2) up to 6ngL−1, and ethinylestradiol (EE2) up to 2ngL−1 in the 90samples analyzed. Alkylphenols, alkylphenolmonoethoxylates and alkylphenoldiethoxylates, even though found at µgL−1 concentrations in effluents from wastewater treatment plants with a significant industrial content, did not contribute much to the overall estrogenicity of the samples taken due to their low relative potency. Expected estrogenicities were calculated from the chemical data for each sample by using the principle of concentration additivity and relative potencies of the various chemicals as determined with the yeast estrogen screen. Measured and calculated estradiol equivalents gave the same order of magnitude and correlated rather well (R 2=0.6

Sprachliche Kommunikation, Alter und Migration

Die vorliegende explorative Studie untersucht die Sprachsituation, die kommunikativen Schwierigkeiten und die Sprachlernbedürfnisse von älteren italienisch- und albanischsprachigen MigrantInnen hinsichtlich des Deutschen oder des Schweizerdeutschen. Die Ergebnisse sollen Grundlagen für die Entwicklung von Sprachkursen für ältere MigrantInnen im Hochdeutsch bzw. im Schweizerdeutsch dienen. Mittels Gruppendiskussionen mit älteren italienisch- und albanischsprachigen MigrantInnen sowie Interviews mit Expertinnen konnten erste Erkenntnisse gewonnen werden. Zwar haben sich die meisten MigrantInnen in Hinblick auf die Kommunikation in der Bewältigung des Alltags weitgehend arrangiert; die meisten bedauern aber, nicht besser Deutsch gelernt zu haben. Während die italienischen MigrantInnen häufig die Möglichkeit haben, auf ihre Muttersprache zurückzugreifen, steht diese Ressource den albanischsprachigen MigrantInnen nicht zur Verfügung. Für beide Gruppen stellt die diglossische Situation in der Schweiz gleichermassen ein Problem dar. Schweizerdeutsch zu verstehen wird in den mündlichen Situationen häufig als Hindernis erlebt, das in der direkten Begegnung ad hoc und ohne Hilfe bewältigt werden muss. Aus der Pilotstudie ergeben sich Hinweise darauf, dass ein Bedarf an Deutschkursen für ältere MigrantInnen besteht und dass diese thematisch über die Arbeitswelt hinaus neue Felder abdecken sollten (z. B. soziale Beziehungen, Gesundheit). Der Handlungsbedarf für MigrantInnen aus dem ehemaligen Jugoslawien ist grösser als für die italienischsprachigen MigrantInnen. Unter den MigrantInnen gibt es Personengruppen, die kaum über Deutschkenntnisse verfügen. Diese sind sozial isoliert und dadurch für Kursangebote sehr schlecht erreichbar. Es müssen somit spezifische Konzepte, Kursformen und Marketingstrategien entwickelt werden, die den sprachlichen Bedürfnissen der verschiedenen MigrantInnengruppen Rechnung tragen. Bei der Entwicklung von Angeboten empfiehlt es sich, die zeitlichen und finanziellen Rahmenbedingungen der MigrantInnen zu beachten

Obstacles in accessing dementia care for people with a migration background in Basel. A qualitative interview study with professionals

Introduction: As our population is aging, age-related medical issues including mild and major cognitive impairments are becoming more and more common. Literature shows concerns related to access to health care for people with a migration background in western countries. The connection between dementia and migration and the access to dementia care for people with a migration background has not yet been widely explored. Especially, in Switzerland, there are only a few studies on the subject. The canton (federal state) of Basel-Stadt has a high percentage of people with a migration background compared to the rest of Switzerland. This study aimed to explore the care situation for people with a migration background and dementia living in Basel-Stadt and to elaborate on the obstacles they might face to access dementia care services compared to their local counterparts, causing inequalities in access to dementia care, by interviewing professionals working in the thematic field. Methods: Participants were acquired via online research and supplemented with personal contacts and recommendations of other participants. Therefore, the sampling strategy was both purposive and snowball. Interviews were performed via Zoom following a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews concentrated on differences in access to dementia care during different stages of the disease from a professional view. Data analysis was performed using MAXQDA 2020. Results: Sixteen professionals were interviewed belonging to different professions such as general practitioner, hospital doctor, politicians, and those working in dementia support services, ambulant care, home care, and nursing homes. We found that the migrant population was underrepresented in the participating services, which lead to in-depth exchange about obstacles that could potentially burden their access to the available services. These challenges were grouped into four themes: (1) Delayed diagnosis and lack of diagnostic tools and scores; (2) Obstacles to seeking help; (3) Lack of migration sensitivity in dementia care services; and (4) Administrative and financial obstacles. Discussion and Conclusion: Our findings are in line with literature from other countries. The interviewed services reported an underrepresentation of people with a migration background compared to the demographic numbers, especially in postdiagnostic services. During our interviews and in context with the actual literature from other countries it became clear that despite our broad and specialized health care system we have not yet reached a point of equal access for people with a migration background. To even out inequalities we suggest different measures including adapting the diagnostic process and existing dementia care services with a focus on migrant sensitivity in regard to language, culture, religion, and socio-economic aspects. We also touch upon legal and political changes necessary to advance migration sensitivity in dementia care. And finally, we want to encourage further research on a national basis and explore the needs of the migrant community directly with the affected population itself

A New LCA Methodology of Technology Evolution (TE-LCA) and its Application to the Production of Ammonia (1950-2000) (8 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background: This paper presents a new LCA method of technology evolution (TE-LCA), and its application to the production of ammonia, the second largest chemical product in the world, over the last fifty years. The TE-LCA of a chemical process is the procedure in which historical information on a process, mainly the evolution of technical parameters, is translated by simulation to mass and energy balances as a function of time. These mass and energy balances are then transformed into environmental impact indicators using common LCA approaches. Finally, the evolution of environmental impact resulting from the investigated process can be related to its technical and other, i.e. legislative, developments. Methods: The technological evolution of the production of ammonia was compiled according to three basic sources of information: patents, publications and industry data. From these sources in a first step, the major technological advances of the process were identified as a function of time delivering different process variants that were modelled using the simulation software Aspen Plus®. In a second step, the evolution of environmental regulations is studied. For those energy related emissions that were regulated, e.g. SOx and NOx, it was assumed that threshold values defined in legislation were realized immediately. The aggregation of both steps allows the calculation of the emissions resulting from the production (cradle to gate view) of the investigated chemical as a function of time. Results and Discussion: The application of the TE-LCA to the production of ammonia revealed when and to which extent technological and legislative developments resulted in the reduction of energy related emissions in the production of this chemical compound. Overall, the reduction of emissions from ammonia production was highly influenced by the technological development and only to a lower extent by environmental regulations. Conclusion: The results obtained from the TE-LCA method is useful to reveal how the environmental performance of a process developed in the past and to identify the reasons for this development. The investigated case study of ammonia production shows that investment in technological development also paid off in terms of being ahead of tightened environmental legislation that might bear potential cost consequences such as carbon dioxide tax. Outlook: The presented method can be easily extended by including an economic analysis, which provides additional information on why certain technological developments were enforced and which the economic consequences of changes in environmental legislation were. The new methodology has to be applied to additional case studies, i.e. to other chemical sectors than basic chemicals and to other branches than chemicals. In other chemical sectors, toxic emissions from the production process might have to be considered and trade-offs between these and the overall energy consumption might resul