The 20 most recently published documents
Formulations of macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics such as moxidectin are regularly administered to sheep to combat parasites. A disadvantage of these pharmaceuticals are their side effects on non-target organisms when entering the environment. Little is known about anthelmintic effects on plant reproduction and whether the effects depend on environmental factors. For ecological and methodological reasons, we aimed at testing whether temperature affects the efficacy of a common moxidectin-based formulation on seed germination. We carried out a germination experiment including three typical species of temperate European grasslands (Centaurea jacea, Galium mollugo, Plantago lanceolata). We applied three temperature regimes (15/5, 20/10, 30/20°C), and a four-level dilution series (1:100–1:800) of formulated moxidectin (i.e., Cydectin oral drench). These solutions represent seed-anthelmintic contacts in the digestive tract of sheep shortly after deworming. In addition, a control was carried out with purified water only. We regularly counted emerging seedlings and calculated final germination percentage, mean germination time and synchrony of germination. Formulated moxidectin significantly reduced percentage, speed and synchrony of germination. A 1:100 dilution of the formulation reduced germination percentage by a quarter and increased mean germination time by six days compared to the control. Temperature moderated effects of the anthelmintic drug on germination in all response variables and all species, but in different patterns and magnitudes (significant anthelmintic x temperature x species interactions). In all response variables, the two more extreme temperature regimes (15/5, 30/20°C) led to the strongest effects of formulated moxidectin. With respect to germination percentage, G. mollugo was more sensitive to formulated moxidectin at the warmest temperature regime, whereas P. lanceolata showed the highest sensitivity at the coldest regime. This study shows that it is important to consider temperature dependencies of the effects of pharmaceuticals on seed germination when conducting standardised germination experiments.
The argan woodlands of South Morocco represent an open-canopy dryland forest with traditional silvopastoral usage that includes browsing by goats, sheep and camels, oil production as well as agricultural use. In the past, these forests have undergone extensive clearing, but are now protected by the state. However, the remaining argan woodlands are still under pressure from intensive grazing and illegal firewood collection. Although the argan-forest area seems to be overall decreasing due to large forest clearings for intensive agriculture, little quantitative data is available on the dynamics and overall state of the remaining argan forest. To determine how the argan woodlands in the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas had changed in tree-crown cover from 1972 to 2018 we used historical black and white HEXAGON satellite images as well as recent WorldView satellite images (see Part A of our study). Because tree shadows can oftentimes not be separated from the tree crown on panchromatic satellite images, individual trees were mapped in three size categories to determine if trees were unchanged, had decreased/increased in crown size or had disappeared or newly grown. The current state of the argan trees was evaluated by mapping tree architectures in the field. Tree-cover changes varied highly between the test sites. Trees that remained unchanged between 1972 and 2018 were in the majority, while tree mortality and tree establishment were nearly even. Small unchanged trees made up 48.4% of all remaining trees, of these 51% showed degraded tree architectures. 40% of small (re-) grown trees were so overbrowsed that they only appeared as bushes, while medium (3–7 m crown diameter) and large trees (>7 m) showed less degraded trees regardless if they had changed or not. Approaches like grazing exclusion or cereal cultivation lead to a positive influence on tree architecture and less tree-cover decrease. Although the woodland was found to be mostly unchanged 1972–2018, the analysis of tree architecture reveals that a lot of (mostly small) trees remained stable but in a degraded state. This stability might be the result of the small trees’ high degradation status and shows the heavy pressure on the argan forest.
With the start of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the global education system has a faced immense challenges and disruptions resulting in and the necessity for an immediate redesign of teaching and learning in the school context. Face-to-face classroom instruction had to be replaced by ‘emergency remote teaching’, requiring teacher to adapt their daily routines to a new and unprecedented educational reality. Researchers and policymakers worldwide have agreed that, despite the fact that efforts were made to immediately adapt to emergency remote teaching, disadvantaged and vulnerable students may be especially at risk in emergency remote teaching. Given the differences in schooling organization across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic it can be expected that teachers performed inclusive instructional practices significantly different. Against the unpredictable situation, cross-country research has been urgently required to provide data that could inform education policy. Thus, this study explored teachers’ perceptions of supporting at risk students during the first COVID-19 school closures, as well as examining teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in three countries: Germany, Austria and Portugal. ANOVA results revealed important country differences. In general, it appears that teachers in Germany and Austria reported to have implemented less practices to address vulnerable and at-risk students compared to Portuguese teachers. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research are outlined.
Objective: Attunement is a novel measure of nonverbal synchrony reflecting the duration of the present moment shared by two interaction partners. This study examined its association with early change in outpatient psychotherapy.
Methods: Automated video analysis based on motion energy analysis (MEA) and cross-correlation of the movement time-series of patient and therapist was conducted to calculate movement synchrony for N = 161 outpatients. Movement-based attunement was defined as the range of connected time lags with significant synchrony. Latent change classes in the HSCL-11 were identified with growth mixture modeling (GMM) and predicted by pre-treatment covariates and attunement using multilevel multinomial regression.
Results: GMM identified four latent classes: high impairment, no change (Class 1); high impairment, early response (Class 2); moderate impairment (Class 3); and low impairment (Class 4). Class 2 showed the strongest attunement, the largest early response, and the best outcome. Stronger attunement was associated with a higher likelihood of membership in Class 2 (b = 0.313, p = .007), Class 3 (b = 0.251, p = .033), and Class 4 (b = 0.275, p = .043) compared to Class 1. For highly impaired patients, the probability of no early change (Class 1) decreased and the probability of early response (Class 2) increased as a function of attunement.
Conclusions: Among patients with high impairment, stronger patient-therapist attunement was associated with early response, which predicted a better treatment outcome. Video-based assessment of attunement might provide new information for therapists not available from self-report questionnaires and support therapists in their clinical decision-making.
Der Beitrag diskutiert das Verhältnis von allgemeiner und beruflicher Bildung mithilfe einer pädagogischen Theorie der Organisation. Allgemeine Erwachsenen- und berufliche Bildung treffen sich darin, Prozess und Ergebnis der wechselseitigen Auseinandersetzung zwischen Organisationen und Individuen zu sein. Organisationen sind nicht nur Kontext von Bildung, sie sind selber gebildet und wirken pädagogisch. Der Beitrag erschließt die Funktion und Eigenlogik der Organisation in ihrem Verhältnis zu den Grundbegriffen der Erziehungswissenschaft. Der Vorschlag ermöglicht es, Lernen, Sozialisation, Erziehung, Bildung und Kompetenz in ihrer Geltung für die ineinander verflochtene Strukturdynamik von Organisation und Subjekt zu differenzieren. Als Alternative zur geläufigen Organisationsvergessenheit der Pädagogik integriert die differenzierende Ordnung dieser Begriffe eine erziehungswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf Individuum und Organisation.
In den letzten Jahren hat die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) das Thema Wohnen zunehmend in ihren Wahlprogrammen aufgegriffen und für die eigene politische Profilierung genutzt. Der Beitrag zeigt, inwiefern die Thematisierung des Wohnens bei der AfD so formuliert ist, dass es erhebliche Anknüpfungspunkte an rechtes Gedankengut herstellt. Der Beitrag thematisiert die damit verbundenen Herausforderungen für eine kritische Stadtforschung sowie für progressive soziale Bewegungen. Er plädiert dafür, sich der Gefahr der rechten Vereinnahmung des Themas Wohnen bewusst zu sein und sich deutlich von den rechten Übernahmeversuchen abzugrenzen sowie Gegenstrategien zu entwickeln.
Background: Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating, OMIM %114110) is a complex disorder with multifactorial causes. Emotional strains and social stress increase symptoms and lead to a vicious circle. Previously, we showed significantly higher depression scores, and normal cortisol awakening responses in patients with primary focal hyperhidrosis (PFH). Stress reactivity in response to a (virtual) Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR) has not been studied so far. Therefore, we measured sweat secretion, salivary cortisol and alpha amylase (sAA) concentrations, and subjective stress ratings in affected and non-affected subjects in response to a TSST-VR.
Method: In this pilot study, we conducted TSST-VRs and performed general linear models with repeated measurements for salivary cortisol and sAA levels, heart rate, axillary sweat and subjective stress ratings for two groups (diagnosed PFH (n = 11), healthy controls (n = 16)).
Results: PFH patients showed significantly heightened sweat secretion over time compared to controls (p = 0.006), with highest quantities during the TSST-VR. In both groups, sweating (p < 0.001), maximum cortisol levels (p = 0.002), feelings of stress (p < 0.001), and heart rate (p < 0.001) but not sAA (p = 0.068) increased significantly in response to the TSST-VR. However, no differences were detected in subjective ratings, cortisol concentrations and heart rate between PFH patients and controls (pall > 0.131).
Conclusion: Patients with diagnosed PFH showed stress-induced higher sweat secretion compared to healthy controls but did not differ in the stress reactivity with regard to endocrine or subjective markers. This pilot study is in need of replication to elucidate the role of the sympathetic nervous system as a potential pathway involved in the stress-induced emotional sweating of PFH patients.
Influence of Ozone and Drought on Tree Growth under Field Conditions in a 22 Year Time Series
(2022)
Studying the effect of surface ozone (O3) and water stress on tree growth is important for planning sustainable forest management and forest ecology. In the present study, a 22-year long time series (1998–2019) on basal area increment (BAI) and fructification severity of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H.Karst.) at five forest sites in Western Germany (Rhineland Palatinate) was investigated to evaluate how it correlates with drought and stomatal O3 fluxes (PODY) with an hourly threshold of uptake (Y) to represent the detoxification capacity of trees (POD1, with Y = 1 nmol O3 m−2 s−1). Between 1998 and 2019, POD1 declined over time by on average 0.31 mmol m−2 year−1. The BAI showed no significant trend at all sites, except in Leisel where a slight decline was observed over time (−0.37 cm2 per year, p < 0.05). A random forest analysis showed that the soil water content and daytime O3 mean concentration were the best predictors of BAI at all sites. The highest mean score of fructification was observed during the dry years, while low level or no fructification was observed in most humid years. Combined effects of drought and O3 pollution mostly influence tree growth decline for European beech and Norway spruce.
Reconstructing invisible deviating events: A conformance checking approach for recurring events
(2022)
Conformance checking enables organizations to determine whether their executed processes are compliant with the intended process. However, if the processes contain recurring activities, state-of-the-art approaches unfortunately have difficulties calculating the conformance. The occurrence of complex temporal rules can further increase the complexity of the problem. Identifying this limitation, this paper presents a novel approach towards dealing with recurring activities in conformance checking. The core idea of the approach is to reconstruct the missing events in the event log using defined rules while incorporating specified temporal event characteristics. This approach then enables the use of native conformance checking algorithms. The paper illustrates the algorithmic approach and defines the required temporal event characteristics. Furthermore, the approach is applied and evaluated in a case study on an event log for melanoma surveillance.
List-method directed forgetting (LMDF) is the demonstration that people can intentionally forget previously studied information when they are asked to forget what they have previously learned and remember new information instead. In addition, recent research demonstrated that people can selectively forget when cued to forget only a subset of the previously studied information. Both forms of forgetting are typically observed in recall tests, in which the to-be-forgotten and to-be-remembered information is tested independent of original cuing. Thereby, both LMDF and selective directed forgetting (SDF) have been studied mostly with unrelated item materials (e.g., word lists). The present study examined whether LMDF and SDF generalize to prose material. Participants learned three prose passages, which they were cued to remember or forget after the study of each passage. At the time of testing, participants were asked to recall the three prose passages regardless of original cuing. The results showed no significant differences in recall of the three lists as a function of cuing condition. The findings suggest that LMDF and SDF do not occur with prose material. Future research is needed to replicate and extend these findings with (other) complex and meaningful materials before drawing firm conclusions. If the null effect proves to be robust, this would have implications regarding the ecological validity and generalizability of current LMDF and SDF findings.
The global spread of the coronavirus pandemic has particularly dramatic consequences for the lives of migrants and refugees living in already marginalised and restricted conditions, whose ongoing crisis is at risk of being overlooked. But refugees are not only extremely vulnerable and at risk of infection, as several reports show, quickly develop their own protection measures like the production of hygienic products, the publication of their situation and calls for action and help. Therefore, this paper aims to research the effects of the coronavirus crisis on refugees in camp settings with a special ethnographic focus on how refugees actively deal with this crisis and if they, through already developed resilience, are capable of adapting to the restrictions as well as inventing strategies to cope with the difficult situation. To account for the variety of refugee camps as well as the different living conditions due to their locality, history and national asylum politics, we will look at three different locations, namely refugee asylum homes in Germany, hotspots on the Greek islands as well as one refugee camp in Kenya. The main questions will be how, under structurally and institutionally framed conditions of power and victimisation in refugee camps, forms of agency are established, made possible or limited. The goal is to show which strategies refugees apply to cope with the enhanced restrictions and exclusion, how they act to protect themselves and others from the virus and how they present and reflect their situation during the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, this discussion offers a new perspective to consider refugees not only as vulnerable victims, but also as actively engaged individuals.
Measurements of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) structure were performed for three years (October 2017–August 2020) at the Russian observatory “Ice Base Cape Baranova” (79.280° N, 101.620° E) using SODAR (Sound Detection And Ranging). These measurements were part of the YOPP (Year of Polar Prediction) project “Boundary layer measurements in the high Arctic” (CATS_BL) within the scope of a joint German–Russian project. In addition to SODAR-derived vertical profiles of wind speed and direction, a suite of complementary measurements at the observatory was available. ABL measurements were used for verification of the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM) with a 5 km resolution for 2017–2020. The CCLM was run with nesting in ERA5 data in a forecast mode for the measurement period. SODAR measurements were mostly limited to wind speeds <12 m/s since the signal was often lost for higher winds. The SODAR data showed a topographical channeling effect for the wind field in the lowest 100 m and some low-level jets (LLJs). The verification of the CCLM with near-surface data of the observatory showed good agreement for the wind and a negative bias for the 2 m temperature. The comparison with SODAR data showed a positive bias for the wind speed of about 1 m/s below 100 m, which increased to 1.5 m/s for higher levels. In contrast to the SODAR data, the CCLM data showed the frequent presence of LLJs associated with the topographic channeling in Shokalsky Strait. Although SODAR wind profiles are limited in range and have a lot of gaps, they represent a valuable data set for model verification. However, a full picture of the ABL structure and the climatology of channeling events could be obtained only with the model data. The climatological evaluation showed that the wind field at Cape Baranova was not only influenced by direct topographic channeling under conditions of southerly winds through the Shokalsky Strait but also by channeling through a mountain gap for westerly winds. LLJs were detected in 37% of all profiles and most LLJs were associated with channeling, particularly LLJs with a jet speed ≥ 15 m/s (which were 29% of all LLJs). The analysis of the simulated 10 m wind field showed that the 99%-tile of the wind speed reached 18 m/s and clearly showed a dipole structure of channeled wind at both exits of Shokalsky Strait. The climatology of channeling events showed that this dipole structure was caused by the frequent occurrence of channeling at both exits. Channeling events lasting at least 12 h occurred on about 62 days per year at both exits of Shokalsky Strait.
The unrestrainable evolution of medical science and technology is drastically changing health-care, enabling new medical procedures and remedies, which are increasingly intertwined with moral principles. Although a uniform European approach on assisted suicide is lacking, a common trend is developing: the boundary between euthanasia, assisted suicide and end-of-life care and the frontiers of legitimate medicine are becoming increasingly blurred. In Italy, a ruling of the Constitutional Court, no. 242/2019, declared the partial unconstitutionality of article 580 of the Italian Criminal Code, which prohibited assistance in suicide.
Specifically, article 580 excluded the criminal liability for the person who, in the manner provided for in Articles 1 and 2 of the law 22 December 2017, no. 219, “facilitates the execution of intention of suicide, autonomously and freely formed, of one person kept alive by life-sustaining treatments and suffering from an irreversible pathology, source of physical or psychological suffering that he/she deems intolerable, but fully capable of making free aware decisions, provided that such conditions and methods of execution have been verified by a public structure of the national health service, following the opinion of the territorially competent ethics committee.” The present paper analyzes the legal regime of assisted suicide in Italy, the role of the rule of law, and the crucial boundary between the branches of government with regard to this delicate issue, and investigates current legal challenges and potential future legal tracks.
Energy transport networks are one of the most important infrastructures for the planned energy transition. They form the interface between energy producers and consumers and their features make them good candidates for the tools that mathematical optimization can offer. Nevertheless, the operation of energy networks comes with two major challenges. First, the nonconvexity of the equations that model the physics in the network render the resulting problems extremely hard to solve for large-scale networks. Second, the uncertainty associated to the behavior of the different agents involved, the production of energy, and the consumption of energy make the resulting problems hard to solve if a representative description of uncertainty is to be considered.
In this cumulative dissertation we study adaptive refinement algorithms designed to cope with the nonconvexity and stochasticity of equations arising in energy networks. Adaptive refinement algorithms approximate the original problem by sequentially refining the model of a simpler optimization problem. More specifically, in this thesis, the focus of the adaptive algorithm is on adapting the discretization and description of a set of constraints.
In the first part of this thesis, we propose a generalization of the different adaptive refinement ideas that we study. We sequentially describe model catalogs, error measures, marking strategies, and switching strategies that are used to set up the adaptive refinement algorithm. Afterward, the effect of the adaptive refinement algorithm on two energy network applications is studied. The first application treats the stationary operation of district heating networks. Here, the strength of adaptive refinement algorithms for approximating the ordinary differential equation that describes the transport of energy is highlighted. We introduce the resulting nonlinear problem, consider network expansion, and obtain realistic controls by applying the adaptive refinement algorithm. The second application concerns quantile-constrained optimization problems and highlights the ability of the adaptive refinement algorithm to cope with large scenario sets via clustering. We introduce the resulting mixed-integer linear problem, discuss generic solution techniques, make the link with the generalized framework, and measure the impact of the proposed solution techniques.
The second part of this thesis assembles the papers that inspired the contents of the first part of this thesis. Hence, they describe in detail the topics that are covered and will be referenced throughout the first part.
THE NONLOCAL NEUMANN PROBLEM
(2023)
Instead of presuming only local interaction, we assume nonlocal interactions. By doing so, mass
at a point in space does not only interact with an arbitrarily small neighborhood surrounding it,
but it can also interact with mass somewhere far, far away. Thus, mass jumping from one point to
another is also a possibility we can consider in our models. So, if we consider a region in space, this
region interacts in a local model at most with its closure. While in a nonlocal model this region may
interact with the whole space. Therefore, in the formulation of nonlocal boundary value problems
the enforcement of boundary conditions on the topological boundary may not suffice. Furthermore,
choosing the complement as nonlocal boundary may work for Dirichlet boundary conditions, but
in the case of Neumann boundary conditions this may lead to an overfitted model.
In this thesis, we introduce a nonlocal boundary and study the well-posedness of a nonlocal Neu-
mann problem. We present sufficient assumptions which guarantee the existence of a weak solution.
As in a local model our weak formulation is derived from an integration by parts formula. However,
we also study a different weak formulation where the nonlocal boundary conditions are incorporated
into the nonlocal diffusion-convection operator.
After studying the well-posedness of our nonlocal Neumann problem, we consider some applications
of this problem. For example, we take a look at a system of coupled Neumann problems and analyze
the difference between a local coupled Neumann problems and a nonlocal one. Furthermore, we let
our Neumann problem be the state equation of an optimal control problem which we then study. We
also add a time component to our Neumann problem and analyze this nonlocal parabolic evolution
equation.
As mentioned before, in a local model mass at a point in space only interacts with an arbitrarily
small neighborhood surrounding it. We analyze what happens if we consider a family of nonlocal
models where the interaction shrinks so that, in limit, mass at a point in space only interacts with
an arbitrarily small neighborhood surrounding it.
Anpassung an den Klimawandel stellt eine komplexe gesellschaftliche Herausforderung dar und hat Bezug zu steuerungstheoretischen Fragen um Governance. Klimaanpassung zeichnet sich aus durch die Zusammenarbeit staatlicher und nicht-staatlicher Akteure, netzwerkartige Strukturen, flexible Steuerungsmechanismen sowie formelle und informelle Koordinationsstrukturen. Für die erfolgreiche Gestaltung von Klimaanpassungspolitik müssen vielfältige Akteurs- und Interessenskonstellationen berücksichtigt werden.
Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, das Traben-Trarbacher Akteurs- und Stakeholdernetzwerk aus Perspektive der Klimaanpassung zu analysieren. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt hierbei auf den regionalwirtschaftlich bedeutenden Sektoren Weinbau und Tourismus, die integriert und im Kontext von kommunalen, regionalen und überregionalen Strukturen betrachtet werden. Im Rahmen der Analyse wurden das Beziehungsgeflecht, die Reichweite und Diversität des Netzwerks sowie die Zusammensetzung der Akteurslandschaft dargestellt. Darüber hinaus konnten wichtige Schlüsselakteure, potenzielle Multiplikatoren, Interdependenzen zwischen Weinbau und Tourismus sowie Informations- und Wissensquellen identifiziert werden.
Die Ergebnisse der Stakeholderanalyse geben wichtige Hinweise darauf, welche Akteure in Steuerungsprozesse von Klimaanpassung einbezogen und welche lokalen Gegebenheiten und Beziehungen hierbei berücksichtig werden müssen. Besonders die Zusammensetzung der Akteure hat entscheidenden Einfluss auf den Verlauf und Erfolg der Steuerung von Klimaanpassung. Die vorliegende Stakeholderanalyse schafft also eine wichtige Grundlage zur Etablierung eines Governance-Netzwerks für die Erarbeitung und Erprobung von Klimawandelanpassungsmaßnahmen in Traben-Trarbach und der Moselregion. Damit dient die Analyse der langfristigen Verankerung von Klimaanpassung in der Region und kann auch als Anregung für weitere Kommunen genutzt werden, die vor ähnlichen Herausforderungen stehen wie Traben-Trarbach.
Traditional workflow management systems support process participants in fulfilling business tasks through guidance along a predefined workflow model.
Flexibility has gained a lot of attention in recent decades through a shift from mass production to customization. Various approaches to workflow flexibility exist that either require extensive knowledge acquisition and modelling effort or an active intervention during execution and re-modelling of deviating behaviour. The pursuit of flexibility by deviation is to compensate both of these disadvantages through allowing alternative unforeseen execution paths at run time without demanding the process participant to adapt the workflow model. However, the implementation of this approach has been little researched so far.
This work proposes a novel approach to flexibility by deviation. The approach aims at supporting process participants during the execution of a workflow through suggesting work items based on predefined strategies or experiential knowledge even in case of deviations. The developed concepts combine two renowned methods from the field of artificial intelligence - constraint satisfaction problem solving with process-oriented case-based reasoning. This mainly consists of a constraint-based workflow engine in combination with a case-based deviation management. The declarative representation of workflows through constraints allows for implicit flexibility and a simple possibility to restore consistency in case of deviations. Furthermore, the combined model, integrating procedural with declarative structures through a transformation function, increases the capabilities for flexibility. For an adequate handling of deviations the methodology of case-based reasoning fits perfectly, through its approach that similar problems have similar solutions. Thus, previous made experiences are transferred to currently regarded problems, under the assumption that a similar deviation has been handled successfully in the past.
Necessary foundations from the field of workflow management with a focus on flexibility are presented first.
As formal foundation, a constraint-based workflow model was developed that allows for a declarative specification of foremost sequential dependencies of tasks. Procedural and declarative models can be combined in the approach, as a transformation function was specified that converts procedural workflow models to declarative constraints.
One main component of the approach is the constraint-based workflow engine that utilizes this declarative model as input for a constraint solving algorithm. This algorithm computes the worklist, which is proposed to the process participant during workflow execution. With predefined deviation handling strategies that determine how the constraint model is modified in order to restore consistency, the support is continuous even in case of deviations.
The second major component of the proposed approach constitutes the case-based deviation management, which aims at improving the support of process participants on the basis of experiential knowledge. For the retrieve phase, a sophisticated similarity measure was developed that integrates specific characteristics of deviating workflows and combines several sequence similarity measures. Two alternative methods for the reuse phase were developed, a null adaptation and a generative adaptation. The null adaptation simply proposes tasks from the most similar workflow as work items, whereas the generative adaptation modifies the constraint-based workflow model based on the most similar workflow in order to re-enable the constraint-based workflow engine to suggest work items.
The experimental evaluation of the approach consisted of a simulation of several types of process participants in the exemplary domain of deficiency management in construction. The results showed high utility values and a promising potential for an investigation of the transfer on other domains and the applicability in practice, which is part of future work.
Concluding, the contributions are summarized and research perspectives are pointed out.
Official business surveys form the basis for national and regional business statistics and are thus of great importance for analysing the state and performance of the economy. However, both the heterogeneity of business data and their high dynamics pose a particular challenge to the feasibility of sampling and the quality of the resulting estimates. A widely used sampling frame for creating the design of an official business survey is an extract from an official business register. However, if this frame does not accurately represent the target population, frame errors arise. Amplified by the heterogeneity and dynamics of business populations, these errors can significantly affect the estimation quality and lead to inefficiencies and biases. This dissertation therefore deals with design-based methods for optimising business surveys with respect to different types of frame errors.
First, methods for adjusting the sampling design of business surveys are addressed. These approaches integrate auxiliary information about the expected structures of frame errors into the sampling design. The aim is to increase the number of sampled businesses that are subject to frame errors. The element-specific frame error probability is estimated based on auxiliary information about frame errors observed in previous samples. The approaches discussed consider different types of frame errors and can be incorporated into predefined designs with fixed strata.
As the second main pillar of this work, methods for adjusting weights to correct for frame errors during estimation are developed and investigated. As a result of frame errors, the assumptions under which the original design weights were determined based on the sampling design no longer hold. The developed methods correct the design weights taking into account the errors identified for sampled elements. Case-number-based reweighting approaches, on the one hand, attempt to reconstruct the unknown size of the individual strata in the target population. In the context of weight smoothing methods, on the other hand, design weights are modelled and smoothed as a function of target or auxiliary variables. This serves to avoid inefficiencies in the estimation due to highly scattering weights or weak correlations between weights and target variables. In addition, possibilities of correcting frame errors by calibration weighting are elaborated. Especially when the sampling frame shows over- and/or undercoverage, the inclusion of external auxiliary information can provide a significant improvement of the estimation quality. For those methods whose quality cannot be measured using standard procedures, a procedure for estimating the variance based on a rescaling bootstrap is proposed. This enables an assessment of the estimation quality when using the methods in practice.
In the context of two extensive simulation studies, the methods presented in this dissertation are evaluated and compared with each other. First, in the environment of an experimental simulation, it is assessed which approaches are particularly suitable with regard to different data situations. In a second simulation study, which is based on the structural survey in the services sector, the applicability of the methods in practice is evaluated under realistic conditions.
Dieser Maßnahmenkatalog stellt Anpassungsoptionen für den Weinbau an der Mittelmosel vor. Die gemeinsam mit lokalen Akteur*innen erarbeiteten Maßnahmen zielen erstens darauf ab, konkrete Handlungsoptionen zur Anpassung des Weinbaus an den Klimawandel aufzuzeigen. Zweitens sollen durch strukturelle Maßnahmen bestehende regionalspezifische Herausforderungen adressiert und die generellen Anpassungskapazitäten der Akteur*innen an der Mittelmosel gestärkt werden.
Wasserbezogene regulierende und versorgende Ökosystemdienstleistungen (ÖSDL) wurden im Hinblick auf das Abflussregime und die Grundwasserneubildung im Biosphärenreservat Pfälzerwald im Südwesten Deutschlands anhand hydrologischer Modellierung unter Verwendung des Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) untersucht. Dabei wurde ein holistischer Ansatz verfolgt, wonach den ÖSDL Indikatoren für funktionale und strukturelle ökologische Prozesse zugeordnet werden. Potenzielle Risikofaktoren für die Verschlechterung von wasserbedingten ÖSDL des Waldes, wie Bodenverdichtung durch Befahren mit schweren Maschinen im Zuge von Holzerntearbeiten, Schadflächen mit Verjüngung, entweder durch waldbauliche Bewirtschaftungspraktiken oder durch Windwurf, Schädlinge und Kalamitäten im Zuge des Klimawandels, sowie der Kli-mawandel selbst als wesentlicher Stressor für Waldökosysteme wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Auswirkungen auf hydrologische Prozesse analysiert. Für jeden dieser Einflussfaktoren wurden separate SWAT+-Modellszenarien erstellt und mit dem kalibrierten Basismodell verglichen, das die aktuellen Wassereinzugsgebietsbedingungen basierend auf Felddaten repräsentierte. Die Simulationen bestätigten günstige Bedingungen für die Grundwasserneubildung im Pfälzerwald. Im Zusammenhang mit der hohen Versickerungskapazität der Bodensubstrate der Buntsandsteinverwitterung, sowie dem verzögernden und puffernden Einfluss der Baumkronen auf das Niederschlagswasser, wurde eine signifikante Minderungswirkung auf die Oberflächenabflussbildung und ein ausgeprägtes räumliches und zeitliches Rückhaltepotential im Einzugsgebiet simuliert. Dabei wurde festgestellt, dass erhöhte Niederschlagsmengen, die die Versickerungskapazität der sandigen Böden übersteigen, zu einer kurz geschlossenen Abflussreaktion mit ausgeprägten Oberflächenabflussspitzen führen. Die Simulationen zeigten Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wald und Wasserkreislauf sowie die hydrologische Wirksamkeit des Klimawandels, verschlechterter Bodenfunktionen und altersbezogener Bestandesstrukturen im Zusammenhang mit Unterschieden in der Baumkronenausprägung. Zukunfts-Klimaprojektionen, die mit BIAS-bereinigten REKLIES- und EURO-CORDEX-Regionalklimamodellen (RCM) simuliert wurden, prognostizierten einen höheren Verdunstungsbedarf und eine Verlängerung der Vegetationsperiode bei gleichzeitig häufiger auftretenden Dürreperioden innerhalb der Vegetationszeit, was eine Verkürzung der Periode für die Grundwasserneubildung induzierte, und folglich zu einem prognostizierten Rückgang der Grundwasserneubildungsrate bis zur Mitte des Jahrhunderts führte. Aufgrund der starken Korrelation mit Niederschlagsintensitäten und der Dauer von Niederschlagsereignissen, bei allen Unsicherheiten in ihrer Vorhersage, wurde für die Oberflächenabflussgenese eine Steigerung bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts prognostiziert.
Für die Simulation der Bodenverdichtung wurden die Trockenrohdichte des Bodens und die SCS Curve Number in SWAT+ gemäß Daten aus Befahrungsversuchen im Gebiet angepasst. Die günstigen Infiltrationsbedingungen und die relativ geringe Anfälligkeit für Bodenverdichtung der grobkörnigen Buntsandsteinverwitterung dominierten die hydrologischen Auswirkungen auf Wassereinzugsgebietsebene, sodass lediglich moderate Verschlechterungen wasserbezogener ÖSDL angezeigt wurden. Die Simulationen zeigten weiterhin einen deutlichen Einfluss der Bodenart auf die hydrologische Reaktion nach Bodenverdichtung auf Rückegassen und stützen damit die Annahme, dass die Anfälligkeit von Böden gegenüber Verdichtung mit dem Anteil an Schluff- und Tonbodenpartikeln zunimmt. Eine erhöhte Oberflächenabflussgenese ergab sich durch das Wegenetz im Gesamtgebiet.
Schadflächen mit Bestandesverjüngung wurden anhand eines artifiziellen Modells innerhalb eines Teileinzugsgebiets unter der Annahme von 3-jährigen Baumsetzlingen in einem Entwicklungszeitraum von 10 Jahren simuliert und hinsichtlich spezifischer Was-serhaushaltskomponenten mit Altbeständen (30 bis 80 Jahre) verglichen. Die Simulation ließ darauf schließen, dass bei fehlender Kronenüberschirmung die hydrologisch verzögernde Wirkung der Bestände beeinträchtigt wird, was die Entstehung von Oberflächenabfluss begünstigt und eine quantitativ geringfügig höhere Tiefensickerung fördert. Hydrologische Unterschiede zwischen dem geschlossenem Kronendach der Altbestände und Jungbeständen mit annähernden Freilandniederschlagsbedingungen wurden durch die dominierenden Faktoren atmosphärischer Verdunstungsanstoß, Niederschlagsmengen und Kronenüberschirmungsgrad bestimmt. Je weniger entwickelt das Kronendach von verjüngten Waldbeständen im Vergleich zu Altbeständen, je höher der atmosphärische Verdunstungsanstoß und je geringer die eingetragenen Niederschlagsmengen, desto größer war der hydrologische Unterschied zwischen den Bestandestypen.
Verbesserungsmaßnahmen für den dezentralen Hochwasserschutz sollten folglich kritische Bereiche für die Abflussbildung im Wald (CSA) berücksichtigen. Die hohe Sensibilität und Anfälligkeit der Wälder gegenüber Verschlechterungen der Ökosystembedingungen legen nahe, dass die Erhaltung des komplexen Gefüges und von intakten Wechselbeziehungen, insbesondere unter der gegebenen Herausforderung des Klimawandels, sorgfältig angepasste Schutzmaßnahmen, Anstrengungen bei der Identifizierung von CSA sowie die Erhaltung und Wiederherstellung der hydrologischen Kontinuität in Waldbeständen erfordern.