"To employ each of nature's products in the most favorable way possible": nature as a commodity in eighteenth-century German economic discourse

Im 18. Jahrhundert erschien in den deutschen Staaten eine große Anzahl von Texten, die eine intensivere Ausbeutung der natürlichen Ressourcen propagierten. Sie eröffneten einen Diskurs, der sowohl programmatische Stellungnahmen als auch auf den ersten Blick neutrale Beschreibungen der entsprechenden technologischen Prozesse umfasste. Die Ausbeutung der natürlichen Ressourcen wurde als wünschenswert für die 'Glückseligkeit' des Einzelnen wie des Staates propagiert. Die Verfasser führen das Auftreten dieses Diskurses auf eine Reihe von Faktoren zurück: das zeitgenössische ökonomische Denken, die Gründung von wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften und die Verbreitung neuer Medien, z.B. in Gestalt der rasch um sich greifenden Zeitschriften-Kultur. Wenn der Mensch, wie oft behauptet wird, gegenüber der Natur immer eine utilitaristisch geprägte Haltung eingenommen hat, dann wurde - so die Verfasser - diese Haltung in schriftlicher Form erstmals im 18. Jahrhundert einer breiten Öffentlichkeit gegenüber propagiert, eine Entwicklung, die die Beachtung der Umweltgeschichtsschreibung auch weiterhin verdient. (ICEÜbers)'In German territories in the eighteenth century a large number of texts propagated an intensified exploitation of natural resources. This discourse comprised programmatic statements as well as seemingly 'neutral' descriptions of corresponding technological processes. For a broad range of addressees, the exploitation of natural resources was thus legitimized as desirable for the well-being ('Glückseligkeit') of the individual and the state. The contribution explains the emergence of this discourse by factors ranging from contemporary economic thought over the establishment of economic societies to the dissemination of new media like the rapidly spreading journal culture. In summarizing it is argued that if man, as has often been argued, in its actions has always been taking on a utilitarian attitude towards nature, it is in the eighteenth century that this attitude was first broadly disseminated in written discourse - a development that, obviously, can not be labeled an anthropological constant and thus deserves further investigation by environmental historians.' (author's abstract

Gefängnisfilm

Der Gefängnisfilm bildete sich als Subgenre des klassischen Gangsterfilms parallel zu dessen Entstehung zu Beginn der 1930er Jahre heraus. Die Haftanstalt nimmt in diesem Genre eine ebenso mythische wie notwendige Position ein, da der Gefängnisaufenthalt entweder das Ende einer Gangsterkarriere bedeutet oder eine Fortsetzung dieser Funktion unter veränderten Voraussetzungen. „Gefängnis und Gangster-Existenz bedingen einander so sehr, daß das eine ohne das andere kaum vorstellbar erscheint“, wie es in Kellners Gangsterfilm (1977) heißt. Der Gefängnisfilm ist letztlich ein Gangsterfilm, der seinen Haupthandlungsschauplatz in die Haftanstalt verlegt hat und dort entweder von der Läuterung des Gangsters, von dem Schicksal eines zu Unrecht Verurteilten oder einem Gefängnisaufstand erzählt

Den Geheimnissen der Materie auf der Spur : neue Denkfabrik für physikalische Grundlagenforschung

Bei Darmstadt entsteht FAIR, eines der größten internationalen Forschungszentren für Physik. Durch das von der Landesregierung geförderte Exzellenzzentrum »HIC for FAIR« erhält die Forschung in Hessen die einmalige Chance, sich direkt an globaler Spitzenforschung zu beteiligen: auf der Suche nach den letzten Geheimnissen der Materie

Bemerkenswerte Wiederfunde an Bockkäfern (Col., Cerambycidae) für die Käferfauna der Nordeifel und des nördlichen Eifelvorlandes, Nordrhein-Westfalen

Es wird über bemerkenswerte Funde von sieben Bockkäfer-Arten (Cerambycidae) der Nordeifel (südliches Nordrhein-Westfalen) berichtet.This paper lists remarkable records of seven species of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) in the northern part of the Eifel (Northrhine Westphalia)

The impact of chronic pain on the quality of life of patients attending primary healthcare clinics

Objectives: The objective was to study the nature and magnitude of the impact of pain on the quality of life of patients with chronic pain.Design: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional quantitative study.Setting and subjects: One thousand and sixty-six adult patients were screened between October and December 2010 in four primary healthcare clinics in south-west Tshwane.Outcome measures: Patients reporting persistent pain for six months or longer were considered to be chronic pain patients (437, 41%), and were interviewed with regard to the impact of chronic pain on their quality of life using the Wisconsin Brief Pain Questionnaire.Results: Four hundred and nineteen patients (95.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 93.6-97.6) of chronic pain patients reported that chronic pain impacted on their quality of life and functioning. Sixty-eight per cent of patients (95% CI: 63.3-72.4) reported being severely adversely affected by chronic pain. Pain had a severe impact on sleep quality in 39.2% patients, walking ability (37.4%), routine housework (33.8%), mood (20.1%), interpersonal relationships (15.3%) and enjoyment of life (16.3%). The more intense the experience of severe pain was, the greater the impact of chronic pain on everyday life (p-value < 0.001). Equally, patients with better pain relief enjoyed a better quality of life (p-value < 0.001).Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients attending primary  healthcare clinics experience chronic pain which impacts on their lives in multiple and significant ways

Additive manufacturing of multi-material parts – Design guidelines for manufacturing of 316L/CuCrZr in laser powder bed fusion

Additive manufacturing (AM) can be used to produce multi-material parts in which the material can be varied voxel-wise in all three spatial directions. This means that the paradigm of the homogeneous material can be abandoned and local effects such as heat conduction or damping can be selectively adjusted in the part. Recently, continuous development of machine technology has allowed the production of multi-metal materials in laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/MM). Compared to other additive manufacturing processes for multi-material production, this allows greater design freedom and detail accuracy to be realized. However, due to the novel character of multi-material manufacturing in PBF-LB, the process knowledge for successful and reproducible fabrication is currently lacking. This paper focuses on establishing design guidelines for manufacturing the material pairing of stainless steel 316L (1.4404) and copper alloy CuCrZr (CW106C). The article is accompanied by the development of a specific process chain. As a result of this work, design guidelines for multi-material parts are available for the first time, in regard to arrangement, size, overhangs, economy, powder quality and laser scanning

Machine Diagnostics in scope of the LaSeKo Project

Agricultural processes have to comply with ecological, economical and political demands. Especially the tracing of food is important for consumer protection. At the same time reducing costs is necessary for farmers to be competitive. Machine up time is a critical factor, especially in processes that are reliant on short, whether-depending harvesting slots. Based on a mobile electronic system, the project consortium of the LaSeKo-Project is developing an autonomous agricultural communication system for the traceability of crops and harvesting batches that simultaneously enables for online machine diagnostics and a remote maintenance concept

Safeguarding of Fetal Growth by Mast Cells and Natural Killer Cells

Uterine natural killer cells (uNKs) and mast cells (uMCs) are of crucial importance for spiral artery (SA) remodeling and placentation. Mice deficient for both NKs and MCs including uNKs and uMCs show markedly impaired SA remodeling and their fetuses are growth-retarded. In contrast, the absence of either NKs or MCs results in only minor impairment. This suggests that uNKs can compensate for the effects of uMCs on SA remodeling and vice versa. To test this hypothesis, we assessed uNK numbers in uMC-deficient mice as well as uMC numbers in uNK-depleted mice. Notably, uMC-deficient C57BL/6J-KitW-sh/W-sh (W-sh) mice showed markedly increased numbers of uNKs in contrast to wild type, and the transfer of bone marrow-derived MCs reverted this phenotype. Vice versa, uNK-deficient C57BL/6NTac-IL15tm1ImxN5 (IL-15−/−) mice had significantly increased numbers of uMCs and MC-specific proteases. Our results suggest that uNKs and uMCs can counterbalance their effects at the feto–maternal interface and jointly promote SA remodeling and placentation