Analysis and interpretation of interdependencies between economic activities and freight transportation for selected European countries

The thesis contributes to the discussion about the coupling or decoupling of transport and economy. For this purpose, a methodology developed by Stephan Müller, Jens Klauenberg, and Axel Wolfermann from the Institute of Transport Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (51, 52) is taken up, developed, and applied in a broader European context. The methodology contributes to freight generation modelling as first step of the 4-step modelling approach, which comprises furthermore freight distribution, choice of mode, and assignment. In short, the methodology provides a way to build an economic indicator, which when used alongside the freight variable – transported tonnes or ton kilometres – allows for correlation analysis to be devised, through which relationships are established. The indicator, as well as the freight volume or transport performance, are considered on the level of commodities and are classified according to NST/R. This disaggregated approach is an important advance compared to aggregated models, wherein, for example, the gross domestic product alone is used to derive freight data as input for transport models. Consequently, the findings of this thesis serve as input data for freight generation models as well as a comparison for models that have their own freight generation modules. Furthermore, it represents quantitative evidences to the coupling/decoupling discussion and enables the projection of future transport volumes

Analysis and interpretation of interdependencies between economic activities and freight transportation for selected European countries

The thesis contributes to the discussion about the coupling or decoupling of transport and economy. For this purpose, a methodology developed by Stephan Müller, Jens Klauenberg, and Axel Wolfermann from the Institute of Transport Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (51, 52) is taken up, developed, and applied in a broader European context. The methodology contributes to freight generation modelling as first step of the 4-step modelling approach, which comprises furthermore freight distribution, choice of mode, and assignment. In short, the methodology provides a way to build an economic indicator, which when used alongside the freight variable – transported tonnes or ton kilometres – allows for correlation analysis to be devised, through which relationships are established. The indicator, as well as the freight volume or transport performance, are considered on the level of commodities and are classified according to NST/R. This disaggregated approach is an important advance compared to aggregated models, wherein, for example, the gross domestic product alone is used to derive freight data as input for transport models. Consequently, the findings of this thesis serve as input data for freight generation models as well as a comparison for models that have their own freight generation modules. Furthermore, it represents quantitative evidences to the coupling/decoupling discussion and enables the projection of future transport volumes

Verlauf von Plasma-Oxytocin in einem sozialen Ausschlussparadigma bei gesunden Probanden

Oxytocin (OT) spielt als Hormon und Neurotransmitter bei zahlreichen sozialen Interaktionen wie der Beziehung zwischen Mutter und Saeugling, elterlichem Fuersorgeverhalten, in Paarbeziehungen, dem sozialen Gedaechtnis sowie bei der Angst- und Stressregulation eine Rolle. Damit einhergehend hat es eine nicht zu vernachlaessigende Auswirkung auf die Regulation der psychischen Gesundheit. Bei einem gestoerten OT-Regelkreis kann die Entstehung von psychischen Erkrankungen wie Depressionen, Angsterkrankungen und der Borderline-Persoenlichkeitsstoerung beguenstigt sein. OT wird dabei als neurobiologischer Mediator frueher negativer Beziehungserfahrungen zu spaeteren psychischen Problemen diskutiert. Um eine Dysfunktion im OT-Regelkreis nachzuweisen, kann OT beim Menschen im Blut, Speichel, Liquor oder Urin nachgewiesen werden, wobei sich insbesondere die Analyse aus Blutplasma etabliert hat. Zum jetzigen Stand der Forschung herrscht allerdings noch kein Konsens ueber die geeignetste Analysemethode fuer Oxytocin aus dem menschlichen Plasma. Diese Arbeit untersucht daher, ob OT-Plasmawerte, die mit dem Enzyme-Linked-Immunosorbent-Assay (ELISA) ermittelt wurden, aequivalent zu den Messwerten der etablierten Methode Radioimmunoassay (RIA) sind. Dabei wurde der Vergleich von den OT-Baselinewerten durch den Vergleich von OT-Verlaufskurven im Rahmen einer sozialen Interaktion ergaenzt. Da OT nach heutigem Kenntnisstand insbesondere in sozialen Situationen ausgeschuettet wird, welche bindungsrelevant sind, wurde der Vergleich beider Messmethoden im Kontext einer modifizierten Version des sogennanten Cyberball-Paradigmas durchgefuehrt. Es handelt sich dabei um ein Computerspiel, in dem sozialer Ausschluss induziert wird. Die soziale Ausschlusssituation wurde aufgrund ihrer besonderen Relevanz fuer menschliches Bindungsverhalten sowie fuer klinisch-psychiatrische Kollektive gewaehlt. Die Proben stammen von 20 gesunden weiblichen Probandinnen im Alter zwischen 19 und 30 Jahren (M=24;10; SD=2;69). Die Studienergebnisse zeigen, dass die durch RIA und ELISA ermittelten Messwerte aufgrund unterschiedlicher Groessenordnungen der Werte nicht direkt miteinander vergleichbar sind. Bei Forschung an Oxytocin sind haeufig nicht die absoluten Werte relevant, sondern es werden stattdessen die relativen Veraenderungen ausgehend von einem Basiswert verglichen. Die Uebereinstimmung der beiden Messmethoden diesbezueglich wurde mittels des Konkordanz-Korrelationskoeffizienten sowie eines Bland-Altman-Plots untersucht. Hierbei zeigen sich unterschiedliche Aussagen ueber die relative Veraenderung von bis zu 400% des Basiswertes. Die durch den RIA ermittelten Werte stuetzen die Social Reconnection Hypothese, wonach es bei gesunden Probandinnen aufgrund der waehrend des Cyberball-Paradigmas gemachten Ostrazismuserfahrung zu einer Intensivierung von affiliativen Verhaltensweisen und damit einhergehend zu einer vermehrten OT-Ausschuettung kommt. Fuer die ELISA-Werte koennen hier keine statistisch signifikanten Veraenderungen beobachtet werden

Krise des ,Entwicklungsmodells' und Notwendigkeit einer alternativen Wirtschaftspolitik in Dänemark

Die Diskussion über alternative Wirtschaftspolitik in Dänemark ähnelt derjenigen in anderen Ländern. Sie ist allerdings von den strukturellen Besonderheiten der dänischen Gesellschaft geprägt: Das Wirtschaftswachstum der Nachkriegszeit wurde in Dänemark im Rahmen eines liberalen Wohlfahrtsstaates wesentlich von der Arbeiterbewegung administrativ gesteuert, so daß die gegenwärtige Krise weitgehend in Gestalt einer Krise des ,Modells' der Arbeiterbewegung für Umstrukturierung und Steuerung der Gesellschaft in Erscheinung tritt. Obwohl in anderen skandinavischen Ländern keine vergleichbare Autonomie der kapitalistischen Produktion besteht - aufgrund staatlicher Produktionstätigkeit und weitergehender staatlicher Eingriffe in einzelwirtschaftliche Entscheidungen-, kann man doch von einem skandinavischen ,Entwicklungsmodell' sprechen, für das eine besondere Ausprägung der Arbeitsteilung zwischen Staat, Kapital und Arbeiterbewegung kennzeichnend ist. Und auch wenn die gegenwärtigen Auseinandersetzungen in den verschiedenen Ländern unterschiedlich verlaufen und unterschiedliche Maßnahmen zur Krisenbewältigung ergriffen werden, gibt es doch so etwas wie eine gemeinsame Krise dieses sozialdemokratischen ,Entwicklungsmodells'. Unsere Analyse der dänischen Situation ist daher auch als Beitrag zu der Debatte relevant, die innerhalb der südeuropäischen Linken über das Problem eines ,dritten Weges' ausgetragen wird ( vgl. z. B. Ingrao 1978, Craxi 1978, Berlinguer 1978)

Conditioning exercises in ski jumping: biomechanical relationship of squat jumps, imitation jumps, and hill jumps

As hill jumps are very time-consuming, ski jumping athletes often perform various imitation jumps during training. The performed jumps should be similar to hill jumps, but a direct comparison of the kinetic and kinematic parameters has not been performed yet. Therefore, this study aimed to correlate 11 common parameters during hill jumps (Oberstdorf Germany), squat jumps (wearing indoor shoes), and various imitation jumps (rolling 4°, rolling flat, static; jumping equipment or indoor shoes) on a custom-built instrumented vehicle with a catch by the coach. During the performed jumps, force and video data of the take-off of 10 athletes were measured. The imitation and squat jumps were then ranked. The main difference between the hill jumps and the imitation and squat jumps is the higher maximal force loading rate during the hill jumps. Imitation jumps performed on a rolling platform, on flat ground were the most similar to hill jumps in terms of the force–time, and leg joint kinematic properties. Thus, non-hill jumps with a technical focus should be performed from a rolling platform with a flat inrun with normal indoor shoes or jumping equipment, and high normal force loading rates should be the main focus of imitation training

Feasibility and Limitations of High-Voltage Lithium-Iron-Manganese Spinels

Positive electrodes with high energy densities for Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) almost exclusively rely on toxic and costly transition metals. Iron based high voltage spinels can be feasible alternatives, but the phase stabilities and optimal chemistries for LIB applications are not fully understood yet. In this study, LiFe$_{x}$Mn$_{2-x}$O$_{4}$ spinels with x = 0.2 to 0.9 were synthesized by solid-state reaction at 800 °C. High-resolution diffraction methods reveal gradual increasing partial spinel inversion as a function of x and early secondary phase formation. Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to identify the Fe valences, spin states and coordination. The unexpected increasing lattice parameters with Fe substitution for Mn was explained considering the anion-cation average bond lengths determined by Rietveld analysis and Mn$^{3+}$ overstoichiometries revealed by cyclic voltammetry. Finally, galvanostatic cycling of Li-Fe-Mn-spinels shows that the capacity fading is correlated to increased cell polarization for higher upper charging cut-off voltage, Fe-content and C-rate. The electrolyte may also contribute significantly to the cycling limitations

Different expressions of AQP1, AQP4, eNOS, and VEGF proteins in ischemic versus non-ischemic cerebropathy in rats: potential roles of AQP1 and eNOS in hydrocephalic and vasogenic edema formation

In this study, expressions of aquaporin (AQP) 1, AQP4, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and vascular endothelial growth factor in blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier and blood-brain barrier (BBB) are examined in rat choroid plexus and peri-infarcted hippocampal formation (HF) following systemic hyponatremia (SH) and permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). These events are thought to cause the development of hydrocephalic and vasogenic edemas. The importance of CSF overproduction and intact blood-CSF barrier during hydrocephalic edema formation is demonstrated by the high expression of AQP1 (329.86±10.2%, n=4 , P<0.01) and trapped plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) in choroid plexus epithelium after 24 hours of SH. However, the increased eNOS expression in peri-infarcted HF (130±3%, n=4, P<0.01) and extravasation of plasma IgG into the extravascular compartment after 24 hours of pMCAO suggest that increased microvascular permeability, probably due to elevated levels of nitric oxide, leads to development of vasogenic brain edema via BBB breakdown. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that modulation of different protein expression, dependent on the type of brain edema, is required for primary (pMCAO) and secondary (SH) brain injuries to attenuate brain edema and neuronal degeneration

Perinatal preterm brain injury. Risk assessment, antenatal surveillance and managing

This work reports the results of two different lines of research: 1. On the employment of ultrasound in the management of fetuses with intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR); 2. On management of preterm birth for prevention of neurological impairment in high-risk pregnancies and low risk pregnancies. Pre-natal flow data and post-natal neurological outcome in IUGR fetuses have been evaluated. Doppler ultrasound in obstetrics has allowed the detection of the early signs of fetal demise, involving the management of pregnancies at risk of fetal hypoxia. The second line of research focuses on the need to identify strategies to predict preterm birth in asymptomatic low-risk women as well as in those presenting with threatened preterm labor (symptomatic high risk women) and underlines the importance to prevent brain injury and long-term neurological sequelae related to preterm deliveries. Neurological insults result in significant immediate and longterm physical, emotional, and financial costs. Advances in obstetrical and neonatal care have led to survival at earlier gestational ages and consequently increasing numbers of periviable infants who are at significant risk for long-term neurological deficits. Therefore, efforts to decrease and prevent cerebral insults attempt not only to improve neurological outcomes in infants delivered preterm but also primarily to decrease preterm delivery