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This article deals with the under-researched phenomenon of rural health entrepreneurship and its major characteristics. The purpose of this study is to explicate the process of providing health services in rural areas of a developing country and their relation to SDGs. The paper is based on six semi-structured interviews conducted with Serbian health entrepreneurs in rural areas (two private practices, two policlinics, and two dental practices), a review of laws and strategies relevant to the field, and three sessions of discussions with eight experts (four authors and four additional experts). The research methodology follows an empirical, mixed-method case study research procedure. The results are presented in relation to the aspects of frugality, family orientation, and sustainability-oriented innovation. The timeline of the six case studies demonstrates the increasing importance of health entrepreneurs in rural areas due to the aging population and, therefore, increased needs for quality healthcare in these areas. The financing instruments have also become more formal and substantial in recent years, enabling the growth of healthcare businesses in rural areas. However, a major obstacle to further sustainable development remains the non-refundability of services before the state-owned, obligatory health fund, creating major social inequalities, especially in rural areas.
In addition to the long-term goal of mitigating climate change, the current geopolitical upheavals heighten the urgency to transform Europe's energy system. This involves expanding renewable energies while managing intermittent electricity generation. Hydrogen is a promising solution to balance generation and demand, simultaneously decarbonizing complex applications. To model the energy system's transformation, the project TransHyDE-Sys, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, takes an integrated approach beyond traditional energy system analysis, incorporating a diverse range of more detailed methods and tools. Herein, TransHyDE-Sys is situated within the recent policy discussion. It addresses the requirements for energy system modeling to gain insights into transforming the European hydrogen and energy infrastructure. It identifies knowledge gaps in the existing literature on hydrogen infrastructure-oriented energy system modeling and presents the research approach of TransHyDE-Sys. TransHyDE-Sys analyzes the development of hydrogen and energy infrastructures from “the system” and “the stakeholder” perspectives. The integrated modeling landscape captures temporal and spatial interactions among hydrogen, electricity, and natural gas infrastructure, providing comprehensive insights for systemic infrastructure planning. This allows a more accurate representation of the energy system's dynamics and aids in decision-making for achieving sustainable and efficient hydrogen network development integration.
Chloritesare found in igneous rocks, and more commonly
in sediments and low grade metamorphic rocks (BrinJiey &
Brown 1980). Because chlorites are less stable than most of
the other clay minerals when placed into an acidic
environment (Barnhisel & Bertsch 1989), they play
significant roles in the solution chemistry and may be an
important source of magnesium and micronutrients in soils
(Ross 1975). The objective of the present study was to
compare the weathering behavior of different chlorites in
different chemical environments.
Introduction: The paper analyses – basing itself on reports and other documents created by different parts of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – the process which led to the adoption of Social Protection Floor Recommendation No. 202 and the shift in focus of social policy advice towards basic protection and to the Global South countries. We look at the actions of different actors which shape the standard setting and policy stand of the organisation. Objective: To provide a comprehensive analysis of the historical trajectory of ILO social security standards, examining the evolution of principles, conventions, and the global dynamics that have shaped the organization's approach to social protection over time. Materials and methods: The methods include examining ILO documents, relevant subject literature, and the author's participant observations from over twenty-years of service in the ILO's Social Security Department, aiming to provide insights into the decision-making processes within the organization. Conclusion: We conclude that change was brought by: 1) shift in the membership of the ILO and of its decision-making bodies towards the increased presence and powers of representatives from countries of the Global South, 2) the shift in the global development community policy priorities towards poverty reduction, 3) emergence of experimental social assistance schemes in Global South countries, with designs often ignoring principles embedded in the ILO standards. The Social Protection Floor Recommendation complements previous standards in response to the challenges of widespread poverty and informality and spreading atypical forms of employment. It provides two directions of policy responses: 1) formalizing informal employment relationships and 2) expanding universal or targeted rights-based social assistance schemes. Assistance provided by ILO to member states focuses now more on building the non-contributory schemes and on identifying the fiscal space necessary to close the coverage gaps. Nowadays, the ILO must collaborate more than before with other development partners and the main challenge is to build among them awareness and acceptance of the principles of the ILO social security standards.
There are several recent works which had proposed an automatic computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) deep learning (DL) model to diagnose coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using chest x-ray images (CXR) to propose a high-accuracy CAD method to detect COVID-19 automatically. In this study, seven different models including Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models such as VGG-16 and vision transformer (ViT) models, are proposed. The different proposed models are trained with a three-class balanced dataset consisting of 3,000 CXR images consisting of 1,000 CXR images for each class of COVID-19, Normal, and Lung-Opacity. A publicly available dataset to train and test the models is used from Kaggle-COVID-19-Radiography-Dataset. From the experiments, the accuracy of the VGG16 model is 93.44% and ViT's is 92.33%. Besides, the binary classification between two classes of COVID-19 and Normal CXR with a limited number of just 100 images for each class, using a transfer learning technique, with a validation accuracy of 97.5% is proposed.
This work proposes a novel approach for probabilistic end-to-end all-sky imager-based nowcasting with horizons of up to 30 min using an ImageNet pre-trained deep neural network. The method involves a two-stage approach. First, a backbone model is trained to estimate the irradiance from all-sky imager (ASI) images. The model is then extended and retrained on image and parameter sequences for forecasting. An open access data set is used for training and evaluation. We investigated the impact of simultaneously considering global horizontal (GHI), direct normal (DNI), and diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI) on training time and forecast performance as well as the effect of adding parameters describing the irradiance variability proposed in the literature. The backbone model estimates current GHI with an RMSE and MAE of 58.06 and 29.33 W m−2, respectively. When extended for forecasting, the model achieves an overall positive skill score reaching 18.6 % compared to a smart persistence forecast. Minor modifications to the deterministic backbone and forecasting models enables the architecture to output an asymmetrical probability distribution and reduces training time while leading to similar errors for the backbone models. Investigating the impact of variability parameters shows that they reduce training time but have no significant impact on the GHI forecasting performance for both deterministic and probabilistic forecasting while simultaneously forecasting GHI, DNI, and DHI reduces the forecast performance.
Integrating physical simulation data into data ecosystems challenges the compatibility and interoperability of data management tools. Semantic web technologies and relational databases mostly use other data types, such as measurement or manufacturing design data. Standardizing simulation data storage and harmonizing the data structures with other domains is still a challenge, as current standards such as the ISO standard STEP (ISO 10303 ”Standard for the Exchange of Product model data”) fail to bridge the gap between design and simulation data. This challenge requires new methods, such as ontologies, to rethink simulation results integration. This research describes a new software architecture and application methodology based on the industrial standard ”Virtual Material Modelling in Manufacturing” (VMAP). The architecture integrates large quantities of structured simulation data and their analyses into a semantic data structure. It is capable of providing data permeability from the global digital twin level to the detailed numerical values of data entries and even new key indicators in a three-step approach: It represents a file as an instance in a knowledge graph, queries the file’s metadata, and finds a semantically represented process that enables new metadata to be created and instantiated.
This paper presents the preliminary results of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam country case study conducted as part of the research project Sustainable Labour Migration implemented by the University of Applied Science Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. The project focuses on stakeholder perspectives on countries of origin benefits and the sustainability of different transnational skill partnership schemes. Existing and ongoing small-scale initiatives indicate that opportunities exist for all three types of labour mobility pathways, from recruiting youth for apprenticeships and subsequent skilled work to recruitment and recognition of skilled 'professionals' certificates for direct work contracts to initial vocational education and training programs in a dual-track approach. While the latter has the highest potential to be more beneficial than other approaches, pursuing and supporting the scaling up of all three pathways in parallel will have additional, mutually reinforcing and supporting effects. The potential for benefits over and above those already realised by existing skill partnerships appears high, especially considering the favourable framework conditions specific to the long-standing German-Vietnamese relationship. If the potential of well-managed skill partnerships was realised, such sustainable models of skilled labour migration could serve as a unique selling point in the international competition for skilled labour.
What does ‘desirable’ or ‘sustainable’ mean in the context of labour migration? And what should programmes geared towards making migration more compatible with development look like? These questions provided the starting point for the ‘Sustainable Labour Migration’ research project implemented by Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences between December 2020 and August 2022. The project looked at how sustainability in different transnational skills partnership schemes was perceived by different stakeholders in three countries chosen as case studies: Georgia, Kosovo and Vietnam. Embracing the notion of a ‘triple win’, many transnational skills partnership schemes aim to deliver benefits for their main stakeholder groups. As well as reflecting critically on this triple-win narrative, this paper also argues for a more nuanced approach in order to grasp the complexity of skilled labour migration. The paper introduces one such approach, namely the sustainable labour migration framework, and highlights the key elements of the research project. It details the methodology used in the study (systematic literature review – employer survey – semi-structured, in-depth interviews – focus group interviews) and explores the perception of sustainability in skilled labour migration with a focus on the cost/benefit ratio, the relationship between vocational education and training and labour migration, and the various arrangements for the partnerships employed in the schemes. In introducing the key findings from the three countries selected for the case studies, the paper highlights that the perception of sustainability is not underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of the term amongst most stakeholders. Within all the schemes, however, some stakeholders identified elements which make a positive contribution to development in the respective countries of origin and thus identify elements of sustainable labour migration with room for improvement in multiple areas. The paper concludes with a presentation of overall policy recommendations: The ongoing reform of Germany’s labour migration policy should be accompanied by more development-oriented activities. As part of this, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) should stand up more forcefully for the needs of migrants and potential partner countries in order to reduce existing inequalities
This study addresses the underrepresentation of women and the so-far neglected process perspective in empirical entrepreneurial research. It aims to identify the personality traits that differentiate successful female entrepreneurs from their less successful peers and to determine which traits are crucial for pre-launch, launch, and post-launch success. Independent t-tests on 305 female entrepreneurs (and 476 male entrepreneurs) from the DACH region highlight the role of self-efficacy, proactivity, locus of control, and need for achievement for female entrepreneurs. Multiple regression analyses further reveal the importance of self-efficacy for every phase of women’s entrepreneurial journey. While the need for autonomy was critical during pre-launch and launch, locus of control significantly predicted female entrepreneurial success in the pre-launch and post-launch phases. Contrary to previous research, risk-taking was not a crucial trait for female entrepreneurs when compared to their male counterparts, while both showed similar levels of need for autonomy, proactivity, need for achievement, perseverance, self-control, and locus of control. The study offers valuable insights into successful entrepreneurship and highlights the need for female- and phase-specific support programs to enhance self-efficacy among female entrepreneurs.
The decline of insect abundance and richness has been documented for decades and has received increased attention in recent years. In 2017, a study by Hallmann and colleagues on insect biomasses in German nature protected areas received a great deal of attention and provided the impetus for the creation of the project Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA). The aim of DINA was to investigate possible causes for the decline of insects in nature protected areas throughout Germany and to develop strategies for managing the problem.
A major issue for the protection of insects is the lack of insect-specific regulations for nature protected areas and the lack of a risk assessment and verification of the measures applied. Most nature protected areas border on or enclose agricultural land and are structured in a mosaic, resulting in an abundance of small and narrow areas. This leads to fragmentation or even loss of endangered habitats and thus threaten biodiversity. In addition, the impact of agricultural practices, especially pesticides and fertilisers, leads to the degradation of biodiversity at the boundaries of nature protected areas, reducing their effective size. All affected stakeholders need to be involved in solving these threats by working on joint solutions. Furthermore, agriculture in and around nature protected areas must act to promote biodiversity and utilise and develop methods that reverse the current trend. This also requires subsidies from the state to ensure economic sustainability and promote biodiversity-promoting practices.
Background: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) remain a significant cause of mortality worldwide. Causative pathogens are routinely identified and susceptibility tested but only very rarely investigated for their resistance genes, virulence factors, and clonality. Our aim was to gain insight into the clonality patterns of different species causing BSI and the clinical relevance of distinct virulence genes.
Methods: For this study, we whole-genome-sequenced over 400 randomly selected important pathogens isolated from blood cultures in our diagnostic department between 2016 and 2021. Genomic data on virulence factors, resistance genes, and clonality were cross-linked with in-vitro data and demographic and clinical information.
Results: The investigation yielded extensive and informative data on the distribution of genes implicated in BSI as well as on the clonality of isolates across various species.
Conclusion: Associations between survival outcomes and the presence of specific genes must be interpreted with caution, and conducting replication studies with larger sample sizes for each species appears mandatory. Likewise, a deeper knowledge of virulence and host factors will aid in the interpretation of results and might lead to more targeted therapeutic and preventive measures. Monitoring transmission dynamics more efficiently holds promise to serve as a valuable tool in preventing in particular BSI caused by nosocomial pathogens.
Introduction: As historically verified, countries with comprehensive, well designed social protection systems in place are better prepared to cope with large scale catastrophes of all kinds, always in such situation there is still a need for government interventions other than social protection and larger scale discretionary social protection or related interventions. Objective: The article presents the actions of countries to minimize the negative social effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The text is an attempt to answer how social security systems should be adapted to aforementioned crisis? Materials and methods: The text uses research methods such as: literature criticism and statistical analysis of data and revision of implemented state intervention policies based on reports of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Labour Organizaton, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and International Monetary Fund. Results: 1) For social security institutions of key importance to ensure continuity of operations of all services – of contributory social insurance as well of social assistance - was to ensure continuous payment of all benefits due and quick response to the new entitlement emerging. It is also necessary to ensure that all citizens are fully insured, regardless of the form of contract under which they perform work. 2) In many countries, special emergency measures that extended coverage and increased benefits were taken by governments without clearly identifying the sources of funding and very often burdening social security funds with non-statutory expenses and affecting their long-term financial sustainability. 3) In the longer run, there is a need to ensure universal health care coverage of the adequate quality, there is a need to develop policies which will secure at least minimum income security to all – independently of their labour market status, forms of employment, sex, ethnicity or nationality.
Striated muscle contraction is regulated by the translocation of troponin-tropomyosin strands over the thin filament surface. Relaxation relies partly on highly-favorable, conformation-dependent electrostatic contacts between actin and tropomyosin, which position tropomyosin such that it impedes actomyosin associations. Impaired relaxation and hypercontractile properties are hallmarks of various muscle disorders. The α-cardiac actin M305L hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-causing mutation lies near residues that help confine tropomyosin to an inhibitory position along thin filaments. Here, we investigate M305L actin in vivo, in vitro, and in silico to resolve emergent pathological properties and disease mechanisms. Our data suggest the mutation reduces actin flexibility and distorts the actin-tropomyosin electrostatic energy landscape that, in muscle, result in aberrant contractile inhibition and excessive force. Thus, actin flexibility may be required to establish and maintain interfacial contacts with tropomyosin as well as facilitate its movement over distinct actin surface features and is, therefore, likely necessary for proper regulation of contraction.
Atomic oxygen is a key species in the mesosphere and thermosphere of Venus. It peaks in the transition region between the two dominant atmospheric circulation patterns, the retrograde super-rotating zonal flow below 70 km and the subsolar to antisolar flow above 120 km altitude. However, past and current detection methods are indirect and based on measurements of other molecules in combination with photochemical models. Here, we show direct detection of atomic oxygen on the dayside as well as on the nightside of Venus by measuring its ground-state transition at 4.74 THz (63.2 µm). The atomic oxygen is concentrated at altitudes around 100 km with a maximum column density on the dayside where it is generated by photolysis of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. This method enables detailed investigations of the Venusian atmosphere in the region between the two atmospheric circulation patterns in support of future space missions to Venus.
A Fourier scatterometry setup is evaluated to recover the key parameters of optical phase gratings. Based on these parameters, systematic errors in the printing process of two-photon polymerization (TPP) gray-scale lithography three-dimensional printers can be compensated, namely tilt and curvature deviations. The proposed setup is significantly cheaper than a confocal microscope, which is usually used to determine calibration parameters for compensation of the TPP printing process. The grating parameters recovered this way are compared to those obtained with a confocal microscope. A clear correlation between confocal and scatterometric measurements is first shown for structures containing either tilt or curvature. The correlation is also shown for structures containing a mixture of tilt and curvature errors (squared Pearson coefficient r2 = 0.92). This compensation method is demonstrated on a TPP printer: a diffractive optical element printed with correction parameters obtained from Fourier scatterometry shows a significant reduction in noise as compared to the uncompensated system. This verifies the successful reduction of tilt and curvature errors. Further improvements of the method are proposed, which may enable the measurements to become more precise than confocal measurements in the future, since scatterometry is not affected by the diffraction limit.
In memoriam Willy Lehnert
(2023)
Solar photovoltaic power output is modulated by atmospheric aerosols and clouds and thus contains valuable information on the optical properties of the atmosphere. As a ground-based data source with high spatiotemporal resolution it has great potential to complement other ground-based solar irradiance measurements as well as those of weather models and satellites, thus leading to an improved characterisation of global horizontal irradiance. In this work several algorithms are presented that can retrieve global tilted and horizontal irradiance and atmospheric optical properties from solar photovoltaic data and/or pyranometer measurements. The method is tested on data from two measurement campaigns that took place in the Allgäu region in Germany in autumn 2018 and summer 2019, and the results are compared with local pyranometer measurements as well as satellite and weather model data. Using power data measured at 1 Hz and averaged to 1 min resolution along with a non-linear photovoltaic module temperature model, global horizontal irradiance is extracted with a mean bias error compared to concurrent pyranometer measurements of 5.79 W m−2 (7.35 W m−2) under clear (cloudy) skies, averaged over the two campaigns, whereas for the retrieval using coarser 15 min power data with a linear temperature model the mean bias error is 5.88 and 41.87 W m−2 under clear and cloudy skies, respectively.
During completely overcast periods the cloud optical depth is extracted from photovoltaic power using a lookup table method based on a 1D radiative transfer simulation, and the results are compared to both satellite retrievals and data from the Consortium for Small-scale Modelling (COSMO) weather model. Potential applications of this approach for extracting cloud optical properties are discussed, as well as certain limitations, such as the representation of 3D radiative effects that occur under broken-cloud conditions. In principle this method could provide an unprecedented amount of ground-based data on both irradiance and optical properties of the atmosphere, as long as the required photovoltaic power data are available and properly pre-screened to remove unwanted artefacts in the signal. Possible solutions to this problem are discussed in the context of future work.
Electrical signal transmission in power electronic devices takes place through high-purity aluminum bonding wires. Cyclic mechanical and thermal stresses during operation lead to fatigue loads, resulting in premature failure of the wires, which cannot be reliably predicted. The following work presents two fatigue lifetime models calibrated and validated based on experimental fatigue results of an aluminum bonding wire and subsequently transferred and applied to other wire types. The lifetime modeling of Wöhler curves for different load ratios shows good but limited applicability for the linear model. The model can only be applied above 10,000 cycles and within the investigated load range of R = 0.1 to R = 0.7. The nonlinear model shows very good agreement between model prediction and experimental results over the entire investigated cycle range. Furthermore, the predicted Smith diagram is not only consistent in the investigated load range but also in the extrapolated load range from R = −1.0 to R = 0.8. A transfer of both model approaches to other wire types by using their tensile strengths can be implemented as well, although the nonlinear model is more suitable since it covers the entire load and cycle range.