UK air-sea integration in Libya, 2011: a successful blueprint for the future?

This is an English version of the chapter written in March 2012 and which appeared in ‘Integration der britischen Luft- und Seestreitkräfte im Libyenkrieg 2011: Erfolgreiche Blaupause für die Zukunft?’ in S. Bruns, K. Petretto, D. Petrovic (eds), Maritime Sicherheit, Globale Gesellschaft und internationale Beziehungen, (VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2013), ISBN: 978-3-531-18479-1. The Corbett Centre would like to thank the publishers for permission to reproduce it as a Corbett Paper.Libya was a successful operation fought in a manner Sir Julian Corbett would have immediately recognised as being typically British. Operational success was based upon the successful integration of UK air and sea assets. As a time, scope and geographically limited operation based on air and sea integration as part of an existing alliance framework (NATO), UK participation in the 2011 Libya operation seems likely to help set the course for British defence in the short-term. Sea based forces were crucial to ensure sea control as an enabler for projecting force ashore from the sea through TLAM and NGS and carrier based aviation. They also enforced a UN arms embargo on the Libyan regime while allowing supplies to reach the Libyan rebel forces

Taxonomic status of the Liberian Greenbul Phyllastrephus leucolepis and the conservation importance of the Cavalla Forest, Liberia

We thank Jochen Martens for his long-lasting patience in dealing with the specimen of leucolepis, and Brian Hillcoat for comments and advice. It is hardly possible to thank by name all those who have supported WG over the past 30 years and more since 1981 in the fields of forest ecology and ornithology in eastern Liberia. In particular, we express gratitude to Alex Peal and Theo Freeman, both Heads of Wildlife and National Parks, for their many years of cooperation, and the Silviculture Officers Wynn Bryant, Momo Kromah and Steve Miapeh. The knowledge of the tree experts Joe Keper and Daniel Dorbor helped us to gain insights into the ecological complexities of the relationship between man, birds and trees. William Toe worked for three years as bird trapper and assistant in bird banding. WG’s attachment to the University of Liberia and to the students who so often accompanied him was made possible by Ben Karmorh from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and University of Liberia. NABU, the German Conservation Society, has supported the Liberian projects for almost 30 years now. We also thank Nigel Collar, Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire and Hannah Rowland for comments and advice. We thank the African Bird Club and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for helping to fund the 2013 expedition to the Cavalla Forest, in particular Alice Ward-Francis, Robert Sheldon, Alan Williams and Keith Betton. We also are extremely grateful to Michael Garbo and staff of the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia for all manner of help with the expedition, to Harrison Karnwea and colleagues at the Forest Development Authority of Liberia for permissions and other support, as well as to Emmanuel Loqueh, Trokon Grimes, Flomo Molubah and Amos ‘Dweh’ Dorbor for being such excellent companions in the field. YL performed the genetic work as part of her M.Sc. (Genetics) at the University of Aberdeen, whose support is acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Do student teachers’ wildlife value orientations impact how they judge management actions of carnivore species from different habitat status groups?

Lethal management of carnivore species in Germany differs according to the species habitat status (i.e., for new arrivals, long-established, or re-colonizing species). Management actions are not always accepted by the public. Since prospective teachers are future multipliers of public acceptance of lethal management, and teaching is influenced by ones’ value orientations, we investigated student teachers’ (N = 95) decisions on lethal management of carnivore species of different habitat status groups in relation to their wildlife value orientations (WVOs). Our results show that student teachers’ WVOs are more strongly associated with certain management actions for new arrivals and re-colonizing species than for long-established species. In those cases, their WVOs are more likely to affect teaching of decision-making in the context of management actions. Thus, teacher education should support student teachers in reflecting their value orientations for teaching local biodiversity protection

The stimulating effect of bright light on physical performance depends on internal time.

The human circadian clock regulates the daily timing of sleep, alertness and performance and is synchronized to the 24-h day by the environmental light-dark cycle. Bright light exposure has been shown to positively affect sleepiness and alertness, yet little is known about its effects on physical performance, especially in relation to chronotype. We, therefore, exposed 43 male participants (mean age 24.5 yrs ± SD 2.3 yrs) in a randomized crossover study to 160 minutes of bright (BL: ≈ 4.420 lx) and dim light (DL: ≈ 230 lx). During the last 40 minutes of these exposures, participants performed a bicycle ergometer test. Time-of-day of the exercise sessions did not differ between the BL and DL condition. Chronotype (MSF(sc), mid-sleep time on free days corrected for oversleep due to sleep debt on workdays) was assessed by the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ). Total work was significantly higher in BL (median 548.4 kJ, min 411.82 kJ, max 875.20 kJ) than in DL (median 521.5 kJ, min 384.33 kJ, max 861.23 kJ) (p = 0.004) going along with increased exhaustion levels in BL (blood lactate (+12.7%, p = 0.009), heart rate (+1.8%, p = 0.031), and Borg scale ratings (+2.6%, p = 0.005)) in all participants. The differences between total work levels in BL and DL were significantly higher (p = 0.004) if participants were tested at a respectively later time point after their individual mid-sleep (chronotype). These novel results demonstrate, that timed BL exposure enhances physical performance with concomitant increase in individual strain, and is related not only to local (external) time, but also to an individual's internal time

High-Temperature Thermal Storage System for Solar Tower Power Plants with Open-Volumetric Air Receiver Simulation and Energy Balancing of a Discretized Model

This paper describes the modeling of a high-temperature storage system for an existing solar tower power plant with open volumetric receiver technology, which uses air as heat transfer medium (HTF). The storage system model has been developed in the simulation environment Matlab/Simulink®. The storage type under investigation is a packed bed thermal energy storage system which has the characteristics of a regenerator. Thermal energy can be stored and discharged as required via the HTF air. The air mass flow distribution is controlled by valves, and the mass flow by two blowers. The thermal storage operation strategy has a direct and significant impact on the energetic and economic efficiency of the solar tower power plants

High-Temperature Thermal Storage System for Solar Tower Power Plants with Open-Volumetric Air Receiver Simulation and Energy Balancing of a Discretized Model

This paper describes the modeling of a high-temperature storage system for an existing solar tower power plant with open volumetric receiver technology, which uses air as heat transfer medium (HTF). The storage system model has been developed in the simulation environment Matlab/Simulink®. The storage type under investigation is a packed bed thermal energy storage system which has the characteristics of a regenerator. Thermal energy can be stored and discharged as required via the HTF air. The air mass flow distribution is controlled by valves, and the mass flow by two blowers. The thermal storage operation strategy has a direct and significant impact on the energetic and economic efficiency of the solar tower power plants

The economic benefits of health and prevention in a high-income country: the example of Germany

This paper complements the current health policy debate, which is largely confined to the cost aspects of health systems, by considering explicitly the potential economic benefits of investing in health in general and via - chiefly primary - prevention. While concerns about high and rising health care costs are justified, we see a pressing need to also measure the benefits, ultimately enabling a complete economic assessment of the socially optimal level of resources for health. Despite the use of Germany as our point of reference, our approach and findings likely apply to a wider set of European highincome countries. Using new and already existing data, we find that in sheer health terms Germany has a lot to gain from more and better illness prevention. Assuming part of this existing burden can be reduced via effective preventive interventions, we find that the resulting economic benefits - expressed in people's willingness to pay for a reduction in mortality risk - would be substantial. We also gather Germany-specific evidence to suggest that the existing burden of ill health - whether caused by lack of prevention or treatment - negatively impacts a number of important economic outcomes at the individual and macro-economic level. Referring to work carried out in parallel to this project, we find that a number of cost-effective, primary preventive interventions exist to tackle part of the avoidable disease burden. Yet we note a deficit of economic evaluations, in particular in non-clinical interventions - a finding that underlines the role of government in the production of research on specifically non-clinical prevention. In light of the market failures discussed, from an economic perspective the role of government not only consists of research, but also - surprisingly to many - extends to actual interventions to address the health behaviour-related determinants of chronic disease. With the stakes as high and the economic justification for action in place, the case for scaling up preventive efforts in Germany, backed up by solid epidemiological and economic research, is hard to deny. -- Die vorliegende Studie ergänzt die gegenwärtige gesundheitspolitische Debatte, die sich vorwiegend auf Kostenaspekte des Gesundheitswesens konzentriert, indem sie den potentiellen ökonomischen Nutzen von Gesundheitsinvestitionen im allgemeinen und (Primär-)Prävention im besonderen hervorhebt. Auch wenn die Sorge um hohe und steigende Kosten des Gesundheitswesens berechtigt ist, bleibt die Notwendigkeit, auch den Nutzen der Gesundheitsausgaben zu erfassen, um somit zu einer ökonomisch vollständigen Einschätzung des sozial optimalen Niveaus der Gesundheitsausgaben zu gelangen. Trotz des Fokus auf Deutschland sind unser Ansatz und die Ergebnisse auch auf andere Mitgliedsländer der EU übertragbar. Wir zeigen anhand neuer und schon bekannter Daten, dass der Spielraum für Gesundheitsverbesserungen, vorwiegend durch Prävention, in Deutschland erheblich ist. Der ökonomische Nutzen - gemessen an der Zahlungsbereitschaft der Bevölkerung - der durch Reduktion eines Teils dieser Krankheitslast mittels Interventionen erzielt werden kann, ist nach unseren Berechnungen beachtlich. Darüber hinaus zeigen mehrere Studien, wie die aktuell gegebene Krankheitslast, ob durch einen Mangel an Prävention oder Versorgung verursacht, eine Reihe relevanter ökonomischer Grössen auf individueller und gesamtwirtschaftlicher Ebene beeinträchtigt. Wie eine parallel durchgeführte Studie der Autoren ergab, existieren auch eine Reihe kosten-effektiver Interventionen im Bereich der primären Prävention. Dennoch bestehen noch Lücken in der ökonomischen Bewertung insbesondere nicht-klinischer Interventionen - ein Ergebnis, das die Rolle des Staates in der Evaluation dieser Interventionen unterstreicht. Aufgrund von Marktversagen in einigen relevanten Bereichen besteht eine ökonomische Rechtfertigung für staatliches Handeln nicht nur im Bereich der Forschung, sondern - überraschend für manche - auch im Bereich der (Primär-)Prävention der nicht-ansteckenden und mit dem individuellen Gesundheitsverhalten verbundenen Krankheiten. Aufgrund des in diesem Papier dokumentierten hohen gesundheitlichen und ökonomischen Nutzens sowie der ökonomischen Rechtfertigung der Rolle des Staates kann das Argument für eine Verstärkung der Prävention in Deutschland nur schwer bestritten werden.