The Societas Europaea (SE) – Time to start over? Capturing the Zeitgeist of the 21st Century.

A topic of discourse for over half a century, the Societas Europaea (the European Company) has much to offer. Notwithstanding its merits, this supranational corporate form has attracted much criticism. One of the major issues that has emerged on a recurrent basis is the question of the functional worth of this structure. In this context a discourse has ensued about its advantages, and disadvantages from the perspective of its intended end-user. This paper will discuss the pro-business aspects of this entity (Part 2) before giving due consideration to its structural and functional deficits (Part 3), ending with suggestions for reform (Part 4).N/

‘Risks’ as a justification for, and a challenge to, European territorial co-operation

Under the new ‘European territorial Co-operation’ objective of the EU’s cohesion policy the programmes for the funding period 2007-2013 refer to ‘natural’, ’environmental’ or ‘flood’ risks. To reduce these risks, activities are funded which allow for better risk assessment, control, prevention, and management. The subject of the paper is an analysis of whether and how environmental and natural risks were in the past addressed. Based on this, the draft programmes for the new funding period will be examined. The key questions are as follows: How do European territorial co-operation programmes approach risks of various kinds? And secondly, the structural funds provide a considerable amount of funding for dealing with risks - but do the funds also encourage appropriate actions in response to the risks identified? The paper will analyse how programme actors and project partners react to risks and how they approach risk reduction or prevention. Examples are taken from the INTERREG III B CADSES programme (2000-2006) and from the preparation of its follow-up programmes for European Territorial Co-operation in Central Europe and South-Eastern Europe (2007-2013)

‘Risks’ as a justification for, and a challenge to, European territorial co-operation

Under the new ‘European territorial Co-operation’ objective of the EU’s cohesion policy the programmes for the funding period 2007-2013 refer to ‘natural’, ’environmental’ or ‘flood’ risks. To reduce these risks, activities are funded which allow for better risk assessment, control, prevention, and management. The subject of the paper is an analysis of whether and how environmental and natural risks were in the past addressed. Based on this, the draft programmes for the new funding period will be examined. The key questions are as follows: How do European territorial co-operation programmes approach risks of various kinds? And secondly, the structural funds provide a considerable amount of funding for dealing with risks - but do the funds also encourage appropriate actions in response to the risks identified? The paper will analyse how programme actors and project partners react to risks and how they approach risk reduction or prevention. Examples are taken from the INTERREG III B CADSES programme (2000-2006) and from the preparation of its follow-up programmes for European Territorial Co-operation in Central Europe and South-Eastern Europe (2007-2013)

Pilot Scale Electrolysis of Peroxodicarbonate as an Oxidizer for Lignin Valorization

A pilot scale plant at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 comprising an electrochemical ex-cell continuous production of sodium peroxodicarbonate and a thermal depolymerization plug flow reactor for kraft lignin conversion is established. Due to the labile nature of the “green” oxidizer peroxodicarbonate, special attention must be paid to the production parameters in order to optimize its use. A simplified design model describing steady-state and transient operations is formulated and finally validated against experimental data from the electrolysis setup. Design trade-offs are visualized, and their impact on specific energy consumption is evaluated. The pilot plant was operated for a 20-month period for more than 1200 h on-stream. Optimized process conditions result in vanillin yields of 8 wt % and thus prove the successful scale-up.publishedVersio

Hybrid SPECT/CT for the assessment of a painful hip after uncemented total hip arthroplasty

Background The diagnosis of hip pain after total hip replacement (THR) represents a highly challenging question that is of increasing concern to orthopedic surgeons. This retrospective study assesses bone scintigraphy with Hybrid SPECT/CT for the diagnosis of painful THR in a selected cohort of patients. Methods Bone SPECT/CT datasets of 23 patients (mean age 68.9 years) with a painful hip after THR were evaluated. Selection of the patients required an inconclusive radiograph, normal serum levels of inflammatory parameters (CRP and ESR) or a negative aspiration of the hip joint prior to the examination. The standard of reference was established by an interdisciplinary adjudication-panel using all imaging data and clinical follow-up data (>12 month). Pathological and physiological uptake patterns were defined and applied. Results The cause of pain in this study group could be determined in 18 out of 23 cases. Reasons were aseptic loosening (n = 5), spine-related (n = 5), heterotopic ossification (n = 5), neuronal (n = 1), septic loosening (n = 1) and periprosthetic stress fracture (n = 1). In (n = 5) cases the cause of hip pain could not be identified. SPECT/CT imaging correctly identified the cause of pain in (n = 13) cases, in which the integrated CT-information led to the correct diagnosis in (n = 4) cases, mainly through superior anatomic correlation. Loosening was correctly assessed in all cases with a definite diagnosis. Conclusions SPECT/CT of THA reliably detects or rules out loosening and provides valuable information about heterotopic ossifications. Furthermore differential diagnoses may be detected with a whole-body scan and mechanical or osseous failure is covered by CT- imaging. SPECT/CT holds great potential for imaging-based assessment of painful prostheses