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Faculty
The EGU Journal of Renewable Energy Short Reviews (EGUJRenEnRev) is a teaching project rather that a regular scientific journal. To publish in this journal, it is a premise to take part in the master course wind power, hydro power and biomass usage at the faculty of Energy, Building Services and Environmental Engineering of the Münster University of Applied Sciences.
Students receive an equivalent of 2.5 credit points (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System - ECTS) for their engagement in the course and for publishing a short review article of at most 3000 words in this periodical. The publication process closely mimics the typical publication procedure of a regular journal. The peer-review process, however, is conducted within the group of course-participants.
Although being just an exercise, we think that publishing the outcome of this course in a citable manner is not only promoting the motivation of our students, but may also be a helpful source of introductory information for researchers and practitioners in the field of renewable energies. We encourage students to write their articles in English, but this is not mandatory. The reader will thus find a few articles in German language. To further encourage students practicing English writing, perfect grammar is not part of the assessment.
We especially thank our students for working with LaTeX on Overleaf, although LaTeX is new to some of them. In this way, the editorial workload was reduced to a minimum. We also thank our students for sharing their work under the creative commons attribution licence (CC-BY). I appreciate their contribution to scientific information, being available to every person of the world, almost without barriers. I also thank the corresponding authors and publishers of the cited work, for granting permission to reuse graphics free of charge. All other figures had to be replaced or removed prior to publication.
The Internationalisation of Higher Education - Perspectives from the THEA Ukraine Project and Beyond
(2021)
The Ukrainian higher education system has undergone a number
of developments since Ukraine committed itself to the Bologna
Process in 2005. Internationalisation and quality assurance in higher
education have thus become two core policy issues to aid Ukraine’s
efforts in becoming a full member of the European Higher
Education Area.
Within the THEA Ukraine project (October 2019 – September 2021),
32 Ukrainian Higher Education Administrators received training
in the field of internationalisation in higher education and science
management. The participants worked on individual application
projects to foster the international orientation of their home
institutions, which are located all over Ukraine.
The implementation of this project has provided material for a
number of case study descriptions of projects undertaken in the
THEA Ukraine framework, as well as general perspectives on
internationalisation in higher education; this anthology covers
both of these aspects.
Background. Ketone bodies are a highly relevant topic in nutrition and medicine. -e influence of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) on ketogenesis is well known and has been successfully used in ketogenic diets for many years. Nevertheless, the effects of MCTs and coconut oil on the production of ketone bodies have only partially been investigated. Furthermore, the increased mobilisation of free fatty acids and release of catabolic hormones by caffeine suggest an influence of caffeine on ketogenesis.
Methods. In a controlled, double-blind intervention study, seven young healthy subjects received 10mL of tricaprylin (C8), tricaprin (C10), C8/C10 (50% C8, 50% C10), or coconut oil with or without 150 mg of caffeine, in 250mL of decaffeinated coffee, over ten interventions. At baseline and after every 40 minutes, for 4 h, ßHB and glucose in capillary blood as well as caffeine in saliva were measured. Furthermore, questionnaires were used to survey sensory properties, side effects, and awareness of hunger and satiety. Results. -e interventions with caffeine caused an increase in ßHB levels—in particular, the interventions with C8 highly impacted ketogenesis. -e effect decreased with increased chain lengths. All interventions showed a continuous increase in hunger and diminishing satiety. Mild side effects (total � 12) occurred during the interventions. Conclusions. -e present study demonstrated an influence of caffeine and MCTon ketogenesis. -eaddition of caffeine showed an additive effect on the ketogenic potential of MCT and coconut oil. C8 showed the highest ketogenicity.
The global salinity gradient power (SGP) potential is between 1650 - 2000 TWH/a and can be converted by mixing two solutions with different salinities. The harnessing of SGP for conversion into power can be accomplished by means of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) and reverse electrodialysis (RED). PRO and RED are membrane-based technologies and have different working principles. PRO uses a semipermeable membrane to seperate a concentrated salt solution from a diluted solution. The diluted solution flows through the semipermeable membrane towards the concentrated solution, which increases the pressure within the concentrated solution chamber. The pressure is balanced by a turbine and electricity is generated. RED uses the transport of ions through cation and anion exchange membranes. The chambers between the membranes are alternately filled with a concentrated and diluted solution. The salinity gradient difference is the driving force in transporting ions that results in an electric potential, which is then converted to electricity. The comparison shows that there are two different fields of application for PRO and RED. PRO is especially suitable at extracting salinity energy from large concentration differences. In contrast, RED are not effect by increasing concentration differences. So PRO are supposed to focus on applications with brines or waste water and RED on applications with river water and seawater. Moreover, just a few measured values from processes under real conditions are available, which makes it difficult to compare PRO and RED.
Background: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) patients experience years of multisectoral and professional care. An electronic cross-facility health record (ECHR) system can support the immediate exchange of information among PPC professionals. Based on a needs assessment, a prototype ECHR system was developed. Methods: To evaluate potential users’ perspective regarding the system, a qualitative observational study was conducted consisting of a concurrent think-aloud session and a semi-structured qualitative interview. Results: Twenty PPC professionals (nurses, physicians) from specialized outpatient PPC teams, a PPC unit, and medical offices rated the ECHR system as a helpful tool to improve the exchange and collection of information, communication between PPC professionals, and treatment planning. From the user’s point of view, the basic logic of the ECHR system should be further adapted to improve the interaction of data remirrored from patient records of outpatient and inpatient care with those entered via the system. The users wished for further functions (text search) and content (information on therapies). Some content, such as the treatment process, needs to be further adapted. Conclusion: The developed ECHR system needs to be more specific in some features by offering all available information; while for other features, be less specific to offer a quick overview. The ability to share information promptly and automatically was seen as a tremendous improvement to the quality of care for PPC patients.
Background: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is characterized by years of multisectoral and multi-professional care. Sharing information between PPC professionals is, therefore, essential for quality care. The evidence shows that electronic cross-facility health records (ECHRs) provide useful support in this context. To our knowledge, no ECHRs have been developed through a user-centered approach for this specific setting in Germany. Methods: Guided by design thinking, first, qualitative interviews were conducted to assess the needs of PPC professionals. Second, the elicited needs were specified in focus groups (FGs). Based on the needs stated in the interviews, prototypes of the ECHR were developed and discussed in the FGs. The indicated needs were supplemented and specified in an iterative process. The prototypes were further adapted according to these results. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology was the basic model in the evaluation of needs. Results: Across seven main categories, past and current medication, emergency view, and messaging functions were identified as the participants’ desired core components of an ECHR. Utilizing design thinking facilitated the explicit articulation of user needs. Conclusions: Developing an ECHR with the content identified would allow for real-time data during emergencies, tracking what other PPC professionals have done, and making the applied treatments visible to others. This would offer a broader picture of the complex conditions common to PPC.
Steigerung der Versorgungsqualität in der Palliativversorgung durch elektronische Gesundheitsakten
(2021)
BACKGROUND Interest in digital technologies in the health care sector is growing and can be a way to reduce the burden on professional caregivers while helping people to become more independent. Social robots are regarded as a special form of technology that can be usefully applied in professional caregiving with the potential to focus on interpersonal contact. While implementation is progressing slowly, a debate on the concepts and applications of social robots in future care is necessary. OBJECTIVE In addition to existing studies with a focus on societal attitudes toward social robots, there is a need to understand the views of professional caregivers and patients. This study used desired future scenarios to collate the perspectives of experts and analyze the significance for developing the place of social robots in care. METHODS In February 2020, an expert workshop was held with 88 participants (health professionals and educators; [PhD] students of medicine, health care, professional care, and technology; patient advocates; software developers; government representatives; and research fellows) from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Using the scenario methodology, the possibilities of analog professional care (Analog Care), fully robotic professional care (Robotic Care), teams of robots and professional caregivers (Deep Care), and professional caregivers supported by robots (Smart Care) were discussed. The scenarios were used as a stimulus for the development of ideas about future professional caregiving. The discussion was evaluated using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS The majority of the experts were in favor of care in which people are supported by technology (Deep Care) and developed similar scenarios with a focus on dignity-centeredness. The discussions then focused on the steps necessary for its implementation, highlighting a strong need for the development of eHealth competence in society, a change in the training of professional caregivers, and cross-sectoral concepts. The experts also saw user acceptance as crucial to the use of robotics. This involves the acceptance of both professional caregivers and care recipients. CONCLUSIONS The literature review and subsequent workshop revealed how decision-making about the value of social robots depends on personal characteristics related to experience and values. There is therefore a strong need to recognize individual perspectives of care before social robots become an integrated part of care in the future.
(1) Background: Schools report a high number of schoolchildren with poor attention and hyperactive behavior, with 5% being diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This causes specific problems during homework and classroom times, and the extension of all-day schooling in German primary schools makes this a challenge for support staff working in the after-school programs. Such staff have a very wide variety of qualifications, ranging from no formal teacher training to full teaching qualifications. (2) Methods: This study documents the knowledge of 196 support staff working in all-day primary schools about ADHD, and their subjective view of whether they feel competent with regard to homework situations in general and ADHD in particular. (3) Results: Those with an educational background have significantly more knowledge than those without such a background, staff feel less prepared to supervise children with ADHD, and there is a small but significant correlation here with knowledge about ADHD. (4) Conclusions: The importance of trained pedagogical staff in the supervision of children with concentration problems is emphasized.
This paper presents a seminar concept for the development of communication competence in pre-service vocational education teachers with the aid of video annotations, feedback, and peer microteaching. The seminar is offered within a teacher training program for students taking a master’s degree (MEd) in vocational education at the FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and has been conducted three times. The advantages of the seminar concept are manifold. On the one hand, we create a learning environment in which students individually prepare and conduct five peer microteaching lessons in a row and receive prompt and constructive peer feedback on every performance. On the other hand, the quality of feedback improves so that our students are professional feedback providers by the end of the seminar. The provision of teacher feedback alone does not help our students become successful feedback providers. Nor, given the resources available at the university, is it a realistic alternative in terms of time constraints. In addition, due to recordings, the students gain a better insight into their teaching skills since their lessons can be observed and approached from an outside perspective.
Consumption Corridors: Living a Good Life within Sustainable Limits
explores how to enhance peoples’ chances to live a good life in a world of ecological and social limits.
Rejecting familiar recitations of problems of ecological decline
and planetary boundaries, this compact book instead offers a spirited explication of what everyone desires: a good life. Fundamental
concepts of the good life are explained and explored, as are forces
that threaten the good life for all. The remedy, says the book’s seven
international authors, lies with the concept of consumption corridors, enabled by mechanisms of citizen engagement and deliberative
democracy.
Across fve concise chapters, readers are invited into conversation about how wellbeing can be enriched by social change that joins
“needs satisfaction” with consumerist restraint, social justice, and
environmental sustainability. In this endeavour, lower limits of consumption that ensure minimal needs satisfaction for all are important, and enjoy ample precedent. But upper limits to consumption,
argue the authors, are equally essential, and attainable, especially in those domains where limits enhance rather than undermine essential
freedoms.
The first oscillating water column was invented in 1940. In the past decades the need of wave energy systems has significantly increased. This article quickly describes the Wells turbine and possibilities to enhance its performance and should answer the question: what are the design parameters that can be optimized?
Furthermore it gives a small outlook about the history of oscillating Water Columns.
Because of the rapid expansion and widespread application of wind energy the overall environmental impacts of wind power plants have increased as well. For the further development of wind power, methods to lessen the adverse effects wind power has on avian populations have to be implemented. This review aims to find effective methods to reduce avian collision rates with wind turbines and that therefore can reduce bird fatality rates.
For the assessment the different mitigation methods, for which concrete data was found, are compared with each other regarding the hypothetical effort of implementation and effectiveness in reducing avian collision rates with wind turbines.
These methods are:
(a) Coloring of rotor blades
(b) Coloring of the tower base
(c) Ultraviolet/violet lightning
(d) Temporary shut-down of wind turbines
(e) Auditory warning signals
(f) Repowering
All of the mentioned methods report influence on reducing avian collision rates or at least the behavior of birds in flight.
This review found the following three methods to be most effective:
(a) Coloring of rotor blades
(b) Temporary shut-downs of wind turbines
(c) Repowering
The most effective method to reduce avian collision rates at horizontal axis wind turbines is to paint one of the rotor blades black and consequently increasing the visibility of the rotor blades. The presented study reports 71,9 percent reduction of found carcasses of birds at the treated turbines. For this method the effort of implementation is low while the effectiveness is high.
The effectiveness of the found mitigation methods has been proven and they are suited for application. The method of using lightning or sound fields require more testing to determine their effectiveness. Another topic for research could be how different mitigation methods interact with each other. Is there a significant advantage to be had if multiple mitigation methods are applied at the same wind power plant or turbine? Furthermore the environmental impacts of wind turbines are not limited to birds. Other animals like bats are affected too and might require different methods of mitigation.
Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit Kostentrends in Zusammenhang mit technologischem Lernen von Windenergie an Land in den USA, in Deutschland und weltweit. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine Lernkurve für Windenergie an Land zu bestimmen. Dafür wurden Daten zu Stromgestehungskosten (LCOE) und Kosten für die Installation (COP) von Windenergieanlagen (WEA) im Zeitraum von 1983 bis einschließlich 2020 gesammelt, grafisch dargestellt und weitergehend ausgewertet. Die grafische Darstellung der Datenlage verdeutlicht die zeitliche Entwicklung der Technologie. Zur Beschreibung dieser Lernkurven wurden die Progress Ratio (PR) und Learning Rate (LR) in fünf unterschiedlichen Modellen bestimmt. Anhand derer sich in Kombination mit der zukünftig installierten Leistung von WEA eine Prognose über zukünftige Kosten ableiten lässt. Die ermittelten LR bewegen sich zwischen 13 % und 28 %, woraus sich LCOE im Jahr 2030 zwischen 44,03 US$/MWh und 61 US$/MWh ergeben.
Experimental results are presented of a test of the theory of local turbulent heat transfer measurements proposed by Mocikat and Herwig in 2007. A miniaturized multi-layer heat transfer sensor was developed and employed in this study. The new heat transfer sensor was designed to work in air and liquids, and this capability enabled the simultaneous investigation of different Prandtl numbers. Two basic configurations, namely the flow past a blunt plate and the flow past an inclined square cylinder, were investigated in test sections of wind and water tunnels. Convective heat transfer coefficients were obtained through conventional testing (i.e., employing thoroughly heated test objects) and using the new miniaturized sensor approach (i.e., utilizing cold test objects without heating). The main prediction of the Mocikat-Herwig theory that a specific thermal adjustment coefficient of the employed actual miniaturized heat transfer sensor should exist in the fully turbulent flow regime was proven for developed two-dimensional flow. The observed effect of the Prandtl number on this coefficient was in good agreement with the prediction of the asymptotic expansion method. The square cylinder results indicated the inherent limits of the local turbulent heat transfer measurement approach, as suggested by Mocikat and Herwig.
Adhärenz digitaler Interventionen im Gesundheitswesen: Definitionen, Methoden und offene Fragen
(2021)
AbstractMany digital interventions rely on the participation of their users to have a positive impact. In various areas it can be observed that the use of digital interventions is often reduced or fully discontinued by the users after a short period of time. This is seen as one of the main factors that can limit the effectiveness of digital interventions. In this context, the concept of adherence to digital interventions is becoming increasingly important. Adherence to digital interventions is roughly defined as “the degree to which the user followed the program as it was designed,” which can also be paraphrased as “intended use” or “use as it is designed.” However, both the theoretical–conceptual and practical discussions regarding adherence to digital interventions still receive too little attention.The aim of this narrative review article is to shed more light on the concept of adherence to digital interventions and to distinguish it from related concepts. It also discusses the methods and metrics that can be used to operationalize adherence and the predictors that positively influence adherence. Finally, needs for action to better address adherence are considered critically.
Background: Electronic medical records (EMRs) offer a promising approach to mapping and documenting the complex information gathered in paediatric palliative care (PPC). However, if they are not well developed, poorly implemented EMRs have unintended consequences that may cause harm to patients. One approach to preventing such harm is the involvement of users in the participatory design to ensure user acceptance and patient safety. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the acceptance of a novel patient chart module (PCM) as part of an EMR from the perspective of potential users in PPC and to involve these professionals in the design process. Methods: A qualitative observational study with N = 16 PPC professionals (n = 10 nurses, n = 6 physicians) was conducted, including concurrent think aloud (CTA) and semi-structured interviews. A structured content analysis based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was applied. Results: The results can be summarized in terms of general observations, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions, all of which are likely to have a positive influence on acceptance of the PCM from the user perspective in the context of PPC. Conclusions: The involvement of users in the development of EMRs is important for meeting the requirements in PPC. Further software adaptations are necessary to implement these requirements.
Introduction: Moving towards a more plant-based dietary pattern would likely be beneficial in terms of a variety of sustainability dimensions.
Methodology: We conducted a 2-year intervention study with six measurement time points (baseline, 10 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 1½ years, 2 years) in rural northwest Germany. The intervention consisted of a lifestyle programme, and dietary recommendations were to move towards a healthy, plant-based diet. The control group received no intervention. Diet quality was assessed with the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI).
Results: In the intervention group (n = 67), the 2-year trajectory of hPDI was significantly higher compared to control (n = 39; p 0.001; between-group difference: 5.7 (95% CI 4.0, 7.3) food portions/day; adjusted for baseline). The 2-year trajectory of meat intake was significantly lower in the intervention group (n = 79) compared to control (n = 40; p 0.001; between-group difference: -0.7 (95% CI -0.9, -0.5) portions/day; adjusted for baseline).
Conclusion: Our study confirms that plant-based nutrition education in the general population is likely to result in at least modest dietary improvements in terms of general healthfulness and meat reduction.