Ermittlung der Nachfrage nach ökologischen Gütern der Landwirtschaft – Das Northeim-Projekt

This paper presents a case study on the development and implementation of a decentralised and outcome-based agri-environmental payment scheme in a project region in central Germany. A research group from Goettingen University together with local actors designed the scheme which complies with the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. The core of the programme is the creation of a market for ecological goods, in this case: of plant diversity standards in agriculture. Supply is provided by the local farmers, who, in an open competitive bidding, offer to produce as much as they are willing to of the commodity in question. The local population has to be seen as the beneficiary of these environmental goods. In the project, it is represented by a Regional Advisory Board which expresses the demand for plant diversity (i) by defining the goods and (ii) by allocating the funds to the respective goods. Hence, these plant diversity goods are treated as merit goods. To justify this approach, results from a contingent valuation study that focused on the respondents’ decision behaviour are applied. These results show that the utility expected from the provision of these goods is substantial and that ecological goods are considered as personally relevant. Based on these findings, the paper discusses the provision of ecological goods as merit – as opposed to private – goods.environmental services, decentralisation, contingent valuation, merit goods, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Ermittlung der Nachfrage nach ökologischen Gütern der Landwirtschaft - Das Northeim-Projekt - The demand for ecological goods in decentralised agri-environmental payment schemes

This paper presents a case study on the development and implementation of a decentralised and outcome-based agri-environmental payment scheme in a project region in central Germany. A research group from Goettingen University together with local actors designed the scheme which complies with the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. The core of the programme is the creation of a market for ecological goods, in this case: of plant diversity standards in agriculture. Supply is provided by the local farmers, who, in an open competitive bidding, offer to produce as much as they are willing to of the commodity in question. The local population has to be seen as the beneficiary of these environmental goods. In the project, it is represented by a Regional Advisory Board which expresses the demand for plant diversity (i) by defining the goods and (ii) by allocating the funds to the respective goods. Hence, these plant diversity goods are treated as merit goods. To justify this approach, results from a contingent valuation study that focused on the respondents’ decision behaviour are applied. These results show that the utility expected from the provision of these goods is substantial and that ecological goods are considered as personally relevant. Based on these findings, the paper discus-ses the provision of ecological goods as merit - as opposed to private - goods

Control circuitry for a telemetry system

This thesis describes the control circuitry for a telemetry system developed to report hydrologic information from remote locations. The multiparameter, on-call system operates on a single frequency. Each remote station responds to a predetermined number of pulses from the master station. Data is transmitted by pulse- duration modulation. In the preliminary planning, careful consideration was given to the system reliability, the energy requirements of the remote station and to system flexibility. The reliability of the system is first examined theoretically by demonstrating that only the catastrophic failure of one or more parts will result in a system failure and that the mean time between such failures is 8.9 years. The system reliability was next examined by observing its operation at reduced voltage over a wide range of temperatures. This reliability was achieved at an energy level which allows a winter of operation from a battery of reasonable size. The system is shown to be flexible in a variety of wars. It can be operated with various types of radio equipment and with slight changes during construction at various frequency bandwidths. The system is flexible, both as regards the number of remote stations which can be operated with a master station and the number of parameters which can be telemetered by a remote station. Furthermore, the system is compatible with a wide variety of measurement transducers. The system presented should prove satisfactory for many applications in addition to the one for which it was designed

The influence of hyperbaric oxygen on new bone formation in critical size bone defects. An experimental study in rats

In der modernen Zahnmedizin stellen rekonstruktive Maßnahmen große Anforderungen an den Behandler. Verlorengegangener Alveolarknochen kann mit der geführten Knochenregeneration wieder aufgebaut und sogar vermehrt werden. Dieses Verfahren hat sich als sogenannter „Goldstandard“ etabliert. In der Medizin gehört die Anwendung hyperbaren Sauerstoffs bei ausgewählten Krankheitsbildern mittlerweile zum Standard. Aufgrund seiner positiven Eigenschaften auf die Neoangiogenese, Sauerstoffdiffusion und seiner bakteriziden Wirkung wird das Behandlungsergebnis teilweise erheblich verbessert oder eine Therapie dadurch erst möglich. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war, quantitative Aussagen darüber zu treffen, ob die Kombination aus geführter Knochenregeneration mit nichtresorbierbaren Membranen aus expandiertem Polytetrafluorethylen und der Anwendung hyperbaren Sauerstoffs das Knochenneuwachstum signifikant beeinflusst. Dazu wurde ein Modell mit 40 Albino Sprague-Dawley Ratten, unterteilt in 4 Gruppen à 10 Tieren, gewählt, um nach einer Versuchsdauer von 14 Tagen anhand angefertigter histologischer Schnittbilder Neuknochen histometrisch zu bestimmen und zu vergleichen. Untersuchungsparameter waren die Neuknochenlänge und Neuknochenfläche. Die statistische Auswertung der ermittelten Daten bestätigte die Überlegenheit membrangeführter Knochenregeneration (Gruppe 4) im Vergleich zur rein schleimhaut- und periostgedeckten Defektbehandlung (Gruppe 3). Zahlreiche Untersuchungen dazu liegen in der Literatur vor. Die zusätzliche Anwendung von hyperbarem Sauerstoff ergab keine signifikante Verbesserung der Ergebnisse. Im Gegenteil zeigte sich eine tendenzielle Verschlechterung, was die Signifikanzen beim statistischen Vergleich der Gruppen 2 und 4 belegen. In diesem Modell konnte nicht gezeigt werden, dass die vielen positiven Eigenschaften des hyperbaren Sauerstoffs auf den Knochen für Knochendefekte „kritischer Größe“ begünstigend und verbessernd anwendbar sind.In modern dentistry the regeneration of lost hard tissues still requires high skills. Reconstruction of deficient alveolar ridges using guided bone regeneration is possible and considered the “gold standard”. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is standard in certain diseases since its positive effects on angiogenesis and oxygen diffusion and its antibacterial effect allows for better wound healing results. It was the aim of this study to investigate the influence of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and guided bone regeneration with expanded non-absorbable polytetrafluoroethylene membranes on the formation of new bone. Forty albino sprague-dawley rats, divided in 4 groups, were used for this investigation. After a period of 14 days new bone formation was histologically described and histomorphometrically assessed. The use of a membrane (group 4) revealed significantly better results when compared soft tissue coverage only (group 3) However, no significant advantages could be demonstrated upon application of hyperbaric oxygen with or without the use of a membrane (groups 2 and 4). On the contrary, there was a tendency towards worse regenerative results. The various positive effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on bone tissue could not be demonstrates in defects of “critical size” in this rat model