Way In Germany Research Articles

Germany's Way from Russian Natural Gas to Green Hydrogen: Network Data, Procedures, and Topologies for Feasible Transition Paths to a Green Hydrogen Transport Infrastructure in Germany, GreenHyDE [gri:n'haɪ̯də] –

Hydrogen—and thus hydrogen transport—will play an important role in the German and European transition to climate neutrality. A German hydrogen transport network is currently being planned, but its appropriate structure and size highly depend on the spatial distribution of hydrogen demand and supply and their development over time. Moreover, the security of supply with both, hydrogen and natural gas, needs to be guaranteed during the transition period, as repurposing of the existing natural gas transmission system is a highly advantageous option for the building of hydrogen networks. Therefore, the integrated analysis of natural gas and hydrogen networks is a necessary and urgent, though complex, field of research. For this purpose, the article presents the database for the existing German natural gas transmission system (which in parts will be repurposed for hydrogen transport) and procedures for the development and evaluation of network topologies for both gases. The results for the German case show feasible development steps for the design of green hydrogen transport networks and the transition from natural gas in different scenarios. Open access to data and tools for technoeconomic assessment is provided.

The gender division of unpaid care work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and related closures of day care centres and schools significantly increased the amount of care work done by parents. There has been much speculation over whether the pandemic increased or decreased gender equality in parental care work. Based on representative data for Germany from spring 2020 and winter 2021 we present an empirical analysis that shows that although gender inequality in the division of care work increased to some extent in the beginning of the pandemic, it returned to the pre-pandemic level in the second lockdown almost nine months later. These results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic neither aggravated nor lessened inequality in the division of unpaid care work among mothers and fathers in any persistent way in Germany.

Sustainable management of biological solids in small treatment plants: overview of strategies and reuse options for a solar drying facility in Poland

The issue of sustainable management of biosolids (excess sludge) from wastewater treatment is an important issue in the entire developed world. Residual sludge disposal costs and environmental impact may be significant, and reducing such costs, as well as the energy consumption for dewatering and drying, is a key issue for safe and sustainable sludge disposal, considering the recent ban of some disposal options, such as landfilling, in many European countries. An alternative to thermal technologies is solar drying (not to be confused with bio-drying, very close to the concept of composting). Solar greenhouse drying technology is characterized by reduced land requirements compared with traditional outdoor drying beds, as well as by low-energy requirements compared with other thermal drying methods. Process operation is cost-efficient, with close to no maintenance, and observed specific evaporation rates up to threefold higher than conventional drying beds. Many applications of this technology exist in Poland, Germany and Austria: more than 10,000 t of wet sludge per year is treated in this way in Germany alone and almost as many (9000 t/year) in Poland. This paper examines current biosolids treatment technologies applicable to small wastewater treatment plants (2000–9999 population equivalents served) and opportunities for possible solids reuse in Poland in view of sustainable circular economy schemes. In particular, a purely solar-driven greenhouse facility for sewage sludge drying was investigated under different conditions (season, temperature, environmental humidity) and possible improvements for its efficiency evaluated. Sludge processed by solar drying could have different final disposal pathways, according to season, in accordance with the prescriptions of the new National Waste Management Plan of Poland.

Review of Kranert (2019): Discourse and Political Culture. The Language of the Third Way in Germany and the UK

This article reviews Discourse and Political Culture. The Language of the Third Way in Germany and the UK

Asahi Kasei ‘green’ hydrogen demos under way in Germany, Japan

Asahi Kasei ‘green’ hydrogen demos under way in Germany, Japan

The tasks of our times: Kautsky’s Road to Power in Germany and Russia

Kautsky’s Road to Power (Der Weg zur Macht, 1909. https://www.marxists.org/deutsch/archiv/kautsky/1909/macht/index.htm ) was received in very different ways in Germany and Russia. In Germany, it earned Kautsky hostility from the trade-unionists on the right of the party and the radicals on the left. Later writers dismiss the book as preaching “revolutionary passivity.” In Russia, the Bolsheviks immediately seized on the book as an endorsement of specifically Bolshevik positions. After the war broke out, they used it to show that Kautsky was a renegade who did not live up to his stated views. In the end, Road to Power helped inspire Kautsky’s greatest fans turned fiercest foes to make what he considered a tragic mistake: the October revolution.

Asahi Kasei ‘green’ hydrogen demos under way in Germany, Japan

Japanese chemicals giant Asahi Kasei has recently started two projects to demonstrate large-scale production of ‘green’ hydrogen using renewable energy sources. At the end of April its European subsidiary Asahi Kasei Europe kicked off a demonstration project at the Hydrogen Competence Center h2herten in Germany, and in late May the parent company launched an alkaline water electrolysis demonstration project in Soma, Japan.

Greek Tragedy as a Window on the Dispossessed

In this article Steve Wilmer discusses adaptations of Greek tragedy that highlight the plight of the displaced and the dispossessed, including Janusz Glowacki's Antigone in New York, Marina Carr's Hecuba, and Elfriede Jelinek's Die Schutzbefohlenen, which is notably emblematic among appropriations of ancient Greek plays in referencing the problems facing refugees in Europe. He considers how this latter play has been directed in a variety of ways in Germany and Austria since 2013, and how in turn it has been reappropriated for new dramatic performances to further investigate the conditions of refugees. Some of these productions have caused political controversy and one of them has even been physically attacked by a right-wing group. Steve Wilmer is Professor Emeritus of Drama at Trinity College Dublin. He is the co-editor of ‘Theatre and Statelessness in Europe’ for Critical Stages (2016), Resisting Biopolitics: Philosophical, Political, and Performative Strategies (Routledge, 2016), and Deleuze and Beckett (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). He also edited a special issue of Nordic Theatre Studies in 2015 titled ‘Theatre and the Nomadic Subject’.

India’s Family Businesses and the German Mittelstand - Similarities and Differences

family businesses and Germany's Mittelstand have been identified as crucial to their country's economy and characteristic of their national business environment. The Economist calls family business houses India's favorite way of organizing firms (e.g. [9]). Whereas the Mittelstand has been named as the main motor of Germany's (German business, 2011). Both countries have experienced economic success recently: India has been growing at an above-average growth rate, attracting foreign attention and capital, to position itself as a new economic power. Germany on the other hand, has enjoyed relative stability among crisis-ridden European Union members. Scholars argue that both and Germany's way of doing business contributes to their success. Therefore, the analysis of Indian family businesses and the German Mittelstand will shed light on the source of their countries' strength. This paper seeks to define the two types of businesses and analyze their similarities and differences.

Multicriteria analysis of primary steelmaking technologies

The climate impact of the iron and steel industry can be mitigated through increased energy efficiency, emission efficiency, material efficiency, and product use efficiency resulting in reduced product demand. For achieving ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets in this sector all measures could become necessary. The current paper focuses on one of those four key measures: emission efficiency via innovative primary steelmaking technologies. After analysing their techno-economical potential until 2100 in part A of this publication, the current research broadens the evaluation scope for the crucial year 2050, based on a Multicriteria-Analysis (MCA). 12 criteria from five different categories (“technology”, “society and politics”, “economy”, “safety and vulnerability” and “ecology”) are used to assess the same four future steelmaking technologies in a systematic and holistic way in Germany, as one possible location. The technologies in focus are the blast furnace route (BF–BOF), blast furnace with carbon capture and storage (BF–CCS), hydrogen direct reduction (H–DR), and iron ore electrolysis (EW). These four technologies have been selected, as explained in part A of this paper, because they are the most commonly discussed technological options under discussion by policymakers and the iron and steel industry. The results of the current work should provide decision makers in industry and government with a long-term guidance on technological choices.In 2050 the MCA shows significantly higher preference scores for the two innovative routes H–DR and EW compared to the blast furnace based routes. The main reasons being higher scores in the economical and environmental criteria. BF–CCS shows its greatest weakness in the social acceptance and the safety and vulnerability criteria. BF–BOF has the lowest economy and ecology score of all assessed routes, which is due to the projected high cost for carbon dioxide emission and increasing prices for fossil fuels. A first indicative trend assessment from today towards 2050 shows that H–DR is the preferred MCA option from today on.Three exemplary weighting distributions (representing the perspectives of the steel industry, environmental organisations and the government), used to simulate different stakeholder angle of view, don't have a strong influence on the overall evaluation of the steelmaking routes. The results remain very similar, with the highest scores for the innovative routes (H–DR and EW). This leads to the conclusion that EW and in particular H–DR can be identified as the preferred future steelmaking technology across different perspectives.Specific innovation efforts and dedicated programs are necessary to minimize the time until marketability and to share the development burden. The similarity of the MCA results from different perspectives indicates a great opportunity to reach a political consensus and to work together towards a common future goal. Regarding the pressing time horizon a concentrated engagement for one (or few) technological choices would be highly recommended.

Postal Services: Survey of Competition Law Developments

The European Commission has published a detailed summary of its prohibition of the intended merger of United Parcel Service Inc. and TNT Express, based on the finding that the acquisition would significantly impede effective competition in various national markets in the EEA for international intra-EEA express delivery services for small packages. The Court of Justice of the EU has issued a judgment rejecting France's appeal against the European General Court's judgment upholding the European Commission's decision finding that French law involved an unlimited State guarantee of the operations of LaPoste. Important competition law investigations are being conducted by the national competition authority in France and Germany and by the national regulatory authority in the UK, and further important competition regulatory investigations are under way in Germany, in the postal services sector.

»Dem Krill auf der Spur«

In the context of global resource issues that were high onthe political agenda in the 1970s Krill brought together stakeholders from science, politics and economics. This little shrimp-like crustacean near the bottom of the food chain did not only promise to provide enough protein for a growing world population. It also paved Germany's way into the Antarctic Treaty System and led to the foundation of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research in 1981. Marine biologists and fisheries scientists played a crucial role in this story. Their knowledge provides access to this potentially immense resource and opened the door to the Antarctic Treaty System.

Commentaries on health services research

Box 1This study of clinically active PAs and their “intent to retire” breaks new ground; yet leaves much unanswered. The title reminds readers that this relatively young profession is mature enough to consider retirement. The demographics of the surveyed PAs are a little startling compared to PA school classes, which are predominately young women. The sample was near gender parity (54% male) and the average age at graduation was 34 years. As with many workforce issues, it is tempting to compare PAs with physicians. A 2006 study by Landon and colleagues showed a strong relationship between physician job satisfaction levels and leaving practice: dissatisfied physicians were two to three times more likely to retire.1 This study had a large and nationally representative sample of physicians (n=16,581), with a prospective design and well-defined outcome measures, and could serve as a model for PA-focused research. The authors of this intriguing study express concern that recent trends toward decreasing job satisfaction by physicians may exacerbate the projected physician shortage. As the PA profession continues to mature, the issue of PA retirement should be revisited often, ideally with prospective studies that can elucidate the role of multiple factors and help identify workforce trends.2 If increased job satisfaction turns out to predict later retirement age in PAs-–as it appears to do in physicians–-and PAs continue to have high job satisfaction, perhaps PAs will continue to work into their 60s, 70s, and beyond. Commentary by Theresa E. HegemannBox 2Box 3Reading about German physicians' willingness to delegate home visits to PAs, one might get the impression that the German physician assistant profession is well established and growing. However the authors have used an incorrect name for care professionals (to whom specific tasks are sometimes delegated) as PAs: a literal translation from German into English. The potential harm for the PA profession is the loose use of professional nomenclature. This unfortunate use of the term PA is further propagated when the authors insert references of articles about US PAs to support the theoretical grounding, without knowing the content. Even though the Arzthelferin (AH) and Praxis assistentin (P.ast) are long-established German professions, and support the physician's work, they are not comparable to PAs known in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. These Medizinisch Fachangestellten (medical assistants) are clinical assistants and are not the medical model PAs.1 However, to confuse matters, Germany is experimenting with formally trained PAs, and training similar to that in the United States and other countries began in 2005.2 PAs in Germany are trained at the bachelor's level and perform medical tasks similar to the scope of practice of their colleagues working in other countries. Although the German PA profession is still in development, German PAs are physician-supervised providers whose tasks are delegated by physicians. The PA workforce in Germany is beginning to take root and the state of Baden Württemberg has adopted a law providing PA training that appears more like the more recognized model. Such legislation may help non-German readers to understand the new movement under way in Germany. Commentary by Luppo KuilmanBox 4The rapid growth in the number of PA educational programs coincides with reports that the PA profession is one of the most desirable careers in the country. In 2013, PA programs had at least three times more applicants than available seats. Does it matter where a student attends PA school? Cawley and Jones have identified a notable difference in tuition at PA schools housed in public versus private institutions. They also discuss the disproportionately higher number of privately-sponsored programs established in recent decades. What remains unanswered is whether the higher debt incurred at private institutions translates into lower rates of new graduates entering primary care. Despite the much-discussed anticipated need for increased primary care clinicians as health reform is implemented, PAs are practicing in primary care at historically low rates. One theory is that the increasing choice of specialty practice by PAs may be more economic than institutionally influenced. The next step in this conversation is to determine whether student debt influences specialty choice. Commentary by Keren H. Wick

Modernizing the Business of Health: Pharmaceuticals in Britain, in comparison with Germany and the United States, 1890–1940: Table 1

The pharmaceutical industry adopted technology in markedly different ways in Germany, the United States, and Britain. During the early 20th century, useful knowledge became a commercial asset, but British intellectual property and drug regulation laws created neither pressures nor rewards for growth. Key differences emerged in the ways in which intellectual property was used, in the development of testing and standardization, and in the links between researchers and industry. We show how firms sought to control the new knowledge assets that built the business of health. This also helps to explain the choices made in the three countries as to what forms of investments best further industry goals.

A pan-European registration system for volunteer participation is within sight

Dear Editor, Boyce et al. [1] reflect on the use of one of several trial participant registers but they fail to give a balanced appraisal of the full spectrum of systems available. The authors claim that “We have no evidence that healthy subjects travel from other EU countries just to volunteer for a clinical trial in our unit.” This is incongruous with our experience; they do. Possibly a small problem in Leeds or Erfurt, it is a considerable problem in locations such as Basel, Cologne, or London where borders are nearby or transportation is good. The authors appear to oppose a wider EU initiative. To publish in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology seems an odd choice when all they want is to promote an insular mentality in which all is supposedly well for the UK. The Overvolunteering Prevention System (TOPS) is claimed to have achieved a success in preventing volunteers from overvolunteering, yet the authors do not provide evidence that this has in fact been achieved. They show that their detection rate has declined over the years yet do not discuss other possible explanations for this phenomenon; amongst other reasons, such as the general decline in the number of trials in the UK, one very obvious explanation would be that volunteers have found ways to circumvent their detection. TOPS is an imperfect system: it allows multiple registrations by, for example, the use of a national insurance number in one unit and a passport in another. Data presented by the authors show that TOPS is underutilised: its UK competitor, the National Volunteer Register (NVR) holds just under 130,000 records from one single site, so it is of an approximately equal size to TOPS. Assuming a 5–10%market share of that particular unit, TOPS should hold records for the remaining 90–95 % of volunteers, i.e. well over one million records. Even assuming some overlap between the two systems, it shows that TOPS is not as widely used as the authors wish to claim. The reason may well be that TOPS is run by a contact research organisation (CRO) and that there may be some degree of apprehension by other users to submit data to one of their competitors. There are initiatives under way to create a European search system using a different approach than that of TOPS, Volunteer Inclusion Period (VIP)-Check, NVR and Volontaires Recherches Biomedicales (VRB). The latter systems are databases, whilst the former is a search engine only for accessing data held by clinical trial sites where it remains under the control of the local data controllers. It is collectively controlled by its users, and searches are based on robust personal identifiers yet provide better data protection to users submitting their data and the individuals whose data is accessed. Trials are under way in Germany and the UK and are scheduled for Belgium and Holland later this year. The system is low cost, flexible, not labour intensive to users, resilient to unauthorized access by hackers and, above all, international. No single database is likely to be established across Europe. Contrary to the authors’ assertion, France has the most sophisticated system in Europe for preventing volunteers from overvolunteering, but it can only do so in France. As with any national system, it is incapable of tracking volunteers crossing borders. VIP-Check or TOPS effectively are privately owned local service providers and can only ever be an addition but not an alternative to a search-engine-based system, which will be a major improvement over the current state of play.

How Global are Global Brands? An Empirical Brand Equity Analysis

The term has become widely used by the media and by consumers. Business week publishes annually its widely known ranking of the Best Global Brands (with Coca-Cola as number 1 in the past years) and consumers on summer vacations purchase such as Heineken or Marlboro they are familiar with from their home country. Although media and consumers call these and centralized marketing departments manage these globally – are these brands really global? Are they really perceived everywhere in the same way by the customers? Can we talk about truly global brand equity? And if there were brand image differences between countries, which factors causes them? The authors conducted an empirical research during May and June 2009 with similarly aged University students (bachelor students at business school) in Germany (n=426) and Mexico (n=296). The goal was to identify if brand awareness rates differ between Germans and Mexicans, if the brand image of Apple iPod is perceived in the same way in Germany and in Mexico and what influencing factors might have an impact on any brand image discrepancy between the countries. Results prove that brand recall rates differ between the two countries (with higher rates in Mexico) as well as brand image attributes vary significantly (28 out of 34 brand image attributes are significantly different between Germany and Mexico), with Mexico showing higher levels of favorable brand image attributes. Key influencing factors on the different brand image perceptions are perceived quality, satisfaction and the influence of reference groups (such as friends and family). The results suggest that so-called brands are not perceived the same way in Germany and Mexico. As a consequence, brand management using standardized marketing instruments for its presumable brands might be better off with a more differentiated approach that takes account a specific local brand image.

Soziale Ungleichheit in der gesundheitlichen Versorgung – Ein Plädoyer für systematische Forschung

Inequalities in health care are often discussed in an undifferentiated way in Germany. Against this background, this article presents an analysis scheme for a classification of relevant studies and an identification of research needs. To this aim, areas of health care are differentiated (ambulant and inpatient care, prevention and health promotion) and a difference is made between access, utilization and quality of care. According to this scheme, research regarding inequalities in health care can be conducted in nine fields. For each field, exemplary results of a recent study from Germany are summarized. It becomes apparent that there is a substantial lack of systematic research in inequalities in health care in Germany.

The platelet prophylactic transfusion trigger: when expectations meet reality

The platelet prophylactic transfusion trigger: when expectations meet reality

Report on the 124th ENMC International Workshop. Treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; defining the gold standards of management in the use of corticosteroids 2–4 April 2004, Naarden, The Netherlands

Thirty-two participants representing parents, funding agencies and clinicians involved in the care of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA met in Naarden on 2–4th April 2004. The meeting was held under the auspices of the ENMC Clinical Trials Network, and with the additional support of the United Parent Project. The aims of the workshop were to define the need for clinical trials in DMD and develop a protocol for such trials, relating primarily to the use of steroids (prednisolone, prednisone and deflazacort) in DMD. The first part of the meeting summarised the current state of practice on the use of steroids in DMD. Elizabeth Vroom (Netherlands) and Pat Furlong (USA) presented the views of parents surveyed by questionnaire by the United Parent Project. A major worry for parents was the lack of use of steroids at all in some countries, the multiplicity of steroid regimes used and the problems of getting firm information about which type of steroid or which regime for using steroids was best. This was reflected in the variation in practice amongst the participants at the Workshop, who between them used at least seven different regimes for giving steroids, and some did not use steroids at all. Adnan Manzur (UK), co-author of the Cochrane report on the use of glucocorticosteroids in DMD described the major findings of this systematic review [1]. Only five randomised controlled trials of the use of steroids in DMD were published in sufficient detail to be able to be included in the review. These trials did, however, present evidence that use of daily prednisolone (0.75 mg/kg per day) or deflazacort (0.9 mg/kg per day) increased strength in DMD. Robert Griggs, Richard Moxley (USA) and Doug Biggar (Canada) were able to confirm that long-term follow up of cohorts of patients treated under one or other of these regimes and who mostly continued using steroids beyond the loss of independent ambulation shows that this increase in strength is mirrored by improvement in function (with age at loss of ambulation in the mid teens, preservation of respiratory function, lack of need for scoliosis surgery and possibly preservation of cardiac function) [2–4]. With longterm use of steroids, the per kilogram dose of corticosteroid tended to reduce with time. In some cases, this was in response to side effects such as weight gain or behaviour changes, but in the majority represented a tendency not to keep up strictly with change in weight over time. Many different regimes for giving steroids in DMD have been suggested as a way to reduce the risk of the well-known side effects associated with the long-term use of daily steroids. The dose of 0.75 mg/kg per day was shown to be Neuromuscular Disorders 14 (2004) 526–534 www.elsevier.com/locate/nmd

Airbrushing heritability.

Airbrushing heritability.