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The article discusses global challenges such as climate change, a dramatic increase of the world's population, and the simultaneous expansion of the middle class have predicted to trigger an environmental and public health emergency. Topics include international and supranational organizations have set ambitious goals such as making the European Union CO₂-neutral; and sustainability has become increasingly important for companies for virtually all industries.

The article discusses implications of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU's) Coty judment for vertical online restrictions. It mentions that the European Union (EU) competition law principles that apply to selective distribution systems have been enforced primarily by national competition authorities since the 2004 decentralization of EU competition law enforcement.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most prevalent form of liver cancer, is difficult to diagnose and has limited treatment options with a low survival rate. Aside from a few key risk factors, such as hepatitis, high alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, and diabetes, there is incomplete etiologic understanding of the disease and little progress in identification of early risk biomarkers.Methods: To address these aspects, an untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic approach was applied to pre-diagnostic serum samples obtained from first incident, primary HCC cases (n = 114) and matched controls (n = 222) identified from amongst the participants of a large European prospective cohort.Results: A metabolic pattern associated with HCC risk comprised of perturbations in fatty acid oxidation and amino acid, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism was observed. Sixteen metabolites of either endogenous or exogenous origin were found to be significantly associated with HCC risk. The influence of hepatitis infection and potential liver damage was assessed, and further analyses were made to distinguish patterns of early or later diagnosis.Conclusion: Our results show clear metabolic alterations from early stages of HCC development with application for better etiologic understanding, prevention, and early detection of this increasingly common cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Die wissenschaftlich-technischen Arbeitsziele dieses vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft (BMWi) geförderten Projektes wurden in fünf Teilen erarbeitet. Die einzelnen Themen resultieren aus aktuellen Fragestellungen; sie haben dennoch einen allgemein anwendbaren Charakter. Das Konsortium hat die folgenden Teilprojekte bearbeitet: (1) Aufbau einer Messtechnik zur Bestimmung energetischer und lichttechnischer Kennzahlen von Tageslichtbauteilen mit einem round robin test, an dem drei Institute beteiligt waren. (2) Realisierung eines detaillierten Bewertungs- und Nachweisverfahrens für die Tageslichtversorgung von Innenräumen in unterschiedlichen Klimazonen. (3) Für die Beleuchtungskontrolle privater Lebensräume wurde ein 'Powerline Carrier Communication'-System evaluiert und die Vorteile gegenüber einem Funkübertragungssystem herausgearbeitet. (4) In einem Pflegeheim wurden quantitative Untersuchungen zum Wohlbefinden, zur Erfüllung von Sehaufgaben und zur Eignung zur Melatoninsuppression bei verschiedenen Szenarien der Allgemeinbeleuchtung mit zwei unterschiedlichen Farbtemperaturen der eingesetzten Lampen ('warmweißes Licht' mit TCP = 3000 K und 'kaltweißes Tageslicht' mit TCP = 6500 K) und vertikalen Beleuchtungsstärken an den Augen der Probanden zwischen 100 lx und 700 lx durchgeführt. (5) Für zwei Schulgebäude in Berlin wurde der Endenergiebedarf der Bestandsanlage, des Referenzgebäudes sowie der Neuplanung ermittelt. Dabei wurde in beiden Beispielen deutlich, dass die Bestandsanlage im Bereich der Beleuchtung den zulässigen Wert nach EnEV 2009 mitunter weit überschreitet. Eine gute Neuplanung hingegen kann den maximal zulässigen Wert deutlich unterschreiten. Diese Untersuchungen wurden von einem einjährigen Monitoring des Energieumsatzes begleitet. Eine Querschnittsanalyse über 48 Schulen mit insgesamt 86 Gebäuden zeigt unter anderem einen erheblichen Sanierungsbedarf bei Schulgebäuden, die vor 1990 errichtet wurden. Energy optimised lighting in buildings with simultaneous improvement of quality of life by daylight utilisation and innovative lamps and ballast techniques. The scientific and technical goals of this project were developed in five parts. The individual topics arising from current issues, they still have a generally applicable nature. The consortium has worked on the following subprojects: (1) Development of a measurement technique to determine energy and photometric key figures of daylight components with a round robin test with three institutes. (2) Implementation of a detailed evaluation and documentation process for daylighting of interior spaces in different climate zones. (3) For lighting control in private living areas a 'Power Line Carrier Communication' system has been evaluated and the advantages of a wireless transmission system were identified. (4) In a home for elderly quantitative studies on the well-being, for the fulfillment of visual tasks and the capability of melatonin suppression at different scenarios of general lighting with two different color temperatures of lamps ('warm white' with TCP = 3000 K and 'cold white daylight' with TCP = 6500 K) and vertical illuminance at the eyes of the subjects between 100 lx and 700 lx were performed. (5) For two school buildings in Berlin, the final energy consumption of the existing lighting system, the reference building and a re-planning were determined. It became clear in both examples that the existing lighting system exceeds the permitted value (EnEV 2009) by far. A good redesign, however, can be significantly less than the maximum allowed value. These studies were accompanied by a one-year monitoring of energy consumption. A cross-sectional analysis of 48 schools with a total of 86 buildings shows a substantial need for renovation of school buildings that were built before 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]