The euro – more than just a currency. Bertelsmann Impulse #2015/01

Working together is worthwhile; growing together even more so. After more than 20 years of the single market and 15 years of monetary union, the members of the European Union – once referred to as the European Community – are interwoven. Indeed, they are very closely interconnected. Despite this, in the face of heated debates arising once again over a looming sovereign default by Greece, there is once again an uneasy feeling about having to pay up for the debts of other member states. In Germany, the largest contributor country, the willingness to act in solidarity is steadily decreasing. And this is despite the fact that Germany profits from the euro in many ways. Even in the country with the strongest economy, many are asking themselves whether this is the beginning of the end for the euro zone

Source regions of some persistent organic pollutants measured in the atmosphere at Birkenes, Norway

A key feature of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) is their potential for long-range atmospheric transport. In order to better understand and predict atmospheric source-receptor relationships of POPs, we have modified an existing Lagrangian transport model (FLEXPART) to include some of the key processes that control the atmospheric fate of POPs. We also present four years (2004–2007) of new atmospheric measurement data for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) obtained at Birkenes, an EMEP (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme) site in southern Norway. The model overestimates measured PCB-28 and g-HCH concentrations by factors of 2 and 8, respectively, which is most likely because the emissions used as input to the model are overestimated. FLEXPART captures the temporal variability in the measurements very well and, depending on season, explains 31–67% (14–62%) of the variance of measured PCB-28 (g-HCH) concentrations. FLEXPART, run in a time-reversed (adjoint) mode, was used to identify the source regions responsible for the POP loading at the Birkenes station. Emissions in Central Europe and Eastern Europe contributed 32% and 24%, respectively, to PCB-28 at Birkenes, while Western Europe was found to be the dominant source (50%) for g-HCH. Intercontinental transport from North America contributed 13% for g-HCH. While FLEXPART has no treatment of the partitioning of POPs between different surface media, it was found a very useful tool for studying atmospheric source-receptor relationships for POPs and POP-like chemicals that do not sorb strongly to atmospheric particles and whose atmospheric levels are believed to be mainly controlled by primary sources

An fMRI study

Background Maternal sensitive behavior depends on recognizing one’s own child’s affective states. The present study investigated distinct and overlapping neural responses of mothers to sad and happy facial expressions of their own child (in comparison to facial expressions of an unfamiliar child). Methods We used functional MRI to measure dissociable and overlapping activation patterns in 27 healthy mothers in response to happy, neutral and sad facial expressions of their own school-aged child and a gender- and age- matched unfamiliar child. To investigate differential activation to sad compared to happy faces of one’s own child, we used interaction contrasts. During the scan, mothers had to indicate the affect of the presented face. After scanning, they were asked to rate the perceived emotional arousal and valence levels for each face using a 7-point Likert-scale (adapted SAM version). Results While viewing their own child’s sad faces, mothers showed activation in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex whereas happy facial expressions of the own child elicited activation in the hippocampus. Conjoint activation in response to one’s own child happy and sad expressions was found in the insula and the superior temporal gyrus. Conclusions Maternal brain activations differed depending on the child’s affective state. Sad faces of the own child activated areas commonly associated with a threat detection network, whereas happy faces activated reward related brain areas. Overlapping activation was found in empathy related networks. These distinct neural activation patterns might facilitate sensitive maternal behavior

A single dose of the Biontech/Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine protected elderly residents from severe COVID‐19 during a SARS‐coronavirus‐2 outbreak in a senior citizen home in Germany

Background: A total of 62/66 (93.9%) residents in a senior citizen home in Bremen, Germany, received the first dose of the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine BNT162b2 on December 27th 2020. After routine severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen tests showed positive results on January 5th, all residents and staff were tested by RT-PCR. Results: Nine staff members and 23 residents had a positive result. PCR positive staff members reported mild to severe COVID-19 symptoms, one was hospitalized. None of them had been vaccinated. In contrast, the vaccinated residents reported no or only mild symptoms. Sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes of infected individuals revealed a monophyletic origin of the outbreak within the PANGO lineage B.1.177.86. Conclusions: In summary, our data show that partial vaccination prevented severe COVID-19 among the residents during this local SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, suggesting a high effectiveness of even a single vaccine dose, but also emphasize that asymptomatic individuals might still be carriers/spreaders

Применение детандер-генератора для повышения ресурсоэффективности газораспределительной станции магистрального газопровода

Объектом исследования является: Газораспределительная станция "Урожай-20" магистрального газопровода "П-К" в Томской области. Цель работы: Выбор наиболее оптимального детандер–генераторного агрегата для использования потенциала природного газа при редуцировании на газораспределительной станции. В процессе исследования были проведены: аналитический обзор детандер–генераторных агрегатов применимых для газораспределительных станций различной производительности, изучение характеристик и специфики эксплуатации газораспределительной станции; выбор оптимального детандер–генераторного агрегата для использования его на ГРС-Ч "Урожай-20; проведение расчетов мощности и рентабельности применения детандер–генераторного агрегата.Object of the study: gas distribution station "Urozhay-20" of the main gas pipeline "P-K" in the of the Tomsk region. Purpose – Selection of the most optimal expander-generator set for using natural gas capabilities while reducing at a gas distribution station. The study included: analytical review of expander-generator sets applicable for gas distribution stations of various capacities, study of characteristics and specific features of operation of the gas distribution station, selection of the optimal expander-generator set for its use on GDS "Urozhai-20, carrying out of calculations of capacity and profitability of application of the expander-generator set, adoption of the most acceptable schemes for the introduction of an expander-generator set at AGRS "Urozhay-20"