Plötzlicher Herztod und Wetter

Zusammenfassung An einem Material von 100 Fällen eindeutig gesicherten Herztodes, die im Institut für Gerichtliche und Soziale Medizin in Frankfurt am Main aus einem bestimmten Bereich — Raum Frankfurt am Main — und einer bestimmten zeit—Kalenderjahre 1948 bis 1950—zur Autopsie gelangten, einerseits und den bioklimatischen Daten für den gleichen Raum und die gleiche Zeit anderseits, wurde der Zusammenhang von Herztodesfällen und Wettervorgängen mit der Wahrscheinlichkeitsüberlegung, dem Wahrscheinlichkeitsintegral und formalstatistischen Methoden überprüft. Die Auswertung ergab, daß eine starke Abhängigkeit des Herztodes vom Wettergeschehen besteht. Die Häufung der Herztodesfälle konnte für die Sammelgruppe Wetterstörungen, für labiles Aufgleiten, Warmfront mit Aufgleiten und Kaltfront mit Turbulenz ebenso eindeutig gesichert werden, wie die Verminderung der Herztodesfälle in störungsfreien Zeiten. Die hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Beziehung besteht ferner für Kaltfront mit Aufgleiten und in geringerem Maße auch für Föhndurchbruch. Während bei Okklusion das Material zu einem abschließenden Urteil zu gering war, konnte bei allen übrigen Wetterlagen eine Beziehung zum plötzlichen Herztod nicht nachgewiesen werden. Auch für die Gruppen, bei denen eine enge Beziehung statistisch gesichert werden konnte, sei betont, daß die Wettervorgänge nicht die alleinige Ursache des plötzlichen Herztodes, sondern nur ein auslösendes Moment bei schon vorher schwer geschädigten Herzen darstellen.

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Summary On the basis of 100 ascertained cases of cardiac death from a certain region—province Frankfort on-the-Main—and a certain period—calendar years 1948 to 1950—, submitted to autopsy in the Institute for Legal and Social Medicine at Frankfort on-the-Main, and of bioclimatic data from the same region and period, the relation between cardiac death and meteorological phenomena was examined by means of probability considerations, the probability integral, and methods of formal statistics. Evaluation of this material showed cardiac death to be strongly dependent on weather conditions. Increase of frequency of cardiac death could be established without any doubt for the collective groups weather disturbances, unstable ascending motion, warm front with ascending motion, cold front with turbulence, whereas decrease of frequency was found in undisturbed periods. Furthermore, high probability of an existing relation was found for cold front with ascending motion and, to a lesser degree, also for foehn invasion. As to occlusion no definite conclusions could be drawn for scarcity of observations. For all the other weather types no relation to sudden cardiac death could be proved. Meteorological phenomena are by no means the only cause of sudden cardiac death, not even for the groups in which a close relation could be established statistically. They have but an initiatory effect in case of prior severe heart diseases.

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Résumé Disposant d'un matériel médical de 100 cas de mort cardiaque qui ont fait l'objet d'autopsies à l'Institut de médecine légale et sociale de Francfort sur le Mein (région de Francfort et période de 1948 à 1950), et disposant d'autre part pour la même région et pour la même période d'observations bioclimatologiques, l'auteur a étudié la relation de ces décès avec les phénomènes météorologiques à l'aide des méthodes modernes de statistique, de l'intégrale de probabilité etc. Le résultat montre une étroite dépendance centre les cas de mort cardiaque et les conditions météorologiques. On a pu vérifier sans doute possible l'augmentation des décès lors de «perturbations», d'«ascendances labiles», de «fronts chauds avec glissement ascendant», de «fronts froids avec turbulence», de même que leur diminution lors de périodes non troublées. La forte corrélation subsiste avec les «fronts froids avec ascendance» et à un moindre degré avec «l'invasion du foehn». Tandis que pour les «occlusions» le matériel disponible était trop restreint pour aboutir à une conclusion, l'examen des situations autres que les précédentes n'a pas conduit à une relation intime. Il convient de remarquer que pour tous les groupes de météores ayant donné une corrélation statistique très nette, les phénomènes météorologiques n'ont joué qu'un rôle déclancheur chez des malades déjà gravement atteints.

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Mit 2 Textabbildungen.     

Thermophysical Modelling of Comet P/Borrelly Effects of Volume Energy Absorption and Volume Sublimation

In this work, we continue revising the theoretical basis ofnumerical models describing the transport of matter andenergy inside a porous dust-ice mixture at low temperature. Amodel of a light-absorbing near-surface layer of a comet nucleus isinvestigated. Gas transport is considered simultaneously with thesolution of the general heat transfer equation. Thequasi-stationary temperature distribution and the H₂O massflux and sublimation rate are computed for a nucleus model ofcomet 19P/Borrelly at the Deep Space 1 (DS1) encounter. Theenergy is deposited in a layer of about 20 particle radii: Thiscorresponds to a solid-state greenhouse effect. The surfacetemperature of the layer-absorbing model as well as the gasproduction rate are significantly smaller than the ones in thesurface-absorbing model. An active fraction of 40–50% would berequired to explain the observed water production rate ofP/Borrelly with our layer-absorption model at the time of the DS1encounter.     

Industrialization affects heavy metal and carbon isotope concentrations in recent Baltic Sea sediments

Recent sediment cores of the western Baltic Sea were analyzed for heavy metal and carbon isotope contents. The sedimentation rate was determined from radiocarbon dates to be 1.4 mm/yr. The ‘recent age’ of the sediment was about 850 yr. Within the upper 20 cm of sediment, certain heavy metals became increasingly enriched towards the surface; Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu increased 7-, 4-, 3- and 2-fold, respectively, whereas Fe, Mn, Ni and Co remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the radiocarbon content decreased by about 14 per cent. The enrichment in heavy metals as well as the decrease in the ¹⁴C-concentration during the last 130 ± 30yr parallels industrial growth as reflected in European fossil fuel consumption within that same period of time. The near-surface sediments are affected by residues released from fossil fuels at the rate of about 30 g/m² yr for the past two decades. The residues have a pronounced effect on the heavy metal and carbon isotope composition of the most Recent sediments allowing estimates to be made for sedimentation, erosion and heavy metal pollution.     

Improved water resource management for a highly complex environment using three-dimensional groundwater modelling

A three-dimensional groundwater model was used to improve water resource management for a study area in north-west Switzerland, where drinking-water production is close to former landfills and industrial areas. To avoid drinking-water contamination, artificial groundwater recharge with surface water is used to create a hydraulic barrier between the contaminated sites and drinking-water extraction wells. The model was used for simulating existing and proposed water management strategies as a tool to ensure the utmost security for drinking water. A systematic evaluation of the flow direction between existing observation points using a developed three-point estimation method for a large number of scenarios was carried out. It is demonstrated that systematically applying the developed methodology helps to identify vulnerable locations which are sensitive to changing boundary conditions such as those arising from changes to artificial groundwater recharge rates. At these locations, additional investigations and protection are required. The presented integrated approach, using the groundwater flow direction between observation points, can be easily transferred to a variety of hydrological settings to systematically evaluate groundwater modelling scenarios.     

Activity of comets: Gas transport in the near-surface porous layers of a cometary nucleus

The gas transport through non-volatile random porous media is investigated numerically. We extend our previous research of the transport of molecules inside the uppermost layer of a cometary surface ( [Skorov and Rickman, 1995] and [Skorov et al., 2001]). We assess the validity of the simplified capillary model and its assumptions to simulate the gas flux trough the porous dust mantle as it has been applied in cometary physics. A microphysical computational model for molecular transport in random porous media formed by packed spheres is presented. The main transport characteristics such as the mean free path distribution and the permeability are calculated for a wide range of model parameters and compared with those obtained by more idealized models. The focus in this comparison is on limitations inherent in the capillary model. Finally a practical way is suggested to adjust the algebraic Clausing formula taking into consideration the nonlinear dependence of permeability on layer porosity. The retrieved dependence allows us to accurately calculate the permeability of layers whose thickness and porosity vary in the range of values expected for the near-surface regions of a cometary nucleus.     

Fluid-induced breakdown of white mica controls nitrogen transfer during fluid–rock interaction in subduction zones

ABSTRACT

In order to determine the effects of fluid–rock interaction on nitrogen elemental and isotopic systematics in high-pressure metamorphic rocks, we investigated three different profiles representing three distinct scenarios of metasomatic overprinting. A profile from the Chinese Tianshan (ultra)high-pressure–low-temperature metamorphic belt represents a prograde, fluid-induced blueschist–eclogite transformation. This profile shows a systematic decrease in N concentrations from the host blueschist (~26 μg/g) via a blueschist–eclogite transition zone (19–23 μg/g) and an eclogitic selvage (12–16 μg/g) towards the former fluid pathway. Eclogites and blueschists show only a small variation in δ¹⁵N_air (+2.1 ± 0.3‰), but the systematic trend with distance is consistent with a batch devolatilization process. A second profile from the Tianshan represents a retrograde eclogite–blueschist transition. It shows increasing, but more scattered, N concentrations from the eclogite towards the blueschist and an unsystematic variation in δ¹⁵N values (δ¹⁵N = + 1.0 to +5.4‰). A third profile from the high-P/T metamorphic basement complex of the Southern Armorican Massif (Vendée, France) comprises a sequence from an eclogite lens via retrogressed eclogite and amphibolite into metasedimentary country rock gneisses. Metasedimentary gneisses have high N contents (14–52 μg/g) and positive δ¹⁵N values (+2.9 to +5.8‰), and N concentrations become lower away from the contact with 11–24 μg/g for the amphibolites, 10–14 μg/g for the retrogressed eclogite, and 2.1–3.6 μg/g for the pristine eclogite, which also has the lightest N isotopic compositions (δ¹⁵N = + 2.1 to +3.6‰).

Overall, geochemical correlations demonstrate that phengitic white mica is the major host of N in metamorphosed mafic rocks. During fluid-induced metamorphic overprint, both abundances and isotopic composition of N are controlled by the stability and presence of white mica. Phengite breakdown in high-P/T metamorphic rocks can liberate significant amounts of N into the fluid. Due to the sensitivity of the N isotope system to a sedimentary signature, it can be used to trace the extent of N transport during metasomatic processes. The Vendée profile demonstrates that this process occurs over several tens of metres and affects both N concentrations and N isotopic compositions.     

On the determination of heliographic positions and rotation velocities of sunspots

The north-south asymmetry in the intensity of the 530.3 nm emission coronal line is examined in the time period 1958 to 1980 using data at all latitudes. The results show that overall the northern hemisphere of the Sun is more active in this line. The general pattern has changed after the beginning of the 21st cycle with the southern polar region being more active after the last solar minimum (1975). These anisotropies may be related to phase differences between the activity of northern and southern hemispheres. North-south asymmetries may have implications in the structure and evolution of the heliosphere, its current sheet and even in the cosmic ray propagation.