Private equity challenge - the leveraged buyout of Mensch und Maschine SE

This paper evaluates the leveraged buyout (LBO) of publicly traded software company Mensch und Maschine SE (M+M) and represents a complementary resource to the investment committee presentation. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses, such as the valuation of M+M, LBO modeling, and market competition analysis, were conducted using publicly available information, data from Bloomberg, and direct company information provided by M+M's CFO. Our analysis shows that the LBO of M+M, with a holding period of 5 years, could result in a MOIC of up to 4.4x, depending on the assumptions of the financial models and the success of value creation initiatives

Regional climate model simulations as input for hydrological applications: evaluation of uncertainties

International audienceThe ERA15 Reanalysis (1979-1993) has been dynamically downscaled over Central Europe using 4 different regional climate models. The regional simulations were analysed with respect to 2m temperature and total precipitation, the main input parameters for hydrological applications. Model results were validated against three reference data sets (ERA15, CRU, DWD) and uncertainty ranges were derived. For mean annual 2 m temperature over Germany, the simulation bias lies between -1.1°C and +0.9°C depending on the combination of model and reference data set. The bias of mean annual precipitation varies between -31 and +108 mm/year. Differences between RCM results are of the same magnitude as differences between the reference data sets

Coastal Zone Processes and Geomorphology of Skagit County, Washington

Geomorphic mapping of 130 km of marine shoreline in Skagit County reveals repeated morphologic and sedimentologic trends along many segments of the coast. The shoreline segments within which the trends are repeated are the littoral drift cells or shore drift sectors that act as nearly closed systems with respect to longshore sediment transport. The longshore trends include changes in mean grain size of beaches, sediment sorting, foreshore morphology, back- shore width and morphology, bluff morphology, and mean beach slope. The last parameter, slope, can be used as an index or surrogate measure of simultaneous changes in the other longshore trends. The longshore trends, besides being a convenient method to describe the coastal geomorphology, are found to be equally useful as tools to map directions of littoral sediment transport on a net, long-term basis, and, to help define the boundaries of drift sectors. Transport direction and littoral cell boundaries are included on the accompanying maps. Wave erosion of shore bluffs, as opposed to fluvial delivery, is the primary source of beach sediment. Mean minimum long term erosion rates are 5 cm/yr for unconsolidated bluffs, 0.7 cm/yr for jointed rocks fronted by wave cut platforms, and less than 0.1 cm/year for massive, resistant rock types. Shoreline segments with large, hazardous mass movements are relatively few, but within those segments large slope failures appear to provide a high percentage of the sediment contribution to beaches

Treating urinary tract infections in public sector primary healthcare facilities in Cape Town, South Africa: A pharmaceutical perspective

Background. Antibiotic resistance is a global healthcare burden complicating the management of infections. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are commonly treated in primary care. Managing UTIs appropriately in primary care can combat antibiotic resistance. The treatment practices for UTIs in primary care in Western Cape Province, South Africa, are not well described.Objectives. To describe treatment of UTIs in adults in primary care in the Cape Town metropole public sector of the Western Cape.Methods. A retrospective multicentre medical records review of patients diagnosed with UTIs was conducted during 1 October 2020 - 28 February 2021. Six public sector primary healthcare facilities were included in the study through random selection from three of the four substructures in the Cape Town metropole. Medical records of adult patients diagnosed with UTIs, through clinical diagnosis or microbiological testing, were identified via a selective sampling process. Data were collected from medical records using a standardised data collection tool.Results. A total of 401 UTI episodes occurred in 383 patients during the study period. The majority of UTI episodes (84.3%) occurred in females, complicated UTIs (74.1%) were more common than uncomplicated UTIs, and nitrofurantoin (57.1%) was frequently prescribed, followed by ciprofloxacin (39.7%). Compliance with urine microscopy recommendations was low (6.7%), and antibiotics were appropriately selected in 75.0% of uncomplicated and 70.0% of complicated UTI episodes.Conclusion. Interventions are required to improve compliance with treatment recommendations as per the standard treatment guidelines, especially when selecting the appropriate antibiotic, duration of therapy and urine microscop

Evaluation of thermal comfort during showering with system-related temperature fluctuations

With the decarbonization of heating sector with temperature-sensitive heat pump, comfort must be considered. For users, comfort is a decisive criterion that can hinder the decision for a supply system using renewable energies. Instantaneous domestic hot water heater pose a particular challenge here, as load changes can easily lead to temperature fluctuations. Therefore, the following study aims to determine the perception of temperature fluctuations during showering and to classify them for an assessment procedure. For this purpose, we carried out tests with 120 persons in a controlled environment. The test subjects showered at their desired temperature and gave direct feedback on imposed temperature fluctuations. Positive and negative changes with different rates of change were examined. We reported clear individual differences in the set desired temperatures as well as in the noticed and tolerated temperature fluctuations. The average desired temperature was 38.5 °C, with a quite large variation of ±5.5 K. While 2 % of the test subjects already noticed fluctuations <0.5 K and found them uncomfortable, for others (≈40 %) deviations of 4 K were still comfortable. Therefore, the resulting evaluation was based on a proportion of dissatisfied subjects according to the procedure described by the ISO 7730. This study represents a first step towards the introduction of standardized assessment of instantaneous water heaters and the comfort criteria would allow a comparison of control quality for different applications

Development and application of a logistic model to estimate the past and future hail potential in Germany

This study investigates to what extent the frequency of hail events in the summer months has changed during the past decades and which changes are expected to occur in the future. To improve the diagnostics of hail events by considering various factors relevant for the formation of hail, a logistic hail model has been developed by means of a multivariate analysis method. This statistical model is based on a combination of appropriate meteorological parameters (convective parameter, moisture content, etc.) and synoptic weather types. The output of the model is a new index that estimates the potential of the atmosphere for hailstorm development, referred to as potential hail index. Validations with independent data sets confirm the reliability of the model results. For Germany, the logistic hail model applied to reanalysis data over the past decades shows a markedly north-to-south gradient with most of the potential hail days occurring in the south. Applied to an ensemble of seven regional climate model simulations, it is found that the potential for hail events will increase in the future (2021–2050) compared to the past (1971–2000), but only statistically significant in the northwest and south of Germany

Influence of specific characteristics of subjects and environmental conditions on comfort level during showering

In systems that do not store domestic hot water (DHW), temperature fluctuations occur in the hot water temperature at the outlet when the DHW load changes. If these temperature fluctuations arrive at the tapping point, they influence the users' perception of comfort. Especially in the shower these temperature fluctuations can lead to a loss of comfort. Unlike in the field of air conditioning, there have been relatively few studies on the perception of comfort in the shower, and these used only males as test subjects. Therefore, we started a study with 120 persons with the aim to involve a representative variety of test subjects. In our test facility a temperature profile with varying rates of change was imprinted and the test subjects provided feedback on whether they noticed temperature changes or found them uncomfortable. In this study, results on the comfort perception of the participants in the shower are examined in relation to individual factors such as gender, age or Body-Mass-Index (BMI), and the outside temperature. We cannot determine a specific impact of these factors on the comfort perception of a group of test subjects. Neither was an influence on the desired temperatures, which ranged between 33 °C and 45 °C, detected

Schule öffnen und vernetzen

Schule bereitet junge Menschen aufs gesellschaftliche Leben vor. Kooperationen zwischen Schulen und außerschulischen Partner*innen können dabei eine wichtige Rolle einnehmen: Durch sie werden gesellschaftliche und politische Prozesse, Akteur*innen, Kontroversen und Orte des Engagements in ihren vielfältigen Facetten sicht- und greifbarer