Search

Research in the past decades repeatedly revealed university students' struggles to properly understand physical chemistry concepts. In contrast to school, tertiary teaching relies heavily on the symbolic level, mainly applying abstract representations such as equations and diagrams. To follow the lessons and generate conceptual understanding, students need to connect those representations with macroscopic and submicroscopic aspects of the scientific concept depicted. For German first-year chemistry students, this increase in abstraction in a major subject of study contributes to excessive demand and demotivation (especially during out-of-class learning) and increases the risk of early dropouts. We designed a simulation-based learning environment (BIRC: Bridging Imagination and Representation in Chemistry) to suit the needs of first-year students and support them when learning physical chemistry at home. Our approach, featuring molecular dynamics simulations, requires students to assess their own mental models on the submicroscopic level and connect them to equations and diagrams on the symbolic level. Prior studies did already highlight the potential of individual BIRC learning units to foster conceptual understanding on specific topics. In this paper, we investigate if and how students of a broader sample use these learning activities as voluntary supplement beside regular coursework. During the term, we used think-aloud protocols, interviews and eight online questionnaires to analyse students' mental and emotional interaction while working on BIRC, assessing whether students perceived BIRC as a suitable, enjoyable and supportive resource to enhance learning. Via two paper & pencil achievement tests we examined students' retention concerning submicroscopic mental models and their ability to connect these mental models with symbolic representations 5-10 weeks later. Our findings indicate a cognitively engaging, comparably enjoyable learning process, which strengthens conceptual understanding and -- despite the necessary time and effort -- induces a broad number of students to voluntarily work on several units at home.

Avatar-based virtual reality (VR) is becoming more prevalent in industry and educational settings. There is, however, limited research on the extent to which gender stereotypes are present in this environment. The university laboratory study presented in this paper was conducted in a VR environment with participants who were randomly assigned to male or female avatars and instructed to negotiate the role of a manager or member of staff. The results reveal differences in satisfaction regarding their roles and gender. Participants who embodied a female avatar were less happy when they were subordinates interacting with a male avatar, compared to participants embodying a male avatar in the staff role (interacting with a female avatar). Male avatars with staff roles were also more content with their avatar than male avatars with manager roles and also reported being more comfortable in the VR experience. Relevant for diversity management when integrating VR in education and business, the results are discussed in regard to self-similarity and social identity dynamics and provide insight into understanding the extent to which gender stereotypes may be present in avatar-based VR.

Online and virtual teaching-learning has been a panacea that most educational institutions adopted from the dire need created by COVID-19. We provide a comprehensive bibliometric study of 9523 publications on virtual laboratories in higher education covering the years 1991 to 2021. Influential bibliometrics such as publications and citations, productive countries, contributing institutions, funders, journals, authors, and bibliographic couplings were studied using the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol. A new metric to complement citations called Field Weighted Citation Impact was introduced that considers the differences in research behavior across disciplines. Findings show that 72% of the research work was published between 2011-and 2021, most likely due to digitalization, with the highest number of publications in 2020-2021 highlighting the impact of the pandemic. Top contributing institutions were from the developed economies of Spain, Germany, and the United States. The citation impact from publications with international co-authors is the highest, highlighting the importance of co-authoring papers with different countries. For the first time, Altmetrics in the context of virtual labs were studied though a very low correlation was observed between citations and Altmetrics Attention Score. Still, the overall percentage of publications with attention showed linear growth. Our work also highlights that virtual laboratory could play a significant role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG4-Quality Education, which largely remains under-addressed.

The shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the implementation of digital technology to advance many new applications. Digital applications were believed to be indispensable for changes in learning environments and strategies that would enhance the capacity and quality of learning through focused motivation, communicative interaction, and stronger selfdetermination. This text will discuss prominent arguments for digital learning and digital technologies that might initiate a digital turn. To this end, this paper reflects on the psychological and mental conditions of human learning, evaluates the potential opportunities of digital tools within the context of teaching and learning, and concludes with consequences for music learning in public schools

Games have been successfully used in educational settings for many years. Still, it is not known in detail which factors influence the use and effectiveness of educational games. The game environment, its technology, and other game mechanics are factors directly linked to the game itself. The player's experience with the subject of the game and/or games in general, his or her motivation and expectations towards the gaming experience influence the outcome of a game-based learning experience. Some of the personal aspects, like age, were already addressed in earlier research. Cultural and gender differences though, were not a main object of study in educational gaming so far. This study started from certain assumptions about differences in game play, related to players' cultural backgrounds and gender. Literature suggests that gender plays a role when it comes to game performance. This paper introduces outcomes of a study with a so-called Microgame, a brief game used to raise the awareness of interdependent planning operations. It shows that in this game, gender and culture make a difference in relation to the learning experience of the players, measured by game performance.

Simulations and virtual or remote laboratories are increasingly used in schools. The extent to which individual experimental skills can be acquired when experimenting in digital applications is, however, questionable. This paper focuses on finding multimedia features for digital experiments to support the transfer of measured values from the laboratory system to a diagram. Beside physical considerations, spatial translation processes could be crucial for a successful assignment. Therefore, the influence of the subjects' spatial ability is examined. Using a pretest post-test design (N = 119), the effects of training with supportive animation (animation group) and training with an interactive task and feedback (interactive group) were tested. The results of both groups were each compared to those of a reference group. Eye tracking data were recorded during training to investigate the origin of different training effects. Hence, fixations and saccades during training were analyzed. For the investigation of the distribution of the saccadic movements, polar diagrams were used in combination with estimated probability density functions. The results show that the score in the pretest is correlated to the score achieved in the card rotation test, which measures the spatial rotation skills of the subjects. Further, the subjects in the interactive group benefited from the training more than the subjects in the reference group did. There were no significant differences in the effect of the training between the animation group and the reference group. Eye tracking data reveal that the training in the interactive group caused the most comparative eye movements between the laboratory system and the diagram. The training in the animation group led to the highest visual attention; however, subjects in this group concentrated on the dynamic elements. These results indicate that especially students with weak spatial skills need additional support when transferring measured values from the laboratory system to the diagram. This assignment can be practiced in computer-based experiments, in particular with an interactive training task and feedback. Additionally, the analysis showed that the training is equally suitable for learners with different spatial abilities. A corresponding task was implemented into a virtual laboratory.

This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on how prospective foreign language teachers can learn to be successful telecollaborators. We investigate Polish and German TEFL students' perceptions of how they develop the competences, attitudes, and beliefs described by O'Dowd (2015) through experiential learning in a virtual exchange. Using grounded theory as its research methodology, our study used data from three different sources: (a) a pre- and post-project survey investigating students' changing perceptions of the relevance of telecollaboratively taught classes for their professional and personal development, (b) a survey and ethnographic observation focusing on students' perceptions of and attitudes toward distributed teaching presence in the exchange project (cf. Turula & Grau, 2018), and (c) a case study employing a survey and a semi-structured interview with a participant who carried out her own telecollaborative project in a primary school. The necessarily tentative results of this small-scale investigation point toward the suitability of the experiential learning approach for the development of organisational, digital, and pedagogical telecollaborative competences, potentially shaping prospective teachers' attitudes and beliefs.

The conveyance of knowledge of the life cycles performed by fungi and plants with spores is a challenge for teaching in university education. The life cycles of fungi, in particular, can be very complex and difficult to understand. This paper presents the development and implementation of a German and English educational software program, including seven animated life cycles of fungi, two animated developments of fungal meiosporangia, and two examples each for ferns, mosses, and algae (cryptogams). We could show that the use of the software supported the study of fungi and spore-producing plants. It was possible to identify attributes of usability that contributed to a high quality of the educational material in concrete teaching situations. Notably, an easy handling of the software and an appropriate amount of information per animation step are crucial. In addition to the didactic insights, the conversations between the animation designers and the mycologist on correct details of developmental processes in the animations lead to interesting questions concerning cell biology. Some of the resulting open questions are at the edge of currently available knowledge, e.g. concerning the transformation of a plasmodium into a high number of small fruiting bodies in myxomycetes or the dikaryotisation of monokaryotic hyphae after spermatisation in rust fungi.

In this paper, an experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of leading-edge erosion in transonic blades was performed. The measurements were carried out on a linear blade cascade in the Transonic Cascade Wind Tunnel of DLR in Cologne at two operating points with an inflow Mach number of 1.05 and 1.12. The numerical simulations were performed by ANSYS Germany. The type and specifications of the erosion for the study were derived from real engine blades and applied to the leading edges of the experimental cascade blades using a waterjet process, as well as modeled in detail and meshed within the numerical setup. Numerical simulations and extensive wake measurements were carried out on the cascades to evaluate the aerodynamic performance. The increase in losses was quantified to be 4 percent, and a reduction in deflection and a rise in pressure were detected at both operating points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a web-based education platform for the visualization and animation of the digital logic design process. This includes the design of combinatorial circuits using logic gates, multiplexers, decoders, and look-up-tables as well as the design of finite state machines. Various configurations of finite state machines can be selected to define the machine type, the state code, and the flip-flop type. Logic minimization with the K-map approach and the Quine McCluskey scheme is also supported. The tools, denoted as DLD-VISU, help students practice related topics in digital logic design courses. Also, instructors can use the tools to efficiently generate and verify examples for lecture notes or for homework problems and assignments. DLD-VISU was designed relying on a thorough investigation of related pedagogical aspects to define appropriate interactive graphical processes. The decision for a web-based solution, on the one hand, was motivated by making the tools available, portable, expandable, and at the same time transparent to the user. On the other hand, the advocated approach enables instructors to define access rules for their students to assure that students cannot use the tools to solve assessed homework problems or assignments before submission deadline. DLD-VISU supports self-assessment and reflects the student learning process using learning curves. The proposed platform was evaluated both in form of students' feedback as well as by analyzing the impact of using the tools on students' performance.

Currently not many people would doubt that computers play an essential role in both public and private life in many countries. However, somewhat surprisingly, evidence of computer use is difficult to find in German state schools although other countries have managed to implement computer-based teaching and learning in their schools. This paper attempts to understand the reasons for this phenomenon and to show that more research and development on computer-based teaching and learning should be done. It starts with some comments on the importance of computer-based learning, followed by a description of the development of ICT in education since the 1990s in Germany and the general situation at public schools. After focusing on the frame of educational policy in Germany, the situation in schools, including the person of the teacher, is then reflected upon and compared to the situation in other countries. Finally, current developments of computer-based learning in chemistry education in Germany are discussed and a frame of further research is proposed.

Background: Formative assessments are needed to enable monitoring how student knowledge develops throughout a unit. Constructed response items which require learners to formulate their own free‐text responses are well suited for testing their active knowledge. However, assessing such constructed responses in an automated fashion is a complex task and requires the application of natural language processing methodology. In this article, we implement and evaluate multiple machine learning models for coding energy knowledge in free‐text responses of German K‐12 students to items in formative science assessments which were conducted during synchronous online learning sessions. Dataset: The dataset we collected for this purpose consists of German constructed responses from 38 different items dealing with aspects of energy such as manifestation and transformation. The units and items were implemented with the help of project‐based pedagogy and evidence‐centered design, and the responses were coded for seven core ideas concerning the manifestation and transformation of energy. The data was collected from students in seventh, eighth and ninth grade. Methodology: We train various transformer‐ and feature‐based models and compare their ability to recognize the respective ideas in students' writing. Moreover, as domain knowledge and its development can be formally modeled through knowledge networks, we evaluate how well the detection of the ideas within responses translated into accurate co‐occurrence‐based knowledge networks. Finally, in terms of the descriptive accuracy of our models, we inspect what features played a role for which prediction outcome and if the models pick up on undesired shortcuts. In addition to this, we analyze how much the models match human coders in what evidence within responses they consider important for their coding decisions. Results: A model based on a modified GBERT‐large can achieve the overall most promising results, although descriptive accuracy varies much more than predictive accuracy for the different ideas assessed. For reasons of comparability, we also evaluate the same machine learning architecture using the SciEntsBank 3‐Way benchmark with an English RoBERTa‐large model, where it achieves state‐of‐the‐art results in two out of three evaluation categories. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Formative assessments are needed to test and monitor the development of learners' knowledge throughout a unit to provide them with appropriate automated feedback.Constructed response items which require learners to formulate their own free‐text responses are well suited for testing their active knowledge.Assessing constructed responses in an automated fashion is a widely researched topic, but the problem is far from solved and most of the work focuses on predicting holistic scores or grades.To allow for a more fine‐grained and analytic assessment of learners' knowledge, systems which go beyond predicting simple grades are required.To guarantee that models are stable and make their predictions for the correct reasons, methods for explaining the models are required. What this papers adds?: A core topic in physics education is the concept of energy.We implement and evaluate multiple systems based on natural language processing technology for assessing learners' conceptual knowledge about energy physics using transformer language models as well as feature‐based approaches.The systems assess students' knowledge about various forms of energy, indicators for the same and the transformation of energy from form into another.As our systems are based on machine learning methodology, we introduce a novel German short answer dataset for training them to detect the respective knowledge elements within students' free‐text responses.We evaluate the performance of these systems using this dataset as well as the well‐established SciEntsBand‐3‐Way dataset and manage to achieve, to our best knowledge, new state‐of‐the‐art results for the latter.Moreover, we apply methodology for explaining model predictions to assess whether predictions are carried out for the correct reasons. Implications for practice and/or policy: It is indeed possible to assess constructed responses for the demonstrated knowledge about energy physics in an analytic fashion using natural language processing.Transformer language models can outperform more specialized feature‐based approaches for this task in terms of predictive and descriptive accuracy.Co‐occurrences of different concepts within the same responses can lead models to learn undesired shortcuts which make them unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporally and spatially resolved data on wind power generation are very useful for studying the technical and economic aspects of this variable renewable energy at local and regional levels. Due to the lack of disaggregated electricity data from onshore and offshore turbines in Germany, it is necessary to use numerical simulations to calculate the power generation for a given geographic area and time period. This study shows how such a simulation model, which uses freely available plant and weather data as input variables, can be developed with the help of basic atmospheric laws and specific power curves of wind turbines. The wind power model is then applied to ensembles of nearly 28,000 onshore and 1500 offshore turbines to simulate the wind power generation in Germany for the years 2019 and 2020. For both periods, the obtained and spatially aggregated time series are in good agreement with the measured feed-in patterns for the whole of Germany. Such disaggregated simulation results can be used to analyze the power generation at any spatial scale, as each turbine is simulated separately with its location and technical parameters. This paper also presents the daily resolved wind power generation and associated indicators at the federal state level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the fracture toughness of a polyurethane (PUR) foam (manufactured by Necumer GmbH, Germany, under the commercial designation Necuron 651) is experimentally and numerically investigated in order to examine its dependence on the specimen sizes. As a matter fact, to the best knowledge of the present authors, such an analysis is still missing in the technical literature. To perform the experimental campaign, notched PUR foam beams, with different geometrical sizes, are tested under three‐point bending loading, and the Modified Two‐Parameter Model (recently proposed by some of the present authors) is employed to measure the fracture toughness. Subsequently, such an experimental campaign is numerically simulated by applying a micromechanical model, implemented in a non‐linear finite element homemade code. Finally, the results obtained are compared with some experimental data available in the literature, related to the same PUR foam. Highlights: The fracture toughness of a polyurethane foam is experimentally investigated.Notched PUR foam beams, with different sizes, are tested under three‐point bending.The Modified Two‐Parameter Model is employed to measure the fracture toughness.A numerical simulation is performed with a non‐linear finite element model.The results are compared with some experimental data available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grammatical knowledge has often been investigated in wug tests, in which participants inflect pseudo-words. It was argued that in inflecting these pseudo-words, speakers apply their knowledge of word formation. However, it remains unclear what exactly this knowledge is and how it is learned. According to one theory, the knowledge is best characterised as abstractions that specify how units are combined. Another theory maintains that it is best characterised by memory-based analogy. In both cases the knowledge is learned by association based on positive evidence alone. In this paper, we model the classification of pseudo-words to Maltese plurals using a shallow neural network trained with an error-driven learning algorithm. We demonstrate that the classifications mirror those of Maltese speakers in a wug test. Our results indicate that speakers rely on gradient knowledge of a relation between the phonetics of whole words and plural classes, which is learned in an error-driven way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction of the wellbore fluids and formation temperatures is crucial during drilling operation, especially for high temperature wells, such as geothermal applications. This work presents the applications of an improved comprehensive drilling simulator for predicting the wellbore system temperature during the drilling process. A fully transient numerical model of the wellbore temperature is developed for drilling and geothermal production applications. The model describes the dynamic behaviour of the thermal state of the wellbore during circulation and static conditions. The developed model is implemented with the commercial virtual drilling simulator through an application programming interface. This implementation allows the coupling of the thermal model with other physical models, which leads to more advanced and realistic simulations. The model has been previously validated through a direct comparison with field data from geothermal well located in the Hanover area in Germany. The results showed a good agreement between the predicted outlet fluid temperature and the measured one. Furthermore, an analysis of the effect of various parameters on the wellbore system temperature is performed. This analysis showed the impact of these parameters on the wellbore temperature profile including the critical areas such as the casing setting point and bottom hole assembly. This information may lead to enhancing the wellbore stability by monitoring the thermal stresses, especially in high-temperature wells. Moreover, predicting the drill bit temperature can result in increasing the lifetime of the bit by adjusting the operating conditions to keep the bit temperature within the specified range. Based on these results, the enhanced drilling simulator with the transient temperature model showed to be a suitable tool for effective well planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Innovative educational approaches such as simulation-based nursing education using virtual reality (VR) technologies provide new opportunities for nursing education. However, there is a lack of information on side effects, especially health-related side effects, of head-mounted displays (HMDs) on the human body when using VR devices for nursing simulation. This study aims to validate the German version of the Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire (VRSQ) and to evaluate its associations with sex and age, as reflected in the VRSQG scores (total score, oculomotor, and disorientation) over time. Methods: A longitudinal-sectional study was conducted. In addition to the VRSQG (pre-, post-, and 20 min post-intervention), participants (all nursing students) completed data on personal characteristics. Participants completed a VR simulation of a blood draw. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate whether the measured construct was consistent with the original. In addition to the validity, internal consistency was analyzed and generalized linear models (GLMs) were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 38 nursing students (mean age 26.8 years; SD = 7.1, 79.0% female) participated. The mean time spent in the VR simulation was 21 min. All participants completed the entire simulation. The CFA indicates (CFI = 0.981, SRMR = 0.040) VRSQG structure is given. Internal consistency showed low values for the subdomain Oculomotor (Cronbach alpha 0.670). For Disorientation and the Total score values showed a sufficient internal consistency. GLMs showed significant between subject associations with age over time with VRSQG total score, oculomotor, and disorientation. Older nursing students start with higher VRSQG-Scores. Over time, an approximation occurs, so that all participants reach a similar level by the final measurement point. No associations were found between sex (male/female) and VRSQG scores. Conclusions: The VRSQG is a reliable and valid self-assessment for measuring cybersickness in VR based nursing simulations, with cybersickness symptoms positively associated with age. However, in depth-evaluation regarding age-associations with cybersickness should be done. As well as studies to explore additional associations and emphasizes the importance of establishing cut-off values to assess the clinical relevance of the scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Simulation models play an increasingly important role in tobacco control. Models examining the impact of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and smoking tend to be highly specialized and inaccessible. We present the Smoking and Vaping Model (SAVM),a user-friendly cohort-based simulation model, adaptable to any country, that projects the public health impact of smokers switching to NVPs. Methods: SAVM compares two scenarios. The No-NVP scenario projects smoking rates in the absence of NVPs using population projections, deaths rates, life expectancy, and smoking prevalence. The NVP scenario models vaping prevalence and its impact on smoking once NVPs became popular. NVP use impact is estimated as the difference in smoking- and vaping-attributable deaths (SVADs) and life-years lost (LYLs) between the No-NVP and NVP scenarios. We illustrate SAVM's adaptation to the German adult ages 18+ population, the Germany-SAVM by adjusting the model using population, mortality, smoking and NVP use data. Results: Assuming that the excess NVP mortality risk is 5% that of smoking, Germany-SAVM projected 4.7 million LYLs and almost 300,000 SVADs averted associated with NVP use from 2012 to 2060. Increasing the excess NVP mortality risk to 40% with other rates constant resulted in averted 2.8 million LYLs and 200,000 SVADs during the same period. Conclusions: SAVM enables non-modelers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to analyze the potential population health effects of NVP use and public health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distance to failure of the upper crustal rock in the prevalent stress field is of importance to better understand fault reactivation by natural and induced processes as well as to plan and manage georeservoirs. In particular, the contemporary stress state is one of the key ingredients for this assessment. To provide a continuous description of the 3D absolute stress state geomechanical‐numerical models are used. However, stress magnitude data for model calibration are sparse and incomplete and thus, the resulting model uncertainties are large. In order to reduce the uncertainties, we incorporate additional constraints on stress magnitudes to check the plausibility of different data‐based stress states. We use formation integrity tests, borehole breakouts, drilling induced fractures, and observations of seismicity and distinct seismological quiescence. This information is weighted according to its confidence and the agreement with the different modeled stress states is assessed. The information is introduced to a Bayesian approach to estimate weights of the modeled stress states and thereby identify their plausibility. A case study in southern Germany shows the ability of the approach to identify from a wide range of stress states a small number of plausible ones and reject implausible stress states. This significantly reduces the number of stress states and thus lowers the model uncertainties. Plain Language Summary: The upper crust of the Earth (upper few kilometers) is subject to a kind of pressure, referred to as stress. When the stress becomes larger than the strength of the rock, the rock breaks. Sometimes this can be measured or even felt as a seismic event. It happens naturally but may also happen due to human activity. To prevent such induced seismic event, it is important to know the stress state. But there is only few information on the magnitude of the stress so we need computer models to predict the stress state. These models are often not very precise since there is only few information on the stress magnitudes and in addition they are often contradicting. We use all stress magnitude information individually to model various stress states. Then we look at other information that is related to the stress state but does not provide stress magnitude information on its own. We compare this information with the modeled stress states to find out whether a stress state agrees with the additional information or not. This allows us to identify a few realistic stress state models out of a wide range of possible ones. This reduces the uncertainties of the stress predictions. Key Points: Bayesian approach to uncertainty quantification and reduction of 3D geomechanical‐numerical models of the undisturbed stress stateAdditional constraints on the stress state by formation integrity tests, borehole breakouts, and drilling induced tensile fracturesConstraints on the differential stress by observation of seismicity or distinct seismological quiescence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a lightning strikes a high object, the current flows along the object and produces in this way a field component additional to the field radiated from the lightning channel. This additional field component enhances the field compared to lightning to flat ground. In this article, the field enhancement is analyzed for lightning striking the Peissenberg Tower, Germany. The analysis is based on investigations of the far field at distances from 10 to 1000 km. In the computer simulations, the return stroke process is taken into account with the transmission line (TL)-model and the tower is modelled with the computer program CONCEPT II based on the method of moments. In a first step, the pure effect of the tower is analyzed. In this case, the ground is taken into account as perfectly conducting plane. In the next step, the effect of the field propagation is added by introducing an attenuation function based on the solution of Sommerfeld and a far-field approximation of Norton. For fast rising return stroke currents and relatively near distances between 10 and 30 km, the field enhancement may exceed 100%. The field enhancement decreases strongly with decreasing soil conductivity (σ) and increasing distance (s), while the influence of the permittivity (ϵ) is rather small. At a distance of more than 100 km the field enhancement is typically in the range of some tens of percent. This result agrees well with the data of the European lightning location system EUCLID. From EUCLID an average field enhancement of about 20% is reported for lightning striking the Peissenberg Tower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Left turn across path with traffic from the opposite direction (LTAP/OD) is the second most frequent car-to-car intersection crash type after straight crossing path (SCP) in Germany and the United States. Intersection automated emergency braking (AEB) for passenger cars can address these crashes. This study investigates 2 implementation strategies of intersection AEB addressing LTAP/OD crashes: (1) only the turning car is equipped with an intersection AEB and (2) turning and straight-heading cars are equipped with an intersection AEB. For each strategy, the influence of a safety zone around the vehicles that should not be entered is evaluated in terms of accident avoidance, injury mitigation, and change in velocity (delta-V) of remaining accidents. Results are given as a function of market penetration. Methods: A total of 372 LTAP/OD crashes from the time series precrash matrix (PCM), a subsample of the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS), were resimulated in the PRediction of Accident Evolution by Diversification of Influence factors in COmputer simulation (PRAEDICO) simulation framework. A Kudlich-Slibar rigid-body impact model and an injury risk curve derived from GIDAS were used to predict remaining moderate to fatal (Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale [MAIS] 2 + F) injuries among car occupants. Results: With a safety zone of 0.2 m, when the turning vehicle only was equipped with an intersection AEB, 59% of the crashes were avoided at a 100% market penetration. With both vehicles equipped the percentage increased to 77%. MAIS 2 + F injured occupants were reduced by 60 and 76%, respectively. Considering both the turning and the straight-heading vehicles, the delta-V decreased strongly with market penetration in remaining left-side impacts but only slightly in remaining frontal and right-side impacts. Eliminating the safety zone substantially decreases effectiveness in all conditions. Conclusions: Implementation strategy and safety zone definition strongly influence the real-life performance of intersection AEB. AEB should be applied not only for the turning vehicle but also for the straight-going vehicle to benefit from the full potential. Situationally appropriate safety zone definitions, in line with human hazard perception, need more attention and are a key to balance true positive and false positive performance. Remaining delta-V does not decrease broadly; hence, there is no evidence that future LTAP/OD crashes will be generally of lower severity. This highlights the need for continuous development of in-crash protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technology has developed, the international gambling market has changed markedly in recent years. The supply of internet-based gambling opportunities has become ever more significant. At the same time, the introduction of new gambling opportunities always brings a demand for evidence-based scientific evaluation, with regard to the associated risks of addiction. Simulated internet gambling, which is the focus of this study, represents a relatively new product group located at the interface between gambling and computer gaming. Concerns have been raised in scientific literature, especially with regard to the adolescent age group, as to whether participation in simulated internet gambling directly promotes recruitment to the world of monetary gambling, as defined in the gateway hypothesis. The research design was based on a standardized, representative longitudinal survey (over a 1-year period) with a total of 1178 school pupils from Northern Germany (M = 13.6 years; 47.5% male). It must be borne in mind that 12% of the adolescents belonged to the subgroup of "onset gamblers" and first reported experience with monetary gambling at the second stage of surveying. Logistic regression analysis demonstrates that this migration process is fostered by (1) participation from home in simulated gambling on social networks and (2) significant exposure to advertising (relating to both simulated and monetary gambling). Within the subgroup of simulated internet gamblers, variables such as particular patterns of use (including breadth and depth of involvement with simulated internet gambling, certain motives for participation, and microtransactions) do not serve as significant predictors. Despite this, important needs for action for the purposes of prevention and research can be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A standard parameter to compare the disease incidence of a cohort relative to the population is the standardized incidence ratio (SIR). For statistical inference is commonly assumed that the denominator, the expected number of cases, is fixed. If a disease registry is available, incident cases can sometimes be identified by linkage with the registry, however, registries may not contain information on migration or death from other causes. A complete follow-up with a population registry may not be possible. In that case, end-of-follow-up date and therefore, exact person-years of observation are unknown.Methods: We have developed a method to estimate the observation times and to derive the expected number of cases using population data on mortality and migration rates. We investigate the impact of the underlying assumptions with a sensitivity analysis.Results: The method provides a useful estimate of the SIR. We illustrate the method with a numerical example, a simulation study and with a study on standardized cancer incidence ratios in a cohort of migrants relative to the German population. We show that the additional variance induced by the estimation method is small, so that standard methods for inference can be applied.Conclusions: Estimation of the observation time is possible for cohort studies with incomplete follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity generation by wind power plants is gaining importance all over the world. Climate change may increase or decrease the potential for wind power generation. An approach to assess the effects of climate change on wind power production is presented. Simulation results indicate small impacts of climate change on wind power generation in Germany. The northern areas seem to profit from climate change, while in small regions in the southern areas negative effects occur. According to the study’s analysis, climate change will not negatively affect wind power production. The overall effect will be surpassed by the expansion in wind power generation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Common variants in the gene GATA binding protein 4 ( GATA4) show association with alcohol dependence ( AD). The aim of this study was to identify rare variants in GATA4 in order to elucidate the role of this gene in AD susceptibility. Identification of rare variants may provide a more complete picture of the allelic architecture at this risk locus. Methods Sanger sequencing of all 6 coding exons of GATA4 was performed in 528 patients and 517 controls. Four in silico prediction tools were used to determine the effect of a DNA variant on the amino acid sequence and protein function. Five variants were included in the replication step. Of these, 4 were successfully genotyped in our replication cohort of 655 patients and 1,501 controls. All patients fulfilled DSM- IV criteria for AD, and all individuals were of German descent. Results In the discovery step, 19 different heterozygous variants were identified. Four patient-specific and potentially functionally relevant variants were followed up. Only the variant S379S (c.1137C>T) remained patient specific (1/1,166 patients vs. 0/1,997 controls). None of the variants showed a statistically significant association with AD. Conclusions The present study elucidated the role of GATA4 in AD susceptibility by identifying rare variants via Sanger sequencing and subsequent replication. Although novel patient-specific rare variants of GATA4 were identified, none received support in the independent replication step. However, given previous robust findings of association with common variants, GATA4 remains a promising candidate gene for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a performance assessment of the European Integrated Carbon Observing System (ICOS) atmospheric network for constraining European biogenic CO2 fluxes (hereafter net ecosystem exchange, NEE). The performance of the network is assessed in terms of uncertainty in the fluxes, using a state-of-the-art mesoscale variational atmospheric inversion system assimilating hourly averages of atmospheric data to solve for NEE at 6 h and 0.5° resolution. The performance of the ICOS atmospheric network is also assessed in terms of uncertainty reduction compared to typical uncertainties in the flux estimates from ecosystem models, which are used as prior information by the inversion. The uncertainty in inverted fluxes is computed for two typical periods representative of northern summer and winter conditions in July and in December 2007, respectively. These computations are based on a observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) framework. We analyzed the uncertainty in a 2-week-mean NEE as a function of the spatial scale with a focus on the model native grid scale (0.5°), the country scale and the European scale (including western Russia and Turkey). Several network configurations, going from 23 to 66 sites, and different configurations of the prior uncertainties and atmospheric model transport errors are tested in order to assess and compare the improvements that can be expected in the future from the extension of the network, from improved prior information or transport models. Assimilating data from 23 sites (a network comparable to presentday capability) with errors estimated from the present prior information and transport models, the uncertainty reduction on a 2-week-mean NEE should range between 20 and 50% for 0.5° resolution grid cells in the best sampled area encompassing eastern France and western Germany. At the European scale, the prior uncertainty in a 2-week-mean NEE is reduced by 50% (66%), down to ~43 TgC month-1 (26 TgC month-1) in July (December). Using a larger network of 66 stations, the prior uncertainty of NEE is reduced by the inversion by 64% (down to ~33 TgC month-1) in July and by 79%(down to ~15 TgC month-1) in December. When the results are integrated over the well-observed western European domain, the uncertainty reduction shows no seasonal variability. The effect of decreasing the correlation length of the prior uncertainty, or of reducing the transport model errors compared to their present configuration (when conducting real-data inversion cases) can be larger than that of the extension of the measurement network in areas where the 23 station observation network is the densest. We show that with a configuration of the ICOS atmospheric network containing 66 sites that can be expected on the long-term, the uncertainties in a 2-week-mean NEE will be reduced by up to 50-80% for countries like Finland, Germany, France and Spain, which could significantly improvement (and at least a high complementarity to) our knowledge of NEE derived from biomass and soil carbon inventories at multi-annual scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing regulatory demands are forcing the pharmaceutical industry to invest its available resources carefully. This is especially challenging for small- and middle-sized companies. Computer simulation software like FlexSim allows one to explore variations in production processes without the need to interrupt the running process. Here, we applied a discrete-event simulation to two approved film-coated tablet production processes. The simulations were performed with FlexSim (FlexSim Deutschland—Ingenieurbüro für Simulationsdienstleistung Ralf Gruber, Kirchlengern, Germany). Process visualization was done using Cmap Tools (Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL, USA), and statistical analysis used MiniTab® (Minitab GmbH, Munich, Germany). The most critical elements identified during model building were the model logic, operating schedule, and processing times. These factors were graphically and statistically verified. To optimize the utilization of employees, three different shift systems were simulated, thereby revealing the advantages of two-shift and one-and-a-half-shift systems compared to a one-shift system. Without the need to interrupt any currently running production processes, we found that changing the shift system could save 50–53% of the campaign duration and 9–14% of the labor costs. In summary, we demonstrated that FlexSim, which is mainly used in logistics, can also be advantageously implemented for modeling and optimizing pharmaceutical production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban drainage modelling is a state-of-the-art tool to understand urban water cycles. Nevertheless, there are gaps in knowledge of urban water modelling. In particular pressure drainage systems are hardly considered in the scientific investigation of urban drainage systems, although they represent an important link in its network structure. This work is the conclusion of a series of investigations that have dealt intensively with pressure drainage systems. In particular, this involves the transport of sediments in pressure pipes. In a real-world case study, sediment transport inside a pressure pipe in an urban region in northern Germany was monitored by online total suspended solids measurements. This in situ data is used in this study for the development and calibration of a sediment transport model. The model is applied to investigate sediments transport under low flow velocities (due to energy saving intentions). The resulting simulation over 30 days pumping operation shows that a transport of sediments even at very low flow velocities of 0.27 m/s and under various inflow conditions (dry weather and storm water inflow) is feasible. Hence, with the help of the presented sediment transport model, energy-efficient pump controls can be developed without increasing the risk of deposition formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]