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Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, welche Besonderheiten Genossenschaften zu beispielhaften Akteuren der Nachhaltigkeit und nachhaltigen Arbeit machen. Dazu wird ein Begriff der Nachhaltigkeit eingeführt, in dem die drei Dimensionen des Ökonomischen, Sozialen und Ökologischen wechselseitig aufeinander bezogen sind und auf die Tätigkeit der Arbeit angewandt werden. Anschließend werden die vorwiegend in lokalen Kontexten tätigen Genossenschaften als Unternehmens- und Rechtsform vorgestellt. Wichtige Leitideen wie Kooperation, Partizipation und Autonomie werden erläutert und als spezifisch genossenschaftliche Merkmale das Identitätsprinzip sowie der Förderzweck identifiziert. Entlang der drei Nachhaltigkeitsdimensionen verdeutlichen die im Folgenden diskutierten theoretischen Argumente und empirisches Datenmaterial, wie diese beiden Prinzipien zu nachhaltiger Arbeit führen. Dabei werden auch Parallelen gezogen zu den Kriterien einer erfolgreichen Bewirtschaftung von Gemeingütern (Commons) und schließlich auf die Notwendigkeit von repräsentativen Studien zu Genossenschaften verwiesen, um Wissen darüber zu erlangen, wie deren Nachhaltigkeitspotenziale auch in anderen Unternehmensformen und über lokale Zusammenhänge hinaus genutzt werden können. This paper investigates the values and principles of cooperatives and relates them to the triple bottom line of sustainability: economic, social and ecological. Sustainable work is conceptualized in a similar way understanding the three dimensions as interdependent aspects of using resources responsibly. Furthermore, the mainly locally operating cooperatives are discussed as a legal form of a company. Their guiding principles such as solidarity, democratic participation and autonomy are introduced and two distinguishing features recognized: the identity principle and the purpose of self-help. Following the three dimensions of sustainability, the article discusses theoretical arguments and presents empirical data showing how these two principles lead to a realization of sustainable work. The paper also draws parallels between cooperatives' principles and managing the 'commons'. It concludes calling for representative surveys on cooperatives in order to learn more about how to apply cooperatives' principles in other companies and beyond local realities. AIS-Studien

This work contains investigations on the effect of powdered activated carbon (PAC) on the effluent quality and operational safety of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), as well as its effects on sewage sludge quality. The tests to detect these effects were carried out in one of the four large-scale MBRs operated in parallel at an 80.000 p.e. WWTP sewage treatment plant in Kaarst. Comparative investigations without PACs were carried out in two other MBRs. The focus was on different dosing strategies in which the PAC was dosed into the activated sludge tank in proportion to the volume flow, continuously over time and in daily pulse dosings. The cleaning performance of the PAC-MBR was improved compared to the reference. The elimination of carbon compounds and especially the adsorption of trace organic substances was significantly increased at the low PAC dosing rates of 7±5 to 10±7 gPAC/m³ influent. The mean and maximum values for nitrogen compounds in the effluent were also lower in the PAC-MBR than in the MBR without PAC, while no significant change was observed for phosphorus.At similar PAC doses, only a slight difference between the dosing strategies was discernible. Overall, the continuous dosing showed the best organic carbon and trace organic substances elimination. Daily pulse dosing showed the highest system availability for PAC dosing due to the simple dosing technology.A better filterability of the activated sludge with PAC addition could be determined and was linked to a lower content of fouling-promoting substances. In addition, a reduction in the air requirement for nitrification aeration of the PAC-MBR was observed.An improvement in the thickening of the excess sludge via sieve belt thickener was observed. The improved dewaterability of the digested sludge could be demonstrated in the laboratory in semi-technical and in the large-scale tests. During a time of PAC dosing in all four MBRs of the WWTP, a clear improvement for the dewatering efficiency in the large-scale centrifuge was achieved at the tested PAC concentrations. The cost of PAC dosing into the biological stage is not determined by the investment costs, but largely by the operating costs from PAC dosing. Considering possible savings for the wastewater levy, aeration energy and sludge disposal costs, the additional costs for PAC dosing are reduced by approx. 50 to 80 %, depending on the scenario. The investigations carried out show a high technological potential. Membrane bioreactor technology has already been state of the art for 20 years and it is complemented and completed to a considerable extent by the dosing of PAC. Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen , 2023; Aachen : RWTH Aachen University 1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen, Diagramme (2023). = Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2023 Published by RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

Urban drainage infrastructure has to adapt to challenges such as climate change, but also to trends such as population and settlement development. At the same time, the opportunities offered by digitization can be used to meet these challenges. In this thesis, therefore, two geoinformation-based models are developed, which use the advancing digitization to contribute to the adaptation of urban drainage to demographic and climate change. An important aspect of municipal flood protection are nature-oriented measures for the rainwater management as part of water-sensitive urban development. According to the recognized rules of technology, the overriding goal of rainwater management is to approximate the natural water balance. The estimate of this target value is difficult to determine. The potential offered by decentralized rainwater management measures to achieve or approach this target as well. One geoinformation-based model pursues these two goals. The first goal is the estimation of the water balance deficit. The second goal is a limitation of the potential measures for the best compensation of this deficit. For this purpose, structural, geological and hydrogeological restrictions are taken into account. The model works exclusively with geo-referenced data and thus offers direct localization of the results. Furthermore, the model combines the approach of the empirically determined water balance distribution functions of the DWA-A 102 and a GIS-based calculation. The advantages of this combination are the scaling of a selectable study area and the on the fly consideration of restrictions for the measures of decentralized rainwater management. The second geoinformation-based model is an artificial neural network (ANN) for calculating flood areas caused by heavy rain. The trained ANN is suitable for known areas, works in real time and substitute a conventional hydrodynamic model. Therefore, a supervised learning multi-layer feed-forward ANN was set up and trained. After that, it was then examined and assessed for its suitability. For the substitution of a hydrodynamic numerical model for calculation of flooding risks (flood areas or surface runoff) by an ANN, the ANN must 'learn' the hydrological processes of the conventional model. For this learning process, the ANN requires input values that essentially determine the hydrological processes (e.g. precipitation, digital elevation model, type of sealing, barriers and culverts, etc.). Moreover, the AAN requires target values. For the ANN, the target values are areas with a certain height water level caused by a precipitation event (flood areas with flood level). These target values were first calculated using a hydrodynamic numerical model.The developed model shows that ANNs are more suitable than conventional hydrodynamic numerical models for certain applications due to their computing speed. Even if the generalizability of the trained ANN to other model areas could not be successfully demonstrated, the ANN however was able to predict good results for a sufficiently known range of values.The biggest advantage of the ANN is the low computing time for predicting flood areas. In contrast to hydrodynamic numerical models, the ANN predicts flood areas with sufficient accuracy in a few seconds. The application possibilities of the developed model thus specialize in cases in which these strengths are indispensable. One indispensability is the prediction of flood area caused by spontaneously and spatially limited heavy rain. This indispensability is also a demand of the municipal flood protection. Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2021; Aachen : RWTH Aachen University 1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen, Diagramme (2021). = Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2021 Published by RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

This study presents a future projection for the German energy system in 2050 in spatial and temporal resolution. The 319 rural districts in Germany are examined and divided into nine clusters according to twenty indicators. For each cluster, the realizable energy supply potential from renewable energies is determined. The electricity demand for the year 2050 is increased by a factor of four com-pared to today's demand. The following time series analysis is done in 15-minute resolution. Five of the nine clusters can be fully self-sufficient in 2050 at time resolution and on balance. These five clusters represent the majority of the population (55.24%) and the area (67.76%) in Germany. The renewable energy supply in rural areas amounts to about 1,122 TWh. In balance, Germany has an energy shortage of 205 TWh in rural areas alone. In addition, about 1,000 TWh electricity demand can be expected in urban areas. Independence from international electricity imports will only be feasible for Germany if demand is drastically reduced. The results of this work allow a clear knowledge of potential and expected demand on the local level and thus a target-oriented expansion planning. On the national level, however, the temporally and spatially resolved knowledge of expected potential and requirements is of great importance for energy policy. Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2022; Aachen : RWTH Aachen University 1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen (2022). = Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2022 Published by RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

Die Produktion von Biogas aus landwirtschaftlichen Primärprodukten oder Reststoffen stellt einen we-sentlichen Beitrag zur Reduktion des CO2-Ausstoßes sowie zur Entwicklung einer nachhaltigen Landbewirtschaftung dar. Gegenwärtig stehen im Fokus der Forschung die Entwicklung und Optimierung von Biogasreaktoren und Betriebstechniken sowie die Optimierung der Substratbereitstellung. Über die Zusammensetzung der an der Biogasbildung beteiligten mikrobiellen Lebensgemeinschaften in landwirt-schaftlichen Biogasanlagen gibt es jedoch bis heute nur wenige Informationen. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurde die Struktur der methanogenen Biozönose in zehn landwirtschaftlichen Biogasanlagen, welche auf Basis von Nachwachsenden Rohstoffen (NawaRo) betrieben wurden, unter-sucht. Hierzu wurde ein polyphasischer Ansatz mit verschiedenen kultivierungsunabhängigen, molekularen Verfahren gewählt. Primär wurde eine PCR-RFLP Analyse der Nukleotidsequenz der 16S rDNA sowie des mcrA Gens durchgeführt. Die Bestimmung der relativen Häufigkeit der Methan bil-denden Mikroorganismen in den Proben erfolgte mittels quantitativer real-time PCR (Q-PCR) auf Basis gruppenspezifischer Primer für das 16S rDNA Gen. Für ausgewählte Biogasreaktoren wurde ergänzend eine mikroskopische Quantifizierung mittels Fluoreszenz in situ Hybridisierung (FISH) durchgeführt. Für die FISH wurden spezifische Sonden für die Domänen Bacteria (EUB338) und Archaea (ARCH915) so-wie für die Ordnungen Methanomicrobiales (MG1200), Methanobacteriales (MB311 und MB1174) und den Familien Methanosarcinaceae (Ms821) und Methanosaetaceae (Mx825) verwendet. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen zeigten, dass in neun der zehn untersuchten Biogasanlagen die hydroge-notrophen Methanogenen, repräsentiert durch Vertreter der Ordnungen Methanomicrobiales und Methanobacteriales, vorherrschend waren. In diesen Biogasreaktoren wurde die Gattung Methanoculleus (Ordnung Methanomicrobiales) als dominierende Gattung nachgewiesen. Nennenswerte Anteile an ace-toklastischen Methanbildnern, insbesondere der Gattung Methanosaeta, konnten für sechs der untersuchten zehn Anlagen nachgewiesen werden. Jedoch wurde nur in einer Biogasanlage diese Gattung als die dominierende Gruppe von Methanbildnern nachgewiesen. Diese Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass in 90 % der untersuchten Biogasanlagen die hydrogenotrophe Methanogenese der vorrangige Stoff-wechselweg für die Methanproduktion ist. In dieser Studie konnte kein Zusammenhang zwischen den jeweils zur Biogasgewinnung eingesetzten Substraten und der Struktur der Archaea-Biozönose beobachtet werden. Ebenso wenig scheinen unter-schiedliche Verweilzeiten der Substrate sowie die Raumbelastung der Reaktoren einen Einfluss auf die methanogenen Archaea zu haben. Jedoch ließ sich ein negativer Einfluss hoher Ammonium- bzw. Am-moniakkonzentrationen auf das Wachstum acetoklastischer Methanbildner, insbesondere Methanosaeta spp., in den untersuchten landwirtschaftlichen Biogasanlagen feststellen. Die aus dieser Studie gewonnenen Erkenntnisse dienen dem grundlegenden Verständnis der methanoge-nen Lebensgemeinschaft in landwirtschaftlichen Biogasanlagen, und sollen somit zur weiteren Optimierung der Biogasgewinnung beitragen. Biogas production from agricultural main products or remnants provides a substantial contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions but also to the development of a sustainable agriculture. Currently, the re-search focuses on development and optimization of biogas reactors and reactor performance as well as optimization of substrate eligibility. However, the knowledge of the structure and dynamics of microbial communities which are involved in the biogas production is still insufficient. Within this study, the structures of methanogenic biocoenosis in ten agricultural biogas plants which are operated on basis of renewable raw materials were analyzed. Therefore a polyphasic approach with differ-ent culture independent molecular genetic techniques was chosen. First, PCR-RFLP analyses of 16S rDNA and mcrA genes were conducted. For determination of the relative abundance of methane pro-ducing microorganisms in the samples a quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR) on basis of 16S rDNA group-specific primers was applied. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was carried out for direct quantification of methanogenic cells in reactor contents of six of the ten biogas plants. FISH was carried out with specific probes for the domains Bacteria (EUB338) and Archaea (ARCH915), the orders Metha-nomicrobiales (MG1200) and Methanobacteriales (MB311 and MB1174) and the families Methanosarcinaceae (Ms821) and Methanosaetaceae (Mx825). The results of the analyses showed, that in nine of the ten biogas plants the hydrogenotrophic methano-gens, represented by the orders Methanomicrobiales and Methanobacteriales, were prevalent. The genus Methanoculleus (Methanomicrobiales) was the predominating genus in these biogas plants. Acetoclastic methanogens such as organisms of the genus Methanosaeta were found only in six of the ten analyzed biogas plants. However, in one biogas plant Methanosaeta was determined as the predominant methano-genic group. These results indicate that the hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was the major metabolic pathway for methane production in 90 % of the analyzed biogas plants. In this study, no correlation between used substrates for biogas production and the structure of Archaea biocoenosis could be observed. Also, the retention time of substrates and the organic loading rate of reac-tors seemed to have no obvious effect on the methanogenic Archaea. However, in the analyzed biogas plants a negative influence of high ammonium and ammonia concentrations, respectively, on the growth of acetoclastic methanogens in particular Methanosaeta spp. was determined. The results of this study serve the basic understanding of the methanogen community in agricultural bio-gas plants and are to contribute to further optimization of biogas production.

Capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry (CE-MS) is a powerful technique in many fields of analytical chemistry, especially for the separation of charged molecules. However, the widespread standard sheath liquid interface lacks sensitivity which is why many studies and inventions have attempted improvement. Based upon two novel principles, a porous tip interface and nanoflow sheath liquid interface were developed to systematically study their performance compared to the standard sheath liquid interface. Both nanoflow interfaces showed similar improvements in sensitivity of 13 to 114 times over the standard interface for organic acids, peptides, and monoclonal antibodies. In these experiments, the nanoflow sheath liquid interface demonstrated higher versatility and easier manufacturing compared to the sheathless porous tip approach. Therefore, it was chosen for further technical improvement and application for trace analysis of drinking water and non-targeted metabolomics analysis. The characterization of its electrical current flows and resistances disproved the misconception that electroosmosis is the main driving force for the sheath liquid flow, as found in the literature. Improvements in handling and robustness were achieved by introducing a second capillary into the emitter for sheath liquid supply with a switching function for both capillaries. The resulting valve mechanism enabled a conditioning mode and separation mode. By this means, not only emitter lifetime and usability were strongly improved but also unique functions added, such as a divert to waste function for exclusion of MS interfering matrix components, online preconditioning with MS incompatible cleaning/coating agents, and the potential of online capillary isoelectric focusing with MS detection (CIEF-MS). This two-capillary nanoflow sheath liquid interface prototype was then applied for enrichment-free trace analysis and quantification of anionic micropollutants in drinking water. A CE-Orbitrap method with nanoflow interfacing was developed to enable the quantification of halogenated acetic acids down to the ng/L range, required to meet the strict WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. Seven drinking water samples from various production plants in Germany were analyzed and the quantitative results (0.1 to 6.2 µg/L) verified by a validated liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS) method, which emphasizes the strength of CE-MS as an alternative technique for the analysis of highly polar and ionic compounds in water. A subsequent suspect screening indicated the presence of halogenated methanesulfonic acids, which were identified and quantified by standard compounds (0.2 to 2.6 µg/L). Reviewing the data, a screening revealed around 20 additional anionic suspects such as sweeteners, organic sulfonates, and sulfates as well as inorganic ions, which shows the perspective for non-targeted analysis and discovery of contaminants. Non-targeted screening can be used as an exploratory tool in many fields of application. In this context, of a workflow for the discovery of metabolites by LC- and CE-MS in bioreactors was implemented. Substrate samples of biogas plants for methane production were analyzed to uncover the differences in metabolite concentration in varying process conditions. This work strongly focused on evaluating the influence of different separation techniques, mass spectrometer instruments and data processing software on the outcome of a non-targeted analysis. The samples were separated by both capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and reversed phase LC (RPLC) coupled to time-of-flight (TOF) and Orbitrap mass spectrometers. The non-targeted data were processed with mzMine and XCMS and the resulting features prioritized by partial least square regression (PLSR), which enabled the distinction between high and low gas yield reactor conditions with ranking by Variable Importance in Projection (VIP). As expected, RPLC-MS and CZE-MS delivered complementary information but also good correlation between 10% of the commonly detected features regarding fold change and importance for the PLSR model. Unexpectedly, strong differences between data sets were observed between TOF and Orbitrap (<50% common features), which suggest a major influence on the discovery of biomarkers if different MS instrumentation is used. Between MZmine and XCMS, significant differences in the total number of features were found (<57% common features), despite having a good overlap for features which were prioritized by the VIP ranking (up to 95% common features). This indicates a comparable performance for finding true positive features, but also highlights the drawbacks of automated data processing tools which generate high numbers of false positive features. This work underlined the high complexity of non-targeted workflows, and it was clearly shown that different approaches and slight variations can have a strong impact on the final outcome. Overall, next generation nanoflow electrospray interfaces for CE-MS coupling offers a strong potential to establish new fields of application, by combining its strength for the separation of ionic compounds with high sensitivity detection. Yet, automation, affordable instrument parts and broad instrument compatibility are key to stimulate a broader use of CE-MS in the future. Hopefully, this thesis supports CE-MS as a technique on its way to become a more widely accepted technique, next to chromatography. Dissertation, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2022

Der ifo Innovationstest für das Verarbeitende Gewerbe wird seit 1982 jährlich im Verarbeitenden Gewerbe vom ifo Institut erhoben. Kern des Fragenprogramms sind qualitative und quantifizierte Angaben zur Innovationstätigkeit der Unternehmen, insbesondere zu den Innovationszielen und –aufwendungen. Des Weiteren geben die Firmen Informationen zu Innovationshemmnissen sowie –impulsen (intern/extern). The Ifo Innovation Survey for Industry has been conducted by the Ifo Institute on an annual basis since 1982. Qualitative and quantitative responses on the innovativeness of companies, particularly their innovation goals and expenditure, constitute the main focus of the survey. Companies are also asked to provide information on innovation constraints and (internal/external) impulses. Self-administered questionnaire

Der ifo Innovationstest für das Verarbeitende Gewerbe wird seit 1982 jährlich im Verarbeitenden Gewerbe vom ifo Institut erhoben. Kern des Fragenprogramms sind qualitative und quantifizierte Angaben zur Innovationstätigkeit der Unternehmen, insbesondere zu den Innovationszielen und –aufwendungen. Des Weiteren geben die Firmen Informationen zu Innovationshemmnissen sowie –impulsen (intern/extern). The Ifo Innovation Survey for Industry has been conducted by the Ifo Institute on an annual basis since 1982. Qualitative and quantitative responses on the innovativeness of companies, particularly their innovation goals and expenditure, constitute the main focus of the survey. Companies are also asked to provide information on innovation constraints and (internal/external) impulses. Self-administered questionnaire

Der ifo Innovationstest für das Verarbeitende Gewerbe wird seit 1982 jährlich im Verarbeitenden Gewerbe vom ifo Institut erhoben. Kern des Fragenprogramms sind qualitative und quantifizierte Angaben zur Innovationstätigkeit der Unternehmen, insbesondere zu den Innovationszielen und –aufwendungen. Des Weiteren geben die Firmen Informationen zu Innovationshemmnissen sowie –impulsen (intern/extern). The Ifo Innovation Survey for Industry has been conducted by the Ifo Institute on an annual basis since 1982. Qualitative and quantitative responses on the innovativeness of companies, particularly their innovation goals and expenditure, constitute the main focus of the survey. Companies are also asked to provide information on innovation constraints and (internal/external) impulses. Self-administered questionnaire