Drei Fragen zum transformativen Potenzial der Digitalisierung: Wolf oder Wollmilchsau?

Die Digitalisierung der Wirtschaft ist in vollem Gange. Doch welche Rolle dieser Prozess für eine sozial-ökologische Gesellschaftstransformation spielt, ist noch unterbeleuchtet. Drei Fragen bringen Licht in das Dunkel

The induction effect: why the rebound effect is only half the story of technology's failure to achieve sustainability

The concept of the rebound effect is important in understanding the limits to how much technological efficiency improvements can reduce energy and resource consumption. However, due to the concept's focus on efficiency, it neglects other environmental implications of technological change. We use the term “induction effect” to grasp additional important mechanisms stemming from new technologies. We define an induction effect as an increase in the level of energy or resource consumption that was caused or enabled by the emergence of “new options” arising from technological change. Our investigation of three cases of new technologies - online consumption, smart homes, and pace of life - shows how including both rebound and induction effects into the analysis helps in understanding the relationship between technological change and energy and resource consumption. Integrating induction effects into the analysis underpins the importance of sufficiency as a strategy for sustainability and helps to develop comprehensive policy measures

Stability-based model selection

Model selection is linked to model assessment, which is the problem of comparing different models, or model parameters, for a specific learning task. For supervised learning, the standard practical technique is crossvalidation, which is not applicable for semi-supervised and unsupervised settings. In this paper, a new model assessment scheme is introduced which is based on a notion of stability. The stability measure yields an upper bound to cross-validation in the supervised case, but extends to semi-supervised and unsupervised problems. In the experimental part, the performance of the stability measure is studied for model order selection in comparison to standard techniques in this area.

Digitalization and the Decoupling Debate: Can ICT Help to Reduce Environmental Impacts While the Economy Keeps Growing?

Digitalization can increase resource and energy productivities. However, the production and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) require materials and energy, and the application of ICTs fosters economic growth. This paper examines whether digitalization helps or hinders an absolute decoupling of environmental throughput from economic growth. The paper combines the literature on “green IT” and “ICT for green” with studies on decoupling, i.e., the relationship between economic growth, technological change, and environmental throughput. The paper identifies several strains of the decoupling debate and connects them to the environmental implications of digitalization. We focus on the relation between digitalization and (1) the question of finite non-renewable energies, (2) the environmental Kuznets curve, (3) the role of energy consumption for economic growth, (4) efficiency improvements vis-à-vis rebound effects, and (5) the role of general purpose technologies for resource and energy demand. We find that the empirical basis regarding digitalization’s relation to these four aspects is still weak and hence, further research is needed. Comparing the mitigating and the aggravating impacts of digitalization, we conclude that a more active political and societal shaping of the process of digitalization is needed to make ICT work for global environmental sustainability.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel – 2020BMBF, 01UU1607B, Zwischen Rebound-Risiken und Suffizienz-Chancen: Herausforderungen der Entkopplung von Umweltverbrauch und Wirtschaftswachstum am Beispiel der Digitalisierung von Dienstleistungen - Teilprojekt 2: Wirtschaftspolitik & Konsu

Исследование каталитической активности металлических порошков, полученных электроимпусными методами, в синтезе Фишера Тропша

В работе представлены результаты исследования каталитической активности металлических порошков ВК6 используемых в роли катализатора в синтезе Фишера-Тропша. Испытания были проведены на лабораторной установке, разработанной и изготовленной ЗАО «Катакон», г.Новосибирск. Для получения тонкодисперсных порошков использовался метод электроискрового диспергирования в жидкой среде. Для изучения физико-химических свойств полученных порошков использовались: определение величины удельной поверхности частиц порошков по методу БЭТ, методы растровой и сканирующей электронной микроскопии, а также рентгенофазового анализа.The research effort presents the results of a studing catalytic activity of metal powders VK6 used as catalyst in the synthesis of Fischer-Tropsch. Tests were conducted on a laboratory installation, which was designed and manufactured by CJSC "Caticon", Novosibirsk. The method of electrospark dispersion in liquid medium was applied during obtaining a fine powder. To study the physico-chemical properties of the obtained powders were used for determination of the specific surface of particles of powders by BET method, methods of raster and scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray phase analysis

A genetic validation study reveals a role of vitamin D metabolism in the response to interferon-alfa-based therapy of chronic hepatitis C

Background: To perform a comprehensive study on the relationship between vitamin D metabolism and the response to interferon-α-based therapy of chronic hepatitis C. Methodology/Principal Findings: Associations between a functionally relevant polymorphism in the gene encoding the vitamin D 1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1-1260 rs10877012) and the response to treatment with pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN-α) and ribavirin were determined in 701 patients with chronic hepatitis C. In addition, associations between serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25[OH]D3) and treatment outcome were analysed. CYP27B1-1260 rs10877012 was found to be an independent predictor of sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients with poor-response IL28B genotypes (15% difference in SVR for rs10877012 genotype AA vs. CC, p = 0.02, OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.061–2.188), but not in patients with favourable IL28B genotype. Patients with chronic hepatitis C showed a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (25[OH]D3<20 ng/mL) during all seasons, but 25(OH)D3 serum levels were not associated with treatment outcome. Conclusions/Significance: Our study suggests a role of bioactive vitamin D (1,25[OH]2D3, calcitriol) in the response to treatment of chronic hepatitis C. However, serum concentration of the calcitriol precursor 25(OH)D3 is not a suitable predictor of treatment outcome

Digital Reset: Redirecting Technologies for the Deep Sustainability Transformation

Governments worldwide hope that digital technologies can provide key solutions. Yet this report shows that digitalisation, in its current and mainstream form, is rather aggravating than solving many of the pressing social and environmental crises at hand. What is needed instead is a deep sustainability transformation that fundamentally reorganises the economy and all its sectors - agriculture, mobility, energy, buildings, industry, and consumption. The Report »Digital Reset« shows how digital technologies can support the quest for such a deep sustainability transformation. The report provides a blueprint for the European Union on how to reconceptualise digitalisation so that it first and foremost contributes to achieving carbon neutrality, resource autonomy and economic resilience while supporting equity and fully respecting citizen's rights and privacy. The report is the outcome of a two-year international science-policy dialogue, »Digitalization for Sustainability« (D4S), and presents an up-to-date comprehensive analysis of opportunities, risks and governance options regarding digitalization and sustainability

Prisoner's Dilemma in Cancer Metabolism

As tumors outgrow their blood supply and become oxygen deprived, they switch to less energetically efficient but oxygen-independent anaerobic glucose metabolism. However, cancer cells maintain glycolytic phenotype even in the areas of ample oxygen supply (Warburg effect). It has been hypothesized that the competitive advantage that glycolytic cells get over aerobic cells is achieved through secretion of lactic acid, which is a by-product of glycolysis. It creates acidic microenvironment around the tumor that can be toxic to normal somatic cells. This interaction can be seen as a prisoner's dilemma: from the point of view of metabolic payoffs, it is better for cells to cooperate and become better competitors but neither cell has an incentive to unilaterally change its metabolic strategy. In this paper a novel mathematical technique, which allows reducing an otherwise infinitely dimensional system to low dimensionality, is used to demonstrate that changing the environment can take the cells out of this equilibrium and that it is cooperation that can in fact lead to the cell population committing evolutionary suicide

Lateglacial and Holocene climate and environmental change in the northeastern Mediterranean region: Diatom evidence from Lake Dojran (Republic of Macedonia/Greece)

The juncture between the west-east and north-south contrasting Holocene climatic domains across the Mediterranean is complex and poorly understood. Diatom analysis of Lake Dojran (Republic of Macedonia/Greece) provides a new insight into lake levels and trophic status during the Lateglacial and Holocene periods in the northeastern Mediterranean. Following a very shallow or even desiccated state at the core base at ca. 12,500 cal yr BP, indicated by sedimentological and hydro-acoustic data, diatoms indicate lake infilling, from a shallow state with abundant benthos to a plankton-dominated relatively high lake level and eutrophic state thereafter. Diatom-inferred shallowing between ca. 12,400 - 12,000 cal yr BP and a very low lake level and eutrophic, oligosaline state between ca. 12,000 - 11,500 cal yr BP provide strong evidence for Younger Dryas aridity. The earliest Holocene (ca. 11,500 - 10,700 cal yr BP) was characterised by a high lake level, followed by a lake-level reduction and increased trophic level between ca. 10,700-8,500 cal yr BP. The lake was relatively deep and exhibited peak Holocene trophic level between ca. 8,500-3,000 cal yr BP, becoming shallow thereafter. The diatom data provide more robust evidence and strengthen previous lake-level interpretation based on sedimentological and geochemical data during the earliest, mid and late Holocene, and also clarify previous uncertainty in interpretation of Lateglacial and early-Holocene lake-level change. Our results are also important in disentangling regional climate effects from local catchment dynamics during the Holocene, and to this end we exploit extant regional palynological evidence for vegetation change in the highlands and lowlands. The importance of seasonality in driving Holocene climate change is assessed by reference to the summer and winter latitudinal temperature gradient (LTG) model of Davis and Brewer (2009). We suggest that increased precipitation drove the high lake level during the earliest Holocene. The early- Holocene low lake level and relatively high trophic state may result climatically from high seasonality of precipitation and locally from limited, nutrient-rich catchment runoff. We argue that the mid- Holocene relatively deep and eutrophic state was driven mainly by local vegetation succession and associated changes in catchment processes, rather than showing a close relationship to climate change. The late-Holocene shallow state may have been influenced by a temperature-induced increase in evaporative concentration, but was coupled with clear evidence for intensified human impact. This study improves understanding of Lateglacial and Holocene climate change in the northeastern Mediterranean, suggests the important role of the LTG on moisture availability during the Holocene, and clarifies the influence of catchment processes on palaeohydrology

Vascular tissue specific mirna profiles reveal novel correlations with risk factors in coronary artery disease

Funding Information: Acknowledgments: We wish to thank all individuals donating cardiovascular relevant tissue and data. We would like to thank the surgeons of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and the KaBi-DHM (Cardiovascular Biobank of the German Heart Center) for collecting the surgical specimens. We further wish to thank the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) for financial support, the technical assistance team (Nicole Beck, Ulrike Weiß and Susanne Blachut) for wet lab and sequencing support. M.v.S. reported support by the Clinician Scientist Excellence Program of the DZHK, the German Society of Cardiology (DGK), the German Heart Foundation (Deutsche Herzstiftung e.V.), the Fondation Leducq (PlaqOmics) and the Corona Foundation (Junior Research Group Cardiovascular Diseases). Further, support was provided within the framework of DigiMed Bayern (www.digimed-bayern.de) funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts through the DHM-MSRM Joint Research Center. Figures were prepared based on a BioRender’s Academic License using BioRender https://biorender.com/. Funding Information: Funding: Supported by the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), grant number 81X2100144 and by the BMBF (German Ministry of Education and Research). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Non-coding RNAs have already been linked to CVD development and progression. While microR-NAs (miRs) have been well studied in blood samples, there is little data on tissue-specific miRs in cardiovascular relevant tissues and their relation to cardiovascular risk factors. Tissue-specific miRs derived from Arteria mammaria interna (IMA) from 192 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were analyzed. The aims of the study were 1) to establish a reference atlas which can be utilized for identification of novel diagnostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets, and 2) to relate these miRs to cardiovascular risk factors. Overall, 393 individual miRs showed sufficient expression levels and passed quality control for further analysis. We identified 17 miRs–miR-10b-3p, miR-10-5p, miR-17-3p, miR-21-5p, miR-151a-5p, miR-181a-5p, miR-185-5p, miR-194-5p, miR-199a-3p, miR-199b-3p, miR-212-3p, miR-363-3p, miR-548d-5p, miR-744-5p, miR-3117-3p, miR-5683 and miR-5701–significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk factors (correlation coefficient >0.2 in both directions, p-value (p < 0.006, false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05). Of particular interest, miR-5701 was positively correlated with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. In addition, we found that miR-629-5p and miR-98-5p were significantly correlated with acute myocardial infarction. We provide a first atlas of miR profiles in IMA samples from CAD patients. In perspective, these miRs might play an important role in improved risk assessment, mechanistic disease understanding and local therapy of CAD.Peer reviewe