This dissertation details how Zeami (ca. 1363 - ca.1443) understood his adoption of the heavenly woman dance within the historical conditions of the Muromachi period. He adopted the dance based on performances by the Ōmi troupe player Inuō in order to expand his own troupe’s repertoire to include a divinely powerful, feminine character. In the first chapter, I show how Zeami, informed by his success as a sexualized child in the service of the political elite (chigo), understood the relationship between performer and audience in gendered terms. In his treatises, he describes how a player must create a complementary relationship between patron and performer (feminine/masculine or yin/yang) that escalates to an ecstasy of successful communication between the two poles, resembling sexual union. Next, I look at how Zeami perceived Inuō’s relationships with patrons, the daimyo Sasaki Dōyo in chapter two and shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in chapter three. Inuō was influenced by Dōyo’s masculine penchant for powerful, awe-inspiring art, but Zeami also recognized that Inuō was able to complement Dōyo’s masculinity with feminine elegance (kakari and yūgen). In his relationship with Yoshimitsu, Inuō used the performance of subversion, both in his public persona and in the aesthetic of his performances, to maintain a rebellious reputation appropriate within the climate of conflict among the martial elite. His play “Aoi no ue” draws on the aristocratic literary tradition of the Genji monogatari, giving Yoshimitsu the role of Prince Genji and confronting him with the consequences of betrayal in the form of a demonic, because jilted, Lady Rokujō. This performance challenged Zeami’s early notion that the extreme masculinity of demons and elegant femininity as exemplified by the aristocracy must be kept separate in character creation. In the fourth chapter, I show how Zeami also combined dominance (masculinity) and submission (femininity) in the corporal capacity of a single player when he adopted the heavenly woman dance. The heavenly woman dance thus complemented not only the masculinity of his male patrons with femininity but also the political power of his patrons with another dominant power, which plays featuring the heavenly woman dance label divine rather than masculine.

With the advent of high­throughput sequencing (HTS), profiling immunoglobulin (IG) repertoires has become an essential part of immunological research. The dissection of IG repertoires promises to transform our understanding of the adaptive immune system dynamics. Advances in sequencing technology now also allow the use of the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) to cover the full length of IG mRNA transcripts. The applications of this bench­top scale HTS platform range from identification of new therapeutic antibodies to the deconvolution of malignant B cell tumors. In the context of this thesis, the usability of the PGM is assessed to investigate the IG heavy chain (IGH) repertoires of animal models. First, an innovate bioinformatics approach is presented to identify antigendriven IGH sequences from bulk sequenced bone marrow samples of transgenic humanized rats, expressing a human IG repertoire (OmniRatTM). We show, that these rats mount a convergent IGH CDR3 response towards measles virus hemagglutinin protein and tetanus toxoid, with high similarity to human counterparts. In the future, databases could contain all IGH CDR3 sequences with known specificity to mine IG repertoire datasets for past antigen exposures, ultimately reconstructing the immunological history of an individual. Second, a unique molecular identifier (UID) based HTS approach and network property analysis is used to characterize the CLL­like CD5+ B cell expansion of A20BKO mice overexpressing a natural short splice variant of the CYLD gene (A20BKOsCYLDBOE). We could determine, that in these mice, overexpression of sCYLD leads to unmutated subvariant of CLL (U­CLL). Furthermore, we found that this short splice variant is also seen in human CLL patients highlighting it as important target for future investigations. Third, the UID based HTS approach is improved by adapting it to the PGM sequencing technology and applying a custom­made data processing pipeline including the ImMunoGeneTics (IMGT) database error detection. Like this, we were able to obtain correct IGH sequences with over 99.5% confidence and correct CDR3 sequences with over 99.9% confidence. Taken together, the results, protocols and sample processing strategies described in this thesis will improve the usability of animal models and the Ion Torrent PGM HTS platform in the field if IG repertoire research.

Die Arbeit geht von der These aus, dass zwischen Webers Konzept einer verstehenden Soziologie und der materialen Studie "Die Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus" (PE) eine Differenz in Form einer Mehrleistung auf Seiten der PE besteht. Diese Annahme fußt auf der Beobachtung, dass die PE verschiedene Perspektiven auf die Entstehung sinnhafter Handlungsorientierungen offeriert und sich gleichsam Strategien zu deren Plausibilisierung identifizieren lassen. Derartige Zusammenhänge wurden von Weber in den methodologischen Schriften scheinbar nur am Rande thematisiert und die entsprechenden Passagen erwecken den Eindruck, dass die Frage nach der Geschichtlichkeit der sinnhaften Handlungsorientierungen lediglich als Prämisse bzw. als Begründung für die Notwendigkeit einer verstehenden Sinnerfassung Beachtung findet. Diese Beobachtung bestimmt den weiteren Gang der Untersuchung und führte zu einem argumentativen Aufbau, welcher sich als Dreischritt beschreiben lässt: a) Eine Diskussion des Erklärungsprofils von Webers Konzept einer verstehenden Soziologie sowie Beispiele für vermutete Mehrleistungen auf Seiten der PE dienen zunächst der genaueren Explikation der identifizierten Problemstellung (vgl. Abschnitt I). Hierauf aufbauend erweisen sich mit Blick auf den aktuellen Forschungsstand b) jene Argumentationszusammenhänge der materialen Forschung als problematisch bzw. in ihrer logischen Beziehung zur Methodologie Webers als weiterhin ungeklärt, welche in Abschnitt I zunächst auf eine Mehrleistung auf Seiten der PE hindeuten. Hierbei zeigt eine gegenüberstellende Untersuchung von Vertretern von Einheitsthesen (vgl. Prewo 1979, Schluchter 1998, Collins 1986a) sowie Vertretern von Differenzthesen (vgl. v. Schelting 1934, Bendix 1964, Kalberg 2001), dass der aktuelle Diskussionsstand weiterhin durch offene Fragen und Unstimmigkeiten charakterisiert ist (vgl. Abschnitt II). Implizite Antworten auf diese Probleme des aktuellen Diskussionsstands lassen sich über c) einen erneuten rekonstruierenden Blick auf die in der PE enthaltenen Zusammenhänge und Plausibilisierungsstrategien gewinnen. Hier ist die Strategie doppelseitig angelegt: Für einen Teil der identifizierten Probleme ist es von besonderer Bedeutung, einen systematischen Einblick in die in der PE enthaltenen Zusammenhänge zu gewinnen (vgl. Abschnitt III). Die hierbei gewonnenen Erträge dienen als Grundlage zur adäquaten Rekonstruktion der methodischen Umsetzung und ermöglichen ein Verständnis davon, wie Weber die in den Fokus der Forschung gestellten Phänomene zu erklären suchte (vgl. Abschnitt IV).

Die Untersuchung widmet sich dem Verhältnis von Kunst und Fernsehen in Deutschland seit den 1960er Jahren bis heute unter Berücksichtigung des gesellschaftlichen und künstlerischen Diskurses. In den 1960er Jahren begann die Zusammenarbeit von Künstlern und dem Fernsehen mit Projekten wie "Black Gate Cologne" oder Gerry Schums "Fernsehgalerie" äußerst vielversprechend. In enger Zusammenarbeit mit den Fernsehverantwortlichen wurden Sendungen speziell für die Ausstrahlung im Fernsehen produziert und auch als Fernsehkunst gesendet. Die Akzeptanz und Resonanz auf diese Projekte waren jedoch nach anfänglicher Euphorie bescheiden bis ablehnend. Allerdings führte dies nicht zu einem Scheitern und einer Rückverlagerung der Kunst in den Präsentationsort Museum oder Galerie, sondern zu einer Weiterentwicklung der Fernsehkunst bis in die heutige Zeit. Fernsehkunst hat sich ihrem Aufführungs- und Produktionskontext, aber auch bei der Wahl ihrer Themen der jeweiligen Epoche mit ihren technischen und kommunikativen Möglichkeiten sowie dem gesellschaftlichen Diskurs zu öffentlichkeitsrelevanten Themen anpasst. Fernsehkunst ist stets ein Spiegel der aktuellen Diskurse in Kunst und Gesellschaft. In der bisherigen Forschung wurde Fernsehkunst als gescheitert und damit als nicht mehr existent angesehen. Die Stigmatisierung des Fernsehens als reines Unterhaltungs- und Informationsmedium führte dazu, dass Fernsehkunst als Begriff und als Kunstgattung im öffentlichen und im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs nicht vorkam. Die typologische und inhaltliche Analyse hat jedoch gezeigt, dass Fernsehkunst in klarer Abgrenzung zur Videokunst auch gegenwärtig existiert.

In sechs Primar- und zwei Sekundarschulen wurde eine dreimonatige leistungsmotivationsbezogene Intervention mit Schülerinnen und Schülern in sieben Jahrgangsstufen durchgeführt. Die Intervention umfasste 25,5 Zeitstunden und basierte auf einem Training, welches neben didaktischen Impulsen für Lehrpersonen vor allem die Stärkung der Schülerinnen und Schüler im Hinblick auf Selbstwahrnehmung, Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen, Kausalattribuierung von Erfolgen bzw. Misserfolgen, soziale Beziehungen und Zielsetzung intendierte. Die beiden zugrundeliegenden Hypothesen der Studie formulieren die Erwartungen, dass nach Abschluss der Intervention erstens die Leistungsmotivation und zweitens auch das Wohlbefinden (Flourishing) der Schülerinnen und Schüler nachhaltig ansteigt. Es fanden Erhebungen zu drei Messzeitpunkten (Pre- und Posttest, Follow-Up sechs Monate nach Beendigung der Intervention) statt. Beide Hypothesen wurden in der empirischen Evaluation (RM-ANOVA) nicht bestätigt. Ergänzende explorative Untersuchungen (t-Tests und Clusteranalysen) zeigten vereinzelte Tendenzen in Richtung der Hypothesen, sind jedoch nicht aussagekräftig. Aufgrund dieser Befunde wurde im Anschluss an die Studie eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse des schriftlichen Feedbacks der beteiligten Lehrpersonen durchgeführt. Hierbei konnten fünf erfolgskritische Faktoren (Commitment der Lehrpersonen, Anstrengungsgrad, Rolle der Schülerinnen und Schüler, Projektorganisation, sowie Inhalt und Methodik der Intervention) identifiziert werden, deren Beachtung für das Gelingen von positiv-psychologischen Interventionen in Organisationen unerlässlich erscheinen. Die Befunde der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse führen schließlich zu der Annahme, dass aufgrund fehlender Programmintegrität keine Aussage über die tatsächliche Wirksamkeit des Trainings getroffen werden kann. Die Arbeit endet mit Empfehlungen zur optimalen Gestaltung positiv-psychologischer Interventionen in Bildungsorganisationen.

Educational researchers have intensively investigated students" academic self-concept (ASC) and self-efficacy (SE). Both constructs are part of the competence-related self-perceptions of students and are considered to support students" academic success and their career development in a positive manner (e.g., Abele-Brehm & Stief, 2004; Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012; Schneider & Preckel, 2017). However, there is a lack of basic research on ASC and SE in higher education in general, and in undergraduate psychology courses in particular. Therefore, according to the within-network and between-network approaches of construct validation (Byrne, 1984), the present dissertation comprises three empirical studies examining the structure (research question 1), measurement (research question 2), correlates (research question 3), and differentiation (research question 4) of ASC and SE in a total sample of N = 1243 psychology students. Concerning research question 1, results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs) implied that students" ASC and SE are domain-specific in the sense of multidimensionality, but they are also hierarchically structured, with a general factor at the apex according to the nested Marsh/Shavelson model (NMS model, Brunner et al., 2010). Additionally, psychology students" SE to master specific psychological tasks in different areas of psychological application could be described by a 2-dimensional model with six factors according to the Multitrait-Multimethod (MTMM)-approach (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). With regard to research question 2, results revealed that the internal structure of ASC and SE could be validly assessed. However, the assessment of psychology students" SE should follow a task-specific measurement strategy. Results of research question 3 further showed that both constructs of psychology students" competence-related self-perceptions were positively correlated to achievement in undergraduate psychology courses if predictor (ASC, SE) corresponded to measurement specificity of the criterion (achievement). Overall, ASC provided substantially stronger relations to achievement compared to SE. Moreover, there was evidence for negative paths (contrast effects) from achievement in one psychological domain on ASC of another psychological domain as postulated by the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model (Marsh, 1986). Finally, building on research questions 1 to 3 (structure, measurement, and correlates of ASC and SE), psychology students" ASC and SE were be differentiated on an empirical level (research question 4). Implications for future research practices are discussed. Furthermore, practical implications for enhancing ASC and SE in higher education are proposed to support academic achievement and the career development of psychology students.

The search for relevant determinants of knowledge acquisition has a long tradition in educational research, with systematic analyses having started over a century ago. To date, a variety of relevant environmental and learner-related characteristics have been identified, providing a wide body of empirical evidence. However, there are still some gaps in the literature, which are highlighted in the current dissertation. The dissertation includes two meta-analyses summarizing the evidence on the effectiveness of electrical brain stimulation and the effects of prior knowledge on later learning outcomes and one empirical study employing latent profile transition analysis to investigate the changes in conceptual knowledge over time. The results from the three studies demonstrate how learning outcomes can be advanced by input from the environment and that they are highly related to the students" level of prior knowledge. It is concluded that the effects of environmental and learner-related variables impact both the biological and cognitive processes underlying knowledge acquisition. Based on the findings from the three studies, methodological and practical implications are provided, followed by an outline of four recommendations for future research on knowledge acquisition.

Pränatal, postnatal und aktuell auftretende chronische Stressbelastung sind bedeutsame Risikofaktoren für mentale und körperliche Beeinträchtigungen im Erwachsenenalter. Ziel dieser Dissertationsschrift ist es, den Einfluss von Stress im Lebenslauf (pränatale, postnatale, aktuelle Stressbelastung) auf verschiedene Erschöpfungsvariablen und Depressivität zu analysieren und mögliche Mediatoreffekte von aktuell auftretendem Stress auf Assoziationen zwischen pränatalem bzw. postnatalem Stress und Erschöpfung bzw. Depressivität zu bestimmen. Zur Prüfung dieser Fragestellung wurden Daten von chronisch gestressten Lehrpersonen (N = 186; 67,70% weiblich) ohne Diagnose für eine psychische Erkrankung sowie von Hausarzt- (N = 473; 59% weiblich) und Klinikpatienten (N = 284; 63,7% weiblich) mit mindestens einer stressbezogenen mentalen Gesundheitsstörung erhoben. Prä-postnataler Stress, subjektive Erschöpfung und Depressivität wurden in allen Stichproben erfasst, aktuelle Stressbelastung und Poststresssymptome in den Patientenstichproben. Zusätzlich wurden konzeptuelle Endophänotypen als psychobiologisches Erschöpfungsmaß in beiden Patientenstichproben sowie Übernachtaktivität des parasympathischen Nervensystems als Maß vagaler Erholung in der Hausarztstichprobe operationalisiert. Bei den Lehrpersonen wurde anhand univariater Varianzanalysen analysiert, ob Lehrkräfte mit frühkindlicher Belastung unterschiedliche Erschöpfungs- bzw. Depressionswerte aufwiesen im Vergleich zu Lehrkräften ohne frühkindliche Belastung. In den Patientenstichproben wurden multiple und binärlogistische Regressionsmodelle verwendet, um Assoziationen zwischen pränatalem, postnatalem sowie aktuellem Stress mit Erschöpfung, Depressivität, den konzeptuellen Endophänotypen der Neuropattern-Diagnostik sowie Übernachtaktivität des parasympathischen Nervensystems (nur bei Hausarztpatienten) zu prüfen. Mögliche Mediatoreffekte aktueller Stressbelastung auf Assoziationen zwischen pränatalem und postnatalem Stress mit Erschöpfung, Depressivität, der konzeptuellen Endophänotypen bzw. der Übernachtaktivität des parasympathischen Nervensystems (nur bei Hausarztpatienten) wurden bestimmt. Ad hoc wurde mittels zusätzlich ein möglicher Moderatoreffekt von pränatalem Stress auf die Assoziation zwischen aktuellem Stress und der Übernachtherzrate getestet. Pränataler Stress war bei sonst gesunden Lehrkräften mit einer stärker ausgeprägten Gratifikationskrise und höherer emotionaler Erschöpfung assoziiert. Postnataler Stress ging mit höheren Werten für Depressivität, Anstrengungs-Belohnungs-Ungleichgewicht, der MBI Gesamtskala, emotionaler Erschöpfung und vitaler Erschöpfung einher. Sowohl bei Hausarzt- als auch bei Klinikpatienten waren aktuelle psychosoziale Belastung und aktuelle Beeinträchtigung durch Lebensereignisse mit Depressivität, Erschöpfung und Poststress assoziiert. Bei Hausarztpatienten sagte aktuelle Stressbelastung eine erhöhte Odds Ratio der Noradrenalin-Hypoaktivität sowie Serotonin-Hyperreaktivität vorher; bei Klinikpatienten für Noradrenalin-Hypoaktivität. Des Weiteren zeigten Hausarztpatienten mit starker psychosozialer Belastung erhöhte parasympathische Aktivität über Nacht. Bei Hausarztpatienten ist hoher pränataler Stress assoziiert mit wahrgenommener psychosozialer Belastung, aktuellen Lebensereignissen und Poststresssymptomen. Pränataler Stress ging mit einer verringerten vagalen Aktivität einher. Weiter ist postnataler Stress assoziiert mit Depressivität, wahrgenommener psychosozialer Belastung, aktuellen Lebensereignissen, Erschöpfung und Poststresssymptomen sowie einem erhöhten Odds Ratio für die Noradrenalin-Hypoaktivität sowie mit CRH-Hyperaktivität. Die Assoziationen zwischen pränatalem bzw. postnatalem Stress und Poststress, Erschöpfung, Depressivität und Noradrenalin-Hypoaktivität wurden signifikant durch aktuelle Stressbelastung mediiert. Die Assoziation zwischen aktuellem Stress und parasympathischer Aktivität über Nacht wurde durch pränatalen Stress moderiert: Bei geringer bis mittlerer nicht aber bei hoher pränataler Belastung ging eine hohe psychosoziale Belastung mit erhöhter Übernachtaktivität des parasympathischen Nervensystems einher. Bei Klinikpatienten zeigten sich keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge zwischen pränatalem bzw. postnatalem Stress und Erschöpfung bzw. Depressivität. Pränataler Stress kann trophotrope Funktionen beeinträchtigen und damit die Vulnerabilität für Erschöpfung und Depressivität erhöhen. Fortgesetzte postnatale und aktuelle Stressbelastung erhöhen den kumulativen Stress im Lebenslauf einer Person und tragen zu psychobiologischen Dysfunktionen sowie Erschöpfung und Depressivität bei.

Rotation of the Earth creates day and night cycles of 24 h. The endogenous circadian clocks sense these light/dark rhythms and the master pacemaker situated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus entrains the physical activities according to this information. The circadian machinery is built from the transcriptional/translational feedback loops generating the oscillations in all nucleated cells of the body. In addition, unexpected environmental changes, called stressors, also challenge living systems. A response to these stimuli is provided immediately via the autonomic-nervous system and slowly via the hypothalamus"pituitary"adrenal (HPA) axis. When the HPA axis is activated, circulating glucocorticoids are elevated and regulate organ activities in order to maintain survival of the organism. Both the clock and the stress systems are essential for continuity and interact with each other to keep internal homeostasis. The physiological interactions between the HPA axis and the circadian clock system are mainly addressed in animal studies, which focus on the effects of stress and circadian disturbances on cardiovascular, psychiatric and metabolic disorders. Although these studies give opportunity to test in whole body, apply unwelcome techniques, control and manipulate the parameters at the high level, generalization of the results to humans is still a debate. On the other hand, studies established with cell lines cannot really reflect the conditions occurring in a living organism. Thus, human studies are absolutely necessary to investigate mechanisms involved in stress and circadian responses. The studies presented in this thesis were intended to determine the effects of cortisol as an end-product of the HPA axis on PERIOD (PER1, PER2 and PER3) transcripts as circadian clock genes in healthy humans. The expression levels of PERIOD genes were measured under baseline conditions and after stress in whole blood. The results demonstrated here have given better understanding of transcriptional programming regulated by pulsatile cortisol at standard conditions and short-term effects of cortisol increase on circadian clocks after acute stress. These findings also draw attention to inter-individual variations in stress response as well as non-circadian functions of PERIOD genes in the periphery, which need to be examined in details in the future.

The first part of this thesis offers a theoretical foundation for the analysis of Tolkien- texts. Each of the three fields of interest, nostalgia, utopia, and the pastoral tradition, are introduced in separate chapters. Special attention is given to the interrelations of the three fields. Their history, meaning, and functions are shortly elaborated and definitions applicable to their occurrences in fantasy texts are reached. In doing so, new categories and terms are proposed that enable a detailed analysis of the nostalgic, pastoral, and utopian properties of Tolkien- works. As nostalgia and utopia are important ingredients of pastoral writing, they are each introduced first and are finally related to a definition of the pastoral. The main part of this thesis applies the definitions and insights reached in the theoretical chapters to Tolkien- The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. This part is divided into three main sections. Again, the order of the chapters follows the line of argumentation. The first section contains the analysis of pastoral depictions in the two texts. Given the separation of the pastoral into different categories, which were outlined in the theoretical part, the chapters examine bucolic and georgic pastoral creatures and landscapes before turning to non-pastoral depictions, which are sub-divided into the antipastoral and the unpastoral. A separate chapter looks at the bucolic and georgic pastoral- positions and functions in the primary texts. This analysis is followed by a chapter on men- special position in Tolkien- mythology, as their depiction reveals their potential to be both pastoral and antipastoral. The second section of the analytical part is concerned with the role of nostalgia within pastoral culture. The focus is laid on the meaning and function of the different kinds of nostalgia, which were defined in the theoretical part, detectable in bucolic and georgic pastoral cultures. Finally, the analysis turns to the utopian potential of Tolkien- mythology. Again, the focus lies on the pastoral and non-pastoral creatures. Their utopian and dystopian visions are presented and contrasted. This way, different kinds of utopian vision are detected and set in relation to the overall dystopian fate of Tolkien- fictional universe. Drawing on the results of this thesis and on Terry Gifford- ecocritical work, the final chapter argues that Tolkien- texts can be defined as modern pastorals. The connection between Tolkien- work and pastoral literature made explicit in the analysis is thus cemented in generic terms. The conclusion presents a summary of the central findings of this thesis and introduces questions for further study.

A phenomenon of recent decades is that digital marketplaces on the Internet are establishing themselves for a wide variety of products and services. Recently, it has become possible for private individuals to invest in young and innovative companies (so-called "start-ups"). Via Internet portals, potential investors can examine various start-ups and then directly invest in their chosen start-up. In return, investors receive a share in the firm- profit, while companies can use the raised capital to finance their projects. This new way of financing is called "Equity Crowdfunding" (ECF) or "Crowdinvesting". The aim of this dissertation is to provide empirical findings about the characteristics of ECF. In particular, the question of whether ECF is able to overcome geographic barriers, the interdependence of ECF and capital structure, and the risk of failure for funded start-ups and their chances of receiving follow-up funding by venture capitalists or business angels will be analyzed. The results of the first part of this dissertation show that investors in ECF prefer local companies. In particular, investors who invest larger amounts have a stronger tendency to invest in local start-ups. The second part of the dissertation provides first indications of the interdependencies between capital structure and ECF. The analysis makes clear that the capital structure is not a determinant for undertaking an ECF campaign. The third part of the dissertation analyzes the success of companies financed by ECF in a country comparison. The results show that after a successful ECF campaign German companies have a higher chance of receiving follow-up funding by venture capitalists compared to British companies. The probability of survival, however, is slightly lower for German companies. The results provide relevant implications for theory and practice. The existing literature in the area of entrepreneurial finance will be extended by insights into investor behavior, additions to the capital structure theory and a country comparison in ECF. In addition, implications are provided for various actors in practice.

Background: We evaluated depression and social isolation assessed at time of waitlisting as predictors of survival in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. Methods and Results: Between 2005 and 2006, 318 adult HTx candidates were enrolled in the Waiting for a New Heart Study, and 164 received transplantation. Patients were followed until February 2013. Psychosocial characteristics were assessed by questionnaires. Eurotransplant provided medical data at waitlisting, transplantation dates, and donor characteristics; hospitals reported medical data at HTx and date of death after HTx. During a median follow‐up of 70 months (<1"93 months post‐HTx), 56 (38%) of 148 transplanted patients with complete data died. Depression scores were unrelated to social isolation, and neither correlated with disease severity. Higher depression scores increased the risk of dying (hazard ratio=1.07, 95% confidence interval, 1.01, 1.15, P=0.032), which was moderated by social isolation scores (significant interaction term; hazard ratio = 0.985, 95% confidence interval, 0.973, 0.998; P=0.022). These findings were maintained in multivariate models controlling for covariates (P values 0.020"0.039). Actuarial 1‐year/5‐year survival was best for patients with low depression who were not socially isolated at waitlisting (86% after 1 year, 79% after 5 years). Survival of those who were either depressed, or socially isolated or both, was lower, especially 5 years posttransplant (56%, 60%, and 62%, respectively). Conclusions: Low depression in conjunction with social integration at time of waitlisting is related to enhanced chances for survival after HTx. Both factors should be considered for inclusion in standardized assessments and interventions for HTx candidates. We evaluated depression and social isolation assessed at time of waitlisting as predictors of survival in heart transplant (HTx) recipients.\r\n\r\nMethods and Results: Between 2005 and 2006, 318 adult HTx candidates were enrolled in the Waiting for a New Heart Study, and 164 received transplantation. Patients were followed until February 2013. Psychosocial characteristics were assessed by questionnaires. Eurotransplant provided medical data at waitlisting, transplantation dates, and donor characteristics; hospitals reported medical data at HTx and date of death after HTx. During a median follow‐up of 70 months (<1"93 months post‐HTx), 56 (38%) of 148 transplanted patients with complete data died. Depression scores were unrelated to social isolation, and neither correlated with disease severity. Higher depression scores increased the risk of dying (hazard ratio=1.07, 95% confidence interval, 1.01, 1.15, P=0.032), which was moderated by social isolation scores (significant interaction term; hazard ratio = 0.985, 95% confidence interval, 0.973, 0.998; P=0.022). These findings were maintained in multivariate models controlling for covariates (P values 0.020"0.039). Actuarial 1‐year/5‐year survival was best for patients with low depression who were not socially isolated at waitlisting (86% after 1 year, 79% after 5 years). Survival of those who were either depressed, or socially isolated or both, was lower, especially 5 years posttransplant (56%, 60%, and 62%, respectively).

Why do some people become entrepreneurs while others stay in paid employment? Searching for a distinctive set of entrepreneurial skills that matches the profile of the entrepreneurial task, Lazear introduced a theoretical model featuring skill variety for entrepreneurs. He argues that because entrepreneurs perform many different tasks, they should be multi-skilled in various areas. First, this dissertation provides the reader with an overview of previous relevant research results on skill variety with regard to entrepreneurship. The majority of the studies discussed focus on the effects of skill variety. Most studies come to the conclusion that skill variety mainly affects the decision to become self-employed. Skill variety also favors entrepreneurial intentions. Less clear are the results with regard to the influence of skill variety on the entrepreneurial success. Measured on the basis of income and survival of the company, a negative or U-shaped correlation is shown. Within the empirical part of this dissertation three research goals are tackled. First, this dissertation investigates whether a variety of early interests and activities in adolescence predicts subsequent variety in skills and knowledge. Second, the determinants of skill variety and variety of early interests and activities are investigated. Third, skill variety is tested as a mediator of the gender gap in entrepreneurial intentions. This dissertation employs structural equation modeling (SEM) using longitudinal data collected over ten years from Finnish secondary school students aged 16 to 26. As indicator for skill variety the number of functional areas in which the participant had prior educational or work experience is used. The results of the study suggest that a variety of early interests and activities lead to skill variety, which in turn leads to entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, the study shows that an early variety is predicted by openness and an entrepreneurial personality profile. Skill variety is also encouraged by an entrepreneurial personality profile. From a gender perspective, there is indeed a gap in entrepreneurial intentions. While a positive correlation has been found between the early variety of subjects and being female, there are negative correlations between the other two variables, education and work related Skill variety, and being female. The negative effect of work-related skill variety is the strongest. The results of this dissertation are relevant for research, politics, educational institutions and special entrepreneurship education programs. The results are also important for self-employed parents that plan the succession of the family business. Educational programs promoting entrepreneurship can be optimized on the basis of the results of this dissertation by making the transmission of a variety of skills a central goal. A focus on teenagers could also increase the success as well as a preselection based on the personality profile of the participants. Regarding the gender gap, state policies should aim to provide women with more incentives to acquire skill variety. For this purpose, education programs can be tailored specifically to women and self-employment can be presented as an attractive alternative to dependent employment.

Die Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Dissertation lag in der ausführlichen und systematischen Exploration, Deskription und Analyse von relational bedingten sozio-medialen Ungleichheiten zwischen jugendlichen Nutzern sozialer Netzwerkplattformen (WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat etc.). Im Rahmen der qualitativen Untersuchung wurden insgesamt sechs problemzentrierte Einzelinterviews und drei problemzentrierte Gruppendiskussionen mit Jugendlichen im Alter von 15 bis 20 Jahren sowie eine Gruppendiskussion mit pädagogischen Fachkräften durchgeführt und inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet. Die vorliegende Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Bedingungen und Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Individualmerkmalen von jugendlichen Nutzern (Interessen, Motive, Nutzungsweisen, Kompetenzen) und ihren relationalen Merkmalen (Beziehungen in sozialen Onlinenetzwerken) sowie den daraus resultierenden sozialen Ressourcen und Risiken. Die relationalen Merkmale sind laut den Ergebnissen der Dissertation gleich in zweifacher Hinsicht an der Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheitsstrukturen beteiligt: Erstens nehmen sie Einfluss auf den Zugang zu und die Bewertung von medienvermittelten Informationen, da Informationen auf den Plattformen vorwiegend innerhalb des mediatisierten Beziehungsnetzwerkes kreisen. Zweitens bestimmen die relationalen Merkmale maßgeblich mit, welche Kompetenzen und Präferenzen Jugendliche im Umgang mit sozialen Netzwerkplattformen erwerben. Bezüglich der Mediennutzung und -wirkung können bei den Jugendlichen mit niedrigem Bildungsniveau folgende ungleichheitsrelevante Befunde konstatiert werden: verzögerte Adaption neuer Plattformen, intensivere Nutzung, geringere Nutzungskompetenzen, vermehrte Aufmerksamkeitserzeugung sowie eine primär unterhaltungsorientierte Nutzung. Zudem weisen sie überwiegend homogene Netzwerkstrukturen auf, was sich nachteilig auf ihren Zugang zu medienvermittelten Informationen und deren Bewertung auswirkt. Für Jugendliche mit hohem Bildungsniveau lassen sich hingegen deutlich positivere Verstärkungseffekte durch die Mediennutzung feststellen.

Background: Psychotherapy is successful for the majority of patients , but not for every patient. Hence, further knowledge is needed on how treatments should be adapted for those who do not profit or deteriorate. In the last years prediction tools as well as feedback interventions were part of a trend to more personalized approaches in psychotherapy. Research on psychometric prediction and feedback into ongoing treatment has the potential to enhance treatment outcomes, especially for patients with an increased risk of treatment failure or drop-out.rnMethods/design: The research project investigates in a randomized controlled trial the effectiveness as well as moderating and mediating factors of psychometric feedback to therapists. In the intended study a total of 423 patients, who applied for a cognitive-behavioral therapy at the psychotherapy clinic of the University Trier and suffer from a depressive and/or an anxietyrndisorder (SCID interviews), will be included. The patients will be randomly assigned either to one therapist as well as to one of two intervention groups (CG, IG2). An additional intervention group (IG1) will be generated from an existing archival data set via propensity score matching. Patients of the control group (CG; n = 85) will be monitored concerning psychological impairment but therapists will not be provided with any feedback about the patients assessments. In both intervention groups (IG1: n = 169; IG2: n = 169) the therapists are provided with feedback about the patients self-evaluation in a computerized feedback portal. Therapists of the IG2 will additionally be provided with clinical support tools, which will be developed in thisrnproject, on the basis of existing systems. Therapists will also be provided with a personalized treatment recommendation based on similar patients (Nearest Neighbors) at the beginning of treatment. Besides the general effectiveness of feedback and the clinical support tools for negatively developing patients, further mediating and moderating variables on this feedback effectrnshould be examined: treatment length, frequency of feedback use, therapist effects, therapist- experience, attitude towards feedback as well as congruence of therapist-andpatient- evaluation concerning the progress. Additional procedures will be implemented to assess treatment adherence as well as the reliability of diagnosis and to include it into the analyses.rnDiscussion: The current trial tests a comprehensive feedback system which combines precision mental health predictions with routine outcome monitoring and feedback tools in routine outpatient psychotherapy. It also adds to previous feedback research a stricter design by investigating another repeated measurement CG as well as a stricter control of treatment integrity. It also includes a structured clinical interview (SCID) and controls for comorbidity (within depression and anxiety). This study also investigates moderators (attitudes towards, use of the feedback system, diagnoses) and mediators (therapists" awareness of negative change and treatment length) in one study.

Dry tropical forests undergo massive conversion and degradation processes. This also holds true for the extensive Miombo forests that cover large parts of Southern Africa. While the largest proportional area can be found in Angola, the country still struggles with food shortages, insufficient medical and educational supplies, as well as the ongoing reconstruction of infrastructure after 27 years of civil war. Especially in rural areas, the local population is therefore still heavily dependent on the consumption of natural resources, as well as subsistence agriculture. This leads, on one hand, to large areas of Miombo forests being converted for cultivation purposes, but on the other hand, to degradation processes due to the selective use of forest resources. While forest conversion in south-central rural Angola has already been quantitatively described, information about forest degradation is not yet available. This is due to the history of conflicts and the therewith connected research difficulties, as well as the remote location of this area. We apply an annual time series approach using Landsat data in south-central Angola not only to assess the current degradation status of the Miombo forests, but also to derive past developments reaching back to times of armed conflicts. We use the Disturbance Index based on tasseled cap transformation to exclude external influences like inter-annual variation of rainfall. Based on this time series, linear regression is calculated for forest areas unaffected by conversion, but also for the pre-conversion period of those areas that were used for cultivation purposes during the observation time. Metrics derived from linear regression are used to classify the study area according to their dominant modification processes.rnWe compare our results to MODIS latent integral trends and to further products to derive information on underlying drivers. Around 13% of the Miombo forests are affected by degradation processes, especially along streets, in villages, and close to existing agriculture. However, areas in presumably remote and dense forest areas are also affected to a significant extent. A comparison with MODIS derived fire ignition data shows that they are most likely affected by recurring fires and less by selective timber extraction. We confirm that areas that are used for agriculture are more heavily disturbed by selective use beforehand than those that remain unaffected by conversion. The results can be substantiated by the MODIS latent integral trends and we also show that due to extent and location, the assessment of forest conversion is most likely not sufficient to provide good estimates for the loss of natural resources.

Numerous RCTs demonstrate that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression is effective. However, these findings are not necessarily representative of CBT under routine care conditions. Routine care studies are not usually subjected to comparable standardizations, e.g. often therapists may not follow treatment manuals and patients are less homogeneous with regard to their diagnoses and sociodemographic variables. Results on the transferability of findings from clinical trials to routine care are sparse and point in different directions. As RCT samples are selective due to a stringent application of inclusion/exclusion criteria, comparisons between routine care and clinical trials must be based on a consistent analytic strategy. The present work demonstrates the merits of propensity score matching (PSM), which offers solutions to reduce bias by balancing two samples based on a range of pretreatment differences. The objective of this dissertation is the investigation of the transferability of findings from RCTs to routine care settings.

Avoiding aerial microfibre contamination of environmental samples is essential for reliable analyses when it comes to the detection of ubiquitous microplastics. Almost all laboratories have contamination problems which are largely unavoidable without investments in clean-air devices. Therefore, our study supplies an approach to assess background microfibre contamination of samples in the laboratory under particle-free air conditions. We tested aerial contamination of samples indoor, in a mobile laboratory, within a laboratory fume hood and on a clean bench with particles filtration during the examining process of a fish. The used clean bench reduced aerial microfibre contamination in our laboratory by 96.5%. This highlights the value of suitable clean-air devices for valid microplastic pollution data. Our results indicate, that pollution levels by microfibres have been overestimated and actual pollution levels may be many times lower. Accordingly, such clean-air devices are recommended for microplastic laboratory applications in future research work to significantly lower error rates.

Global human population growth is associated with many problems, such asrnfood and water provision, political conflicts, spread of diseases, and environmental destruction. The mitigation of these problems is mirrored in several global conventions and programs, some of which, however, are conflicting. Here, we discuss the conflicts between biodiversity conservation and disease eradication. Numerous health programs aim at eradicating pathogens, and many focus on the eradication of vectors, such as mosquitos or other parasites. As a case study, we focus on the "Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign," which aims at eradicating a pathogen (Trypanosoma) as well as its vector, the entire group of tsetse flies (Glossinidae). As the distribution of tsetse flies largely overlaps with the African hotspots of freshwater biodiversity, we argue for a strong consideration of environmental issues when applying vector control measures, especially the aerial applications of insecticides.rnFurthermore, we want to stimulate discussions on the value of speciesrnand whether full eradication of a pathogen or vector is justified at all. Finally, we call for a stronger harmonization of international conventions. Proper environmental impact assessments need to be conducted before control or eradication programs are carried out to minimize negative effects on biodiversity.

Erosion durch Regen und Wind schädigt fruchtbare Bodensubstanz irreversibel, verursacht weltweit riesige ökologische und sozio-ökonomische Schäden und ist eines der Hauptanliegen bezüglich Ökosystemdienstleistungen und Nahrungsmittelsicherheit. Die Quantifizierung von Abtragsraten ist immer noch höchst spekulativ, und fehlende empirische Daten führen zu großen Unsicherheiten von Risikoanalysemodellen. Als ein wesentlicher Grund für diese Unsicherheiten wird in dieser Arbeit die Prozesse der Beeinflussung von Wassererosion durch Wind und, im Speziellen, die Erosionsleistung von windbeeinflussten Regentropfen im Gegensatz zu windlosen Tropfen inklusive unterschiedlicher Oberflächenparameter beleuchtet. Der Forschungsansatz war experimentell-empirisch und beinhaltete die Entwicklung und Formulierung der Forschungshypothesen, die Konzeption und Durchführung von Experimenten mit einem mobilen Wind-Regenkanal, die Probenverarbeitung und Analyse sowie Interpretation der Daten. Die Arbeit gliedert sich in die Teile 1. "Bodenerosionsexperimente zu windbeeinflusstem Regen auf autochthonen und naturähnlichen Böden", 2. "Experimente zu Substratpartikeltransport durch windbeeinflussten Tropfenschlag" und 3. "Zusammenführung der Freiland- und Labortests". 1. Tests auf autochthonen degradierten Böden im semiariden Südspanien sowie auf kohäsionslosem sandigen Substrat wurden durchgeführt, um die relativen Auswirkungen von windbeeinflusstem Regen auf Oberflächenabflussbildung und Erosion zu untersuchen und zu quantifizieren. In der überwiegenden Anzahl der Versuche wurde klar eine Erhöhung der Erosionsraten festgestellt, was die Forschungshypothese, windbeeinflusster Regen sei erosiver als windloser Regen, deutlich bestätigte. Neben den stark erhöhten wurden auch niedrigere Abtragswerte gemessen, was zum einen die ausnehmende Relevanz der Oberflächenstrukturen und damit von in-situ- Experimenten belegte, zum anderen auf eine Erhöhung der Variabilität der Erosionsprozesse deutete. Diese Variabilität scheint zuzunehmen mit der Erhöhung der beteiligten Faktoren. 2. Ein sehr spezialisiertes Versuchsdesign wurde entwickelt und eingesetzt, um explizite Messungen der Tropfenschlagprozesse mit und ohne Windeinfluss durchzuführen. Getestet wurden die Erosionsagenzien Regen, Wind und windbeeinflusster Regen sowie drei Neigungen, drei Rauheiten und zwei Substrate. Alle Messergebnisse zeigten eine klare windinduzierte Erhöhung der Erosion um bis zu zwei Größenordnungen gegenüber windlosem Tropfenschlag und Wind. Windbeeinflusster Regen wird durch die gesteigerte Transportmenge und Weite als wesentlicher Erosionsfaktor bestätigt und ist damit ein Schlüsselparameter bei der Quantifizierung von globaler Bodenerosion, Erstellung von Sedimentbudgets und bei der Erforschung von Connectivity. Die Daten sind von hervorragender Qualität und sowohl für anspruchsvollere Analysemethoden (multivariate Statistik) als auch für Modellierungsansätze geeignet. 3. Eine Synthese aus Feld- und Laborversuchen (darunter auch ein bis dato unveröffentlichtes Versuchsset) inklusive einer statistischen Analyse bestätigt WDR als den herausragenden Faktor, der alle anderen Faktoren überlagert. Die Zusammenführung der beiden komplementären Experimentgruppen bringt die Forschungsreihe zu windbeeinflusstem Regen auf eine weiterführende Ebene, indem die Messergebnisse in einen ökologischen Zusammenhang gesetzt werden. Eine vorsichtige Projektion auf Landschaftsebene ermöglicht einen Einblick in die Risikobewertung von Bodenerosion durch windbeeinflussten Regen. Es wird deutlich, dass er sich gerade auch im Zusammenhang mit den durch den Klimawandel verstärkt auftretenden Regensturmereignissen katastrophal auf Bodenerosionsraten auszuwirken kann und dringend in die Bodenerosionsmodellierung integriert werden muss.

Determining the exact position of a forest inventory plot—and hence the position of the sampled trees—is often hampered by a poor Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal quality beneath the forest canopy. Inaccurate geo-references hamper the performance of models that aim to retrieve useful information from spatially high remote sensing data (e.g., species classification or timber volume estimation). This restriction is even more severe on the level of individual trees. The objective of this study was to develop a post-processing strategy to improve the positional accuracy of GNSS-measured sample-plot centers and to develop a method to automatically match trees within a terrestrial sample plot to aerial detected trees. We propose a new method which uses a random forest classifier to estimate the matching probability of each terrestrial-reference and aerial detected tree pair, which gives the opportunity to assess the reliability of the results. We investigated 133 sample plots of the Third German National Forest Inventory (BWI, 2011"2012) within the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. For training and objective validation, synthetic forest stands have been modeled using the Waldplaner 2.0 software. Our method has achieved an overall accuracy of 82.7% for co-registration and 89.1% for tree matching. With our method, 60% of the investigated plots could be successfully relocated. The probabilities provided by the algorithm are an objective indicator of the reliability of a specific result which could be incorporated into quantitative models to increase the performance of forest attribute estimations.

Dysfunctional eating behavior is a major risk factor for developing all sorts of eating disorders. Food craving is a concept that may help to understand better why and how these and other eating disorders become chronic conditions through non homeastatically-driven mechanisms. As obesity affects people worldwide, cultural differences must be acknowledged to apply proper therapeutic strategies. In this work, we adapted the Food Craving Inventory (FCI) to the German population. We performed a factor analysis of an adaptation of the original FCI in a sample of 326 men and women. We could replicate the factor structure of the FCI on a German population.rnThe factor extraction procedure produced a factor solution that reproduces the fourfactors described in the original inventory, the FCI. Our instrument presents high internal consistency, as well as a significant correlation with measures of convergent and discriminant validity. The FCI-Deutsch (FCI-DE) is a valid instrument to assess craving for particular foods in Germany, and it could, therefore, prove useful in the clinical and research practice in the field of obesity and eating behaviors.

In dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir das Optimierungsproblem der optimalen Materialausrichtung orthotroper Materialien in der Hülle von dreidimensionalen Schalenkonstruktionen. Ziel der Optimierung ist dabei die Minimierung der Gesamtnachgiebigkeit der Konstruktion, was der Suche nach einem möglichst steifen Design entspricht. Sowohl die mathematischen als auch die mechanischen Grundlagen werden in kompakter Form zusammengetragen und basierend darauf werden sowohl gradientenbasierte als auch auf mechanischen Prinzipien beruhende, neue Erweiterungen punktweise formulierter Optimierungsverfahren entwickelt und implementiert. Die vorgestellten Verfahren werden anhand des Beispiels des Modells einer Flugzeugtragfläche mit praxisrelevanter Problemgröße getestet und verglichen. Schließlich werden die untersuchten Methoden in ihrer Koppelung mit einem Verfahren zur Topologieoptimierung, basierend auf dem topologischen Gradienten untersucht.

This dissertation looked at both design-based and model-based estimation for rare and clustered populations using the idea of the ACS design. The ACS design (Thompson, 2012, p. 319) starts with an initial sample that is selected by a probability sampling method. If any of the selected units meets a pre-specified condition, its neighboring units are added to the sample and observed. If any of the added units meets the pre-specified condition, its neighboring units are further added to the sample and observed. The procedure continues until there are no more units that meet the pre-specified condition. In this dissertation, the pre-specified condition is the detection of at least one animal in a selected unit. In the design-based estimation, three estimators were proposed under three specific design setting. The first design was stratified strip ACS design that is suitable for aerial or ship surveys. This was a case study in estimating population totals of African elephants. In this case, units/quadrant were observed only once during an aerial survey. The Des Raj estimator (Raj, 1956) was modified to obtain an unbiased estimate of the population total. The design was evaluated using simulated data with different levels of rarity and clusteredness. The design was also evaluated on real data of African elephants that was obtained from an aerial census conducted in parts of Kenya and Tanzania in October (dry season) 2013. In this study, the order in which the samples were observed was maintained. Re-ordering the samples by making use of the Murthy's estimator (Murthy, 1957) can produce more efficient estimates. Hence a possible extension of this study. The computation cost resulting from the n! permutations in the Murthy's estimator however, needs to be put into consideration. The second setting was when there exists an auxiliary variable that is negatively correlated with the study variable. The Murthy's estimator (Murthy, 1964) was modified. Situations when the modified estimator is preferable was given both in theory and simulations using simulated and two real data sets. The study variable for the real data sets was the distribution and counts of oryx and wildbeest. This was obtained from an aerial census that was conducted in parts of Kenya and Tanzania in October (dry season) 2013. Temperature was the auxiliary variable for two study variables. Temperature data was obtained from R package raster. The modified estimator provided more efficient estimates with lower bias compared to the original Murthy's estimator (Murthy, 1964). The modified estimator was also more efficient compared to the modified HH and the modified HT estimators of (Thompson, 2012, p. 319). In this study, one auxiliary variable is considered. A fruitful area for future research would be to incorporate multi-auxiliary information at the estimation phase of an ACS design. This could, in principle, be done by using for instance a multivariate extension of the product estimator (Singh, 1967) or by using the generalized regression estimator (Särndal et al., 1992). The third case under design-based estimation, studied the conjoint use of the stopping rule (Gattone and Di Battista, 2011) and the use of the without replacement of clusters (Dryver and Thompson, 2007). Each of these two methods was proposed to reduce the sampling cost though the use of the stopping rule results in biased estimates. Despite this bias, the new estimator resulted in higher efficiency gain in comparison to the without replacement of cluster design. It was also more efficient compared to the stratified design which is known to reduce final sample size when networks are truncated at stratum boundaries. The above evaluation was based on simulated and real data. The real data was the distribution and counts of hartebeest, elephants and oryx obtained in the same census as above. The bias attributed by the stopping rule has not been evaluated analytically. This may not be direct since the truncated network formed depends on the initial unit sampled (Gattone et al., 2016a). This and the order of the bias however, deserves further investigation as it may help in understanding the effect of the increase in the initial sample size together with the population characteristics on the efficiency of the proposed estimator. Chapter four modeled data that was obtained using the stratified strip ACS (as described in sub-section (3.1)). This was an extension of the model of Rapley and Welsh (2008) by modeling data that was obtained from a different design, the introduction of an auxiliary variable and the use of the without replacement of clusters mechanism. Ideally, model-based estimation does not depend on the design or rather how the sample was obtained. This is however, not the case if the design is informative; such as the ACS design. In this case, the procedure that was used to obtain the sample was incorporated in the model. Both model-based and design-based simulations were conducted using artificial and real data. The study and the auxiliary variable for the real data was the distribution and counts of elephants collected during an aerial census in parts of Kenya and Tanzania in October (dry season) and April (wet season) 2013 respectively. Areas of possible future research include predicting the population total of African elephants in all parks in Kenya. This can be achieved in an economical and reliable way by using the theory of SAE. Chapter five compared the different proposed strategies using the elephant data. Again the study variable was the elephant data from October (dry season) 2013 and the auxiliary variable was the elephant data from April (wet season) 2013. The results show that the choice of particular strategy to use depends on the characteristic of the population under study and the level and the direction of the correlation between the study and the auxiliary variable (if present). One general area of the ACS design that is still behind, is the implementation of the design in the field especially on animal populations. This is partly attributed by the challenges associated with the field implementation, some of which were discussed in section 2.3. Green et al. (2010) however, provides new insights in undertaking the ACS design during an aerial survey such as how the aircraft should turn while surveying neighboring units. A key point throughout the dissertation is the reduction of cost during a survey which can be seen by the reduction in the number of units in the final sample (through the use of stopping rule, use of stratification and truncating networks at stratum boundaries) and ensuring that units are observed only once (by using the without replacement of cluster sampling technique). The cost of surveying an edge unit(s) is assumed to be low in which case the efficiency of the ACS design relative to the non-adaptive design is achieved (Thompson and Collins, 2002). This is however not the case in aerial surveys as the aircraft flies at constant speed and height (Norton-Griffiths, 1978). Hence the cost of surveying an edge unit is the same as the cost of surveying a unit that meets the condition of interest. The without replacement of cluster technique plays a greater role of reducing the cost of sampling in such surveys. Other key points that motivated the sections in the dissertation include gains in efficiency (in all sections) and practicability of the designs in the specific setting. Even though the dissertation focused on animal populations, the methods can as well be implemented in any population that is rare and clustered such as in the study of forestry, plants, pollution, minerals and so on.

Work craving theory addresses how work-addicted individuals direct great emotion-regulatory efforts to weave their addictive web of working. They crave work for two main emotional incentives: to overcompensate low self-worth and to escape (i.e., reduce) negative affect, which is strategically achieved through neurotic perfectionism and compulsive working. Work-addicted individuals" strong persistence and self-discipline with respect to work-related activities suggest strong skills in volitional action control. However, their inability to disconnect from work implies low volitional skills. How can work-addicted individuals have poor and strong volitional skills at the same time? To answer this paradox, we elaborated on the relevance of two different volitional modes in work craving: self-regulation (self-maintenance) and self-control (goal maintenance). Four hypotheses were derived from Wojdylo- work craving theory and Kuhl- self-regulation theory: (H1) Work craving is associated with a combination of low self-regulation and high self-control. (H2) Work craving is associated with symptoms of psychological distress. (H3) Low self-regulation is associated with psychological distress symptoms. (H4) Work craving mediates the relationships between self-regulation deficits and psychological distress symptoms at high levels of self-control. Additionally, we aimed at supporting the discriminant validity of work craving with respect to work engagement by showing their different volitional underpinnings. Results of the two studies confirmed our hypotheses: whereas work craving was predicted by high self-control and low self-regulation and associated with higher psychological distress, work engagement was predicted by high self-regulation and high self-control and associated with lower symptoms of psychological distress. Furthermore, work styles mediated the relationship between volitional skills and symptoms of psychological distress. Based on these new insights, several suggestions for prevention and therapeutic interventions for work-addicted individuals are proposed.