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Magnetotellurics (MT) is a geophysical method that is able to image the electrical conductivity structure of the subsurface by recording time series of natural electromagnetic (EM) field variations. During the data processing these time series are divided into small segments and for each segment spectral values are computed which are typically averaged in a statistical manner to obtain MT transfer functions. Unfortunately, the presence of man-made EM noise sources often deteriorates a significant amount of the recorded time series resulting in disturbed transfer functions. Many advanced processing techniques, e.g. robust statistics, pre-stack data selection or remote reference, have been developed to tackle this problem. The first two techniques reduce the amount of outliers and noise in the data whereas the latter approach removes noise by using data from another MT station. However, especially in populated regions the data processing is still quite challenging even with these approaches. In this thesis, I present two novel pre-stack data confinement and selection criteria for the detection of outliers and noise affected data based on (i) a distance measure of each data segment with regard to the entire sample distribution and (ii) the evaluation of the magnetic polarisation direction of all segments. The first criterion is able to remove data points that scatter around the desired MT distribution and furthermore it can, under some circumstances, even reject complete data cluster originating from noise sources. The second criterion eliminates data points caused by a strongly polarised magnetic signal. Both criteria have been successfully applied to many stations with different noise contaminations showing that they can significantly improve the transfer function estimation. The novel criteria were used to evaluate a MT data set from the Eastern Karoo Basin in South Africa. The corresponding field experiment is part of an extensive research programme to collect information of the current e.g. geological setting in this region prior to a potential shale gas exploitation. The aim was to investigate whether a three-dimensional (3D) inversion of the newly measured data fosters a more realistic mapping of physical properties of the target horizon. For this purpose, a comprehensive 3D model was derived by using all available data. In a second step, I analysed parameters of the target horizon, e.g. its conductivity, that are proxies for physical properties such as thermal maturity and porosity.
Companies have a keen interest in developing skilled negotiators in order to improve their negotiation outcome. A crucial determinant of the negotiation outcome are negotiation styles that represent the negotiator’s actual behavior during the negotiation process. In this context, the author examines the variation in negotiation styles throughout the negotiation process, points out the relevance of the negotiator’s characteristics and situational context as determinants of negotiation styles, and emphasizes the importance not only of actual but also of perceived negotiation behavior. As a result, existing negotiation research is advanced as new perspectives on negotiation styles are offered to improve a negotiator’s performance.
New bio-based polymers
(2018)
Redox-responsive polymers, such as poly(disulfide)s, are a versatile class of polymers with potential applications including gene- and drug-carrier systems. Their degradability under reductive conditions allows for a controlled response to the different redox states that are present throughout the body. Poly(disulfide)s are typically synthesized by step growth polymerizations. Step growth polymerizations, however, may suffer from low conversions and therefore low molar masses, limiting potential applications. The purpose of this thesis was therefore to find and investigate new synthetic routes towards the synthesis of amino acid-based poly(disulfide)s.
The different routes in this thesis include entropy-driven ring opening polymerizations of novel macrocyclic monomers, derived from cystine derivatives. These monomers were obtained with overall yields of up to 77% and were analyzed by mass spectrometry as well as by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The kinetics of the entropy-driven ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ED-ROMP) were thoroughly investigated in dependence of temperature, monomer concentration, and catalyst concentration. The polymerization was optimized to yield poly(disulfide)s with weight average molar masses of up to 80 kDa and conversions of ~80%, at the thermodynamic equilibrium. Additionally, an alternative metal free polymerization, namely the entropy-driven ring-opening disulfide metathesis polymerization (ED-RODiMP) was established for the polymerization of the macrocyclic monomers. The effect of different solvents, concentrations and catalyst loadings on the polymerization process and its kinetics were studied. Polymers with very high weight average molar masses of up to 177 kDa were obtained. Moreover, various post-polymerization reactions were successfully performed.
This work provides the first example of the homopolymerization of endo-cyclic disulfides by ED-ROMP and the first substantial study into the kinetics of the ED-RODiMP process.
Nervous allies
(2018)
Diese Dissertation untersucht die Entwicklung der diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen Frankreich, den USA und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im Zeitraum von 1969-1980. Auf breiter multiarchivarischer Quellengrundlage rekonstruiert sie die interdependente Außenpolitik dieser drei Staaten im Kontext zentraler Themenkomplexe der 1970er Jahre: des Aufstiegs und Verfalls der Entspannungspolitik, des Streits um den Status quo in Europa, die Deutsche Frage und die Zukunft Berlins, der internationalen Wirtschafts- und Währungskrise, der Debatte um Sicherheit und Zukunft des westlichen Bündnisses und des NATO-Doppelbeschlusses. Ebenso betrachtet werden eine Reihe von regionalen Ereignissen und Konflikten mit weitreichenden Auswirkungen wie der Jom-Kippur-Krieg, die Portugiesische Revolution oder die sowjetische Invasion Afghanistans.
Die Untersuchung folgt der zentralen, theoretisch motivierten Fragestellung, in welchem Maß staatliche Außenpolitik und diplomatische Beziehungen von individuellen Akteuren an der Spitze der Regierungen, ihren Agenden, Sichtweisen und persönlichen Beziehungen zu internationalen Partnern geprägt wurden oder in welchem Maß deren Entscheidungsfindung andererseits durch strukturelle Faktoren geopolitischer, ökonomischer oder politischer Natur definiert und limitiert wurde. Um diese Frage zu beantworten, fokussiert sich die Dissertation auf die Analyse von Regierungswechseln und deren Auswirkungen auf Kontinuität und Wandel der Außenpolitik. Die Narrative umfasst sieben solcher Regierungswechsel: von Bundeskanzler Kurt Georg Kiesinger zu Willy Brandt (1969) und von Brandt zu Helmut Schmidt (1974) in Bonn, von Präsident Charles de Gaulle zu Georges Pompidou (1969) und von Pompidou zu Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1974) in Paris sowie von Lyndon B. Johnson zu Richard M. Nixon (1969), von Nixon zu Gerald R. Ford (1974) und von Ford zu Jimmy Carter (1977) in Washington.
Abseits eines Spektrums empirisch fundierter Erkenntnisse über die Geschichte der internationalen Beziehungen der 1970er Jahre belegt diese Arbeit vor allem hochgradig personalisierte und exklusive außenpolitische Entscheidungsstrukturen und eine deutliche Abhängigkeit der Qualität intergouvernementaler Beziehungen von den persönlichen Beziehungen außenpolitischer Führungspersönlichkeiten. Zugleich werden jedoch strukturelle Grenzen ihres Handlungsspielraums im internationalen System deutlich, die von Faktoren wie militärischer Sicherheit und geopolitischer Lage, Zugang zu Ressourcen und ökonomischer Leistungsfähigkeit sowie politischem Druck aus dem In- und Ausland abhängen. Die Dissertation kommt zu dem zentralen Ergebnis, dass Regierungswechsel zwar bisweilen drastische Einschnitte in Inhalt und Stil der auswärtigen Beziehungen nach sich zogen und Bonn, Paris und Washington im Laufe der Dekade mit vielerlei neuen Herausforderungen konfrontiert wurden, dass in der Gesamtschau jedoch pfadabhängige strukturelle Druckszenarien zu höherer politischer Kontinuität im internationalen System führten, als oft mit den für tiefgreifenden historischen Wandel bekannten 1970er Jahren assoziiert wird.
Nanoparticles (NPs) are particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size. They have attracted enormous research interests owing to their remarkable physicochemical properties and potential applications in the optics, catalysis, sensing, electronics, or optical devices. The thesis investigates systems of NPs attached to planar substrates.
In the first part of the results section of the thesis a new method is presented to immobilize NPs. In many NP applications a strong, persistent adhesion to substrates is a key requirement. Up to now this has been achieved with various methods, which are not always the optimum regarding adhesion strength or applicability. We propose a new method which uses capillarity to enhance the binding agents in the contact area between NP and substrate. The adhesion strength resulting from the new approach is investigated in detail and it is shown that the new approach is superior to older methods in several ways.
The following section presents the optical visualization of nano-sized objects through a combination of thin film surface distortion and interference enhanced optical reflection microscopy. It is a new, fast and non-destructive technique. It not only reveals the location of NPs as small as 20nm attached to planar surfaces and embedded in a molecularly thin liquid film. It also allows the measurement of the geometry of the surface distortion of the liquid film. Even for small NPs the meniscus reaches out for micrometers, which is the reason why the NPs produce such a pronounced optical footprint.
The nucleation and growth of individual bubbles is presented in chapter 5. Nucleation is a ubiquitous natural phenomenon and of great importance in numerous industrial processes. Typically it occurs on very small scales (nanometers) and it is of a random nature (thermodynamics of small systems). Up to now most experimental nucleation studies deal with a large number of individual nucleation processes to cope with its inherently statistical, spatio-temporal character. In contrast, in this thesis the individual O2-bubble formation from single localized platinum NP active site is studied experimentally. The bubble formation is initiated by the catalytic reaction of H2O2 on the Pt surface. It is studied how the bubble nucleation and growth depends on the NP size, the H2O2 concentration and the substrate surface properties. It is observed that in some cases the bubbles move laterally over the substrate surface, driven by the O2-production and the film ablation.
This research addressed the question, if it is possible to simplify current microcontact printing systems for the production of anisotropic building blocks or patchy particles, by using common chemicals while still maintaining reproducibility, high precision and tunability of the Janus-balance
Chapter 2 introduced the microcontact printing materials as well as their defined electrostatic interactions. In particular polydimethylsiloxane stamps, silica particles and high molecular weight polyethylenimine ink were mainly used in this research. All of these components are commercially available in large quantities and affordable, which gives this approach a huge potential for further up-scaling developments. The benefits of polymeric over molecular inks was described including its flexible influence on the printing pressure. With this alteration of the µCP concept, a new method of solvent assisted particle release mechanism enabled the switch from two-dimensional surface modification to three-dimensional structure printing on colloidal silica particles, without changing printing parameters or starting materials. This effect opened the way to use the internal volume of the achieved patches for incorporation of nano additives, introducing additional physical properties into the patches without alteration of the surface chemistry.
The success of this system and its achievable range was further investigated in chapter 3 by giving detailed information about patch geometry parameters including diameter, thickness and yield. For this purpose, silica particles in a size range between 1µm and 5µm were printed with different ink concentrations to change the Janus-balance of these single patched particles. A necessary intermediate step, consisting of air-plasma treatment, for the production of trivalent particles using "sandwich" printing was discovered and comparative studies concerning the patch geometry of single and double patched particles were conducted. Additionally, the usage of structured PDMS stamps during printing was described. These results demonstrate the excellent precision of this approach and opens the pathway for even greater accuracy as further parameters can be finely tuned and investigated, e.g. humidity and temperature during stamp loading.
The performance of these synthesized anisotropic colloids was further investigated in chapter 4, starting with behaviour studies in alcoholic and aqueous dispersions. Here, the stability of the applied patches was studied in a broad pH range, discovering a release mechanism by disabling the electrostatic bonding between particle surface and polyelectrolyte ink. Furthermore, the absence of strong attractive forces between divalent particles in water was investigated using XPS measurements. These results lead to the conclusion that the transfer of small PDMS oligomers onto the patch surface is shielding charges, preventing colloidal agglomeration. However, based on this knowledge, further patch modifications for particle self-assembly were introduced including physical approaches using magnetic nano additives, chemical patch functionalization with avidin-biotin or the light responsive cyclodextrin-arylazopyrazoles coupling as well as particle surface modification for the synthesis of highly amphiphilic colloids. The successful coupling, its efficiency, stability and behaviour in different solvents were evaluated to find a suitable coupling system for future assembly experiments. Based on these results the possibility of more sophisticated structures by colloidal self-assembly is given.
Certain findings needed further analysis to understand their underlying mechanics, including the relatively broad patch diameter distribution and the decreasing patch thickness for smaller silica particles. Mathematical assumptions for both effects are introduced in chapter 5. First, they demonstrate the connection between the naturally occurring particle size distribution and the broadening of the patch diameter, indicating an even higher precision for this µCP approach. Second, explaining the increase of contact area between particle and ink surface due to higher particle packaging, leading to a decrease in printing pressure for smaller particles.
These calculations ultimately lead to the development of a new mechanical microcontact printing approach, using centrifugal forces for high pressure control and excellent parallel alignment of printing substrates. First results with this device and the comparison with previously conducted by-hand experiments conclude this research. It furthermore displays the advantages of such a device for future applications using a mechanical printing approach, especially for accessing even smaller nano particles with great precision and excellent yield.
In conclusion, this work demonstrates the successful adjustment of the µCP approach using commercially available and affordable silica particles and polyelectrolytes for high flexibility, reduced costs and higher scale-up value. Furthermore, its was possible to increase the modification potential by introducing three-dimensional patches for additional functionalization volume. While keeping a high colloidal stability, different coupling systems showed the self-assembly capabilities of this toolbox for anisotropic particles.
Gamma-ray astronomy has proven to provide unique insights into cosmic-ray accelerators in the past few decades. By combining information at the highest photon energies with the entire electromagnetic spectrum in multi-wavelength studies, detailed knowledge of non-thermal particle populations in astronomical objects and systems has been gained: Many individual classes of gamma-ray sources could be identified inside our galaxy and outside of it. Different sources were found to exhibit a wide range of temporal evolution, ranging from seconds to stable behaviours over many years of observations. With the dawn of both neutrino- and gravitational wave astronomy, additional messengers have come into play over the last years. This development presents the advent of multi-messenger astronomy: a novel approach not only to search for sources of cosmic rays, but for astronomy in general.
In this thesis, both traditional multi-wavelength studies and multi-messenger studies will be presented. They were carried out with the H.E.S.S. experiment, an imaging air Cherenkov telescope array located in the Khomas Highland of Namibia. H.E.S.S. has entered its second phase in 2012 with the addition of a large, fifth telescope. While the initial array was limited to the study of gamma-rays with energies above 100 GeV, the new instrument allows to access gamma-rays with energies down to a few tens of GeV. Strengths of the multi-wavelength approach will be demonstrated at the example of the galaxy NGC253, which is undergoing an episode of enhanced star-formation. The gamma-ray emission will be discussed in light of all the information on this system available from radio, infrared and X-rays. These wavelengths reveal detailed information on the population of supernova remnants, which are suspected cosmic-ray accelerators. A broad-band gamma-ray spectrum is derived from H.E.S.S. and Fermi-LAT data. The improved analysis of H.E.S.S. data provides a measurement which is no longer dominated by systematic uncertainties. The long-term behaviour of cosmic rays in the starburst galaxy NGC253 is finally characterised.
In contrast to the long time-scale evolution of a starburst galaxy, multi-messenger studies are especially intriguing when shorter time-scales are being probed. A prime example of a short time-scale transient are Gamma Ray Bursts. The efforts to understand this phenomenon effectively founded the branch of gamma-ray astronomy. The multi-messenger approach allows for the study of illusive phenomena such as Gamma Ray Bursts and other transients using electromagnetic radiation, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves contemporaneously. With contemporaneous observations getting more important just recently, the execution of such observation campaigns still presents a big challenge due to the different limitations and strengths of the infrastructures.
An alert system for transient phenomena has been developed over the course of this thesis for H.E.S.S. It aims to address many follow-up challenges in order to maximise the science return of the new large telescope, which is able to repoint much faster than the initial four telescopes. The system allows for fully automated observations based on scientific alerts from any wavelength or messenger and allows H.E.S.S. to participate in multi-messenger campaigns. Utilising this new system, many interesting multi-messenger observation campaigns have been performed. Several highlight observations with H.E.S.S. are analysed, presented and discussed in this work. Among them are observations of Gamma Ray Bursts with low latency and low energy threshold, the follow-up of a neutrino candidate in spatial coincidence with a flaring active galactic nucleus and of the merger of two neutron stars, which was revealed by the coincidence of gravitational waves and a Gamma-Ray Burst.
Die Lebensgeschichte des jüdischen Gelehrten und Aufklärers Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), der allen Hindernissen zum Trotz in den Rang einer allseits anerkannten intellektuellen Autorität aufstieg, wurde innerhalb der Geschichte des deutschen Judentums zum Inbegriff einer individuellen Emanzipation im Medium der Bildung. Mendelssohns Vita fand ein theoretisches Pendant in seiner Philosophie der Bestimmung des Menschen zu einer unaufhörlichen Vervollkommnung. Beide Stränge dieser für anthropologische Fragestellungen sensiblen, lebenspraktisch relevanten Metaphysik – das Nachdenken über eine allgemeingültige Bestimmung des Menschen auf der einen und die Reflexion über eine spezifisch jüdische Existenz auf der anderen Seite – erschließen die universelle und partikulare Dimension des menschlichen Lebens und ergeben in ihrer Verbindung ein theoretisches Integral von allgemeiner Menschennatur und kultureller Partikularität. Am Beispiel des Judentums führt Mendelssohn die Allgemeingültigkeit des partikularen Anspruchs auf die Bewahrung kultureller Andersartigkeit vor. Sein bestimmungsmetaphysisches Denken gipfelt in einem Plädoyer für die Toleranz, welches das geistige Erbe des deutsch-jüdischen Philosophen ausmacht.
Over the last decades mechanisms of recognition of morphologically complex words have been extensively examined in order to determine whether all word forms are stored and retrieved from the mental lexicon as wholes or whether they are decomposed into their morphological constituents such as stems and affixes. Most of the research in this domain focusses on English. Several factors have been argued to affect morphological processing including, for instance, morphological structure of a word (e.g., existence of allomorphic stem alternations) and its linguistic nature (e.g., whether it is a derived word or an inflected word form). It is not clear, however, whether processing accounts based on experimental evidence from English would hold for other languages. Furthermore, there is evidence that processing mechanisms may differ across various populations including children, adult native speakers and language learners. Recent studies claim that processing mechanisms could also differ between older and younger adults (Clahsen & Reifegerste, 2017; Reifegerste, Meyer, & Zwitserlood, 2017).
The present thesis examined how properties of the morphological structure, types of linguistic operations involved (i.e., the linguistic contrast between inflection and derivation) and characteristics of the particular population such as older adults (e.g., potential effects of ageing as a result of the cognitive decline or greater experience and exposure of older adults) affect initial, supposedly automatic stages of morphological processing in Russian and German. To this end, a series of masked priming experiments was conducted.
In experiments on Russian, the processing of derived -ost’ nouns (e.g., glupost’ ‘stupidity’) and of inflected forms with and without allomorphic stem alternations in 1P.Sg.Pr. (e.g., igraju – igrat’ ‘to play’ vs. košu – kosit’ ‘to mow’) was examined. The first experiment on German examined and directly compared processing of derived -ung nouns (e.g., Gründung ‘foundation’) and inflected -t past participles (e.g., gegründet ‘founded’), whereas the second one investigated the processing of regular and irregular plural forms (-s forms such as Autos ‘cars’ and -er forms such as Kinder ‘children’, respectively).
The experiments on both languages have shown robust and comparable facilitation effects for derived words and regularly inflected forms without stem changes (-t participles in German, forms of -aj verbs in Russian). Observed morphological priming effects could be clearly distinguished from purely semantic or orthographic relatedness between words. At the same time, we found a contrast between forms with and without allomorphic stem alternations in Russian and regular and irregular forms in German, with significantly more priming for unmarked stems (relative to alternated ones) and significantly more priming for regular (compared) word forms. These findings indicate the relevance of morphological properties of a word for initial stages of processing, contrary to claims made in the literature holding that priming effects are determined by surface form and meaning overlap only. Instead, our findings are more consistent with approaches positing a contrast between combinatorial, rule-based and lexically-stored forms (Clahsen, Sonnenstuhl, & Blevins, 2003).
The doctoral dissertation also addressed the role of ageing and age-related cognitive changes on morphological processing. The results obtained on this research issue are twofold. On the one hand, the data demonstrate effects of ageing on general measures of language performance, i.e., overall longer reaction times and/or higher accuracy rates in older than younger individuals. These findings replicate results from previous studies, which have been linked to the general slowing of processing speed at older age and to the larger vocabularies of older adults. One the other hand, we found that more specific aspects of language processing appear to be largely intact in older adults as revealed by largely similar morphological priming effects for older and younger adults. These latter results indicate that initial stages of morphological processing investigated here by means of the masked priming paradigm persist in older age. One caveat should, however, be noted. Achieving the same performance as a younger individual in a behavioral task may not necessarily mean that the same neural processes are involved. Older people may have to recruit a wider brain network than younger individuals, for example. To address this and related possibilities, future studies should examine older people’s neural representations and mechanisms involved in morphological processing.
Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a declarative problem solving approach, combining a rich yet simple modeling language with high-performance solving capabilities. Although this has already resulted in various applications, certain aspects of such applications are more naturally modeled using variables over finite domains, for accounting for resources, fine timings, coordinates, or functions. Our goal is thus to extend ASP with constraints over integers while preserving its declarative nature. This allows for fast prototyping and elaboration tolerant problem descriptions of resource related applications. The resulting paradigm is called Constraint Answer Set Programming (CASP).
We present three different approaches for solving CASP problems. The first one, a lazy, modular approach combines an ASP solver with an external system for handling constraints. This approach has the advantage that two state of the art technologies work hand in hand to solve the problem, each concentrating on its part of the problem. The drawback is that inter-constraint dependencies cannot be communicated back to the ASP solver, impeding its learning algorithm. The second approach translates all constraints to ASP. Using the appropriate encoding techniques, this results in a very fast, monolithic system. Unfortunately, due to the large, explicit representation of constraints and variables, translation techniques are restricted to small and mid-sized domains. The third approach merges the lazy and the translational approach, combining the strength of both while removing their weaknesses. To this end, we enhance the dedicated learning techniques of an ASP solver with the inferences of the translating approach in a lazy way. That is, the important knowledge is only made explicit when needed.
By using state of the art techniques from neighboring fields, we provide ways to tackle real world, industrial size problems. By extending CASP to reactive solving, we open up new application areas such as online planning with continuous domains and durations.
Die deutsche Berufsausbildung hat in den vergangenen Jahren stark an Zuspruch verloren. Dies trifft insbesondere auch auf die duale kaufmännische Berufsausbildung zu. Galt sie vor einigen Jahren noch als ein möglicher Ausbildungsweg für leistungsstarke Schüler/-innen, präferieren diese heute zum großen Teil das Studium. Die wachsende Anzahl an Studienabbrechern belegt jedoch, dass dadurch auch Potenzial verloren geht, weil sich Jugendliche mit dem Studium für einen Ausbildungsweg entscheiden, der für sie nicht geeignet ist. Bisherige Bemühungen zur Etablierung alternativer Bildungswege wie zum Beispiel Berufsakademien weisen zwar Erfolge auf, basieren jedoch auf einem Konzept, das sich ausschließlich am Bedarf der Wirtschaft orientiert. Es ist jedoch die Überzeugung der Autorin, dass neue innovative Bildungswege auch die Bedürfnisse und Vorstellungen derjenigen berücksichtigen müssen, für die sie entworfen werden. Denn die Generation der heutigen Jugendlichen zeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass sie ein anderes Wertekonzept als ihre Vorgängergenerationen aufweist. Die Dissertation entwickelt daher ein Modell einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung, welches sich aus unterschiedlichen motivationstheoretischen Elementen ableitet und zugleich die Werte der Generation der heutigen Jugend-lichen berücksichtigt. Es umfasst sowohl die Anreiz-Beitrags-Theorie nach Barnard als auch die Inhalts-Erwartungstheorie nach Vroom. Zudem liegt ein Hauptaugenmerk dieser Arbeit auf der Anpassung der Zwei-Faktoren-Theorie nach Herzberg auf die heutige Zeit.
Empirisch basiert die Dissertation auf einem dreistufigen Untersuchungsdesign. Die erste Stufe umfasst eine quantitative Befragung von insgesamt 459 Abiturienten/-innen und 100 Studierenden. In der zweiten Stufe wurden 10 Studieren-de und 12 Abiturienten/-innen qualitativ befragt. Eine Validierung der Ergebnis-se erfolgte in der dritten Stufe mittels Experteninterviews. Das Ziel der empirischen Untersuchung bestand in der Überprüfung von vier Hypothesen als Basis zur Modellableitung:
Hypothese H1 - Flexibilität erhöht die Attraktivität einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung: Der Faktor Flexibilität wurde als ein relevanter Motivator für die Wahl eines Ausbildungsweges identifiziert. Jugendliche wollen sich heutzutage nicht sofort bzw. nicht zu früh festlegen müssen.
Hypothese H2 - Auslandsaufenthalte erhöhen die Attraktivität einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung: Es wurde bestätigt, dass Auslandsaufenthalte die Attraktivität einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung steigert, es besteht jedoch eine Reihe von Barrieren, die Jugendliche (obwohl sie den grundsätzlichen Vor-teil sehen) davon abhalten, einen Auslandsaufenthalt für sich selbst in Betracht zu ziehen.
Hypothese H3 - Das Aufzeigen einer Karriereperspektive erhöht die Attraktivität einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung: Für die Generation der heutigen Jugendlichen steht bezüglich der Wahl ihres Ausbildungsweges die Aussicht auf eine Tätigkeit im Vordergrund, die ein gesichertes Einkommen und somit ein gutes Leben ermöglicht und zudem aus ihrer Sicht eine gewisse Sinnhaftigkeit hat. Führungspositionen, in denen auch höhere Verantwortung übernommen wird, strebt nur eine Minderheit an.
Hypothese H4 - Zusätzliche monetäre Anreize erhöhen die Attraktivität einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung: Vergütungsbestandteile werden grundsätzlich nicht abgelehnt (das wäre auch irrational), haben jedoch auch nicht die Anreizfunktion, die ihr auf Basis der Voruntersuchung im Rahmen dieser Arbeit hätte unterstellt werden können. Für die Entscheidungsfindung bezüglich eines Ausbildungsweges spielen sie nur eine untergeordnete Rolle. Dennoch trägt die Vergütung zur Attraktivität eines Ausbildungsweges bei.
Basierend auf den zuvor genannten Ergebnissen wurde das Modell einer wirtschaftsorientieren Ausbildung abgeleitet, das sowohl horizontal als auch vertikal flexibel ist. Horizontale Flexibilität ist dadurch gegeben, dass innerhalb eines Ausbildungsjahres unterschiedliche Unternehmen und Branchen kennengelernt werden (Jahr 1 und Jahr 2). Eine Spezialisierung erfolgt erst in den späteren Ausbildungsjahren. Durch die Möglichkeit, nach jedem Ausbildungsjahr mit einem Abschluss ins Berufsleben zu wechseln und die Ausbildung gegebenenfalls zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt fortzusetzen, ist auch eine vertikale Flexibilität gegeben. Zudem bietet das Modell Studienabbrechern/-innen die Möglichkeit, im Ausbildungsjahr 2 bzw. 3 in die Ausbildung einzusteigen. Im Jahr 2 und/oder Jahr 3 sind Auslandsaufenthalte integriert. Diese werden fakultativ an-geboten. Bereits ab dem Jahr 1 besteht die Möglichkeit, Vorbereitungskurse zu belegen. Der hohen Bedeutung der Karriereperspektive wird im abgeleiteten Modell auf mehreren Ebenen Rechnung getragen. So werden nach jedem Ausbildungsjahr anerkannte Abschlüsse erreicht. Während diese in den Jahren 1 und 2 mit IHK-Abschlüssen gleichzusetzen sind, beginnen ab Jahr 3 die akademischen Graduierungen (Jahr 3 Bachelor, Jahr 4 Master). Die Vergütung wird Bestandteil einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung, wobei ihre Höhe mit Dauer der Ausbildung zunimmt.
Da mit der Einführung des Modells einer wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung die Überwindung von institutionellen Paradigmen und Schranken verbunden sind, erfolgte im Rahmen des Ausblicks der Arbeit eine weitere Expertenbefragung bezüglich seiner Umsetzbarkeit. Es setzt eine Beweglichkeit von institutioneller Seite voraus (hierbei insbesondere auch von den Kammern), die von der Mehr-zahl der Experten derzeit skeptisch gesehen wird. Die konzeptionelle Ausgestaltung findet grundsätzlichen Zuspruch, wobei in einigen Details, zum Beispiel in der Dauer der Ausbildung, noch Klärungsbedarf besteht.
Grundsätzlich schließen sich die Experten/-innen der Meinung der Autorin an, dass ein Sinneswandel in der deutschen Ausbildungslandschaft gewünscht und gefordert wird. Dies betrifft insbesondere auch den kaufmännischen Bereich. Diese Arbeit liefert mit dem Modell der wirtschaftsorientierten Ausbildung einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Diskussion über neue Ausbildungswege.
East Africa is a natural laboratory: Studying its unique geological and biological history can help us better inform our theories and models. Studying its present and future can help us protect its globally important biodiversity and ecosystem services. East African vegetation plays a central role in all these aspects, and this dissertation aims to quantify its dynamics through computer simulations.
Computer models help us recreate past settings, forecast into the future or conduct simulation experiments that we cannot otherwise perform in the field. But before all that, one needs to test their performance. The outputs that the model produced using the present day-inputs, agreed well with present-day observations of East African vegetation. Next, I simulated past vegetation for which we have fossil pollen data to compare. With computer models, we can fill the gaps of knowledge between sites where we have fossil pollen data from, and create a more complete picture of the past. Good level of agreement between model and pollen data where they overlapped in space further validated our model performance.
Once the model was tested and validated for the region, it became possible to probe one of the long standing questions regarding East African vegetation: How did East Africa lose its tropical forests? The present-day vegetation in the tropics is mainly characterized by continuous forests worldwide except in tropical East Africa, where forests only occur as patches. In a series of simulation experiments, I was able to show under which conditions these forest patches could have been connected and fragmented in the past. This study showed the sensitivity of East African vegetation to climate change and variability such as those expected under future climate change.
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events that result from the fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere, bring further variability to East African climate and are predicted to increase in intensity in the future. But climate models are still not good at capturing the pattens of these events. In a study where I quantified the influence of ENSO events on East African vegetation, I showed how different the future vegetation could be from what we currently predict with these climate models that lack accurate ENSO contribution. Consideration of these discrepancies is important for our future global carbon budget calculations and management decisions.
Business process automation improves organizations’ efficiency to perform work. Therefore, a business process is first documented as a process model which then serves as blueprint for a number of process instances representing the execution of specific business cases. In existing business process management systems, process instances run independently from each other. However, in practice, instances are also collected in groups at certain process activities for a combined execution to improve the process performance. Currently, this so-called batch processing is executed manually or supported by external software. Only few research proposals exist to explicitly represent and execute batch processing needs in business process models. These works also lack a comprehensive understanding of requirements.
This thesis addresses the described issues by providing a basic concept, called batch activity. It allows an explicit representation of batch processing configurations in process models and provides a corresponding execution semantics, thereby easing automation. The batch activity groups different process instances based on their data context and can synchronize their execution over one or as well multiple process activities. The concept is conceived based on a requirements analysis considering existing literature on batch processing from different domains and industry examples. Further, this thesis provides two extensions: First, a flexible batch configuration concept, based on event processing techniques, is introduced to allow run time adaptations of batch configurations. Second, a concept for collecting and batching activity instances of multiple different process models is given. Thereby, the batch configuration is centrally defined, independently of the process models, which is especially beneficial for organizations with large process model collections. This thesis provides a technical evaluation as well as a validation of the presented concepts. A prototypical implementation in an existing open-source BPMS shows that with a few extensions, batch processing is enabled. Further, it demonstrates that the consolidated view of several work items in one user form can improve work efficiency. The validation, in which the batch activity concept is applied to different use cases in a simulated environment, implies cost-savings for business processes when a suitable batch configuration is used. For the validation, an extensible business process simulator was developed. It enables process designers to study the influence of a batch activity in a process with regards to its performance.
Modeling and data analysis of large-scale atmosphere dynamics associated with extreme weather
(2018)
In the last decades the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like heat waves and heavy rainfall have increased and are at least partly linked to global warming. These events can have a strong impact on agricultural and economic production and, thereby, on society. Thus, it is important to improve our understanding of the physical processes leading to those extreme events in order to provide accurate near-term and long-term forecasts. Thermodynamic drivers associated with global warming are well understood, but dynamical aspects of the atmosphere much less so. The dynamical aspects, while less important than the thermodynamic drivers in regards to large-scale and long-time averaged effects, play a critical role in the formation of extremes.
The overall aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding of patterns, variability and trends in the global atmospheric circulation under a changing climate. In particular, in this dissertation I developed two new data-driven methods to quantitatively describe the dynamics of jet streams, Hadley cells and storm tracks. In addition, I introduce and validate a new statistical-dynamical atmosphere model that can be used to efficiently model the large-scale circulation.
First, I developed a scheme based on the Dijkstra ‘shortest-path’ algorithm to identify jet stream cores. Using reanalysis data, I found a significant change in jet stream strength and position over the last decades: Specifically, a decrease in wind speeds and a spatial shift toward the poles. This work also shows that the splitting or merging of the polar front jet stream and the subtropical jet stream depends on the season and longitudinal position. In a follow-up study, I analyzed trends in the latitudinal position of the poleward edge of the Hadley cell and subtropical jet stream core for all longitudes. These trends depend strongly on longitude and thus the impacts of tropical expansion might be pronounced in some regions and absent in others.
The second approach was to develop an empirical forecast method for European and Mediterranean winter precipitation. This prediction algorithm innovatively incorporates the spatial patterns of predictors in autumn using clustering analyses. I identified the most important precursors (snow cover in Eurasia, Barents and Kara sea ice concentrations as well as sea surface temperature in the Atlantic and Mediterranean region) for the precipitation prediction. This forecast algorithm had higher forecast skills than conventionally employed methods such as Canonical Correlation Analysis or operational systems using climate models.
The last approach was to examine the atmospheric circulation using the novel statisticaldynamical atmosphere model Aeolus. First, I validated the model’s depiction of the largescale circulation in terms of Hadley circulation, jet streams, storm tracks and planetary waves. To do so, I performed a parameter optimization using simulated annealing. Next, I investigated the sensitivity of the large-scale circulation to three different temperature components: global mean temperature, meridional temperature gradient and zonal temperature gradient. The model experiment showed that the strength of the Hadley cell, storm tracks and jet streams depend almost linearly on both the global mean temperature and the meridional temperature gradient, whereas the zonal temperature gradient is shown to have little or no influence. The magnitude of planetary waves is clearly affected by all three temperature components. Finally, the width of the Hadley cell behaves nonlinearly with respect to all three temperature components.
These findings might have profound consequences for climate modeling of the Mediterranean region. The latitudinal poleward trend of the Hadley cell edge position might become stronger under climate change according to the results with Aeolus. These changes would lead to a substantial reduction of the winter precipitation in the Mediterranean region. In this case seasonal empirical forecast methods, like the clustering-based prediction scheme, will play an important role for forecasting seasonal droughts in advance such that water managers and politicians can mitigate impacts.
The development of self-adaptive software requires the engineering of an adaptation engine that controls the underlying adaptable software by a feedback loop. State-of-the-art approaches prescribe the feedback loop in terms of numbers, how the activities (e.g., monitor, analyze, plan, and execute (MAPE)) and the knowledge are structured to a feedback loop, and the type of knowledge. Moreover, the feedback loop is usually hidden in the implementation or framework and therefore not visible in the architectural design. Additionally, an adaptation engine often employs runtime models that either represent the adaptable software or capture strategic knowledge such as reconfiguration strategies. State-of-the-art approaches do not systematically address the interplay of such runtime models, which would otherwise allow developers to freely design the entire feedback loop.
This thesis presents ExecUtable RuntimE MegAmodels (EUREMA), an integrated model-driven engineering (MDE) solution that rigorously uses models for engineering feedback loops. EUREMA provides a domain-specific modeling language to specify and an interpreter to execute feedback loops. The language allows developers to freely design a feedback loop concerning the activities and runtime models (knowledge) as well as the number of feedback loops. It further supports structuring the feedback loops in the adaptation engine that follows a layered architectural style. Thus, EUREMA makes the feedback loops explicit in the design and enables developers to reason about design decisions.
To address the interplay of runtime models, we propose the concept of a runtime megamodel, which is a runtime model that contains other runtime models as well as activities (e.g., MAPE) working on the contained models. This concept is the underlying principle of EUREMA. The resulting EUREMA (mega)models are kept alive at runtime and they are directly executed by the EUREMA interpreter to run the feedback loops. Interpretation provides the flexibility to dynamically adapt a feedback loop. In this context, EUREMA supports engineering self-adaptive software in which feedback loops run independently or in a coordinated fashion within the same layer as well as on top of each other in different layers of the adaptation engine. Moreover, we consider preliminary means to evolve self-adaptive software by providing a maintenance interface to the adaptation engine.
This thesis discusses in detail EUREMA by applying it to different scenarios such as single, multiple, and stacked feedback loops for self-repairing and self-optimizing the mRUBiS application. Moreover, it investigates the design and expressiveness of EUREMA, reports on experiments with a running system (mRUBiS) and with alternative solutions, and assesses EUREMA with respect to quality attributes such as performance and scalability.
The conducted evaluation provides evidence that EUREMA as an integrated and open MDE approach for engineering self-adaptive software seamlessly integrates the development and runtime environments using the same formalism to specify and execute feedback loops, supports the dynamic adaptation of feedback loops in layered architectures, and achieves an efficient execution of feedback loops by leveraging incrementality.
Mitöffentlichkeit
(2018)
Im Mittelpunkt dieser beziehungsgeschichtlichen Darstellung steht die Geschichte der deutsch-deutschen Arbeit der Evangelischen Akademie Berlin-Brandenburg seit ihrer Gründung 1951 bis Ende der 1970er- bzw. Anfang der 1980er-Jahre. Nach einem Überblick zur Geschichte der Ev. Akademien und der Evangelischen Akademie Berlin-Brandenburg wird sie als ein exemplarischer deutsch-deutscher Ort literarischer Kommunikation, der „Vergangenheitsbewältigung“ und des christlich-jüdischen Dialogs als Teil der NS-Auseinandersetzung beschrieben. Im Rahmen der literarischen Arbeit wurden häufig in der DDR – noch – nicht veröffentlichte westdeutsche und westeuropäische Texte in den literarischen Kreislauf eingespeist; hiermit konstitutiv verbunden ist das ebenfalls hochpolitische und gesamtdeutsch dimensionierte Thema der Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Über den Kontext der Akademie hinaus versteht sich die Arbeit auch als ein Beitrag zur deutsch-deutschen Geschichte der Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Mit den seit 1961 durchgeführten Israel-Tagungen institutionalisierte sich der christlich-jüdische Dialog etwa 15 Jahre früher als in der evangelischen Kirche in der DDR. Damit bietet diese Arbeit auch neue Aspekte der Geschichte des Protestantismus in Ostdeutschland und der christlich-jüdischen Beziehungen in der DDR. Hinsichtlich der kirchlichen Vergangenheitsbewältigung leistete die Akademie Pionierarbeit. Im Horizont deutschland-, kultur- und kirchenpolitischer Entwicklungen schwächte sich ab Ende der 1960er-Jahre der gesamtdeutsche Bezug ab. Die Akademie war durch Nähe und Distanz zu staatlichen und kirchlichen Kontexten geprägt. Massive Überwachungen durch die Staatssicherheit und Konflikte mit staatlichen Organen sind Ausdruck dieses „Eigen-Sinns“. Als christlicher Akteur beharrte die Akademie auf Mitgestaltung und Mitwirkung und erzeugte durch ihre Arbeit Mitöffentlichkeit. Dieser neu eingeführte Begriff entzieht sich dem Dualismus von offizieller Öffentlichkeit und Gegenöffentlichkeit und leistet eine wesentliche Differenzierung des Formenkreises von Öffentlichkeit in der DDR.
Mit Mitra und Statuten
(2018)
Der Autor beschreibt in einer Verbindung von kirchen- und landesgeschichtlichen Forschungsansätzen, wie die Bischöfe von Brandenburg von der Mitte des 12. Jahrhunderts bis zur Reformation durch liturgisch-pontifikale Handlungen und diözesane Gesetzgebung einen eigenen Handlungsspielraum gegenüber den weltlichen Landesherren behaupten konnten. Die Arbeit setzt dabei drei Schwerpunkte: Eine Fallstudie zeigt eingangs am Beispiel der geistlichen Institutionen der Stadt Zerbst die Praxis pontifikaler Handlungsmöglichkeiten auf. Die Diözesanstatuten des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts spiegeln bischöfliches Handeln dagegen im Licht normativer Quellen; eine Betrachtung der bischöflichen Stellvertreter – Weihbischöfe, Generalvikare, Offiziale, Archidiakone und Pröpste – schließlich verbindet kirchen-, sozial- und verwaltungsgeschichtliche Aspekte pontifikaler Tätigkeitsfelder. Die vom Historischen Institut der Universität Potsdam mit dem Dr. Elisabeth Hamacher-Stiftungspreis ausgezeichnete Dissertation hebt somit anders als in der bisherigen Forschung die Bedeutung der Bischöfe in der brandenburgischen Landesgeschichte neu hervor.
Die Kernfrage der vorliegenden Arbeit lautet: Sichert die Schuldenbremse die fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit in Deutschland? Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage wird zunächst untersucht, welche Vor-Wirkungen die Einführung der Schuldenbremse im Zeitraum 2010-16 auf die deutschen Bundesländer zeitigte. Dafür wurden die beobachtete Konsolidierungsleistung und der 2009 bestehende Konsolidierungsanreiz bzw. –druck der Bundesländer mit Hilfe einer eigens zu diesem Zweck entwickelten Scorecard evaluiert. Mittels multipler Regressionsanalyse wurde dann analysiert, wie die Faktoren der Scorecard die Konsolidierungsleistung der Bun- desländer beeinflussen. Dabei wurde festgestellt, dass beinahe 90% der Variation, durch die unabhängigen Variablen Haushaltslage, Schuldenlast, Einnahmenwachstum und Pensionslast erklärt werden und der Schuldenbremse bei der Konsolidierungsepisode 2009-2016 eher eine untergeordnete Rolle zugefallen sein dürfte. Anschließend wurde mithilfe der in 65 Expertinneninterviews gesammelten Daten analysiert, welche Grenzen der neuen Fiskalregel in ihrem Wirken gesetzt sind, bzw. welche Risiken zukünftig die Einhaltung der Schuldenbremse erschweren oder verhindern könnten: Kommunalverschuldung, FEUs, Eventualverpflichtungen in Form von Bürgschaften für Finanzinstitute und Pensionsverpflichtungen. Die häufig geäußerten Kritikpunkte, die Schuldenbremse sei eine Konjunktur- und Investitionsbremse werden ebenfalls überprüft und zurückgewiesen. Schließlich werden potentielle zukünftige Entwicklungen hinsichtlich der Schuldenbremse und der öffentlichen Verwaltung in Deutschland sowie der Konsolidierungsbemühungen der Länder erörtert.
Biological invasions are the dispersal and following establishment of species outside their native habitat. Due to globalisation, connectivity of regions and climate changes the number of invasive species and their successful establishment is rising. The impact of these species is mostly negative, can induce community and habitat alterations, and is one main cause for biodiversity loss. This impact is particularly high and less researched in aquatic systems and microbial organisms and despite the high impact, the knowledge about overall mechanisms and specific factors affecting invasions are not fully understood. In general, the characteristics of the habitat, native community and invader determine the invasiveness.
In this thesis, I aimed to provide a better understanding of aquatic invasions focusing on the invader and its traits and identity. This thesis used a set of 12 strains of the invasive cyanobacterium <i>Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii</i> to examine the effect and impact of the invaders’ identity and genetic diversity. Further, the effect of timing on the invasion potential and success was determined, because aquatic systems in particular undergo seasonal fluctuations.
Most studies revealed a higher invasion success with increasing genetic diversity. Here, the increase of the genetic diversity, by either strain richness or phylogenetic dissimilarity, is not firstly driving the invasion, but the strain-identity. The high variability among the strains in traits important for invasions led to the highly varying strain-specific invasion success. This success was most dependent on nitrogen uptake and efficient resource use. The lower invasion success into communities comprising further N-fixing species indicates <i>C. raciborskii</i> can use this advantage only without the presence of competitive species. The relief of grazing pressure, which is suggested to be more important in aquatic invasions, was only promoting the invasion when unselective and larger consumers were present. High abundances of unselective consumers hampered the invasion success.
This indicates a more complex and temporal interplay of competitive and consumptive resistance mechanisms during the invasion process. Further, the fluctuation abundance and presence of competitors (= primary producers) and consumers (= zooplankton) in lakes can open certain ‘invasion windows’.
Remarkably, the composition of the resident community was also strain-specific affected and altered, independent of a high or low invasion success. Prior, this was only documented on the species level. Further, investigations on the population of invasive strains can reveal more about the invasion patterns and how multiple strain invasions change resident communities.
The present dissertation emphasises the importance of invader-addition experiments with a community context and the importance of the strain-level for microbial invasions and in general, e.g. for community assemblies and the outcome of experiments. The strain-specific community changes, also after days, may explain some sudden changes in communities, which have not been explained yet. This and further knowledge may also facilitate earlier and less cost-intensive management to step in, because these species are rarely tracked until they reach a high abundance or bloom, because of their small size.
Concluded for <i>C. raciborskii</i>, it shows that this species is no ‘generalistic’ invader and its invasion success depends more on the competitor presence than grazing pressure. This may explain its, still unknown, invasion pattern, as <i>C. raciborskii</i> is not found in all lakes of a region.
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous on the planet since several millions of tons of plastic waste enter aquatic ecosystems each year. Furthermore, the amount of plastic produced is expected to increase exponentially shortly. The heterogeneity of materials, additives and physical characteristics of plastics are typical of these emerging contaminants and affect their environmental fate in marine and freshwaters. Consequently, plastics can be found in the water column, sediments or littoral habitats of all aquatic ecosystems. Most of this plastic debris will fragment as a product of physical, chemical and biological forces, producing particles of small size. These particles (< 5mm) are known as “microplastics” (MP). Given their high surface-to-volume ratio, MP stimulate biofouling and the formation of biofilms in aquatic systems.
As a result of their unique structure and composition, the microbial communities in MP biofilms are referred to as the “Plastisphere.” While there is increasing data regarding the distinctive composition and structure of the microbial communities that form part of the plastisphere, scarce information exists regarding the activity of microorganisms in MP biofilms. This surface-attached lifestyle is often associated with the increase in horizontal gene transfer (HGT) among bacteria. Therefore, this type of microbial activity represents a relevant function worth to be analyzed in MP biofilms. The horizontal exchange of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) is an essential feature of bacteria. It accounts for the rapid evolution of these prokaryotes and their adaptation to a wide variety of environments. The process of HGT is also crucial for spreading antibiotic resistance and for the evolution of pathogens, as many MGEs are known to contain antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and genetic determinants of pathogenicity.
In general, the research presented in this Ph.D. thesis focuses on the analysis of HGT and heterotrophic activity in MP biofilms in aquatic ecosystems. The primary objective was to analyze the potential of gene exchange between MP bacterial communities vs. that of the surrounding water, including bacteria from natural aggregates. Moreover, the thesis addressed the potential of MP biofilms for the proliferation of biohazardous bacteria and MGEs from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and associated with antibiotic resistance. Finally, it seeks to prove if the physiological profile of MP biofilms under different limnological conditions is divergent from that of the water communities. Accordingly, the thesis is composed of three independent studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The two laboratory studies were performed using both model and environmental microbial communities. In the field experiment, natural communities from freshwater ecosystems were examined.
In Chapter I, the inflow of treated wastewater into a temperate lake was simulated with a concentration gradient of MP particles. The effects of MP on the microbial community structure and the occurrence of integrase 1 (int 1) were followed. The int 1 is a marker associated with mobile genetic elements and known as a proxy for anthropogenic effects on the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes. During the experiment, the abundance of int1 increased in the plastisphere with increasing MP particle concentration, but not in the surrounding water. In addition, the microbial community on MP was more similar to the original wastewater community with increasing microplastic concentrations. Our results show that microplastic particles indeed promote persistence of standard indicators of microbial anthropogenic pollution in natural waters.
In Chapter II, the experiments aimed to compare the permissiveness of aquatic bacteria towards model antibiotic resistance plasmid pKJK5, between communities that form biofilms on MP vs. those that are free-living. The frequency of plasmid transfer in bacteria associated with MP was higher when compared to bacteria that are free-living or in natural aggregates. Moreover, comparison increased gene exchange occurred in a broad range of phylogenetically-diverse bacteria. The results indicate a different activity of HGT in MP biofilms, which could affect the ecology of aquatic microbial communities on a global scale and the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Finally, in Chapter III, physiological measurements were performed to assess whether microorganisms on MP had a different functional diversity from those in water. General heterotrophic activity such as oxygen consumption was compared in microcosm assays with and without MP, while diversity and richness of heterotrophic activities were calculated by using Biolog® EcoPlates. Three lakes with different nutrient statuses presented differences in MP-associated biomass build up. Functional diversity profiles of MP biofilms in all lakes differed from those of the communities in the surrounding water, but only in the oligo-mesotrophic lake MP biofilms had a higher functional richness compared to the ambient water. The results support that MP surfaces act as new niches for aquatic microorganisms and can affect global carbon dynamics of pelagic environments.
Overall, the experimental works presented in Chapters I and II support a scenario where MP pollution affects HGT dynamics among aquatic bacteria. Among the consequences of this alteration is an increase in the mobilization and transfer efficiency of ARGs. Moreover, it supposes that changes in HGT can affect the evolution of bacteria and the processing of organic matter, leading to different catabolic profiles such as demonstrated in Chapter III. The results are discussed in the context of the fate and magnitude of plastic pollution and the importance of HGT for bacterial evolution and the microbial loop, i.e., at the base of aquatic food webs. The thesis supports a relevant role of MP biofilm communities for the changes observed in the aquatic microbiome as a product of intense human intervention.
The continuously increasing pollution of aquatic environments with microplastics (plastic particles < 5 mm) is a global problem with potential implications for organisms of all trophic levels. For microorganisms, trillions of these floating microplastics particles represent a huge surface area for colonization. Due to the very low biodegradability, microplastics remain years to centuries in the environment and can be transported over thousands of kilometers together with the attached organisms. Since also pathogenic, invasive, or otherwise harmful species could be spread this way, it is essential to study microplastics-associated communities.
For this doctoral thesis, eukaryotic communities were analyzed for the first time on microplastics in brackish environments and compared to communities in the surrounding water and on the natural substrate wood. With Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing, more than 500 different eukaryotic taxa were detected on the microplastics samples. Among them were various green algae, dinoflagellates, ciliates, fungi, fungal-like protists and small metazoans such as nematodes and rotifers. The most abundant organisms was a dinoflagellate of the genus Pfiesteria, which could include fish pathogenic and bloom forming toxigenic species. Network analyses revealed that there were numerous interaction possibilities among prokaryotes and eukaryotes in microplastics biofilms. Eukaryotic community compositions on microplastics differed significantly from those on wood and in water, and compositions were additionally distinct among the sampling locations. Furthermore, the biodiversity was clearly lower on microplastics in comparison to the diversity on wood or in the surrounding water.
In another experiment, a situation was simulated in which treated wastewater containing microplastics was introduced into a freshwater lake. With increasing microplastics concentrations, the resulting bacterial communities became more similar to those from the treated wastewater. Moreover, the abundance of integrase I increased together with rising concentrations of microplastics. Integrase I is often used as a marker for anthropogenic environmental pollution and is further linked to genes conferring, e.g., antibiotic resistance.
This dissertation gives detailed insights into the complexity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities on microplastics in brackish and freshwater systems. Even though microplastics provide novel microhabitats for various microbes, they might also transport toxigenic, pathogenic, antibiotic-resistant or parasitic organisms; meaning their colonization can pose potential threats to humans and the environment. Finally, this thesis explains the urgent need for more research as well as for strategies to minimize the global microplastic pollution.
Valide generierte Daten aus Verhandlungen bilden die Grundlage zum Ergründen von Art und Umfang verschiedener Einflussfaktoren auf den Verhandlungsprozess und das Verhandlungsergebnis. Die Wahl einer bestimmten Datenerhebungsmethode wird weitestgehend von der jeweiligen Problemstellung einer Untersuchung bedingt. Aus diesem Zusammenhang erschließt sich die Notwendigkeit, fundierte Erkenntnisse und Empfehlungen für die Anwendung von bestimmten Datenerhebungsmethoden in der Verhandlungsforschung zu entwickeln. Damit einhergehend können sowohl Verbesserungspotenziale für die methodische Vorgehensweise zukünftiger Forschungsvorhaben aufgefunden als auch – basierend auf den generierten Daten – gehaltvolle Handlungsempfehlungen für die Verhandlungspraxis ausgesprochen werden. Zunächst nimmt der Verfasser eine umfangreiche Literaturanalyse über die methodischen Praktiken der Datengewinnung in verhandlungsrelevanten Studien im Zeitraum 2005 bis 2014 vor. Basierend auf einer ergänzend durchgeführten Befragung unter Verhandlungswissenschaftlern liefert er eine Prognose der zukünftigen Anwendungshäufigkeiten der Erhebungsmethoden und leitet methodische Erkenntnisse im Zeitverlauf ab. Insbesondere durch die Analyse der Passung zwischen Untersuchungsfragestellung und Datenerhebungsmethode sowie weiterer Aspekte (z. B. Art der Verhandlung, Forschungsdisziplin, Journal der Publikation, Korrespondenzautor und dessen Affiliation), welche die jeweilige Untersuchung beeinflussen könnten, schafft der Autor eine kontemporäre Entscheidungshilfe für kommende verhandlungsbezogene Forschungsaktivitäten.
Metamaterial devices
(2018)
Digital fabrication machines such as 3D printers excel at producing arbitrary shapes, such as for decorative objects. In recent years, researchers started to engineer not only the outer shape of objects, but also their internal microstructure. Such objects, typically based on 3D cell grids, are known as metamaterials. Metamaterials have been used to create materials that, e.g., change their volume, or have variable compliance.
While metamaterials were initially understood as materials, we propose to think of them as devices.
We argue that thinking of metamaterials as devices enables us to create internal structures that offer functionalities to implement an input-process-output model without electronics, but purely within the material’s internal structure. In this thesis, we investigate three aspects of such metamaterial devices that implement parts of the input-process-output model: (1) materials that process analog inputs by implementing mechanisms based on their microstructure, (2) that process digital signals by embedding mechanical computation into the object’s microstructure, and (3) interactive metamaterial objects that output to the user by changing their outside to interact with their environment. The input to our metamaterial devices is provided directly by the users interacting with the device by means of physically pushing the metamaterial, e.g., turning a handle, pushing a button, etc.
The design of such intricate microstructures, which enable the functionality of metamaterial devices, is not obvious. The complexity of the design arises from the fact that not only a suitable cell geometry is necessary, but that additionally cells need to play together in a well-defined way. To support users in creating such microstructures, we research and implement interactive design tools. These tools allow experts to freely edit their materials, while supporting novice users by auto-generating cells assemblies from high-level input. Our tools implement easy-to-use interactions like brushing, interactively simulate the cell structures’ deformation directly in the editor, and export the geometry as a 3D-printable file. Our goal is to foster more research and innovation on metamaterial devices by allowing the broader public to contribute.
This text is a contribution to the research on the worldwide success of evangelical Christianity and offers a new perspective on the relationship between late modern capitalism and evangelicalism. For this purpose, the utilization of affect and emotion in evangelicalism towards the mobilization of its members will be examined in order to find out what similarities to their employment in late modern capitalism can be found. Different examples from within the evangelical spectrum will be analyzed as affective economies in order to elaborate how affective mobilization is crucial for evangelicalism’s worldwide success. Pivotal point of this text is the exploration of how evangelicalism is able to activate the voluntary commitment of its members, financiers, and missionaries. Gathered here are examples where both spheres—evangelicalism and late modern capitalism—overlap and reciprocate, followed by a theoretical exploration of how the findings presented support a view of evangelicalism as an inner-worldly narcissism that contributes to an assumed re-enchantment of the world.
Genossenschaften haben wieder Konjunktur. Sie betätigen sich in einer Vielzahl von Einsatzfeldern, die herkömmlicherweise den kommunalen Selbstverwaltungsaufgaben zufallen. Darüber hinaus ergänzen und ersetzen Genossenschaften das kommunale Leistungsangebot durch die Erledigung von Aufgaben, auf deren Erbringung die Kommunen selbst verzichten. In der Praxis haben sich hybride Kooperationsmodelle gebildet, die eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Akteure vereinen und damit für die lokale Leistungserbringung im kommunalen Interesse fernab einer einseitigen Bindung an „Staat“ oder „Privat“ einen „Dritten Weg“ eröffnen. Davon ausgehend untersucht der Verfasser, ob und unter welchen Voraussetzungen es sich bei der Genossenschaft um einen nachhaltigen Partner der Kommunen bei der Aufrechterhaltung kommunaler Infrastrukturen handeln kann.
Das Buch beschäftigt sich mit der Frage wie die Versorgung der Streitkräfte im 18. Jahrhundert zu deren Kampfkraft sowie zu ihren Erfolgen oder Misserfolgen im Gefecht beitrug und wie dies die Entscheidungs- und Handlungsfähigkeit der Feldherren beeinflusste.
Dargestellt werden diese Aspekte anhand der sehr umfangreichen Fallstudie für das Jahr 1757 während des Siebenjährigen Krieges von 1756 bis 1763. Sie bildet den operationsgeschichtlichen Kern des Werkes und zeichnet sich durch ihren komparatistischen Ansatz aus, d.h. die durchgängige Berücksichtigung der Perspektive beider Kriegsparteien.
Dem Hauptteil gehen drei weitere Teile voran. Sie widmen sich der historiographischen Aufarbeitung, dem daraus entstandenen Bild der preußischen Kriegsführung, gehen auf die strukturellen Grundlagen der zeitgenössischen Logistik ein und beleuchten als Vorbereitung für die Fallstudie die Ressourcen im zentralen Operationsraums des Siebenjährigen Krieges, d.h. in Sachsen, Schlesien, Böhmen und Mähren.
Movement and navigation are essential for many organisms during some parts of their lives. This is also true for bacteria, which can move along surfaces and swim though liquid environments. They are able to sense their environment, and move towards environmental cues in a directed fashion.
These abilities enable microbial lifecyles in biofilms, improved food uptake, host infection, and many more. In this thesis we study aspects of the swimming movement - or motility - of the soil bacterium (P. putida). Like most bacteria, P. putida swims by rotating its helical flagella, but their arrangement differs from the main model organism in bacterial motility research: (E. coli). P. putida is known for its intriguing motility strategy, where fast and slow episodes can occur after each other. Up until now, it was not known how these two speeds can be produced, and what advantages they might confer to this bacterium.
Normally the flagella, the main component of thrust generation in bacteria, are not observable by ordinary light microscopy. In order to elucidate this behavior, we therefore used a fluorescent staining technique on a mutant strain of this species to specifically label the flagella, while leaving the cell body only faintly stained. This allowed us to image the flagella of the swimming bacteria with high spacial and temporal resolution with a customized high speed fluorescence microscopy setup. Our observations show that P. putida can swim in three different modes. First, It can swim with the flagella pushing the cell body, which is the main mode of swimming motility previously known from other bacteria. Second, it can swim with the flagella pulling the cell body, which was thought not to be possible in situations with multiple flagella. Lastly, it can wrap its flagellar bundle around the cell body, which results in a speed wich is slower by a factor of two. In this mode, the flagella are in a different physical conformation with a larger radius so the cell body can fit inside. These three swimming modes explain the previous observation of two speeds, as well as the non strict alternation of the different speeds.
Because most bacterial swimming in nature does not occur in smoothly walled glass enclosures under a microscope, we used an artificial, microfluidic, structured system of obstacles to study the motion of our model organism in a structured environment. Bacteria were observed in microchannels with cylindrical obstacles of different sizes and with different distances with video microscopy and cell tracking. We analyzed turning angles, run times, and run length, which we compared to a minimal model for movement in structured geometries. Our findings show that hydrodynamic interactions with the walls lead to a guiding of the bacteria along obstacles. When comparing the observed behavior with the statics of a particle that is deflected with every obstacle contact, we find that cells run for longer distances than that model.
Navigation in chemical gradients is one of the main applications of motility in bacteria. We studied the swimming response of P. putida cells to chemical stimuli (chemotaxis) of the common food preservative sodium benzoate. Using a microfluidic gradient generation device, we created gradients of varying strength, and observed the motion of cells with a video microscope and subsequent cell tracking. Analysis of different motility parameters like run lengths and times, shows that P. putida employs the classical chemotaxis strategy of E. coli: runs up the gradient are biased to be longer than those down the gradient. Using the two different run speeds we observed due to the different swimming modes, we classify runs into `fast' and `slow' modes with a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). We find no evidence that P. putida's uses its swimming modes to perform chemotaxis.
In most studies of bacterial motility, cell tracking is used to gather trajectories of individual swimming cells. These trajectories then have to be decomposed into run sections and tumble sections. Several algorithms have been developed to this end, but most require manual tuning of a number of parameters, or extensive measurements with chemotaxis mutant strains. Together with our collaborators, we developed a novel motility analysis scheme, based on generalized Kramers-Moyal-coefficients. From the underlying stochastic model, many parameters like run length etc., can be inferred by an optimization procedure without the need for explicit run and tumble classification. The method can, however, be extended to a fully fledged tumble classifier. Using this method, we analyze E. coli chemotaxis measurements in an aspartate analog, and find evidence for a chemotactic bias in the tumble angles.
Light-driven diffusioosmosis
(2018)
The emergence of microfluidics created the need for precise and remote control of micron-sized objects. I demonstrate how light-sensitive motion can be induced at the micrometer scale by a simple addition of a photosensitive surfactant, which makes it possible to trigger hydrophobicity with light. With point-like laser irradiation, radial inward and outward hydrodynamic surface flows are remotely switched on and off. In this way, ensembles of microparticles can be moved toward or away from the irradiation center. Particle motion is analyzed according to varying parameters, such as surfactant and salt concentration, illumination condition, surface hydrophobicity, and surface structure.
The physical origin of this process is the so-called light-driven diffusioosmosis (LDDO), a phenomenon that was discovered in the framework of this thesis and is described experimentally and theoretically in this work. To give a brief explanation, a focused light irradiation induces a local photoisomerization that creates a concentration gradient at the solid-liquid interface. To compensate for the change in osmotic pressure near the surface, a hydrodynamic flow along the surface is generated. Surface-surfactant interaction largely governs LDDO. It is shown that surfactant adsorption depends on the isomerization state of the surfactant. Photoisomerization, therefore, triggers a surfactant attachment or detachment from the surface. This change is considered to be one of the reasons for the formation of LDDO flow.
These flows are introduced not only by a focused laser source but also by global irradiation. Porous particles show reversible repulsive and attractive interactions when dispersed in the solution of photosensitive surfactant. Repulsion and attraction is controlled by the irradiation wavelength. Illumination with red light leads to formation of aggregates, while illumination with blue light leads to the formation of a well-separated grid with equal interparticle distances, between 2µm and 80µm, depending on the particle surface density. These long-range interactions are considered to be a result of an increase or decrease of surfactant concentration around each particle, depending on the irradiation wavelength. Surfactant molecules adsorb inside the pores of the particles. A light-induced photoisomerization changes adsorption to the pores and drives surfactant molecules to the outside. The concentration gradients generate symmetric flows around each single particle resulting in local LDDO. With a break of the symmetry (i.e., by closing one side of the particle with a metal cap), one can achieve active self-propelled particle motion.
Im Januar 1916 eroberte die Armee des Habsburgerreichs das Königreich Montenegro, den kleinsten und bevölkerungsärmsten Staat Südosteuropas, der an der Seite Serbiens in den Ersten Weltkrieg eingetreten war. Bereits im Sommer 1916 formierte sich bewaffneter Widerstand gegen die Besatzer, 1918 eskalierte dieser zu einer Aufstandsbewegung. Diese Studie zum k. u. k. Militärgeneralgouvernement in Montenegro macht deutlich, welche Relevanz (Fehl-)Einschätzungen und (Fehl-)Entscheidungen in Besatzungssituationen zukommt. Außerdem arbeitet sie die Bedeutung der Geografie des Besatzungsgebiets, des strategischen Kontexts der Besatzung sowie des soziokulturellen Referenzrahmens der Besatzer wie der Besetzten heraus.
Afin de promouvoir l’abolition universelle de la peine de mort, les Etats et organisations internationales, qui forment une communauté fonctionnelle abolitionniste, recourent à des stratégies juridiques. Ces stratégies sont fondées en droit, et opèrent tant sur le contenu du droit (stratégies normatives) que sur la mise en œuvre du droit (stratégies opérationnelles). Pour ce qui concerne d’une part les stratégies normatives abolitionnistes, la communauté fonctionnelle abolitionniste s’appuie sur l’article 6 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, qui encadre la peine de mort et l’assorti de restrictions. Elle promeut ainsi des abolitions partielles en se fondant sur des résolutions de l’Assemblée générale, sur le soft law du Comité des droits de l’homme et sur d’autres traités afin de les densifier et de les interpréter extensivement. De la même manière, la communauté fonctionnelle abolitionniste se fonde sur d’autres abolitions partielles qui sont encore en cours de coutumiérisation, bien que celle-ci se heurte à l’objection persistante de certains Etats. Pour ce qui concerne d’autre part les stratégies opérationnelles abolitionnistes, la communauté fonctionnelle abolitionniste œuvre tant dans le cadre interétatique que dans le cadre transnational, afin de promouvoir la mise en œuvre des normes encadrant la peine de mort. Ces stratégies juridiques abolitionnistes sont dès lors des facteurs de développement et de mise en œuvre non-centralisée du droit international, qui interrogent sur le poids de la majorité des Etats dans l’évolution du droit international, et posent la question de la reconnaissance de l’existence et de la pertinence de valeurs méta-juridiques comme la dignité humaine.
Gesetzgebungsmehrheiten in parlamentarischen Systemen mit ihrem Dualismus aus Regierungslager und Oppositionsparteien bilden sich nicht frei. Vielmehr findet ihre Koordination in einem Spannungsfeld aus den programmatischen Positionen der Akteure und ihrem opportunistischen Wettbewerb untereinander statt. Diese Problematik bricht die Arbeit auf drei konkrete Fragestellungen herunter, im Rahmen derer sie die Konfliktmuster zwischen Akteuren bei der legislativen Mehrheitskoordination unter Mehrheitsregierungen in den deutschen Landesparlamenten untersucht: 1) Inwieweit hängt es von programmatischen Positionen oder vom opportunistischen Wettbewerb des Neuen Dualismus zwischen Regierungslager und Oppositionsparteien ab, ob Oppositionsparteien und Regierungslager bei der Bildung von Gesetzgebungsmehrheiten kooperieren oder konfligieren? 2) Inwieweit kommt es vor dem Hintergrund unterschiedlicher programmatischer Positionen und opportunistischer Überlegungen zu Konflikt statt Kooperation zwischen Koalitionsakteuren bei der Bildung gemeinsamer Gesetzgebungsmehrheiten? Letztere Fragestellung wird sodann auch in den Kontext des bundesrepublikanischen Kooperativföderalismus eingebettet: 3) Inwieweit geht die Bildung von Gesetzgebungsmehrheiten bei der Ausführung von Bundesgesetzen in Mischkoalitionen (bestehend aus Parteien, die sich auf Bundesebene in konkurrierenden Lagern gegenüberstehen) mit mehr Konflikt einher als in ebenenübergreifend kongruenten Regierungskoalitionen?
Theoretisch wird ein rationalistisches Modell der grundlegenden Handlungsanreize bei der Bildung von Gesetzgebungsmehrheiten in den deutschen Landesparlamenten erarbeitet. Auf dieser Basis beschäftigt sich die Arbeit damit, wie die Akteure strategisch programmatische und opportunistische Anreize zu Konflikt und Kooperation abwägen. Die Arbeit leitet dann konkrete Determinanten ab, die vorwiegend – aber nicht nur – mittels quantitativer Methoden getestet werden. Die Arbeit stützt sich dabei auf eine größtenteils neu zusammengestellte Gesetzgebungsdatenbank aus 3.359 Gesetzgebungsvorgängen aus 23 Legislaturperioden zwischen 1990 und 2013 in den Ländern Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Nordrhein-Westfalen und Sachsen-Anhalt.
Die Analyse der Konfliktmuster zwischen Oppositionsparteien und Regierungslager zeigt, dass programmatische Distanz einer Oppositionspartei zum Regierungslager für Oppositionsverhalten eine Rolle spielt; dies gilt jedoch auch für opportunistische Aspekte (so lässt sich beispielsweise ein kompetitiveres Oppositionsverhalten beobachten, wenn nach der letzten Wahl ein vollständiger Regierungswechsel erfolgte). Oppositionsverhalten erscheint dabei recht kleinteilig ausgeprägt. Neben Unterschieden zwischen Legislaturperioden treten solche auch innerhalb von Legislaturperioden zwischen Akteuren sowie zwischen Gesetzentwürfen auf. Die Analyse generellen Koalitionskonflikts weist darauf hin, dass ein nicht unerheblicher Teil von Koalitionskonflikt strukturell bedingt ist. Handelt es sich bei einer gebildeten Regierungskoalition um die Wunschkoalition der beteiligten Parteien, so ist dies Koalitionskonflikt abträglich. Selbiges gilt für eine größere Mehrheitsmarge des Regierungslagers. Darüber hinaus ergeben sich Hinweise, dass die Ausführung von Bundesgesetzen unter Mischkoalitionen bei bundespolitischer Abgrenzung der Koalitionspartner mit mehr Koalitionskonflikt einhergeht als eine Ausführung unter kongruenten Koalitionen.
Der Beitrag der Arbeit ist polymorph angelegt. Sie hilft zunächst, die Strategien von Akteuren im Gesetzgebungsprozess besser zu verstehen. Als normativer Beitrag tritt auf einer zweiten Ebene die bessere Erforschung etwaiger nachteiliger Effekte des Neuen Dualismus unter Mehrheitsregierungen hinzu. Gleichzeitig soll die Arbeit drittens in der Zusammenschau helfen, die Mechanik der parlamentarischen Systeme in den Ländern selbst zu erhellen und besser normativ bewerten zu können. Hintergrund sind hier die jahrzehntealten Debatten um das beste Regierungssystem und -format der deutschen Länder als subnationale Entitäten. Die dritte Fragestellung dieser Arbeit konnte diese Debatte zudem mit einem neuen Aspekt bereichern. Wissen darüber, inwieweit die Ausführung von Bundesgesetzen in den Ländern je nach ebenenübergreifendem Koalitionsmuster in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß mit einem ‚coalition governance‘-Problem verbunden ist, fügt der Forschung zum föderalen Entscheiden in der Bundesrepublik eine neue und beachtenswerte Facette hinzu. Denn dabei handelt es sich um eine föderal bedingte mechanische Beeinträchtigung der Mehrheitskoordination in den Landesparlamenten selbst, die die potenziell gegebene föderale Flexibilität bei der Ausführung von Bundesgesetzen hemmt. Dies ebnet den Weg zu neuen Debatten darüber, wie in den deutschen Ländern mehr legislative Abstimmungsflexibilität ermöglicht werden kann als unter den bisher üblichen Mehrheits-Koalitionsregierungen.
Landslides are frequent natural hazards in rugged terrain, when the resisting frictional force of the surface of rupture yields to the gravitational force. These forces are functions of geological and morphological factors, such as angle of internal friction, local slope gradient or curvature, which remain static over hundreds of years; whereas more dynamic triggering events, such as rainfall and earthquakes, compromise the force balance by temporarily reducing resisting forces or adding transient loads. This thesis investigates landslide distribution and orientation due to landslide triggers (e.g. rainfall) at different scales (6-4∙10^5 km^2) and aims to link rainfall movement with the landslide distribution. It additionally explores the local impacts of the extreme rainstorms on landsliding and the role of precursory stability conditions that could be induced by an earlier trigger, such as an earthquake.
Extreme rainfall is a common landslide trigger. Although several studies assessed rainfall intensity and duration to study the distribution of thus triggered landslides, only a few case studies quantified spatial rainfall patterns (i.e. orographic effect). Quantifying the regional trajectories of extreme rainfall could aid predicting landslide prone regions in Japan. To this end, I combined a non-linear correlation metric, namely event synchronization, and radial statistics to assess the general pattern of extreme rainfall tracks over distances of hundreds of kilometers using satellite based rainfall estimates. Results showed that, although the increase in rainfall intensity and duration positively correlates with landslide occurrence, the trajectories of typhoons and frontal storms were insufficient to explain landslide distribution in Japan. Extreme rainfall trajectories inclined northwestwards and were concentrated along some certain locations, such as coastlines of southern Japan, which was unnoticed in the landslide distribution of about 5000 rainfall-triggered landslides. These landslides seemed to respond to the mean annual rainfall rates.
Above mentioned findings suggest further investigation on a more local scale to better understand the mechanistic response of landscape to extreme rainfall in terms of landslides. On May 2016 intense rainfall struck southern Germany triggering high waters and landslides. The highest damage was reported at the Braunsbach, which is located on the tributary-mouth fan formed by the Orlacher Bach. Orlacher Bach is a ~3 km long creek that drains a catchment of about ~6 km^2. I visited this catchment in June 2016 and mapped 48 landslides along the creek. Such high landslide activity was not reported in the nearby catchments within ~3300 km^2, despite similar rainfall intensity and duration based on weather radar estimates. My hypothesis was that several landslides were triggered by rainfall-triggered flash floods that undercut hillslope toes along the Orlacher Bach. I found that morphometric features such as slope and curvature play an important role in landslide distribution on this micro scale study site (<10 km^2). In addition, the high number of landslides along the Orlacher Bach could also be boosted by accumulated damages on hillslopes due karst weathering over longer time scales.
Precursory damages on hillslopes could also be induced by past triggering events that effect landscape evolution, but this interaction is hard to assess independently from the latest trigger. For example, an earthquake might influence the evolution of a landscape decades long, besides its direct impacts, such as landslides that follow the earthquake. Here I studied the consequences of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake (MW 7.1) that triggered some 1500 landslides in an area of ~4000 km^2 in central Kyushu, Japan. Topography, i.e. local slope and curvature, both amplified and attenuated seismic waves, thus controlling the failure mechanism of those landslides (e.g. progressive). I found that topography fails in explaining the distribution and the preferred orientation of the landslides after the earthquake; instead the landslides were concentrated around the northeast of the rupture area and faced mostly normal to the rupture plane. This preferred location of the landslides was dominated mainly by the directivity effect of the strike-slip earthquake, which is the propagation of wave energy along the fault in the rupture direction; whereas amplitude variations of the seismic radiation altered the preferred orientation. I suspect that the earthquake directivity and the asymmetry of seismic radiation damaged hillslopes at those preferred locations increasing landslide susceptibility. Hence a future weak triggering event, e.g. scattered rainfall, could further trigger landslides at those damaged hillslopes.
Holocene climate variability is generally characterized by low frequency changes than compared to the last glaciations including the Lateglacial. However, there is vast evidence for decadal to centennial scale oscillations and millennial scale climate trends, which are within and beyond a human lifetime perception, respectively. Within the Baltic realm, a transitional zone between oceanic and continental climate influence, the impact of Holocene and Lateglacial climate and environmental change is currently partly understood. This is mainly attributed to the scarcity of well-dated and high-resolution sediment records and to the lacking continuity of already investigated archives.
The aim of this doctoral thesis is to reconstruct Holocene and Late Glacial climate variability on local to (over)regional scales based on varved (annually laminated) sediments from Lake Czechowskie down to annual resolution. This project was carried out within the Virtual Institute for Integrated Climate and Landscape Evolution Analyses (ICLEA) and funded by the Helmholtz Association and the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM (Regional Climate Change). ICLEA intended to gain a better understanding of climate variability and landscape evolution processes in the Northern Central European lowlands since the last deglaciation. REKLIM Topic 8 “Abrupt climate change derived from proxy data” aims at identifying spatiotemporal patterns of climate variability between e.g. higher and lower latitudes. The main aim of this thesis was (i) to establish a robust chronology based on a multiple dating approach for Lake Czechowskie covering the Late Glacial and Holocene and for the Trzechowskie palaeolake for the Lateglacial, respectively, (ii) to reconstruct past climatic and environmental conditions on centennial to multi-millennial time scales and (iii) to distinguish between local to regional different sediments responses to climate change.
Addressing the first aim, the Lake Czechowskie chronology has been established by a multiple dating approach comprising information from varve counting, tephrochronology, AMS 14C dating of terrestrial plant remains, biostratigraphy and 137Cs activity concentration measurements. Those independent age constraints covering the Lateglacial and the entire Holocene and have been further implemented in a Bayesian age model by using OxCal v.4.2. Thus, even within non-varved sediment intervals, robust chronological information has been used for absolute age determination. The identification of five cryptotephras, of which three are used as unambiguous isochrones, is furthermore a significant improvement of the Czechowskie chronology and currently unique for the Holocene within Poland. The first findings of coexisting early Holocene Hässeldalen and Askja-S cryptotephras within a varved sequence even allowed differential dating between both volcanic ashes and stimulated the discussion of revising the absolute ages of the Askja-S tephra.
The Trzechowskie palaeolake chronology has been established by a multiple dating approach comprising varve counting, tephrochronology, AMS 14C dating of terrestrial plant remains and biostratigraphy, covers the Lateglacial period (Allerød and Younger Dryas) and has been implemented in OxCal v.4.2. Those age constraints allowed regional correlation to other high-resolution climate archives and identifying leads and lags of proxy responses at the onset of the Younger Dryas.
The second aim has been accomplished by detailed micro-facies and geochemical analyses of the Czechowskie sediments for the entire Holocene. Thus, especially micro-facies changes had been linked to enhanced productivity at Lake Czechowskie. Most prominent changes have been recorded at 7.3, 6.5, 4.3 and 2.8 varve kyrs BP and are linked to a stepwise increasing influence of Atlantic air masses. Especially, the mid-Holocene change, which had been widely reported from palaeohydrological records in low latitudes, has been identified and linked to large scale reorganization of atmospheric circulation patterns. Thus, especially long-term changes of climatic and environmental boundary conditions are widely recorded by the Czechowskie sediments. The pronounced response to (multi)millennial scale changes is further corroborated by the lack of clear sediment responses to early Holocene centennial scale climate oscillations (e.g. the Preboreal Oscillation).
However, decadal scale changes at Lake Czechowskie during the most recent period (last 140 years) have been investigated in a lake comparison study. To fulfill the third aim of the doctoral thesis, three lakes in close vicinity to each other have been investigated in order to better distinguish how local, site-specific parameters, may superimpose regional climate driven changes. All lakes haven been unambiguously linked by the Askja AD1875 cryptotephra and independent varve chronologies. As a result, climate warming has only been recorded by sedimentation changes at the smallest and best sheltered lake (Głęboczek), whereas the largest lake (Czechowskie) and the shallowest lake (Jelonek) showed attenuated and less clear sediment responses, respectively. The different responses have been linked to morphological lake characteristics (lake size and depth, catchment area). This study highlights the potential of high-resolution lake comparison for robust proxy based climate reconstructions.
In summary, the doctoral thesis presents a high-resolution sediment record with an underlying age model, which is prerequisite for unprecedented age control down to annual resolution. Sediment proxy based climate reconstructions demonstrate the importance of the Czechowskie sediments for better understanding climate variability in the southern Baltic realm. Case studies showed the clear response on millennial time scale, while decadal scale fluctuations are either less well expressed or superimposed by local, site-specific parameters. The identification of volcanic ash layers is not only used for unambiguous isochrones, those are key tie lines for local to supra regional archive synchronization and establish the Lake Czechowskie as a key climate archive.
The Himalayan arc stretches >2500 km from east to west at the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, representing one of the most important Cenozoic continent-continent collisional orogens. Internal deformation processes and climatic factors, which drive weathering, denudation, and transport, influence the growth and erosion of the orogen. During glacial times wet-based glaciers sculpted the mountain range and left overdeepend and U-shaped valleys, which were backfilled during interglacial times with paraglacial sediments over several cycles. These sediments partially still remain within the valleys because of insufficient evacuation capabilities into the foreland. Climatic processes overlay long-term tectonic processes responsible for uplift and exhumation caused by convergence. Possible processes accommodating convergence within the orogenic wedge along the main Himalayan faults, which divide the range into four major lithologic units, are debated. In this context, the identification of processes shaping the Earth’s surface on short- and on long-term are crucial to understand the growth of the orogen and implications for landscape development in various sectors along the arc. This thesis focuses on both surface and tectonic processes that shape the landscape in the western Indian Himalaya since late Miocene.
In my first study, I dated well-preserved glacially polished bedrock on high-elevated ridges and valley walls in the upper of the Chandra Valley the by means of 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclides (TCN). I used these ages and mapped glacial features to reconstruct the extent and timing of Pleistocene glaciation at the southern front of the Himalaya. I was able to reconstruct an extensive valley glacier of ~200 km length and >1000 m thickness. Deglaciation of the Chandra Valley glacier started subsequently to insolation increase on the Northern Hemisphere and thus responded to temperature increase. I showed that the timing this deglaciation onset was coeval with retreat of further midlatitude glaciers on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. These comparisons also showed that the post-LGM deglaciation very rapid, occurred within a few thousand years, and was nearly finished prior to the Bølling/Allerød interstadial.
A second study (co-authorship) investigates how glacial advances and retreats in high mountain environments impact the landscape. By 10Be TCN dating and geomorphic mapping, we obtained maximal length and height of the Siachen Glacier within the Nubra Valley. Today the Shyok and Nubra confluence is backfilled with sedimentary deposits, which are attributed to the valley blocking of the Siachen Glacier 900 m above the present day river level. A glacial dam of the Siachen Glacier blocked the Shyok River and lead to the evolution of a more than 20 km long lake. Fluvial and lacustrine deposits in the valley document alternating draining and filling cycles of the lake dammed by the Siachen Glacier. In this study, we can show that glacial incision was outpacing fluvial incision.
In the third study, which spans the million-year timescale, I focus on exhumation and erosion within the Chandra and Beas valleys. In this study the position and discussed possible reasons of rapidly exhuming rocks, several 100-km away from one of the main Himalayan faults (MFT) using Apatite Fission Track (AFT) thermochronometry. The newly gained AFT ages indicate rapid exhumation and confirm earlier studies in the Chandra Valley. I assume that the rapid exhumation is most likely related to uplift over subsurface structures. I tested this hypothesis by combining further low-temperature thermochronometers from areas east and west of my study area. By comparing two transects, each parallel to the Beas/Chandra Valley transect, I demonstrate similarities in the exhumation pattern to transects across the Sutlej region, and strong dissimilarities in the transect crossing the Dhauladar Range. I conclude that the belt of rapid exhumation terminates at the western end of the Kullu-Rampur window. Therewith, I corroborate earlier studies suggesting changes in exhumation behavior in the western Himalaya. Furthermore, I discussed several causes responsible for the pronounced change in exhumation patterns along strike: 1) the role of inherited pre-collisional features such as the Proterozoic sedimentary cover of the Indian basement, former ridges and geological structures, and 2) the variability of convergence rates along the Himalayan arc due to an increased oblique component towards the syntaxis.
The combination of field observations (geological and geomorphological mapping) and methods to constrain short- and long-term processes (10Be, AFT) help to understand the role of the individual contributors to exhumation and erosion in the western Indian Himalaya. With the results of this thesis, I emphasize the importance of glacial and tectonic processes in shaping the landscape by driving exhumation and erosion in the studied areas.
La cabrona aquí soy yo
(2018)
La última década ha visto un interés creciente en el fenómeno del narcotráfico en México a nivel global. Las diversas expresiones de violencia extrema que acompañan al negocio ilegal de drogas se narran en artefactos mediáticos que provocan fascinación e intriga. Así, la literatura y el cine, la música y la televisión presentan imágenes e historias sobre el narcotráfico que alimentan el imaginario colectivo.
En este contexto, a nivel global hay representaciones mediáticas de la mujer mexicana narcotraficante que reproducen estereotipos femeninos donde la mujer se cosifica, exagerando los atributos sexuales del cuerpo de las mujeres. Esta representación cultural hace de la mujer un objeto de deseo, cuya belleza sirve como una marca de prestigio y ostentación para el hombre narcotraficante. La cultura del narcotráfico impone a las mujeres un ideal estético particular distintivo, que las mujeres reproducen meticulosamente para emular esta representación. Aunado a la belleza física, la mujer es retratada violenta y sin escrúpulos, usa su belleza y poder de seducción para acumular dinero y poder a costa de los hombres que conquista. Para los que no pertenecen al mundo del narcotráfico, este tipo de mujer, hipersexualizada, inspira juicios negativos, discriminación, desconfianza y temor.
La intención de la pregunta y objetivos de investigación de este trabajo fue rebasar estas representaciones para observar las complejidades de las experiencias de vida de estas mujeres. El propósito de esta tesis de doctorado fue explorar cómo cambian las vidas de las mujeres mexicanas cuando se involucran en la narcocultura, en la frontera México-Estados Unidos. En específico, la investigación analizó las transformaciones en la corporalidad y en las subjetividades de estas mujeres, y cómo estas transformaciones influían en el lugar que ocupan en el espacio social y cultural que configura el narcotráfico. Además, se analizó qué márgenes de negociación tienen las mujeres en la narcocultura, para poder actuar y definirse a sí mismas.
Las preguntas que guiaron el trabajo indagaban sobre cómo las mujeres cambiaban su cuerpo para encarnar el ideal estético y qué significados se atribuían a estos cambios. Fue importante analizar qué dinámicas de poder se ponían en juego a partir de estos cuerpos femeninos, en las relaciones con los hombres y con otras mujeres. También, otro objetivo fue qué procesos de subjetivación operaban en las mujeres que participan en la narcocultura, y qué márgenes de negociación tenían para actuar y definirse a sí mismas.
Esta es una investigación inscrita dentro de los estudios culturales y con una perspectiva feminista interseccional. La investigación se realizó en la frontera mexicana con Estados Unidos, en el noroeste, específicamente en las ciudades de Mexicali, Tijuana y San Diego, California. La frontera, en esta tesis, se observa como un espacio con múltiples contextos de interpretación, polisémico y heterogéneo. Estas cualidades hacen que los fenómenos culturales que ocurren en él sean diversos y contradictorios.
Para entender los fenómenos culturales que emergen de la frontera norte de México, fue útil el concepto de transfrontera de José Valenzuela Arce (2014). La propuesta de este académico es que las transfronteras son “espacios que se niegan a una sola de las condiciones o los lados que la integran” (p. 9). Así, el concepto habla de los procesos de conectividad y simultaneidad que la globalización genera y que redefinen a los Estados-territorio. Al mismo tiempo, habla también de los límites que estos mismos Estados utilizan para sostener narrativas nacionales que son “referentes organizadores de adscripciones identitarias y culturales” (p. 18) que crean diferencias y desigualdades. Si esto es así, una frontera no se explica completamente desde la demarcación territorial o desde la diferenciación jerárquica que incluye a algunos y excluye a otros, pero tampoco puede entenderse si nos concentramos solamente en los procesos de hibridación cultural que ocurren en esos espacios. Por eso, para Valenzuela las fronteras son entre espacios y entre tiempos.
Este concepto ayuda a entender cómo se intersecta lo global y local en los sistemas semióticos que componen el universo cultural del narcotráfico mexicano, al mismo tiempo que explica cómo se estructuran mecanismos de exclusión y jerarquías a partir del género, la posición social y otras marcas de diferenciación social. En última instancia, ayuda a localizar estos procesos culturales, materializados en el cuerpo de las mujeres.
El concepto de narcocultura también fue una herramienta heurística útil. La cultura aquí se entiende como un proceso de producción y reproducción de modelos simbólicos, materializados en artefactos o representaciones y, además, interiorizados en lógicas de vida, sistemas de valores y creencias, que circulan a través de las prácticas individuales y colectivas de mujeres y hombres, en contextos históricos y espaciales específicos. La narcocultura sería entonces el sistema semiótico producido en torno al negocio transnacional de tráfico ilegal de drogas, tal como se vive en la frontera norte de México. La narcocultura, tal como se define en este trabajo es un sistema semiótico con límites difusos. Así, las distinciones entre el mundo ilegal del narcotráfico y el mundo de la legalidad externo a este negocio, en el mejor de los casos son borrosas, en el peor, ficticias. La narcocultura trasciende límites territoriales, es un fenómeno cultural transnacional.
Fue necesario delinear las características de los estudios culturales latinoamericanos y los Kulturwissenschaften en Alemania, para distinguir las genealogías de estas dos diferentes perspectivas, entender sus diferencias, pero, sobre todo, encontrar los puntos en común entre ellas. La coincidencia central fue el carácter transdisciplinario de estas dos tradiciones académicas. Los estudios culturales entonces se entienden como un espacio de articulación entre disciplinas (Castro Gómez, 2002), que no tiene como objetivo la unificación sino la pluralización de significados, actitudes y modos de percepción (Bachmann-Medick, 2016). La transdisciplina permite trazar las complejidades de los fenómenos culturales, creando puentes entre diferentes formas de conocimiento y prácticas de investigación.
El feminismo interseccional es una perspectiva central en el trabajo de investigación. Una contribución del feminismo a los estudios culturales que influye en esta investigación es cuestionar “Hombre” y “Mujer” como esencias naturales dadas e inmutables, desde la premisa que “los signos "hombre" y "mujer" son construcciones discursivas que el lenguaje de la cultura proyecta e inscribe en el escenario de los cuerpos, disfrazando sus montajes de signos tras la falsa apariencia de que lo masculino y lo femenino son verdades naturales, ahistóricas” (Richard, 2009, p. 77). Los estudios culturales feministas suponen que estos signos se construyen en un sistema de representaciones que articulan subjetividades en mundos culturales concretos. Su objetivo entonces es develar en las prácticas significantes, los elementos ideológicos que configuran los signos y los conflictos que se suscitan a través del uso e interpretación de éstos.
Estos signos adquieren múltiples significados y lecturas de acuerdo con especificidades que se distinguen en la diferencia. La interseccionalidad, dentro del feminismo es un discurso teórico y metodológico que aboga por reconocer que el signo “mujer” no es una categoría absoluta, y por lo tanto no puede explicar por sí misma las variadas experiencias vitales de las mujeres. Las diferencias se vuelven legibles cuando se ponen en juego con otras categorías sociales como la posición social, la raza, la edad y la discapacidad. Las diferencias sociales están fincadas en diferentes discursos que naturalizan los diferentes atributos de estas categorías sociales cuando, para esta perspectiva, son socialmente construidos y cambiantes. El objetivo de una perspectiva interseccional es identificar cómo interactúan diferentes categorías sociales en instituciones, prácticas y subjetividades, para entender cómo se materializan las desigualdades a través del tiempo.
Los conceptos teóricos que guían esta tesis son cuerpo y subjetividad. Para esta tesis, el cuerpo se entiende como un sitio de articulación, donde se materializan códigos culturales y el orden social. El cuerpo puede entenderse como una frontera dinámica y mutable, donde convergen lo físico, lo simbólico y lo social. Sujeto y cuerpo son mutuamente constitutivos; el cuerpo es el medio a través del cual el sujeto vive experiencias en el mundo social, y son esas experiencias las que llevan al sujeto a encarnar las diferencias sociales, materializadas en género, sexo, clase social y raza.
A pesar de esta relación indisociable, para facilitar el análisis, una parte se concentra en el cuerpo y otra en la subjetividad. Así, para entender la dimensión corporal se puso en tensión la representación con la experiencia vivida, a través del análisis audiovisual y la observación etnográfica leída en conjunto. En el caso de la subjetividad, se puso en tensión la vida en la narrativa de ficción con las narraciones de vida en entrevistas, para también encontrar los puentes entre las representaciones y la experiencia vital.
Esta investigación fue un estudio cualitativo y transdisciplinario. Se utilizaron diversos recursos metodológicos para construir el análisis. Se realizó observación etnográfica en diversos bares y clubs a ambos lados de la frontera, que son frecuentados por personas que se adscriben al mundo de la narcocultura o bien, que trabajan dentro de las redes del narcotráfico. En las incursiones a estos sitios, se observó el físico de las mujeres: su manera de vestir, su arreglo personal, sus formas corporales. Se observó la conducta: las gestualidades y las interacciones con otros sujetos en el espacio. Además, se observó el espacio, para ver cómo se establecían reglas, límites y jerarquizaciones en la disposición física de los lugares visitados. Se analizaron tres videos de narcocorridos a través de la video hermenéutica, para determinar cómo se representan las mujeres en estos artefactos culturales, usando los mismos criterios físicos y conductuales que mencioné anteriormente.
El análisis de los videos de la mano del trabajo etnográfico ayudó a profundizar en los significados atribuidos a la corporalidad femenina, y también a los impactos que estos significados tienen en las vivencias y relaciones de estas mujeres.
Se realizaron 5 entrevistas semi estructuradas con mujeres que se identificaban con la narcocultura. Algunas sólo simpatizan con el estilo de vida, otras estuvieron involucradas de alguna manera en el negocio ilegal de drogas. En las entrevistas se exploraron narraciones sobre sus vidas donde se revelaban discursos sobre qué es lo femenino, qué significa ser mujer y cómo se vive el ser mujer en el mundo del narcotráfico. Adicionalmente, utilicé las narraciones de dos textos literarios de la narrativa sobre narcotráfico del norte de México. En estos dos textos, los personajes principales son mujeres. Analicé cómo se construye al sujeto femenino en la narración y qué discursos se transparentan en el texto sobre la feminidad y ser una mujer en el mundo del narco.
Aquí también se puso en tensión la representación y la experiencia de vida, buscando en el análisis de la narración literaria y las experiencias narradas por las mujeres, discursos comunes que explicaran los procesos de subjetivación femenina dentro de la narcocultura mexicana.
La primera parte del análisis articuló la observación etnográfica con el material audiovisual para entender las exigencias estéticas que la narcocultura demanda a las mujeres y las maneras en que ellas transforman su cuerpo para complacer esta demanda.
La narcocultura impone a las mujeres un ideal estético que se convierte en un medio de acceso a un tipo de poder. Este ideal exige un tipo particular de fisonomía y de apariencia personal, que las mujeres intentan reproducir a través de intervenciones en el cuerpo, con el maquillaje y el peinado y/o la cirugía estética. Además, demanda cierto estilo de moda, en ropa y accesorios, de marcas de lujo de consumo global. Entre más fielmente se reproduzca este ideal, las mujeres están en posibilidad de acceder a beneficios económicos y sociales que les dan márgenes de acción dentro de este entorno social. El cuerpo de las mujeres se convierte en el recurso primario para la movilidad social y la agencia dentro de este mundo. El cuerpo es el signo principal para determinar el lugar de las mujeres dentro de los sistemas de jerarquización, de inclusión y exclusión en los espacios físicos y sociales que fabrica el narcotráfico. Estos mecanismos de diferencia reproducen las desigualdades sociales, de género, edad, posición social y raza que se observan en otros ámbitos de la sociedad mexicana.
La observación etnográfica y el análisis audiovisual revelan que las posibilidades para performar la feminidad está confinado a limites muy estrechos. Alicia Gaspar de Alba llama a esto The Three Maria Syndrome, que ella define como “the patriarchal social discourse of Chicano/Mexicano culture that constructs women’s gender and sexuality according to three Biblical archetypes -virgins, mothers and whores-” (Gaspar de Alba, 2014, pos.3412). Estas representaciones femeninas son alegorías a las constricciones que la cultura machista mexicana impone sobre las mujeres, sometiéndolas a un repertorio restringido de opciones de vida y al control social de su sexualidad. Las mujeres dentro de la narcocultura tienen un lugar en él en función de su belleza física, el cuerpo es el referente principal para definirse como sujetos.
Las mujeres son objetos de deseo, cuya belleza es una joya más para la corona de un narcotraficante, una posesión más para ostentar su poderío. Al mismo tiempo, aparecen cada vez más las representaciones femeninas como sujetos activos, participando del negocio y de la violencia a la par de los hombres. Se observan transgresiones al ideal de feminidad que se exige a la mujer tradicional en la cultura mexicana. La docilidad, la suavidad y la sumisión que se espera, el recato y la compostura, no está presente. Las mujeres adoptan cualidades consideradas masculinas, tomando para sí el ejercicio de la violencia y la agresividad sexual para demostrar que ellas también pueden navegar un mundo agresivo e hipermasculino. A pesar de esto, esta mujer guerrera y valiente está dentro de los confines limitados que la cultura patriarcal impone al régimen heterosexual. Siguen al pie de la letra la prescripción del Three Maria Syndrome.
Esto queda patente un sistema de jerarquización a través de la cual se evalúa a las mujeres dentro de la narcocultura. Las mujeres son juzgadas a partir de criterios que intersectan componentes raciales, de género y de clase. Aunque las maneras en las que estas marcas de diferencia se encarnan en un cuerpo femenino de manera muy diversa, se puede identificar, a través de las representaciones y la observación etnográfica, que las mujeres más privilegiadas, son mujeres que encarnan los signos de una posición económica alta: tienen tez clara, son atractivas y cuidan su apariencia para presentar signos de feminidad de manera discreta, y su conducta proyecta compostura y respetabilidad, en función de su restricción, particularmente en la expresión de la sexualidad. A las mujeres que encarnan estos signos de feminidad se les respeta y se consideran valiosas. Su valor se formaliza a través de la respetabilidad del contrato matrimonial: este tipo de performance de género lo reproducen, por lo general, mujeres esposas de narcotraficantes. En el otro extremo del espectro están las mujeres menos valoradas: son mujeres morenas, que utilizan una estética asociada con la clase trabajadora, por lo general ostentosa y recargada de decoraciones. La conducta de estas mujeres se juzga como vulgar y sin restricciones. A las mujeres que encarnan este tipo de feminidad se les discrimina y cosifica, son las más vulnerables a la violencia en función del poco valor que tienen dentro del mundo del narcotráfico.
La buchona representa una versión devaluada de la feminidad, que choca con el decoro y la discreción que exigen las normas tradicionales de género. Son mujeres que se consideran vulgares, porque sus cuerpos portan signos de una sexualidad agresiva, porque adoptan conductas que irrumpen las restricciones sociales impuestas a las mujeres, porque sus prácticas y consumos culturales están asociadas a las clases trabajadoras y rurales. En las mujeres que entrevisté hay un conflicto entre la atractiva libertad que promete la transgresión de ser buchona y el deseo de respetabilidad que otorga ser una mujer que cumple con lo que la sociedad exige. Uno de los dilemas al centro de performar el cuerpo buchón es la batalla entre una feminidad aceptada socialmente, pero restrictiva y una feminidad que otorga poder, pero castiga.
Por este motivo, las mujeres que entrevisté rechazaban ser nombradas como buchonas y preferían llamarse a sí mismas cabronas. En este contexto particular, la palabra cabrona es una resignificación de un término coloquial castellano, usado para ofender. Aquí, la mujer cabrona se convierte en un eje articulador para la constitución de subjetividades femeninas dentro de la narcocultura. La cabrona es un tropo femenino que entrelaza narrativas sobre ser mujer que circulan a nivel global con narrativas locales sobre la feminidad. Asumirse “cabrona”, se convierte en un recurso para enfrentar un mundo violento y encontrar estrategias de acción en un espacio claramente dominado por los hombres.
La cabrona representa independencia y fuerza, autonomía y acción. La cabrona confronta los discursos tradicionales de una feminidad abnegada y dócil, con diferentes matices, aparentemente interpelando la dominación masculina. Por lo mismo, carga un fuerte estigma. La cultura de masas también produce representaciones sobre la cabrona. Se transmiten en discursos de género que circulan a través de imágenes en las redes sociales, en libros y workshops del mercado de autoayuda en el mundo entero, y que promueven una idea de mujer indócil frente a la gente de su entorno, suscrita al consumo y al individualismo de la cultura capitalista. En estas representaciones culturales contemporáneas, la mujer es fuerte e insumisa, pero conservando códigos corporales y prácticas femeninas.
En el contexto concreto de la narcocultura, los discursos globales sobre una mujer fuerte e independiente con poder económico y a cargo de su sexualidad, se encuentran con las condiciones particulares del norte mexicano. La violencia extrema, el machismo, las desigualdades sociales pronunciadas y la crisis de legitimidad del Estado intervienen para que estos discursos globales sobre la mujer muten en la representación de la buchona y la cabrona, interpretaciones locales de un discurso de género global. Para las mujeres, asumirse cabrona es un recurso para enfrentar un mundo violento y encontrar estrategias de acción en un espacio claramente dominado por los hombres. Ayuda a enfrentar la violencia perpetrada sobre ella, abre la posibilidad a ser la victimaria. La cabrona es la reacción que provoca el cuerpo femenino vulnerable y vulnerado, pero también, es la posibilidad de apropiarse de la violencia para ejercerla sobre otros cuerpos. Implica independencia, libertad sexual y éxito económico, evidenciadas por el consumo y el estilo de vida. Cuando niegan ser buchonas, están rechazando todos los estigmas que acarrea la palabra. No se reconocen en la discriminación de clase, las connotaciones raciales y los prejuicios sexistas que contiene. Prefieren cabrona porque es una manera de escindirse de los discursos negativos que se vuelcan sobre ellas, es un camino de acceso a una feminidad global que los medios de comunicación masiva presentan como ideal.
El análisis exploró qué elementos componían este tropo femenino a través de las entrevistas a mujeres y de personajes femeninos en novelas sobre narcotráfico, para encontrar puentes entre la ficción y la experiencia vital. La belleza y la capacidad de seducir tiene una utilidad ambivalente. Por un lado, todo el tiempo, dinero y cuidado que se invierte en apropiarse de un ideal estético, es para convertirse en una mujer que un narco pueda presumir. Para las mujeres es un motivo de orgullo saberse deseadas y puestas en aparador. Las mujeres están sometidas a las presiones que genera la creencia de que, para sobrevivir, hay que ser bella. En los textos literarios y en las entrevistas, se transparenta una naturalización del lugar de la mujer como objeto de ostentación para el hombre y, además, la validación que sienten las mujeres al ser reconocidas como bellas. La ficción y la vida nos presentan la precaria condición del sujeto femenino en la narcocultura. Es una subjetividad anclada a los discursos que demandan un ideal de belleza imposible para las mujeres y que encajonan el ser mujer a los caprichos y necesidades del hombre.
Sin embargo, la belleza femenina tiene otra faceta. La subjetividad femenina en la narcocultura no sólo es resultado del sometimiento de la mujer a los discursos que regulan su apariencia y su conducta. La belleza también es un instrumento al servicio de las mujeres para acceder a dinero y poder. La belleza y el poder de seducción femenino se convierten en estrategias de subsistencia, y esto transforma a la mujer de un objeto sometido a un sujeto que somete. La belleza y la seducción podrán dar a las mujeres ciertos márgenes de acción, pero esto tiene límites muy claros. Aunque estas estrategias femeninas muevan la balanza de poder hacía el sujeto femenino, hay que recordar el contexto. Están insertas en un mundo violento y machista, así que ejercer ese poder es un ejercicio de equilibrio muy delicado y arriesgado. Las mujeres que habitan la narcocultura están inmersas es un mundo de violencia, y no conocer y respetar las reglas y límites significa un riesgo de muerte. La muerte violenta es una consecuencia muy real por cometer errores en este mundo.
Esto lleva a tercer componente de ser cabrona: el riesgo. Para los hombres y mujeres que se involucran en el mundo cultural del narcotráfico, perseguir el riesgo es parte integral de vivir y es una parte importante de la constitución de subjetividades en la narcocultura. En las narraciones de las entrevistas y en las narraciones literarias, hay muchos momentos donde las mujeres viven situaciones de riesgo que ponen en peligro hasta sus vidas. A través de las narraciones se asoma la manera en qué ellas interpretan su papel en la situación y cómo se ven a sí mismas en función de esas experiencias. El riesgo le da sentido al carácter recio y atrevido que demanda asumir el rol de una cabrona, pero también expone la vulnerabilidad de la condición de las mujeres en un mundo violento. Tomar riesgos es otra manera de afirmarse como mujeres fuertes y poner distancia con las disposiciones de género que les exigen ser dóciles y pasivas. Tienen que demostrar lo que valen frente a un mundo dominado por hombres y el control de sus emociones juega un rol fundamental en lograr esto. Sin embargo, el reconocimiento del miedo y vulnerabilidad es, paradójicamente, lo que las ayuda a sobrevivir.
Detrás de los discursos de fuerza y poder femenino, se revela la fragilidad de unas vidas sumergidas en un mundo donde la violencia y el machismo deja a las mujeres en el filo de la vida y de la muerte. Para el caso que nos compete, el vacío institucional para garantizar seguridad a las mujeres en México deja a estas mujeres absolutamente expuestas, y cobra sentido la adopción del discurso de la cabrona como estrategia de persistencia. Al investirse como cabronas, encuentran una manera de enfrentarse al mundo violento al que deciden pertenecer, aunque al final de cuentas, permanecen atrapadas en él.
Konjunktion
(2018)
Suchmaschinen spielen eine überragend wichtige Rolle für den Informationszugang im Internet und damit für die individuelle und kollektive Meinungsbildung. Gleichzeitig wird der Suchmaschinenmarkt nahezu vollständig von einem einzigen Anbieter beherrscht – Google. Angesichts dessen wird vermehrt eine Regulierung von Suchmaschinen zur Sicherung der für die Demokratie unabdingbaren Meinungsvielfalt gefordert. Die Untersuchung geht der Gebotenheit und den Grenzen einer solchen Regulierung nach und stellt die Frage nach einem kommunikationsverfassungsrechtlichen Schutz von und vor Suchmaschinen.
Innerhalb dieser Doktorarbeit wurde eine neuartige Mikromanipulationstechnik für die lokale Flüssigkeitsabgabe am komplexen Drüsengewebe der Schabe P. americana charakterisiert und für die damit verbundene gezielte Manipulation von einzelnen Zellen in einem Zellkomplex (Gewebe) angewandt. Bei dieser Mikromanipulationstechnik handelt es sich um die seit 2009 bekannte nanofluidische Rasterkraftmikroskopie (FluidFM = fluidic force microscopy). Dabei werden sehr kleine mikrokanälige Rasterkraftspitzen bzw. Mikro-/Nanopipetten mit einer Öffnung zwischen 300 nm und 2 µm verwendet, mit denen es möglich ist, sehr kleine Volumina im Pikoliter- bis Femtoliter-Bereich (10-12 L – 10-15 L) gezielt und ortsgenau abzugeben. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Analyse zellulärer Prozesse, wie z. B. Zell-Zell-Kommunikation oder Signalweiterleitung, zwischen benachbarten Zellen unter Zuhilfenahme der Fluoreszenzmikroskopie. Mit dieser Methode können die Zellen und ihre Bestandteile mittels vorheriger Farbstoffbeladung unter einem Mikroskop mit hohem Kontrast optisch dargestellt werden. Mit Hilfe der Fluoreszenzmikroskopie sollten schlussendlich die zellulären Reaktionen innerhalb des Gewebes nach der lokalen Manipulation visualisiert werden.
Zunächst wurde die Anwendung des Systems an Luft und wässriger Umgebung beschrieben. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde eine Reinigungs- und Beladungsmethode entwickelt, mit der es möglich war, die kostspieligen Mikro-/Nanopipetten zu reinigen und anschließend mehrmals wiederzuverwenden. Hierzu wurde eine alternative Methode getestet, mit der das Diffusionsverhalten von Farbstoffmolekülen in unterschiedlichen Medien untersucht werden kann. Des Weiteren wurden die Systemparameter optimiert, welche nötig sind, um zwischen der Probenoberfläche und der Pipette einen guten Pipettenöffnungs-abschluss zu erhalten. Dieser Abschluss ist essentiell, damit die abgegebene Flüssigkeit ausschließlich in der Abgaberegion mit der Probe wechselwirkt und die darauffolgenden Reaktionen nur innerhalb des Gewebes erfolgen, da ansonsten die Zell-Zell-Signalweiterleitung zwischen den Zellen nicht eindeutig nachvollzogen werden kann. Diese interzelluläre Kommunikation wurde anhand zweier sekundärer Botenstoffe (Ca2+ und NO) untersucht. Hierbei war es möglich einzelne lokale Reaktionen zu detektieren, welche sich über weitere Zellen ausbreiteten. Schlussendlich wurde die Fertigung einer speziellen Injektionspipette beschrieben, welche an zwei biologischen Systemen getestet wurde.
Der Anspruch der Biologie, Leben zum Hauptgegenstand zu haben, provoziert Fragen in Anbetracht von Methoden wie der Mikroskopie. Die vorliegende Bild- und Medientheorie der Mikroskopie rekonstruiert und reflektiert biologische Praktiken der Licht- und Elektronenmikroskopie.Dabei geht sie systematisch von der Auswahl der Objekte über die Präparation und Beobachtung bis hin zur Aufzeichnung des Sichtbargemachten in Form von Zeichnung, Fotografie oder Datenbild unter Einbeziehung von historischem Material vor. Die umfassende Untersuchung des Bildgebungsprozesses, seiner medialen Bedingungen sowie technischen und methodologischen Grundlagen zeigt, dass die mikroskopische Beobachtung kein passiver oder rein rezeptiver Vorgang, sondern von Beginn an in die Darstellung des Beobachteten involviert ist – bis zu einem Grad, in dem sich Beobachtung als schädigender Eingriff erweisen kann. Das Buch wirft somit zugleich epistemologische wie wissenschaftstheoretische Fragen auf.
Health effects, attributed to the environmental pollution resulted from using solvents such as benzene, are relatively unexplored among petroleum workers, personal use, and laboratory researchers. Solvents can cause various health problems, such as neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. As such it can be absorbed via epidermal or respiratory into the human body resulting in interacting with molecules that are responsible for biochemical and physiological processes of the brain.
Owing to the ever-growing demand for finding a solution, an Ionic liquid can use as an alternative solvent. Ionic liquids are salts in a liquid state at low temperature (below 100 C), or even at room temperature. Ionic liquids impart a unique architectural platform, which has been interesting because of their unusual properties that can be tuned by simple ways such as mixing two ionic liquids.
Ionic liquids not only used as reaction solvents but they became a key developing for novel applications based on their thermal stability, electric conductivity with very low vapor pressure in contrast to the conventional solvents.
In this study, ionic liquids were used as a solvent and reactant at the same time for the novel nanomaterials synthesis for different applications including solar cells, gas sensors, and water splitting.
The field of ionic liquids continues to grow, and become one of the most important branches of science. It appears to be at a point where research and industry can work together in a new way of thinking for green chemistry and sustainable production.
Inzidenz und Therapie der Depression bei Patienten mit Osteoporose und Rheumatoider Arthritis
(2018)
Investigating the role of fluorinated amino acids on protein structure and function using simulation
(2018)
Ferroic materials have attracted a lot of attention over the years due to their wide range of applications in sensors, actuators, and memory devices. Their technological applications originate from their unique properties such as ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity. In order to optimize these materials, it is necessary to understand the coupling between their nanoscale structure and transient response, which are related to the atomic structure of the unit cell.
In this thesis, synchrotron X-ray diffraction is used to investigate the structure of ferroelectric thin film capacitors during application of a periodic electric field. Combining electrical measurements with time-resolved X-ray diffraction on a working device allows for visualization of the interplay between charge flow and structural motion. This constitutes the core of this work. The first part of this thesis discusses the electrical and structural dynamics of a ferroelectric Pt/Pb(Zr0.2,Ti0.8)O3/SrRuO3 heterostructure during charging, discharging, and polarization reversal. After polarization reversal a non-linear piezoelectric response develops on a much longer time scale than the RC time constant of the device. The reversal process is inhomogeneous and induces a transient disordered domain state. The structural dynamics under sub-coercive field conditions show that this disordered domain state can be remanent and can be erased with an appropriate voltage pulse sequence. The frequency-dependent dynamic characterization of a Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3 layer, at the morphotropic phase boundary, shows that at high frequency, the limited domain wall velocity causes a phase lag between the applied field and both the structural and electrical responses. An external modification of the RC time constant of the measurement delays the switching current and widens the electromechanical hysteresis loop while achieving a higher compressive piezoelectric strain within the crystal.
In the second part of this thesis, time-resolved reciprocal space maps of multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films were measured to identify the domain structure and investigate the development of an inhomogeneous piezoelectric response during the polarization reversal. The presence of 109° domains is evidenced by the splitting of the Bragg peak.
The last part of this work investigates the effect of an optically excited ultrafast strain or heat pulse propagating through a ferroelectric BaTiO3 layer, where we observed an additional current response due to the laser pulse excitation of the metallic bottom electrode of the heterostructure.