Comparison of cardiac, hepatic, and renal effects of arginine vasopressin and noradrenaline during porcine fecal peritonitis: a randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Infusing arginine vasopressin (AVP) in vasodilatory shock usually decreases cardiac output and thus systemic oxygen transport. It is still a matter of debate whether this vasoconstriction impedes visceral organ blood flow and thereby causes organ dysfunction and injury. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis whether low-dose AVP is safe with respect to liver, kidney, and heart function and organ injury during resuscitated septic shock. METHODS: After intraperitoneal inoculation of autologous feces, 24 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and instrumented pigs were randomly assigned to noradrenaline alone (increments of 0.05 microg/kg/min until maximal heart rate of 160 beats/min; n = 12) or AVP (1 to 5 ng/kg/min; supplemented by noradrenaline if the maximal AVP dosage failed to maintain mean blood pressure; n = 12) to treat sepsis-associated hypotension. Parameters of systemic and regional hemodynamics (ultrasound flow probes on the portal vein and hepatic artery), oxygen transport, metabolism (endogenous glucose production and whole body glucose oxidation derived from blood glucose isotope and expiratory 13CO2/12CO2 enrichment during 1,2,3,4,5,6-13C6-glucose infusion), visceral organ function (blood transaminase activities, bilirubin and creatinine concentrations, creatinine clearance, fractional Na+ excretion), nitric oxide (exhaled NO and blood nitrate + nitrite levels) and cytokine production (interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha blood levels), and myocardial function (left ventricular dp/dtmax and dp/dtmin) and injury (troponin I blood levels) were measured before and 12, 18, and 24 hours after peritonitis induction. Immediate post mortem liver and kidney biopsies were analysed for histomorphology (hematoxylin eosin staining) and apoptosis (TUNEL staining). RESULTS: AVP decreased heart rate and cardiac output without otherwise affecting heart function and significantly decreased troponin I blood levels. AVP increased the rate of direct, aerobic glucose oxidation and reduced hyperlactatemia, which coincided with less severe kidney dysfunction and liver injury, attenuated systemic inflammation, and decreased kidney tubular apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: During well-resuscitated septic shock low-dose AVP appears to be safe with respect to myocardial function and heart injury and reduces kidney and liver damage. It remains to be elucidated whether this is due to the treatment per se and/or to the decreased exogenous catecholamine requirements

Overcoming the international energy and climate crisis. Methanol economy and soil improvement can close the carbon cycle

The global energy and climate crisis can be solved in a way that is compatible with growth and promoting prosperity. The now almost panic-stricken public debates about the end of the world, a planned economy for the climate, the electrification of the entire mobility sector, etc. are not in any way doing justice to the multi-dimensionality of the challenge. The approach described, on the other hand, allows Africa, India and other emerging economies to follow Chìna’s development model - without massive negative impacts on the climate. Following this approach, the SDGs can be implemented by 2050. Three essential elements have to be combined: (1) Methanol economy, (2) soils as carbon stores and (3) carbon offsetting projects promoting SDG implementation. The part of the economy based on fossil fuels can be increased by 50% by 2050 with the proposed approach. By recycling carbon on average four times in the context of a hydrogen/methanol economy, CO2 emissions of the energy sector will be reduced to only about 10 billion tonnes per year (currently 34 billion tonnes per year) - despite significant economic growth. A corresponding investment and conversion program can be realized solely by the fossil energy sector, one of the most powerful economic sectors in the world, by 2050. The necessary investments in methanol and other synthetic fuels amount to around 600 billion EUR per year. Through persistent protection of the rainforests, massive worldwide reforestation, especially on degraded soils in the tropics, through fostering humus formation for agriculture, especially in semi-arid areas, through the use of biochar, etc., forests and soils can become a carbon sink for the remaining 10 billion tons of CO2 per year. At the same time, this increases agricultural productivity and will prove necessary anyway for the massively increasing demand for food in an envi-sioned world in prosperity with 10 billion people. All in all, the carbon cycle can be closed this way. Forestry and agricultural projects play a central role in the Alliance for Develop-ment and Climate launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2018. In addition to international climate protection, the alliance also promotes development and thus the social aspect of the path into future. By means of high-quality projects in non-industrialized countries, co-benefits to all SDGs and positive ef-fects on the climate are achieved at the same time. This offers great opportunities for the goal of reaching a world population peak at 10 billion people in 2050, followed by a gradual decline afterwards. The methanol economy, and synthetic fuels in general are the key to the solution described. They are based on cheap desert electricity from the Earth’s sunbelt. Just as the invention of the steam engine 300 years ago was the foundation for fully unfolding the potential of coal to increase the prosperity of humankind, renewable energy technologies combined with the solar potential of large deserts (Desertec 2.0) are the key to getting humankind out of the current impasse regarding development, energy and climate - with a hydrogen/methanol economy as a major basis.La crisi globale dell’energia e del clima può essere risolta in modo compatibile con la crescita e la promozione della prosperità. I dibattiti pubblici, ormai quasi in preda al panico, sulla fine del mondo, sull’economia pianificata per il clima, sull’elettrificazione dell’intero settore della mobilità, ecc. non rendono in alcun modo giustizia alla multidimen-sionalità della sfida. L’approccio descritto, d’altra parte, consente all’Africa, all’India e ad altre economie emergenti di seguire il modello di sviluppo della Cina, senza enormi impatti negativi sul clima. Seguendo questo approccio, gli SDGs (Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile) possono essere attuati entro il 2050. Tre elementi essenziali devono essere combinati: (1) economia del metanolo, (2) suoli come depositi di carbonio e (3) progetti di compensazione del carbonio che promuovano l’attuazione degli SDG. La parte dell’economia basata sui combustibili fossili può essere aumentata del 50% entro il 2050 con l’approccio proposto. Riciclando il carbonio in media quattro volte nel contesto di un’economia idrogeno/metano-lo, le emissioni di CO2 del settore energetico saranno ridotte a soli 10 miliardi di tonnel-late all’anno (attualmente 34 miliardi di tonnellate all’anno) - nonostante la significativa crescita economica. Un corrispondente programma di investimento e di conversione può essere realizzato esclusivamente dal settore dell’energia fossile, uno dei settori economici più potenti del mondo, entro il 2050. Gli investimenti necessari nel metanolo e in altri combustibili sin-tetici ammontano a circa 600 miliardi di euro all’anno. Attraverso la persistente protezione delle foreste pluviali, il massiccio rimboschimento mondiale, in particolare nei suoli degradati dei tropici, attraverso la promozione della formazione di humus per l’agricoltura, soprattutto nelle aree semi-aride, attraverso l’uso di biochar, ecc., le foreste e i suoli possono diventare un bacino di carbonio per i restanti 10 miliardi di tonnellate di CO2 all’anno. Allo stesso tempo, ciò aumenta la produttività agricola e si rivelerà comunque necessario per la crescente domanda di cibo in un mondo immaginato in prosperità con 10 miliardi di persone. Tutto sommato, il ciclo del carbonio può essere chiuso in questo modo. I progetti forestali e agricoli svolgono un ruolo centrale nell’”Alleanza per lo sviluppo” e il clima lanciato dal Ministero federale tedesco per la cooperazione e lo sviluppo economico (BMZ) nel 2018. Oltre alla protezione internazionale del clima, l’alleanza promuove anche lo sviluppo e quindi l’aspetto sociale del percorso verso il futuro. Attraverso progetti di alta qualità nei paesi non indus-trializzati, si ottengono contemporaneamente co-benefici per tutti gli Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile e gli effetti positivi sul clima. Ciò offre grandi opportunità per l’obiettivo di rag-giungere un picco di popolazione mondiale di 10 miliardi di persone nel 2050, seguito da un graduale declino in seguito. L’economia del metanolo e i combustibili sintetici in generale sono la chiave della soluzione descritta. Si basano sull’elettricità del deserto a basso costo proveniente dalla cintura solare della Terra. Proprio come l’invenzione del motore a vapore 300 anni fa è stata la base per far emergere appieno il potenziale del carbone per aumentare la prosperità dell’umanità, le tecnologie energetiche rinnovabili combinate con il potenziale solare dei grandi deserti (Desertec 2.0) sono la chiave per far uscire l’umanità dall’attuale impasse per quanto riguarda lo sviluppo, l’energia e il clima - con un’economia idrogeno/metanolo come base principale

The Marshall Plan with Africa. An approach to the implementation of the Agenda 2030?!

The text discusses the Agenda 2030, the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and their chances of implementation. The text does not agree on praising the SDGs, but rather sees them in some sense as a step backwards compared to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), because they make it easier for rich coun-tries to concentrate on their own problems instead of tackling the major global sustainability challenges in international cooperation. From the author’s point of view, the implementation chances for the SDGs are not high. Consideration is then given to whether a Marshall Plan with Africa would offer an opportunity to push forward the implementation of the SDGs, particularly in the case of Africa, where the greatest challenges exist. In fact, a Marshall Plan offers these opportunities, but here again the question arises whether such a plan will ever be implemented. The recently launched “Development and Climate Alliance” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) suggests a way in which a multi-stakeholder initiative could possibly lead to an approach of promoting a Marshall Plan with Africa and other related international developments, thus making a substantial contribution to the implementation of the SDGs. The text discusses the topics mentioned and related questions.L’autore analizza l’Agenda 2030, i cosiddetti Obiettivi di Sviluppo Soste-nibile (OSS) delle Nazioni Unite, e le loro possibilità di attuazione. Non associandosi agli elogi espressi nei confronti degli OSS, l’autore li considera per certi versi un passo indietro rispetto agli Obiettivi di Sviluppo del Millennio (OSM), poiché aiutano i paesi ricchi ad occuparsi dei propri problemi anziché affrontare le grandi sfide di sostenibilità globale at-traverso la cooperazione internazionale. L’autore ritiene improbabile il raggiungimento degli OSS. Si considera poi se un Piano Marshall a beneficio dell’Africa possa offrire la possi-bilità di favorire il raggiungimento degli OSS, particolarmente nella stessa Africa, dove si presentano le sfide maggiori. Un Piano Marshall offrirebbe tale possibilità, ma sorge il dub-bio sull’eventuale attuazione di un piano simile. Lanciata di recente, “l’Alleanza Sviluppo e Clima” del Ministero Federale della Cooperazione e dello Sviluppo della Germania propone un modo in cui un’iniziativa multi-stakeholder potrebbe portare alla promozione di un Piano Marshall per l’Africa nonché di altri sviluppi internazionali correlate, e così contribuire alla realizzazione degli OSS

Scheduling project networks with resource constraints and time windows

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 154059 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

An Agile Development Methodology for Knowledge-Based Systems Including a Java Framework for Knowledge Modeling and Appropriate Tool Support

The goal of this thesis is to help make the development of knowledge-based systems more efficient. For that purpose, it proposes a new, agile software and knowledge engineering methodology, called XP.K (eXtreme Programming of Knowledge-based systems). This methodology is based on the four values simplicity, community, feedback, andcourage, and applies object-oriented Round-Trip Engineering to knowledge modeling. The thesis is founded on the observation that for most knowledge-based systems, knowledge must necessarily be modeled evolutionary, in a close collaboration between domain experts and engineers. The author argues that existing “heavy-weight ” development methodologies from object-oriented Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering are often inefficient, because they make changes in knowledge models too expensive. Furthermore, they provide little support for the transitions between knowledge, knowledge models, and the remaining executable system. The starting point of XP.K is the hypothesis that “lightweight” – or agile – development processes (such as Extreme Programming) are suitable for knowledge modeling, because they are optimized for projects with frequently changin