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Devonian and Carboniferous carbonate rocks are present in the subsurface of the Weisweiler lignite-fired power plant near Aachen, Germany. The utilisation of these rocks for deep geothermal energy extraction is currently being explored within the scope of the transnational EU-INTERREG-funded “Roll-out of Deep Geothermal Energy in North-West Europe (DGE-ROLLOUT)” project, which aims to provide solutions to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions using a variety of geoscientific approaches.Marine transgressive-regressive cycles during mid-Palaeozoic times enabled the formation of extensive reef complexes on the southerly continental shelf of the Laurussian palaeocontinent. Supported by favourable climatic conditions including warm, clear and shallow waters, the Givetian to Frasnian Massenkalk facies and the Dinantian Kohlenkalk Group, each several hundred meters thick, were deposited in North-West Europe.In the Weisweiler area, these Palaeozoic carbonate rocks were covered by voluminous paralic sedimentary rocks and deformed to large-scale, generally northeast-southwest-trending, syncline-anticline structures during the Variscan Orogeny. Alpine (post-)orogenic processes further induced faulting, resulting in fault-block tectonics in the Lower Rhine Embayment area of tectonic subsidence. Significant multiphase karstification of the Palaeozoic carbonate rocks, which can be observed in nearby exposed counterparts, supports their enhanced geothermal exploitation potential.3D-modelling of the depths and dimensions of the Weisweiler subsurface carbonate reservoirs is carried out using the commercial software Move [v2019.1.0; Petroleum Experts Ltd], and is constrained by lithostratigraphic data obtained from drilling operations, geological mapping, and interpretation of seismic profiles. The 3D-model exhibits a complex geotectonic environment, including the development of both parasitic folds and thrust faults prior to the generation of Tertiary fault-block tectonics. The depths of the tops of the reservoirs are estimated to c. 1,200 m for the Carboniferous and to c. 2,000 m for the Devonian carbonate rocks, taking into account typical thicknesses of the overlying and underlying strata. Considering possible tectonic repetition below the thrust faults, the reservoir rocks may also occur significantly deeper in the subsurface. The 3D-model is currently being transformed into a HeatFlow3D [DMT GmbH & Co. KG] / Petrel [v2017; Schlumberger N.V.] model in order to approximate the fluid circulation and pathways within the carbonate reservoirs.Based on the current model, a target area for 2D-seismic surveys and a c. 1,000 to 1,500 m deep exploration borehole have been selected. These investigations will commence in the summer of 2020, and will then enable geochemical and petrophysical investigations of the Palaeozoic rocks. The possibility of deep geothermal energy extraction from the Weisweiler subsurface and subsequent evaluation of the transition of the conventional lignite-fired power plant towards its utilisation of renewable “green” energy is carried out in close collaboration with DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy and RWE Power AG, all partners within the DGE-ROLLOUT project. The successful realisation of this project may serve as a pilot for similar projects considering the forthcoming fossil fuel phase-out.

Background The well-established methods for esophageal manometry have some disadvantages: the-water-perfused catheters needs calibration by gravity and measuring in supine position, and the solid-state catheters are very expensive. Manometry using gas-perfused catheters is a suitable alternative. There have been only a few publications about this. Objectives and methods The results for esophageal manometry in 1700 patients were retrospectively analyzed based on the clinical reports and the manometry data. The gas-perfusion manometry was critically assessed. Results The mean age was 54 years. The indications for esophageal manometry were GER symptoms in 58.5% (pathological DeMeester score in 41.8%), dysphagia in 12.4%, and already known achalasia in 8.9%. Motility disorders could be found in 40% of the patients with GER symptoms (51% of the patients with pathological DeMeester score), and in 88% of achalasia patients. The resting LES pressure was 8.9±5.94 mmHg with GER symptoms, 16.4±12.79 mmHg without GER symptoms, and 26.8±14.03 mmHg with achalasia. The relaxation LES pressure was 20.0±10.93 mmHg in achalasia patients, and 8.3±5.77 mmHg in the others. The gas-perfusion manometry was well tolerated by all patients without any serious complications. Discussion Manometry using gas-perfused catheters is an easy to handle and inexpensive method to investigate the esophageal motility. The suitability of gas perfusion with helium for esophageal manometry depends on physical and technical requirements, such as a constant gas flow, a dead space in the transducer, and the catheter being as small as possible. In consideration of this, the detection of the pressure changing in swallowing acts is excellent. The measured LES pressures are generally lower than with other methods like with water-perfused or solid-state catheters, possibly because of the higher compliance in a gas-filled surrounding. The normal values in gas-perfusion manometry are comparable but not identical with the values of other manometric methods.

The article is based on a research of Jewish journals in the German language written in the 30s of the last century. It deals with the response of Jewish institutions, but mainly of Jewish journals (Many newspaper are archived under DigiBaeck https://www.lbi.org/collections/digibaeck/) to the assumption of power by the Nazis in 1933. It especially focuses on the Jewish Culture League and its umbrella union, the Reichsverband der judischen Kulturbunde (=Reich Association of Jewish Culture Leagues, from 1937). It is written from a perspective of understanding the historical context without adopting the position of a distanced spectator; it closely follows Marion Kaplan [8] by telling the story of Jews from the bewildered and ambiguous perspective of Jews trying to navigate their daily lives in a world that was becoming more and more insane. The paradoxical partnership that emerged between the Kulturbund theatre and the Nazis is emblematic of the complexities and concessions that mark the broader phenomenon of “art-making under duress” [13] Answering the charge that Jews should have left earlier, the questions remains if the Holocaust was possible to foresee. Fundamental ethical issues are raised, and questions of utilitarian ethics emerge, e.g. choices between a greater or lesser evil [1]. Are some of the responses a hard-won victory for the Jews, making life bearable and being a moral support, or was the non-resistance a deal with the devil that lulled the Jewish population into a false sense of security (Alan Steinweis). Were the Jews led to believe that Nazi-Germany could still be a home, and were some Jews falsely pacified, being stopped from seeking emigration while slowly a ghetto was built around the majority to be transported to the gas chambers? Is the way of manoeuvring through acceptable? Or has this compromising furthered the agenda of the Nazis? Would less cooperation between the Jewish organizations and the Nazi authorities have made possible for more Jews to have been saved, as stated most prominently by Hannah Arendt? Can we judge on this evidently life-supporting institution without considering the subsequent murder of many of its functionaries (e.g. Kurt Singer) and subsequent mass-murders? Were the Jewish leaders simply, as Arendt suggested, in the grip of ideology or did they act out of pure stupidity?

Various forms of volcanism occurred during the Middle Cambrian southeast of the Ougnat inlier in the eastern Anti-Atlas of Morocco. This study is the first to examine the formation of these volcanic deposits and interrelationships to the sedimentary host and tectonics on local and regional scales. The emplacement history of the volcanosedimentary succession of Ouinguigui has been characterised by a multi-disciplinary approach of field work , facies analysis of the volcanic rocks and their host and by geochemical analysis of coherent volcanic rocks. Additionally, we introduce a generic facies code system for subaqueous to emergent basaltic successions to make related deposits more comparable. The sedimentary host rock is composed of pre-transgressive conglomerates and sandstones of the Tikirt and Akerouz Member, which are interpreted as deposits of shelf-type fan-delta and shoreface deposits. The transgression is reflected by an abrupt decrease in grain size and the presence of packstones similar to the Micmacca Breccia Member. The post-transgressive clastic deposits of the Feijas Internes Group and Tabanit Group are the main host for the volcanic activity. They are composed of coarsening-upward sequences, which reflect gradual transitions from offshore to shoreface and foreshore facies. The alkaline volcanism comprises four main phases, which are induced by the SW-vergent tilting of a basement block during extensional tectonics . Phase I starts with the emplacement of diatremes within the Jbel Wawrmast Formation and Jbel Afraou Formation reaching an estimated depth of ca. 200 m. They are the result of phreatomagmatic eruptions caused by the rise of basaltic magma into the coastal environment of the host. Phase II is characterised by the emplacement of large volumes of basaltic lava through fissure eruptions and the formation of a lava delta in the eastern part as well as subaqueous to emergent phreatomagmatic volcanism in the middle and western part of the Ouinguigui area. Wave activity led to the formation of volcanogenic conglomerates and sandstones. Phase III and IV are reflected by the emplacement of subvolcanic intrusions consisting of trachy andesites and trachytes . Whole rock geochemical data of 13 samples confirm the alkaline character of the Ouinguigui magmatism , which derived from a garnet lherzolite source of within-plate volcanism.