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The article discusses the dataset that represents the printed program of the Sunbelt Conference, the annual meeting of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), held in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2013. It explores the process creating the conference program based on submitted abstracts and proposed paper presentations and sessions. The dataset includes several tables used to create the printed and the interactive online program.

Pursued by authorities throughout the 1930s, Heinrich Habitz left behind a significant paper trail of official documentation, arrest warrants and imprisonment records. As Germany slipped further under National Socialist oppression, Habitz's status as a homosexual man who sold sex marked him as a target of police repression. Even after the end of the war, the Hamburg Prosecutor's Office attempted to locate and again prosecute him under the infamous §175 'sodomy law'. By rights, the study of Habitz should provide insights into the continuities of anti-queer repression between authoritarianism and democracy, but for one key point: 'Heinrich Habitz' existed only as a paper identity in official bureaucracy, and the 'man' authorities repeatedly persecuted was, in fact, a self-identified woman named 'Liddy Bacroff'. Through a series of semi-autobiographical writings, alongside official paperwork, Liddy Bacroff presents the value of but also the difficulties facing the (re)construction of queer and, in particular, transgender (pre)histories. In this instance, the historian is not just faced with the problem of how this life, and others like it, should be represented in historiographical terms. We are left also with the question of how this victim of National Socialist barbarity should (or rather, can) be remembered: as the paper identity that provided a succession of carceral authorities with the justification to persecute and ultimately murder a cisgender gay man, or as the lived experience of a woman whose unique self-understanding allowed her to carve out her place in a society that otherwise relegated her to its margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the heat demand of existing buildings is an essential prerequisite for achieving a greenhouse gas-neutral energy supply. Numerous studies and open-source tools deal with heat demand mapping. It is not uncommon that estimated heat demands deviate from real heat consumption, so existing approaches should be improved by including in-depth building information. Some tools have recognised this problem and offer built-in functions for factoring various parameters into their assessments. Nevertheless, the necessary information is usually missing and should be obtained first. In this paper, we analyse the impact of thermal refurbishment and climate on building heat demand; hence, generate public datasets with corresponding key figures for each building type in different efficiency states and years. Accounting for already performed refurbishments in methodologies for assessing the actual state heat demand for cities will result in a reduction of at least 8% up to more than 21%, depending on whether conventional or passive house components were installed. As a result of climatic differences within Germany, a building's heat demand can be up to 39% higher or up to 21% lower than the heat demand of an identical building in the reference climate of Germany. By further developing the approaches of the tools Hotmaps and Heat Cadastre Hamburg, we could improve the estimated heat demand of Hamburg to a value approximating the real consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the crucial steps for a successful integration of electric bus fleets into the existing electric power systems is the active and intelligent usage of their flexibility. This is important not only for reducing the eventual negative effects on the power grid but also for reducing energy and infrastructure costs. The first step in the optimal usage of flexibility is its quantification, which allows the maximum provision of flexibility without any negative effects for the fleet operation. This paper explores the available flexibility of large-scale electric bus fleets with a concept of centralized and unidirectional depot charging. An assessment of available positive and negative flexibility was conducted based on the data from two real bus depots in the city of Hamburg, Germany. The analysis shows the biggest flexibility potential was in the period from 16:00 h to 24:00 h, and the smallest one was in the periods from 08:00 h to 16:00 h, as well as from 02:00 h to 08:00 h. The paper also gives an overview of the possible markets for flexibility commercialization in Germany, which can provide an additional economic benefit for the fleet operators. A further analysis of the impact of parameters such as the timeline (working day or weekend), charging concept, ambient temperature, and electrical preconditioning provides an additional understanding of available flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the birth date on state documents is proposed as an unambiguous marker of IDentity, the age assessment of migrants into Germany reveals a contested and black-boxed practice behind the seemingly neutral numbers. This is a practice of contested bureaucratic and scientific decision-making turned into a stable truth. This article examines this process by drawing on ethnographic research into forensic practices assessing migrants' ages in Hamburg, Germany. Ultimately, a migrant's assessed age has crucial consequences for their identity, rights and possibilities. Through a study of the technologies of assessment, this paper shows that the making of age IDentity is relational and ambiguous, and not a truth that is fixed in one's body as 'biological age'. This challenges one of the promises of biometrics, an ability to measure 'the body' objectively. Rather, the paper proposes that what that body precisely is is an outcome of a specific practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks how language and other semiotic resources are deployed in the semiotic landscape of Thai restaurants in the city of Hamburg, Germany. Based on detailed multimodal analysis of signage in twelve restaurants, this study draws on both established and underexplored topics in Linguistic Landscape scholarship, including the analysis of sign-genres, the distinction between communicative and symbolic functions of signs, the role of language choice in authenticating place, and the emplacement of signs in the semiotic landscape. A scheme for the classification of restaurant signs by discourse function and emplacement is proposed. The findings suggest that the analytical distinctions between inside and outside space as well as primary and secondary signs are useful for the study of restaurants and other commercial semiotic spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Raumforschung und Raumordnung is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The global connection of production and labour markets intensifies circular migration patterns and mobile lifestyles. Highly qualified migrants play an increasingly prominent role as illustrated by policy initiatives to recruit skilled professionals. So far there is little evidence about the relationship between mobile groups and urban development processes. It remains unclear to what extent mobile lifestyles and the maintenance of transnational ties affect local incorporation patterns. Our paper has two main objectives. First, it examines the role of specific settings for ‘grounding’ high-skilled migrants. We particularly focus on social networks such as work environments, migrant communities and web-based social networks. Second, it discusses if the city context influences the modes of incorporation. The paper draws on qualitative interviews with high-skilled migrants from non-European countries in two large German cities with divergent development trajectories. Our findings show that local social networks are important settings for facilitating the incorporation of high-skilled migrants. While the comparison indicates some variations between the two cities, the overall patterns of local incorporation are relatively consistent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Germany is undergoing an energy transition. By 2045, fossil fuels will be gradually replaced by clean energy. An alternative option is to use geothermal, solar and wind energy to generate heat or electricity. Currently, an economic model that considers these three energy sources and incorporates the design and installation of the energy system as well as operational costing focusing on the local market is lacking. In this study, we present a concept for a hybrid energy system combining solar, wind and geothermal energy for small, detached houses. We also develop a simplified economic model for the German market and local energy subsidy policies. The model was applied to two different cities in northern Germany, calculating the installation and long-term operating costs of different energy systems and combinations over a period of 100 years, including the consideration of the lifespan of variable equipment. The calculations show that for this small hybrid energy system the initial installation costs can vary from EUR 20,344 to EUR 70,186 depending on different portfolios. Long-term operating costs come mainly from electricity purchased from the grid to compensate for periods of low solar or wind production. In addition, the study included a calculation of the payback period for retrofitting a natural gas heating system. Results show that combining a photovoltaic system with a ground source heat pump, especially in the form of a near-surface heat exchanger, yields a shorter payback period (5 to 10 years). However, the incorporation of on-roof wind turbines into the hybrid energy system may significantly prolong the payback period and is therefore not recommended for use in low wind speed areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Mineral deficiencies are very widespread among small ruminant herds throughout the world and play a big role in small ruminant herd health management. This paper describes the occurrence of a primary molybdenosis causing secondary copper deficiency, combined with ovine white liver disease (cobalt deficiency) and white muscle disease (selenium deficiency) in a group of pastured ram lambs in Northern Germany. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first proven report of multiple trace element deficiencies in sheep in Germany for decades. To the author's knowledge this paper describes the first proven report of a combined primary molybdenosis, secondary copper (Cu) deficiency, Ovine White Liver Disease—Cobalt (Co) deficiency, and selenium (Se) deficiency in a small pedigree herd of White Horned Heath sheep in Germany (8 ewes, 2 rams, 3 yearling ewes, 17 lambs) for decades. Clinical signs associated with these mineral deficiencies in a group of pastured ram lambs included emaciation, conjunctivitis, anaemia, growth retardation, discolouration of the wool and photodermatitis. Morbidities and mortalities arose in 4–6-month-old lambs despite intensive veterinary treatment in the summer of 2014 and 2015 (n = 13, 23% died). Se (3/5), Cu (4/7), and Co (3/3) deficiencies in combination with elevated values for Molybdenum (Mo, 2/2) were found. Hamburg is a large industrial city and an input of heavy metals from surrounding industries and coal-fired power stations in combination with a sandy, non-fertilised soil and monoculture grass species might offer a potential explanation for the severity of mineral deficiencies observed in this herd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the conception, development and deployment of a novel HCI system for public participation and decision-making. This system was applied for the process of allocating refugee accommodation in the City of Hamburg within the FindingPlaces project (FP) in 2016. The CityScope (CS) – a rapid prototyping platform for urban planning and decision-making – offered a technical solution which was complemented by a workshop process to facilitate effective interaction of multiple participants and stakeholder groups. This paper presents the origins of CS and the evolution of the tangible user interface approach to urban planning and public participation. It further outlines technical features of the system, including custom hardware and software in use, utilization in real-time as well as technical constraints and limitations. Special focus is on the adaptation of the CS technology to the specific demands of Hamburg´s FP project, whose procedures, processes, and results are reflected. The final section analyzes success factors as well as shortcomings of the approach, and indicates further R&D as well as application scenarios for the CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Esophagectomy carries a high risk of morbidity and mortality compared to other major surgeries. With the aim of creating an easy-to-use clinical preoperative risk assessment tool and to validate previously described risk factors for major complications following surgery, esophagectomies at two tertiary medical centers were analyzed. Methods: A total of 450 patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal carcinoma at the University Medical Centre, Hamburg, or at the Medical Center University Duisburg-Essen, Germany (January 2008 to January 2020) were retrospectively analyzed. Epidemiological and perioperative data were analyzed to identify the risk factors that impact major complication rates. The primary endpoint of this study was to determine the incidence of major complications. Results: The mean age of the patients was 63 years with a bimodal distribution. There was a male predominance across the cohort (81% vs. 19%, respectively). Alcohol abuse (p = 0.0341), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p = 0.0264), and cardiac comorbidity (p = 0.0367) were associated with a significantly higher risk of major complications in the multivariate analysis. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of major postoperative complications (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Various patient-related risk factors increased the rate of major complications following esophagectomy. Patient-tailored prehabilitation programs before esophagectomy that focus on minimizing these risk factors may lead to better surgical outcomes and should be analyzed in further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are an increasing global phenomenon. In diverse places, they are established and sought of as helpful means to improve urban places. BIDs are frequently seen as a showcase for new forms of globalizing urban policies. This paper contrasts and broadens the frequent examples from the United States and the United Kingdom with experiences from Germany. We argue that this presents not just another example of BIDs as a mode of global neoliberal urban governance in yet another country. Instead, our case study highlights the elasticity and resilience of said concept and the impact of local trajectories on the mobilization of modes of urban governance. Compared with other places, BIDs in Germany remain relatively weak in terms of financial power. Nonetheless, the case of Hamburg shows how they are made suitable for discourses and practices of a neoliberalized “European City.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although urbanization poses one of the largest threats for biodiversity, only few studies have so far examined its impact in large Central European cities. Our study aimed at investigating the effects of urbanization on bird diversity using two methods to describe the urban environment. The first measure used the degree of sealing, portion of traffic infrastructure, number of floors of the tallest building at a site scale (100-m radius), and the distance from the city center, while the second one relied on land-cover data at a local scale (1000-m radius). We conducted bird surveys at 761 sites across Hamburg. Bird diversity was assessed as species richness, abundance, and Shannon index. Additionally, evenness was calculated. Both urbanization measures represented a rural-to-urban gradient and were negatively correlated with bird diversity as well as evenness. At the site scale, the degree of sealing had the strongest negative effect on bird diversity followed by the portion of traffic infrastructure and the tallest building. At the local scale, artificial surfaces proved to have the strongest negative effect, while agricultural areas and forests were positively associated with bird diversity. In general, models using the site scale for measuring urbanization showed higher associations with diversity. The results emphasize the importance of unsealed areas in the urban environment and of natural habitats in the periphery for bird diversity in Central European cities with millions of human inhabitants. Considering this for future city planning can help to preserve biodiversity in the urban environment, increase bird diversity in development areas, and thus improve living conditions for people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mental disorders are highly prevalent in Germany, and associated with decreased quality of life for those affected as well as high economic burden for the society. The purpose of this study was to determine the excess costs of mental disorders and to examine how these differ with respect to disease severity. Methods: We analyzed mean 6-month costs using the baseline data from the RECOVER trial in Hamburg, Germany, which evaluates an innovative stepped-care model for mental disorders. Four severity levels were classified based on the current level of mental illness, loss of functioning, and psychiatric diagnosis. In this work, direct costs (outpatient, inpatient, and social/informal care) and indirect costs (sick leave, unemployment, and early retirement) were estimated using interview-based data on health care utilization and productivity losses. Excess costs were determined by matching a comparison group of the German general population without mental disorders. Group differences in sociodemographic covariates and somatic comorbidities were balanced using entropy balancing. Excess costs by severity levels were estimated using generalized linear models (GLM) with gamma distribution and log-link function. Results: Overall, the RECOVER group included n = 816 and the comparison group included n = 3226 individuals. Mean total 6-month excess costs amounted to 19,075€, with higher indirect excess costs (13,331€) than direct excess costs (5744€) in total excess costs. The excess costs increased with increasing disease severity, ranging from 6,123€ with mild disease severity (level 1) to 31,883€ with severe mental illness (level 4). Indirect excess costs ranged from 5612€ in level 1 to 21,399€ in level 4, and were statistically significant for all disease severity levels. In contrast, direct excess costs were only statistically significant for the levels 2 to 4, and ranged from 511€ in level 1 to 10,485€ in level 4. The main cost drivers were hospital stays (level 2–4), sick leave and unemployment (all levels), and early retirement (level 3–4). Discussion: Mental disorders are associated with high costs that increase with the level of disease severity, which was also shown for individual ICD-10 diagnosis groups. Due to their influence on costs, indirect costs and disease severity levels should be considered in future cost-of-illness studies of mental disorders. Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov, trial registration number NCT03459664. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as its point of departure the rapid expansion in the proportion of students graduating with a university entrance diploma (Abitur) in Germany, this paper adds to research on the mechanisms and effects of academic educational expansion, a worldwide phenomenon in the 20th and 21st century. Drawing on Boudon's theory of primary and secondary effects of social origin, we seek to understand if the educational expansion went along with a decreasing or persisting role of social background. Therefore, we analyze educational inequalities in two respects: first, in the transition from primary school to the academic track (Gymnasium) leading to the Abitur and, second, in the transition to tertiary education after academic upper secondary education. The study is based on two student cohorts (initial N = 13,026 and N = 13,873) who obtained university entrance diplomas in 2005 (cohort 1) and 2011/2012 (cohort 2) in the school system of the federal state of Hamburg (Germany). These cohorts were assessed during secondary education between 1996 (start of cohort 1) and 2012 (end of cohort 2). Employing the KHB decomposition method, we break the total effect of social background down into the relative importance of achievement differentials (primary effects) and educational decisions (secondary effects). Our findings indicate no changes in the total effects of social background and thus suggest that educational inequalities related to social origin persisted in both of the transitions we studied. However, when comparing both cohorts, we noted a clear decrease in secondary effects regarding transitions to the academic secondary track, meaning that achievement-related social differences gained in importance compared to the period before the educational expansion. At the same time, we observed a slight increase in the relative importance of secondary effects for transitions to tertiary education during the expansion. As a further result, our study shows that the rapid expansion of academic upper secondary graduation is mainly the consequence of an increase in the number of Abitur graduates via alternative paths besides the Gymnasium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2004, collapse sinkholes occur on the sports field of Münsterdorf, a village north of Hamburg in Germany. The sinkholes, around 2–5 m in diameter and 3–5 m deep, develop in peri-glacial sand, which at around 20 m depth is underlain by Cretaceous chalk. The chalk has been pushed up close to the surface by a salt diapir. The sinkhole formation initiated suddenly and occurs with a frequency of one every 2 years. We use a variety of geophysical results (e.g. gravity, electrical resistivity imaging, ground-penetrating radar) from previous fieldwork campaigns together with a new data set from direct-push-based methods to infer mechanical and hydrological properties of the material beneath the sports field (peri-glacial sand, glacial marl, Cretaceous chalk). Based on the derived material properties, we develop a mechanical model for the sinkhole collapse, starting from simple analytical considerations and then moving towards a three-dimensional distinct-element model explaining the sudden onset of collapse sinkholes for the sports field. The mechanical model supports our hypothesis that the sudden onset of sinkholes is triggered by changes in groundwater level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: After rapidly opening up a low-threshold clinic to support heavily opioid-dependent persons at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 in Hamburg (Germany), this non-interventional study evaluated the feasibility and short-term effects of opioid substitution treatment (OST). The low-threshold concept was customized for the pandemic situation and is the first of its kind in Germany. Methods: Patients who had already begun treatment were questioned in two assessments, at T1 shortly after beginning treatment and at T2 6 months later. The primary outcome criterion was their quality of life using the OSTQOL. Secondary criteria included retention rate, their mental and physical health (measured by the BSI-18 and the OTI Health Scale), social situation, drug use, COVID-19 status, and satisfaction with treatment. Results: Out of 84 patients included in the study, 51 participated in both assessments, resulting in a 6-month retention rate of 60.7%. 27.5% were females, and 72.5% were males. The feasibility question of the low-threshold OST clinic can clearly be answered positively. During the course of the study over 6 months, the situation mainly remained stable regarding quality of life, physical and mental health, and days of drug consumption. Patients significantly reduced the time they spent on the drug scene from 8.5 (SD = 7.56) to 6.1 (SD = 6.71) hours a day between the beginning of OST and T2 (p = 0.020). While 56.9% answered to be homeless at the beginning of OST, only 33.3% answered not to have found an accommodation by T2 (p = 0.012). The number of patients having contact to social workers increased from 51.0% to 74.5% (p = 0.004). Almost 2 fifths of the patients took part in PCR testing for COVID-19 (that only being done if they had symptoms), and none of the tests were positive. Discussion/Conclusions: Overall, the low-threshold OST clinic has been successfully implemented in order to help a vulnerable group of people navigate through a global pandemic and support the public health sector. Further conclusions on effects are limited by the short study period and the small number of patients, which calls for further research studies in a larger setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting species trends across different habitat types and larger regions is required to generate a general and reliable foundation for conservation planning. While direct monitoring data covering a large spatial and temporal extent are mostly lacking, data collected for other purposes than monitoring can be considered to detect trends. Here we analyzed both habitat type and plant species trends over several decades (1979–2017), using repeated habitat survey data from the habitat mapping program of the city and federal state of Hamburg. Next to transitions between habitat types, we looked for differences between winner and loser species, considering also their habitat type preference, red list, and non‐native status. Furthermore, we assessed the consistency between trends of habitat types and species that are characteristic of those habitat types. We found declines in habitat area of semi‐natural (semi‐)dry grasslands and semi‐ruderal vegetation and increases in habitat area of species‐poor grasslands, pioneer forests, and human settlements. More species showed positive than negative trends over time, with winners including many forest and scrub as well as non‐native species, while losers were represented mostly by endangered and ruderal species. Most habitat types included a mixture of both winner and loser species. Habitat type trends were mostly not reflected in trends of species that were characteristic of a particular habitat, such as semi‐natural (semi‐)dry grasslands. This can be explained, on the one hand, by species extinction debts, and on the other hand, by a low habitat specificity of some species that find refuges also in secondary habitats. Our study not only shows the difficulties but also offers methods on how to use repeated habitat mapping data to detect trends for habitat types and plant species. In contrast to monitoring programs focusing on individual endangered habitats, results from repeated habitat surveys allow the identification of those secondary habitats of a species that might contribute the most to preserving populations of their primary habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over several decades, the dental caries burden in the deciduous dentition has decreased in Germany. However, a dependency of the caries burden on social parameters, such as socio-economic status (SES) or migration background, is generally described. Therefore, the aim of the evaluation was to analyse to what extent children with a low social class affiliation or a migration background have participated in the caries decline. For the city of Hamburg, Germany, data from a series of five caries epidemiological surveys in day-care centres are available since 1977. Using the same methodology, the dmft values were determined, according to WHO criteria, and in addition including initial caries (IC). For the present evaluation, the data and the changes of caries load (caries prevalence and caries experience; dmft) over time were compared with reference to SES and a migration background. A decrease in the caries prevalence from 58.4% to 22.7% and in the dmft value from 2.6 to 0.8 was determined from 1977 to 2016 (WHO criteria). Including IC, the caries prevalence has decreased from 91.0% to 44.4%, and the caries experience shows a decline from 6.4 to 1.8. The caries reduction can be observed in children of all social classes and regardless of a migration background, although significant differences in caries prevalence and caries experience remain recognisable for each survey through 2016. In conclusion, preschool children from families with low SES or with a migration background have not been left behind in the improvement of dental health, but have also benefited from caries prevention measures in roughly the same order of magnitude as other children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Even almost 30 years after the ban on the use of asbestos in Germany, the effects of asbestos are still highly relevant in everyday clinical practice in occupational medicine. The aim of this study was to further investigate the significance of essential parameters of both pulmonary function diagnostics and imaging techniques (low-dose HR-TCT) for the prevention and early detection of asbestos-related morphological and functional lung changes.Methods: Data from spirometry, body plethysmography and diffusion capacity, as well as CT images of the thorax, were retrospectively studied from 72 patients examined between 2017 and 2019 at the Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), Hamburg, Germany. The subjects were divided into four subgroups according to the presence of comorbidities (concomitant cardiac diseases, obstructive ventilatory disorder, pulmonary function pattern consistent with emphysema, and no other pulmonary or cardiac diseases). These subgroups were analysed in addition to the overall collective. The CT images were evaluated according to the International Classification of Occupational and Environmental Respiratory Diseases (ICOERD) with radiological expertise. In addition, some asbestos-related parameters were newly quantified, and corresponding scores were defined based on ICOERD. Statistical analysis included the use of correlations and fourfold tables with calculation of Spearman's rho (ρ), Cohen's κ, and accuracy.Results: Vital capacity (VC) is slightly reduced in the total collective compared to the normal population (mean 92% of predicted value), while diffusion capacity for CO (DLCO) shows predominantly pathological values, mean 70% of the respective predicted value. The CO transfer coefficient (DLCO/VA), which refers to alveolar volume (VA), also shows slightly decreased values (mean 87% pred.). Seventy-nine percent of patients (n = 57) had signs of pulmonary fibrosis on CT scans, and pleural plaques appeared in 58 of 72 patients (81%). Of the newly quantified additional parameters, particularly frequently described findings are subpleural curvilinear lines (SC, n = 39) and parenchymal bands (PB, n = 29). VC correlates well with the expression of pleural plaques (ρ = - 0.273, P < 0.05), and DLCO measures show a better correlation with fibrosis score (ρ = - 0.315, P < 0.01). A third, newly developed score, which includes the extent of pleural plaques and additional subpleural parameters instead of fibrosis parameters, shows significant correlations for both VC and DLCO (ρ = - 0.283, - 0.274, resp.; both P < 0.05).Discussion: The importance of spirometry (VC) and diffusion capacity measurement (DLCO) as essential diagnostic procedures for the early detection of asbestos-related changes ‒ also including patients with relevant concomitant cardiac or pulmonary diseases ‒ was confirmed. Significant and better correlations between lung function changes (VC and DLCO) and abnormal CT findings are seen when parenchymal bands (PB), subpleural curvilinear lines (SC), and rounded atelectasis (RA) are quantitatively included into the evaluation, in addition to assessing the extent of pleural plaques alone. Therefore, when assessing CT images according to ICOERD, these parameters should also be quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how women refugees in Hamburg, Germany, many arriving either as minors or unaccompanied minors (now young adults), managed to overcome information precarity resulting from limited access to the internet and/or traditional media, while experiencing constantly-changing living conditions. Findings from 32 semi-structured interviews with refugee women from various countries show that their perception of precarity was amplified by limited internet access. Refugee women actively sought to overcome this precarity, exhibiting resourcefulness in finding ways to access the internet, digital media, and information and communication technology tools. This study does not exclusively focus on mobile phone use, but the findings indicate that mobile phones represent a lifeline for refugee women that is as vital as food or shelter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Applied & Regional Geology / Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften (ZDGG) is the property of E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Estimating infectious disease parameters such as the serial interval (time between symptom onset in primary and secondary cases) and reproductive number (average number of secondary cases produced by a primary case) are important in understanding infectious disease dynamics. Many estimation methods require linking cases by direct transmission, a difficult task for most diseases.Methods: Using a subset of cases with detailed genetic and/or contact investigation data to develop a training set of probable transmission events, we build a model to estimate the relative transmission probability for all case-pairs from demographic, spatial and clinical data. Our method is based on naive Bayes, a machine learning classification algorithm which uses the observed frequencies in the training dataset to estimate the probability that a pair is linked given a set of covariates.Results: In simulations, we find that the probabilities estimated using genetic distance between cases to define training transmission events are able to distinguish between truly linked and unlinked pairs with high accuracy (area under the receiver operating curve value of 95%). Additionally, only a subset of the cases, 10-50% depending on sample size, need to have detailed genetic data for our method to perform well. We show how these probabilities can be used to estimate the average effective reproductive number and apply our method to a tuberculosis outbreak in Hamburg, Germany.Conclusions: Our method is a novel way to infer transmission dynamics in any dataset when only a subset of cases has rich contact investigation and/or genetic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations at a construction site in Hamburg (NW Germany) exposed palaeoseismic structures from moderate to strong earthquakes. Based on the large size of large blowout clastic dykes being up to 2.0 m wide and 2.5 m high, as well as the occurrence of infill structures, erratics/rafts of up to 9 kg in weight, seismites s.s. and decimetre-scale folds or seismoslumps, the magnitude of the earthquakes could be in the order of up to M ≥ 6. This is significantly higher than previously assumed for prehistorical seismic events in NW Germany. The structures are assigned to earthquakes possibly related to NW–SE-oriented faults that are evident in Lidar and SAR surface interpretations. Organic material from blowout-related infill bowls, assumed to be synchronously formed collapse depressions, are analysed for 14C ages. The dates reveal ages between 31,500 and 1200 14C cal a BP, indicating five prehistoric earthquakes. Accordingly, three of these earthquakes occurred before and after the main Weichselian glaciation phase (ca. 31,350, 26,850 and 18,980 14C cal a BP), and two occurred during the Subatlantic (ca. 4900 and 1200 14C cal a BP). The Weichselian events indicate seismic activity in the ice marginal zone during or following interstadials/Dansgaard–Oeschger events, as well as suggesting that advancing ice sheets foster earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article investigates in laboratory conditions the effect of cyclic freezing and thawing (CFT) on characteristics of the neat bitumen and bitumens modified with different polymers, as well as stone mastic asphalt concretes prepared with the use of the neat and the modified bitumens. Maximal and minimal temperature in cycles of freezing and thawing (FT) is accepted equal to +20 °C and −18 ± 2 °C respectively. Characteristics of low temperature resistance of bitumens (stiffness S and m-value) have been determined on bending beam rheometer at the temperatures of −24 °C, −30 °C, and −36 °C. Strength at direct tension of the stone mastic asphalt concretes has been evaluated in the device TRAVIS (Infratest Ltd., Brackenheim, Germany) at the temperatures of 0 °C, −10 °C, −20 °C, and −30 °C. Resistance of stone mastic asphalt concretes to rutting has been determined on a Hamburg wheel tracking machine. The characteristics of the bitumens have been determined in the initial condition and after 25 and 50 cycles of FT, and the characteristics of stone mastic asphalt concretes, in the initial condition and after 50 cycles of FT. The results obtained experimentally have shown that CFT impacts essentially on the investigated characteristics of bitumens and stone mastic asphalt concretes. Modification with polymers improves the mechanical characteristics of the bitumens and decreases the effect of CFT. It is also found out that when selecting a bitumen for specific climatic conditions it is necessary to take into account both the number of cycles of FT and the characteristic low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hamburg currently exemplifies the departure from a straightforward neoliberal urban track. The city's neoliberal path only moved into full swing in the first decade of the 2000s. During this period, urban development was primarily subject to property market mechanisms-with projects being granted to the highest bidder-prompting effects such as rapidly rising rents, deepened social segregation and increased property-led displacement. Since 2009, however, the city's entrepreneurial urban policy encountered comprehensive resistance movements that eventually led to the rediscovery of a political will for a new housing policy and interventionist policy instruments. This article focuses on the turning point of neoliberal policies and examines the wider scope of the contemporary urban agenda in Hamburg. We first conceptualize potential limits of the neoliberal city in general and then discuss three momentous local policy experiments-the International Building Exhibition, promising 'improvement without displacement'; the rediscovery of housing regulations through the 'Social Preservation Statute'; and the 'Alliance for Housing', aiming to tackle the housing shortage. We discuss these approaches as funding, regulation, and actor-based approaches to limiting the neoliberal city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand response has been noted as a major element of future smart energy systems. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the demand response actions in different conditions—including climate, dynamic energy price, and building types. This study examines energy and cost saving potential of the rule-based demand response in district heating network, in three different building types, in Germany and Finland. The studied building types are apartment buildings, cultural centers, and office buildings. The real-time pricing-based demand response is applied to space heating under the climate conditions of Helsinki, Finland and Hamburg, Germany. Moreover, the typical synthetic dynamic price data, which are based on both counties' district heating production structure, is applied separately for each countries' cases. Simulations of this study are conducted with validated simulation tool IDA ICE. The results present that the demand response can provide energy and cost savings around 0.5–7.7% and 0.7–8.1% respectively, depending on the building type and country. The results indicate that marginal value of the control signal, climate conditions, and the dynamic price of the district heating have effect on the demand response saving potential. Flatter district heating price profile provides less savings than a more fluctuating profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]