An der Schnittstelle von Literatur und Medizin : ein Lexikon, das zum Schmökern verleitet

Rezension zu: Bettina von Jagow und Florian Steger (Hrsg.) : Literatur und Medizin : ein Lexikon. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen 2005. 498 S. 59 Euro

Economic Effects of Renewable Energy Expansion: A Model-Based Analysis for Germany

Increasing utilization of renewable energy sources (RES) is a priority worldwide. Germany has been a forerunner in the deployment of RES and has ambitious goals for the future. The support and use of renewables affects the economy: It creates business opportunities in sectors producing renewable energy facilities, but also comes along with costs for supporting the deployment of renewables. This paper analyses and quantifies the net balance of economic effects associated with renewable energy deployment in Germany until 2030. To this end, we use a novel model, the 'Sectoral Energy-Economic Econometric Model' (SEEEM). SEEEM is an econometric multi-country model which, for Germany, contains a detailed representation of industries, including 14 renewable energy technology sectors. Our results show that renewable energy expansion can be achieved without compromising growth or employment. The analysis reveals a positive net effect on economic growth in Germany. Net employment effects are positive. Their size depends strongly on labour market conditions and policies. Results at the industry level indicate the size and direction of the need for restructuring across the sectors of the Germany economy.

Economic Opportunities and Structural Effects of Sustainable Energy Supply

Renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency are not only crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts of conventional energy supply; they also hold enormous economic opportunity. Significant and dynamically growing sectors have emerged in the area of renewable energy over the last several years. In 2010, 26.6 billion euros were invested in Germany alone in renewable energy facilities. Altogether, renewable energy sources created 35.5 billion euros in demand for the German economy. Gross employment in the area of renewable energy is estimated at 367,400 persons for 2010. Likewise, the net economic balance for the expansion of renewables is positive. Model calculations conducted by DIW Berlin show that the gross domestic product is by 2.9 percent higher in 2030 in the "Expansion Scenario" than following a "Null Scenario" with no expansion. Depending on the labor market conditions, the net employment effects appear to be weak to moderate, but in any case positive. These scenario calculations also illustrate that the impact of the expansion differs across sectors. Furthermore, the transition from the current energy supply regime to one where renewable energy sources contribute a large share and energy efficiency has been substantially increased will require a structural change in business and the working world that will have to be followed closely in the future.Renewable energy, economic impacts, structural change, Germany

Causes of brain dysfunction in acute coma: a cohort study of 1027 patients in the emergency department

BACKGROUND: Coma of unknown etiology (CUE) is a major challenge in emergency medicine. CUE is caused by a wide variety of pathologies that require immediate and targeted treatment. However, there is little empirical data guiding rational and efficient management of CUE. We present a detailed investigation on the causes of CUE in patients presenting to the ED of a university hospital. METHODS: One thousand twenty-seven consecutive ED patients with CUE were enrolled. Applying a retrospective observational study design, we analyzed all clinical, laboratory and imaging findings resulting from a standardized emergency work-up of each patient. Following a predefined protocol, we identified main and accessory coma-explaining pathologies and related these with (i.a.) GCS and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: On admission, 854 of the 1027 patients presented with persistent CUE. Their main diagnoses were classified into acute primary brain lesions (39%), primary brain pathologies without acute lesions (25%) and pathologies that affected the brain secondarily (36%). In-hospital mortality associated with persistent CUE amounted to 25%. 33% of patients with persistent CUE presented with more than one coma-explaining pathology. In 173 of the 1027 patients, CUE had already resolved on admission. However, these patients showed a spectrum of main diagnoses similar to persistent CUE and a significant in-hospital mortality of 5%. CONCLUSION: The data from our cohort show that the spectrum of conditions underlying CUE is broad and may include a surprisingly high number of coincidences of multiple coma-explaining pathologies. This finding has not been reported so far. Thus, significant pathologies may be masked by initial findings and only appear at the end of the diagnostic work-up. Furthermore, even transient CUE showed a significant mortality, thus rendering GCS cutoffs for selection of high- and low-risk patients questionable. Taken together, our data advocate for a standardized diagnostic work-up that should be triggered by the emergency symptom CUE and not by any suspected diagnosis. This standardized routine should always be completed - even when initial coma-explaining diagnoses may seem evident

External quality assessment of molecular biology-based methods used in laboratories of clinical chemistry and human genetics

The Reference Institute of Bioanalysis of the German Society of Clinical Chemistry has performed the first external assessment of molecular genetics methods used in medical diagnosis. The following procedures were tested: (I) DNA preparation from whole blood, (II) PCR amplification using "standard" primers, and (III) submarine agarose gel electrophoresis. Out of 50 participants, 45 returned samples for evaluation

Windscreen Optical Quality for AI Algorithms: Refractive Power and MTF not Sufficient

Windscreen optical quality is an important aspect of any advanced driver assistance system, and also for future autonomous driving, as today at least some cameras of the sensor suite are situated behind the windscreen. Automotive mass production processes require measurement systems that characterize the optical quality of the windscreens in a meaningful way, which for modern perception stacks implies meaningful for artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. The measured optical quality needs to be linked to the performance of these algorithms, such that performance limits - and thus production tolerance limits - can be defined. In this article we demonstrate that the main metric established in the industry - refractive power - is fundamentally not capable of capturing relevant optical properties of windscreens. Further, as the industry is moving towards the modulation transfer function (MTF) as an alternative, we mathematically show that this metric cannot be used on windscreens alone, but that the windscreen forms a novel optical system together with the optics of the camera system. Hence, the required goal of a qualification system that is installed at the windscreen supplier and independently measures the optical quality cannot be achieved using MTF. We propose a novel concept to determine the optical quality of windscreens and to use simulation to link this optical quality to the performance of AI algorithms, which can hopefully lead to novel inspection systems

Using multi-objective optimisation to integrate alpine regions in groundwater flow models

International audienceWithin the research project GLOWA Danube, a groundwater flow model was developed for the Upper Danube basin. This paper reports on a preliminary study to include the alpine part of the catchment in the model. A conceptual model structure was implemented and tested using multi-objective optimisation analysis. The performance of the model and the identifiability of the parameters were studied. A possible over-parameterisation of the model was also tested using principal component analysis

Ultrafast photocurrents at the surface of the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Se}_3

Topological insulators constitute a new and fascinating class of matter with insulating bulk yet metallic surfaces that host highly mobile charge carriers with spin-momentum locking. Remarkably, the direction and magnitude of surface currents can be controlled with tailored light beams, but the underlying mechanisms are not yet well understood. To directly resolve the "birth" of such photocurrents we need to boost the time resolution to the scale of elementary scattering events ($\sim$ 10 fs). Here, we excite and measure photocurrents in the three-dimensional model topological insulator $\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Se}_3$ with a time resolution as short as 20 fs by sampling the concomitantly emitted broadband THz electromagnetic field from 1 to 40 THz. Remarkably, the ultrafast surface current response is dominated by a charge transfer along the Se-Bi bonds. In contrast, photon-helicity-dependent photocurrents are found to have orders of magnitude smaller magnitude than expected from generation scenarios based on asymmetric depopulation of the Dirac cone. Our findings are also of direct relevance for optoelectronic devices based on topological-insulator surface currents