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Boom in der Krise
(2016)
Über das Verhältnis von Konsum und Individualität.
Konsum, Tourismus, Autofahren - sind die 1970er Jahre mit diesen Schlagworten adäquat beschrieben, oder handelt es sich nicht vielmehr um ein Jahrzehnt der Krisen? Einerseits war der Alltag der westdeutschen und britischen Bevölkerung durch eine kontinuierliche Ausweitung der Konsummöglichkeiten geprägt. Andererseits kommen die Folgen des Ölschocks im Bild der leeren Autobahnen zum Ausdruck. Sina Fabian greift beide Erzählweisen auf und diskutiert die 1970er Jahre im Spannungsverhältnis von Krise und Boom. Sie untersucht den Einfluss von Ölpreis- und Wirtschaftskrisen auf den Tourismus und die PKW-Nutzung als zwei teuren Konsumgütern, die in beiden Ländern gerade während des Untersuchungszeitraums an Bedeutung gewannen. Ebenso fragt sie, inwieweit sich der steigende Konsum tatsächlich als Ausdruck fortschreitender Individualisierung begreifen lässt? Stellen Pauschalreisen und Fließbandprodukte die Individualisierungsthese nicht weit eher in Frage? Anhand unterschiedlicher Quellen, die von statistischen Erhebungen bis hin zu Tagebüchern und Reiseberichten aus der Bevölkerung reichen, relativiert die Autorin herkömmliche Lesarten der inzwischen vielfach historisierten 1970er Jahre.
Computer Security deals with the detection and mitigation of threats to computer networks, data, and computing hardware. This
thesis addresses the following two computer security problems: email spam campaign and malware detection.
Email spam campaigns can easily be generated using popular dissemination tools by specifying simple grammars that serve as message templates. A grammar is disseminated to nodes of a bot net, the nodes create messages by instantiating the grammar at random. Email spam campaigns can encompass huge data volumes and therefore pose a threat to the stability of the infrastructure of email service providers that have to store them. Malware -software that serves a malicious purpose- is affecting web servers, client computers via active content, and client computers through executable files. Without the help of malware detection systems it would be easy for malware creators to collect sensitive information or to infiltrate computers.
The detection of threats -such as email-spam messages, phishing messages, or malware- is an adversarial and therefore intrinsically
difficult problem. Threats vary greatly and evolve over time. The detection of threats based on manually-designed rules is therefore
difficult and requires a constant engineering effort. Machine-learning is a research area that revolves around the analysis of data and the discovery of patterns that describe aspects of the data. Discriminative learning methods extract prediction models from data that are optimized to predict a target attribute as accurately as possible. Machine-learning methods hold the promise of automatically identifying patterns that robustly and accurately detect threats. This thesis focuses on the design and analysis of discriminative learning methods for the two computer-security problems under investigation: email-campaign and malware detection.
The first part of this thesis addresses email-campaign detection. We focus on regular expressions as a syntactic framework, because regular expressions are intuitively comprehensible by security engineers and administrators, and they can be applied as a detection mechanism in an extremely efficient manner. In this setting, a prediction model is provided with exemplary messages from an email-spam campaign. The prediction model has to generate a regular expression that reveals the syntactic pattern that underlies the entire campaign, and that a security engineers finds comprehensible and feels confident enough to use the expression to blacklist further messages at the email server. We model this problem as two-stage learning problem with structured input and output spaces which can be solved using standard cutting plane methods. Therefore we develop an appropriate loss function, and derive a decoder for the resulting optimization problem.
The second part of this thesis deals with the problem of predicting whether a given JavaScript or PHP file is malicious or benign. Recent malware analysis techniques use static or dynamic features, or both. In fully dynamic analysis, the software or script is executed and observed for malicious behavior in a sandbox environment. By contrast, static analysis is based on features that can be extracted directly from the program file. In order to bypass static detection mechanisms, code obfuscation techniques are used to spread a malicious program file in many different syntactic variants. Deobfuscating the code before applying a static classifier can be subjected to mostly static code analysis and can overcome the problem of obfuscated malicious code, but on the other hand increases the computational costs of malware detection by an order of magnitude. In this thesis we present a cascaded architecture in which a classifier first performs a static analysis of the original code and -based on the outcome of this first classification step- the code may be deobfuscated and classified again. We explore several types of features including token $n$-grams, orthogonal sparse bigrams, subroutine-hashings, and syntax-tree features and study the robustness of detection methods and feature types against the evolution of malware over time. The developed tool scans very large file collections quickly and accurately.
Each model is evaluated on real-world data and compared to reference methods. Our approach of inferring regular expressions to filter emails belonging to an email spam campaigns leads to models with a high true-positive rate at a very low false-positive rate that is an order of magnitude lower than that of a commercial content-based filter. Our presented system -REx-SVMshort- is being used by a commercial email service provider and complements content-based and IP-address based filtering.
Our cascaded malware detection system is evaluated on a high-quality data set of almost 400,000 conspicuous PHP files and a collection of more than 1,00,000 JavaScript files. From our case study we can conclude that our system can quickly and accurately process large data collections at a low false-positive rate.
The goal of the presented work is to explore the interaction between gold nanorods (GNRs) and hyper-sound waves. For the generation of the hyper-sound I have used Azobenzene-containing polymer transducers. Multilayer polymer structures with well-defined thicknesses and smooth interfaces were built via layer-by-layer deposition. Anionic polyelectrolytes with Azobenzene side groups (PAzo) were alternated with cationic polymer PAH, for the creation of transducer films. PSS/PAH multilayer were built for spacer layers, which do not absorb in the visible light range. The properties of the PAzo/PAH film as a transducer are carefully characterized by static and transient optical spectroscopy. The optical and mechanical properties of the transducer are studied on the picosecond time scale. In particular the relative change of the refractive index of the photo-excited and expanded PAH/PAzo is Δn/n = - 2.6*10‐4. Calibration of the generated strain is performed by ultrafast X-ray diffraction calibrated the strain in a Mica substrate, into which the hyper-sound is transduced. By simulating the X-ray data with a linear-chain-model the strain in the transducer under the excitation is derived to be Δd/d ~ 5*10‐4.
Additional to the investigation of the properties of the transducer itself, I have performed a series of experiments to study the penetration of the generated strain into various adjacent materials. By depositing the PAzo/PAH film onto a PAH/PSS structure with gold nanorods incorporated in it, I have shown that nanoscale impurities can be detected via the scattering of hyper-sound.
Prior to the investigation of complex structures containing GNRs and the transducer, I have performed several sets of experiments on GNRs deposited on a small buffer of PSS/PAH. The static and transient response of GNRs is investigated for different fluence of the pump beam and for different dielectric environments (GNRs covered by PSS/PAH).
A systematic analysis of sample architectures is performed in order to construct a sample with the desired effect of GNRs responding to the hyper-sound strain wave. The observed shift of a feature related to the longitudinal plasmon resonance in the transient reflection spectra is interpreted as the event of GNRs sensing the strain wave. We argue that the shift of the longitudinal plasmon resonance is caused by the viscoelastic deformation of the polymer around the nanoparticle. The deformation is induced by the out of plane difference in strain in the area directly under a particle and next to it. Simulations based on the linear chain model support this assumption. Experimentally this assumption is proven by investigating the same structure, with GNRs embedded in a PSS/PAH polymer layer.
The response of GNRs to the hyper-sound wave is also observed for the sample structure with GNRs embedded in PAzo/PAH films. The response of GNRs in this case is explained to be driven by the change of the refractive index of PAzo during the strain propagation.
The global carbon cycle is closely linked to Earth’s climate. In the context of continuously unchecked anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, the importance of natural CO₂ bond and carbon storage is increasing. An important biogenic mechanism of natural atmospheric CO₂ drawdown is the photosynthetic carbon fixation in plants and the subsequent longterm deposition of plant detritus in sediments.
The main objective of this thesis is to identify factors that control mobilization and transport of plant organic matter (pOM) through rivers towards sedimentation basins. I investigated this aspect in the eastern Nepalese Arun Valley. The trans-Himalayan Arun River is characterized by a strong elevation gradient (205 − 8848 m asl) that is accompanied by strong changes in ecology and climate ranging from wet tropical conditions in the Himalayan forelad to high alpine tundra on the Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, the Arun is an excellent natural laboratory, allowing the investigation of the effect of vegetation cover, climate, and topography on plant organic matter mobilization and export in tributaries along the gradient.
Based on hydrogen isotope measurements of plant waxes sampled along the Arun River and its tributaries, I first developed a model that allows for an indirect quantification of pOM contributed to the mainsetm by the Arun’s tributaries. In order to determine the role of climatic and topographic parameters of sampled tributary catchments, I looked for significant statistical relations between the amount of tributary pOM export and tributary characteristics (e.g. catchment size, plant cover, annual precipitation or runoff, topographic measures). On one hand, I demonstrated that pOMsourced from the Arun is not uniformly derived from its entire catchment area. On the other, I showed that dense vegetation is a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for high tributary pOM export. Instead, I identified erosion and rainfall and runoff as key factors controlling pOM sourcing in the Arun Valley. This finding is supported by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide concentrations measured on river sands along the Arun and its tributaries in order to quantify catchment wide denudation rates. Highest denudation rates corresponded well with maximum pOM mobilization and export also suggesting the link between erosion and pOM sourcing.
The second part of this thesis focusses on the applicability of stable isotope records such as plant wax n-alkanes in sediment archives as qualitative and quantitative proxy for the variability of past Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) strength. First, I determined how ISM strength affects the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopic composition (reported as δD and δ18O values vs. Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water) of precipitation in the Arun Valley and if this amount effect (Dansgaard, 1964) is strong enough to be recorded in potential paleo-ISM isotope proxies. Second, I investigated if potential isotope records across the Arun catchment reflect ISM strength dependent precipitation δD values only, or if the ISM isotope signal is superimposed by winter precipitation or glacial melt. Furthermore, I tested if δD values of plant waxes in fluvial deposits reflect δD values of environmental waters in the respective catchments.
I showed that surface water δD values in the Arun Valley and precipitation δD from south of the Himalaya both changed similarly during two consecutive years (2011 & 2012) with distinct ISM rainfall amounts (~20% less in 2012). In order to evaluate the effect of other water sources (Winter-Westerly precipitation, glacial melt) and evapotranspiration in the Arun Valley, I analysed satellite remote sensing data of rainfall distribution (TRMM 3B42V7), snow cover (MODIS MOD10C1), glacial coverage (GLIMSdatabase, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space), and evapotranspiration (MODIS MOD16A2). In addition to the predominant ISM in the entire catchment I found through stable isotope analysis of surface waters indications for a considerable amount of glacial melt derived from high altitude tributaries and the Tibetan Plateau. Remotely sensed snow cover data revealed that the upper portion of the Arun also receives considerable winter precipitation, but the effect of snow melt on the Arun Valley hydrology could not be evaluated as it takes place in early summer, several months prior to our sampling campaigns. However, I infer that plant wax records and other potential stable isotope proxy archives below the snowline are well-suited for qualitative, and potentially quantitative, reconstructions of past changes of ISM strength.
Geospatial data has become a natural part of a growing number of information systems and services in the economy, society, and people's personal lives. In particular, virtual 3D city and landscape models constitute valuable information sources within a wide variety of applications such as urban planning, navigation, tourist information, and disaster management. Today, these models are often visualized in detail to provide realistic imagery. However, a photorealistic rendering does not automatically lead to high image quality, with respect to an effective information transfer, which requires important or prioritized information to be interactively highlighted in a context-dependent manner.
Approaches in non-photorealistic renderings particularly consider a user's task and camera perspective when attempting optimal expression, recognition, and communication of important or prioritized information. However, the design and implementation of non-photorealistic rendering techniques for 3D geospatial data pose a number of challenges, especially when inherently complex geometry, appearance, and thematic data must be processed interactively. Hence, a promising technical foundation is established by the programmable and parallel computing architecture of graphics processing units.
This thesis proposes non-photorealistic rendering techniques that enable both the computation and selection of the abstraction level of 3D geospatial model contents according to user interaction and dynamically changing thematic information. To achieve this goal, the techniques integrate with hardware-accelerated rendering pipelines using shader technologies of graphics processing units for real-time image synthesis. The techniques employ principles of artistic rendering, cartographic generalization, and 3D semiotics—unlike photorealistic rendering—to synthesize illustrative renditions of geospatial feature type entities such as water surfaces, buildings, and infrastructure networks. In addition, this thesis contributes a generic system that enables to integrate different graphic styles—photorealistic and non-photorealistic—and provide their seamless transition according to user tasks, camera view, and image resolution.
Evaluations of the proposed techniques have demonstrated their significance to the field of geospatial information visualization including topics such as spatial perception, cognition, and mapping. In addition, the applications in illustrative and focus+context visualization have reflected their potential impact on optimizing the information transfer regarding factors such as cognitive load, integration of non-realistic information, visualization of uncertainty, and visualization on small displays.
Change points in time series are perceived as heterogeneities in the statistical or dynamical characteristics of the observations. Unraveling such transitions yields essential information for the understanding of the observed system’s intrinsic evolution and potential external influences. A precise detection of multiple changes is therefore of great importance for various research disciplines, such as environmental sciences, bioinformatics and economics. The primary purpose of the detection approach introduced in this thesis is the investigation of transitions underlying direct or indirect climate observations. In order to develop a diagnostic approach capable to capture such a variety of natural processes, the generic statistical features in terms of central tendency and dispersion are employed in the light of Bayesian inversion. In contrast to established Bayesian approaches to multiple changes, the generic approach proposed in this thesis is not formulated in the framework of specialized partition models of high dimensionality requiring prior specification, but as a robust kernel-based approach of low dimensionality employing least informative prior distributions.
First of all, a local Bayesian inversion approach is developed to robustly infer on the location and the generic patterns of a single transition. The analysis of synthetic time series comprising changes of different observational evidence, data loss and outliers validates the performance, consistency and sensitivity of the inference algorithm. To systematically investigate time series for multiple changes, the Bayesian inversion is extended to a kernel-based inference approach. By introducing basic kernel measures, the weighted kernel inference results are composed into a proxy probability to a posterior distribution of multiple transitions. The detection approach is applied to environmental time series from the Nile river in Aswan and the weather station Tuscaloosa, Alabama comprising documented changes. The method’s performance confirms the approach as a powerful diagnostic tool to decipher multiple changes underlying direct climate observations.
Finally, the kernel-based Bayesian inference approach is used to investigate a set of complex terrigenous dust records interpreted as climate indicators of the African region of the Plio-Pleistocene period. A detailed inference unravels multiple transitions underlying the indirect climate observations, that are interpreted as conjoint changes. The identified conjoint changes coincide with established global climate events. In particular, the two-step transition associated to the establishment of the modern Walker-Circulation contributes to the current discussion about the influence of paleoclimate changes on the environmental conditions in tropical and subtropical Africa at around two million years ago.
Die Elbe und ihr Einzugsgebiet sind vom Klimawandel betroffen. Um die Wirkkette von projizierten Klimaveränderungen auf den Wasserhaushalt und die daraus resultierenden Nährstoffeinträge und -frachten für große Einzugsgebiete wie das der Elbe zu analysieren, können integrierte Umweltmodellsysteme eingesetzt werden. Fallstudien, die mit diesen Modellsystemen ad hoc durchgeführt werden, repräsentieren den Istzustand von Modellentwicklungen und -unsicherheiten und sind damit statisch.
Diese Arbeit beschreibt den Einstieg in die Dynamisierung von Klimafolgenanalysen im Elbegebiet. Dies umfasst zum einen eine Plausibilitätsprüfung von Auswirkungsrechnungen, die mit Szenarien des statistischen Szenariengenerators STARS durchgeführt wurden, durch den Vergleich mit den Auswirkungen neuerer Klimaszenarien aus dem ISI-MIP Projekt, die dem letzten Stand der Klimamodellierung entsprechen. Hierfür wird ein integriertes Modellsystem mit "eingefrorenem Entwicklungsstand" verwendet. Die Klimawirkungsmodelle bleiben dabei unverändert. Zum anderen wird ein Bestandteil des integrierten Modellsystems – das ökohydrologische Modell SWIM – zu einer "live"-Version weiterentwickelt. Diese wird durch punktuelle Testung an langjährigen Versuchsreihen eines Lysimeterstandorts sowie an aktuellen Abflussreihen validiert und verbessert.
Folgende Forschungsfragen werden bearbeitet: (i) Welche Effekte haben unterschiedliche Klimaszenarien auf den Wasserhaushalt im Elbegebiet und ist eine Neubewertung der Auswirkung des Klimawandels auf den Wasserhaushalt notwendig?, (ii) Was sind die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Nährstoffeinträge und -frachten im Elbegebiet sowie die Wirksamkeit von Maßnahmen zur Reduktion der Nährstoffeinträge?, (iii) Ist unter der Nutzung (selbst einer sehr geringen Anzahl) verfügbarer tagesaktueller Witterungsdaten in einem stark heterogenen Einzugsgebiet eine valide Ansprache der aktuellen ökohydrologischen Situation des Elbeeinzugsgebiets möglich?
Die aktuellen Szenarien bestätigen die Richtung, jedoch nicht das Ausmaß der Klimafolgen: Die Rückgänge des mittleren jährlichen Gesamtabflusses und der monatlichen Abflüsse an den Pegeln bis Mitte des Jahrhunderts betragen für das STARS-Szenario ca. 30 %. Die Rückgänge bei den auf dem ISI-MIP-Szenario basierenden Modellstudien liegen hingegen nur bei ca. 10 %. Hauptursachen für diese Divergenz sind die Unterschiede in den Niederschlagsprojektionen sowie die Unterschiede in der jahreszeitlichen Verteilung der Erwärmung. Im STARS-Szenario gehen methodisch bedingt die Niederschläge zurück und der Winter erwärmt sich stärker als der Sommer. In dem ISI-MIP-Szenario bleiben die Niederschläge nahezu stabil und die Erwärmung im Sommer und Winter unterscheidet sich nur geringfügig.
Generell nehmen die Nährstoffeinträge und -frachten mit den Abflüssen in beiden Szenarien unterproportional ab, wobei die Frachten jeweils stärker als die Einträge zurückgehen. Die konkreten Effekte der Abflussänderungen sind gering und liegen im einstelligen Prozentbereich. Gleiches gilt für die Unterschiede zwischen den Szenarien. Der Effekt von zwei ausgewählten Maßnahmen zur Reduktion der Nährstoffeinträge und -frachten unterscheidet sich bei verschiedenen Abflussverhältnissen, repräsentiert durch unterschiedliche Klimaszenarien in unterschiedlich feuchter Ausprägung, ebenfalls nur geringfügig.
Die Beantwortung der ersten beiden Forschungsfragen zeigt, dass die Aktualisierung von Klimaszenarien in einem ansonsten "eingefrorenen" Verbund von ökohydrologischen Daten und Modellen eine wichtige Prüfoption für die Plausibilisierung von Klimafolgenanalysen darstellt. Sie bildet die methodische Grundlage für die Schlussfolgerung, dass bei der Wassermenge eine Neubewertung der Klimafolgen notwendig ist, während dies bei den Nährstoffeinträgen und -frachten nicht der Fall ist.
Die zur Beantwortung der dritten Forschungsfrage mit SWIM-live durchgeführten Validierungsstudien ergeben Diskrepanzen am Lysimeterstandort und bei den Abflüssen aus den Teilgebieten Saale und Spree. Sie lassen sich zum Teil mit der notwendigen Interpolationsweite der Witterungsdaten und dem Einfluss von Wasserbewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen erklären. Insgesamt zeigen die Validierungsergebnisse, dass schon die Pilotversion von SWIM-live für eine ökohydrologische Ansprache des Gebietswasserhaushaltes im Elbeeinzugsgebiet genutzt werden kann. SWIM-live ermöglicht eine unmittelbare Betrachtung und Beurteilung simulierter Daten. Dadurch werden Unsicherheiten bei der Modellierung direkt offengelegt und können infolge dessen reduziert werden. Zum einen führte die Verdichtung der meteorologischen Eingangsdaten durch die Verwendung von nun ca. 700 anstatt 19 Klima- bzw. Niederschlagstationen zu einer Verbesserung der Ergebnisse. Zum anderen wurde SWIM-live beispielhaft für einen Zyklus aus punktueller Modellverbesserung und flächiger Überprüfung der Simulationsergebnisse genutzt.
Die einzelnen Teilarbeiten tragen jeweils zur Dynamisierung von Klimafolgenanalysen im Elbegebiet bei. Der Anlass hierfür war durch die fehlerhaften methodischen Grundlagen von STARS gegeben. Die Sinnfälligkeit der Dynamisierung ist jedoch nicht an diesen konkreten Anlass gebunden, sondern beruht auf der grundlegenden Einsicht, dass Ad-hoc-Szenarienanalysen immer auch pragmatische Vereinfachungen zugrunde liegen, die fortlaufend überprüft werden müssen.
Für alle Organismen ist die Aufrechterhaltung ihres energetischen Gleichgewichts unter fluktuierenden Umweltbedingungen lebensnotwendig. In Eukaryoten steuern evolutionär konservierte Proteinkinasen, die in Pflanzen als SNF1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE1 (SnRK1) bezeichnet werden, die Adaption an Stresssignale aus der Umwelt und an die Limitierung von Nährstoffen und zellulärer Energie. Die Aktivierung von SnRK1 bedingt eine umfangreiche transkriptionelle Umprogrammierung, die allgemein zu einer Repression energiekonsumierender Prozesse wie beispielsweise Zellteilung und Proteinbiosynthese und zu einer Induktion energieerzeugender, katabolischer Stoffwechselwege führt. Wie unterschiedliche Signale zu einer generellen sowie teilweise gewebe- und stressspezifischen SnRK1-vermittelten Antwort führen ist bisher noch nicht ausreichend geklärt, auch weil bislang nur wenige Komponenten der SnRK1-Signaltransduktion identifiziert wurden. In dieser Arbeit konnte ein Protein-Protein-Interaktionsnetzwerk um die SnRK1αUntereinheiten aus Arabidopsis AKIN10/AKIN11 etabliert werden. Dadurch wurden zunächst Mitglieder der pflanzenspezifischen DUF581-Proteinfamilie als Interaktionspartner der SnRK1α-Untereinheiten identifiziert. Diese Proteine sind über ihre konservierte DUF581Domäne, in der ein Zinkfinger-Motiv lokalisiert ist, fähig mit AKIN10/AKIN11 zu interagieren. In planta Ko-Expressionsanalysen zeigten, dass die DUF581-Proteine eine Verschiebung der nucleo-cytoplasmatischen Lokalisierung von AKIN10 hin zu einer nahezu ausschließlichen zellkernspezifischen Lokalisierung begünstigen sowie die Ko-Lokalisierung von AKIN10 und DUF581-Proteinen im Nucleus. In Bimolekularen Fluoreszenzkomplementations-Analysen konnte die zellkernspezifische Interaktion von DUF581-Proteinen mit SnRK1α-Untereinheiten in planta bestätigt werden. Außerhalb der DUF581-Domäne weisen die Proteine einander keine große Sequenzähnlichkeit auf. Aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit mit SnRK1 zu interagieren, dem Fehlen von SnRK1Phosphorylierungsmotiven sowie ihrer untereinander sehr variabler gewebs-, entwicklungs- und stimulusspezifischer Expression wurde für DUF581-Proteine eine Funktion als Adaptoren postuliert, die unter bestimmten physiologischen Bedingungen spezifische Substratproteine in den SnRK1-Komplex rekrutieren. Auf diese Weise könnten DUF581Proteine die Interaktion von SnRK1 mit deren Zielproteinen modifizieren und eine Feinjustierung der SnRK1-Signalweiterleitung ermöglichen. Durch weiterführende Interaktionsstudien konnten DUF581-interagierende Proteine darunter Transkriptionsfaktoren, Proteinkinasen sowie regulatorische Proteine gefunden werden, die teilweise ebenfalls Wechselwirkungen mit SnRK1α-Untereinheiten aufzeigten. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde eines dieser Proteine für das eine Beteiligung an der SnRK1Signalweiterleitung als Transkriptionsregulator vermutet wurde näher charakterisiert. STKR1 (STOREKEEPER RELATED 1), ein spezifischer Interaktionspartner von DUF581-18, gehört zu einer pflanzenspezifischen Leucin-Zipper-Transkriptionsfaktorfamilie und interagiert in Hefe sowie in planta mit SnRK1. Die zellkernspezifische Interaktion von STKR1 und AKIN10 in Pflanzen unterstützt die Vermutung der kooperativen Regulation von Zielgenen. Weiterhin stabilisierte die Anwesenheit von AKIN10 die Proteingehalte von STKR1, das wahrscheinlich über das 26S Proteasom abgebaut wird. Da es sich bei STKR1 um ein Phosphoprotein mit SnRK1-Phosphorylierungsmotiv handelt, stellt es sehr wahrscheinlich ein SnRK1-Substrat dar. Allerdings konnte eine SnRK1-vermittelte Phosphorylierung von STKR1 in dieser Arbeit nicht gezeigt werden. Der Verlust von einer Phosphorylierungsstelle beeinflusste die Homo- und Heterodimerisierungsfähigkeit von STKR1 in Hefeinteraktionsstudien, wodurch eine erhöhte Spezifität der Zielgenregulation ermöglicht werden könnte. Außerdem wurden Arabidopsis-Pflanzen mit einer veränderten STKR1-Expression phänotypisch, physiologisch und molekularbiologisch charakterisiert. Während der Verlust der STKR1-Expression zu Pflanzen führte, die sich kaum von Wildtyp-Pflanzen unterschieden, bedingte die konstitutive Überexpression von STKR1 ein stark vermindertes Pflanzenwachstum sowie Entwicklungsverzögerungen hinsichtlich der Blühinduktion und Seneszenz ähnlich wie sie auch bei SnRK1α-Überexpression beschrieben wurden. Pflanzen dieser Linien waren nicht in der Lage Anthocyane zu akkumulieren und enthielten geringere Gehalte an Chlorophyll und Carotinoiden. Neben einem erhöhten nächtlichen Stärkeumsatz waren die Pflanzen durch geringere Saccharosegehalte im Vergleich zum Wildtyp gekennzeichnet. Eine Transkriptomanalyse ergab, dass in den STKR1-überexprimierenden Pflanzen unter Energiemangelbedingungen, hervorgerufen durch eine verlängerte Dunkelphase, eine größere Anzahl an Genen im Vergleich zum Wildtyp differentiell reguliert war als während der Lichtphase. Dies spricht für eine Beteiligung von STKR1 an Prozessen, die während der verlängerten Dunkelphase aktiv sind. Ein solcher ist beispielsweise die SnRK1-Signaltransduktion, die unter energetischem Stress aktiviert wird. Die STKR1Überexpression führte zudem zu einer verstärkten transkriptionellen Induktion von Abwehrassoziierten Genen sowie NAC- und WRKY-Transkriptionsfaktoren nach verlängerter Dunkelphase. Die Transkriptomdaten deuteten auf eine stimulusunabhängige Induktion von Abwehrprozessen hin und konnten eine Erklärung für die phänotypischen und physiologischen Auffälligkeiten der STKR1-Überexprimierer liefern.
Thermophony in real gases
(2016)
A thermophone is an electrical device for sound generation. The advantages of thermophones over conventional sound transducers such as electromagnetic, electrostatic or piezoelectric transducers are their operational principle which does not require any moving parts, their resonance-free behavior, their simple construction and their low production costs.
In this PhD thesis, a novel theoretical model of thermophonic sound generation in real gases has been developed. The model is experimentally validated in a frequency range from 2 kHz to 1 MHz by testing more then fifty thermophones of different materials, including Carbon nano-wires, Titanium, Indium-Tin-Oxide, different sizes and shapes for sound generation in gases such as air, argon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur hexafluoride.
Unlike previous approaches, the presented model can be applied to different kinds of thermophones and various gases, taking into account the thermodynamic properties of thermophone materials and of adjacent gases, degrees of freedom and the volume occupied by the gas atoms and molecules, as well as sound attenuation effects, the shape and size of the thermophone surface and the reduction of the generated acoustic power due to photonic emission. As a result, the model features better prediction accuracy than the existing models by a factor up to 100. Moreover, the new model explains previous experimental findings on thermophones which can not be explained with the existing models.
The acoustic properties of the thermophones have been tested in several gases using unique, highly precise experimental setups comprising a Laser-Doppler-Vibrometer combined with a thin polyethylene film which acts as a broadband and resonance-free sound-pressure detector. Several outstanding properties of the thermophones have been demonstrated for the first time, including the ability to generate arbitrarily shaped acoustic signals, a greater acoustic efficiency compared to conventional piezoelectric and electrostatic airborne ultrasound transducers, and applicability as powerful and tunable sound sources with a bandwidth up to the megahertz range and beyond.
Additionally, new applications of thermophones such as the study of physical properties of gases, the thermo-acoustic gas spectroscopy, broad-band characterization of transfer functions of sound and ultrasound detection systems, and applications in non-destructive materials testing are discussed and experimentally demonstrated.
Proteins are amphiphilic and adsorb at liquid interfaces. Therefore, they can be efficient stabilizers of foams and emulsions. β-lactoglobulin (BLG) is one of the most widely studied proteins due to its major industrial applications, in particular in food technology.
In the present work, the influence of different bulk concentration, solution pH and ionic strength on the dynamic and equilibrium pressures of BLG adsorbed layers at the solution/tetradecane (W/TD) interface has been investigated. Dynamic interfacial pressure (Π) and interfacial dilational elastic modulus (E’) of BLG solutions for various concentrations at three different pH values of 3, 5 and 7 at a fixed ionic strength of 10 mM and for a selected fixed concentration at three different ionic strengths of 1 mM, 10 mM and 100 mM are measured by Profile Analysis Tensiometer PAT-1 (SINTERFACE Technologies, Germany). A quantitative data analysis requires additional consideration of depletion due to BLG adsorption at the interface at low protein bulk concentrations. This fact makes experiments more efficient when oil drops are studied in the aqueous protein solutions rather than solution drops formed in oil. On the basis of obtained experimental data, concentration dependencies and the effect of solution pH on the protein surface activity was qualitatively analysed. In the presence of 10 mM buffer, we observed that generally the adsorbed amount is increasing with increasing BLG bulk concentration for all three pH values. The adsorption kinetics at pH 5 result in the highest Π values at any time of adsorption while it exhibits a less active behaviour at pH 3.
Since the experimental data have not been in a good agreement with the classical diffusion controlled model due to the conformational changes which occur when the protein molecules get in contact with the hydrophobic oil phase in order to adapt to the interfacial environment, a new theoretical model is proposed here. The adsorption kinetics data were analysed with the newly proposed model, which is the classical diffusion model but modified by assuming an additional change in the surface activity of BLG molecules when adsorbing at the interface. This effect can be expressed through the adsorption activity constant in the corresponding equation of state. The dilational visco-elasticity of the BLG adsorbed interfacial layers is determined from measured dynamic interfacial tensions during sinusoidal drop area variations. The interfacial tension responses to these harmonic drop oscillations are interpreted with the same thermodynamic model which is used for the corresponding adsorption isotherm.
At a selected BLG concentration of 2×10-6 mol/l, the influence of the ionic strength using different buffer concentration of 1, 10 and 100 mM on the interfacial pressure was studied. It is affected weakly at pH 5, whereas it has a strong impact by increasing buffer concentration at pH 3 and 7. In conclusion, the structure formation of BLG adsorbed layer in the early stage of adsorption at the W/TD interface is similar to those of the solution/air (W/A) surface. However, the equation of state at the W/TD interface provides an adsorption activity constant which is almost two orders of magnitude higher than that for the solution/air surface.
At the end of this work, a new experimental tool called Drop and Bubble Micro Manipulator DBMM (SINTERFACE Technologies, Germany) has been introduced to study the stability of protein covered bubbles against coalescence. Among the available protocols the lifetime between the moment of contact and coalescence of two contacting bubble is determined for different BLG concentrations. The adsorbed amount of BLG is determined as a function of time and concentration and correlates with the observed coalescence behaviour of the contacting bubbles.
Generation im Übergang
(2016)
The main objective of this dissertation is to analyse prerequisites, expectations, apprehensions, and attitudes of students studying computer science, who are willing to gain a bachelor degree. The research will also investigate in the students’ learning style according to the Felder-Silverman model. These investigations fall in the attempt to make an impact on reducing the “dropout”/shrinkage rate among students, and to suggest a better learning environment.
The first investigation starts with a survey that has been made at the computer science department at the University of Baghdad to investigate the attitudes of computer science students in an environment dominated by women, showing the differences in attitudes between male and female students in different study years. Students are accepted to university studies via a centrally controlled admission procedure depending mainly on their final score at school. This leads to a high percentage of students studying subjects they do not want. Our analysis shows that 75% of the female students do not regret studying computer science although it was not their first choice. And according to statistics over previous years, women manage to succeed in their study and often graduate on top of their class. We finish with a comparison of attitudes between the freshman students of two different cultures and two different university enrolment procedures (University of Baghdad, in Iraq, and the University of Potsdam, in Germany) both with opposite gender majority.
The second step of investigation took place at the department of computer science at the University of Potsdam in Germany and analyzes the learning styles of students studying the three major fields of study offered by the department (computer science, business informatics, and computer science teaching). Investigating the differences in learning styles between the students of those study fields who usually take some joint courses is important to be aware of which changes are necessary to be adopted in the teaching methods to address those different students. It was a two stage study using two questionnaires; the main one is based on the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of B. A. Solomon and R. M. Felder, and the second questionnaire was an investigation on the students’ attitudes towards the findings of their personal first questionnaire. Our analysis shows differences in the preferences of learning style between male and female students of the different study fields, as well as differences between students with the different specialties (computer science, business informatics, and computer science teaching).
The third investigation looks closely into the difficulties, issues, apprehensions and expectations of freshman students studying computer science. The study took place at the computer science department at the University of Potsdam with a volunteer sample of students. The goal is to determine and discuss the difficulties and issues that they are facing in their study that may lead them to think in dropping-out, changing the study field, or changing the university. The research continued with the same sample of students (with business informatics students being the majority) through more than three semesters. Difficulties and issues during the study were documented, as well as students’ attitudes, apprehensions, and expectations. Some of the professors and lecturers opinions and solutions to some students’ problems were also documented. Many participants had apprehensions and difficulties, especially towards informatics subjects. Some business informatics participants began to think of changing the university, in particular when they reached their third semester, others thought about changing their field of study. Till the end of this research, most of the participants continued in their studies (the study they have started with or the new study they have changed to) without leaving the higher education system.
In the context of an increasing population of aging people and a shift of medical paradigm towards an individualized medicine in health care, nanostructured lanthanides doped sodium yttrium fluoride (NaYF4) represents an exciting class of upconversion nanomaterials (UCNM) which are suitable to bring forward developments in biomedicine and -biodetection. Despite the fact that among various fluoride based upconversion (UC) phosphors lanthanide doped NaYF4 is one of the most studied upconversion nanomaterial, many open questions are still remaining concerning the interplay of the population routes of sensitizer and activator electronic states involved in different luminescence upconversion photophysics as well as the role of phonon coupling. The collective work aims to explore a detailed understanding of the upconversion mechanism in nanoscaled NaYF4 based materials co-doped with several lanthanides, e.g. Yb3+ and Er3+ as the "standard" type upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP) up to advanced UCNP with Gd3+ and Nd3+. Especially the impact of the crystal lattice structure as well as the resulting lattice phonons on the upconversion luminescence was investigated in detail based on different mixtures of cubic and hexagonal NaYF4 nanoscaled crystals. Three synthesis methods, depending on the attempt of the respective central spectroscopic questions, could be accomplished in the following work. NaYF4 based upconversion nanoparticles doped with several combination of lanthanides (Yb3+, Er3+, Gd3+ and Nd3+) were synthesized successfully using a hydrothermal synthesis method under mild conditions as well as a co-precipitation and a high temperature co-precipitation technique. Structural information were gathered by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Raman spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results were discussed in detail with relation to the spectroscopic results. A variable spectroscopic setup was developed for multi parameter upconversion luminescence studies at various temperature 4 K to 328 K. Especially, the study of the thermal behavior of upconversion luminescence as well as time resolved area normalized emission spectra were a prerequisite for the detailed understanding of intramolecular deactivation processes, structural changes upon annealing or Gd3+ concentration, and the role of phonon coupling for the upconversion efficiency. Subsequently it became possible to synthesize UCNP with tailored upconversion luminescence properties. In the end, the potential of UCNP for life science application should be enunciated in context of current needs and improvements of a nanomaterial based optical sensors, whereas the "standard" UCNP design was attuned according to the special conditions in the biological matrix. In terms of a better biocompatibility due to a lower impact on biological tissue and higher penetrability for the excitation light. The first step into this direction was to use Nd3+ ions as a new sensitizer in tridoped NaYF4 based UCNP, whereas the achieved absolute and relative temperature sensitivity is comparable to other types of local temperature sensors in the literature.
Der Internationale Pakt für politische und bürgerliche Rechte ist der wichtigste völkerrechtliche Vertrag zur Garantie universeller Menschenrechte und damit für die politische Betätigungsfreiheit. Politische Parteien nehmen für die Verwirklichung dieser Freiheit eine entscheidende Rolle ein, da sie individuelle Meinungen in staatliche Entscheidungen hineintragen können. Unter Bezugnahme auf die Vereinigungsfreiheit, das Wahlrecht, das Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker und den Minderheitenschutz zeigt Julian Rössler, dass die Parteienfreiheit auf universeller Ebene umfassend gewährleistet wird. Die völkerrechtliche Parteienfreiheit ist als Garant für eine Pluralität von Parteien und damit auch für politische Meinungsvielfalt in den Vertragsstaaten zu verstehen. Der Zivilpakt ist Grundlage für eine internationale Gemeinschaft von pluralistisch demokratischen Staaten.
The lakes in the Kenyan Rift Valley offer the unique opportunity to study a wide range of hydrochemical environmental conditions, ranging from freshwater to highly saline and alkaline lakes. Because little is known about the hydro- and biogeochemical conditions in the underlying lake sediments, it was the aim of this study to extend the already existing data sets with data from porewater and biomarker analyses. Additionally, reduced sulphur compounds and sulphate reduction rates in the sediment were determined. The new data was used to examine the anthropogenic and microbial influence on the lakes sediments as well as the influence of the water chemistry on the degradation and preservation of organic matter in the sediment column. The lakes discussed in this study are: Logipi, Eight (a small crater lake in the region of Kangirinyang), Baringo, Bogoria, Naivasha, Oloiden, and Sonachi.
The biomarker compositions were similar in all studied lake sediments; nevertheless, there were some differences between the saline and freshwater lakes. One of those differences is the occurrence of a molecule related to β-carotene, which was only found in the saline lakes. This molecule most likely originates from cyanobacteria, single-celled organisms which are commonly found in saline lakes. In the two freshwater lakes, stigmasterol, a sterol characteristic for freshwater algae, was found. In this study, it was shown that Lakes Bogoria and Sonachi can be used for environmental reconstructions with biomarkers, because the absence of oxygen at the lake bottoms slowed the degradation process. Other lakes, like for example Lake Naivasha, cannot be used for such reconstructions, because of the large anthropogenic influence. But the biomarkers proved to be a useful tool to study those anthropogenic influences. Additionally, it was observed that horizons with a high concentration of elemental sulphur can be used as temporal markers. Those horizons were deposited during times when the lake levels were very low. The sulphur was deposited by microorganisms which are capable of anoxygenic photosynthesis or sulphide oxidation.
In this thesis, a route to temperature-, pH-, solvent-, 1,2-diol-, and protein-responsive sensors made of biocompatible and low-fouling materials is established. These sensor devices are based on the sensitivemodulation of the visual band gap of a photonic crystal (PhC), which is induced by the selective binding of analytes, triggering a volume phase transition.
The PhCs introduced by this work show a high sensitivity not only for small biomolecules, but also for large analytes, such as glycopolymers or proteins. This enables the PhC to act as a sensor that detects analytes without the need of complex equipment.
Due to their periodical dielectric structure, PhCs prevent the propagation of specific wavelengths. A change of the periodicity parameters is thus indicated by a change in the reflected wavelengths. In the case explored, the PhC sensors are implemented as periodically structured responsive hydrogels in formof an inverse opal.
The stimuli-sensitive inverse opal hydrogels (IOHs) were prepared using a sacrificial opal template of monodispersed silica particles. First, monodisperse silica particles were assembled with a hexagonally packed structure via vertical deposition onto glass slides. The obtained silica crystals, also named colloidal crystals (CCs), exhibit structural color. Subsequently, the CCs templates were embedded in polymer matrix with low-fouling properties. The polymer matrices were composed of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate derivatives (OEGMAs) that render the hydrogels thermoresponsive. Finally, the silica particles were etched, to produce highly porous hydrogel replicas of the CC. Importantly, the inner structure and thus the ability for light diffraction of the IOHs formed was maintained.
The IOH membrane was shown to have interconnected pores with a diameter as well as interconnections between the pores of several hundred nanometers. This enables not only the detection of small analytes, but also, the detection of even large analytes that can diffuse into the nanostructured IOH membrane. Various recognition unit – analyte model systems, such as benzoboroxole – 1,2-diols, biotin – avidin and mannose – concanavalin A, were studied by incorporating functional
comonomers of benzoboroxole, biotin and mannose into the copolymers. The incorporated recognition units specifically bind to certain low and highmolar mass biomolecules, namely to certain saccharides, catechols, glycopolymers or proteins.
Their specific binding strongly changes the overall hydrophilicity, thus modulating the swelling of the IOH matrices, and in consequence, drastically changes their internal periodicity. This swelling is amplified by the thermoresponsive properties of the polymer matrix. The shift of the interference band gap due to the specific molecular recognition is easily visible by the naked eye (up to 150 nm shifts). Moreover, preliminary trial were attempted to detect even larger entities. Therefore anti-bodies were immobilized on hydrogel platforms via polymer-analogous esterification. These platforms incorporate comonomers made of tri(ethylene glycol) methacrylate end-functionalized with a carboxylic acid. In these model systems, the bacteria analytes are too big to penetrate into the IOH membranes, but can only interact with their surfaces. The selected model bacteria, as Escherichia coli, show a specific affinity to anti-body-functionalized hydrogels. Surprisingly in the case functionalized IOHs, this study produced weak color shifts, possibly opening a path to detect directly living organism, which will need further investigations.
This dissertation examines the impact of the type of referring expression on the acquisition of word order variation in German-speaking preschoolers. A puzzle in the area of language acquisition concerns the production-comprehension asymmetry for non-canonical sentences like "Den Affen fängt die Kuh." (“The monkey, the cow chases.”), that is, preschoolers usually have difficulties in accurately understanding non-canonical sentences approximately until age six (e.g., Dittmar et al., 2008) although they produce non-canonical sentences already around age three (e.g., Poeppel & Wexler, 1993; Weissenborn, 1990). This dissertation investigated the production and comprehension of non-canonical sentences to address this issue.
Three corpus analyses were conducted to investigate the impact of givenness, topic status and the type of referring expression on word order in the spontaneous speech of two- to four-year-olds and the child-directed speech produced by their mothers. The positioning of the direct object in ditransitive sentences was examined; in particular, sentences in which the direct object occurred before or after the indirect object in the sentence-medial positions and sentences in which it occurred in the sentence-initial position. The results reveal similar ordering patterns for children and adults. Word order variation was to a large extent predictable from the type of referring expression, especially with respect to the word order involving the sentence-medial positions. Information structure (e.g., topic status) had an additional impact only on word order variation that involved the sentence-initial position.
Two comprehension experiments were conducted to investigate whether the type of referring expression and topic status influences the comprehension of non-canonical transitive sentences in four- and five-year-olds. In the first experiment, the topic status of the one of the sentential arguments was established via a preceding context sentence, and in the second experiment, the type of referring expression for the sentential arguments was additionally manipulated by using either a full lexical noun phrase (NP) or a personal pronoun. The results demonstrate that children’s comprehension of non-canonical sentences improved when the topic argument was realized as a personal pronoun and this improvement was independent of the grammatical role of the arguments. However, children’s comprehension was not improved when the topic argument was realized as a lexical NP.
In sum, the results of both production and comprehension studies support the view that referring expressions may be seen as a sentence-level cue to word order and to the information status of the sentential arguments. The results highlight the important role of the type of referring expression on the acquisition of word order variation and indicate that the production-comprehension asymmetry is reduced when the type of referring expression is considered.
Light-triggered release of bioactive compounds from HA/PLL multilayer films for stimulation of cells
(2016)
The concept of targeting cells and tissues by controlled delivery of molecules is essential in the field of biomedicine. The layer-by-layer (LbL) technology for the fabrication of polymer multilayer films is widely implemented as a powerful tool to assemble tailor-made materials for controlled drug delivery. The LbL films can as well be engineered to act as mimics of the natural cellular microenvironment. Thus, due to the myriad possibilities such as controlled cellular adhesion and drug delivery offered by LbL films, it becomes easily achievable to direct the fate of cells by growing them on the films.
The aim of this work was to develop an approach for non-invasive and precise control of the presentation of bioactive molecules to cells. The strategy is based on employment of the LbL films, which function as support for cells and at the same time as reservoirs for bioactive molecules to be released in a controlled manner. UV light is used to trigger the release of the stored ATP with high spatio-temporal resolution. Both physico-chemical (competitive intermolecular interactions in the film) and biological aspects (cellular response and viability) are addressed in this study.
Biopolymers hyaluronic acid (HA) and poly-L-lysine (PLL) were chosen as the building blocks for the LbL film assembly. Poor cellular adhesion to native HA/PLL films as well as significant degradation by cells within a few days were shown. However, coating the films with gold nanoparticles not only improved cellular adhesion and protected the films from degradation, but also formed a size-exclusion barrier with adjustable cut-off in the size range of a few tens of kDa.
The films were shown to have high reservoir capacity for small charged molecules (reaching mM levels in the film). Furthermore, they were able to release the stored molecules in a sustained manner. The loading and release are explained by a mechanism based on interactions between charges of the stored molecules and uncompensated charges of the biopolymers in the film. Charge balance and polymer dynamics in the film play the pivotal role.
Finally, the concept of light-triggered release from the films has been proven using caged ATP loaded into the films from which ATP was released on demand. ATP induces a fast cellular response, i.e. increase in intracellular [Ca2+], which was monitored in real-time. Limitations of the cellular stimulation by the proposed approach are highlighted by studying the stimulation as a function of irradiation parameters (time, distance, light power). Moreover, caging molecules bind to the film stronger than ATP does, which opens new perspectives for the use of the most diverse chemical compounds as caging molecules.
Employment of HA/PLL films as a nouvelle support for cellular growth and hosting of bioactive molecules, along with the possibility to stimulate individual cells using focused light renders this approach highly efficient and unique in terms of precision and spatio-temporal resolution among those previously described. With its high potential, the concept presented herein provides the foundation for the design of new intelligent materials for single cell studies, with the focus on tissue engineering, diagnostics, and other cell-based applications.
In der modernen Kampfführung ist ein steigender Trend zu unbemannten und autonomen Systemen zu beobachten. Doch inwieweit gelingt es dem Recht, mit den technischen Entwicklungen Schritt zu halten? Ist der Einsatz vollautonomer Systeme noch mit dem geltenden Völkerrecht vereinbar? Die Autorin untersucht zunächst die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen einer Programmierung von vollautonomen Systemen und geht, sofern möglich, hierbei bereits auf technische Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten ein. Zugleich werden Grenzen der autonomen Entscheidungsfindung, wie z. B. bei der Bestimmung der Verhältnismäßigkeit eines Angriffs, aufgezeigt. In einem zweiten Teil untersucht die Autorin die Problematik der Entscheidungs- und Legitimitätskette bei Einsätzen autonomer Systeme. Waren bisher stets einzelne Soldaten bzw. ihre Befehlshaber für Kriegsverbrechen verantwortlich, so stellt sich bei vollautonomen Systemen die Frage der Verantwortlichkeit im Falle eines rechtswidrigen Einsatzes. Inwieweit kann ein technischer Defekt oder die Fehlprogrammierung eines Systems noch zu einer strafrechtlichen Verantwortlichkeit von Befehlshabern und militärischem Personal führen? Hierbei werden die Lücken des geltenden Völkerstrafrechts deutlich, welches bisher nur begrenzt eine Strafbarkeit für Fahrlässigkeit und Unterlassen vorsieht.
Recently, due to an increasing demand on functionality and flexibility, beforehand isolated systems have become interconnected to gain powerful adaptive Systems of Systems (SoS) solutions with an overall robust, flexible and emergent behavior. The adaptive SoS comprises a variety of different system types ranging from small embedded to adaptive cyber-physical systems. On the one hand, each system is independent, follows a local strategy and optimizes its behavior to reach its goals. On the other hand, systems must cooperate with each other to enrich the overall functionality to jointly perform on the SoS level reaching global goals, which cannot be satisfied by one system alone. Due to difficulties of local and global behavior optimizations conflicts may arise between systems that have to be solved by the adaptive SoS.
This thesis proposes a modeling language that facilitates the description of an adaptive SoS by considering the adaptation capabilities in form of feedback loops as first class entities. Moreover, this thesis adopts the Models@runtime approach to integrate the available knowledge in the systems as runtime models into the modeled adaptation logic. Furthermore, the modeling language focuses on the description of system interactions within the adaptive SoS to reason about individual system functionality and how it emerges via collaborations to an overall joint SoS behavior. Therefore, the modeling language approach enables the specification of local adaptive system behavior, the integration of knowledge in form of runtime models and the joint interactions via collaboration to place the available adaptive behavior in an overall layered, adaptive SoS architecture.
Beside the modeling language, this thesis proposes analysis rules to investigate the modeled adaptive SoS, which enables the detection of architectural patterns as well as design flaws and pinpoints to possible system threats. Moreover, a simulation framework is presented, which allows the direct execution of the modeled SoS architecture. Therefore, the analysis rules and the simulation framework can be used to verify the interplay between systems as well as the modeled adaptation effects within the SoS. This thesis realizes the proposed concepts of the modeling language by mapping them to a state of the art standard from the automotive domain and thus, showing their applicability to actual systems. Finally, the modeling language approach is evaluated by remodeling up to date research scenarios from different domains, which demonstrates that the modeling language concepts are powerful enough to cope with a broad range of existing research problems.
Investigation of the TCA cycle and glycolytic metabolons and their physiological impacts in plants
(2016)
The increase in atmospheric methane concentration, which is determined by an imbalance between its sources and sinks, has led to investigations of the methane cycle in various environments. Aquatic environments are of an exceptional interest due to their active involvement in methane cycling worldwide and in particular in areas sensitive to climate change. Furthermore, being connected with each other aquatic environments form networks that can be spread on vast areas involving marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, aquatic systems have a high potential to translate local or regional environmental and subsequently ecosystem changes to a bigger scale. Many studies neglect this connectivity and focus on individual aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems.
The current study focuses on environmental controls of the distribution and aerobic oxidation of methane at the example of two aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems are Arctic fresh water bodies and the Elbe estuary which represent interfaces between freshwater-terrestrial and freshwater-marine environments, respectively.
Arctic water bodies are significant atmospheric sources of methane. At the same time the methane cycle in Arctic water bodies is strongly affected by the surrounding permafrost environment, which is characterized by high amounts of organic carbon. The results of this thesis indicate that the methane concentrations in Arctic lakes and streams substantially vary between each other being regulated by local landscape features (e.g. floodplain area) and the morphology of the water bodies (lakes, streams and river). The highest methane concentrations were detected in the lake outlets and in a floodplain lake complex. In contrast, the methane concentrations measured at different sites of the Lena River did not vary substantially. The lake complexes in comparison to the Lena River, thus, appear as more individual and heterogeneous systems with a pronounced imprint of the surrounding soil environment. Furthermore, connected with each other Arctic aquatic environments have a large potential to transport methane from methane-rich water bodies such as streams and floodplain lakes to aquatic environments relatively poor in methane such as the Lena River.
Estuaries represent hot spots of oceanic methane emissions. Also, estuaries are intermediate zones between methane-rich river water and methane depleted marine water. Substantiated through this thesis at the example of the Elbe estuary, the methane distribution in estuaries, however, cannot entirely be described by the conservative mixing model i.e. gradual decrease from the freshwater end-member to the marine water end-member. In addition to the methane-rich water from the Elbe River mouth substantial methane input occurs from tidal flats, areas of significant interaction between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Thus, this study demonstrates the complex interactions and their consequences for the methane distribution within estuaries. Also it reveals how important it is to investigate estuaries at larger spatial scales.
Methane oxidation (MOX) rates are commonly correlated with methane concentrations. This was shown in previous research studies and was substantiated by the present thesis. In detail, the highest MOX rates in the Arctic water bodies were detected in methane-rich streams and in the floodplain area while in the Elbe estuary the highest MOX rates were observed at the coastal stations. However, in these bordering environments, MOX rates are affected not only via the regulation through methane concentrations. The MOX rates in the Arctic lakes were shown to be also dependent on the abundance and community composition of methane-oxidising bacteria (MOB), that in turn are controlled by local landscape features (regardless of the methane concentrations) and by the transport of MOB between neighbouring environments. In the Elbe estuary, the MOX rates in addition to the methane concentrations are largely affected by the salinity, which is in turn regulated by the mixing of fresh- and marine waters. The magnitude of the salinity impact on MOX rates thereby depends on the MOB community composition and on the rate of the salinity change.
This study extends our knowledge of environmental controls of methane distribution and aerobic methane oxidation in aquatic environments. It also illustrates how important it is to investigate complex ecosystems rather than individual ecosystems to better understand the functioning of whole biomes.
Sport ist heutzutage ein wichtiger Sektor des Arbeitslebens. Arbeitsverträge mit Berufssportlern weichen jedoch von klassischen Arbeitsverträgen in besonderer Weise ab. Der Berufssportler ist in der Ausübung seiner Sportarbeitsleistung zwar freier als andere Arbeitnehmer, aufgrund der physischen und psychischen Belastungen bedarf er aber gleichzeitig einer besonderen Fürsorge durch seinen Arbeitgeber.
Da Gesundheit und Fitness der Berufssportler eine herausgehobene Bedeutung haben, hat der Sportarbeitgeber ein erhöhtes Interesse, das Leben der Sportler auch außerhalb ihrer Kerntätigkeit zu beeinflussen, sei es durch spezielle Ernährungs- oder Trainingspläne oder durch das Verbot, gefährliche Sportarten in der Freizeit zu betreiben.
Aufbauend auf den Grundlagen des allgemeinen Arbeitsrechts untersucht der Verfasser anhand einer Vielzahl von denkbaren Direktionen den Inhalt und die Grenzen des Direktionsrechts im Berufssport. Der Untersuchung liegt die Hauptthese zugrunde, dass das Direktionsrecht im Berufssport aufgrund der Besonderheiten des Sports weiter als im allgemeinen Arbeitsrecht zu fassen ist. Dieses umfassende Direktionsrecht steht dabei in Wechselwirkung zu einer besonderen Fürsorgepflicht des Arbeitgebers. Diese Fürsorgepflicht, die ebenfalls weitreichender als im allgemeinen Arbeitsrecht ist, setzt dem Sportarbeitgeber indes nicht nur Grenzen in der Direktionsrechtsausübung, sondern statuiert darüber hinaus eigenständige Handlungspflichten. Um diese Hauptthese sowie einige Teilfragen nicht nur abstrakt, sondern auch vor dem Hintergrund der sportlichen Praxis rechtlich bewerten zu können, wurde durch den Verfasser Ende des Jahres 2012 eine Umfrage bei den Vereinen der 1. und 2. Fußballbundesliga und bei den Vereinen der 1. Tennisbundesliga durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Umfrage stützen die gefundenen rechtlichen Ergebnisse und belegen deren Praxistauglichkeit.
The energy sector is both affected by climate change and a key sector for climate protection measures. Energy security is the backbone of our modern society and guarantees the functioning of most critical infrastructure. Thus, decision makers and energy suppliers of different countries should be familiar with the factors that increase or decrease the susceptibility of their electricity sector to climate change. Susceptibility means socioeconomic and structural characteristics of the electricity sector that affect the demand for and supply of electricity under climate change. Moreover, the relevant stakeholders are supposed to know whether the given national energy and climate targets are feasible and what needs to be done in order to meet these targets. In this regard, a focus should be on the residential building sector as it is one of the largest energy consumers and therefore emitters of anthropogenic CO 2 worldwide.
This dissertation addresses the first aspect, namely the susceptibility of the electricity sector, by developing a ranked index which allows for quantitative comparison of the electricity sector susceptibility of 21 European countries based on 14 influencing factors. Such a ranking has not been completed to date. We applied a sensitivity analysis to test the relative effect of each influencing factor on the susceptibility index ranking. We also discuss reasons for the ranking position and thus the susceptibility of selected countries. The second objective, namely the impact of climate change on the energy demand of buildings, is tackled by means of a new model with which the heating and cooling energy demand of residential buildings can be estimated. We exemplarily applied the model to Germany and the Netherlands. It considers projections of future changes in population, climate and the insulation standards of buildings, whereas most of the existing studies only take into account fewer than three different factors that influence the future energy demand of buildings. Furthermore, we developed a comprehensive retrofitting algorithm with which the total residential building stock can be modeled for the first time for each year in the past and future.
The study confirms that there is no correlation between the geographical location of a country and its position in the electricity sector susceptibility ranking. Moreover, we found no pronounced pattern of susceptibility influencing factors between countries that ranked higher or lower in the index. We illustrate that Luxembourg, Greece, Slovakia and Italy are the countries with the highest electricity sector susceptibility. The electricity sectors of Norway, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Denmark were found to be least susceptible to climate change. Knowledge about the most important factors for the poor and good ranking positions of these countries is crucial for finding adequate adaptation measures to reduce the susceptibility of the electricity sector. Therefore, these factors are described within this study.
We show that the heating energy demand of residential buildings will strongly decrease in both Germany and the Netherlands in the future. The analysis for the Netherlands focused on the regional level and a finer temporal resolution which revealed strong variations in the future heating energy demand changes by province and by month. In the German study, we additionally investigated the future cooling energy demand and could demonstrate that it will only slightly increase up to the middle of this century. Thus, increases in the cooling energy demand are not expected to offset reductions in heating energy demand. The main factor for substantial heating energy demand reductions is the retrofitting of buildings. We are the first to show that the given German and Dutch energy and climate targets in the building sector can only be met if the annual retrofitting rates are substantially increased. The current rate of only about 1 % of the total building stock per year is insufficient for reaching a nearly zero-energy demand of all residential buildings by the middle of this century. To reach this target, it would need to be at least tripled. To sum up, this thesis emphasizes that country-specific characteristics are decisive for the electricity sector susceptibility of European countries. It also shows for different scenarios how much energy is needed in the future to heat and cool residential buildings. With this information, existing climate mitigation and adaptation measures can be justified or new actions encouraged.
Das biogene Amin Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamin, 5-HT) agiert als wichtiger chemischer Botenstoff bei einer Vielzahl von Organismen. Das durch 5 HT vermittelte Signal wird dabei durch spezifische Rezeptoren wahrgenommen und in eine zelluläre Reaktion umgesetzt. Diese 5 HT Rezeptoren gehören überwiegend zur Familie der G Protein gekoppelten Rezeptoren (GPCRs). Die Honigbiene Apis mellifera bietet unter anderem aufgrund ihrer eusozialen Lebensweise vielfältige Ansatzpunkte zur Erforschung der Funktionen des serotonergen Systems in Insekten. Bei A. mellifera wurden bereits vier 5-HT-Rezeptor-Subtypen beschrieben und molekular sowie pharmakologisch charakterisiert: Am5 HT1A, Am5 HT2α, Am5 HT2β und Am5 HT7. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, gewebespezifische sowie alters- und tageszeitabhängige Expressionsmuster der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen zu untersuchen, um zu einem umfassenden Verständnis des serotonergen Systems der Honigbiene beizutragen und eine Basis zur Hypothesenentwicklung für mögliche physiologische Funktionen zu schaffen.
Es wurde die Expression der 5 HT Rezeptorgene sowohl im zentralen Nervensystem, als auch in Teilen des Verdauungs-, Exkretions- und Speicheldrüsensystems gemessen. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die untersuchten 5-HT-Rezeptor-Subtypen generell weit im Organismus der Honigbiene verbreitet sind. Interessanterweise unterschieden sich die untersuchten Gewebe hinsichtlich der mRNA-Expressionsmuster der untersuchten Rezeptoren. Während beispielsweise im Gehirn Am5 ht1A und Am5 ht7 stärker als Am5 ht2α und Am5 ht2β exprimiert wurden, zeigte sich in Darmgewebe ein umgekehrtes Muster.
Es war bereits bekannt, dass es bei der Expression der Am5-ht2-Gene zu alternativem Spleißen kommt. Dies führt zur Entstehung der verkürzten mRNA-Varianten Am5 ht2αΔIII und Am5 ht2βΔII. Die daraus resultierenden Proteine können nicht als funktionelle GPCRs agieren. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese verkürzten Spleißvarianten dennoch ubiquitär in der Honigbiene exprimiert werden. Bemerkenswerterweise wurden gewebeübergreifende Ähnlichkeiten der Expressionsmuster der Spleißvarianten gegenüber deren zugehörigen Volllängenvarianten festgestellt, welche auf Funktionen der verkürzten Varianten in vivo hindeuten.
Im Hinblick auf die bei A. mellifera hauptsächlich altersbedingte Arbeitsteilung wurde die Expression der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen in Gehirnen von unterschiedlich alten Arbeiterinnen mit unterschiedlichen sozialen Rollen verglichen. Während auf mRNA-Ebene keines der vier 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen eine altersabhängig unterschiedliche Expression zeigte, konnte für das Am5-HT1A-Protein eine höhere Konzentration in den Gehirnen älterer Tiere gefunden werden. Dies deutet auf eine posttranskriptionale Regulation der 5 HT1A Rezeptorexpression hin, welche im Zusammenhang mit der Arbeitsteilung stehen könnte.
Es erfolgte die Untersuchung tageszeitlicher Änderungen sowohl der Expression der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen, als auch des biogenen Amins 5 HT selbst. Während es in den Gehirnen von Arbeiterinnen, welche unter natürlichen Bedingungen gehalten wurden, zu keiner tageszeitabhängigen Veränderung des 5 HT-Titers kam, zeigte die mRNA-Expression von Am5-ht2α und Am5-ht2β eine periodische Oszillation mit Zunahme während des Tages und Abnahme während der Nacht. Diese Regulation wird durch externe Faktoren hervorgerufen und ist nicht auf einen endogenen circadianen Rhythmus zurückzuführen. Dies ging aus der Wiederholung der Expressionsmessungen an Gehirnen von Bienen, welche unter konstanten Laborbedingungen gehalten wurden, hervor.
Weiterhin wurde die Beteiligung des serotonergen Systems an der Steuerung von Aspekten des circadianen lokomotorischen Aktivitätsrhythmus anhand von Verhaltensexperimenten untersucht. Mit 5 HT gefütterte Arbeiterinnen zeigten dabei unter konstanten Bedingungen eine längere Periode des Aktivitätsrhythmus als Kontrolltiere. Dies deutet auf einen Einfluss von 5 HT auf die Modulation der Synchronisation der inneren Uhr hin.
Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse tragen wesentlich zum tieferen Verständnis des serotonergen Systems der Honigbiene bei und bieten Ansatzpunkte für weitergehende Studien zur Funktion von 5 HT im Zusammenhang mit der Modulation von physiologischen Prozessen, Arbeitsteilung und circadianen Rhythmen.
Die sensorisch einwandfreie, konstant gute Qualität von Backprodukten, die beim Verbraucher einen hohen Stellenwert hat, wird maßgeblich durch den Gehalt endogener Getreideenzyme beeinflusst. Seit dem Auftreten züchtungsbedingter Enzymdefizite ist der Einsatz technischer Enzyme zur Gewährleistung dieser geforderten Qualität eine feste Größe in der Backwarenindustrie. Lebensmittelrechtlich werden technische Enzyme nicht als Zutat betrachtet, da sie theoretisch während des Backprozesses umgesetzt werden und im Endprodukt keine technologische Wirkung mehr zeigen. Vor allem in gebackenen Produkten bedarf es der Prüfung, dass die eingesetzten technischen Enzyme nicht mehr als Zutat vorliegen und sich somit einer potentiellen Deklarationspflicht entziehen. Zur Gewährleistung der Wirtschaftlichkeit muss der quantitative Einsatz technischer Enzyme in der Backwarenindustrie gesteuert werden, um optimale Effekte zu erzielen und Kosten zu sparen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war daher die Entwicklung eines Analysenverfahrens, das den simultanen Nachweis verschiedener technischer Enzyme und deren Quantifizierung im Spurenbereich auch in gebackenen Produkten ermöglicht.
Für die Einschätzung der Wirkung der technischen Enzyme Fungamyl (Novozymes), Amylase TXL (ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH) sowie Lipase FE-01 (ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH) wurden Backversuche durchgeführt, die zeigten, dass Fungamyl und Amylase TXL zu einer verbesserten Brotqualität (Volumenausbeute, Feuchtegehalt, Sensorik) beitrugen. Die Zugabe der Lipase FE-01 führte zu einer vermehrten Bildung freier Fettsäuren und wirkte sich negativ auf die sensorische Brotqualität aus. Dieser bisher nicht beschriebene Effekt konnte auf die Nutzung eines Spezialöls als Backzutat zurückgeführt werden, welches ausschließlich aus gesättigten Fettsäuren besteht. Dies bestätigt die Bedeutung der Auswahl eines geeigneten Fettes beim Zusatz technischer Lipase zum Backprozess.
Um die in Fungamyl und Lipase FE-01 enthaltenen Enzyme zu identifizieren, wurden SDS-PAGE und anschließender In-Gel-Verdau angewendet um die Analyse proteolytisch gespaltener Proteine mit MALDI-TOF-MS zu ermöglichen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Fungamyl ein Gemisch aus 9,8 % alpha-Amylase (Aspergillus oryzae) und 5,2 % Endo-1,4-Xylanase (Thermomyces lanuginosus) enthält. Lipase FE-01 besteht aus der Lipase (Thermomyces lanuginosus), Amylase TXL wurde als alpha-Amylase (Aspergillus oryzae) identifiziert.
Zur Analyse der technischen Enzyme in Backwaren wurde aufgrund seiner Robustheit und Sensitivität das Verfahren der LC-MS/MS gewählt. Die Entwicklung einer solchen Methode zur Detektion spezifischer Peptide ermöglichte den qualitativen Nachweis der 3 Enzyme alpha-Amylase (Aspergillus oryzae), Endo-1,4-Xylanase (Thermomyces lanuginosus) und Lipase (Thermomyces lanuginosus). Durch eine lineare Kalibrierung aus synthetisch hergestellten Peptiden unter Einbeziehung eines Protein-Internen-Standards sowie isotopenmarkierter Peptidstandards erfolgte darüber hinaus die quantitative Bestimmung in selbst hergestellten Referenzmaterialien (Weizenmehl, Toastbrot und Biskuitkeks). In weniger als 20 Minuten Messzeit kann das Enzym alpha-Amylase ab einer Konzentration von 2,58 mg/kg (Mehl, Keks), bzw. 7,61 mg/kg (Brot) quantitativ nachgewiesen werden. Zeitgleich können die Enzyme Endo-1,4-Xylanase ab einer Konzentration von 7,75 mg/kg (Brot), 3,64 mg/kg (Keks) bzw. 15,60 mg/kg (Mehl) sowie Lipase ab einer Konzentration von 1,26 mg/kg (Mehl, Keks), bzw. 2,68 mg/kg (Brot) quantifiziert werden. Die Methode wurde nach allgemein verwendeten Richtlinien im Zuge einer Validierung statistisch geprüft und lieferte sehr robuste und reproduzierbare quantitative Werte mit Wiederfindungsraten zwischen 50 % und 122 %. Das primäre Ziel dieser Arbeit, die Entwicklung eines quantitativen Multiparameterverfahrens zum Nachweis technischer Enzyme in Backwaren, wurde somit erfolgreich umgesetzt.
In gewaltsamen Auseinandersetzungen mit nicht staatlichen Akteuren setzen Staaten zunehmend bewaffnete unbemannte Flugsysteme, sogenannte Drohnen, ein. Oft verläuft der Einsatz über Staatsgrenzen hinweg und ist von einer starken Asymmetrie zwischen der staatlichen und der nicht staatlichen Konfliktpartei geprägt. Der Verfasser untersucht derartige Einsätze vor dem Hintergrund des Rechts des nicht internationalen bewaffneten Konflikts. Er setzt sich kritisch mit den Problemen auseinander, die die Verwendung von Drohnen in solchen Auseinandersetzungen mit sich bringt: Inwieweit droht die Ausweitung des geografischen Anwendungsbereichs kriegsrechtlicher Standards zulasten der Menschenrechte, welche Modelle zur räumlichen Einhegung des Kriegsrechts sind denkbar? Dürfen zivile Opfer damit gerechtfertigt werden, dass unbemannte Systeme das Risiko für deren Verwender reduzieren? Wie beeinflusst die vermeintliche Präzision von Drohnen die Einhaltung der Pflicht zu Vorsichtsmaßnahmen? Bewertet werden auch spezifische Einsatztaktiken, etwa sogenannte „signature strikes“ oder die Ortung einer Zielperson mithilfe von Mobilfunkdaten.
Earthquakes deform Earth's surface, building long-lasting topographic features and contributing to landscape and mountain formation.
However, seismic waves produced by earthquakes may also destabilize hillslopes, leading to large amounts of soil and bedrock moving downslope. Moreover, static deformation and shaking are suspected to damage the surface bedrock and therefore alter its future properties, affecting hydrological and erosional dynamics. Thus, earthquakes participate both in mountain building and stimulate directly or indirectly their erosion. Moreover, the impact of earthquakes on hillslopes has important implications for the amount of sediment and organic matter delivered to rivers, and ultimately to oceans, during episodic catastrophic seismic crises, the magnitude of life and property losses associated with landsliding, the perturbation and recovery of landscape properties after shaking, and the long term topographic evolution of mountain belts. Several of these aspects have been addressed recently through individual case studies but additional data compilation as well as theoretical or numerical modelling are required to tackle these issues in a more systematic and rigorous manner.
This dissertation combines data compilation of earthquake characteristics, landslide mapping, and seismological data interpretation with physically-based modeling in order to address how earthquakes impact on erosional processes and landscape evolution. Over short time scales (10-100 s) and intermediate length scales (10 km), I have attempted to improve our understanding and ability to predict the amount of landslide debris triggered by seismic shaking in epicentral areas. Over long time scales (1-100 ky) and across a mountain belt (100 km) I have modeled the competition between erosional unloading and building of topography associated with earthquakes. Finally, over intermediate time scales (1-10 y) and at the hillslope scale (0.1-1 km) I have collected geomorphological and seismological data that highlight persistent effects of earthquakes on landscape properties and behaviour.
First, I compiled a database on earthquakes that produced significant landsliding, including an estimate of the total landslide volume and area, and earthquake characteristics such as seismic moment and source depth. A key issue is the accurate conversion of landslide maps into volume estimates. Therefore I also estimated how amalgamation - when mapping errors lead to the bundling of multiple landslide into a single polygon - affects volume estimates from various earthquake-induced landslide inventories and developed an algorithm to automatically detect this artifact. The database was used to test a physically-based prediction of the total landslide area and volume caused by earthquakes, based on seismological scaling relationships and a statistical description of the landscape properties. The model outperforms empirical fits in accuracy, with 25 out of 40 cases well predicted, and allows interpretation of many outliers in physical terms. Apart from seismological complexities neglected by the model I found that exceptional rock strength properties or antecedent conditions may explain most outliers.
Second, I assessed the geomorphic effects of large earthquakes on landscape dynamics by surveying the temporal evolution of precipitation-normalized landslide rate. I found strongly elevated landslide rates following earthquakes that progressively recover over 1 to 4 years, indicating that regolith strength drops and recovers. The relaxation is clearly non-linear for at least one case, and does not seem to correlate with coseismic landslide reactivation, water table level increase or tree root-system recovery. I suggested that shallow bedrock is damaged by the earthquake and then heals on annual timescales. Such variations in ground strength must be translated into shallow subsurface seismic velocities that are increasingly surveyed with ambient seismic noise correlations. With seismic noise autocorrelation I computed the seismic velocity in the epicentral areas of three earthquakes where I constrained a change in landslide rate. We found similar recovery dynamics and timescales, suggesting that seismic noise correlation techniques could be further developed to meaningfully assess ground strength variations for landscape dynamics. These two measurements are also in good agreement with the temporal dynamics of post-seismic surface displacement measured by GPS. This correlation suggests that the surface healing mechanism may be driven by tectonic deformation, and that the surface regolith and fractured bedrock may behave as a granular media that slowly compacts as it is sheared or vibrated.
Last, I compared our model of earthquake-induced landsliding with a standard formulation of surface deformation caused by earthquakes to understand which parameters govern the competition between the building and destruction of topography caused by earthquakes. In contrast with previous studies I found that very large (Mw>8) earthquakes always increase the average topography, whereas only intermediate (Mw ~ 7) earthquakes in steep landscapes may reduce topography. Moreover, I illustrated how the net effect of earthquakes varies with depth or landscape steepness implying a complex and ambivalent role through the life of a mountain belt. Further I showed that faults producing a Gutenberg-Richter distribution of earthquake sizes, will limit topography over a larger range of fault sizes than faults producing repeated earthquakes with a characteristic size.
The relationship between climate and forest productivity is an intensively studied subject in forest science. This Thesis is embedded within the general framework of future forest growth under climate change and its implications for the ongoing forest conversion. My objective is to investigate the future forest productivity at different spatial scales (from a single specific forest stand to aggregated information across Germany) with focus on oak-pine forests in the federal state of Brandenburg. The overarching question is: how are the oak-pine forests affected by climate change described by a variety of climate scenarios. I answer this question by using a model based analysis of tree growth processes and responses to different climate scenarios with emphasis on drought events. In addition, a method is developed which considers climate change uncertainty of forest management planning.
As a first 'screening' of climate change impacts on forest productivity, I calculated the change in net primary production on the base of a large set of climate scenarios for different tree species and the total area of Germany. Temperature increases up to 3 K lead to positive effects on the net primary production of all selected tree species. But, in water-limited regions this positive net primary production trend is dependent on the length of drought periods which results in a larger uncertainty regarding future forest productivity. One of the regions with the highest uncertainty of net primary production development is the federal state of Brandenburg.
To enhance the understanding and ability of model based analysis of tree growth sensitivity to drought stress two water uptake approaches in pure pine and mixed oak-pine stands are contrasted. The first water uptake approach consists of an empirical function for root water uptake. The second approach is more mechanistic and calculates the differences of soil water potential along a soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. I assumed the total root resistance to vary at low, medium and high total root resistance levels. For validation purposes three data sets on different tree growth relevant time scales are used. Results show that, except the mechanistic water uptake approach with high total root resistance, all transpiration outputs exceeded observed values. On the other hand high transpiration led to a better match of observed soil water content. The strongest correlation between simulated and observed annual tree ring width occurred with the mechanistic water uptake approach and high total root resistance. The findings highlight the importance of severe drought as a main reason for small diameter increment, best supported by the mechanistic water uptake approach with high root resistance. However, if all aspects of the data sets are considered no approach can be judged superior to the other. I conclude that the uncertainty of future productivity of water-limited forest ecosystems under changing environmental conditions is linked to simulated root water uptake.
Finally my study aimed at the impacts of climate change combined with management scenarios on an oak-pine forest to evaluate growth, biomass and the amount of harvested timber. The pine and the oak trees are 104 and 9 years old respectively. Three different management scenarios with different thinning intensities and different climate scenarios are used to simulate the performance of management strategies which explicitly account for the risks associated with achieving three predefined objectives (maximum carbon storage, maximum harvested timber, intermediate). I found out that in most cases there is no general management strategy which fits best to different objectives. The analysis of variance in the growth related model outputs showed an increase of climate uncertainty with increasing climate warming. Interestingly, the increase of climate-induced uncertainty is much higher from 2 to 3 K than from 0 to 2 K.
Die vorliegende Untersuchung verfolgt das Ziel, kulturelle und religiöse Aspekte der Erneuerung jüdischen Lebens in Berlin seit 1989 zu erforschen. Die Entwicklungen der jüdischen Gemeinschaft in der Hauptstadt seit dem Fall der Mauer und dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion führen zur Wiederannäherung eines Teils der jüdischen Bevölkerung in Deutschland an die eigene Kultur, Religion und Geschichte. Dabei kommt die Pluralität der kulturellen, literarischen und religiösen Ausdrucksformen der jüdischen Identitäten zum Vorschein. Die Arbeit verdeutlicht diese in Berlin nach 1989 einsetzende kulturelle und religiöse „Renaissance“. Vier wichtige Punkte kennzeichnen das jüdische Leben in Berlin nach 1989. Erstens gewinnt Deutschland seit der Wiedervereinigung eine neue Rolle als mögliches Einwanderungsland für Juden. Vor allem mit der massiven jüdischen Einwanderung aus den Staaten der ehemaligen Sowjetunion seit den 1990er Jahren wird Deutschland allmählich als wichtiges Zentrum in der europäischen Diaspora anerkannt. Zweitens bleibt zwar die Shoah tief verankert im Gedächtnis der jüdischen Gemeinschaft; die meisten Kinder oder Enkelkinder von Überlebenden der Shoah weigern sich jedoch, ihre jüdische Identität exklusiv durch die Shoah zu definieren. Sie gründen zur Wiederentdeckung und Forderung ihres kulturellen, religiösen und historischen Erbes jüdische Gruppen und Einrichtungen in Berlin, die in den meisten Fällen alternativ zur Jüdischen Gemeinde entstehen: Künstlergruppen, jüdische Kulturvereine, Konferenzen und Podiumsdiskussionen, religiöse Kongregationen und Lernhäuser. Damit – und dies ist der dritte Punkt – verliert zwar die offizielle Jüdische Gemeinde an Bedeutung als einzige Vertreterin der jüdischen Gemeinschaft Berlins; diese kulturelle und religiöse „Renaissance“ außerhalb der offiziellen Strukturen der Gemeinde bedeutet aber auch eine wachsende Pluralität und Diversifizierung der jüdischen Gemeinschaft in Berlin. Viertens spielt Berlin die Hauptrolle in diesem Prozess. Heute werden viele ehemalige jüdische Orte neu belebt: Synagogen werden wiederentdeckt und renoviert, Denk- und Mahnmale gebaut, Stadtführungen auf der Spur des „jüdischen Berlins“ organisiert, Rabbinerseminare neu gegründet. Die Topographie Berlins bildet auch eine Inspirationsquelle für jüdische (und nichtjüdische) Schriftsteller und Künstler. Die Analyse dieser nach 1989 entstandenen religiösen Initiativen, literarischen Werke und kulturellen Produktionen dient dazu, Aspekte der kulturellen und religiösen „Renaissance“ in Berlin näher zu verdeutlichen.