Showing papers by "Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg published in 2023"

Surface properties and bioactivity of PNIPAM-grafted-chitosan/chondroitin multilayers

Abstract: The thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is widely applied in the biomedical field particularly as thermoresponsive substrate for culture of cells. To be used as a stimuli-responsive coating for cell culture, combining PNIPAM with glycosaminoglycans might be an effective approach to improve its bioactivity. In this study, chitosan is grafted with PNIPAM moieties (PCHI) possessing a cloud point at 31 ​°C and used as a polycation to fabricate thermoresponsive polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) with the bioactive polyanion chondroitin sulfate (CS) at pH 4 by layer-by-layer technique. The in-situ investigation by surface plasmon resonance and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring confirms that the formation of PEMs with CS can be achieved despite the bulky structure of PCHI at 25 ​°C. The stability of the PEMs is further improved at physiological pH 7.4 by chemical crosslinking using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide. Moreover, these PEMs exhibit de-swelling and swelling ability with different surface wettability in response to temperature, which triggers the adsorption and desorption of adhesive protein vitronectin on the PEMs. At 37 ​°C, the PEMs containing PNIPAM particularly associated with CS terminal layer supports protein adsorption and consequently enhances cell adhesion using multipotent murine stem cells. Overall, due to improved stability, crosslinked PNIPAM-modified biogenic multilayers are cytocompatible and hold great potential as culture substrate for different tissue cells and application in tissue engineering.

Allotment Garden Products as Contribution to Sustainable and Resilient Cities: An Analysis in Leipzig, Germany

Abstract: The food supply and the consumption of resources are already central challenges for the growing world population and increasing demands. Urban areas in particular face problems of resilience and sustainability. The development of alternative food systems by, e.g., urban gardening, can contribute to meet targets of sustainable consumption, inclusive economy, and resilient food systems of cities. Our research presents insights into the available harvest of products from allotments. In addition, the interest and motivation of gardeners to distribute products from their allotments was investigated. The analysis was based on a structured and standardized questionnaire with more than 90 allotment gardeners in Leipzig. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. Our results showed that especially zucchinis, tomatoes, berries, and apples could be distributed to consumers; however, the greatest obstacle involves the legal framework to economically distribute products from these allotments. On the other hand, some respondents showed that income generation from allotment products is less important than the enjoyment of the garden and the charitable goal of action. They suggested an organized distribution system of surplus from allotments to particularly disadvantaged people. This paper encourages re-examination of the conventional urban–rural relations, the production–consumption relationships, and the norms of economic activity.

‘I Obey the Rule Blindly’. Wittgenstein’s Contribution to the Ontological Conceptualization of the Social

Abstract: The state of recent as well as older research on social ontology suggests a paradigmatic approach according to which it is our consciousness that must provide the framework for conceptualizing the social in one way or another. I argue, however, that Wittgenstein’s treatment of rule-following opens up a new horizon for the ontology of the social. The fact that the rules of our language are social in nature, and that we need not be aware of them in order to follow them, shifts the problem of social ontology away from consciousness to what lies behind it. The result is that being social is not a function of our consciousness. The ontological conceptualization of the social must focus on our implicit knowledge instead, which is always an enabling condition for consciousness. For, we share some of this implicit knowledge with others, as can be seen from the case of language.

Combining runoff generating mechanisms and the Metastatistical Extreme Value approach to predict extreme floods in catchments with strong discontinuities in the flood frequency curve

Abstract: River floods are the most common natural hazards worldwide and accurate flood estimation is crucial for reducing flood risk. Traditional flood frequency analysis relies on the assumption of homogeneity of the analysed floods. However, floods arise from multiple generating mechanisms, such as rainfall on wet and dry soils, rain-on-snow and snow-melt events. Streamflow records may therefore comprise mixtures of events. Ignoring this may cause significant errors in the estimation of flood frequency. The problem is particularly evident in catchments with a discontinuity in the flood frequency distribution, where the rarest floods are significantly larger than the rest of the events in the record. These situations cannot be represented by traditional frequency analyses. Extreme floods may thus occur unexpectedly and produce disproportionate losses and casualties. Here, we propose a practical method to handle the problem of flood frequency estimation in catchments with strong discontinuities in the flood frequency curves.In this work, we focus on rivers among 160 case studies in Germany which show a marked discontinuity in the empirical flood frequency distribution and we use the simplified Metastatistical Extreme Value (SMEV) approach to separately include floods with different generating mechanisms in the estimation of the flood frequency distribution. We extract all the independent ordinary events from daily streamflow records and organize them into two groups according to the key runoff generation processes (rain-on-dry, mixture of rain-on-wet and snowmelt processes). We fit a statistical distribution (either power law or log normal based on the statistical properties of the ordinary events) to each group. Then, we use SMEV to calculate the emerging frequency distribution.Our results show that the proposed approach improves the estimation of the magnitude of floods with long return periods. Considering the mixture of generating processes allows to reproduce the observed discontinuities in the flood frequency curves. Comparison with the standard Generalized Extreme Value distribution shows that the proposed method reduces the estimation bias, especially for large quantiles.This study summarizes the results of the DFG-funded project "Propensity of rivers to extreme floods: climate-landscape controls and early detection - PREDICTED" (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - German Research Foundation, Project Number 421396820).  

Das doppelte Gesicht der Pflicht

Abstract: Nach einigen allgemeinen Überlegungen zur normativen Ethik wenden wir uns nun einem konkreten Phänomen der ethischen Erfahrung zu. Dieses Phänomen ist das der VerpflichtungPflichtmoralische, das in enger Verbindung mit Begriffen wie ›Recht‹, ›Anspruch‹, ›Schuld‹, ›Forderung‹, und ›Vorwurf‹ steht, und das in dieser Gestalt sowohl im RechtRechtund Ethik als auch in der MoralPflichtdes Rechts eine zentrale Rolle spielt.

Downscaling and validation of 1km ESA Soil Water Index for soil moisture monitoring on agricultural land in temperate climate conditions

Abstract: <p>Near-surface soil moisture is an important parameter for estimating the water balance of ecosystems, especially for the exchange of water between atmosphere and soil. In the past decades, global and continental products, e.g. the Soil Water Index (SWI) of ESA, have been developed for large-scale monitoring from passive and active microwave data. ESA SWI was developed for Europe based on the surface soil moisture product derived from Sentinel-1 C-band SAR data (1km resolution) and Metop ASCAT surface soil moisture (12.5km). However, for practical, small-scale applications on the local level, there is currently little data available. This contribution elaborates on the validation of the SWI for temperate agricultural regions at the example of the agrometeorological network of the JECAM test site DEMMIN in Northeast Germany. For this purpose, two resampling methods, a bilinear interpolation and a statistical downscaling approach using Random Forest were tested on SWI data from 2019. The statistical downscaling approach integrates Sentinel satellite data and the Topographical Wetness Index based on a 10m resolved elevation model. Both resampling methods showed similar results. Over time, the SWI significantly overestimates the in situ data before and after the crop growing season. A higher agreement is observed in the summer months. For 19 of the 29 investigated agrometeorological stations a statistically positive correlation with R>0.5 was found. The remaining stations showed little to no correlation, most likely due influences of various crops types on the remote sensing data. The results suggest a temporally limited applicability of the SWI 1km data for local assessments of soil moisture.</p>

Thomasius, Christian

Abstract: Thomasius, Christian (1655–1728), was a jurist, law professor, philosopher, and protagonist of the early Enlightenment in Germany. His work includes nearly all positions later to be considered as the key elements of the enlightenment, e.g., the emphasis of self-thinking and the fight against prejudices, the purpose of all knowledge acquisition for practical use, the pathos of the sound reason, the arguing for the freedom of thought and religious tolerance, and the distinction between philosophy/jurisprudence and theology. Mostly well-known is his demonstration of the absurdity of witchcraft trials.

Data from Regional Variation in the Tumor Microenvironment, Immune Escape and Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: <div>Abstract<p>The low overall survival rates of patients with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are driven by regionally differing tumor biology, advanced tumor stages at diagnosis, and limited access to therapy. However, it is not known whether regional differences in the composition of the tumor microenvironment (TME) exist and affect patients’ prognosis. In this international, multicentre cohort study, 1,237 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer samples, including samples of the “African Breast Cancer-Disparities in Outcomes (ABC-DO) Study,” were analyzed. The immune cell phenotypes, their spatial distribution in the TME, and immune escape mechanisms of breast cancer samples from SSA and Germany (<i>n</i> = 117) were investigated using histomorphology, conventional and multiplex IHC, and RNA expression analysis. The data revealed no regional differences in the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in the 1,237 SSA breast cancer samples, while the distribution of TILs in different breast cancer IHC subtypes showed regional diversity, particularly when compared with German samples. Higher TIL densities were associated with better survival in the SSA cohort (<i>n</i> = 400), but regional differences concerning the predictive value of TILs existed. High numbers of CD163⁺ macrophages and CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells accompanied by reduced cytotoxicity, altered IL10 and IFNγ levels and downregulation of MHC class I components were predominantly detected in breast cancer samples from Western SSA. Features of nonimmunogenic breast cancer phenotypes were associated with reduced patient survival (<i>n</i> = 131). We therefore conclude that regional diversity in the distribution of breast cancer subtypes, TME composition, and immune escape mechanisms should be considered for therapy decisions in SSA and the design of personalized therapies.</p><p><i><a href="https://aacrjournals.org/cancerimmunolres/article/doi/10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-23-0323" target="_blank">See related Spotlight by Bergin et al., p. 705</a></i></p></div>

Immune signatures in variant syndromes of primary biliary cholangitis and autoimmune hepatitis

Abstract: Background: Variant syndromes of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) share diagnostic features of both entities, but their immunological underpinnings remain largely unexplored. Methods: We performed blood profiling of 23 soluble immune markers and immunogenetics in a cohort of 88 patients with autoimmune liver diseases (29 typical AIH, 31 typical PBC and 28 with clinically PBC/AIH variant syndromes). The association with demographical, serological and clinical features was analyzed. Results: While T and B cell receptor repertoires were highly skewed in variant syndromes compared to healthy controls, these biases were not sufficiently discriminated within the spectrum of autoimmune liver diseases. High circulating checkpoint molecules sCD25, sLAG-3, sCD86 and sTim-3 discriminated AIH from PBC on top of classical parameters such as transaminases and immunoglobulin levels. In addition, a second cluster of correlated soluble immune factors encompassing essentially TNF, IFNγ, IL12p70, sCTLA-4, sPD-1 and sPD-L1 appeared characteristic of AIH. Cases with complete biochemical responses to treatment generally showed a lower level of dysregulation. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of classical and variant syndromes identified two pathological immunotypes consisting predominantly of either AIH or PBC cases. Variant syndromes did not form a separate group, but clustered together with either classical AIH or PBC. Clinically, patient with AIH-like variant syndromes were less likely to be able discontinue immunosuppressive treatment. Conclusions: Our analyses suggest that variants of immune mediated liver diseases may represent an immunological spectrum from PBC to AIH-like disease reflected by their pattern of soluble immune checkpoint molecules rather than separate entities.

Common streamflow dynamics unraveled the heavy-tailed flood distributions

Abstract: Flood frequency distributions with heavy-tailed indicate a sizable chance of the occurrence of extreme floods. When heavy-tailed flood behavior is reliably identified, flood hazards caused by the unexpected can be reduced. However, for cases with limited or varying record lengths it is challenging to robustly estimate tail behavior with currently used indices, which rely solely on the graphical or mathematical performance of limited observations and are regardless of the physical processes.In this work, we start by analyzing runoff generation processes and show that the hydrograph recession is a proper descriptor of the emergence of heavy-tailed behavior of flood frequency distributions. We then examine it in a large set of seasonal case studies, which encompasses a variety of climate and physiographic conditions across Germany. Our results show that the newly proposed approach can detect cases with heavy-tailed behavior, and compare severity across cases by evaluating their tail heaviness. Remarkably, it displays robust identification of heavy/nonheavy-tailed behavior for cases with short data records, benchmarked against two other frequently used metrics for heavy tails in hydrological studies, i.e., the upper tail ratio and the shape parameters of generalized extreme value distributions.We highlight that the proposed method leverages the information of common discharge dynamics for inferring heavy-tailed flood behavior, which addresses the main limitations of currently used metrics and provides information on the characteristic flood hazard of river basins.This study summarizes results of the DFG-funded project "Propensity of rivers to extreme floods: climate-landscape controls and early detection - PREDICTED" (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - German Research Foundation, Project Number 421396820).

Observing soil moisture dynamics on starch potato fields for improving irrigation management based on hydrological simulations

Abstract: &lt;p&gt;In the view of global freshwater availability and an increasing water demand in agriculture to secure world nutrition, efficient water use is a key factor for sustainable irrigation management. Irrigation decision support systems often show a lack of awareness on intra-site and variety-specific optimum ranges of plant available water content, which enhances the ineffective use of irrigation water. In potato production, all phenological stages are sensitive to insufficient water supply, with optimum soil water contents ranging between 40% and 90% plant available water content. Hence, observations and simulations of soil moisture dynamics are crucial information for irrigation management. In a study to be presented we aim (i) to assess the optimum irrigation level for starch potatoes in terms of plant available water dynamics, and (ii) to compare the suitability of three different model environments for simulating soil moisture dynamics.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Four test plots (each 172&amp;#160;m&amp;#160;x&amp;#160;72&amp;#160;m) were installed during the growing seasons 2021 and 2022 on two loamy sands (27&amp;#160;ha and 35&amp;#160;ha) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, within one gun sprinkler irrigation lane. In each test plot, one irrigation level was applied: the longtime used irrigation level of the local farmer (100%), two deficit irrigation levels (80%, 90%), and one abundant irrigation level (120%). The 100% irrigation level was 119.2&amp;#160;mm in 2021 and 132.8&amp;#160;mm in 2022. The soil hydraulic properties determined in laboratory are typical for a loamy sand with soil moisture of 0.196&amp;#160;m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;#160;m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; at field capacity and 0.038&amp;#160;m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;#160;m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; at permanent wilting point. Hourly and daily simulations of root-zone (0-60&amp;#160;cm) soil moisture dynamics were performed using the evapotranspiration-based &amp;#8220;Agrarmeteorologisches Modell zur Berechnung der aktuellen Verdunstung&amp;#8221; (AMBAV) model and the soil hydraulic properties-based HYDRUS-1D and HYDRUS-2D model environments. In-situ soil moisture measurements, observed in three-time replicates per test plot in 10&amp;#160;cm increments up to a depth of 60&amp;#160;cm, were used for validation.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Field measurements confirmed that all irrigation levels impacted plant available water contents. They ranged between 25% and 65% at the 80% irrigation level, between 42% and 94% at the 90% irrigation level, between 50% and field capacity at the 100% irrigation level and between 64% and 109% at the 120% irrigation level. All three model environments provide reliable simulation results at all irrigation levels, with an average coefficient of determination (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) of 70.13% (AMBAV), 76.62% (HYDRUS-1D) and 81.13% (HYDRUS-2D). Simulated soil moisture dynamics varied stronger in topsoil than in subsoil layers, mainly due to the soil hydraulic properties of a potato dam and the effects of evapotranspiration.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The in-situ measured soil moisture dynamics confirm the capability of a 90% irrigation level for starch potatoes. AMBAV&amp;#180;s lower input parameter requirements ensure a greater dispersion of simulated soil moisture dynamics, when compared to more precise estimations by both HYDRUS environments. The inclusion of soil hydraulic properties in irrigation scheduling provides practice-relevant information, e.g., the actual irrigation demand of a specific crop, and enables the use of hydrological models for irrigation scheduling instead of in-situ measurements.&lt;/p&gt;

Heat accumulation in shallow aquifers: managing a growing resource

Abstract: Heat loss from buildings, infrastructure and enhanced heat flow from sealed surfaces increase the temperatures of shallow groundwater often more than global warming. A worldwide analysis of thousands of wells reveals that the temperature at every second location is higher than expected, and local anthropogenic heat sources that exist for decades contribute to subsurface waste heat accumulation down to a depth of around 100 m. At some places, such as in the city centre of Cologne, heating of groundwater by several degrees of Celsius appears to have even reached a maximum. Here, long-term temperature records reveal stabilizing thermal conditions in the shallow aquifer. This also means that the geothermal potential has increased significantly, possibly to a critical level for maximum stored heat in place. Still, the natural geothermal resources together with the artificially stored resources are often overlooked. In many regions, recycling only the energy lost to the subsurface could (1) fulfil a substantial part of the heat demand of buildings, and (2) increase the efficiency of heat pumps with a more favourable thermal regime during the heating period. This resource is growing. &#160;On the global scale, by the end of this century nearly 75% of the heat demand could be covered by recycling the heat that accumulates in the subsurface from anthropogenic heat loss and in response to climate change. Especially in densely populated areas, continued heat accumulation mitigates the risk of overexploiting the geothermal potential of shallow aquifers. Sustainable thermal management of aquifers must integrate concepts of heat recycling to avoid long-term warming of groundwater. For this, integrated spatial planning is needed. Shallow geothermal systems such as groundwater heat-pump installations have to be spatially organized in urban districts to achieve optimal use of the geothermal resource. They can maintain controlled cooling of the groundwater while benefitting from enhanced waste heat flux. As an example, we discuss the thermal interference of urban infrastructure and geothermal wells for the city of Lyon, which are spatially arranged based on hydraulic and thermal criteria to benefit from urban groundwater heating.

More Complex is Not Necessarily Better in Large-Scale Hydrological Modeling

Abstract: Conceptual hydrological models are irreplaceable tools for large-scale (i.e., from regional to global) hydrological predictions. Large-scale modeling studies typically strive to employ one single model structure regardless of the diversity of catchments under study. However, little is known on the optimal model complexity for large-scale applications. In a modeling experiment across 700 catchments in the contiguous United States, we analyze the performance of a conceptual (bucket style) distributed hydrological model with varying complexity (5 model versions with 11&#8211;45 parameters) but with exactly the same inputs and spatial and temporal resolution and implementing the same regional parameterization approach. The performance of all model versions compares well with those of contemporary large-scale models tested in the United States, suggesting that the applied model structures reasonably account for the dominant hydrological processes. Remarkably, our results favor a simpler model structure where the main hydrological processes of runoff generation and routing through soil, groundwater, and the river network are conceptualized in distinct but parsimonious ways. As long as only observed runoff is used for model validation, including additional soil layers in the model structure to better represent vertical soil heterogeneity seems not to improve model performance. More complex models tend to have lower model performance and may result in rather large uncertainties in simulating states and fluxes (soil moisture and groundwater recharge) in model ensemble applications. Overall, our results indicate that simpler model structures tend to be a more reliable choice, given the limited validation data available at large scale.

Hydrogeological, physicochemical, and thermal conditions as drivers of faunal diversity in an urban groundwater ecosystem

Abstract: Shallow urban groundwater is habitat of microorganisms as well as invertebrate fauna. Both communities are assumed to be strongly influenced by multiple stressors, such as increased groundwater temperatures and enhanced local hydraulic fluctuations, acting in the urban subsurface. To date, ecological studies mainly focused on natural and arable environments, with little attention to biodiversity and the role of anthropogenic factors in urban groundwater habitats. Our project targets the subterranean regime of the city of Halle (Saale) as an ideal benchmark to explore spatial and temporal dynamics of subsurface biodiversity on the urban scale. The unique hydrogeological setting of Halle, which covers a broad range of different aquifer types, with characteristic subsurface urban warming, allows for the evaluation of selected abiotic factors related to hydraulics, hydrochemistry and temperature trends. We expect new insight into the individual and concerted role of these factors on groundwater microorganisms and fauna.First data were collected within a field campaign in June/July 2022. Physico-chemical parameters in groundwater were recorded with a multiparameter probe at each sampling point. Hydrochemical analysis including major anions and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was conducted with the water samples from the wells and freshly pumped groundwater. Groundwater animals were collected from the bottom of the wells with a net sampler. Animals were sorted and counted at the level of higher taxonomic groups (e.g. amphipods, copepods, isopods, ostracods, oligochaetes, nematodes, and mites). In the presentation, first results on the hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, microbiology and faunal diversity of the urban center and surroundings of Halle are introduced. We show major spatial trends and how faunal abundance and diversity relates to direct urban temperature effects and zones of anoxic conditions. Moreover, research activities planned for the near future will be discussed.

Development of a Web Based Decision Support System to Provide Relevant Climate Indicators for Climate Change Adaption

Abstract: The African continent faces various challenges and numerous risks due to current and future climate change. To strengthen the resilience of West African societies in the sectors of agriculture, food security, water and risk management, adaption measures need to be implemented in time. In the WASCAL-LANDSURF project, an earth system model for West Africa is developed to enable high-resolution regional climate change information. The obtained data must be accessible to the public so that interested stakeholders and smallholders can incorporate them into their decision-making processes. To realize this, a web based spatial decision support system (SDSS) is developed with state-of-the-art open-source technologies to give information on climate change as well as relevant cross-sector indicators. For successful co-development, stakeholder workshops were held to identify important key functionalities and indicators that need to be implemented. The SDSS will be multilingual and easy to use to ensure an extensive range of applications. Users will have the possibility to familiarize themselves with the Web Portal by means of different guides in order to ease the entry into the SDSS. The current prototype supports map and diagram visualization and selection of various indicators and climate data, as well as query functionalities for different West African regions. Many other functionalities, such as the possibility to download data and statistical outputs of selected indicators, will be integrated soon. The final web portal will give users the opportunity to include climate indices in a simple and clear way into their decision-making process to strengthen their resilience towards climate change.

Simulation of Re-Used Basin Structures for Long-Term, Large-Scale Sensible Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract: Heat storages have become an increasingly important component of innovative energy systems on a &#160;district-level, characterized by a high share of renewable energy and/or a high degree of autarky. Large-scale thermal energy storages are required to compensate for the seasonal mismatch between demand and supply; they form a central junction in the distribution network of a district, linking the various sources and sinks.Established geothermal heat storage systems (Aquifer/borehole thermal energy storages) already show a high market availability. Based on a large number of customized implementations, substantial expertise and best practice is available in this sector. Additionally, closed systems based on artificial basins (Tank, pit, water-gravel thermal energy storages) were developed for site-independent implementation; &#160;they can be distinguished by different components, materials and construction methods. However, they still lack market maturity, with two key aspects as critical barriers: firstly, building complexity of such facilities is high, resulting in high investment costs. Secondly, planning processes are still subject to a significant degree of uncertainty. Consequently, such sophisticated and expensive projects are often contrasted with a high financial and technological risk.In order to tackle both of these key issues, we present two solutions within our study. We introduce an interesting alternative based on recycling. As high investment costs result mainly from excavations and expenses for structural components, we suggest the re-use of existing infrastructures and artificial basin installations. In our presentation, we estimate the potential of these technical conversions. From a conceptual perspective, we demonstrate the variety of possible types of infrastructures and analyze their suitability for being re-used as storage based on different requirements, e.g., accessibility, integrability, competing interests and legal constraints. From this, we derive an overall assessment with regard to the suitability of sites and highlight advantages and weaknesses of the various types of infrastructures.Still, any implementation can only be successful if the structure used shows sufficient performance. This is in high contrast to the usually considerable deviations from common design conventions for closed seasonal thermal energy storages, e.g., geometrically with respect to the surface/volume ratio. Here, the possible maximum storage capacity, charging/discharging power and efficiency of a re-used infrastructure after its conversion needs to be analyzed from a technical perspective. To address this suitability aspect, we use a recently developed simulation tool &#8220;STORE&#8221;, which allows versatile modelling and evaluation of storage design scenarios on a component level using a 2.5&#8209;D approach. In our presentation, we employ &#8220;STORE&#8221; to a case study and examine a potential re-use of a former water-treatment basin. After applying common boundary conditions of an energy system and setting different design scenarios, we focus on performance indicators and reveal the best technical solution for this specific case study and discuss transferability of the results.Finally, we use our study to demonstrate, under which conditions the conversion and re-use of artificial infrastructures can be a promising approach: By reducing investment costs of large-scale, closed thermal energy storage systems, it can pave their way to full market availability.