Testing a new intervention to enhance road safety

By 2020, it is estimated that road accidents will have moved from ninth to third in the worldwide ranking of burden of disease, as assessed in the disability adjusted life years (DALY)^1,2^. Therefore, it is vital to find effective methods to enhance road safety. Speed limits and traffic calming have the potential to reduce injuries due to road accidents^3,4^. Many drivers, however, do not adhere to speed limits^1-7^. Several studies have shown that adherence to speed limits can be explained by the theory of planned behaviour ^5-7^ and that it is possible to focus on drivers' intentions via self-report questionnaires. It is often difficult, however, to reach the majority of drivers on accident-prone locations with self-report questionnaires. This paper demonstrates an intervention that can be interpreted in the light of two of the theory's key variables^8^. It also has the potential to reach a large number of drivers on such locations. It is a speed-displaying device mounted next to the road (especially in villages). It tells drivers their actual speed (which is publicly visible). The measurement takes place continuously, giving the driver the chance to adjust speed and see the new speed shortly thereafter. The results show that the feedback about the current speed is associated with a significant speed reduction relative to a Control condition

Privatization in Eastern Germany: A Comprehensive Study

One of the greater problems arising from the reunification of Germany has been the privatization of land in eastern Germany. Initially, the principle that shaped the privatization policies was restitution, the idea that land unlawfully taken by the former East German government should be returned to its rightful owner. A second goal of the privatization program was to stimulate investment in the economy of eastern Germany. These two goals, however, have conflicted. The result has been a policy that has created confusion with regard to the ownership of property and clear title. This Article examines two series of amendments, in 1991 and 1992, that attempted to facilitate investment in eastern Germany. Despite amendments to the major privatization laws in 1991, the investment in eastern Germany has remained anemic. The 1992 amendments expressly placed the goal of investment before restitution. However, the author concludes that the 1992 amendments have been helpful in only a limited number of cases. The absence of a clear mechanism for compensation of rightful owners continues to impede investment. Legislation proposing such a mechanism has yet to be adopted; more importantly, the legislation may not pass constitutional muster. Accordingly, the author concludes that Germany should employ other short-term remedies until it drafts a constitutionally sound law

Galactic and Extragalactic Magnetic Fields

The strength of the total magnetic field in our Milky Way from radio Zeeman and synchrotron measurements is about 6 muG near the Sun and several mG in dense clouds, pulsar wind nebulae, and filaments near the Galactic Center. Diffuse polarized radio emission and Faraday rotation of the polarized emission from pulsars and background sources show many small-scale magnetic features, but the overall field structure in our Galaxy is still under debate. -- Radio synchrotron observations of nearby galaxies reveal dynamically important magnetic fields of 10-30 muG total strength in the spiral arms. Fields with random orientations are concentrated in spiral arms, while ordered fields (observed in radio polarization) are strongest in interarm regions and follow the orientation of the adjacent gas spiral arms. Faraday rotation of the diffuse polarized radio emission from the disks of spiral galaxies sometimes reveals large-scale patterns which are signatures of coherent fields generated by dynamos, but in most galaxies the field structure is more complicated. -- Strong magnetic fields are also observed in radio halos around edge-on galaxies, out to large distances from the plane. The synchrotron scaleheight of radio halos allows to measure the mean outflow velocity of the cosmic-ray electrons. The ordered halo fields mostly form an X-shaped pattern, but no large-scale pattern is seen in the Faraday rotation data. Diffuse polarized radio emission in the outer disks and halos is an excellent tracer of galaxy interactions and ram pressure by the intergalactic medium. -- Intracluster gas can also be significantly magnetized and highly polarized due to shocks or cluster mergers.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. To be published in "High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy", eds. F.A. Aharonian, W. Hofmann, and F.M. Rieger, AIP Conf. Proc. Updated and added references 28/11/2008; typo corrected and references updated 07/01/2009; typos corrected 12/01/200

Innovative Klimafolgenanpassung als Chance für die mittelständische Wirtschaft

Mit seinen Herausforderungen in den Bereichen Klimaschutz und Klimafolgenanpassung ist der Klimawandel in den vergangenen Jahren weltweit immer mehr in den Fokus von Wissenschaft, Politik und Öffentlichkeit gerückt. Die bisherigen Arbeiten und Diskussionen haben zu zahlreichen Ergebnissen geführt, die von der Abschätzung von Klimafolgen für einzelne Regionen bis hin zum Aufzeigen von geeigneten Anpassungsstrategien in den unterschiedlichen Anpassungsbereichen reichen. Zahlreiche Umsetzungsmaßnahmen auf Bundes- und Landesebene sind auf den Weg gebracht worden, um Regionen bei der Bewältigung dieser Prozesse zu unterstützen. Was in der Forschung und in der umsetzungsorientierten Praxis bisher weitgehend unberücksichtigt geblieben ist, ist die Frage nach der Umsetzung der Anpassungsstrategien und -maßnahmen, die letztlich nur durch das Hervorbringen innovativer Leistungsangebote durch Unternehmen erfolgen kann. Damit ist auch eine gewisse Perspektiverweiterung verbunden, weg von der Betroffenheit einzelner Anpassungsbereiche hin zu der Frage, wie kleine und mittlere Unternehmen am Prozess der Klimafolgenanpassung partizipieren können, indem sie mit innovativen Leistungsangeboten Zukunftsmärkte und Geschäftsfelder entwickeln.Climate change with its challenges in the fields of protection and adaption has more and more become in the focus of science, policy and public during the last year´s world wide. Discussions and investigations up to now led to numerous results reaching from the assessment of climate impacts for single regions up to the showing of suitable adaption strategies in different adoption fields. Numerous implementation measures have been started in order to support regions in facing the processes of climate change. However, broadly unconsidered has been the question of transferring adoption strategies and measures in to innovative supplies by firms. With this to some extent a change in perspective is connected, away from concernment of different adoption fields towards to the question how small and medium sized firms can participate in the process of climate adaption developing innovative products and processes and herewith new markets and business segments

Automatic text recognition in digital videos

We have developed algorithms for automatic character segmentation in motion pictures which extract automatically and reliably the text in pre-title sequences, credit titles, and closing sequences with title and credits. The algorithms we propose make use of typical characteristics of text in videos in order to enhance segmentation and, consequently, recognition performance. As a result, we get segmented characters from video pictures. These can be parsed by any OCR software. The recognition results of multiple instances of the same character throughout subsequent frames are combined to enhance recognition result and to compute the final output. We have tested our segmentation algorithms in a series of experiments with video clips recorded from television and achieved good segmentation results

Rotordynamics, Design Aspects, Field and Operational Experiences of a Novel, Large Compressor String Supported by Active Magnetic Bearings

LecturesThe giant Groningen onshore gas field in the Northeastern Netherlands started production in 1963. About 35 years later, the decreasing reservoir pressure required a first stage of compression to provide sufficient capacity at the required 65 bar (940 psi) grid pressure. Now, a first pilot plant for a second stage of compression is installed in the accelerated cluster Schaapbulten (SCB) and started production end of 2013. The novel compression string installed consists of a 23- MW synchronous, high-speed motor in a double-end-drive configuration, driving two gearless driven 7- and 8-stage compressors. The approximate 16m (52ft) long train, with about 14mm (0,55inch) axial thermal elongation, is supported by six radial active magnetic bearings (AMBs) and two axial AMBs at the train’s non-driven ends. This contribution deals with the axial, radial and torsional rotordynamics of the AMB-supported string focusing on the two compressors, as well as with string design aspects and latest field / operational experiences. The design aspects touch points like the trade-off in the coupling selection process and resonance frequency optimizations. Field experiences concerning experimental torsional string analysis and run-out effects in combination with the closed loop AMB controller design are presented. Derived and presented improvements hav

Large-scale transformation of socio-economic institutions - comparative case studies on CEECs: interim report

The general idea is to follow the Varieties-of-Capitalism literature on generating indicators on the economic systems actually implemented. However, this literature mostly concentrates on the enterprise (or micro) level in traditional OECD countries, categorizing countries between the extremes: liberal market economies and controlled market economies. It largely neglects the role of the government spending, the transition of former socialist countries and developing countries, and the political process behind the choice of an economic system. We broaden the perspective by combining the Varieties-of-Capitalism with the Worlds-of-Welfare-States literature in order to provide a comprehensive view on government activities in transition. With the perspective of our contribution to WWWforEurope, we concentrate especially on social welfare, innovation systems, macro stability, and, of course, how these aspects work together (or not) and are explained by the political background. We will a cluster analysis for OECD and European transition countries and comparative country studies on Slovakia and Hungary. These countries are of special relevance because they represent extreme cases (Slovakia: significant switch in transition path towards star performer, Hungary: muddling towards problem case). One part of the comparative work concentrates on the comparison of Slovakia with other new EU members that also face to challenge of state building after dissolution of one or the other sort (Czech Rep. and the Baltics). The other part of the comparative work concentrates on Hungary in comparison with the other EU-CEECs. A broad based comparison will most likely be possible on available data only. The possibility for deeper qualitative comparisons will have to be determined during the project. The comparative components will focus on the macroeconomic background (Slovakia) and the welfare state (Hungary) respectively. Cluster analysis (initially forseen for MS25) and comparative country studies allows us to draw conclusions for the EU by providing a first comparison of the position of CEECs with respect to the “old” EU members, most interestingly the southern crisis countries that are often categorized into a form called mixed market economies with sometimes contradicting institutional set ups. Do CEECs converge towards prototype models or do they (still) constitute own models