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Auflistung nach Autor:in "Scherb, Hagen"

1 - 8 von 8
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Environment and health: A challenge for computer science
    (INFORMATIK 2013 – Informatik angepasst an Mensch, Organisation und Umwelt, 2013) Voigt, Kristina; Scherb, Hagen
    The importance of modeling and software development in the field of environment and health is briefly outlined in this paper. In this context we introduce the term "exposomics". We give two short modeling examples: the first one is on the evaluation of chemicals in breast milk with the experimental software PyHasse, and the second one on the evaluation of sex odds near the storage cask site Gorleben applying linear logistic regression technique. In both cases we detected an effect of the pollution of the environment and human health. More research and precautionary activities should be initiated in the field of environment and health.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Environmental Contamination with Endocrine Disruptors and Pharmaceuticals: An Environmetrical Evaluation Approach
    (Informatics for Environmental Protection - Networking Environmental Information, 2005) Voigt, Kristina; Brüggemann, Rainer; Pudenz, Stefan; Scherb, Hagen
    Achieving sustainable development in the environmental and health sector it is absolutely necessary to keep the ground- and consequently the drinking water free of contaminants. Unfortunately several chemicals are detected in environmental media. An intensive literature survey was performed for 7 environmental targets and the presence of 12 selected chemicals (pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors) therin. 75 articles recently published in international scientific journals performed the basis for the evaluation approach. The seven attributes to be looked upon the presence of at least one of the 12 drugs in those 7 environmental media. The consideration of the environmental media in any publication is coded by 0 (not available) or 1 (available). A 75 (objects) x 7 (attributes) data-matrix results. Several methods of mathematical and statistical background are applied. These are the Hasse Diagram Technique, a method derived from discrete mathematics, the POSAC (Partially Ordered Scalogram Analysis with Coordinates) method and the PCA (Principle Component Analysis), both multivariate statistical methods. Applying the Hasse Diagram Technique Method the most important publications are revealed as well as the least important ones. The PCA data-analysis method shows an exceptional position for the environmental media surface water and waste water.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Germany Surrounded by Ionizing Radiation Sources from Aging Nuclear Power Plants - Update of French Data 2012 - 2014
    (Environmental Infomatics - Stability, Continuity, Innovation: Current trends and future perspectives based on 30 years of history, 2016) Scherb, Hagen; Voigt, Kristina
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Is the human sex odds at birth distorted in the vicinity of nuclear facilities (NF)? A preliminary geo-spatial-temporal approch
    (Integration of Environmental Information in Europe, 2010) Kusmierz, Ralf; Voigt, Kristina; Scherb, Hagen
    The trend in the human sex odds at birth in Europe was significantly distorted after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident (ChNPP), and childhood cancers are significantly increased in the vicinity of German nuclear power plants (NPP). Therefore, the question arises whether the human sex odds at birth is also distorted in the vicinity of nuclear reactors and nuclear storage or processing facilities (NF). In this paper we investigate the feasibility of an ecological study based on official gender specific annual birth data of all municipalities of Belgium, Switzerland, and the following parts of Germany: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Rhineland-Palatinate. The analyses involve 316 360 municipality- or district-years, with 22 643 476 live births and an overall sex odds (SO = male live births/female live births) of 1.0546. During the operation time periods of the ascertained 28 NF in Germany and Switzerland, lagging for gestation period, and within 5 km distance from these sites, there is a non-significantly increased sex odds with a sex odds ratio (SOR) vs. the remainder of the study region and non-operational time periods of SOR5km = 1.0056, p = 0.3615. However, within the distances of 15 km, 30 km, and 50 km, we may observe more precisely estimated elevated sex odds ratios: SOR15km = 1.0040, p = 0.0463, SOR30km = 1.0035, p = 0.0026, and SOR50km = 1.0017, p = 0.0567. A significant Rayleigh function (p=0.0023) with mode at 14.4 km, 95%-CI = [10.9 km, 29.3 km], yields a SORpeak = 1.0051. Moreover, there is a reciprocal distance association (1/r) of the sex odds beyond 10 km distance from NF, p = 0.0016. Therefore, evidence of a far-reaching genetic effect in the vicinity of 28 NF in Germany and in Switzerland is achieved. Further studies in this important area of environmental health research are recommended.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Nuclear Energy: Danger Only in Case of Accidents?
    (Proceedings of the 28th Conference on Environmental Informatics - Informatics for Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Risk Management, 2014) Scherb, Hagen; Voigt, Kristina; Kusmierz, Ralf
    The environmental impacts of nuclear energy are highly underestimated. Nuclear weapons, atomic bomb tests, and nuclear accidents are considered a danger for the environment and a human cancer risk. However, childhood leukemia is consistently elevated near nuclear power plants and the Chernobyl accident entailed elevated human birth sex ratios across Europe. We studied the annual sex ratio near nuclear facilities in Germany, France, and Switzerland at the municipality level. We will demonstrate that low doses of ionizing radiation cause effects in human beings. This is shown by strongly consistent spatial-temporal shifts in the human sex ratio trends in the vicinity of nuclear facilities. In the chosen countries complete official data on over 70 million gender specific annual births at the municipality level are available. By Lambert-93 coordinates (France) and GK3 coordinates (Germany, Switzerland) we determined the minimum distances of municipalities from major nuclear facilities. Spatial-temporal trend analyses of the annual sex ratio depending on municipalities’ minimum distances from nuclear facilities were carried out. Applying ordinary linear logistic regression (jump or broken-stick functions) and non-linear logistic regression (Rayleigh functions) we demonstrate that the sex ratio at birth shows the influence of mutagenic ionizing radiation on human health. As important environmental chemical contaminants are also mutagenic, the usefulness of the sex ratio at birth as a genetic health indicator can be inferred by analogy.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Sex Odds an Important Indicator for Changes in Environmental Health
    (EnviroInfo Dessau 2012, Part 1: Core Application Areas, 2012) Voigt, Kristina; Scherb, Hagen; Kusmierz, Ralf
    The aim of our research is to investigate sex odds trends in the vicinity of nuclear facilities and chemical plants in Germany. We collected human sex odds data from the nineteen fiftieth till 2010. To assess time trends in the occurrence of boys among all live births, and to investigate whether there have been significant changes in the trend functions after distinct chemical or radiological events, we applied ordinary linear logistic regression. We give two examples, one for the trend in the human sex odds around the nuclear storage site TBL Gorleben and the second one around the chemical plant Hoechst-Griessheim after an accident in 1993. Both events (storage of nuclear casks as well as accidental release of chemicals) had a strong influence on the human sex odds at birth.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Similarities of Environmental Health Data of Persistent Organic Pollutants in three Countries Analyzed by the PyHasse Software
    (Innovations in Sharing Environmental Observations and Information, 2011) Voigt, Kristina; Bruggemann, Rainer; Scherb, Hagen; Cok, Ismet; Mazmnci, Birgül; Mazmanci, Ali; Turgut, Cafer; Schramm, Karl-Werner
    Chemicals, such as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), introduced into the environment by human activity may disrupt the endocrine system of animals including fish and wildlife as well as humans and produce adverse effects because of the crucial role hormones play in controlling development. POPs are detected worldwide. In order to evaluate the data on numerous studies on POPs sound mathematical and statistical data evaluation methods are needed. The data analysis method demonstrated in this paper, is based on the theory of partially ordered sets and provides a generalized ranking. Partial order is a discipline of Discrete Mathematics and one may consider partial order as an example of mathematics without arithmetic. The data analysis is performed with the free available software package PyHasse, written by the second author, which provides apart from the calculation of Hasse diagrams many features, such as for example the similarity analysis applied in this paper. Studies on POPs were performed in Denmark (1997-2001) and Finland (1997-1999) as well as in Turkey in 2010. In our data analysis approach we investigated data sets of breast milk samples of women in Denmark and Finland which contained detectable levels of 20 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These results have already been published by Voigt et al, 2010. In a study performed in the Taurus Mountains area in Turkey the same 20 POPs were detected in breast milk samples. The question arises whether the above mentioned methodology of partial orders can find differences or similarities among these countries. Applying the sub-routine Similarity of the PyHasse software the similarities between data sets can be identified. The combinations are for the similarity analyses: Turkey with Denmark, Turkey with Finland, and Denmark with Finland. In the similarity analysis different types of relations are distinguished which quantify the similarities of the two compared data sets. The highest degree of similarity can be found comparing Denmark with Finland. However, there is also some similarity regarding Turkey – Denmark and Turkey – Finland. This means that the breast milk samples in all three countries are similarly contaminated with respect to their quality the 20 POPs looked upon.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    The Impact on Human Health and the Environment of Different Types of German and Polish Power Plants: A First Scoring Approach in Germany
    (Proceedings of the 28th Conference on Environmental Informatics - Informatics for Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Risk Management, 2014) Voigt, Kristina; Scherb, Hagen; Bartoszcuk, Pawel
    This paper gives a short overview about the types of power stations in Germany and Poland. The energy production in Germany in 2012 was 629,7 TWh. Every type of power plant poses a risk to humans and the environment but in a different way and to a different extent. A discrete mathematical method, named Hasse diagram technique is applied. The software package used is the PyHasse software. A first ranking approach is presented taking the 8 most used types of power plants in Germany into account and ranking those applying 5 different evaluation criteria, including 3 environmental health attributes. In this first approach not only nuclear power stations but also coal-driven power stations come worst in this ranking method. Renewable energies come best in our approach. Unfortunately their percentage of the overall energy production is still too low (about 22,1 % in Germany and 10,4 % in Poland). This underlines the necessity for urgently supporting the development of renewable energy power plants. Furthermore, we plan to extend our scoring approach to other European countries, starting with the neighboring country Poland.