@phdthesis{Muksin2014, author = {Muksin, Umar}, title = {A fault-controlled geothermal system in Tarutung (North Sumatra, Indonesia)investigated by seismological analysis}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72065}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The seismic structure (Vp, Vp/Vs, and Qp anomalies) contributes to the physical properties and the lithology of rocks and possible fluid distribution in the region. The Vp model images the geometry of the Tarutung and the Sarulla basins. Both basins have a depth of around 2.0 km. High Vp/Vs and high attenuation (low Qp) anomalies are observed along the Sarulla graben associated with a weak zone caused by volcanic activities along the graben. Low Vp/Vs and low conductivity anomalies are found in the west of the Tarutung basin. This anomaly is interpreted as dry, compact, and rigid granitic rock in the region as also found by geological observations. Low Vp, high Vp/Vs and low Qp anomalies are found at the east of the Tarutung basin which appear to be associated with the three big geothermal manifestations in Sipoholon, Hutabarat, and Panabungan area. These anomalies are connected with high Vp/Vs and low Qp anomalies below the Tarutung basin at depth of around 3 - 10 km. This suggests that these geothermal manifestations are fed by the same source of the hot fluid below the Tarutung basin. The hot fluids from below the Tarutung basin propagate to the more dilatational and more permeable zone in the northeast. Granite found in the west of the Tarutung basin could also be abundant underneath the basin at a certain depth so that it prevents the hot fluid to be transported directly to the Tarutung basin. High seismic attenuation and low Vp/Vs anomalies are found in the southwest of the Tarutung basin below the Martimbang volcano. These anomalies are associated with hot rock below the volcano without or with less amount of partial melting. There is no indication that the volcano controls the geothermal system around the Tarutung basin. The geothermal resources around the Tarutung basin is a fault-controlled system as a result of deep circulation of fluids. Outside of the basin, the seismicity delineation and the focal mechanism correlate with the shape and the characteristics of the strike-slip Sumatran fault. Within the Tarutung basin, the seismicity is distributed more broadly which coincides with the margin of the basin. An extensional duplex system in the Tarutung basin is derived from the seismicity and focal mechanism analysis which is also consistent with the geological observations. The vertical distribution of the seismicity suggests the presence of a negative flower structure within the Tarutung basin.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Radeff2014, author = {Radeff, Giuditta}, title = {Geohistory of the Central Anatolian Plateau southern margin (southern Turkey)}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-71865}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The Adana Basin of southern Turkey, situated at the SE margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau is ideally located to record Neogene topographic and tectonic changes in the easternmost Mediterranean realm. Using industry seismic reflection data we correlate 34 seismic profiles with corresponding exposed units in the Adana Basin. The time-depth conversion of the interpreted seismic profiles allows us to reconstruct the subsidence curve of the Adana Basin and to outline the occurrence of a major increase in both subsidence and sedimentation rates at 5.45 - 5.33 Ma, leading to the deposition of almost 1500 km3 of conglomerates and marls. Our provenance analysis of the conglomerates reveals that most of the sediment is derived from and north of the SE margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau. A comparison of these results with the composition of recent conglomerates and the present drainage basins indicates major changes between late Messinian and present-day source areas. We suggest that these changes in source areas result of uplift and ensuing erosion of the SE margin of the plateau. This hypothesis is supported by the comparison of the Adana Basin subsidence curve with the subsidence curve of the Mut Basin, a mainly Neogene basin located on top of the Central Anatolian Plateau southern margin, showing that the Adana Basin subsidence event is coeval with an uplift episode of the plateau southern margin. The collection of several fault measurements in the Adana region show different deformation styles for the NW and SE margins of the Adana Basin. The weakly seismic NW portion of the basin is characterized by extensional and transtensional structures cutting Neogene deposits, likely accomodating the differential uplift occurring between the basin and the SE margin of the plateau. We interpret the tectonic evolution of the southern flank of the Central Anatolian Plateau and the coeval subsidence and sedimentation in the Adana Basin to be related to deep lithospheric processes, particularly lithospheric delamination and slab break-off.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{RoggeSolti2014, author = {Rogge-Solti, Andreas}, title = {Probabilistic Estimation of Unobserved Process Events}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-70426}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Organizations try to gain competitive advantages, and to increase customer satisfaction. To ensure the quality and efficiency of their business processes, they perform business process management. An important part of process management that happens on the daily operational level is process controlling. A prerequisite of controlling is process monitoring, i.e., keeping track of the performed activities in running process instances. Only by process monitoring can business analysts detect delays and react to deviations from the expected or guaranteed performance of a process instance. To enable monitoring, process events need to be collected from the process environment. When a business process is orchestrated by a process execution engine, monitoring is available for all orchestrated process activities. Many business processes, however, do not lend themselves to automatic orchestration, e.g., because of required freedom of action. This situation is often encountered in hospitals, where most business processes are manually enacted. Hence, in practice it is often inefficient or infeasible to document and monitor every process activity. Additionally, manual process execution and documentation is prone to errors, e.g., documentation of activities can be forgotten. Thus, organizations face the challenge of process events that occur, but are not observed by the monitoring environment. These unobserved process events can serve as basis for operational process decisions, even without exact knowledge of when they happened or when they will happen. An exemplary decision is whether to invest more resources to manage timely completion of a case, anticipating that the process end event will occur too late. This thesis offers means to reason about unobserved process events in a probabilistic way. We address decisive questions of process managers (e.g., "when will the case be finished?", or "when did we perform the activity that we forgot to document?") in this thesis. As main contribution, we introduce an advanced probabilistic model to business process management that is based on a stochastic variant of Petri nets. We present a holistic approach to use the model effectively along the business process lifecycle. Therefore, we provide techniques to discover such models from historical observations, to predict the termination time of processes, and to ensure quality by missing data management. We propose mechanisms to optimize configuration for monitoring and prediction, i.e., to offer guidance in selecting important activities to monitor. An implementation is provided as a proof of concept. For evaluation, we compare the accuracy of the approach with that of state-of-the-art approaches using real process data of a hospital. Additionally, we show its more general applicability in other domains by applying the approach on process data from logistics and finance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Sarrar2014, author = {Sarrar, Lea}, title = {Kognitive Funktionen bei adoleszenten Patienten mit Anorexia nervosa und unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72439}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Anorexia nervosa und unipolare Affektive St{\"o}rungen stellen h{\"a}ufige und schwerwiegende kinder- und jugendpsychiatrische St{\"o}rungsbilder dar, deren Pathogenese bislang nicht vollst{\"a}ndig entschl{\"u}sselt ist. Verschiedene Studien zeigen bei erwachsenen Patienten gravierende Auff{\"a}lligkeiten in den kognitiven Funktionen. Dahingegen scheinen bei adoleszenten Patienten lediglich leichtere Einschr{\"a}nkungen in den kognitiven Funktionen vorzuliegen. Die Pr{\"a}valenz der Anorexia nervosa und unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rung ist mit Beginn der Adoleszenz deutlich erh{\"o}ht. Es ist anzunehmen, dass kognitive Dysfunktionen, die sich bereits in diesem Alter abzeichnen, den weiteren Krankheitsverlauf bis in das Erwachsenenalter, die Behandlungsergebnisse und die Prognose maßgeblich beeintr{\"a}chtigen k{\"o}nnten. Zudem ist von einem h{\"o}heren Chronifizierungsrisiko auszugehen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden daher kognitive Funktionen bei adoleszenten Patientinnen mit Anorexia nervosa sowie Patienten mit unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen untersucht. Die {\"U}berpr{\"u}fung der kognitiven Funktionen bei Patientinnen mit Anorexia nervosa erfolgte vor und nach Gewichtszunahme. Weiterhin wurden zugrundeliegende biologische Mechanismen {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft. Zudem wurde die Spezifit{\"a}t kognitiver Dysfunktionen f{\"u}r beide St{\"o}rungsbilder untersucht und bei Patienten mit unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen geschlechtsbezogene Unterschiede exploriert. Insgesamt gingen 47 Patientinnen mit Anorexia nervosa (mittleres Alter 16,3 + 1,6 Jahre), 39 Patienten mit unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen (mittleres Alter 15,5 + 1,3 Jahre) sowie 78 Kontrollprobanden (mittleres Alter 16,5 + 1,3 Jahre) in die Untersuchung ein. S{\"a}mtliche Studienteilnehmer durchliefen eine neuropsychologische Testbatterie, bestehend aus Verfahren zur {\"U}berpr{\"u}fung der kognitiven Flexibilit{\"a}t sowie visuellen und psychomotorischen Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit. Neben einem Intelligenzscreening wurden zudem das Ausmaß der depressiven Symptomatik sowie die allgemeine psychische Belastung erfasst. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass bei adoleszenten Patientinnen mit Anorexia nervosa, sowohl im akut untergewichtigen Zustand als auch nach Gewichtszunahme, lediglich milde Beeintr{\"a}chtigungen in den kognitiven Funktionen vorliegen. Im akut untergewichtigen Zustand offenbarten sich deutliche Zusammenh{\"a}nge zwischen dem appetitregulierenden Peptid Agouti-related Protein und kognitiver Flexibilit{\"a}t, nicht jedoch zwischen Agouti-related Protein und visueller oder psychomotorischer Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit. Bei dem Vergleich von Anorexia nervosa und unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen pr{\"a}dizierte die Zugeh{\"o}rigkeit zu der Patientengruppe Anorexia nervosa ein Risiko f{\"u}r das Vorliegen kognitiver Dysfunktionen. Es zeigte sich zudem, dass adoleszente Patienten mit unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen lediglich in der psychomotorischen Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit tendenziell schw{\"a}chere Leistungen offenbarten als gesunde Kontrollprobanden. Es ergab sich jedoch ein genereller geschlechtsbezogener Vorteil f{\"u}r weibliche Probanden in der visuellen und psychomotorischen Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit. Die vorliegenden Befunde unterstreichen die Notwendigkeit der {\"U}berpr{\"u}fung kognitiver Funktionen bei adoleszenten Patienten mit Anorexia nervosa sowie unipolaren Affektiven St{\"o}rungen in der klinischen Routinediagnostik. Die Patienten k{\"o}nnten von spezifischen Therapieprogrammen profitieren, die Beeintr{\"a}chtigungen in den kognitiven Funktionen mildern bzw. pr{\"a}ventiv behandeln.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Schmidl2014, author = {Schmidl, Ricarda}, title = {Empirical essays on job search behavior, active labor market policies, and propensity score balancing methods}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-71145}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In Chapter 1 of the dissertation, the role of social networks is analyzed as an important determinant in the search behavior of the unemployed. Based on the hypothesis that the unemployed generate information on vacancies through their social network, search theory predicts that individuals with large social networks should experience an increased productivity of informal search, and reduce their search in formal channels. Due to the higher productivity of search, unemployed with a larger network are also expected to have a higher reservation wage than unemployed with a small network. The model-theoretic predictions are tested and confirmed empirically. It is found that the search behavior of unemployed is significantly affected by the presence of social contacts, with larger networks implying a stronger substitution away from formal search channels towards informal channels. The substitution is particularly pronounced for passive formal search methods, i.e., search methods that generate rather non-specific types of job offer information at low relative cost. We also find small but significant positive effects of an increase of the network size on the reservation wage. These results have important implications on the analysis of the job search monitoring or counseling measures that are usually targeted at formal search only. Chapter 2 of the dissertation addresses the labor market effects of vacancy information during the early stages of unemployment. The outcomes considered are the speed of exit from unemployment, the effects on the quality of employment and the short-and medium-term effects on active labor market program (ALMP) participation. It is found that vacancy information significantly increases the speed of entry into employment; at the same time the probability to participate in ALMP is significantly reduced. Whereas the long-term reduction in the ALMP arises in consequence of the earlier exit from unemployment, we also observe a short-run decrease for some labor market groups which suggest that caseworker use high and low intensity activation measures interchangeably which is clearly questionable from an efficiency point of view. For unemployed who find a job through vacancy information we observe a small negative effect on the weekly number of hours worked. In Chapter 3, the long-term effects of participation in ALMP are assessed for unemployed youth under 25 years of age. Complementary to the analysis in Chapter 2, the effects of participation in time- and cost-intensive measures of active labor market policies are examined. In particular we study the effects of job creation schemes, wage subsidies, short-and long-term training measures and measures to promote the participation in vocational training. The outcome variables of interest are the probability to be in regular employment, and participation in further education during the 60 months following program entry. The analysis shows that all programs, except job creation schemes have positive and long-term effects on the employment probability of youth. In the short-run only short-term training measures generate positive effects, as long-term training programs and wage subsidies exhibit significant locking-in'' effects. Measures to promote vocational training are found to increase the probability of attending education and training significantly, whereas all other programs have either no or a negative effect on training participation. Effect heterogeneity with respect to the pre-treatment level education shows that young people with higher pre-treatment educational levels benefit more from participation most programs. However, for longer-term wage subsidies we also find strong positive effects for young people with low initial education levels. The relative benefit of training measures is higher in West than in East Germany. In the evaluation studies of Chapters 2 and 3 semi-parametric balancing methods of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) are used to eliminate the effects of counfounding factors that influence both the treatment participation as well as the outcome variable of interest, and to establish a causal relation between program participation and outcome differences. While PSM and IPW are intuitive and methodologically attractive as they do not require parametric assumptions, the practical implementation may become quite challenging due to their sensitivity to various data features. Given the importance of these methods in the evaluation literature, and the vast number of recent methodological contributions in this field, Chapter 4 aims to reduce the knowledge gap between the methodological and applied literature by summarizing new findings of the empirical and statistical literature and practical guidelines for future applied research. In contrast to previous publications this study does not only focus on the estimation of causal effects, but stresses that the balancing challenge can and should be discussed independent of question of causal identification of treatment effects on most empirical applications. Following a brief outline of the practical implementation steps required for PSM and IPW, these steps are presented in detail chronologically, outlining practical advice for each step. Subsequently, the topics of effect estimation, inference, sensitivity analysis and the combination with parametric estimation methods are discussed. Finally, new extensions of the methodology and avenues for future research are presented.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Serrano2014, author = {Serrano, Paloma}, title = {Methanogens from Siberian permafrost as models for life on Mars : response to simulated martian conditions and biosignature characterization}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72299}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Mars is one of the best candidates among planetary bodies for supporting life. The presence of water in the form of ice and atmospheric vapour together with the availability of biogenic elements and energy are indicators of the possibility of hosting life as we know it. The occurrence of permanently frozen ground - permafrost, is a common phenomenon on Mars and it shows multiple morphological analogies with terrestrial permafrost. Despite the extreme inhospitable conditions, highly diverse microbial communities inhabit terrestrial permafrost in large numbers. Among these are methanogenic archaea, which are anaerobic chemotrophic microorganisms that meet many of the metabolic and physiological requirements for survival on the martian subsurface. Moreover, methanogens from Siberian permafrost are extremely resistant against different types of physiological stresses as well as simulated martian thermo-physical and subsurface conditions, making them promising model organisms for potential life on Mars. The main aims of this investigation are to assess the survival of methanogenic archaea under Mars conditions, focusing on methanogens from Siberian permafrost, and to characterize their biosignatures by means of Raman spectroscopy, a powerful technology for microbial identification that will be used in the ExoMars mission. For this purpose, methanogens from Siberian permafrost and non-permafrost habitats were subjected to simulated martian desiccation by exposure to an ultra-low subfreezing temperature (-80ºC) and to Mars regolith (S-MRS and P-MRS) and atmospheric analogues. They were also exposed to different concentrations of perchlorate, a strong oxidant found in martian soils. Moreover, the biosignatures of methanogens were characterized at the single-cell level using confocal Raman microspectroscopy (CRM). The results showed survival and methane production in all methanogenic strains under simulated martian desiccation. After exposure to subfreezing temperatures, Siberian permafrost strains had a faster metabolic recovery, whereas the membranes of non-permafrost methanogens remained intact to a greater extent. The strain Methanosarcina soligelidi SMA-21 from Siberian permafrost showed significantly higher methane production rates than all other strains after the exposure to martian soil and atmospheric analogues, and all strains survived the presence of perchlorate at the concentration on Mars. Furthermore, CRM analyses revealed remarkable differences in the overall chemical composition of permafrost and non-permafrost strains of methanogens, regardless of their phylogenetic relationship. The convergence of the chemical composition in non-sister permafrost strains may be the consequence of adaptations to the environment, and could explain their greater resistance compared to the non-permafrost strains. As part of this study, Raman spectroscopy was evaluated as an analytical technique for remote detection of methanogens embedded in a mineral matrix. This thesis contributes to the understanding of the survival limits of methanogenic archaea under simulated martian conditions to further assess the hypothetical existence of life similar to methanogens on the martian subsurface. In addition, the overall chemical composition of methanogens was characterized for the first time by means of confocal Raman microspectroscopy, with potential implications for astrobiological research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Tenenboim2014, author = {Tenenboim, Yehezkel}, title = {Characterization of a Chlamydomonas protein involved in cell division and autophagy}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-70650}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The contractile vacuole (CV) is an osmoregulatory organelle found exclusively in algae and protists. In addition to expelling excessive water out of the cell, it also expels ions and other metabolites and thereby contributes to the cell's metabolic homeostasis. The interest in the CV reaches beyond its immediate cellular roles. The CV's function is tightly related to basic cellular processes such as membrane dynamics and vesicle budding and fusion; several physiological processes in animals, such as synaptic neurotransmission and blood filtration in the kidney, are related to the CV's function; and several pathogens, such as the causative agents of sleeping sickness, possess CVs, which may serve as pharmacological targets. The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has two CVs. They are the smallest known CVs in nature, and they remain relatively untouched in the CV-related literature. Many genes that have been shown to be related to the CV in other organisms have close homologues in C. reinhardtii. We attempted to silence some of these genes and observe the effect on the CV. One of our genes, VMP1, caused striking, severe phenotypes when silenced. Cells exhibited defective cytokinesis and aberrant morphologies. The CV, incidentally, remained unscathed. In addition, mutant cells showed some evidence of disrupted autophagy. Several important regulators of the cell cycle as well as autophagy were found to be underexpressed in the mutant. Lipidomic analysis revealed many meaningful changes between wild-type and mutant cells, reinforcing the compromised-autophagy observation. VMP1 is a singular protein, with homologues in numerous eukaryotic organisms (aside from fungi), but usually with no relatives in each particular genome. Since its first characterization in 2002 it has been associated with several cellular processes and functions, namely autophagy, programmed cell-death, secretion, cell adhesion, and organelle biogenesis. It has been implicated in several human diseases: pancreatitis, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Our results reiterate some of the observations in VMP1's six reported homologues, but, importantly, show for the first time an involvement of this protein in cell division. The mechanisms underlying this involvement in Chlamydomonas, as well as other key aspects, such as VMP1's subcellular localization and interaction partners, still await elucidation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Tietz2014, author = {Tietz, Marcel}, title = {Europ{\"a}isches Verwaltungsmanagement : Vergleich von Hauptst{\"a}dten neuer und alter Mitgliedsstaaten der EU am Beispiel der B{\"u}rgerdienste}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72171}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Im Rahmen der Dissertation wird die Anwendung und Wirkung von Kernelementen des New Public Management (NPM) am Beispiel der B{\"u}rgerdienste der sechs europ{\"a}ischen Hauptst{\"a}dte Berlin, Br{\"u}ssel, Kopenhagen, Madrid, Prag und Warschau analysiert. Hierbei steht der Vergleich von Hauptst{\"a}dten der MOE-Staaten mit Hauptst{\"a}dten alter EU-Mitgliedsstaaten im Vordergrund. Es wird die folgende Forschungshypothese untersucht: Die Verwaltungen in den Hauptst{\"a}dten der {\"o}stlichen Mitgliedsstaaten der EU haben in Folge der grunds{\"a}tzlichen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Umbr{\"u}che in den 1990er Jahren bedeutend mehr Kernelemente des NPM beim Neuaufbau ihrer {\"o}ffentlichen Verwaltungen eingef{\"u}hrt. Durch den folgerichtigen Aufbau kundenorientierter und moderner Verwaltungen sowie der strikten Anwendung der Kernelemente des New Public Management arbeiten die B{\"u}rgerdienste in den Hauptst{\"a}dten {\"o}stlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten effizienter und wirkungsvoller als vergleichbare B{\"u}rgerdienste in den Hauptst{\"a}dten westlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten. Zur {\"U}berpr{\"u}fung der Forschungshypothese werden die Vergleichsst{\"a}dte zun{\"a}chst den entsprechenden Rechts- und Verwaltungstraditionen (kontinentaleurop{\"a}isch deutsch, napoleonisch und skandinavisch) zugeordnet und bez{\"u}glich ihrer Ausgangslage zum Aufbau einer modernen Verwaltung (Westeurop{\"a}ische Verwaltung, Wiedervereinigungsverwaltung und Transformations-verwaltung) kategorisiert. Im Anschluss werden die institutionellen Voraussetzungen hinterfragt, was die deskriptive Darstellung der Stadt- und Verwaltungsgeschichte sowie die Untersuchung von organisatorischen Strukturen der B{\"u}rgerdienste, die Anwendung der NPM-Instrumente als auch die Innen- und Außenperspektive des NPM umfasst. Es wird festgestellt, ob und in welcher Form die B{\"u}rgerdienste der Vergleichsst{\"a}dte die Kernelemente des NPM anwenden. Im Anschluss werden die Vergleichsst{\"a}dte bez{\"u}glich der Anwendung der Kernelemente miteinander verglichen, wobei der Fokus auf dem pers{\"o}nlichen Vertriebsweg und der Kundenorientierung liegt. Der folgende Teil der Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Output der B{\"u}rgerdienste, der auf operative Resultate untersucht und verglichen wird. Hierbei stellt sich insbesondere die Frage nach den Leistungsmengen und der Produktivit{\"a}t des Outputs. Es werden aber auch die Ergebnisse von Verwaltungsprozessen untersucht, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Kundenorientierung. Hierf{\"u}r wird ein Effizienzvergleich der B{\"u}rgerdienste in den Vergleichsst{\"a}dten anhand einer relativen Effizienzmessung und der Free Disposal Hull (FDH)-Methode nach Bouckaert durchgef{\"u}hrt. Es ist eine Konzentration auf popul{\"a}re Dienstleistungen aus dem Portfolio der B{\"u}rgerdienste notwendig. Daher werden die vergleichbaren Dienstleistungen Melde-, Personalausweis-, F{\"u}hrerschein- und Reisepass-angelegenheiten unter Einbeziehung des Vollzeit{\"a}quivalents zur Berechnung der Effizienz der B{\"u}rgerdienste herangezogen. Hierf{\"u}r werden Daten aus den Jahren 2009 bis 2011 genutzt, die teilweise aus verwaltungsinternen Datenbanken stammen. Anschließend wird der Versuch unternommen, den Outcome in die Effizienzanalyse der B{\"u}rgerdienste einfließen zu lassen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird die Anwendbarkeit von verschiedenen erweiterten Best-Practice-Verfahren und auch eine Erweiterung der relativen Effizienzmessung und der FDH-Methode gepr{\"u}ft. Als Gesamtfazit der Dissertation kann festgehalten werden, dass die B{\"u}rgerdienste in den untersuchten Hauptst{\"a}dten der MOE-Staaten nicht mehr Kernelemente des NPM anwenden, als die Hauptst{\"a}dte der westlichen Mitgliedsstaaten der EU. Im Gegenteil wendet Prag deutlich weniger NPM-Instrumente als andere Vergleichsst{\"a}dte an, wohingegen Warschau zwar viele NPM-Instrumente anwendet, jedoch immer von einer westeurop{\"a}ischen Vergleichsstadt {\"u}bertroffen wird. Auch die Hypothese, dass die B{\"u}rgerdienste in den Hauptst{\"a}dten der MOE-Staaten effizienter arbeiten als vergleichbare B{\"u}rgerdienste in den Hauptst{\"a}dten westlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten wurde durch die Dissertation entkr{\"a}ftet. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall, da Prag und Warschau im Rahmen des Effizienzvergleichs lediglich durchschnittliche oder schlechte Performances aufweisen. Die aufgestellte Hypothese ist durch die Forschungsergebnisse widerlegt, lediglich das gute Abschneiden der Vergleichsstadt Warschau bei der Anwendungsanalyse kann einen Teil der These im gewissen Umfang best{\"a}tigen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Trost2014, author = {Trost, Gerda}, title = {Poly(A) Polymerase 1 (PAPS1) influences organ size and pathogen response in Arabidopsis thaliana}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72345}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Polyadenylation of pre-mRNAs is critical for efficient nuclear export, stability, and translation of the mature mRNAs, and thus for gene expression. The bulk of pre-mRNAs are processed by canonical nuclear poly(A) polymerase (PAPS). Both vertebrate and higher-plant genomes encode more than one isoform of this enzyme, and these are coexpressed in different tissues. However, in neither case is it known whether the isoforms fulfill different functions or polyadenylate distinct subsets of pre-mRNAs. This thesis shows that the three canonical nuclear PAPS isoforms in Arabidopsis are functionally specialized owing to their evolutionarily divergent C-terminal domains. A moderate loss-of-function mutant in PAPS1 leads to increase in floral organ size, whereas leaf size is reduced. A strong loss-of-function mutation causes a male gametophytic defect, whereas a weak allele leads to reduced leaf growth. By contrast, plants lacking both PAPS2 and PAPS4 function are viable with wild-type leaf growth. Polyadenylation of SMALL AUXIN UP RNA (SAUR) mRNAs depends specifically on PAPS1 function. The resulting reduction in SAUR activity in paps1 mutants contributes to their reduced leaf growth, providing a causal link between polyadenylation of specific pre-mRNAs by a particular PAPS isoform and plant growth. Additionally, opposite effects of PAPS1 on leaf and flower growth reflect the different identities of these organs. The overgrowth of paps1 mutant petals is due to increased recruitment of founder cells into early organ primordia whereas the reduced leaf size is due to an ectopic pathogen response. This constitutive immune response leads to increased resistance to the biotrophic oomycete Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis and reflects activation of the salicylic acid-independent signalling pathway downstream of ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (EDS1)/PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 (PAD4). Immune responses are accompanied by intracellular redox changes. Consistent with this, the redox-status of the chloroplast is altered in paps1-1 mutants. The molecular effects of the paps1-1 mutation were analysed using an RNA sequencing approach that distinguishes between long- and short tailed mRNA. The results shown here suggest the existence of an additional layer of regulation in plants and possibly vertebrate gene expression, whereby the relative activities of canonical nuclear PAPS isoforms control de novo synthesized poly(A) tail length and hence expression of specific subsets of mRNAs.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Yadavalli2014, author = {Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar}, title = {Advances in experimental methods to probe surface relief grating formation mechanism in photosensitive materials}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-71213}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {When azobenzene-modified photosensitive polymer films are irradiated with light interference patterns, topographic variations in the film develop that follow the electric field vector distribution resulting in the formation of surface relief grating (SRG). The exact correspondence of the electric field vector orientation in interference pattern in relation to the presence of local topographic minima or maxima of SRG is in general difficult to determine. In my thesis, we have established a systematic procedure to accomplish the correlation between different interference patterns and the topography of SRG. For this, we devise a new setup combining an atomic force microscope and a two-beam interferometer (IIAFM). With this set-up, it is possible to track the topography change in-situ, while at the same time changing polarization and phase of the impinging interference pattern. To validate our results, we have compared two photosensitive materials named in short as PAZO and trimer. This is the first time that an absolute correspondence between the local distribution of electric field vectors of interference pattern and the local topography of the relief grating could be established exhaustively. In addition, using our IIAFM we found that for a certain polarization combination of two orthogonally polarized interfering beams namely SP (↕, ↔) interference pattern, the topography forms SRG with only half the period of the interference patterns. Exploiting this phenomenon we are able to fabricate surface relief structures below diffraction limit with characteristic features measuring only 140 nm, by using far field optics with a wavelength of 491 nm. We have also probed for the stresses induced during the polymer mass transport by placing an ultra-thin gold film on top (5-30 nm). During irradiation, the metal film not only deforms along with the SRG formation, but ruptures in regular and complex manner. The morphology of the cracks differs strongly depending on the electric field distribution in the interference pattern even when the magnitude and the kinetic of the strain are kept constant. This implies a complex local distribution of the opto-mechanical stress along the topography grating. The neutron reflectivity measurements of the metal/polymer interface indicate the penetration of metal layer within the polymer resulting in the formation of bonding layer that confirms the transduction of light induced stresses in the polymer layer to a metal film.}, language = {en} }