The expansion of renewable energy infrastructure comes with increasing conflicts at local level that significantly impede the expansion of renewable energy in Germany and impact the realization of ...national and international climate goals. In some conflicts, rural communities are torn apart and social relations strained beyond the energy conflict. Other projects are realized with no or only minor disruption. To researchers, project developers and local politicians alike, it seems unpredictable as to which way local energy conflicts evolve. Thus, the paper aims to shed light on conflict dynamics and identifies a number of aspects that influence local energy conflicts. The paper applies a conflict theoretical perspective on local energy conflicts. Rather than identifying energy conflicts as a sign of dysfunctionality, conflicts are seen as an important element of a democratic society struggling to find the best way through the transformation towards decarbonization. Based on qualitative research on local energy conflicts in five German municipalities the paper analyzes aspects that encourage constructive conflicts and aspects that impede such developments. With reference to Dahrendorf’s conditions of conflict the categories of energy conflicts are systematized within an analytical framework according to conditions of organization, conflict and change. These categories and aspects are embedded in specific local conditions, making conflicts on the one hand typical and on the other very specific. They are also entry points for dealing constructively with the conflicts.
This Special Issue addresses the challenges, claims, and contradictions in struggles for just energy futures. The eight articles share a critical position towards modernist assumptions and classical ...top-down approaches in the field of energy justice research. The authors draw on different empirical examples to discuss how energy futures are (and must be) the subject of conflict in societies. In analysing these conflicts, they focus on possible implementations of the just-transition concept, on the role of social movements and protest actors, and on the relevance of energy conflicts to the practice and theory of democracy.
•The eight articles in this Special Issue share a critique of modernist assumptions.•It is not just about an energy transition, but about a civilisational transformation.•The sources of change lie outside the expert knowledge of a Eurocentric modernity.•Researching justice means questioning the epistemologies behind justice categories.
A growing number of local energy conflicts around wind power and power-grid extensions are slowing down the deployment of the German Energiewende. In this paper, a local conflict on wind energy in ...the state of Baden-Württemberg is analysed in detail. In the little community of Engelsbrand, local opposition against a planned wind park was able to turn around a set of favourable a priori conditions, such as a supporting state government planning process, a local supporter group, a transparent planning process, including a majority vote pro wind energy, and a round table discussion. Distancing itself from the NIMBY-explanation (‘Not In My Back Yard’), the paper applies insights from discourse network analysis and micro-sociology in order to study the local conflict dynamics. Special attention is given to the resource mobilisation strategies of the opponents, including social networks, mass and social media use. The paper ends by drawing some general conclusions for the German Energiewende.
Through a comparative media analysis, this paper examines the media coverage of the print dailies Utusan Malaysia and The Star as well as the online news site MalaysiaKini on the debate over kalimah ...Allah that gained momentum in early 2010, when the High Court allowed Christians in Malaysia to use the term Allah for addressing God in their religious services and publications. A systems theoretical approach is used to study the interrelation of mass media and the political system. Although one might assume that because of the highly controlled print media, Malaysia's realities are challenged only via "online dissent", this study suggests that Malaysia's linguistically plural public sphere offers multiple re-presentations of reality even within the highly restricted context print publications operate in. It also shows that the print media landscape not only reflects and reproduces the ethnic-based division of Malaysia's political system, but is a key player in actively creating the ethnic division of Malaysian society that is crucial for the ruling coalition to stay in power. Hence, this paper argues that, even though technological innovations do offer spaces to create alternative realities, in a multi-lingual national context as in Malaysia, the interrelation between language and news content is an even more crucial element of constructing shared knowledge and collective identities.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents a global health emergency. To improve the understanding of the systemic component of SARS-CoV-2, we investigated if viral load ...dynamics in plasma and respiratory samples are associated with antibody response and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in plasma samples from 14 (44%) out of 32 patients. RNAemia was detected in 5 out of 6 fatal cases. Peak IgG values were significantly lower in mild/moderate than in severe (0.6 (interquartile range, IQR, 0.4-3.2) vs. 11.8 (IQR, 9.9-13.0), adjusted
= 0.003) or critical cases (11.29 (IQR, 8.3-12.0), adjusted
= 0.042). IgG titers were significantly associated with virus Ct (Cycle threshold) value in plasma and respiratory specimens ((ß = 0.4, 95% CI (confidence interval, 0.2; 0.5),
< 0.001 and ß = 0.5, 95% CI (0.2; 0.6),
= 0.002). A classification as severe or a critical case was additionally inversely associated with Ct values in plasma in comparison to mild/moderate cases (ß = -3.3, 95% CI (-5.8; 0.8),
= 0.024 and ß = -4.4, 95% CI (-7.2; 1.6),
= 0.007, respectively). Based on the present data, our hypothesis is that the early stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterized by a primary RNAemia, as a potential manifestation of a systemic infection. Additionally, the viral load in plasma seems to be associated with a worse disease outcome.
CD30 is overexpressed in several lymphoma types, including classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), some peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), and some cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. The antibody–drug conjugate ...brentuximab vedotin targets CD30-positive cells and has been evaluated for the treatment of various lymphoma entities. This narrative review summarizes 10 years of experience with brentuximab vedotin for the treatment of CD30-positive lymphomas, discusses novel therapies targeting CD30 in development, and highlights remaining controversies relating to CD30-targeted therapy across lymphoma types. The collective body of evidence for brentuximab vedotin demonstrates that exploitation of CD30 can provide sustained benefits across a range of different CD30-positive lymphomas, in both clinical trials and real-world settings. Preliminary experience with brentuximab vedotin in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors for relapsed/refractory cHL is encouraging, but further exploration is required. The optimal use of brentuximab vedotin for first-line therapy of PTCL remains to be determined. Further research is required on brentuximab vedotin treatment in high-risk patient populations, and in rare lymphoma subtypes, for which no standard of care exists. Novel therapies targeting CD30 include chimeric antigen receptor therapies and bispecific antibody T-cell engagers, which may be expected to further improve outcomes for patients with CD30-positive lymphomas in the coming years.
The alpha variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with higher transmissibility and possibly higher mortality compared with wild-type SARS-CoV-2. ...However, few data are available on the clinical course of infections with the alpha variant compared with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs). Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed patients admitted to our ICU due to SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant infection and compared characteristics and course to patients with SARS-CoV-2 wild-type infection. The median age of patients with Alpha variant infections was 57 years compared to 62 years in the wild-type group. ICU survival was 41/80 (51%) in the Alpha variant group and 35/80 (44%) in the wild-type group (
= 0.429). Results of a matched-pair analysis based on age and sex illustrated that 45/58 patients (77.6%) in the Alpha variant group and 38/58 (65.5%) patients in the wild-type group required mechanical ventilation (
= 0.217). ICU survival was documented for 28/58 patients (48.3%) in the Alpha variant group and 27/58 patients (46.6%) in the wild-type group (
= 1). Thus, ICU mortality among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections remains high. Although the Alpha variant group included younger patients requiring mechanical ventilation, no significant differences between patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant and the SARS-CoV-2 wild-type, respectively, were detected with respect to clinical course and ICU mortality. For future VOCs, we believe it would be important to obtain valid and rapid data on the clinical course of critically ill patients who test positive for COVID-19 in order to perform appropriate epidemiological planning of intensive care capacity.
During phase III study ERA-223, patients under combination therapy with radium-223 and abiraterone showed an increased risk of bone fractures and a possible higher risk of death. This observation led ...to a change in the German therapeutic guidelines in 2018. Radium-223 is now only allowed as a third-line monotherapy (besides ADT) in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) with symptomatic bone lesions without known visceral metastases or for patients with mCRPC, for whom no other available systematic therapy is suitable. Since almost no data on practice-related care research on the use of radium-223 exist, we consulted members of d-uo (German Uro-Oncologists) over their therapy algorithms. This study analysed data of patients treated with radium-223 between 2014 and 2019. It could be shown that 50% of mCRPC-patients had received radium-223 in the past as third-line therapy. Half of these were treated in combination with new androgen receptor targeted therapies (ARTA) and no increase in bone fractures was observed. This was most likely due to the additional use of bone protecting agents. Despite the late cancer stage, treatment response was seen in almost half of the patients.
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