Die Maschinisierung der Münzfertigung : Entwicklung und technikhistorische Stellung der Prägetechnik zwischen 1450 und 1850

Der folgende Beitrag ist der Versuch, aus der münzkundlichen und münzgeschichtlichen Literatur eine Vorstellung zu gewinnen, wie zwischen 1500 und 1850 Münzen hergestellt und dabei handarbeitliche Prozesse durch maschinelle abgelöst worden sind. Ausgangsbasis dafür ist eine langjährige Beschäftigung mit der Geschichte der Fertigungstechnik, vor allem mit dem industriellen Maschinenbau zwischen 1800 und 1950. Sie führte von der Entwicklung spanabhebender Werkzeugmaschinen zu Problemen der Massenfertigung, des Werkzeugbaus und der Blechbearbeitung und zu den trennenden und umformenden Werkzeugmaschinen. Dabei geriet fast zwangsläufig die frühneuzeitliche Münztechnik in den Blick, eine frühe Form der Massenfertigung, in der Maschinen entstanden sind die später in der industriellen Blechverarbeitung eine wichtige Rolle spielen sollten. Der Beitrag versteht sich als Skizze, die die handarbeitlichen und maschinellen Verfahren technologisch umreißen und bewerten will. Die thermochemischen Prozesse des Legierens und Schmelzens von Münzmetall bleiben dabei außen vor. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Prozesse der Formgebung, denn nur sie sind seit etwa 1500 von einer Maschinisierung betroffen. Wärmebehandlungen und Reinigungsvorgänge werden gestreift, wenn sie für die Formgebung wichtig gewesen sind. Außerdem wird versucht, die Münzherstellung in größeren technikhistorischen Zusammenhängen zu sehen, etwa durch einen kurzen Vergleich mit dem fast zeitgleich entstandenen Buchdruck oder durch einen Blick auf die im 19. Jahrhundert sich entfaltende industrielle Blechverarbeitung

Bedeutung der prophylaktischen Peritoneallavage bei laparoskopischen, gynäkologischen Operationen bezüglich Entzündungsprophylaxe und Auftreten postoperativer Komplikationen

Einleitung Laparoskopische Eingriffe sind in den letzten Jahren zu einem festen und grundlegenden Bestandteil der Gynäkologie geworden. Ein Großteil der Eingriffe in der Frauenheilkunde wird heute laparoskopisch durchgeführt. Deshalb kommt der Forschung in diesem Bereich eine besondere Bedeutung zu. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden die Auswirkungen einer prophylaktischen Peritoneallavage mit kristalliner Spülflüssigkeit, nach laparoskopischen gynäkologischen Operationen, untersucht. Dafür wurden Entzündungsreaktion und Komplikationen in der Studiengruppe mit einer Kontrollgruppe verglichen. Material und Methodik Die vorliegende prospektive randomisierte klinische Studie mit zwei Studienarmen (Interventions- und Kontrollgruppe) lief einfach verblindet ab. Einschlusskriterium war eine benigne Diagnose und eine laparoskopische Operation, im Zeitraum von Januar 2019 bis März 2021, in der Klinik für Frauenheilkunde, Geburtshilfe und Reproduktionsmedizin des Universitätsklinikums des Saarlandes. In die Studie wurden insgesamt 259 Patientinnen eingeschlossen, davon 153 Patientinnen in der Kontrollgruppe und 106 Patientinnen in der Interventionsgruppe. In der Interventionsgruppe wurde am Ende der jeweiligen laparoskopischen Operation eine zusätzliche intraoperative Spülung mit drei Litern kristalliner Spülflüssigkeit durchgeführt. In der Kontrollgruppe erfolgte die zusätzliche Lavage nicht. Neben den Patientenstammdaten (Alter, Body-Mass-Index, Diagnose) und den Operationsdaten (Operationszeit, Dauer des stationären Aufenthaltes, Schwierigkeitsstufe der Operation, intra- und postoperative Komplikationen) wurde prä- und postoperativ die Veränderung des C-reaktiven Proteins und des Interleukin 6 im Patientenserum, sowie die Eiweißkonzentration im Drainagesekret untersucht. Ergebnisse Die häufigste Indikation für einen laparoskopischen Eingriff war in beiden Gruppen die Endometriose (40,9%), gefolgt vom Uterus Myomatosus (30,9%). Die häufigste Operation war in beiden Gruppen die Chromopertubation (34%), gefolgt von der Endometriosesanierung (28,2%). Die Veränderung des CRP-Werts (p=0,001) und des Interleukin-6-Werts (p=0,004) von prä- auf postoperativ im Blutserum der Patientinnen unterschieden sich signifikant zwischen der Kontroll- und der Interventionsgruppe. Sowohl der CRP-Anstieg, als auch der Interleukin-6-Anstieg waren in der Interventionsgruppe geringer als in der Kontrollgruppe. Auch die Eiweißkonzentration im Drainagesekret der Patientinnen unterschied sich in beiden Gruppen signifikant voneinander (p=0,003). Hier war ebenfalls die Eiweißkonzentration im Drainagesekret der Interventionsgruppe geringer als in der Kontrollgruppe. Bezüglich der postoperativen Komplikationen unterschieden sich beide Gruppen nicht signifikant voneinander (p=0,966). Zudem zeigten sich signifikante Korrelationen zwischen der Dauer des stationären Aufenthaltes und der CRP-Differenz (p<0,001), der Interleukin-6-Differenz (p<0,001), sowie der Eiweißkonzentration im Drainagesekret (p=0,031). Außerdem konnte ein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der Operationsdauer und der CRP-Differenz (p<0,001) aufgezeigt werden. Schlussfolgerung In der vorliegenden Studie konnte in der Interventionsgruppe im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe eine signifikante Reduktion der Entzündungsparameter (C-reaktives Protein und Interleukin 6) im Patientenserum, sowie der Eiweißkonzentration im Drainagesekret gezeigt werden. Die Peritoneallavage mit kristalliner Spülflüssigkeit, am Ende von laparoskopischen gynäkologischen Operationen, scheint einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die postoperative Entzündungsreaktion und die postoperativen Komplikationen der Patientinnen zu haben.Introduction The minimally invasive technique has become a fundemental part of gynecological surgery. Most of gynecological operations are conducted laparoscopically today. Therefore, special emphasis should be placed on research in this particular domain. In this trial, the effects of a prophylactic peritoneal lavage with a crystalline irrigation fluid during gynecologic laparoscopic operations were assessed. For this purpose, the postoperative inflammation response and the patients postoperative complications were compared between an intervention and a control group. Methods This prospective randomized clinical trial with two study arms (control and intervention group) was conducted single blinded. Inclusion criterions were a benigne diagnosis and a laparoscopic surgery in the gynecology of the university hospital in Homburg, during the period from January 2019 to March 2021. In total, 259 patients were admitted to this trial. 153 patients were assigned to the control group and 106 patients were assigned to the intervention group. In the intervention group, an additional lavage with three liters crystalline irrigation fluid was implemented during the end of laparoscopic surgeries. In the control group, no additionally lavage was implemented. Therefore, the following data were collected: the patients master data (age, BMI, diagnosis), the patients surgery data (operation time, length of the hospital stay, difficulty level of the operation, intra- and postoperative complications), change of the c-reactive-protein-value and change of the interleukine-6-value in the patients blood serum from pre- to postoperative and the protein concentration in the patients drainage fluid. Results The most common indication for laparoscopic operations in both groups was endometriosis (40,9%), followed by uterus myomatosus (30,9%). The most common surgery in both groups was the chromopertubation (34,0%), followed by the removal of endometriosis (28,2%). The change of the crp-value (p=0,001) and of the interleukine-6-value (p=0,004) from pre- to postoperative differed significantly between the control and the intervention group. Both, the crp-value, as well as the interleukine-6-value, increased significantly less in the intervention group in comparison to the control group. Moreover, the protein concentration in the patients drainage fluid differed significantly between both groups (p=0,003). The protein concentration in the drainage fluid was significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the postoperative complications between both groups (p=0,966). Furthermore, a significant correlation between the length of the patients hospital stay and the patients crp-value-change (p<0,001) was detectable. The same applies for the correlation between both, the length of the hospital stay and the patients interleukin-6-value-change (p<0,001), as well as between the length of the hospital stay and the patients protein concentration in the drainage fluid (p=0,031). Eventually, a significant correlation between the patients operation time and the crp-value-change (p<0,001) was found. Conclusion In the intervention group, the analysis proved a significant reduction of the inflammation parameters in the patients blood serum (c-reactive-protein and interleukine-6) and of the protein concentration in the drainage fluid. The peritoneal lavage with crystalline irrigation fluid, during laparoscopic gynecologic operations, appears to have an major impact on the patients postoperative inflammation response and postoperative complications

High‐Frequency Sensor Data Reveal Across‐Scale Nitrate Dynamics in Response to Hydrology and Biogeochemistry in Intensively Managed Agricultural Basins

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2018 American Geophysical Union.Excess nitrate in rivers draining intensively managed agricultural watersheds has caused coastal hypoxic zones, harmful algal blooms, and degraded drinking water. Hydrology and biogeochemical transformations influence nitrate concentrations by changing nitrate supply, removal, and transport. For the Midwest Unites States, where much of the land is used for corn and soybean production, a better understanding of the response of nitrate to hydrology and biogeochemistry is vital in the face of high nitrate concentrations coupled with projected increases of precipitation frequency and magnitude. In this study, we capitalized on the availability of spatially and temporally extensive sensor data in the region to evaluate how nitrate concentration (NO3−) interacts with discharge (Q) and water temperature (T) within eight watersheds in Iowa, United States, by evaluating land use characteristics and multiscale temporal behavior from 5‐year, high‐frequency, time series records. We show that power spectral density of Q, NO3−, and T, all exhibit power law behavior with slopes greater than 2, implying temporal self‐similarity for a range of scales. NO3− was strongly cross correlated with Q for all sites and correlation increased significantly with drainage area across sites. Peak NO3− increased significantly with crop coverage across watersheds. Temporal offsets in peak NO3− and peak Q, seen at all study sites, reduced the impact of extreme events. This study illustrates a relatively new approach to evaluating environmental sensor data and revealed characteristics of watersheds in which extreme discharge events have the greatest consequences

Freshwater invertebrate responses to fine sediment stress A multi-continent perspective

Excessive fine sediment (particles <2 mm) deposition in freshwater systems is a pervasive stressor worldwide. However, understanding of ecological response to excess fine sediment in river systems at the global scale is limited. Here, we aim to address whether there is a consistent response to increasing levels of deposited fine sediment by freshwater invertebrates across multiple geographic regions (Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and the UK). Results indicate ecological responses are not globally consistent and are instead dependent on both the region and the facet of invertebrate diversity considered, that is, taxonomic or functional trait structure. Invertebrate communities of Australia were most sensitive to deposited fine sediment, with the greatest rate of change in communities occurring when fine sediment cover was low (below 25% of the reach). Communities in the UK displayed a greater tolerance with most compositional change occurring between 30% and 60% cover. In both New Zealand and Brazil, which included the most heavily sedimented sampled streams, the communities were more tolerant or demonstrated ambiguous responses, likely due to historic environmental filtering of invertebrate communities. We conclude that ecological responses to fine sediment are not generalisable globally and are dependent on landscape filters with regional context and historic land management playing important roles

How good are Bayesian belief networks for environmental management? A test with data from an agricultural river catchment

1. The ecological health of rivers worldwide continues to decline despite increasing effort and investment in river science and management. Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) are increasingly being used as a mechanism for decision-making in river management because they provide a simple visual framework to explore different management scenarios for the multiple stressors that impact rivers. However, most applications of BBN modelling to resource management use expert knowledge and/or limited real data, and fail to accurately assess the ability of the model to make predictions. 2. We developed a BBN to model ecological condition in a New Zealand river using field/GIS data (from multiple rivers), rather than expert opinion, and assessed its predictive ability on an independent dataset. The developed BBN performed moderately better than a number of other modelling techniques (e.g., artificial neural networks, classification trees, random forest, logistic regression), although model construction was more time3consuming. Thus the predictive ability of BBNs is (in this case at least) on a par with other modelling methods but the approach is distinctly better for its ability to visually present the data linkages, issues and potential outcomes of management options in real time. 3. The BBN suggested management of habitat quality, su ch as riparian planting, along with the current management focus on limiting nutrient leaching from agricultural land may be most effective in improving ecological condition. 4. BBNs can be a powerful and accurate method of effectively portraying the multiple interacting drivers of environmental condition in an easily understood manner. However, most BBN applications fail to appropriately test the model fit prior to use. We believe this lack of testing may seriously undermine their long-term effectiveness in resource management, and recommend that BBNs should be used in conjunction with some measure of uncertainty about model predictions. We have demonstrated this for a BBN of ecological condition in a New Zealand river, shown that model fit is better than that for other modelling techniques, and that improving habitat would be equally effective to reducing nutrients to improve ecological condition

Freshwater invertebrate responses to fine sediment stress: a multi-continent perspective

Excessive fine sediment (particles <2 mm) deposition in freshwater systems is a pervasive stressor worldwide. However, understanding of ecological response to excess fine sediment in river systems at the global scale is limited. Here, we aim to address whether there is a consistent response to increasing levels of deposited fine sediment by freshwater invertebrates across multiple geographic regions (Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, and the UK). Results indicate ecological responses are not globally consistent and are instead dependent on both the region and the facet of invertebrate diversity considered, i.e., taxonomic or functional trait structure. Invertebrate communities of Australia were most sensitive to deposited fine sediment, with the greatest rate of change in communities occurring when fine sediment cover was low (below 25% of the reach). Communities in the UK displayed greater tolerance with most compositional change occurring between 30-60% cover. In both New Zealand and Brazil, which included the most heavily sedimented sampled streams, the communities were more tolerant or demonstrated ambiguous responses, likely due to historic environmental filtering of invertebrate communities. We conclude that ecological responses to fine sediment are not generalisable globally and are dependent on landscape filters with regional context and historic land management playing important roles

Towards a simple global-standard bioassay for a key ecosystem process: organic-matter decomposition using cotton strips

Cotton-strip bioassays are increasingly used to assess ecosystem integrity because they provide a standardized measure of organic-matter decomposition – a fundamental ecosystem process. However, several different cotton- strip assays are routinely used, complicating the interpretation of results across studies, and hindering broader synthesis. Here, we compare the decay rates and assemblages of bacteria and fungi colonizing the three most commonly used cotton materials: Artist’s canvas, Calico cloth, and Empa fabric. Cotton strips from each material type were incubated in 10 streams that span a wide range of physicochemical properties across five ecoregions. Additionally, to evaluate responses to environmental stress without potentially confounding biogeographical effects, we deployed identical bioassays in five streams across an acidification gradient within a single ecoregion. Across all streams decomposition rates (as tensile strength loss [TSL]) differed among the three cotton ma- terials; Calico cloth decomposed fastest (time to 50% TSL [T50]=16.7d), followed by the Empa fabric (T50 = 18.3 d) and then Artist’s canvas (T50 = 21.4 d). Despite these differences, rates of TSL of the three cotton materials responded consistently to variation in environmental conditions; TSL of each fabric increased with stream temperature, dissolved-nutrient concentrations and acid-neutralizing capacity, although Artist’s canvas and Calico cloth were more sensitive than Empa fabric. Microbial communities were similar among the mate- rials, and values of community structure (e.g., phylotype richness and diversity) were comparable to those reported for decaying leaves in streams from the same region, the major natural basal carbon resource in forested-stream ecosystems. We present linear calibrations among pairs of assays so that past and future studies can be expressed in a “common currency” (e.g., Artist’s-fabric equivalents) ‘past and future studies’ repeated two times in the sentence. Lastly, given its relatively low within-site variability, and the large number of streams where it has been used (> 700 across the globe), we recommend Artist’s fabric for future work. These results show that cotton provides an effective and realistic standardized substrate for studying heterotrophic microbial assemblages, and acts as a reasonable proxy for more chemically complex forms of detritus. These findings add to growing evidence that cotton-strip bioassays are simple, effective and easily standardized indicators of het- erotrophic microbial activity and the ecosystem processes that result