Selection index estimation from partial multivariate normal data

Selection index estimation from partial multivariate normal dat

Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources in the European Union

One of the important goals of European energy policy is to increase the share of renewable energy resources in the energy supply. The instruments used in the member states are not fully compatible with the rules of the European internal market. In a theoretical section, this paper analyses possible different instruments for promoting renewable energy. Some countries use feed in tariffs - using fixed prices to increase incentives for producers to invest into renewable energy, other countries use quantity-based systems like quotas that lead to a premium above the market price. In an institutional analysis we show that on the basis of effectiveness and efficiency considerations for the European Union, in the long-term quantity oriented systems of promotion are preferable if combined with elements of a capacity market. The main reason for this conclusion is that price-based systems cannot give enough incentives for backup capacities necessary to cope with intermittent production of renewable sources. In addition price-based systems violate the basic rules of the open internal European market because feed in tariffs are a considerable barrier for trade of renewable energy products

Dose Calculation Algorithms for Radiation Therapy with an MRI-Integrated Radiation Device

Image-guided adaptive radiation therapy (IGART) aims at improving therapy outcome on the basis of more precise knowledge of the anatomical and physiological situation during treatment. By integration of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), better differentiation is possible between the target volume to be irradiated and healthy surrounding tissues. In addition, changes that occur either between or during treatment fractions can be taken into account. On the basis of this information, a better conformation of radiation dose to the target volume may be achieved, which may in turn improve prognosis and reduce radiation side effects. This requires a precise calculation of radiation dose in a magnetic field that is present in these integrated irradiation devices. Real-time adaptation of the treatment plan is aimed at for which fast dose calculation is needed. Kernel-based methods are good candidates to achieve short calculation times; however, they presently only exist for radiation therapy in the absence of magnetic fields. This work suggests and investigates two approaches towards kernel-based dose calculation algorithms. One of them is integrated into treatment plan optimisation and applied to four clinical cases

Effects of pantoprazole 20 mg in mildgastroesophageal reflux disease: Once-daily treatment in the acute phase, and comparison of on-demand versus continuous treatment in the long term

AbstractBackground:Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic disorder,and although effective short-term treatment strategies are known, the rate of relapse within 1 year is as high as 90% despite successful acute treatment. Consequently, most patients with GERD require an effective long-term management strategy to achieve adequate symptom control and maintain mucosal healing.Objective:The present study was undertaken to compare the control ofGERD symptoms during long-term (24-week) treatment with pantoprazole 20 mg used on-demand or continuously in patients with mild GERD after complete relief of acute GERD symptoms.Methods:Patients with endoscopically confirmed Savary/Miller grade 0(normal mucosa) or I (patchy red lesions without white coating or with central white coating) GERD were enrolled in this multinational, multicenter study comprising 2 phases. In the first phase, which was open label, patients were treated with pantoprazole 20 mg QD for 4 weeks. The presence and intensity of the symptoms of heartburn, acid regurgitation, and pain on swallowing were assessed. In the second phase, which was an open-label, 24-week, randomized design, only patients completely free of GERD symptoms after acute treatment were included. During this phase, on-demand treatment with pantoprazole 20 mg was directly compared with continuous treatment. The rate of failure to control GERD symptoms after 24 weeks of treatment was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Subsequently, the difference between treatments (on-demand minus continuous) and its 95% CI were calculated, and the on-demand treatment was tested for noninferiority using a predefined noninferiority margin of 20%. The mean daily symptom loads were compared between the treatment groups using the 1-sided Wilcoxon rank sum test on a 5% α level. The point estimate of the difference was determined using the Hodges-Lehman estimator and the 1-sided 95% CI according to Moses. The number of patients unwilling to continue due to insufficient control of heartburn, acid regurgitation, and pain on swallowing was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier (time-to-event) analysis. Analysis was performed in the same manner as for the rate of failure to control GERD symptoms, but the 95% CI was interpreted for statistical superiority.Results:A total of 558 patients were enrolled in this study. At the end of theacute phase, 82.1% of patients in the per-protocol (PP) population and 79.1% in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population were relieved of all GERD symptoms, and subsequently entered the long-term phase. After 24 weeks of treatment, analysis of the failure rates revealed that on-demand treatment was noninferior to continuous treatment because the 95% CI was completely below 20% (ITT, 12.1% difference [95% CI, −∞ to 18.9%]; PP, 10.1% difference [95% CI, −∞ to 17.7%]). The higher perceived mean (SD) daily symptom load in the on-demand group (ITT, 1.26 [1.491 vs 0.82 [1.341) was balanced by the reduced tablet intake in that group (PP, 0.51 [0.31 ] vs 0.97 [0.11 ] tablets/d; P < 0.001). With respect to the rate of patients unwilling to continue treatment, no statistically significant difference was observed between the on-demand and continuous groups (ITT/PP, 0.95/1.13 vs 0.95/1.26).Conclusions:In this study of pantoprazole 20 mg tablets in patients withmild GERD, patients receiving on-demand treatment benefited despite their higher symptom load. The similar rates of unwillingness to continue treatment in both groups might suggest that patients were satisfied with the on-demand treatment strategy. On-demand treatment with pantoprazole 20 mg was found to be noninferior compared with continuous therapy with regard to symptom control. Both on-demand and continuous treatments were well tolerated

The mental lexicon – a connotation experiment with seven to eleven year old pupils

In dieser Arbeit wird die Durchführung und Auswertung eines Assoziationsexperiments mit sieben- bis elfjährigen Schülern eines sonderpädagogischen Förderzentrums dargelegt. Theoretische Grundlagen zum mentalen Lexikon, der Sprachproduktion und -rezeption sowie des Erwerbs der Wörter gehen dem praktischen Teil voraus. Anschließend wird unter Einbezug des Hypothesenmodells zur Ableitung unterschiedlicher Erscheinungsformen (Glück 1998) näher auf das expressive Störungsbild der Wortfindungsstörungen eingegangen. Um ein adäquates Assoziationsexperiment zu entwickeln wird in einem nächsten Schritt das „Verbale Assoziieren“ genauer beschrieben, wobei ein besonderer Fokus auf die fünf Kategorien der Anknüpfung (Matthäus 1980), nach denen die Schülerantworten ausgewertet wurden, gelegt wird. Im praktischen Teil erfolgte im Vorfeld eine Diagnostik der 38 Probanden mittels der Computerversion des normierten Wortschatz- und Wortfindungstests 6-10 (Glück 2007). Auf diagnostischer Grundlage werden die quantitativen und qualitativen Ergebnisse des Experiments im Vergleich bezüglich Alter, Geschlecht und Wortschatzkompetenz dargestellt und interpretiert. Die Studie erfolgte zum Wortfeld „In der Stadt“ mit 20 Items, folgende drei Fragestellungen konnten schließlich beantwortet werden: Haben Schüler der 3. Klasse einen umfangreicheren Wortschatz als Schüler der 1.Klasse? Sind die Wörter im mentalen Lexikon bei gleichaltrigen Schülern ähnlich gespeichert? Ist bei Mädchen und Jungen, egal welcher Altersgruppe, kein Unterschied in der Wortschatzkompetenz zu erkennen? Es ergab sich ein sehr interessantes Bild der Wortschatzspeicherung, das als Basis für die Konzeption einer semantisch-lexikalischen Therapiesequenz diente. Die Darstellung der acht Therapieeinheiten in tabellarischer Form rundet die Arbeit entsprechend ab.This paper presents the implementation and analysis of connotation research conducted at a school for special education with seven to eleven year old pupils. Theoretical basics of the mental lexicon, the language production, the language reception and the acquisition of words precede the practical part. Subsequently the word –finding problems are highlighted with special focus on the hypothesis model of the aetiology of word-finding problems (Glück 1998). For developing an adequate connotation research, the next step describes “verbal associating” with a special focus on the five categories of association (Matthäus 1980). The interpretation of the pupils’ answers is based on these five categories. In the subsequent practical part, a diagnosis of the 38 subjects using the computer version of the normalized vocabulary and word-finding test is portrayed (Glück 2007). Based on this diagnosis, the quantitative and qualitative results of the experiment are presented and analysed concerning age, gender and vocabulary skills. The semantic field of the research is “In the town” and includes 20 items; the following hypothesises were tested: Do third-class pupils have a more comprehensive vocabulary use than first-class pupils? Are the words in the mental lexicon of coeval pupils stored in a similar way? Is there any difference in vocabulary skills of girls and boys? A highly interesting picture of the word storage emerged, which further served as the foundation for the design of a semantic-lexical therapy sequence. Ultimately, the eight therapy units are depicted in tabular form in this report

Minuszeichen vor der Summe

Es ist ein oft bemühtes Argument, dass Windenergie nicht nur sauberen Strom sondern auch Arbeitsplätze schafft. Eine Untersuchung der Arbeitsmarkeffekte von Bau und Betrieb der Windanlagen kommt zu einem anderen Urteil. Die Förderung von Windenergie zerstört in anderen Branchen mehr Arbeitsplätze, als sie selber schafft