Even though in most cases time is a good metric to measure costs of algorithms, there are cases where theoretical worst-case time and experimental running time do not match. Since modern CPUs feature an innate memory hierarchy, the location of data is another factor to consider. When most operations of an algorithm are executed on data which is already in the CPU cache, the running time is significantly faster than algorithms where most operations have to load the data from the memory. The topic of this thesis is a new metric to measure costs of algorithms called memory distance—which can be seen as an abstraction of the just mentioned aspect. We will show that there are simple algorithms which show a discrepancy between measured running time and theoretical time but not between measured time and memory distance. Moreover we will show that in some cases it is sufficient to optimize the input of an algorithm with regard to memory distance (while treating the algorithm as a black box) to improve running times. Further we show the relation between worst-case time, memory distance and space and sketch how to define "the usual" memory distance complexity classes.

Due to the transition towards climate neutrality, energy markets are rapidly evolving. New technologies are developed that allow electricity from renewable energy sources to be stored or to be converted into other energy commodities. As a consequence, new players enter the markets and existing players gain more importance. Market equilibrium problems are capable of capturing these changes and therefore enable us to answer contemporary research questions with regard to energy market design and climate policy. This cumulative dissertation is devoted to the study of different market equilibrium problems that address such emerging aspects in liberalized energy markets. In the first part, we review a well-studied competitive equilibrium model for energy commodity markets and extend this model by sector coupling, by temporal coupling, and by a more detailed representation of physical laws and technical requirements. Moreover, we summarize our main contributions of the last years with respect to analyzing the market equilibria of the resulting equilibrium problems. For the extension regarding sector coupling, we derive sufficient conditions for ensuring uniqueness of the short-run equilibrium a priori and for verifying uniqueness of the long-run equilibrium a posteriori. Furthermore, we present illustrative examples that each of the derived conditions is indeed necessary to guarantee uniqueness in general. For the extension regarding temporal coupling, we provide sufficient conditions for ensuring uniqueness of demand and production a priori. These conditions also imply uniqueness of the short-run equilibrium in case of a single storage operator. However, in case of multiple storage operators, examples illustrate that charging and discharging decisions are not unique in general. We conclude the equilibrium analysis with an a posteriori criterion for verifying uniqueness of a given short-run equilibrium. Since the computation of equilibria is much more challenging due to the temporal coupling, we shortly review why a tailored parallel and distributed alternating direction method of multipliers enables to efficiently compute market equilibria. For the extension regarding physical laws and technical requirements, we show that, in nonconvex settings, existence of an equilibrium is not guaranteed and that the fundamental welfare theorems therefore fail to hold. In addition, we argue that the welfare theorems can be re-established in a market design in which the system operator is committed to a welfare objective. For the case of a profit-maximizing system operator, we propose an algorithm that indicates existence of an equilibrium and that computes an equilibrium in the case of existence. Based on well-known instances from the literature on the gas and electricity sector, we demonstrate the broad applicability of our algorithm. Our computational results suggest that an equilibrium often exists for an application involving nonconvex but continuous stationary gas physics. In turn, integralities introduced due to the switchability of DC lines in DC electricity networks lead to many instances without an equilibrium. Finally, we state sufficient conditions under which the gas application has a unique equilibrium and the line switching application has finitely many. In the second part, all preprints belonging to this cumulative dissertation are provided. These preprints, as well as two journal articles to which the author of this thesis contributed, are referenced within the extended summary in the first part and contain more details.

Advances in eye tracking technology have enabled the development of interactive experimental setups to study social attention. Since these setups differ substantially from the eye tracker manufacturer’s test conditions, validation is essential with regard to the quality of gaze data and other factors potentially threatening the validity of this signal. In this study, we evaluated the impact of accuracy and areas of interest (AOIs) size on the classification of simulated gaze (fixation) data. We defined AOIs of different sizes using the Limited-Radius Voronoi-Tessellation (LRVT) method, and simulated gaze data for facial target points with varying accuracy. As hypothesized, we found that accuracy and AOI size had strong effects on gaze classification. In addition, these effects were not independent and differed in falsely classified gaze inside AOIs (Type I errors; false alarms) and falsely classified gaze outside the predefined AOIs (Type II errors; misses). Our results indicate that smaller AOIs generally minimize false classifications as long as accuracy is good enough. For studies with lower accuracy, Type II errors can still be compensated to some extent by using larger AOIs, but at the cost of more probable Type I errors. Proper estimation of accuracy is therefore essential for making informed decisions regarding the size of AOIs in eye tracking research.

We examined the long-term relationship of psychosocial risk and health behaviors on clinical events in patients awaiting heart transplantation (HTx). Psychosocial characteristics (e.g., depression), health behaviors (e.g., dietary habits, smoking), medical factors (e.g., creatinine), and demographics (e.g., age, sex) were collected at the time of listing in 318 patients (82% male, mean age = 53 years) enrolled in the Waiting for a New Heart Study. Clinical events were death/delisting due to deterioration, high-urgency status transplantation (HU-HTx), elective transplantation, and delisting due to clinical improvement. Within 7 years of follow-up, 92 patients died or were delisted due to deterioration, 121 received HU-HTx, 43 received elective transplantation, and 39 were delisted due to improvement. Adjusting for demographic and medical characteristics, the results indicated that frequent consumption of healthy foods (i.e., foods high in unsaturated fats) and being physically active increased the likelihood of delisting due improvement, while smoking and depressive symptoms were related to death/delisting due to clinical deterioration while awaiting HTx. In conclusion, psychosocial and behavioral characteristics are clearly associated with clinical outcomes in this population. Interventions that target psychosocial risk, smoking, dietary habits, and physical activity may be beneficial for patients with advanced heart failure waiting for a cardiac transplant.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has also led to many conspiracy theories. While the origin of the pandemic in China led some, including former US president Donald Trump, to dub the pathogen “Chinese virus” and to support anti-Chinese conspiracy narratives, it caused Chinese state officials to openly support anti-US conspiracy theories about the “true” origin of the virus. In this article, we study whether nationalism, or more precisely uncritical patriotism, is related to belief in conspiracy theories among normal people. We hypothesize based on group identity theory and motivated reasoning that for the particular case of conspiracy theories related to the origin of COVID-19, such a relation should be stronger for Chinese than for Germans. To test this hypothesis, we use survey data from Germany and China, including data from the Chinese community in Germany. We also look at relations to other factors, in particular media consumption and xenophobia.

Similarity-based retrieval of semantic graphs is a core task of Process-Oriented Case-Based Reasoning (POCBR) with applications in real-world scenarios, e.g., in smart manufacturing. The involved similarity computation is usually complex and time-consuming, as it requires some kind of inexact graph matching. To tackle these problems, we present an approach to modeling similarity measures based on embedding semantic graphs via Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). Therefore, we first examine how arbitrary semantic graphs, including node and edge types and their knowledge-rich semantic annotations, can be encoded in a numeric format that is usable by GNNs. Given this, the architecture of two generic graph embedding models from the literature is adapted to enable their usage as a similarity measure for similarity-based retrieval. Thereby, one of the two models is more optimized towards fast similarity prediction, while the other model is optimized towards knowledge-intensive, more expressive predictions. The evaluation examines the quality and performance of these models in preselecting retrieval candidates and in approximating the ground-truth similarities of a graph-matching-based similarity measure for two semantic graph domains. The results show the great potential of the approach for use in a retrieval scenario, either as a preselection model or as an approximation of a graph similarity measure.

This socio-pragmatic study investigates organisational conflict talk between superiors and subordinates in three medical dramas from China, Germany and the United States. It explores what types of sociolinguistic realities the medical dramas construct by ascribing linguistic behaviour to different status groups. The study adopts an enhanced analytical framework based on John Gumperz’ discourse strategies and Spencer-Oatey’s rapport management theory. This framework detaches directness from politeness, defines directness based on preference and polarity and explains the use of direct and indirect opposition strategies in context. The findings reveal that the three hospital series draw on 21 opposition strategies which can be categorised into mitigating, intermediate and intensifying strategies. While the status identity of superiors is commonly characterised by a higher frequency of direct strategies than that of subordinates, both status groups manage conflict in a primarily direct manner across all three hospital shows. The high percentage of direct conflict management is related to the medical context, which is characterised by a focus on transactional goals, complex role obligations and potentially severe consequences of medical mistakes and delays. While the results reveal unexpected similarities between the three series with regard to the linguistic directness level, cross-cultural differences between the Chinese and the two Western series are obvious from particular sociopragmatic conventions. These conventions particularly include the use of humour, imperatives, vulgar language and incorporated verbal and para-verbal/multimodal opposition. Noteworthy differences also appear in the underlying patterns of strategy use. They show that the Chinese series promotes a greater tolerance of hierarchical structures and a partially closer social distance in asymmetrical professional relationships. These disparities are related to different perceptions of power distance, role relationships, face and harmony. The findings challenge existing stereotypes of Chinese, US American and German conflict management styles and emphasise the context-specific nature of verbal conflict management in every culture. Although cinematic aspects affect the conflict management in the fictional data, the results largely comply with recent research on conflict talk in real-life workplaces. As such, the study contributes to intercultural trainings in medical contexts and provides an enhanced analytical framework for further cross-cultural studies on linguistic strategies.

We study planned changes in protective routines after the COVID-19 pandemic: in a survey in Germany among >650 respondents, we find that the majority plans to use face masks in certain situations even after the end of the pandemic. We observe that this willingness is strongly related to the perception that there is something to be learned from East Asians’ handling of pandemics, even when controlling for perceived protection by wearing masks. Given strong empirical evidence that face masks help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases and given the considerable estimated health and economic costs of such diseases even pre-Corona, this would be a very positive side effect of the current crisis.

The process of land degradation needs to be understood at various spatial and temporal scales in order to protect ecosystem services and communities directly dependent on it. This is especially true for regions in sub-Saharan Africa, where socio economic and political factors exacerbate ecological degradation. This study identifies spatially explicit land change dynamics in the Copperbelt province of Zambia in a local context using satellite vegetation index time series derived from the MODIS sensor. Three sets of parameters, namely, monthly series, annual peaking magnitude, and annual mean growing season were developed for the period 2000 to 2019. Trend was estimated by applying harmonic regression on monthly series and linear least square regression on annually aggregated series. Estimated spatial trends were further used as a basis to map endemic land change processes. Our observations were as follows: (a) 15% of the study area dominant in the east showed positive trends, (b) 3% of the study area dominant in the west showed negative trends, (c) natural regeneration in mosaic landscapes (post shifting cultivation) and land management in forest reserves were chiefly responsible for positive trends, and (d) degradation over intact miombo woodland and cultivation areas contributed to negative trends. Additionally, lower productivity over areas with semi-permanent agriculture and shift of new encroachment into woodlands from east to west of Copperbelt was observed. Pivot agriculture was not a main driver in land change. Although overall greening trends prevailed across the study site, the risk of intact woodlands being exposed to various disturbances remains high. The outcome of this study can provide insights about natural and assisted landscape restoration specifically addressing the miombo ecoregion.

The larval stage of the European fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) inhabits both lentic and lotic habitats. In the latter, they are constantly exposed to unidirectional water flow, which has been shown to cause downstream drift in a variety of taxa. In this study, a closed artificial creek, which allowed us to keep the water flow constant over time and, at the same time, to simulates with predefined water quantities and durations, was used to examine the individual movement patterns of marked larval fire salamanders exposed to unidirectional flow. Movements were tracked by marking the larvae with VIAlpha tags individually and by using downstream and upstream traps. Most individuals showed stationarity, while downstream drift dominated the overall movement pattern. Upstream movements were rare and occurred only on small distances of about 30 cm; downstream drift distances exceeded 10 m (until next downstream trap). The simulated flood events increased drift rates significantly, even several days after the flood simulation experiments. Drift probability increased with decreasing body size and decreasing nutritional status. Our results support the production hypothesis as an explanation for the movements of European fire salamander larvae within creeks.

Digital technologies have become central to social interaction and accessing goods and services. Development strategies and approaches to governance have increasingly deployed self-labelled ‘smart’ technologies and systems at various spatial scales, often promoted as rectifying social and geographic inequalities and increasing economic and environmental efficiencies. These have also been accompanied with similarly digitalized commercial and non-profit offers, particularly within the sharing economy. Concern has grown, however, over possible inequalities linked to their introduction. In this paper we critically analyse the role of sharing economies’ contribution to more inclusive, socially equitable and spatially just transitions. Conceptually, this paper brings together literature on sharing economies, smart urbanism and just transitions. Drawing on an explorative database of sharing initiatives within the cross-border region of Luxembourg and Germany, we discuss aspects of sustainability as they relate to distributive justice through spatial accessibility, intended benefits, and their operationalization. The regional analysis shows the diversity of sharing models, how they are appropriated in different ways and how intent and operationalization matter in terms of potential benefits. Results emphasize the need for more fine-grained, qualitative research revealing who is, and is not, participating and benefitting from sharing economies.

The Amazon catchment is the largest river basin on earth, and up to 30% of its waters flow across floodplains. In its open waters, floating plants known as floating meadows abound. They can act as vectors of dispersal for their associated fauna and, therefore, can be important for the spatial structure of communities. Here, we focus on amphibian diversity in the Amazonian floating meadows over large spatial scales. We recorded 50 amphibian species over 57 sites, covering around 7000 km along river courses. Using multi-site generalised dissimilarity modelling of zeta diversity, we tested Hanski's core-satellite hypothesis and identified the existence of two functional groups of species operating under different ecological processes in the floating meadows. ‘Core' species are associated with floating meadows, while ‘satellite' species are associated with adjacent environments, being only occasional or accidental occupants of the floating vegetation. At large scales, amphibian diversity in floating meadows is mostly determined by stochastic (i.e. random/neutral) processes, whereas at regional scales, climate and deterministic (i.e. niche-based) processes are central drivers. Compared with the turnover of ‘core' species, the turnover of ‘satellite' species increases much faster with distances and is also controlled by a wider range of climatic features. Distance is not a limiting factor for ‘core' species, suggesting that they have a stronger dispersal ability even over large distances. This is probably related to the existence of passive long-distance dispersal of individuals along rivers via vegetation rafts. In this sense, Amazonian rivers can facilitate dispersal, and this effect should be stronger for species associated with riverine habitats such as floating meadows.

The main focus of this work is to study the computational complexity of generalizations of the synchronization problem for deterministic finite automata (DFA). This problem asks for a given DFA, whether there exists a word w that maps each state of the automaton to one state. We call such a word w a synchronizing word. A synchronizing word brings a system from an unknown configuration into a well defined configuration and thereby resets the system. We generalize this problem in four different ways. First, we restrict the set of potential synchronizing words to a fixed regular language associated with the synchronization under regular constraint problem. The motivation here is to control the structure of a synchronizing word so that, for instance, it first brings the system from an operate mode to a reset mode and then finally again into the operate mode. The next generalization concerns the order of states in which a synchronizing word transitions the automaton. Here, a DFA A and a partial order R is given as input and the question is whether there exists a word that synchronizes A and for which the induced state order is consistent with R. Thereby, we study different ways for a word to induce an order on the state set. Then, we change our focus from DFAs to push-down automata and generalize the synchronization problem to push-down automata and in the following work, to visibly push-down automata. Here, a synchronizing word still needs to map each state of the automaton to one state but it further needs to fulfill some constraints on the stack. We study three different types of stack constraints where after reading the synchronizing word, the stacks associated to each run in the automaton must be (1) empty, (2) identical, or (3) can be arbitrary. We observe that the synchronization problem for general push-down automata is undecidable and study restricted sub-classes of push-down automata where the problem becomes decidable. For visibly push-down automata we even obtain efficient algorithms for some settings. The second part of this work studies the intersection non-emptiness problem for DFAs. This problem is related to the problem of whether a given DFA A can be synchronized into a state q as we can see the set of words synchronizing A into q as the intersection of languages accepted by automata obtained by copying A with different initial states and q as their final state. For the intersection non-emptiness problem, we first study the complexity of the, in general PSPACE-complete, problem restricted to subclasses of DFAs associated with the two well known Straubing-Thérien and Cohen-Brzozowski dot-depth hierarchies. Finally, we study the problem whether a given minimal DFA A can be represented as the intersection of a finite set of smaller DFAs such that the language L(A) accepted by A is equal to the intersection of the languages accepted by the smaller DFAs. There, we focus on the subclass of permutation and commutative permutation DFAs and improve known complexity bounds.

This paper mainly studies two topics: linear complementarity problems for modeling electricity market equilibria and optimization under uncertainty. We consider both perfectly competitive and Nash–Cournot models of electricity markets and study their robustifications using strict robustness and the -approach. For three out of the four combinations of economic competition and robustification, we derive algorithmically tractable convex optimization counterparts that have a clear-cut economic interpretation. In the case of perfect competition, this result corresponds to the two classic welfare theorems, which also apply in both considered robust cases that again yield convex robustified problems. Using the mentioned counterparts, we can also prove the existence and, in some cases, uniqueness of robust equilibria. Surprisingly, it turns out that there is no such economic sensible counterpart for the case of -robustifications of Nash–Cournot models. Thus, an analog of the welfare theorems does not hold in this case. Finally, we provide a computational case study that illustrates the different effects of the combination of economic competition and uncertainty modeling.

The state-of-the-art finite element software Plaxis 3D was applied in a real-world study site of the Turaida castle mound to investigate the slope stability of the mound and understand the mechanisms triggering landslides there. During the simulation, the stability of the castle mound was analysed and the most landslide-susceptible zones of hillslopes were determined. The 3D finite-element stability analysis has significant advantages over conventional 2D limit-equilibrium methods where locations of 2D stability sections are arbitrarily selected. Two modelling scenarios of the slope stability were elaborated considering deep-seated slides in bedrock and shallow landslides in the colluvial material of slopes. The model shows that shallow slides in colluvium are more probable. In the finite-element model, slope failure occurs along the weakest zone in colluvium, similarly to the situation observed in previous landslides in the study site. The physical basis of the model allows results to be obtained very close to natural conditions and delivers valuable insight in triggering mechanisms of landslides.

Intense, southward low-level winds are common in Nares Strait, between Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland. The steep topography along Nares Strait leads to channelling effects, resulting in an along-strait flow. This research study presents a 30-year climatology of the flow regime from simulations of the COSMO-CLM climate model. The simulations are available for the winter periods (November–April) 1987/88 to 2016/17, and thus, cover a period long enough to give robust long-term characteristics of Nares Strait. The horizontal resolution of 15 km is high enough to represent the complex terrain and the meteorological conditions realistically. The 30-year climatology shows that LLJs associated with gap flows are a climatological feature of Nares Strait. The maximum of the mean 10-m wind speed is around 12 m s-1 and is located at the southern exit of Smith Sound. The wind speed is strongly related to the pressure gradient. Single events reach wind speeds of 40 m s-1 in the daily mean. The LLJs are associated with gap flows within the narrowest parts of the strait under stably stratified conditions, with the main LLJ occurring at 100–250 m height. With increasing mountain Froude number, the LLJ wind speed and height increase. The frequency of strong wind events (>20 m s-1 in the daily mean) for the 10 m wind shows a strong interannual variability with an average of 15 events per winter. Channelled winds have a strong impact on the formation of the North Water polynya.

This intervention study explored the effects of a newly developed intergenerational encounter program on cross-generational age stereotyping (CGAS). Based on a biographical-narrative approach, participants (secondary school students and nursing home residents) were invited to share ideas about existential questions of life (e.g., about one’s core experiences, future plans, and personal values). Therefore, the dyadic Life Story Interview (LSI) had been translated into a group format (the Life Story Encounter Program, LSEP), consisting of 10 90-min sessions. Analyses verified that LSEP participants of both generations showed more favorable CGAS immediately after, but also 3 months after the program end. Such change in CGAS was absent in a control group (no LSEP participation). The LSEP-driven short- and long-term effects on CGAS could be partially explained by two program benefits, the feeling of comfort with and the experience of learning from the other generation.

Background Identifying pain-related response patterns and understanding functional mechanisms of symptom formation and recovery are important for improving treatment. Objectives We aimed to replicate pain-related avoidance-endurance response patterns associated with the Fear-Avoidance Model, and its extension, the Avoidance-Endurance Model, and examined their differences in secondary measures of stress, action control (i.e., dispositional action vs. state orientation), coping, and health. Methods Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on self-report data from 536 patients with chronic non-specific low back pain at the beginning of an inpatient rehabilitation program. Measures of stress (i.e., pain, life stress) and action control were analyzed as covariates regarding their influence on the formation of different pain response profiles. Measures of coping and health were examined as dependent variables. Results Partially in line with our assumptions, we found three pain response profiles of distress-avoidance, eustress-endurance, and low-endurance responses that are depending on the level of perceived stress and action control. Distress-avoidance responders emerged as the most burdened, dysfunctional patient group concerning measures of stress, action control, maladaptive coping, and health. Eustress-endurance responders showed one of the highest levels of action versus state orientation, as well as the highest levels of adaptive coping and physical activity. Low-endurance responders reported lower levels of stress as well as equal levels of action versus state orientation, maladaptive coping, and health compared to eustress-endurance responders; however, equally low levels of adaptive coping and physical activity compared to distress-avoidance responders. Conclusions Apart from the partially supported assumptions of the Fear-Avoidance and Avoidance-Endurance Model, perceived stress and dispositional action versus state orientation may play a crucial role in the formation of pain-related avoidance-endurance response patterns that vary in degree of adaptiveness. Results suggest tailoring interventions based on behavioral and functional analysis of pain responses in order to more effectively improve patients quality of life.

Optimal mental workload plays a key role in driving performance. Thus, driver-assisting systems that automatically adapt to a drivers current mental workload via brain–computer interfacing might greatly contribute to traffic safety. To design economic brain computer interfaces that do not compromise driver comfort, it is necessary to identify brain areas that are most sensitive to mental workload changes. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy and subjective ratings to measure mental workload in two virtual driving environments with distinct demands. We found that demanding city environments induced both higher subjective workload ratings as well as higher bilateral middle frontal gyrus activation than less demanding country environments. A further analysis with higher spatial resolution revealed a center of activation in the right anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The area is highly involved in spatial working memory processing. Thus, a main component of drivers’ mental workload in complex surroundings might stem from the fact that large amounts of spatial information about the course of the road as well as other road users has to constantly be upheld, processed and updated. We propose that the right middle frontal gyrus might be a suitable region for the application of powerful small-area brain computer interfaces.

Using a dendrochronological approach, we determined the resistance, recovery and resilience of the radial stem increment towards episodes of growth decline, and the accompanying variation of 13C discrimination against atmospheric CO2 (Δ13C) in tree rings of two palaeotropical pine species. These species co-occur in the mountain ranges of south–central Vietnam (1500–1600 m a.s.l.), but differ largely in their areas of distribution (Pinus kesiya from northeast India to the Philippines; P. dalatensis only in south and central Vietnam and in some isolated populations in Laos). For P. dalatensis, a robust growth chronology covering the past 290 years could be set up for the first time in the study region. For P. kesiya, the 140-year chronology constructed was the longest that could be established to date in that region for this species. In the first 40 years of the trees’ lives, the stem diameter increment was significantly larger in P. kesiya, but levelled off and even decreased after 100 years, whereas P. dalatensis exhibited a continuous growth up to an age of almost 300 years. Tree-ring growth of P. kesiya was negatively related to temperature in the wet months and season of the current year and in October (humid transition period) of the preceding year and to precipitation in August (monsoon season), but positively to precipitation in December (dry season) of the current year. The P. dalatensis chronologies exhibited no significant correlation with temperature or precipitation. Negative correlations between BAI and Δ13C indicate a lack of growth impairment by drought in both species. Regression analyses revealed a lower resilience of P. dalatensis upon episodes of growth decline compared to P. kesiya, but, contrary to our hypothesis, mean values of the three sensitivity parameters did not differ significantly between these species. Nevertheless, the vigorous growth of P. kesiya, which does not fall behind that of P. dalatensis even at the margin of its distribution area under below-optimum edaphic conditions, is indicative of a relatively high plasticity of this species towards environmental factors compared to P. dalatensis, which, in tendency, is less resilient upon environmental stress even in the “core” region of its occurrence.

Perennial energy crops (PECs) are increasingly used as feedstock to produce energy in an environmental friendly way. Compared to traditional conversion strategies like thermal use, sophisticated technologies such as biomethanation defined different re-quirements of the feedstock. Whereas the first concept relies on dry, woody mate-rial, biomethanation requires a moist feedstock. Thus, over time, the spectrum of species used as PECs has widened. Moreover, harvest dates were adjusted to pro-vide the feedstock at suitable moisture contents. It is well known that perennial, lignocellulose- based energy crops, compared to annual, sugar- and starch- based ones, offer ecological advantages such as, inter alia, improving biodiversity in landscape, protecting soil against erosion, and protecting groundwater from nutrient inputs. However, one of the main arguments for PEC cultivation was their undemanding nature concerning external inputs. With respect to the broader spectrum of PEC spe-cies and changed harvest dates, the question arises whether the concept of PECs being low- input energy crops is still valid. This also implies the question of suitable grow-ing conditions and sustainable management. The aims of this opinion paper were to classify different PECs according to their life- form strategy, compare nutrient exports when harvested in different maturation stages, and to discuss the results in the context of sustainable PEC cultivation on marginal land. This study revealed that nutrient exports with yield biomass of PECs harvested in green state are in the same range than those of annual energy crops and therewith several times higher than those of PECs harvested in brown state or of woody short rotation coppices. Thus, PECs can-not universally be claimed as low- input energy crops. These results also imply the consequences of cultivation of PECs on marginal land. Finally, the question has to be raised whether the term PECs should prospectively be better specified in written and spoken words.

Natural hazards are diverse and uneven in time and space, therefore, understanding its complexity is key to save human lives and conserve natural ecosystems. Reducing the outputs obtained after each modelling analysis is key to present the results for stakeholders, land managers and policymakers. So, the main goal of this survey was to present a method to synthesize three natural hazards in one multi-hazard map and its evaluation for hazard management and land use planning. To test this methodology, we took as study area the Gorganrood Watershed, located in the Golestan Province (Iran). First, an inventory map of three different types of hazards including flood, landslides, and gullies was prepared using field surveys and different official reports. To generate the susceptibility maps, a total of 17 geo-environmental factors were selected as predictors using the MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) machine learning technique. The accuracy of the predictive models was evaluated by drawing receiver operating characteristic-ROC curves and calculating the area under the ROC curve-AUCROC. The MaxEnt model not only implemented superbly in the degree of fitting, but also obtained significant results in predictive performance. Variables importance of the three studied types of hazards showed that river density, distance from streams, and elevation were the most important factors for flood, respectively. Lithological units, elevation, and annual mean rainfall were relevant for detecting landslides. On the other hand, annual mean rainfall, elevation, and lithological units were used for gully erosion mapping in this study area. Finally, by combining the flood, landslides, and gully erosion susceptibility maps, an integrated multi-hazard map was created. The results demonstrated that 60% of the area is subjected to hazards, reaching a proportion of landslides up to 21.2% in the whole territory. We conclude that using this type of multi-hazard map may be a useful tool for local administrators to identify areas susceptible to hazards at large scales as we demonstrated in this research.

The search for health information is becoming increasingly important in everyday life, as well as socially and scientifically relevant Previous studies have mainly focused on the design and communication of information. However, the view of the seeker as well as individual differences in skills and abilities has been a neglected topic so far. A psychological perspective on the process of searching for health information would provide important starting points for promoting the general dissemination of relevant information and thus improving health behaviour and health status. Within the present dissertation, the process of seeking health information was thus divided into sequential stages to identify relevant personality traits and skills. Accordignly, three studies are presented that focus on one stage of the process respectively and empirically test potential crucial traits and skills: Study I investigates possible determinants of an intention for a comprehensive search for health information. Building an intention is considered as the basic step of the search process. Motivational dispositions and self-regulatory skills were related to each other in a structural equation model and empirically tested based on theoretical investigations. Model fit showed an overall good fit and specific direct and indirect effects from approach and avoidance motivation on the intention to seek comprehensively could be found, which supports the theoretical assumptions. The results show that as early as the formation of intention, the psychological perspective reveals influential personality traits and skills. Study II deals with the subsequent step, the selection of information sources. The preference for basic characteristics of information sources (i.e., accessibility, expertise, and interaction) is related to health information literacy as a collective term for relevant skills and intelligence as a personality trait. Furthermore, the study considers the influence of possible over- or underestimation of these characteristics. The results show not only a different predictive contribution of health literacy and intelligence, but also the relevance of subjective and objective measurement. Finally, Study III deals with the selection and evaluation of the health information previously found. The phenomenon of selective exposure is analysed, as this can be considered problematic in the health context. For this purpose, an experimental design was implemented in which a varying health threat was suggested to the participants. Relevant information was presented and the selective choice of this information was assessed. Health literacy was tested as a moderator in a function of the induced threat and perceived vulnerability, triggering defence motives on the degree of bias. Findings show the importance of the consideration of the defence motives, which could cause a bias in the form of selective exposure. Furthermore, health literacy even seems to amplify this effect. Results of the three studies are synthesized, discussed and general conclusions are drawn and implications for further research are determined.

Teamwork is ubiquitous in the modern workplace. However, it is still unclear whether various behavioral economic factors de- or increase team performance. Therefore, Chapters 2 to 4 of this thesis aim to shed light on three research questions that address different determinants of team performance. Chapter 2 investigates the idea of an honest workplace environment as a positive determinant of performance. In a work group, two out of three co-workers can obtain a bonus in a dice game. By misreporting a secret die roll, cheating without exposure is an option in the game. Contrary to claims on the importance of honesty at work, we do not observe a reduction in the third co-worker's performance, who is an uninvolved bystander when cheating takes place. Chapter 3 analyzes the effect of team size on performance in a workplace environment in which either two or three individuals perform a real-effort task. Our main result shows that the difference in team size is not harmful to task performance on average. In our discussion of potential mechanisms, we provide evidence on ongoing peer effects. It appears that peers are able to alleviate the potential free-rider problem emerging out of working in a larger team. In Chapter 4, the role of perceived co-worker attractiveness for performance is analyzed. The results show that task performance is lower, the higher the perceived attractiveness of co-workers, but only in opposite-sex constellations. The following Chapter 5 analyzes the effect of offering an additional payment option in a fundraising context. Chapter 6 focuses on privacy concerns of research participants. In Chapter 5, we conduct a field experiment in which, participants have the opportunity to donate for the continuation of an art exhibition by either cash or cash and an additional cashless payment option (CPO). The treatment manipulation is completed by framing the act of giving either as a donation or pay-what-you-want contribution. Our results show that donors shy away from using the CPO in all treatment conditions. Despite that, there is no negative effect of the CPO on the frequency of financial support and its magnitude. In Chapter 6, I conduct an experiment to test whether increased transparency of data processing affects data disclosure and whether the results change if it is indicated that the implementation of the GDPR happened involuntarily. I find that increased transparency raises the number of participants who do not disclose personal data by 21 percent. However, this is not the case in the involuntary-signal treatment, where the share of non-disclosures is relatively high in both conditions.

While women's evolving contribution to entrepreneurship is irrefutable, in almost all nations, gender disparity is an existing reality of entrepreneurship. Social and economic outcomes make women entrepreneurship an important area for scholars and governments. In attempts to find reasons for this gender disparity, academic scholars evaluated various factors and recognised perceptual variables as having outstanding explanatory value in understanding women's entrepreneurship. To advance our knowledge of gender disparity in entrepreneurship, the present study explores the influence of entrepreneurial perceptual variables on women's entrepreneurship and considers the critical role of country-level institutional contexts on the women's entrepreneurial propensity. Therefore, this study examines the impact of perceptual variables in different nations. It also offers connections between entrepreneurial perceptions, women entrepreneurship, and institutional contexts as a critical topic for future studies. Drawing on the importance of perceptual factors, this dissertation investigates whether and how their perception of entrepreneurial networks influences the individuals' decision to initiate a new venture. Prior scholars considered exposure to entrepreneurial role models as one of the most influential factors on the women's inclination towards entrepreneurship; thus, a systemized analysis makes it possible to identify existing research gaps related to this perception. Hence, to draw a clear picture of the relationship between entrepreneurial role models and entrepreneurship, this dissertation provides a systemized overview of prior studies. Subsequently, Chapter 2 structures the existing literature on entrepreneurial role models and reveals that past literature has focused on the different types of role models, the stage of life at which the exposure to role models occurs, and the context of the exposure. Current discourse argues that the women's lower access to entrepreneurial role models negatively influences their inclination towards entrepreneurship. Additionally, although the research on women entrepreneurship has proliferated in recent years, little is known about how entrepreneurial perceptual variables form women's propensity towards entrepreneurship in various institutional contexts. The work of Koellinger et al. (2013), hereafter KMS, is one of the most influential papers that investigated the influence of perceptual variables, and it showed that a lower rate of women entrepreneurship is associated with a lower level of their entrepreneurial network, perceived entrepreneurial capability, and opportunity evaluation and with a higher fear of entrepreneurial failure. Thus, this dissertation replicates the work of KMS. Chapter 3 explicitly investigates the influence of the above perceptions on women's entrepreneurial propensity. This research has drawn data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a cross-national individual-level data set (2001-2006) covering 236,556 individuals across 17 countries. The results of this chapter suggest that gender disparities in entrepreneurial propensity are conditioned by differences in entrepreneurial perceptual variables. Women's lower levels of perceived entrepreneurial capability, entrepreneurial role models and opportunity evaluation and their higher fear of failure lead to lower entrepreneurial propensity. To extend and generalise the relationship between perceptions and women's entrepreneurial propensity, in Chapter 4, two studies are conducted based on replicated research. Extension 1 generalises the results of KMS by using the same analysis on more recent data. Accordingly, this research implemented the same analysis on 372,069 individuals across the same countries (2011-2016). The recent data show that although gender disparity became significantly weaker, the gender gap is still in men's favour. However, similarly to the replicated study, this research revealed that perceptual factors explain a larger part of the gender disparity. To strengthen prior empirical evidence, in extension 2, utilising a sample of 1,029,863 individuals from 71 countries (2011-2016), the study conducted the same measures and analysis in a more global setting. By including developing countries, gender disparity in entrepreneurial propensity decreased significantly. The study revealed that the relative significance of the influences of perceptions' differs significantly across nations; however, perceptions have a worldwide effect. Moreover, this research found that the ratio of nascent women entrepreneurs in less developed countries to those in more developed nations is 2. More precisely, a higher level of economic development negatively influences the impact of perceptions on women's entrepreneurial propensity. Whereas prior scholars increasingly underlined the importance of perceptions in explaining a large part of gender disparities in entrepreneurship, most of the prior investigations focused on nascent (early-stage) entrepreneurship, and evidence on the relationship between perceptions and other types of self-employment, such as innovative entrepreneurship, is scant. Innovation is a confirmed key driver of a firm's sustainability, higher competitive capability, and growth. Therefore, Chapter 5 investigates the influence of perceptions on women's innovative entrepreneurship. The chapter points out that entrepreneurial perceptions are the main determinants of the women's decision to offer a new product or service. This chapter also finds that women's innovative entrepreneurship is associated with the country's specific economic setting. Overall, by underlining the critical role of institutional contexts, this dissertation provides considerable insights into the interaction between perceptions and women entrepreneurship, and its results have implications for policymakers and practitioners, who may find it helpful to consider women entrepreneurship in systemized challenges. Formal and informal barriers affect women's entrepreneurial perceptions and can differ from one country to the other. In this sense, it is crucial to design operational plans to mitigate formal and stereotypical challenges, and thus, more women will be able to start a business, particularly in developing countries in which women significantly comprise a smaller portion of the labour markets. This type of policy could write the "rules of the game" such that these rules enhance the women's propensity towards entrepreneurship.