Henry's law constants of volatile organic compounds between 0 and 95 °C - Data compilation and complementation in context of urban temperature increases of the subsurface.

In urban areas with frequently occurring contamination by volatile organic hydrocarbons (VOC) possible uncontrolled contaminant mobilization e.g. by volatilization is feared in case of subsurface temperature increases induced by high temperature underground thermal energy storage (HT-UTES) or due to urban heat islands (UHI).

Temperature influence on the NAPL-water interfacial area between 10 °C and 60 °C for trichloroethylene.

Underground thermal energy storage (UTES) can contribute to renewable energy usability, especially in urban areas with the most demand and available infrastructure. But UTES may interact in those areas with non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) by increasing the temperature in storage formations. To determine temperature effects on NAPL dissolution rates into groundwater, the effective specific interfacial area (a) between trichloroethylene (TCE) and water, as a function of temperature and TCE pore saturations, was calculated.

Predictability of initial hydrogeochemical effects induced by short-term infiltration of ∼75 °C hot water into a shallow glaciogenic aquifer.

Despite their potential in heating supply systems, thus far high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storages (HT-ATES) currently lack widespread application. Reducing the potential risks by improving the predictability of hydrogeochemical processes accelerated or initiated at elevated temperatures might promote the development of this technology. Therefore, we report the results of a short-term hot water infiltration field test with subsurface temperatures above 70 °C, along with associated laboratory batch tests at 10, 40 and 70 °C for 28 sediment samples to determine their usability for geochemical prediction.

Temperature influence on mobilisation and (re)fixation of trace elements and heavy metals in column tests with aquifer sediments from 10 to 70 °C.

The operation of seasonal underground thermal energy storages (UTES) as part of renewed heat supply systems can cause amplified temperature variations in the urban subsurface. Therefore, long-term environmental consequences for water extractions by trace elements and heavy metals (TEHMs) are a key point of concern regarding temperature effects on aquifer hydrogeochemistry. To address this issue, we report the results of flow-through and circular-flow column tests conducted with 4 anoxic northern German aquifer sediments, tempered to 10, 25, 40 and 70 °C and analysed for 20 TEHMs.

The aqueous solubility of common organic groundwater contaminants as a function of temperature between 5 and 70 °C.

High-temperature thermal energy storage in shallow aquifers can potentially increase ambient groundwater temperatures up to 70 °C or even more. Since an increase in temperature is expected to influence contaminant mass flux into groundwater monitoring the spreading of organic contaminants located in the subsurface is crucial. In numerous former studies, the NAPL solubility, one major parameter controlling mass flux on field scale, was measured at temperatures up to 70 °C for a broad spectrum of organic substances.

Effect of injection velocity and particle concentration on transport of nanoscale zero-valent iron and hydraulic conductivity in saturated porous media.

Successful groundwater remediation by injecting nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles requires efficient particle transportation and distribution in the subsurface. This study focused on the influence of injection velocity and particle concentration on the spatial NZVI particle distribution, the deposition processes and on quantifying the induced decrease in hydraulic conductivity (K) as a result of particle retention by lab tests and numerical simulations. Horizontal column tests of 2m length were performed with initial Darcy injection velocities (q0) of 0.

Influence of permeability on nanoscale zero-valent iron particle transport in saturated homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media.

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles can be used for in situ groundwater remediation. The spatial particle distribution plays a very important role in successful and efficient remediation, especially in heterogeneous systems. Initial sand permeability (k 0) influences on spatial particle distributions were investigated and quantified in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems within the presented study.

[Unclear tetraparesis under immunosupression].

We report a case of a 69-year-old man who developed tetraparesis and muscular pain under the therapy of prednisolone for several months. Diagnosis was sepsis due to pyomyositis with multiple septic pulmonary staphylococcus aureus abscesses. Antibiotic therapy with piperacillin and tazobactam resulted in a decrease of the inflammatory factors and improvement of the tetraparesis.

Evaluation of combined direct-push methods used for aquifer model generation.

Most established methods to characterize aquifer structure and hydraulic conductivities of hydrostratigraphical units are not capable of delivering sufficient information in the spatial resolution that is desired for sophisticated numerical contaminant transport modeling and adapted remediation design. With hydraulic investigation methods based on the direct-push (DP) technology such as DP slug tests, DP injection logging, and the hydraulic profiling tool, it is possible to rapidly delineate hydrogeological structures and estimate their hydraulic conductivity in shallow unconsolidated aquifers without the need for wells. A combined application of these tools was used for the investigation of a contaminated German refinery site and for the setup of hydraulic aquifer models.

Assessing degradation rates of chlorinated ethylenes in column experiments with commercial iron materials used in permeable reactive barriers.

Multiple column experiments were performed using two commercial iron materials to evaluate the necessity and usefulness of preliminary investigations in permeable reactive barrier (PRB) design for chlorinated organics. Experiments were performed with contaminated groundwater and involved fresh iron granules or altered iron material excavated from PRBs. The determination of first-order rate coefficients by global nonlinear least-squares fittings indicated a variability in rate coefficients on 1 or 2 orders of magnitude.

Removal of arsenic from groundwater by zerovalent iron and the role of sulfide.

Several recent investigations have shown encouraging potential for the removal of arsenic (As) from groundwater by granular zerovalent iron (Fe0). In contrast to previous studies conducted, we have investigated the applicability of this method and the nature of As bonding under conditions with dissolved sulfide. Three column tests were performed over the period of 1 year using solutions with either As(V) or As(II) (2-200 mg/L) in the input solution.

Compost-based permeable reactive barriers for the source treatment of arsenic contaminations in aquifers: column studies and solid-phase investigations.

The bulk of arsenic (As) at contaminated sites is frequently associated with iron (hydr)oxides. Various studies ascribe increasing dissolved As concentrations to the transformation of iron (hydr)oxides into iron sulfides, which is initiated by dissolved sulfide. We investigated whetherthis processes can be utilized as a source treatment approach using compost-based permeable reactive barriers (PRB), which promote microbial sulfate reduction.

The effect of different types of employment on quality of life.

Background: Despite research that has investigated whether the financial benefits of open employment exceed the costs, there has been scant research as to the effect sheltered and open employment have upon the quality of life of participants. The importance of this research is threefold: it investigates outcomes explicitly in terms of quality of life; the sample size is comparatively large; and it uses an established and validated questionnaire.

Method: One hundred and seventeen people with intellectual disability (ID) who were employed in either open or sheltered employment by disability employment agencies were interviewed.

CT, MRI and video based analysis of knee kinematics--a basis for CT based simulation.

With the new computer aided surgery techniques a surgery can be split in two phases, which are pre-operative planning and intervention. The planning is frequently based on three dimensional image data and takes place in the office of the surgeon. Using this approach the surgical feeling, the physical feedback of the patient, is not available during the planning phase.

Atlas-based segmentation of pathological knee joints.

Efficiency, comparability and simplicity are key aspects for user acceptance of surgical planning systems in the long term. Automatic segmentation and identification of geometric reference systems of the anatomical structures are essential to fulfill these requirements. A statistical motivated shape atlas of the knee joint, based on 235 normal and abnormal MR and CT volume sets, is constructed for automatic segmentation of CT image data.

Competing TCE and cis-DCE degradation kinetics by zero-valent iron-experimental results and numerical simulation.

The successful dechlorination of mixtures of chlorinated hydrocarbons with zero-valent metals requires information concerning the kinetics of simultaneous degradation of different contaminants. This includes intraspecies competitive effects (loading of the reactive iron surface by a single contaminant) as well as interspecies competition of several contaminants for the reactive sites available. In columns packed with zero-valent iron, the degradation behaviour of trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (DCE) and mixtures of both was measured in order to investigate interspecies competition.

Technique and first clinical results of robot-assisted total knee replacement.

Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common procedure for treatment of severe gonarthrosis, but the outcome may be unsatisfactory due to primary malalignment of the prosthetic components. In order to improve precision and accuracy of this surgical procedure, a commercial robotic surgical system (CASPAR) has been adapted to assist the surgeon in the preoperative planning and intraoperative execution of TKR. So far, 70 patients with idiopathic gonarthrosis were successfully treated with a robot-assisted technique in our institution.

Factor stability of the Schalock and Keith (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire.

In the 1990s, there was a significant change in how governments viewed publicly provided services. In the area of disability services, it has been suggested that providers could demonstrate their effectiveness with reference to the quality of life of their clients. One instrument often used in quality of life research for people with intellectual disabilities is the Quality of Life Questionnaire; however, before this instrument can be used with confidence, the reliability of its scores must be demonstrated.

[Acute mitral insufficiency in osteogenesis imperfecta].

A 56-year-old woman with known osteogenesis imperfecta tarda but no obvious sign of cardiac disease developed increasing dyspnoea, eventually even at rest, with blood-streaked sputum over a period of 10 days. The chest radiograph demonstrated intraalveolar pulmonary oedema. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed as the likely cause of these signs chordal rupture of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve with mitral regurgitation.