Kraftfahrzeugverkehr 2010: weiteres Wachstum und hohe Bedeutung von Firmenwagen

Die Fahrleistungen von in Deutschland zugelassenen Personenkraftwagen sind in den zurückliegenden Jahren trotz hoher Kraftstoffpreise fast durchgehend gestiegen. Sie wurden auch von der Wirtschaftskrise 2008/2009 kaum beeinflusst. Dagegen ging die Fahrleistung der Fahrzeuge des Güterverkehrs in der Krise deutlich zurück, wobei es zuletzt zu einer Erholung kam. Insgesamt lag die Fahrleistung der Kraftfahrzeuge im Jahr 2010 höher als je zuvor. Dementsprechend ist der gesamte Kraftstoffverbrauch - trotz effizienterer Antriebstechnik - in der Tendenz nur leicht rückläufig. Als Kraftstoff wird Benzin immer weiter durch Diesel ersetzt. Die Entwicklung der Kraftfahrzeugmärkte war im Verlauf der Wirtschaftskrise gespalten: Der Markt für Nutzfahrzeuge hat nach einem krisenbedingten Einbruch das vorherige Niveau noch nicht wieder erreicht. Der Absatz neuer Personenkraftwagen wurde im Jahr 2009 durch die "Umweltprämie" gestützt. Dabei haben die von privaten Käufern bevorzugten unteren Fahrzeugsegmente besonders profitiert. Im Jahr 2010 normalisierten sich Struktur und Höhe der Neuzulassungen, wobei gewerbliche Käufer die Nachfrage wieder stärker prägten. Firmenwagen, die in der Regel überdurchschnittlich schwer und leistungsstark sind, beeinflussen auch den Gebrauchtfahrzeugmarkt für die privaten Käufer stark. Daher sollten steuerliche Anreize zur Verbrauchs- und Emissionsminderung dieser Fahrzeuge eingeführt werden.Road transport, mileage travelled, fuels, motorized vehicles, taxation

Verkehr in Zahlen 2020/2021

Verkehr in Zahlen (ViZ) ist seit mehr als vierzig Jahren das Standardwerk zur Verkehrsstatistik in Deutschland. Das Kompendium enthält auf über 300 Seiten aktuelle Zahlen und Zeitreihen zu allen Themen aus den Bereichen Mobilität und Verkehr

Middle East - North Africa and the millennium development goals : implications for German development cooperation

          Closed-loop controlled combustion is a promising technique to improve the overall performance of internal combustion engines and Diesel engines in particular. In order for this technique to be implemented some form of feedback from the combustion process is required. The feedback signal is processed and from it combustionrelated parameters are computed. These parameters are then fed to a control process which drives a series of outputs (e.g. injection timing in Diesel engines) to control their values. This paper’s focus lies on the processing and computation that is needed on the feedback signal before this is ready to be fed to the control process as well as on the electronics necessary to support it. A number of feedback alternatives are briefly discussed and for one of them, the in-cylinder pressure sensor, the CA50 (crank angle in which the integrated heat release curve reaches its 50% value) and the IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure) are identified as two potential control variables. The hardware architecture of a system capable of calculating both of them on-line is proposed and necessary feasibility size and speed considerations are made by implementing critical blocks in VHDL targeting a flash-based Actel ProASIC3 automotive-grade FPGA

Comparison of Atmospheric Travel Distances of Several PAHs Calculated by Two Fate and Transport Models (The Tool and ELPOS) with Experimental Values Derived from a Peat Bog Transect

Multimedia fate and transport models are used to evaluate the long range transport potential (LRTP) of organic pollutants, often by calculating their characteristic travel distance (CTD). We calculated the CTD of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals using two models: the OECD POV& LRTP Screening Tool (The Tool), and ELPOS. The absolute CTDs of PAHs estimated with the two models agree reasonably well for predominantly particle-bound congeners, while discrepancies are observed for more volatile congeners. We test the performance of the models by comparing the relative ranking of CTDs with the one of experimentally determined travel distances (ETDs). ETDs were estimated from historical deposition rates of pollutants to peat bogs in Eastern Canada. CTDs and ETDs of PAHs indicate a low LRTP. To eliminate the high influence on specific model assumptions and to emphasize the difference between the travel distances of single PAHs, ETDs and CTDs were analyzed relative to the travel distances of particle-bound compounds. The ETDs determined for PAHs, Cu, and Zn ranged from 173 to 321 km with relative uncertainties between 26% and 46%. The ETDs of two metals were shorter than those of the PAHs. For particle-bound PAHs the relative ETDs and CTDs were similar, while they differed for Chrysene

Laser-Based 3D Body Scanning Reveals a Higher Prevalence of Abdominal Obesity than Tape Measurements: Results from a Population-Based Sample

Background: The global obesity epidemic is a major public health concern, and accurate diagnosis is essential for identifying at-risk individuals. Three-dimensional (3D) body scanning technology offers several advantages over the standard practice of tape measurements for diagnosing obesity. This study was conducted to validate body scan data from a German population-based cohort and explore clinical implications of this technology in the context of metabolic syndrome. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 354 participants from the Study of Health in Pomerania that completed a 3D body scanning examination. The agreement of anthropometric data obtained from 3D body scanning with manual tape measurements was analyzed using correlation analysis and Bland–Altman plots. Classification agreement regarding abdominal obesity based on IDF guidelines was assessed using Cohen’s kappa. The association of body scan measures with metabolic syndrome components was explored using correlation analysis. Results: Three-dimensional body scanning showed excellent validity with slightly larger values that presumably reflect the true circumferences more accurately. Metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent in the sample (31%) and showed strong associations with central obesity. Using body scan vs. tape measurements of waist circumference for classification resulted in a 16% relative increase in the prevalence of abdominal obesity (61.3% vs. 52.8%). Conclusions: These results suggest that the prevalence of obesity may be underestimated using the standard method of tape measurements, highlighting the need for more accurate approaches

Effects of Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 Supplementation on Intestinal Microbiota of Preterm Infants: a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Study

The gastrointestinal microbiota of preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit differs from that of term infants. In particular, the colonization of preterm infants by bifidobacteria is delayed. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical study was performed on 69 preterm infants to investigate the role of Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 supplementation in modifying the gut microbiota. Both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches were used to study the gut microbiota. Bifidobacterial numbers, determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization, were significantly higher in the probiotic than in the placebo group (log(10) values per g of fecal wet weight: probiotic, 8.18 + 0.54 [standard error of the mean]; placebo, 4.82 + 0.51; P < 0.001). A similar trend for bifidobacterial numbers was also obtained with the culture-dependent method. The infants supplemented with Bb12 also had lower viable counts of Enterobacteriaceae (log(10) values of CFU per g of fecal wet weight: probiotic, 7.80 + 0.34; placebo, 9.03 + 0.35; P = 0.015) and Clostridium spp. (probiotic, 4.89 + 0.30; placebo, 5.99 + 0.32; P = 0.014) than the infants in the placebo group. Supplementation of B. lactis Bb12 did not reduce the colonization by antibiotic-resistant organisms in the study population. However, the probiotic supplementation increased the cell counts of bifidobacteria and reduced the cell counts of enterobacteria and clostridia