Stummfilm spricht Deutsch: Berlin, die Sinfonie der Großstadt. Filmheft für den DaF-Unterricht / Sprachniveau A1-C2

Im Sommersemester 2015 wurde an der Pädagogischen Hochschule Freiburg ein Film-Projektseminar\ud „Stummfilm spricht Deutsch“ angeboten. Im Rahmen des Seminars wurde der nonverbale Dokumentarfilm „Berlin, die Sinfonie der Großstadt“ (Regie: Walther Ruttmann; Produktionsland: Deutschland, 1927) analysiert und für die medienproduktive Arbeit im DaF-Unterricht didaktisiert. Die Seminarergebnisse werden im vorliegenden Filmheft verfasst.\ud Die Erprobung der ausgewählten Aufgaben erfolgte am Humboldt-Institut Medellín / Kolumbien.\u

IVIg dose increase in multifocal motor neuropathy: A prospective six month follow-up

In this prospective, non-randomized 6-month observational study we evaluated the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) dose increase in patients with multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). Diagnosis according to AAEM criteria, repetitive IVIg treatment for at least one year, persistent paresis and conduction block, stable symptoms and findings for at least six months were inclusion criteria. Nine patients (7 men) were identified and approved to standardized increase of IVIg dose. Patients were monitored using clinical scores and electrophysiological studies. Dose was increased from a baseline of 0.5 g/kg per month [mean, range: 0.1-1.1], given at variable intervals [4-12 weeks] to 1.2 g/kg per month given over 3 consecutive days planned for 6 cycles. If the patients' motor function did not improve after two cycles they entered step two: Dose was increased to 2 g/kg per month given over 5 consecutive days. The increased dose was maintained for 6 months. Assessments were performed by the same investigator, not involved in the patient's management, at baseline, after 2 and after 6 months. Following dose increase, motor function significantly improved in 6 patients (p = 0.014), 2 patients entered step two, 1 patient withdrew due to absent efficacy. Higher doses of IVIg caused more side effects, however, transient and rarely severe (p = 0.014). IVIg dose increase may improve motor functions in patients with stable MMN on long-term IVIg therapy independent of baseline dose. Improvement of motor function was associated with shorter disease duration (p = 0.008), but not with degree of muscle atrophy (p = 0.483). The treatment strategy to try to find the lowest effective dose and the longest tolerated interval might lead to underdosing in the long-term in many patient

Electric Mobility Roaming for Extending Range Limitations

Electric vehicles (EVs) are currently promoted by government and industry as an alternative to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) propelled vehicles. However, e-mobility has not yet reached a level of technological maturity that allows for the same degree of mobility offered by ICE propelled vehicles. In this paper, we argue that the adaption of roaming concepts to enable EV charging across geographical and service provider boundaries is likely to be a crucial element for e-mobility to be successful. To that end, we derive requirements and design principles for roaming concepts in e-mobility. Furthermore, we present and briefly evaluate a prototype implementation of an e-mobility roaming platform as a proof-of-concept

Parameterized Complexity of Vertex Splitting to Pathwidth at most 1

Motivated by the planarization of 2-layered straight-line drawings, we consider the problem of modifying a graph such that the resulting graph has pathwidth at most 1. The problem Pathwidth-One Vertex Explosion (POVE) asks whether such a graph can be obtained using at most $k$ vertex explosions, where a vertex explosion replaces a vertex $v$ by deg$(v)$ degree-1 vertices, each incident to exactly one edge that was originally incident to $v$. For POVE, we give an FPT algorithm with running time $O(4^k \cdot m)$ and an $O(k^2)$ kernel, thereby improving over the $O(k^6)$-kernel by Ahmed et al. [GD 22] in a more general setting. Similarly, a vertex split replaces a vertex $v$ by two distinct vertices $v_1$ and $v_2$ and distributes the edges originally incident to $v$ arbitrarily to $v_1$ and $v_2$. Analogously to POVE, we define the problem variant Pathwidth-One Vertex Splitting (POVS) that uses the split operation instead of vertex explosions. Here we obtain a linear kernel and an algorithm with running time $O((6k+12)^k \cdot m)$. This answers an open question by Ahmed et al. [GD22]. Finally, we consider the problem $\Pi$ Vertex Splitting ($\Pi$-VS), which generalizes the problem POVS and asks whether a given graph can be turned into a graph of a specific graph class $\Pi$ using at most $k$ vertex splits. For graph classes $\Pi$ that can be tested in monadic second-order graph logic (MSO$_2$), we show that the problem $\Pi$-VS can be expressed as an MSO$_2$ formula, resulting in an FPT algorithm for $\Pi$-VS parameterized by $k$ if $\Pi$ additionally has bounded treewidth. We obtain the same result for the problem variant using vertex explosions

Determinants of agricultural land abandonment in post-soviet European Russia

Socio-economic and institutional changes may accelerate land-use and land-cover change. Our goal was to explore the determinants of agricultural land abandonment within one agro-climatic and economic region of post-Soviet European Russia during the first decade of transition from a state-command to market-driven economy (between 1990 and 2000). We integrated maps of abandoned agricultural land derived from 30 m resolution Landsat TM/ETM+ images, environmental and socioeconomic variables and estimated logistic regressions. Results showed that post-Soviet agricultural land abandonment was significantly associated with lower average grain yields in the late 1980s, higher distance from the populated places, areas with low population densities, for isolated agricultural areas within the forest matrix and near the forest edges. Hierarchical partitioning showed that average grain yields in the late 1980s contributed the most in explaining the variability of agricultural land abandonment, followed by location characteristics of the land. While the spatial patterns correspond to the classic micro-economic theories of von Thünen and Ricardo, it was largely the macro-scale driving forces that fostered agricultural abandonment. In the light of continuum depopulation process in the studied region of European Russia, we expect continuing agricultural abandonment after the year 2000. --agricultural land abandonment,institutional change, land use change,spatial analysis,logistic regression,remote sensing,Russia

Employment and well-being after plant closure: Survey evidence from Switzerland on the mid and long run

How does plant closure affect the employment and well-being of displaced workers? This article presents the results of two surveys of workers at five manufacturing plants two and 11 years after mass layoffs. After two years, two-thirds of displaced workers had been re-employed, one in five workers was still unemployed, and one in 10 workers had retired. A decade after the plant closures, unemployment had fallen below 5%. Overall, post-displacement outcomes in Switzerland were more favourable than in other European plant closures. However, age disparities loomed large. Older workers struggled to find new jobs and often had to accept large wage cuts and unstable jobs. In particular, many workers in their late forties and early fifties were hit hard as they were too young to benefit from early retirement, but too old to start over

Mapping cropland-use intensity across Europe using MODIS NDVI time series

Global agricultural production will likely need to increase in the future due to population growth, changing diets, and the rising importance of bioenergy. Intensifying already existing cropland is often considered more sustainable than converting more natural areas. Unfortunately, our understanding of cropping patterns and intensity is weak, especially at broad geographic scales. We characterized and mapped cropping systems in Europe, a region containing diverse cropping systems, using four indicators: (a) cropping frequency (number of cropped years), (b) multi-cropping (number of harvests per year), (c) fallow cycles, and (d) crop duration ratio (actual time under crops) based on the MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series from 2000 to 2012. Second, we used these cropping indicators and self-organizing maps to identify typical cropping systems. The resulting six clusters correspond well with other indicators of agricultural intensity (e.g., nitrogen input, yields) and reveal substantial differences in cropping intensity across Europe. Cropping intensity was highest in Germany, Poland, and the eastern European Black Earth regions, characterized by high cropping frequency, multi-cropping and a high crop duration ratio. Contrarily, we found lowest cropping intensity in eastern Europe outside the Black Earth region, characterized by longer fallow cycles. Our approach highlights how satellite image time series can help to characterize spatial patterns in cropping intensity—information that is rarely surveyed on the ground and commonly not included in agricultural statistics: our clustering approach also shows a way forward to reduce complexity when measuring multiple indicators. The four cropping indicators we used could become part of continental-scale agricultural monitoring in order to identify target regions for sustainable intensification, where trade-offs between intensification and the environmental should be explored.Peer Reviewe