@phdthesis{Winkler2013,
  author    = {Winkler, Henning},
  title     = {Synthese von thermoplastisch verarbeitbaren Fetts{\"a}ure-Acylderivaten der St{\"a}rke und Proteine},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-71089},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {In den vergangenen Jahren wurden stetig wachsende Produktionskapazit{\"a}ten von Biokunststoffen aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffe nverzeichnet. Trotz großer Produktionskapazit{\"a}ten und einem geeigneten Eigenschaftsprofil findet St{\"a}rke nur als hydrophile, mit Weichmachern verarbeitete thermoplastische St{\"a}rke (TPS) in Form von Blends mit z. B. Polyestern Anwendung. Gleiches gilt f{\"u}r Kunststoffe auf Proteinbasis. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat die Entwicklung von Biokunststoffen auf St{\"a}rkebasis zum Ziel, welche ohne externe Weichmacher thermoplastisch verarbeitbar und hydrophob sind sowie ein mechanisches Eigenschaftsprofil aufweisen, welches ein Potenzial zur Herstellung von Materialien f{\"u}r eine Anwendung als Verpackungsmittel bietet. Um die Rohstoffbasis f{\"u}r Biokunststoffe zu erweitern, soll das erarbeitete Konzept auf zwei industriell verf{\"u}gbare Proteintypen, Zein und Molkenproteinisolat (WPI), {\"u}bertragen werden. Als geeignete Materialklasse wurden Fetts{\"a}ureester der St{\"a}rke herausgearbeitet. Zun{\"a}chst fand ein Vergleich der S{\"a}urechlorid-Veresterung und der Umesterung von Fetts{\"a}urevinylestern statt, woraus letztere als geeignetere Methode hervorging. Durch Variation der Reaktionsparameter konnte diese optimiert und auf eine Serie der Fetts{\"a}urevinylester von Butanoat bis Stearat f{\"u}r DS-Werte bis zu 2,2-2,6 angewandt werden. M{\"o}glich war somit eine systematische Studie unter Variation der veresterten Fetts{\"a}ure sowie des Substitutionsgrades (DS). S{\"a}mtliche Produkte mit einem DS ab 1,5 wiesen eine ausgpr{\"a}gte L{\"o}slichkeit in organischen L{\"o}sungsmitteln auf wodurch sowohl die Aufnahme von NMR-Spektren als auch Molmassenbestimmung mittels Gr{\"o}ßenausschlusschromatographie mit gekoppelter Mehrwinkel-Laserlichtstreuung (GPC-MALLS) m{\"o}glich waren. Durch dynamische Lichtstreuung (DLS) wurde das L{\"o}slichkeitsverhalten veranschaulicht. S{\"a}mtliche Produkte konnten zu Filmen verarbeitet werden, wobei Materialien mit DS 1,5-1,7 hohe Zugfestigkeiten (bis zu 42 MPa) und Elastizit{\"a}tsmodule (bis 1390 MPa) aufwiesen. Insbesondere St{\"a}rkehexanoat mit DS <2 sowie St{\"a}rkebutanoat mit DS >2 hatten ein mechanisches Eigenschaftsprofil, welches insbesondere in Bezug auf die Festigkeit/Steifigkeit vergleichbar mit Verpackungsmaterialien wie Polyethylen war (Zugfestigkeit: 15-32 MPa, E-Modul: 300-1300 MPa). Zugfestigkeit und Elastizit{\"a}tsmodul nahmen mit steigender Kettenl{\"a}nge der veresterten Fetts{\"a}ure ab. Ester l{\"a}ngerkettiger Fetts{\"a}uren (C16-C18) waren spr{\"o}de. {\"U}ber Weitwinkel-R{\"o}ntgenstreuung (WAXS) und Infrarotspektroskopie (ATR-FTIR) konnte der Verlauf der Festigkeiten mit einer zunehmenden Distanz der St{\"a}rke im Material begr{\"u}ndet werden. Es konnten von DS und Kettenl{\"a}nge abh{\"a}ngige Glas{\"u}berg{\"a}nge detektiert werden, die kristallinen Strukturen der langkettigen Fetts{\"a}uren zeigten einen Schmelzpeak. Die Hydrophobie der Filme wurde anhand von Kontaktwinkeln >95° gegen Wasser dargestellt. Blends mit biobasierten Polyterpenen sowie den in der Arbeit hergestellten Zein-Acylderivaten erm{\"o}glichten eine weitere Verbesserung der Zugfestigkeit bzw. des Elastizit{\"a}tsmoduls hochsubstituierter Produkte. Eine thermoplastische Verarbeitung mittels Spritzgießen war sowohl f{\"u}r Produkte mit hohem als auch mittlerem DS-Wert ohne jeglichen Zusatz von Weichmachern m{\"o}glich. Es entstanden homogene, transparente Pr{\"u}fst{\"a}be. Untersuchungen der H{\"a}rte ergaben auch hier f{\"u}r St{\"a}rkehexanoat und -butanoat mit Polyethylen vergleichbare Werte. Ausgew{\"a}hlte Produkte wurden zu Fasern nach dem Schmelzspinnverfahren verarbeitet. Hierbei wurden insbesondere f{\"u}r hochsubstituierte Derivate homogenen Fasern erstellt, welche im Vergleich zur Gießfolie signifikant h{\"o}here Zugfestigkeiten aufwiesen. St{\"a}rkeester mit mittlerem DS ließen sich ebenfalls verarbeiten. Zun{\"a}chst wurden f{\"u}r eine {\"U}bertragung des Konzeptes auf die Proteine Zein und WPI verschiedene Synthesemethoden verglichen. Die Veresterung mit S{\"a}urechloriden ergab hierbei die h{\"o}chsten Werte. Im Hinblick auf eine gute L{\"o}slichkeit in organischen L{\"o}sungsmitteln wurde f{\"u}r WPI die Veresterung mit carbonyldiimidazol (CDI)-aktivierten Fetts{\"a}uren in DMSO und f{\"u}r Zein die Veresterung mit S{\"a}u-rechloriden in Pyridin bevorzugt. Es stellte sich heraus, dass acyliertes WPI zwar hydrophob, jedoch ohne Weichmacher nicht thermoplastisch verarbeitet werden konnte. Die Erstellung von Gießfolien f{\"u}hrte zu Spr{\"o}dbruchverhalten. Unter Zugabe der biobasierten {\"O}ls{\"a}ure wurde die Anwendung von acyliertem WPI als thermoplastischer Filler z. B. in Blends mit St{\"a}rkeestern dargestellt. Im Gegensatz hierzu zeigte acyliertes Zein Glas{\"u}berg{\"a}nge <100 °C bei ausreichender Stabilit{\"a}t (150-200 °C). Zeinoleat konnte ohne Weichmacher zu einer transparenten Gießfolie verarbeitet werden. S{\"a}mtliche Derivate erwiesen sich als ausgepr{\"a}gt hydrophob. Zeinoleat konnte {\"u}ber das Schmelzspinnverfahren zu thermoplastischen Fasern verarbeitet werden.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Wechakama2013,
  author    = {Wechakama, Maneenate},
  title     = {Multi-messenger constraints and pressure from dark matter annihilation into electron-positron pairs},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-67401},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Despite striking evidence for the existence of dark matter from astrophysical observations, dark matter has still escaped any direct or indirect detection until today. Therefore a proof for its existence and the revelation of its nature belongs to one of the most intriguing challenges of nowadays cosmology and particle physics. The present work tries to investigate the nature of dark matter through indirect signatures from dark matter annihilation into electron-positron pairs in two different ways, pressure from dark matter annihilation and multi-messenger constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross-section. We focus on dark matter annihilation into electron-positron pairs and adopt a model-independent approach, where all the electrons and positrons are injected with the same initial energy E_0 ~ m_dm*c^2. The propagation of these particles is determined by solving the diffusion-loss equation, considering inverse Compton scattering, synchrotron radiation, Coulomb collisions, bremsstrahlung, and ionization. The first part of this work, focusing on pressure from dark matter annihilation, demonstrates that dark matter annihilation into electron-positron pairs may affect the observed rotation curve by a significant amount. The injection rate of this calculation is constrained by INTEGRAL, Fermi, and H.E.S.S. data. The pressure of the relativistic electron-positron gas is computed from the energy spectrum predicted by the diffusion-loss equation. For values of the gas density and magnetic field that are representative of the Milky Way, it is estimated that the pressure gradients are strong enough to balance gravity in the central parts if E_0 < 1 GeV. The exact value depends somewhat on the astrophysical parameters, and it changes dramatically with the slope of the dark matter density profile. For very steep slopes, as those expected from adiabatic contraction, the rotation curves of spiral galaxies would be affected on kiloparsec scales for most values of E_0. By comparing the predicted rotation curves with observations of dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies, we show that the pressure from dark matter annihilation may improve the agreement between theory and observations in some cases, but it also imposes severe constraints on the model parameters (most notably, the inner slope of the halo density profile, as well as the mass and the annihilation cross-section of dark matter particles into electron-positron pairs). In the second part, upper limits on the dark matter annihilation cross-section into electron-positron pairs are obtained by combining observed data at different wavelengths (from Haslam, WMAP, and Fermi all-sky intensity maps) with recent measurements of the electron and positron spectra in the solar neighbourhood by PAMELA, Fermi, and H.E.S.S.. We consider synchrotron emission in the radio and microwave bands, as well as inverse Compton scattering and final-state radiation at gamma-ray energies. For most values of the model parameters, the tightest constraints are imposed by the local positron spectrum and synchrotron emission from the central regions of the Galaxy. According to our results, the annihilation cross-section should not be higher than the canonical value for a thermal relic if the mass of the dark matter candidate is smaller than a few GeV. In addition, we also derive a stringent upper limit on the inner logarithmic slope α of the density profile of the Milky Way dark matter halo (α < 1 if m_dm < 5 GeV, α < 1.3 if m_dm < 100 GeV and α < 1.5 if m_dm < 2 TeV) assuming a dark matter annihilation cross-section into electron-positron pairs (σv) = 3*10^-26 cm^3 s^-1, as predicted for thermal relics from the big bang.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Vogel2013,
  author    = {Vogel, Kristin},
  title     = {Applications of Bayesian networks in natural hazard assessments},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-69777},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Even though quite different in occurrence and consequences, from a modeling perspective many natural hazards share similar properties and challenges. Their complex nature as well as lacking knowledge about their driving forces and potential effects make their analysis demanding: uncertainty about the modeling framework, inaccurate or incomplete event observations and the intrinsic randomness of the natural phenomenon add up to different interacting layers of uncertainty, which require a careful handling. Nevertheless deterministic approaches are still widely used in natural hazard assessments, holding the risk of underestimating the hazard with disastrous effects. The all-round probabilistic framework of Bayesian networks constitutes an attractive alternative. In contrast to deterministic proceedings, it treats response variables as well as explanatory variables as random variables making no difference between input and output variables. Using a graphical representation Bayesian networks encode the dependency relations between the variables in a directed acyclic graph: variables are represented as nodes and (in-)dependencies between variables as (missing) edges between the nodes. The joint distribution of all variables can thus be described by decomposing it, according to the depicted independences, into a product of local conditional probability distributions, which are defined by the parameters of the Bayesian network. In the framework of this thesis the Bayesian network approach is applied to different natural hazard domains (i.e. seismic hazard, flood damage and landslide assessments). Learning the network structure and parameters from data, Bayesian networks reveal relevant dependency relations between the included variables and help to gain knowledge about the underlying processes. The problem of Bayesian network learning is cast in a Bayesian framework, considering the network structure and parameters as random variables itself and searching for the most likely combination of both, which corresponds to the maximum a posteriori (MAP score) of their joint distribution given the observed data. Although well studied in theory the learning of Bayesian networks based on real-world data is usually not straight forward and requires an adoption of existing algorithms. Typically arising problems are the handling of continuous variables, incomplete observations and the interaction of both. Working with continuous distributions requires assumptions about the allowed families of distributions. To "let the data speak" and avoid wrong assumptions, continuous variables are instead discretized here, thus allowing for a completely data-driven and distribution-free learning. An extension of the MAP score, considering the discretization as random variable as well, is developed for an automatic multivariate discretization, that takes interactions between the variables into account. The discretization process is nested into the network learning and requires several iterations. Having to face incomplete observations on top, this may pose a computational burden. Iterative proceedings for missing value estimation become quickly infeasible. A more efficient albeit approximate method is used instead, estimating the missing values based only on the observations of variables directly interacting with the missing variable. Moreover natural hazard assessments often have a primary interest in a certain target variable. The discretization learned for this variable does not always have the required resolution for a good prediction performance. Finer resolutions for (conditional) continuous distributions are achieved with continuous approximations subsequent to the Bayesian network learning, using kernel density estimations or mixtures of truncated exponential functions. All our proceedings are completely data-driven. We thus avoid assumptions that require expert knowledge and instead provide domain independent solutions, that are applicable not only in other natural hazard assessments, but in a variety of domains struggling with uncertainties.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Uhlemann2013,
  author    = {Uhlemann, Steffi},
  title     = {Understanding trans-basin floods in Germany : data, information and knowledge},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-68868},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Large Central European flood events of the past have demonstrated that flooding can affect several river basins at the same time leading to catastrophic economic and humanitarian losses that can stretch emergency resources beyond planned levels of service. For Germany, the spatial coherence of flooding, the contributing processes and the role of trans-basin floods for a national risk assessment is largely unknown and analysis is limited by a lack of systematic data, information and knowledge on past events. This study investigates the frequency and intensity of trans-basin flood events in Germany. It evaluates the data and information basis on which knowledge about trans-basin floods can be generated in order to improve any future flood risk assessment. In particu-lar, the study assesses whether flood documentations and related reports can provide a valuable data source for understanding trans-basin floods. An adaptive algorithm was developed that systematically captures trans-basin floods using series of mean daily discharge at a large number of sites of even time series length (1952-2002). It identifies the simultaneous occurrence of flood peaks based on the exceedance of an initial threshold of a 10 year flood at one location and consecutively pools all causally related, spatially and temporally lagged peak recordings at the other locations. A weighted cumulative index was developed that accounts for the spatial extent and the individual flood magnitudes within an event and allows quantifying the overall event severity. The parameters of the method were tested in a sensitivity analysis. An intensive study on sources and ways of information dissemination of flood-relevant publications in Germany was conducted. Based on the method of systematic reviews a strategic search approach was developed to identify relevant documentations for each of the 40 strongest trans-basin flood events. A novel framework for assessing the quality of event specific flood reports from a user's perspective was developed and validated by independent peers. The framework was designed to be generally applicable for any natural hazard type and assesses the quality of a document addressing accessibility as well as representational, contextual, and intrinsic dimensions of quality. The analysis of time-series of mean daily discharge resulted in the identification of 80 trans-basin flood events within the period 1952-2002 in Germany. The set is dominated by events that were recorded in the hydrological winter (64\%); 36\% occurred during the summer months. The occurrence of floods is characterised by a distinct clustering in time. Dividing the study period into two sub-periods, we find an increase in the percentage of winter events from 58\% in the first to 70.5\% in the second sub-period. Accordingly, we find a significant increase in the number of extreme trans-basin floods in the second sub-period. A large body of 186 flood relevant documentations was identified. For 87.5\% of the 40 strongest trans-basin floods in Germany at least one report has been found and for the most severe floods a substantial amount of documentation could be obtained. 80\% of the material can be considered grey literature (i.e. literature not controlled by commercial publishers). The results of the quality assessment show that the majority of flood event specific reports are of a good quality, i.e. they are well enough drafted, largely accurate and objective, and contain a substantial amount of information on the sources, pathways and receptors/consequences of the floods. The inclusion of this information in the process of knowledge building for flood risk assessment is recommended. Both the results as well as the data produced in this study are openly accessible and can be used for further research. The results of this study contribute to an improved spatial risk assessment in Germany. The identified set of trans-basin floods provides the basis for an assessment of the chance that flooding occurs simultaneously at a number of sites. The information obtained from flood event documentation can usefully supplement the analysis of the processes that govern flood risk.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Toele2013,
  author    = {T{\"o}le, Jonas Claudius},
  title     = {{\"U}ber die Arc-catFISH-Methode als neues Werkzeug zur Charakterisierung der Geschmacksverarbeitung im Hirnstamm der Maus},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-70491},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Intensive Forschung hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten zu einer sehr detaillierten Charakterisierung des Geschmackssystems der S{\"a}ugetiere gef{\"u}hrt. Dennoch sind mit den bislang eingesetzten Methoden wichtige Fragestellungen unbeantwortet geblieben. Eine dieser Fragen gilt der Unterscheidung von Bitterstoffen. Die Zahl der Substanzen, die f{\"u}r den Menschen bitter schmecken und in Tieren angeborenes Aversionsverhalten ausl{\"o}sen, geht in die Tausende. Diese Substanzen sind sowohl von der chemischen Struktur als auch von ihrer Wirkung auf den Organismus sehr verschieden. W{\"a}hrend viele Bitterstoffe potente Gifte darstellen, sind andere in den Mengen, die mit der Nahrung aufgenommen werden, harmlos oder haben sogar positive Effekte auf den K{\"o}rper. Zwischen diesen Gruppen unterscheiden zu k{\"o}nnen, w{\"a}re f{\"u}r ein Tier von Vorteil. Ein solcher Mechanismus ist jedoch bei S{\"a}ugetieren nicht bekannt. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Untersuchung der Verarbeitung von Geschmacksinformation in der ersten Station der Geschmacksbahn im Mausgehirn, dem Nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), mit besonderem Augenmerk auf der Frage nach der Diskriminierung verschiedener Bitterstoffe. Zu diesem Zweck wurde eine neue Untersuchungsmethode f{\"u}r das Geschmackssystem etabliert, die die Nachteile bereits verf{\"u}gbarer Methoden umgeht und ihre Vorteile kombiniert. Die Arc-catFISH-Methode (cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity by fluorescent in situ hybridization), die die Charakterisierung der Antwort großer Neuronengruppen auf zwei Stimuli erlaubt, wurde zur Untersuchung geschmacksverarbeitender Zellen im NTS angewandt. Im Zuge dieses Projekts wurde erstmals eine stimulusinduzierte Arc-Expression im NTS gezeigt. Die ersten Ergebnisse offenbarten, dass die Arc-Expression im NTS spezifisch nach Stimulation mit Bitterstoffen auftritt und sich die Arc exprimierenden Neurone vornehmlich im gustatorischen Teil des NTS befinden. Dies weist darauf hin, dass Arc-Expression ein Marker f{\"u}r bitterverarbeitende gustatorische Neurone im NTS ist. Nach zweimaliger Stimulation mit Bittersubstanzen konnten {\"u}berlappende, aber verschiedene Populationen von Neuronen beobachtet werden, die unterschiedlich auf die drei verwendeten Bittersubstanzen Cycloheximid, Chininhydrochlorid und Cucurbitacin I reagierten. Diese Neurone sind vermutlich an der Steuerung von Abwehrreflexen beteiligt und k{\"o}nnten so die Grundlage f{\"u}r divergentes Verhalten gegen{\"u}ber verschiedenen Bitterstoffen bilden.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Tyrallova2013,
  author    = {Tyrallov{\´a}, Lucia},
  title     = {Automatisierte Objektidentifikation und Visualisierung terrestrischer Oberfl{\"a}chenformen},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-69268},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Die automatisierte Objektidentifikation stellt ein modernes Werkzeug in den Geoinformationswissenschaften dar (BLASCHKE et al., 2012). Um bei thematischen Kartierungen untereinander vergleichbare Ergebnisse zu erzielen, sollen aus Sicht der Geoinformatik Mittel f{\"u}r die Objektidentifikation eingesetzt werden. Anstelle von Feldarbeit werden deshalb in der vorliegenden Arbeit multispektrale Fernerkundungsdaten als Prim{\"a}rdaten verwendet. Konkrete nat{\"u}rliche Objekte werden GIS-gest{\"u}tzt und automatisiert {\"u}ber große Fl{\"a}chen und Objektdichten aus Prim{\"a}rdaten identifiziert und charakterisiert. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wird eine automatisierte Prozesskette zur Objektidentifikation konzipiert. Es werden neue Ans{\"a}tze und Konzepte der objektbasierten Identifikation von nat{\"u}rlichen isolierten terrestrischen Oberfl{\"a}chenformen entwickelt und implementiert. Die Prozesskette basiert auf einem Konzept, das auf einem generischen Ansatz f{\"u}r automatisierte Objektidentifikation aufgebaut ist. Die Prozesskette kann anhand charakteristischer quantitativer Parameter angepasst und so umgesetzt werden, womit das Konzept der Objektidentifikation modular und skalierbar wird. Die modulbasierte Architektur erm{\"o}glicht den Einsatz sowohl einzelner Module als auch ihrer Kombination und m{\"o}glicher Erweiterungen. Die eingesetzte Methodik der Objektidentifikation und die daran anschließende Charakteristik der (geo)morphometrischen und morphologischen Parameter wird durch statistische Verfahren gest{\"u}tzt. Diese erm{\"o}glichen die Vergleichbarkeit von Objektparametern aus unterschiedlichen Stichproben. Mit Hilfe der Regressionsund Varianzanalyse werden Verh{\"a}ltnisse zwischen Objektparametern untersucht. Es werden funktionale Abh{\"a}ngigkeiten der Parameter analysiert, um die Objekte qualitativ zu beschreiben. Damit ist es m{\"o}glich, automatisiert berechnete Maße und Indizes der Objekte als quantitative Daten und Informationen zu erfassen und unterschiedliche Stichproben anzuwenden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit bilden Thermokarstseen die Grundlage f{\"u}r die Entwicklungen und als Beispiel sowie Datengrundlage f{\"u}r den Aufbau des Algorithmus und die Analyse. Die Geovisualisierung der multivariaten nat{\"u}rlichen Objekte wird f{\"u}r die Entwicklung eines besseren Verst{\"a}ndnisses der r{\"a}umlichen Relationen der Objekte eingesetzt. Kern der Geovisualisierung ist das Verkn{\"u}pfen von Visualisierungsmethoden mit karten{\"a}hnlichen Darstellungen.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Trapp2013,
  author    = {Trapp, Matthias},
  title     = {Interactive rendering techniques for focus+context visualization of 3D geovirtual environments},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-66824},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {This thesis introduces a collection of new real-time rendering techniques and applications for focus+context visualization of interactive 3D geovirtual environments such as virtual 3D city and landscape models. These environments are generally characterized by a large number of objects and are of high complexity with respect to geometry and textures. For these reasons, their interactive 3D rendering represents a major challenge. Their 3D depiction implies a number of weaknesses such as occlusions, cluttered image contents, and partial screen-space usage. To overcome these limitations and, thus, to facilitate the effective communication of geo-information, principles of focus+context visualization can be used for the design of real-time 3D rendering techniques for 3D geovirtual environments (see Figure). In general, detailed views of a 3D geovirtual environment are combined seamlessly with abstracted views of the context within a single image. To perform the real-time image synthesis required for interactive visualization, dedicated parallel processors (GPUs) for rasterization of computer graphics primitives are used. For this purpose, the design and implementation of appropriate data structures and rendering pipelines are necessary. The contribution of this work comprises the following five real-time rendering methods: • The rendering technique for 3D generalization lenses enables the combination of different 3D city geometries (e.g., generalized versions of a 3D city model) in a single image in real time. The method is based on a generalized and fragment-precise clipping approach, which uses a compressible, raster-based data structure. It enables the combination of detailed views in the focus area with the representation of abstracted variants in the context area. • The rendering technique for the interactive visualization of dynamic raster data in 3D geovirtual environments facilitates the rendering of 2D surface lenses. It enables a flexible combination of different raster layers (e.g., aerial images or videos) using projective texturing for decoupling image and geometry data. Thus, various overlapping and nested 2D surface lenses of different contents can be visualized interactively. • The interactive rendering technique for image-based deformation of 3D geovirtual environments enables the real-time image synthesis of non-planar projections, such as cylindrical and spherical projections, as well as multi-focal 3D fisheye-lenses and the combination of planar and non-planar projections. • The rendering technique for view-dependent multi-perspective views of 3D geovirtual environments, based on the application of global deformations to the 3D scene geometry, can be used for synthesizing interactive panorama maps to combine detailed views close to the camera (focus) with abstract views in the background (context). This approach reduces occlusions, increases the usage the available screen space, and reduces the overload of image contents. • The object-based and image-based rendering techniques for highlighting objects and focus areas inside and outside the view frustum facilitate preattentive perception. The concepts and implementations of interactive image synthesis for focus+context visualization and their selected applications enable a more effective communication of spatial information, and provide building blocks for design and development of new applications and systems in the field of 3D geovirtual environments.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Thomas2013,
  author    = {Thomas, Bj{\"o}rn Daniel},
  title     = {Analysis and management of low flows in small catchments of Brandenburg, Germany},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-69247},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Water management and environmental protection is vulnerable to extreme low flows during streamflow droughts. During the last decades, in most rivers of Central Europe summer runoff and low flows have decreased. Discharge projections agree that future decrease in runoff is likely for catchments in Brandenburg, Germany. Depending on the first-order controls on low flows, different adaption measures are expected to be appropriate. Small catchments were analyzed because they are expected to be more vulnerable to a changing climate than larger rivers. They are mainly headwater catchments with smaller ground water storage. Local characteristics are more important at this scale and can increase vulnerability. This thesis mutually evaluates potential adaption measures to sustain minimum runoff in small catchments of Brandenburg, Germany, and similarities of these catchments regarding low flows. The following guiding questions are addressed: (i) Which first-order controls on low flows and related time scales exist? (ii) Which are the differences between small catchments regarding low flow vulnerability? (iii) Which adaption measures to sustain minimum runoff in small catchments of Brandenburg are appropriate considering regional low flow patterns? Potential adaption measures to sustain minimum runoff during periods of low flows can be classified into three categories: (i) increase of groundwater recharge and subsequent baseflow by land use change, land management and artificial ground water recharge, (ii) increase of water storage with regulated outflow by reservoirs, lakes and wetland water management and (iii) regional low flow patterns have to be considered during planning of measures with multiple purposes (urban water management, waste water recycling and inter-basin water transfer). The question remained whether water management of areas with shallow groundwater tables can efficiently sustain minimum runoff. Exemplary, water management scenarios of a ditch irrigated area were evaluated using the model Hydrus-2D. Increasing antecedent water levels and stopping ditch irrigation during periods of low flows increased fluxes from the pasture to the stream, but storage was depleted faster during the summer months due to higher evapotranspiration. Fluxes from this approx. 1 km long pasture with an area of approx. 13 ha ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 l\s depending on scenario. This demonstrates that numerous of such small decentralized measures are necessary to sustain minimum runoff in meso-scale catchments. Differences in the low flow risk of catchments and meteorological low flow predictors were analyzed. A principal component analysis was applied on daily discharge of 37 catchments between 1991 and 2006. Flows decreased more in Southeast Brandenburg according to meteorological forcing. Low flow risk was highest in a region east of Berlin because of intersection of a more continental climate and the specific geohydrology. In these catchments, flows decreased faster during summer and the low flow period was prolonged. A non-linear support vector machine regression was applied to iteratively select meteorological predictors for annual 30-day minimum runoff in 16 catchments between 1965 and 2006. The potential evapotranspiration sum of the previous 48 months was the most important predictor (r²=0.28). The potential evapotranspiration of the previous 3 months and the precipitation of the previous 3 months and last year increased model performance (r²=0.49, including all four predictors). Model performance was higher for catchments with low yield and more damped runoff. In catchments with high low flow risk, explanatory power of long term potential evapotranspiration was high. Catchments with a high low flow risk as well as catchments with a considerable decrease in flows in southeast Brandenburg have the highest demand for adaption. Measures increasing groundwater recharge are to be preferred. Catchments with high low flow risk showed relatively deep and decreasing groundwater heads allowing increased groundwater recharge at recharge areas with higher altitude away from the streams. Low flows are expected to stay low or decrease even further because long term potential evapotranspiration was the most important low flow predictor and is projected to increase during climate change. Differences in low flow risk and runoff dynamics between catchments have to be considered for management and planning of measures which do not only have the task to sustain minimum runoff.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Theves2013,
  author    = {Theves, Matthias},
  title     = {Bacterial motility and growth in open and confined environments},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-70313},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {In the presence of a solid-liquid or liquid-air interface, bacteria can choose between a planktonic and a sessile lifestyle. Depending on environmental conditions, cells swimming in close proximity to the interface can irreversibly attach to the surface and grow into three-dimensional aggregates where the majority of cells is sessile and embedded in an extracellular polymer matrix (biofilm). We used microfluidic tools and time lapse microscopy to perform experiments with the polarly flagellated soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida (P. putida), a bacterial species that is able to form biofilms. We analyzed individual trajectories of swimming cells, both in the bulk fluid and in close proximity to a glass-liquid interface. Additionally, surface related growth during the early phase of biofilm formation was investigated. In the bulk fluid, P.putida shows a typical bacterial swimming pattern of alternating periods of persistent displacement along a line (runs) and fast reorientation events (turns) and cells swim with an average speed around 24 micrometer per second. We found that the distribution of turning angles is bimodal with a dominating peak around 180 degrees. In approximately six out of ten turning events, the cell reverses its swimming direction. In addition, our analysis revealed that upon a reversal, the cell systematically changes its swimming speed by a factor of two on average. Based on the experimentally observed values of mean runtime and rotational diffusion, we presented a model to describe the spreading of a population of cells by a run-reverse random walker with alternating speeds. We successfully recover the mean square displacement and, by an extended version of the model, also the negative dip in the directional autocorrelation function as observed in the experiments. The analytical solution of the model demonstrates that alternating speeds enhance a cells ability to explore its environment as compared to a bacterium moving at a constant intermediate speed. As compared to the bulk fluid, for cells swimming near a solid boundary we observed an increase in swimming speed at distances below d= 5 micrometer and an increase in average angular velocity at distances below d= 4 micrometer. While the average speed was maximal with an increase around 15\% at a distance of d= 3 micrometer, the angular velocity was highest in closest proximity to the boundary at d=1 micrometer with an increase around 90\% as compared to the bulk fluid. To investigate the swimming behavior in a confinement between two solid boundaries, we developed an experimental setup to acquire three-dimensional trajectories using a piezo driven objective mount coupled to a high speed camera. Results on speed and angular velocity were consistent with motility statistics in the presence of a single boundary. Additionally, an analysis of the probability density revealed that a majority of cells accumulated near the upper and lower boundaries of the microchannel. The increase in angular velocity is consistent with previous studies, where bacteria near a solid boundary were shown to swim on circular trajectories, an effect which can be attributed to a wall induced torque. The increase in speed at a distance of several times the size of the cell body, however, cannot be explained by existing theories which either consider the drag increase on cell body and flagellum near a boundary (resistive force theory) or model the swimming microorganism by a multipole expansion to account for the flow field interaction between cell and boundary. An accumulation of swimming bacteria near solid boundaries has been observed in similar experiments. Our results confirm that collisions with the surface play an important role and hydrodynamic interactions alone cannot explain the steady-state accumulation of cells near the channel walls. Furthermore, we monitored the number growth of cells in the microchannel under medium rich conditions. We observed that, after a lag time, initially isolated cells at the surface started to grow by division into colonies of increasing size, while coexisting with a comparable smaller number of swimming cells. After 5:50 hours, we observed a sudden jump in the number of swimming cells, which was accompanied by a breakup of bigger clusters on the surface. After approximately 30 minutes where planktonic cells dominated in the microchannel, individual swimming cells reattached to the surface. We interpret this process as an emigration and recolonization event. A number of complementary experiments were performed to investigate the influence of collective effects or a depletion of the growth medium on the transition. Similar to earlier observations on another bacterium from the same family we found that the release of cells to the swimming phase is most likely the result of an individual adaption process, where syntheses of proteins for flagellar motility are upregulated after a number of division cycles at the surface.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Thalmann2013,
  author    = {Thalmann, Sophie},
  title     = {Korrelation zwischen der genetischen und der funktionellen Diversit{\"a}t humaner Bitterrezeptoren},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-66845},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Der Mensch besitzt ~25 funktionelle Bitterrezeptoren (TAS2R), die f{\"u}r die Wahrnehmung potenziell toxischer Substanzen in der Nahrung verantwortlich sind. Aufgrund der großen genetischen Variabilit{\"a}t der TAS2R-Gene k{\"o}nnte es eine Vielzahl funktionell unterschiedlicher TAS2R-Haplotypen geben, die zu Unterschieden der Bitterwahrnehmung f{\"u}hren. Dies konnte bereits in funktionellen Analysen und sensorischen Studien f{\"u}r einzelne Bitterrezeptoren gezeigt werden. In dieser Arbeit wurden die h{\"a}ufigsten Haplotypen aller 25 Bitterrezeptoren verschiedener Ethnien funktionell charakterisiert. Das Ziel war eine umfassende Aussage {\"u}ber die funktionelle Diversit{\"a}t der TAS2Rs, die die molekulare Grundlage f{\"u}r individuelle Bitterwahrnehmung bildet, treffen zu k{\"o}nnen. Fehlende Varianten wurden aus genomischer DNA kloniert oder durch gezielte Mutagenese bereits vorhandener TAS2R-Konstrukte generiert. Die funktionelle Analyse erfolgte mittels Expression der TAS2R-Haplotypen in HEK293TG16gust44 Zellen und anschließenden Calcium-Imaging-Experimenten mit zwei bekannten Agonisten. Die Haplotypen der f{\"u}nf orphanen TAS2Rs wurden mit {\"u}ber hundert Bitterstoffen stimuliert. Durch die gelungene Deorphanisierung des TAS2R41 in dieser Arbeit, wurden f{\"u}r die 21 aktivierbaren TAS2Rs 36 funktionell-unterschiedliche Haplotypen identifiziert. Die tats{\"a}chliche funktionelle Vielfalt blieb jedoch deutlich hinter der genetischen Variabilit{\"a}t der TAS2Rs zur{\"u}ck. Neun Bitterrezeptoren wiesen funktionell homogene Haplotypen auf oder besaßen nur eine weltweit vorherrschende Variante. Funktionell heterogene Haplotypen wurden f{\"u}r zw{\"o}lf TAS2Rs identifiziert. Inaktive Varianten der Rezeptoren TAS2R9, TAS2R38 und TAS2R46 sollten die Wahrnehmung von Bitterstoffen wie Ofloxacin, Cnicin, Hydrocortison, Limonin, Parthenolid oder Strychnin beeinflussen. Unterschiedlich sensitive Varianten, besonders der Rezeptoren TAS2R47 und TAS2R49, sollten f{\"u}r Agonisten wie Absinthin, Amarogentin oder Cromolyn ebenfalls zu ph{\"a}notypischen Unterschieden f{\"u}hren. Wie f{\"u}r den TAS2R16 bereits gezeigt, traten Haplotypen des funktionell heterogenen TAS2R7 und TAS2R41 ethnien-spezifisch auf, was auf lokale Anpassung und verschiedene Ph{\"a}notypen hinweisen k{\"o}nnte. Weiterf{\"u}hrend muss nun eine Analyse der funktionell-variablen TAS2Rs in sensorischen Tests erfolgen, um ihre ph{\"a}notypische Relevanz zu pr{\"u}fen. Die Analyse der funktionsmodulierenden Aminos{\"a}urepositionen, z.Bsp. des TAS2R44, TAS2R47 oder TAS2R49, k{\"o}nnte weiterf{\"u}hrend zum besseren Verst{\"a}ndnis der Rezeptor-Ligand- und Rezeptor-G-Protein-Interaktion beitragen.},
  language  = {de}
}