Weine aus der Neuen Welt in den Regalen der Alten Welt

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Fish in the city

Aquaculture is the most recent addition to animal husbandry and it is the fastest growing food production industry. Its contribution to world food security in the 21st century is already significant and it is bound to continue to grow because demand for fish for human consumption is rapidly increasing whereas fish supplies from ocean fisheries are likely to decline. The rapid evolution of aquaculture involved a host of innovations of which many were based on R&D activities by public and private research organizations. Applied R&D tends to be the more effective the better focused it is on specific research problems or opportunities. Among the many possible aquaculture production systems on which aquaculture R&D might focus are recirculation aquaculture systems and in this paper we explore crucial aspects of the potential of urban recirculation aquaculture. Our exploration begins with a vision of recirculation aquaculture production plants located at the fringes of cities of converging economies. Such production systems are distinctly different from conventional urban aquaculture systems based on urban sewage. We scrutinize our vision from four perspectives: (i) the expected demand for aquaculture fish from urban consumers; (ii) cost competitiveness of fish produced at the fringes of cities as compared to fish produced in the rural hinterland; (iii) the potential for integration of urban recirculation aquaculture production into the modern food supply chains that are now emerging in converging economies, and (iv) the ecological footprint of aquaculture production compared to that of chicken production. Based on trends in the growth of urban populations world-wide and trends in demand for fish for food we estimate a total urban demand for aquaculture finfish between 11 and 51 million tons in 2025. We use von Thünen's location theory to provide support for the vision to locate recirculation aquaculture plants not within cities and not in their rural hinterland but on the fringes of cities. Moreover, we argue that tightly controlled recirculation aquaculture production would seem to be particularly well suited for being integrated into modern food supply chains. Finally, we compare the ecological footprint of recirculation aquaculture fish with that of industrially produced chicken and we find that the ecological balance depends on the source of energy used. We conclude our exploratory study with some thoughts on the implication for aquaculture R&D of the potential for recirculation aquaculture located on the fringes of cities in emerging economy countries. --

Ernährungsinformation im Internet: Technologien, Geschäftsmodelle und Inhalte

Für die Einschätzung der Auswirkungen der Web-2.0-Technologien, insbesondere von Blogs und von Wikis, sind vor allem die folgenden Überlegungen wichtig: (1) Das Web 2.0 ist ein Bündel von Medien, die, wie andere innovative Internetanwendungen zuvor, etablierte Medien nicht verdrängen werden; sie werden zu einem Teil der immer zahlreicher werdenden Medien-Optionen, aus denen Anbieter und Nachfrager von Ernährungsinformationen sich ein Medien-Mix zusammenstellen können, das ihren speziellen Bedürfnissen entspricht. (2) Web-2.0-Medien sind partizipativ, aggregativ und egalitär; die Informations-dominanz von großen Unternehmen, Organisationen und Behörden gegenüber Einzelpersonen und kleinen Organisationen als Informationsanbieter wird durch Blogs und Wikis geschmälert. (3) Spezielle Informationsbedürfnisse lassen sich wegen des verminderten Aufwands der Informationsbereitstellung durch Blogs und Wikis leichter bedienen als durch konventionelle Web-Medien. (4) Web-Medien begünstigen die Polarisierung von Meinungen und die Ent-stehung von Informationskaskaden, dies gilt auch für Blogs und, vermutlich in geringerem Ausmaß, für Wikis; die Diskurskultur wird dadurch nicht verbessert. (5) Blogs und Wikis eignen sich, wie alle Medien, für Propaganda und Fehlinformation; das Instrumentarium des unlauteren Informationswettbewerbs wird vergrößert und Maßnahmen zur Abwehr unlauterer Informationsangriffe sind erforderlich. Für Unternehmen und Organisationen der Ernährungswirtschaft ist jetzt die Zeit gekommen, sich aufs Web 2.0 einzurichten. --

Weine aus der Neuen Welt in den Regalen der Alten Welt

Die Globalisierung der Märkte ist oft zum Vorteil der Verbraucher, weil sie die Vielfalt des Angebots an Gütern des Alltags vergrößert. Das Angebot an Wein ist hierfür ein anschauliches Beispiel. Beim Wein ist das Angebot durch die Globalisierung vielfältiger geworden, weil einige Länder, die zusammengenommen als "Neue Welt" bezeichnet werden, zielstrebig eine export- und absatz-orientierte Produktions- und Marketing-Strategie verfolgen (Anderson 2000; Hoffmann 2005). Die bedeutendsten Länder und Regionen dieser Gruppe sind, gemessen am Volumen ihrer Weinexporte, Australien, Chile, Kalifornien, Südafrika und Argentinien. Weniger bedeutende Anbieter aus der Neuen Welt sind Brasilien und Neuseeland. Diese Länder produzieren aufgrund unterschiedlicher natürlicher Standortfaktoren, verschiedener Betriebsgrößenstrukturen ihrer Kellereien und zum Teil auch aufgrund unterschiedlicher WeinmarIctregularien eine beachtliche Vielfalt von Weinen. Darüber hinaus ist es den Oenologen aus der Neuen Welt gelungen Weine zu produzieren, die auch Weintrinkern schmecken, die ihre Fähigkeit Wein zu genießen nicht über eine lange Zeit entwickelt haben. Die Weine der Neuen Welt sind auch auf dem Weinmarkt in Deutschland erfolgreich (Hoffmann 2005). Dieser Erfolg lässt sich im wesentlichen mit zwei Größen kennzeichnen. Ein Maß des Markterfolgs von Wein aus diesen Ländern ist deren Marktabsatz, gemessen entweder in Volumen- oder in Werteinheiten. Ein anderes Maß ist die Präsenz dieser Weine am Ort des Verkaufs an die Verbraucher, sei es das Ladengeschäft, der Katalog oder die Website eines Verkäufers. üblicherweise wird der Markterfolg der Neue Welt Weine mit dem Marktabsatz gemessen und Daten über die Präsenz dieser Weine sind nicht verfügbar. Deshalb haben wir in dieser Untersuchung versucht die Präsenz der Neuen Welt Weine am Ort des Verkaufs zu messen und dieses Maß des Erfolgs mit den Absatzmassen des Erfolgs zu vergleichen. Diese Studie umfasst fünf Teile. Nach der Einleitung stellen wir kurz die Neue Welt Weinländer vor. Danach stellen wir im Abschnitt 3 den Erfolg der Neue Welt Weine anhand ihrer Absatzentwicklung dar. Dieser Abschnitt ist kurz, da Hoffmann (2005) den Absatzerfolg der Weine aus der Neuen Welt schon recht ausgiebig dargestellt und analysiert hat. Im Abschnitt 4 erläutern wir, wie wir die Präsenz der Neuen Welt Weine am Ort des Weinverkaufs gemessen haben und wir berichten in diesem Abschnitt unsere Ergebnisse. Im Kapitel 5 fassen wir unsere Erkenntnisse aus dieser Studie zusammen. Der Anhang enthält Detailergebnisse der Präsenzmessung.The globalization of markets is often to the advantage of consumers because it increases the variety of everyday goods on offer. The supply of wine is a vivid example of this. In the case of wine, globalization has made the supply more diverse because some countries, collectively referred to as the "New World," are single-mindedly pursuing an export- and sales-oriented production and marketing strategy (Anderson 2000; Hoffmann 2005). The most significant countries and regions in this group, based on the volume of their wine exports, are Australia, Chile, California, South Africa, and Argentina. Less significant New World suppliers are Brazil and New Zealand. These countries produce a considerable variety of wines due to different natural location factors, different farm size structures of their wineries and, in some cases, different wine marIct regulations. In addition, New World oenologists have succeeded in producing wines that are palatable to wine drinkers who have not developed their ability to enjoy wine over a long period of time. New World wines are also successful on the wine market in Germany (Hoffmann 2005). This success can essentially be characterized by two variables. One measure of the market success of wine from these countries is their market sales, measured either in volume or value units. Another measure is the presence of these wines at the point of sale to consumers, be it the retail store, catalog, or a seller's website.Typically, the market success of New World wines is measured by market sales, and data on the presence of these wines are not available. Therefore, in this study, we sought to measure the presence of New World wines at the point of sale and compare this measure of success to the sales measures of success. There are five parts to this study. After the introduction, we briefly introduce the New World wine countries. Then, in Section 3, we present the success of New World wines based on their sales trends. This section is brief because Hoffmann (2005) has already presented and analyzed the sales success of New World wines quite extensively. In Section 4, we explain how we measured the presence of New World wines at the point of sale, and we report our findings in this section. In Section 5, we summarize our findings from this study. The appendix contains detailed results of the presence measurement

Magnetoresistance of a two-dimensional electron gas with spatially periodic lateral modulations: Exact consequences of Boltzmann's equation

On the basis of Boltzmann's equation, and including anisotropic scattering in the collision operator, we investigate the effect of one-dimensional superlattices on two-dimensional electron systems. In addition to superlattices defined by static electric and magnetic fields, we consider mobility superlattices describing a spatially modulated density of scattering centers. We prove that magnetic and electric superlattices in $x$-direction affect only the resistivity component $\rho_{xx}$ if the mobility is homogeneous, whereas a mobility lattice in $x$-direction in the absence of electric and magnetic modulations affects only $\rho_{yy}$. Solving Boltzmann's equation numerically, we calculate the positive magnetoresistance in weak magnetic fields and the Weiss oscillations in stronger fields within a unified approach.Comment: submitted to PR

The Great Slump : Mrk 926 reveals discrete and varying Balmer line satellite components during a drastic phase of decline

This work has been supported by the DFG grants KO857/35-1 and CH71/34-3. K. H. acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/M001296/1. D. C. acknowledges support from ISF grant 2398/19.Aims. Mrk 926 is known to be a highly variable active galactic nucleus. Furthermore, it is known to show very broad line profiles. We intended to study the continuum and line profile variations of this object with high temporal resolution in order to determine its broad-line region structure and to derive its black hole mass. Methods. We carried out a high-cadence spectroscopic variability campaign of Mrk 926 with the 10m HET telescope, aided by photometric V-band data taken with the C18 telescope at the Wise Observatory, over a period of about five months. We extracted spectroscopic continuum and line light curves, and computed cross-correlation functions (CCFs) as well as velocity-resolved CCFs with respect to the combined spectroscopic and photometric V-band light curve. Results. The continuum luminosity of Mrk 926 showed a drastic decrease during our campaign. The luminosity dropped to less than 50% of its original luminosity within only 2.5 months. Furthermore, the spectra of Mrk 926 show complex and very broad Balmer line profiles, including outer Balmer satellites ranging from ±5000 to ±13 000 km s−1. The integrated Hα, Hβ, and He Iλ5876 line light curves are delayed relative to the continuum light curve. The Hα and Hβ lines show two velocity-delay structures in the central part of their line profile (within ±5000 km s−1), at ∼10 and ∼57 light-days and at ∼5 and ∼48 light-days, respectively. These structures might be interpreted as the upper and lower halves of an ellipse in the velocity-delay plane, which might be the signature of a line-emitting ring, inclined by ∼50° to the line of sight and orbiting the black hole at radii, R, of 33.5 and 26.5 light-days. We determined continuum luminosities, log(λ Lλ/erg s−1), of 43.68–44.13, which are in good agreement with the established RBLR − LAGN relation. Adopting delays of 33.5 and 26.5 days for Hα and Hβ, respectively, we derive a black hole mass of (1.1 ± 0.2)×108 M⊙; this indicates a low Eddington ratio, which decreased from 8 to 3 percent during our campaign. The Balmer satellite components show a higher correlation coefficient with respect to the continuum than the central line profile, and their response to the continuum variations is on the order of only 3 − 5 days. We attribute this to the central line segment and the Balmer satellites having different, spatially distinct regions of origin.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Intercomparison of stratospheric chemistry models under polar vortex conditions

Several stratospheric chemistry modules from box, 2-D or 3-D models, have been intercompared. The intercomparison was focused on the ozone loss and associated reactive species under the conditions found in the cold, wintertime Arctic and Antarctic vortices. Comparisons of both gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry modules show excellent agreement between the models under constrained conditions for photolysis and the microphysics of polar stratospheric clouds. While the mean integral ozone loss ranges from 4-80% for different 30-50 days long air parcel trajectories, the mean scatter of model results around these values is only about +/-1.5%. In a case study, where the models employed their standard photolysis and microphysical schemes, the variation around the mean percentage ozone loss increases to about +/-7%. This increased scatter of model results is mainly due to the different treatment of the PSC microphysics and heterogeneous chemistry in the models, whereby the most unrealistic assumptions about PSC processes consequently lead to the least representative ozone chemistry. Furthermore, for this case study the model results for the ozone mixing ratios at different altitudes were compared with a measured ozone profile to investigate the extent to which models reproduce the stratospheric ozone losses. It was found that mainly in the height range of strong ozone depletion all models underestimate the ozone loss by about a factor of two. This finding corroborates earlier studies and implies a general deficiency in our understanding of the stratospheric ozone loss chemistry rather than a specific problem related to a particular model simulation

Baroreflex Activation Therapy for the Treatment of Heart Failure With a Reduced Ejection Fraction

AbstractObjectivesThe objective of this clinical trial was to assess the safety and efficacy of carotid BAT in advanced HF.BackgroundIncreased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activity contribute to heart failure (HF) symptoms and disease progression. Baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) results in centrally mediated reduction of sympathetic outflow and increased parasympathetic activity.MethodsPatients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III HF and ejection fractions ≤35% on chronic stable guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) were enrolled at 45 centers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. They were randomly assigned to receive ongoing GDMT alone (control group) or ongoing GDMT plus BAT (treatment group) for 6 months. The primary safety end point was system- and procedure-related major adverse neurological and cardiovascular events. The primary efficacy end points were changes in NYHA functional class, quality-of-life score, and 6-minute hall walk distance.ResultsOne hundred forty-six patients were randomized, 70 to control and 76 to treatment. The major adverse neurological and cardiovascular event–free rate was 97.2% (lower 95% confidence bound 91.4%). Patients assigned to BAT, compared with control group patients, experienced improvements in the distance walked in 6 min (59.6 ± 14 m vs. 1.5 ± 13.2 m; p = 0.004), quality-of-life score (–17.4 ± 2.8 points vs. 2.1 ± 3.1 points; p < 0.001), and NYHA functional class ranking (p = 0.002 for change in distribution). BAT significantly reduced N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide (p = 0.02) and was associated with a trend toward fewer days hospitalized for HF (p = 0.08).ConclusionsBAT is safe and improves functional status, quality of life, exercise capacity, N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide, and possibly the burden of heart failure hospitalizations in patients with GDMT-treated NYHA functional class III HF. (Barostim Neo System in the Treatment of Heart Failure; NCT01471860; Barostim HOPE4HF [Hope for Heart Failure] Study; NCT01720160

Autism as a disorder of neural information processing: directions for research and targets for therapy

The broad variation in phenotypes and severities within autism spectrum disorders suggests the involvement of multiple predisposing factors, interacting in complex ways with normal developmental courses and gradients. Identification of these factors, and the common developmental path into which theyfeed, is hampered bythe large degrees of convergence from causal factors to altered brain development, and divergence from abnormal brain development into altered cognition and behaviour. Genetic, neurochemical, neuroimaging and behavioural findings on autism, as well as studies of normal development and of genetic syndromes that share symptoms with autism, offer hypotheses as to the nature of causal factors and their possible effects on the structure and dynamics of neural systems. Such alterations in neural properties may in turn perturb activity-dependent development, giving rise to a complex behavioural syndrome many steps removed from the root causes. Animal models based on genetic, neurochemical, neurophysiological, and behavioural manipulations offer the possibility of exploring these developmental processes in detail, as do human studies addressing endophenotypes beyond the diagnosis itself