Review of 'The Wayfinders' by Wade Davis.

Review of 'The Wayfinders' by Wade Davis

Review of Australian Literature in the German Democratic Republic: Reading through the Iron Curtain edited by Nicole Moore and Christina Spittel

Review of Australian Literature in the German Democratic Republic: Reading through the Iron Curtain edited by Nicole Moore and Christina Spitte

Dark Mermaids.

Sporting success is defined by athletic prowess, mental stamina and the ability to win. The balance between winning by fair, or foul, means is an area of fierce debate. This thesis seeks to illuminate the workings of the former German Democratic Republic Doping Scam: (Theme 14.25); to shed light on the human tragedy of steroid engineering, and to explore, within a fictitious world, new ground in areas that have offered little in research. Dark Mermaids, a novel, presents a narrative through contemporaneous documentation of the experiences of a fictitious former Olympic GDR swimmer and a tenacious young girl. In parallel, the novel considers the idea of selective memory, the paranoia of life under a dictatorship, and the notion of 'home' in a divided country. The accompanying essay further explores, through example, the themes of amnesia and exile, and the theory that the common exilic pathology of strain and estrangement of flight is never, in practice, over. Synopsis of Novel 1990. The Berlin Wall has fallen. Police officer Sophia Kunstler slips through the backstreets of Berlin looking for sex in the arms of a cruel faced blue eyed stranger; the same boy she has found in clubs and dance halls over many years. Outside her apartment a cold and frightened girl waits with a letter. Dagmar, Sophia's mother, is dying. Sophia and her father must return to the former GDR, a place from which they had escaped. As part of her job, Sophia is required to investigate claims of Stasi collaboration in her former home town's local police force. Suppressed memories gradually surface, and these impel her to revisit the GDR elite sports training ground, where death, or a new life, await

Impact of nutritional vitamin D supplementation on parathyroid hormone and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease : a meta-analysis

Background. Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is a common and major complication in chronic kidney disease (CKD), reflecting the increase of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in response to reduced vitamin D signalling and hypocalcaemia. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of nutritional vitamin D (NVD) (cholecalciferol or ergocalciferol) on SHPT-related biomarkers. Methods. A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed to identify relevant randomized control trials to be included in the meta-analysis. Fixed- and random-effects models were used to pool study-level results. Effects were studied within NVD study arms and relative to control groups (placebo/no treatment); the former in order to identify the effect of actively altering biomarkers levels. Results. Reductions in PTH from supplementation with NVD were small when observed within the NVD study arms (pooled reduction: 10.5 pg/mL) and larger when compared with placebo/no treatment (pooled reduction: 49.7 pg/mL). NVD supplementation increased levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in both analyses (increase within NVD study arm: 20.6 ng/mL, increase versus placebo/no treatment: 26.9 ng/mL). While small and statistically non-significant changes in phosphate and fibroblast growth factor 23 were observed, NVD supplementation caused calcium levels to increase when compared with placebo/no treatment (increase: 0.23 mg/dL). Conclusions. Our results suggest that supplementation with NVD can be used to increase 25(OH)D to a certain extent, while the potential of NVD to actively reduce PTH in non-dialysis-CKD patients with SHPT is limited

Agreements on Climate Protection - The Verification Problem

The sustained reduction of climate gas emissions associated with the generation, conversion and utilization of energy is clearly becoming an ever more important task in energy and environmental policy . Different strategies are conceivable in order to fulfil this mission. The aim of the IKARUS Project ($\textbf{I}$nstrumente für $\textbf{K}$limag$\textbf{a}$s- $\textbf{R}$ed$\textbf{u}$ktions$\textbf{s}$trategien - Instruments for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies) was to provide a set of tools with which strategies can be developed and reconstructed (making conceptual use of the various technologies) and also tested with respect to their internal consistency and examined with regard to their economic impacts. Corresponding to the great complexity of the task in hand and the technological range of energy applications, the set of instruments is very extensive. It consists of two parts: a data base with a comprehensive data collection and several computer models of various types. The relational $\textbf{data base}$ in ORACLE with a graphics interface has a twofold function as a supplier to the model and as an independently usable information system. It is subdivided into a technology data base, model data base and general data base. The data were collected in six data subprojects for the reference year of 1989 and estimated for the years 2005 and 2020. The $\textbf{technology data base}$ contains technological, economic and ecological data on representative technologies ranging from primary energy extraction up to final energy use, supplemented by commentaries, graphics, structural diagrams and characteristic curve fields. The reliability of the data is represented and annotated by an assessment diagram so that a reconstructible, comprehensive basis for strategy discussions capable of finding consensus can be provided in accordance with the objective. In addition to the individual technologies, aggregated "mixed technology" data were generated as input data for the optimization model mentioned below and stored in the $\textbf{model data base}$. In order to keep this aggregation sufficiently flexible with respect to optimizing the energy supply and utilization system the user is provided with some aggregation tools, developed in the data subprojects, upstream of the optimization model in the interface of the data base. Finally, the $\textbf{general data base}$ contains exogenous [...

Untersuchungen zur Struktur des doppeltmagischen Kerns 132^{132}SN

The decay of an us-isomer in the doubly magic nucleus $^{132}_{82}$Sn$_{50}$ is investigated with the fission product separator JOSEF at the nuclear research reactor FRJ 2 (DIDO) in the Kernforschungsanlage Jülich. The separation of $^{132}$Sn from the fission product mixture of a thermal neutron irradiated $^{235}$U-target is performed with a gas-filled fission product separator. The unslowed fission products are separated within 1 - 2 $\mu$s according to nuclear charge and mass. The short separation time allowed the investigation of isomeric states, populated directly in fission, with a half-life > 1 $\mu$s. A gamma line of 4041 keV is assigned to the decay of an isomeric state in $^{132}$Sn. The half-life of the isomeric state is determined by delayed fission product, gamma-coincidences. Gamma, gamm-coincidence measurements reveal the existence of four other gamma transitions, following the decay of the isomer. The evaluation of delayed gamma, gamma-coincidences allows the determination of the life-time for another state. According to the measured data a level scheme of $^{132}$Sn is established. The level scheme is discussed within the framework of the spherical shell model. For this purpose the experimental level scheme is compared with the results of RPA calculations performed with two sets of input parameters. The fairly good agreement between the experimental and theoretical values allows the proposal of the spins and parities of three excited states

Review of Between Sky and Sea by Herz Bergner

Review of Between Sky and Sea by Herz Bergne

The Open Grammar School

A Grammar school for 750 pupils in the Noorderpark (Amsterdam)Architecture: Interiors, Buildings and CitiesArchitectur