Functionalization and Subsequent Chemical Reactions of Polypnictogen Ligand Complexes

In summary, this dissertation deals with the synthesis and functionalization of polypnictogen ligand complexes. Besides the successful realization of the latter with organic nucleophiles and electrophiles, a conceptually new way for the preparation of phosphines could be found. For the first time, a functionalized phosphorus atom could be removed from the coordination sphere of a transition metal. This finding was transferred to other substituents and the versatility of this method was demonstrated

Exploring the role of ICT on household behavioural energy efficiency to mitigate global warming

With the advent of ICT in the energy system, new possibilities to inform and influence residential electricity consumption become available. We explore the potential of ICT-based interventions in households to decrease electricity usage, improve energy efficiency and thus contribute to reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from this sector. Based on a literature review on the subject, we suggest that ICT can affect some of the main behaviour-influencing factors, and discuss the causal avenues by which these effects can take hold. Our review finds that ICT-based effects on consumer behaviour can reduce household final electricity consumption by 0–5%. These and other findings from the literature are used to define parameter values, which reflect the efficacy of ICT at changing household energy usage patterns, and ultimately decreasing GHG emissions from the electricity sector. A quantitative analysis of the potential for ICT to contribute to reaching the 1.5 °C target in the context of the European Union (EU) energy sector is performed. It is found that ICT-based interventions in household energy use could contribute between 0.23% and 3.3% of the EU CO2e reduction target from the energy sector that would keep warming under 1.5 °C, corresponding to 4.5–64.7 mio. tCO2e abated per year.The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the PEAKapp project, grant agreement No. 695945 (http://www.peakapp.eu/)

Resting-state functional connectivity predicting clinical improvement following treatment in female adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury.

BACKGROUND Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent among adolescents and predicts future psychopathology including suicide. To improve therapeutic decisions and clinical outcome of patients engaging in NSSI, it seems beneficial to determine neurobiological markers associated with treatment response. The present study investigated whether resting-state functional brain connectivity (RSFC) served to predict clinical improvements following treatment in adolescents engaging in NSSI. METHODS N = 27 female adolescents with NSSI took part in a baseline MRI exam and clinical outcome was assessed at follow-ups one, two and three years after baseline. During the follow-up period, patients received in- and/or outpatient treatment. Mixed-effects linear regression models were calculated to examine whether RSFC was associated with clinical improvement. RESULTS Patients' clinical outcome improved across time. Lower baseline RSFC between left paracentral gyrus and right anterior cingulate gyrus was associated with clinical improvement from baseline to one-year and from two-year to three-year follow-up. Lower and higher baseline RSFC in several inter- and intrahemispheric cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical connections of interest were associated with clinical symptomatology and its severity, independent from time. LIMITATIONS A relatively small sample size constrains the generalizability of our findings. Further, no control group not receiving treatment was recruited, therefore clinical changes across time cannot solely be attributed to treatment. CONCLUSIONS While there was some evidence that RSFC was associated with clinical improvement following treatment, our findings suggest that functional connectivity is more predictive of severity of psychopathology and global functioning independent of time and treatment. We thereby add to the limited research on neurobiological markers as predictors of clinical outcome after treatment

Analyzing the energy system impacts of price-induced demand-side-flexibility with empirical data

Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding for this research from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the PEAKapp project, Grant agreement #695945 (http://www.peakapp.eu/). The authors also gratefully acknowledge fruitful discussions with Geraldine Henningsen and Jon-Gustav Kirkerud in the early stages of this research. For support with the literature review and preparing figures, the authors also ackowledge the support of Tabea Louisa Jaenicke, KonstantinosPaidis and Matteo Carnazzola. The usual disclaimer applies.Peer reviewedPostprin

A Censored Random Coefficients Model for the Detection of Zero Willingness to Pay

In this paper we address the problem of negative estimates of willingness to pay. We find that there exist a number of goods and services, especially in the fields of marketing and environmental valuation, for which only zero or positive WTP is meaningful. For the valuation of these goods an econometric model for the analysis of repeated dichotomous choice data is proposed. Our model restricts the domain of the estimates of WTP to strictly positive values, while also allowing for the detection of zero WTP. The model is tested on a simulated and a real data set

The baseline in bottom-up energy efficiency and saving calculations - A concept for its formalisation and a discussion of relevant options

One of the central variables in bottom-up energy efficiency and saving calculations is the energy consumption baseline. In the evaluation of energy efficiency measures, developing this baseline is a challenging task, which may involve serious problems, especially if the energy service of the analysed subject has changed while the energy efficiency measure was being implemented. In this paper we present a formalised concept of the process of developing the baseline that is flexible enough to deal with various difficulties, such as changes in the levels of the energy services involved. We also discuss the most relevant options for deriving the necessary variables.Energy efficiency measure Baseline energy consumption Quantification of energy savings

Who Is Willing to Pay for the Environment in the EU - an Empirical Analysis

With the ratification of the Kyoto protocol and the installation of the European Emission Trading Scheme, the European Union’s governments showed a basic willingness to commit themselves to environmentally friendly policies. But today, the success of these commitments is questionable: all of the EU-27 countries ratified the Kyoto protocol, but only 16 countries have reduced their CO2 emissions, none of them substantially. In our paper we take a look at the question which individual characteristics determine whether a citizen of the European Union is willing to pay for environmental protection: with voters unwilling to accept a more stringent environment policy, political strategies are probably doomed. We aim to identify which individual characteristics form environmental policy attitudes and use data gathered in the European Value Survey in 2008 to empirically test our findings. Knowing voters’ motivation provides valuable insights into how to establish a more efficient environmental policy

The value of supply security: The costs of power outages to Austrian households, firms and the public sector.” Energy Economics 36

This paper presents a model for assessing economic losses caused by electricity cuts as well as Willingness-to-Pay to avoid these power outages as an approximation to the value of supply security. The economic effects for simulated power cuts from 1 to 48 h, which take the affected provinces, the day of the week and the time of day into consideration, can be calculated using the assessment tool APOSTEL. The costs due to power cuts are computed separately for all sectors of the economy and for households. The average value of lost load for Austrian households and non-household consumers in the case of a power cut of 1 h on a summer workday morning was calculated to be 17.1 € per kWh of electricity not supplied

Making the results of bottom-up energy savings comparable

The Energy Service Directive (ESD) has pushed forward the issue of energy savings calculations without clarifying the methodological basis. Savings achieved in the Member States are calculated with rather non-transparent and hardly comparable Bottom-up (BU) methods. This paper develops the idea of parallel evaluation tracks separating the Member States’ issue of ESD verification and comparable savings calculations. Comparability is ensured by developing a standardised BU calculation kernel for different energy efficiency improvement (EEI) actions which simultaneously depicts the different calculation options in a structured way (e.g. baseline definition, system boundaries, double counting). Due to the heterogeneity of BU calculations the approach requires a central database where Member States feed in input data on BU actions according to a predefined structure. The paper demonstrates the proposed approach including a concrete example of application