Region Of Saxony Research Articles

‘Our Society Works’: Disaster Solidarity and Models of Social Life in the Elbe River Valley

ABSTRACT Disasters have often been analysed as periods of exception that shine light on otherwise opaque circumstances of social life. However, less focus has been placed on the different forms that such revelatory experiences take in the wake of disasters and crises. This article examines how flood-affected residents of the Elbe River Valley region in Saxony, Germany, interpreted widespread activities of solidarity during a major flood event in 2013 as being radically different from everyday social life. I present two ways that residents experienced these emergent practices of disaster solidarity as revelatory: a prescriptive model, showing a wishful glimpse of what society could be, and a descriptive model, revealing a perceived hidden truth about what society already is. By exploring this interpretative duality of the experience of the floods, I discuss how crisis narratives exhibit a spectrum of responses that are not contradictory but made meaningful retrospectively.

Regional and temporal differences in the relation between SARS-CoV-2 biomarkers in wastewater and estimated infection prevalence – Insights from long-term surveillance

Wastewater-based epidemiology provides a conceptual framework for the evaluation of the prevalence of public health related biomarkers. In the context of the Coronavirus disease-2019, wastewater monitoring emerged as a complementary tool for epidemic management. In this study, we evaluated data from six wastewater treatment plants in the region of Saxony, Germany. The study period lasted from February to December 2021 and covered the third and fourth regional epidemic waves. We collected 1065 daily composite samples and analyzed SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Regression models quantify the relation between RNA concentrations and disease prevalence. We demonstrated that the relation is site and time specific. Median loads per diagnosed case differed by a factor of 3–4 among sites during both waves and were on average 45 % higher during the third wave. In most cases, log-log-transformed data achieved better regression performance than non-transformed data and local calibration outperformed global models for all sites. The inclusion of lag/lead time, discharge and detection probability improved model performance in all cases significantly, but the importance of these components was also site and time specific. In all cases, models with lag/lead time and log-log-transformed data obtained satisfactory goodness-of-fit with adjusted coefficients of determination higher than 0.5. Back-estimation of testing efficiency from wastewater data confirmed state-wide prevalence estimation from individual testing statistics, but revealed pronounced differences throughout the epidemic waves and among the different sites.

Application of the capture–recapture method to ascertain the completeness of the Saxon pediatric IBD registry in Germany

AimThe incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing worldwide. The Saxon Pediatric IBD Registry was founded in 2000 to describe the epidemiology of pediatric IBD in Germany. The aim of this study was to determinate the completeness of this registry for children and adolescents younger than 15 years and to make this approach transparent. Results of this completeness update have broad implications for further scientific publications from the registry dataset.MethodThe capture–recapture method with two data sources was used to ascertain completeness. A second data source was collected in 2019 for the observation period 2008–2014 from all pediatricians, gastroenterologists, and internists working in practices in a predefined region in Saxony, Germany.ResultsA total of 23 patients with IBD were reported who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. One of them was not recorded in the registry. Therefore, the completeness of the registry was estimated at 95.7% (95% CI 90.2–100). Initial analysis of the Saxon Pediatric IBD Registry over the 15-year period 2000–2014 includes 532 patients, 312 (58.6%) male and 220 (41.4%) female. The distribution of single IBD diseases in the registry was as follows: Crohn’s disease 338 patients (63.5%), ulcerative colitis 176 patients (33.1%), and unclassified IBD 18 patients (3.4%). Evaluations by sex and by disease in age groups and by age at onset were tabulated.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that the completeness level of the Saxon Pediatric IBD Registry is high (95.7%), and thus the epidemiological data of the registry are reliable.

Working, Singing, and Telling in the 19th-Century Flemish Pillow-Lace Industry

The female lacemaker who sings at her work is a European literary trope from Shakespeare to Nerval. However, there is considerable evidence from many countries that pillow lacemakers did sing while working, and that their repertoire of songs was in part learnt in the lace schools that many of them attended from about the age of six. Such schools were often under some kind of religious authority. In the English Midlands, the Erzgebirge region of Saxony, and Flanders, trainee lacemakers learnt “tells” that provided a rhythm to the production process; many of these tells were noted down in the 19th century. This article examines the corpus of Flemish tells to explore lacemakers’ own responses to the strict environment of the lace school. Singing together helped establish a corporate identity that lacemakers were proud to proclaim, and reinforced bonds of mutual sympathy between workers. But tells in particular were meant to foster competition. Tells could be used to voice resistance to, or at least the fantasy of escape from, the lace mistress as well as the parents who forced their children into this occupation. But lace mistresses also used tells to teach moral and religious lessons, and to break young girls to the discipline of the school and the relentless expectations of production.

Just a talking shop? – Informal participatory spatial planning for implementing state wind energy targets in Germany

Many authors call for participatory approaches to spatial planning in dealing with land use conflicts on wind energy. In one region of Saxony, planning officials established an informal working group on wind energy to complement statutory spatial planning. In a qualitative case study, we found that the conflicting discursive frames in the participation process proved to be stable and were modified only marginally. The outcomes of the working group can be explained by the character of the initial frames and other contextual factors. Regarding planning practice, we suggest discussing contested planning issues in a wider context.

The spectrum of mutations in families with breast and ovarian cancer from the region of Saxony, Germany

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among women. The disease frequently attacks women at a young age. The German population has been greatly affected by breast cancer with approximately 74,500 females and 600 males being diagnosed with the disease in 2012 alone. In many instances the cause of breast cancer is unknown. Genetic factors that greatly contribute to breast cancer are mutations of both BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These occur in 10% of patients. Little is known so far about the contribution of other genes to the occurrence of breast cancer. Here we report the mutation spectrum in genes that increase the risk of familial breast cancer in patients seeking genetic counseling in our Institute. The patients come from the region of Saxony in Germany, close to the Polish and Czech borders. Altogether we performed mutation analysis in 325 patients: 17 males and 308 females; deriving from a total of 216 families with breast and ovarian carcinoma. All individuals were screened for mutations in six breast cancer susceptibility genes: BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PALB2, RAD51, and RAD51C. In the case of negative results and special family history we also analyzed other genes: p53, ATM, PTEN, NBS1, NOD2, STK11, and CDH1. BRCA 1/2 were analyzed by multiplex-ligation-dependent probe-amplification (MLPA), PCR, and direct sequencing (including intron/exon boundaries). Other genes were analyzed by PCR and direct sequencing including intron/exon boundaries. We observed BRCA1 gene mutations in 15% of families (10% pathogenic and 5% unclassified variants). Three mutations were novel and not described. Of the BRCA2 gene mutations we identified in 35% of families (12% pathogenic and 23% unclassified variant), 5 were not described before. In three families we found large genomic rearrangements in BRCA1/2 by MLPA method. The PALB2 gene mutations occurred in 8% of our probants, and the CHEK2 mutation were observed in 4% of families. In 10% of families sequence variants in others analyzed genes were noted. The total number of pathogenic mutations in our group of patients is compatible with the result from the German Familial Breast Cancer Consortium reporting 30% of mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 of families with a family history of breast cancer. However the spectrum of mutations is somehow different with more mutations in BRCA2 and CHEK2 as well as PALB2. Particularly for CHEK2 we found a higher rate of pathogenic mutation [1]. This suggests that a screening spectrum of genes for familial breast cancer needs to be adjusted to the regional specification.

Schwierige Familiennamen auf -eis(en) in Sachsen und Bayern

The article deals with some selected compound surnames, the roots of which consist of -eis(en) ‘iron’. It provides a revealing insight into their morphology and etymology. The names in question are characteristically distributed in certain regions of Saxony and Bavaria. By metaphorically designating blacksmiths (occasionally even miners or peasants) they turn out to be obsolete dialect words or technical terms for various wrought-iron objects.

Assessment of landscape aesthetics—Validation of a landscape metrics-based assessment by visual estimation of the scenic beauty

The assessment of cultural ecosystem services, in our case landscape aesthetics, is the most commonly investigated but least formalized issue in the scope of the ecosystem services concept. In contrast to ecological or economic aspects, the assessment of aesthetics cannot easily be based on quantitative information. Therefore, two different methodological approaches that assess landscape aesthetics either from an objective or a subjective point of view have been established in the past.This article presents in its first part an objective, landscape metrics-based assessment approach. We defined naturalness and landscape diversity as assessment criteria and selected Shannon's Diversity Index (SHDI), Shape Index (SHAPE) and Patch Density (PD) as indicators. We tested our approach for a set of nine different landscape types in a model region in Saxony, Germany.For validating the developed methodology, we carried out a survey with 153 participants in order to investigate their subjective preferences for the different landscape types. These preferences had to be expressed by rating the landscape types on a scale from 1 (very ugly) to 5 (very beautiful). The study was based on three different data sets, namely photographs of the landscape types, satellite images, and land cover maps.Statistical tests were applied (a) to investigate the impact of personal factors on the ratings, (b) to detect whether abstraction levels are suitable for preference studies, and (c) to compare the results of the objective approach (landscape metrics) and the subjective approach (visual assessment). Personal factors did not influence the visual assessment results significantly. We found the highest correlation of the landscape metrics-based assessment with the visual assessment results of the photographs. We conclude that the three landscape metrics might be applied to the monitoring of landscape aesthetics. An extended study with more participants might be useful to further investigate the reliability of our findings.

Long-term simulation of effects of energy crop cultivation on nitrogen leaching and surface water quality in Saxony/Germany

The production of energy crops in Germany is a growing agronomic sector and is expected to occupy a substantial share of farmland in the near future. At the same time, there are concerns that energy crops might cause increased nitrogen pollution of soil water, surface water and groundwater. Therefore, the Federal State of Saxony, Germany, funded a study on potential effects of an intensified cultivation of energy crops. In frame of this study, we used the Web GIS-based model STOFFBILANZ to simulate N leaching from the rooting zone and N loads of surface water for a reference scenario and an energy crop scenario. For the reference scenario, we used data representing the crop cultivation for the year 2005 at municipality level. We found that the total loads for N leaching from the rooting zone of cropland are highest for the loess region (8,067 t year−1), followed by mountainous region (6,797 t year−1) and lowland (5,443 t year−1). However, highest N fluxes in the leachate from rooting zones have been simulated for lowland (40.6 kg ha−1 year−1) and mountainous region (37.1 kg ha−1 year−1), while nitrate concentrations of leachate were highest for the lowland (101.8 mg l−1). In terms of diffuse N input into surface water, the mountainous region is the most important source area (total N load 6,380 t year−1, flux 34.6 kg ha−1 year−1). Retention by in-stream processes accounts for 15 % (3,784 t year−1) of the total N load leaving the study area (25,136 t year−1). In the 2020 energy crop scenario, shares of rape and silage maize (id., ensiled corn) were limited for each municipality to a maximum of 25 and 33 %, respectively. The conversion of grasslands to crop farming was not allowed. Under these conditions, we found slight to substantial reductions of nitrogen loads for leachate from the rooting zone and for surface waters. The simulated reduction depends strongly on local conditions. Only small reductions (ca. 4–8 %) were found for the lowlands and mountainous regions of Saxony, while reductions for the loess region were substantial (ca. 22 %). A major outcome of our study is that the cultivation of energy crops might reduce N loss if certain preconditions are assumed, for example, without conversion of grasslands to crop farming. However, effects might vary widely depending on local conditions.

Professor Dr. Theo Wetzel celebrates his 80th birthday

10.1080/03235408.2012.699296 Theo Wetzel was born on 24 August 1932 in Pausa, a small town in the Vogtland region of Saxony, Germany. Due to the war and postwar turmoil, he attended different high ...

A multi-criteria approach for an integrated land-cover-based assessment of ecosystem services provision to support landscape planning

The article presents a multicriteria assessment framework for the qualitative estimation of regional potentials to provide ecosystem services as a prerequisite to support regional development planning. We applied this approach to a model region in Saxony, Eastern Germany. For the estimation of the potentials of the model region to provide ecosystem services, we used a modified approach compared to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). We then employed a benefit transfer and a purely expert driven approach to assess contribution of the land cover classes in our model region to the provision of ecosystem services. In a subsequent step, the services in our set were combined to ecosystem services groups that were designed together with regional actors, while considering their ideas, concerns and experiences in regional decision making. The latter was analyzed in a weighting experiment, in which different weighting approaches were tested. Based upon this, we analyzed the performance of the model region to provide ecosystem services and generated ecosystem services distribution maps. We could show that the different data gathering methods “benefit transfer” and “expert-based assessment” have a considerable impact on the evaluation outcomes.The results of our study show that the combination of selected services and land cover data can contribute to regional planning by communicating the effect of land cover change on ecosystem services groups, especially when applied as an evaluation basis in the tool Pimp Your Landscape (PYL). The approach supports also the assessment of the performance of a region to provide ecosystem services and the comparison of regions towards this aspect. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our approach that are related to coarse land cover data, lacking knowledge on the provision of ecosystem services at a landscape scale, and the difficulty to make relevant the ecosystem services concept in regional planning processes.

Prostate cancer mortality risk in relation to working underground in the Wismut cohort study of German uranium miners, 1970–2003

ObjectiveA recent study and comprehensive literature review has indicated that mining could be protective against prostate cancer. This indication has been explored further here by analysing prostate cancer mortality in...

Risk assessment of pea moth Cydia nigricana infestation in organic green peas based on spatio-temporal distribution and phenology of the host plant

1 A method for area-wide risk assessment of pea moth infestation in commercial pea-growing areas based on spatial and temporal analyses of pea moth abundance and the phenological distribution of pea fields was investigated. 2 In a commercial pea-growing region in Saxony, Germany, all pea fields were identified, mapped and characterized, recording the pea plant phenology, pea moth flight and larval infestation of each field in the years 2006–2008. 3 The relationship between pea moth flight and pea plant phenology was studied in detail in small-scale field experiments in Hesse, Germany, using different pea cultivars and sowing dates. 4 In the study area, the abundance of Cydia nigricana Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in organic green peas increased linearly with the pea-cropping area of the previous year in the surroundings of the current fields according to the continuous abundance index. 5 Considering solely the early flowering period (= early pea sowing dates) of the organic green peas, we calculated that a minimum distance of the current pea field to the nearest pea field of the previous year of 500 m was necessary to significantly reduce pea moth flight and larval infestation. 6 In small-scale field experiments, a correlation between pea moth flight and larval investation, as well as the importance of the pea flower for the pea moth occurrence, was demonstrated. 7 The spatio-temporal findings are discussed in relation to the development of a coincidence avoidance strategy in pea-growing areas.

Erosion processes alter water quality in a stream within a small catchment in the Upper Lusatia Region in Saxony

This paper focuses on consequences of erosion processes on the water quality in a small catchment mainly used for agriculture. Due to the silty soils with small infiltration capacity and some steep slopes, much suspended sediment is carried with the surface runoff into the river. To gain detailed knowledge about the dynamic of suspended particle concentration in the stream, particularly the intensity and the duration of the pollution, continual measurements of turbidity and conductivity have been done. Additionally water samples have been automatically taken regulated by the streamflow and have been analysed in the lab to determine the particle concentration and some dissolved chemical substances such as nitrate and heavy metals. From those measurements a regression between turbidity and suspended particle concentration was derived as basis to calculate suspended load. Results showed a typical hysteresis with bigger particles being transported within the fast rising limb than in the falling limb of the flood waves. Moreover, it was also found, that nitrate concentration was lower during the summer and early autumn than in spring with the same discharge.

Formation of secondary inorganic aerosols by power plant emissions exhausted through cooling towers in Saxony

The fraction of ambient PM10 that is due to the formation of secondary inorganic particulate sulfate and nitrate from the emissions of two large, brown-coal-fired power stations in Saxony (East Germany) is examined. The power stations are equipped with natural-draft cooling towers. The flue gases are directly piped into the cooling towers, thereby receiving an additionally intensified uplift. The exhausted gas-steam mixture contains the gases CO, CO2, NO, NO2, and SO2, the directly emitted primary particles, and additionally, an excess of 'free' sulfate ions in water solution, which, after the desulfurization steps, remain non-neutralized by cations. The precursor gases NO2 and SO2 are capable of forming nitric and sulfuric acid by several pathways. The acids can be neutralized by ammonia and generate secondary particulate matter by heterogeneous condensation on preexisting particles. The simulations are performed by a nested and multi-scale application of the online-coupled model system LM-MUSCAT. The Local Model (LM; recently renamed as COSMO) of the German Weather Service performs the meteorological processes, while the Multi-scale Atmospheric Transport Model (MUSCAT) includes the transport, the gas phase chemistry, as well as the aerosol chemistry (thermodynamic ammonium-sulfate-nitrate-water system). The highest horizontal resolution in the inner region of Saxony is 0.7 km. One summer and one winter episode, each realizing 5 weeks of the year 2002, are simulated twice, with the cooling tower emissions switched on and off, respectively. This procedure serves to identify the direct and indirect influences of the single plumes on the formation and distribution of the secondary inorganic aerosols. Surface traces of the individual tower plumes can be located and distinguished, especially in the well-mixed boundary layer in daytime. At night, the plumes are decoupled from the surface. In no case does the resulting contribution of the cooling tower emissions to PM10 significantly exceed 15 microg m(-3) at the surface. These extreme values are obtained in narrow plumes on intensive summer conditions, whereas different situations with lower turbulence (night, winter) remain below this value. About 90% of the PM10 concentrations in the plumes are secondarily formed sulfate, mainly ammonium sulfate, and about 10% originate from the primarily emitted particles. Under the assumptions made, ammonium nitrate plays a rather marginal role. The analyzed results depend on the specific emission data of power plants with flue gas emissions piped through the cooling towers. The emitted fraction of 'free' sulfate ions remaining in excess after the desulfurization steps plays an important role at the formation of secondary aerosols and therefore has to be measured carefully.

Assessment of the assortment potential of the growing stock – a photogrammetry based approach for an automatized grading of sample trees

The presented paper introduces a photogrammetry based value inventory method including an electronic grading routine. The grading is realized by an automatic identification of stem surface features in eCognition. ECognition is an image analysis system using a polygon-oriented segmentation and a fuzzy logic based classification. The feature-related parameterisation within eCognition is oriented on key assortment criteria originating from timber selling contracts in two test regions in Saxony (Germany). A total of eight Norway spruces (Picea abies, Karst.) and eight Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) was selected as sample material for the development of the classification process in eCognition. For two further sample trees - one Norway spruce and one Scots pine - the differences between a normal, i.e. visual sorting and a picture-interpretation supported and consequently more detailed sorting are presented. In the context of forest inventory, the presented approach can support the acquirement of detailed sample-tree-based information on the assortment distribution at the level of management planning units in forest enterprises. stocking tree / quality / forest inventory / photogrammetry / automatized grading / image analysis / grading criteria / timber selling contract / Picea abies / Pinus sylvestris

Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in topsoils along forest conversion sequences in the Ore Mountains and the Saxonian lowland, Germany

Carbon and nitrogen stocks and their medium-term and readily decomposable fractions in topsoils were compared in relation to soil microbial biomass and activity along sequences from coniferous to deciduous stands. The study was carried out in the Ore Mountains and the Saxonian lowland, representing two typical natural regions in Saxony, Germany. In accordance with current forest conversion practices, the investigation sites represent different stands: mature conifer stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) (type A); Norway Scots spruce and pine with advanced plantings of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) or European beech/Common oak (Quercus petreae Liebl.) (type B); and mature deciduous stands of European beech and European beech/Common oak (type C). The investigated forest sites can be grouped into three silvicultural situations according to the development from coniferous stands to advanced plantings and finally mature deciduous forests (chronosequence A–B–C). The organic layer (L, F and H horizons) and uppermost mineral soil (0–10 cm) were analysed for potential C mineralisation, microbial biomass, concentrations of total C and N (TOC and TN) and for medium-term and readily decomposable C and N fractions, obtained by hot- and cold-water extraction respectively. The results showed an increase in organic layer thickness and mass as well as TOC and TN stocks along the forest sequences in the lowland. Yet, underplanted sites with two storeys revealed higher organic layer mass as well as TOC and TN stocks as compared to coniferous and deciduous stands. Stocks of hot- and cold-water-extractable C and N in relation to microbial biomass and its activity revealed a high turnover activity in deeper organic horizons of deciduous forests compared to coniferous stands. The stand-specific differentiation is discussed in relation to microbial biomass, litter quantity and quality and forest structure, but also with respect to the site-specific climatic factors and water budget as well as liming and fly-ash impacts. Results indicate higher dynamics in deciduous stands in the lowland especially during the initial turnover phase. The elevated microbial activity in deeper organic horizons of deciduous litter-influenced sites in spring is discussed as a specific indicator for long-term C sequestration potential as besides C mineralisation organic compounds are humified and thus, can be stored in the organic layer or in deeper soil horizons. Due to liming activities, stand-specific effects on organic matter turnover dynamics have evened out today in the Ore mountain region, but will presumably occur again once base saturation decreases. Here, the stand-specific effect on microbial biomass can currently be seen again as Cmic in the L horizon increased from spruce to beech. Our study sites in the lowland revealed no significant fly-ash impact. Differences between sites were evaluated by calculating the discriminance function. TOC and TN as well as medium-term degradable C and N were defined in this study as indicators for turnover dynamics along forest conversion sites.

The Black Triangle area--fit for Europe? Numerical air quality studies for the Black Triangle area.

The "Black Triangle" area (covering northern Bohemia, southern Saxony and part of lower Silesia) has been one of the most polluted areas in Central Europe. The area was named mainly because of high emissions of sulfur and dust. After the political changes at the end of the 1980s a significant improvement in air quality has been achieved. In this study, we have investigated the future development of air pollution in the region of Saxony and northern Bohemia with special regard to the species sulfur dioxide, ozone, and aerosol particles. Relevant limit values for protection of human health defined or suggested in directives by the European Commission were checked in worst-case scenarios for the year 2005. It can be estimated, that the remaining air pollution problems in the Black Triangle area are more or less the same as in the other EU-countries and can be solved only by joint efforts.

Occupational Health Aspects of Uranium Mining in Thuringia and Saxony: An Historical View

Abstract Mining activities in Saxony can be traced back to the year 1168. Silver, bismuth, cobalt, nickel, and tungsten have all been extracted since then in several hundred mines in the ore mountain region of Saxony. W. Beyer published a paper in 1523 suggesting that “Joachimstal miners' disease” was caused by silica and arsenic. Other early publications, by Paracelsus, Agricola, Scheffler, Henckel, and Halting and Hesse, led to the characterization of “Schneeberg lung disease” as cancerous, but it was recognized as an occupational disease in Germany only in 1925. Radium emissions and radiation were the suspected causes. The Soviet authorities reopened old silver mines in Saxony in 1945, thus initiating mining activity that made East Germany the world's third largest uranium producer. Some 400,000 to 600,000 miners were employed in Saxony from 1945 until uranium production ceased after the reunification of Germany in 1990. To date, more than 11,000 resulting cases of bronchial carcinoma have been awarded...