Search results for "Germany"

An evaluation of exposure metrics in an epidemiologic study on radio and television broadcast transmitters and the risk of childhood leukemia.

2009

Electric field strength values calculated by wave propagation modeling were applied as an exposure metric in a case–control study conducted in Germany to investigate a possible association between radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted from television and radio broadcast transmitters and the risk of childhood leukemia. To validate this approach it was examined at 850 measurement sites whether calculated RF-EMF are an improvement to an exposure proxy based on distance from the place of residence to a transmitter. Further, the agreement between measured and calculated RF-EMF was explored. For dichotomization at the 90% quantiles of the exposure distributions it was found that…

Myosporidium ladogensis n. comb. in burbot Lota lota from Finland: fine structure and microsporidian taxonomy.

2020

Infections with microsporidian parasites are described in skeletal muscle of burbot Lota lota from Lake Haukivesi, Finland. Infected myocytes contained spores within sporophorous vesicles (SPVs) in contact with host cell cytoplasm, similar to Pleistophora ladogensis in L. lota and smelt Osmerus eperlanus in western Russia and northern Germany. Analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences indicated identity with Myosporidium spraguei in burbot and pike-perch from this lake. The latter is considered a junior synonym of P. ladogensis. Phylogenetic analysis of SSU rRNA sequences resolved the burbot parasite apart from a clade containing the type species P. typicalis, but to…

The EU Election on Twitter

2015

In this chapter the political implications of social media and their affordances for political discourse are examined. The focus is on candidates’ Twitter usage during the 2014 EU elections in France and in Germany. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of tweets collected during a period of four weeks have been carried out on the basis of the functional operator model of Twitter. The model serves as a framework for assessing users’ tweeting styles, which can range between personal-interactive and topical-informative. The comparison of French and German top candidates’ tweeting styles, which mainly appear to be „personal-interactive“, however questions the candidates’ alleged efforts to ent…

Menneisyydellä politikointia

2008

Applied Mathematics versus Fluid Dynamics

2018

This paper investigates scientific, institutional, and political conflict and collaboration between two different disciplines in the first part of the 20th century: applied mathematics and fluid dynamics. It argues for the catalytic role of Richard von Mises (1883–1953) in this process and analyzes the reasons for von Mises’s considerable fame in the former and limited posthumous reputation in the latter field. I argue that von Mises’s contributions to fluid dynamics and aerodynamics suffered chiefly from two somewhat interconnected deficiencies compared to the work of his principal competitors. There was, on the one hand, von Mises’s methodological preference for applied mathematics as opp…

‘Dead men walking?’ Party identification in Germany, 1977–2002

2006

Abstract Scholars engaged in the discourse on ‘Parteienverdrossenheit’ claim that a breakdown of party attachments in West Germany occurred during the early 1990s. Employing data from a series of monthly polls that were conducted from 1977 to 2002, this paper demonstrates that the notion of such a rapid decline is wrong. Rather than being swept away by political crises, party identification declines slowly and fairly constantly over time, which is in line with theories of a secular dealignment. Furthermore, it can be shown that this dealignment is driven by a weakening of traditional social ties, while cognitive mobilization and change in the composition of the society have no effect on par…

Science and ideology: The case of physics in Nazi Germany

2016

Science is not «above» politics and ethics: it is intrinsically political, and constantly raises ethical dilemmas. The consequences of evading such issues were made particularly clear in the actions of scientists working in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The accusation in 2006 that Dutch physicist Peter Debye was an opportunist who colluded with the Nazis reopened the debate about the conduct of physicists at that time. Here I consider what those events can tell us about the relationship of science and politics today. I argue that an insistence that science is an abstract, apolitical inquiry into nature is a myth that can leave it morally compromised and vulnerable to political manipula…

Air Quality and Chronic Stress: A Representative Study of Air Pollution (PM2.5, PM10) in Germany.

2019

Objective With rising attention on climate change and the aftermath of burning fossil fuels, there is much concern regarding the effects of air pollution on physical and psychological health. However, the relationship between chronic stress and air pollution is relatively unexplored in humans. Methods By combining German representative data with national pollution data and using step-wise regression analyses, this study investigates how air pollution (particulate matter 2.5 and 10 [PM2.5 and PM10]) impacts ones' chronic stress levels (TICS). Results Results show PM2.5 fine-dust particles significantly affect chronic stress, while PM10 has no such effect. Air pollution (PM2.5), age, and inco…

Soil mutagens are airborne mutagens: variation of mutagenic activities induced in Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 by organic extracts of agri…

2000

As our hypothesis was that soil mutagens are airborne mutagens, possibly modified by soil microorganisms, we checked solvent extracts from agricultural and forest soils collected during late summer in the environment of Mainz, a region highly charged by anthropogenic air pollution, or near Bayreuth, a rural low charged region of Germany, or in a remote region of western Corsica without anthropogenic air pollution for the presence of mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium. Levels of mutagenic activities were quantified by calculation of revertants/g from the initial slope of dose-response curves applying tester strains S. typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 in the absence and presence of an activat…

Characteristics of current roadside pollution using test-monitoring plots

2014

Abstract The aim of the study was the qualitative recognition of the existing roadside pollutants deposited in topsoils located close to roads with high traffic volume. So far, the studies have helped to determine the content of pollutants that accumulated over a long period of time. Traditionally, it has been difficult to distinguish between roadside pollution and pollution from other industrial sources. In order to avoid such problems and to accurately recognize present threats originating from road traffic, test-monitoring plots were installed in Poland (Gliwice and Opole), Germany (Tubingen, Ulm and Boblingen), Finland (Helsinki), Tajikistan (Dushanbe) and China (Lanzhou). To install th…