We consider variational discretization of three different optimal control problems. The first being a parabolic optimal control problem governed by space-time measure controls. This problem has a nice sparsity structure, which motivates our aim to achieve maximal sparsity on the discrete level. Due to the measures on the right hand side of the partial differential equation, we consider a very weak solution theory for the state equation and need an embedding into the continuous functions for the pairings to make sense. Furthermore, we employ Fenchel duality to formulate the predual problem and give results on solution theory of both the predual and the primal problem. Later on, the duality is also helpful for the derivation of algorithms, since the predual problem can be differentiated twice so that we can apply a semismooth Newton method. We then retrieve the optimal control by duality relations. For the state discretization we use a Petrov-Galerkin method employing piecewise constant states and piecewise linear and continuous test functions in time. For the space discretization we choose piecewise linear and continuous functions. As a result the controls are composed of Dirac measures in space-time, centered at points on the discrete space-time grid. We prove that the optimal discrete states and controls converge strongly in L^q and weakly-* in Μ, respectively, to their smooth counterparts, where q ϵ (1,min{2,1+2/d}] is the spatial dimension. The variational discrete version of the state equation with the above choice of spaces yields a Crank-Nicolson time stepping scheme with half a Rannacher smoothing step. Furthermore, we compare our approach to a full discretization of the corresponding control problem, precisely a discontinuous Galerkin method for the state discretization, where the discrete controls are piecewise constant in time and Dirac measures in space. Numerical experiments highlight the sparsity features of our discrete approach and verify the convergence results. The second problem we analyze is a parabolic optimal control problem governed by bounded initial measure controls. Here, the cost functional consists of a tracking term corresponding to the observation of the state at final time. Instead of a regularization term for the control in the cost functional, we consider a bound on the measure norm of the initial control. As in the first problem we observe a sparsity structure, but here the control resides only in space at initial time, so we focus on the space discretization to achieve maximal sparsity of the control. Again, due to the initial measure in the partial differential equation, we rely on a very weak solution theory of the state equation. We employ a dG(0) approximation of the state equation, i.e. we choose piecewise linear and continuous functions in space, which are piecewise constant in time for our ansatz and test space. Then, the variational discretization of the problem together with the optimality conditions induce maximal discrete sparsity of the initial control, i.e. Dirac measures in space. We present numerical experiments to illustrate our approach and investigate the sparsity structure As third problem we choose an elliptic optimal control governed by functions of bounded variation (BV) in one space dimension. The cost functional consists of a tracking term for the state and a BV-seminorm in terms of the derivative of the control. We derive a sparsity structure for the derivative of the BV control. Additionally, we utilize the mixed formulation for the state equation. A variational discretization approach with piecewise constant discretization of the state and piecewise linear and continuous discretization of the adjoint state yields that the derivative of the control is a sum of Dirac measures. Consequently the control is a piecewise constant function. Under a structural assumption we even get that the number of jumps of the control is finite. We prove error estimates for the variational discretization approach in combination with the mixed formulation of the state equation and confirm our findings in numerical experiments that display the convergence rate. In summary we confirm the use of variational discretization for optimal control problems with measures that inherit a sparsity. We are able to preserve the sparsity on the discrete level without discretizing the control variable.

Water scarcity is already an omnipresent problem in many parts of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The dry years 2018 and 2019 showed that also in Germany water resources are finite. Projections and predictions for the next decades indicate that renewal rates of existing water resources will decline due the growing influence of climate change, but that water extraction rates will increase due to population growth. It is therefore important to find alternative and sustainable methods to make optimal use of the water resources currently available. For this reason, the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation and recharge purposes has become one focus of scientific research in this field. However, it must be taken into account that wastewater contains so-called micropollutants, i.e., substances of anthropogenic origin. These are, e.g., pharmaceuticals, pesticides and industrial chemicals which enter the wastewater, but also metabolites that are formed in the human body from pharmaceuticals or personal care products. Through the treatment in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as well as through chemical, biological and physical processes in the soil passage during the reuse of water, these micropollutants are transformed to new substances, known as transformation products (TPs), which further broaden the number of contaminants that can be detected within the whole water cycle. Despite the fact that the presence of human metabolites and environmental TPs in untreated and treated wastewater has been known for a many years, they are rarely included in common routine analysis methods. Therefore, a first goal of this thesis was the development of an analysis method based on liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) that contains a broad spectrum of frequently detected micropollutants including their known metabolites and TPs. The developed multi-residue analysis method contained a total of 80 precursor micropollutants and 74 metabolites and TPs of different substance classes. The method was validated for the analysis of different water matrices (WWTP influent and effluent, surface water and groundwater from a bank filtration site). The influence of the MS parameters on the quality of the analysis data was studied. Despite the high number of analytes, a sufficient number of datapoints per peak was maintained, ensuring a high sensitivity and precision as well as a good recovery for all matrices. The selection of the analytes proved to be relevant as 95% of the selected micropollutants were detected in at least one sample. Several micropollutants were quantified that were not in the focus of other current multi-residue analysis methods (e.g. oxypurinol). The relevance of including metabolites and TPs was demonstrated by the frequent detection of, e.g., clopidogrel acid and valsartan acid at higher concentrations than their precursors, the latter even being detected in samples of bank filtrate water. By the integration of metabolites, which are produced in the body by biological processes, and biological and chemical TPs, the multi-residue analysis method is also suitable for elucidating degradation mechanisms in treatment systems for water reuse that, e.g., use a soil passage for further treatment. In the second part of the thesis, samples from two treatment systems based on natural processes were analysed: a pilot-scale above-ground sequential biofiltration system (SBF) and a full-scale soil aquifer treatment (SAT) site. In the SBF system mainly biological degradation was observed, which was clearly demonstrated by the detection of biological TPs after the treatment. The efficiency of the degradation was improved by an intermediate aeration, which created oxic conditions in the upper layer of the following soil passage. In the SAT system a combination of biodegradation and sorption processes occurred. By the different behaviour of some biodegradable micropollutants compared to the SBF system, the influence of redox conditions and microbial community was observed. An advantage of the SAT system over the SBF system was found in the sorption capacity of the natural soil. Especially positively charged micropollutants showed attenuation due to ionic interactions with negatively charged soil particles. Based on the physicochemical properties at ambient pH, the degree of removal in the investigated systems and the occurrence in the source water, a selection of process-based indicator substances was proposed. Within the first two parts of this thesis a micropollutant was frequently detected at elevated concentrations in WWTPs effluents, which was not previously in the focus of environmental research: the antidiabetic drug sitagliptin (STG). STG showed low degradability in biological systems and thus it was investigated to what extend chemical treatment by ozonation can ensure attenuation of it. STG contains an aliphatic primary amine as the principal point of attack for the ozone molecule. There is only limited information about the behaviour of this functional group during ozonation and thus, STG served as an example for other micropollutants containing aliphatic primary amines. A pH-dependent degradation kinetic was observed due to the protonation of the primary amine at lower pH values. At pH values in the range 6 - 8, which is typical for the environment and in WWTPs, STG showed degradation kinetics in the range of 103 M-1s-1 and thus belongs to the group of readily degradable substances. However, complete degradation can only be expected at significantly higher pH values (> 9). The transformation of the primary amine moiety into a nitro group was observed as the major degradation mechanism for STG during ozonation. Other mechanisms involved the formation of a diketone, bond breakages and the formation of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Investigations at a pilot-scale ozonation plant using the effluent of a biological degradation of a municipal WWTP as source water confirmed the results of the laboratory studies: STG could not be removed completely even at high ozone doses and the nitro compound was formed as the main TP and remained stable during further ozonation and subsequent biological treatment. It can therefore be assumed that under realistic conditions both a residual concentration of STG and the formed main TP as well as other stable TPs such as TFA can be detected in the effluents of a WWTP consisting of conventional biological treatment followed by ozonation and subsequent biological polishing steps.

In this thesis we examined the question whether personality traits of early child care workers influence process quality in preschool. Research has shown that in educational settings such as preschool, pedagogical quality affects children’s developmental outcome (e.g. NICHD, 2002; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 1999). A substantial part of pedagogical quality known to be vital in this respect is the interaction between teacher and children (e.g., Tietze, 2008). Results of prior classroom research indicate that the teachers’ personality might be an important factor for good teacher-child-interaction (Mayr, 2011). Thus, personality traits might play a vital role for the interaction in preschool. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were to a) identify pivotal personality traits of child care workers, b) assess ideal levels of the identified personality traits and c) examine the relationship between pivotal personality traits and process quality. On that account, we conducted two requirement analyses and a video study. The results of these studies showed that subject matter experts (parents, child care workers, lecturers) partly agreed as to which personality traits are pivotal for child care workers. Furthermore, the experts showed high consensus with regard to the minimum, ideal and maximum personality trait profiles. Furthermore, child care workers whose profiles lay closer to the experts’ ideal also showed higher process quality. In addition, regression analyses showed that the child care workers’ levels of the Big Two (Communion and Agency) related significantly to their process quality.

Purpose: Leader-follower communication plays an important role in all organizations. However, research on school leadership did not focus on communication competency (CC) and its impact on school quality (e.g. on teachers' commitment, job satisfaction) so far; there is a striking lack of theory and empirical data. Therefore, this paper describes the development and validation of a standardized measure for CC of school principals. It is based on a theoretical framework with LMX as a communication-based approach to leadership and an interpersonal communication process model. Design/Methodology: CC was conceptualized as a 3-dimensional construct. Five studies were conducted with German teachers and school principals from all types of schools (total N=1649): selection of items via expert ratings, exploring the dimensionality, cross-validation of the structure, test-retest-reliability, external validity. Results: Analyses led to a 3-factor solution - Altercentrism, Knowledge and Willingness to Communicate, Self-Regulation - with 14 items and good internal consistencies. CFA, exploring the nomological network, and invariance measurement supported construct validity. Limitations: Empirical studies still have to be conducted to evaluate the application in other leader - follower contexts apart from school. Research/Practical Implications: The measure and the theoretical framework can be applied for analyzing principal - teacher interactions in detail and for detecting problems in communication processes. The measure can also be used for feedback processes and for demand-oriented trainings.Originality/Value: For the first time, this paper explicitly combines the concepts of CC and leadership in schools and provides a measure within a theoretical framework to assess principals' CC. Such a valid instrument is the prerequisite for further investigating the importance of CC in the context of (school) leadership.

The amount of information on the Web is constantly increasing and also there is a wide variety of information available such as news, encyclopedia articles, statistics, survey data, stock information, events, bibliographies etc. The information is characterized by heterogeneity in aspects such as information type, modality, structure, granularity, quality and by its distributed nature. The two primary techniques by which users on the Web are looking for information are (1) using Web search engines and (2) browsing the links between information. The dominant mode of information presentation is mainly static in the form of text, images and graphics. Interactive visualizations offer a number of advantages for the presentation and exploration of heterogeneous information on the Web: (1) They provide different representations for different, very large and complex types of information and (2) large amounts of data can be explored interactively using their attributes and thus can support and expand the cognition process of the user. So far, interactive visualizations are still not an integral part in the search process of the Web. The technical standards and interaction paradigms to make interactive visualization usable by the mass are introduced only slowly through standardatization organizations. This work examines how interactive visualizations can be used for the linking and search process of heterogeneous information on the Web. Based on principles in the areas of information retrieval (IR), information visualization and information processing, a model is created, which extends the existing structural models of information visualization with two new processes: (1) linking of information in visualizations and (2) searching, browsing and filtering based on glyphs. The Vizgr toolkit implements the developed model in a web application. In four different application scenarios, aspects of the model will be instantiated and are evaluated in user tests or examined by examples.

In dieser Arbeit wurde der Einfluss von nicht wässrigen Mahlflüssigkeiten auf Metall-Keramik-Pulvermischungen im Nassmahlprozess untersucht. Es wurden Al- und Cr-Al₂O₃-Pulvermischungen ausgewählt, um den Einfluss der Mahlflüssigkeiten auf die Mahlung von Metall-Keramik-Pulvermischungen mit einer duktilen (Aluminium) und einer spröden (Chrom) Metallkomponente zu untersuchen.

Refractory dry-vibratable mixes, which consist of a mineral filling material and an organic or anorganic binder system, are widely used for linings in industrial aggregates, where a very high temperature resistance is required (e.g. steel industry). During lining, all compounds are mixed and hardening is chemically or thermally initiated. The time span required for hardening is of special relevance for the application of refractory dry-vibratable mixes. It should be long enough for adequate processability, but simultaneously avoid too long downtimes. Prediction or regulation of the hardening time, necessary for an ideal processing, is currently limited. One the one hand, this is a result of the lack of an appropriate method for time-dependent determination of the harding process. On the other hand, the mechanisms responsible for this very complex process have not yet been investigated in detail and the effect of influencing factors, like the temperature or the composition of the refractory dry-vibratable mixes, are poorly documented. To make a contribution to the understanding of the hardening mechanism of refractory dry-vibratable mixes, it was the aim of the present work, to develop an appropriate test method for the time-dependent investigation of this process. This was realized by means of the dynamic-mechanical analysis. In addition, the hardening mechanism was described for a refractory dry-vibratable mix with a binder system, which consists of a waterglass and a phosphate hardener (AlPO4 und BPO4), using supplement gravimetric investigations and determining solubility behavior of the phosphates. By means of X-ray diffraction analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, the impact of the hardening mechanism on the crystal and amorphous structure was studied. It could be shown, that according to the two phosphates, the hardening leads to different network structures in respect of their link denseness. These structure characteristics correlate with the speed of the hardening reactions. In addition, the impact on selected properties (thermal linear deformation, temperature-dependent phase development and phase transition) could be deducted.

The largest population of the anadromous Allis shad (A. alosa) of the 19th century was found in River Rhine and has to be considered extinct today. To facilitate the return of A. alosa into River Rhine an EU LIFE-project was initiated in 2007. The overall objective of this thesis was to assist aquaculture and stocking-measures at River Rhine, as well as to support restoration and conservation of populations of Allis shad in Europe. By culturing the free-swimming nematode T. aceti in a solution of cider vinegar we developed a cost-effective live food organism for the larviculture of fish. As indicated by experiments with C. maraena, T. aceti cannot be regarded as an alternative to Artemia nauplii. However it has to be considered a suitable supplemental feed in the early rearing of C. maraena by providing essential fatty acids, thereby optimizing growth. Also mass-marking practices with Oxytetracycline, as they are applied in the restocking of Allis shad have been evaluated. In experiments with D. rerio we demonstrated that water hardness can detrimentally affect mortality during marking and has to be considered crucial in the development of marking protocols for freshwater fish. In order to get independent from wild spawners an ex-situ Broodstock-facility for Allis shad was established in 2011. Upon examination of two complete year classes of this broodstock, we found a high prevalence of various malformations, which could be traced back to distinct cysts developing one month post hatch. Despite applying a variety of clinical tests we could not identify any infectious agents causing these malformations. The observed malformations are probably a consequence of suboptimal feeding practices or the properties of the physio-chemical rearing environment. The decline of stocks of A. alosa in Europe has been largely explained with the increase of river temperatures as a consequence of global warming. By investigating the temperature physiology of larval Allis shad we demonstrated that A. alosa ranges among the most thermo-tolerant species in Europe and that correlations between rising temperatures and the disappearance of this species have to be understood in a synecological context and by integrating a variety of stressors other than temperature. By capturing and examining juvenile and adult Allis shad from River Rhine, we demonstrated the first natural reproduction of A. alosa in River Rhine since nearly 100 years and the success of stocking measures within the framework of the LIFE project.

Empirical studies in software engineering use software repositories as data sources to understand software development. Repository data is either used to answer questions that guide the decision-making in the software development, or to provide tools that help with practical aspects of developers’ everyday work. Studies are classified into the field of Empirical Software Engineering (ESE), and more specifically into Mining Software Repositories (MSR). Studies working with repository data often focus on their results. Results are statements or tools, derived from the data, that help with practical aspects of software development. This thesis focuses on the methods and high order methods used to produce such results. In particular, we focus on incremental methods to scale the processing of repositories, declarative methods to compose a heterogeneous analysis, and high order methods used to reason about threats to methods operating on repositories. We summarize this as technical and methodological improvements. We contribute the improvements to methods and high-order methods in the context of MSR/ESE to produce future empirical results more effectively. We contribute the following improvements. We propose a method to improve the scalability of functions that abstract over repositories with high revision count in a theoretically founded way. We use insights on abstract algebra and program incrementalization to define a core interface of highorder functions that compute scalable static abstractions of a repository with many revisions. We evaluate the scalability of our method by benchmarks, comparing a prototype with available competitors in MSR/ESE. We propose a method to improve the definition of functions that abstract over a repository with a heterogeneous technology stack, by using concepts from declarative logic programming and combining them with ideas on megamodeling and linguistic architecture. We reproduce existing ideas on declarative logic programming with languages close to Datalog, coming from architecture recovery, source code querying, and static program analysis, and transfer them from the analysis of a homogeneous to a heterogeneous technology stack. We provide a prove-of-concept of such method in a case study. We propose a high-order method to improve the disambiguation of threats to methods used in MSR/ESE. We focus on a better disambiguation of threats, operationalizing reasoning about them, and making the implications to a valid data analysis methodology explicit, by using simulations. We encourage researchers to accomplish their work by implementing ‘fake’ simulations of their MSR/ESE scenarios, to operationalize relevant insights about alternative plausible results, negative results, potential threats and the used data analysis methodologies. We prove that such way of simulation based testing contributes to the disambiguation of threats in published MSR/ESE research.

Beim Zugang zur dualen Berufsausbildung haben Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene mit Migrationshintergrund schlechtere Chancen in eine betriebliche Berufsausbildung einzumünden. Vermehrt wird ein Forschungsbedarf thematisiert, der den Blick darauf richtet, wie die entsprechenden Auswahlentscheidungen in den Betrieben getroffen werden. Die Dissertation setzt an dieser Frage an und befasst sich mittels eines biographischen Zugangs mit den Personalentscheiderinnen und Personalentscheidern, den sogenannten Gatekeepern, in den Betrieben. Im Erkenntnisinteresse steht die Frage, ob und wie biographische Erfahrungen Bedeutung für Auswahlentscheidungen zugunsten zugewanderter junger Menschen haben.

Manmade dams have been constructed from centuries for multiple purposes, and in the past decades they have been constructed in a fast pace, with the hotspot in tropical and subtropical regions. However, studies that explore hydrodynamics in these areas are scarce and biased to the rich literature available for temperate regions. Lakes and reservoirs have the same controlling mechanisms for physical processes and primary production, hence, analyses that were initially conceptualized for lakes are frequently applied for reservoirs. Nevertheless, longitudinal gradients in reservoirs challenges the application of these approaches. Degradation of water quality in reservoirs is a major concern, and it is expected to be aggravated with climate change. Therefore, studies that explore mechanisms controlling water quality are essential for the maintenance of these systems, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. The aim of this thesis is to comprehend the role of hydrodynamic processes in the fate of nutrients in reservoirs and its implications on water quality, in a subtropical region. With focus on the relevance of different density current patterns. For that, analyses combining field measurements and numerical simulations were performed in a medium to small size subtropical drinking water reservoir for a complete seasonal cycle. Measurements were conducted combining several approaches: traditional sampling, sensors in high temporal and spatial resolution, and remote sensing. Besides, hydrodynamic models were set up and calibrated to reproduce observations, and to simulate scenarios that assisted on the analysis. Results showed that different flow paths of density currents did not influence on phytoplankton dynamics. At the regions where the main nutrient supply was the river inflow (upstream), the density currents did not vary, the euphotic zone usually covered the entire depth, and vertical mixing was observed on a daily basis, turning the flow path of the density currents irrelevant. At downstream regions, the remobilization of nutrients in the sediment was the main source for primary production. Even though density currents had a seasonal pattern in the downstream region, thermal stratification conditions were the driver for variations in chlorophyll-a concentrations, with peaks after vertical mixing. This mechanism had in its favor the frequent anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion that enhanced the dissolution of reactive phosphorus from the sediment. Anoxic conditions were easily reached because the sediment in the downstream area was rich in organic matter. Phytoplankton produced in the upstream area was transported by the density currents, and for this reason, large concentrations of chl-a was observed below the euphotic zone. Further, the extensive measurements of temperature, and flow velocities, together with the hydrodynamic models, provided insights about the hydrodynamics of reservoirs. For instance, that the relevant processes occurred along the longitudinal, and mixing conditions varied along it. The relevance of inflow conditions regarding the presence of structures such as forebays and pre-dams, and the degree of stream shading in the catchment was assessed. And turbulence and internal waves had different features than the documented for high latitudes. Those findings can assist on the management of reservoirs, based on the comprehension of the physical processes.

In the last decade, policy-makers around the world have turned their attention toward the creative industry as the economic engine and significant driver of employments. Yet, the literature suggests that creative workers are one of the most vulnerable work-forces of today’s economy. Because of the highly deregulated and highly individuated environment, failure or success are believed to be the byproduct of individual ability and commitment, rather than a structural or collective issue. This thesis taps into the temporal, spatial, and social resolution of digital behavioural data to show that there are indeed structural and historical issues that impact individuals’ and groups’ careers. To this end, this thesis offers a computational social science research framework that brings together the decades-long theoretical and empirical knowledge of inequality studies, and computational methods that deal with the complexity and scale of digital data. By taking music industry and science as use cases, this thesis starts off by proposing a novel gender detection method that exploits image search and face-detection methods. By analysing the collaboration patterns and citation networks of male and female computer scientists, it sheds lights on some of the historical biases and disadvantages that women face in their scientific career. In particular, the relation of scientific success and gender-specific collaboration patterns is assessed. To elaborate further on the temporal aspect of inequalities in scientific careers, this thesis compares the degree of vertical and horizontal inequalities among the cohorts of scientists that started their career at different point in time. Furthermore, the structural inequality in music industry is assessed by analyzing the social and cultural relations that breed from live performances and musics releases. The findings hint toward the importance of community belonging at different stages of artists’ careers. This thesis also quantifies some of the underlying mechanisms and processes of inequality, such as the Matthew Effect and the Hipster Paradox, in creative careers. Finally, this thesis argues that online platforms such as Wikipedia could reflect and amplify the existing biases.

Das Integrationspotenzial des Sports am speziellen Beispiel des Rollstuhlbasketball von Simone Janda "Integration ist eine ständige Aufgabe. Insofern kann es kein Ziel im Sinne eines Ergebnisses geben. Vielmehr geht es darum, Prozesse, die zu einer erfolgreichen Integration führen, immer besser zu verstehen, sie weiterzuentwickeln und sie vor allem an die sich ständig verändernden Rahmenbedingungen anzupassen" (DOSB 2009: 5). Trotz traditioneller Zuschreibung sozial-integrativer Funktionen an sportliche Aktivität gibt es sowohl erhebliche empirische als auch theoretische Defizite (vgl. Hoffmann 2002), die in der vorliegenden Arbeit behandelt werden. In einer differenzierten Analyse werden verschiedene Integrationsaspekte und die Rahmenbedingungen integrativer sportlicher Aktivität berücksichtigt. Da dem Sport eine besondere integrierende Funktion zugeschrieben wird und diese sozialen Prozesse vor allem in Gruppen stattfinden, soll in dieser Arbeit das Potenzial einer Mannschaftssportart untersucht werden, die für Menschen mit und ohne Behinderung gleichermaßen zugänglich ist " der Rollstuhlbasketball. Neben der körperlichen Belastung kommen hier in besonderem Maße soziale Faktoren hinzu, die das Gemeinschaftsgefühl im Mannschaftsverbund stärken und Individuen in ein soziales Gefüge integrieren können. Aus der geschilderten Problematik ergibt sich folgende übergeordnete Fragestellung für die Untersuchung: Was macht das Integrationspotenzial einer Sportart (am Beispiel des Rollstuhlbasketballs) aus? Es stellt sich die Frage, welche Faktoren eine Sportart erfüllen muss, um integrativ ausgeführt werden zu können bzw. welche Schwierigkeiten und Hürden dabei überwunden werden müssen, um behinderten und nichtbehinderten Menschen gleichermaßen gerecht zu werden und deren speziellen Bedürfnisse zu befriedigen. In dieser Studie erfolgt die Datenerhebung durch die Kombination von qualitativer (Interviews) und quantitativer (Fragebogen) Forschungsmethoden. Diese Verknüpfung verschiedener Forschungsmethoden ermöglicht es, dass Messungen aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln und individuelle Betrachtungsweisen möglichst vollständig erfasst werden können. Der Nutzen für die Wissenschaft liegt darin, eine aktuelle Situationsanalyse in Form eines Modells zu erstellen, um die Rahmenbedingungen, die ständigen Veränderungen unterliegen, weiterzuentwickeln und zu verbessern, um Menschen mit Behinderung ein maximal inklusives Sportangebot bieten zu können.

This dissertation deals with the opportunities and restrictions that parties face in an election campaign at the supranational level of the EU. Using communication science concepts of agenda-setting (focus: media) and agenda-building (focus: political parties), the first part of the study is based on the election campaign for the European Parliament (EP) in 2014. It analyses to what extent political parties put the EU on the agenda. Second, it is examined whether parties have used their structural advantage of being able to influence the media agenda at the supranational level during the election campaign in the context of the EP election campaign. Third, it is examined whether parties can gain an advantage for the visibility of their campaigns by rejecting EU integration and the associated conflictual communication. Fourth and final, it will be explored whether agenda-building can influence the rankings of specific policy issues on the media agenda in the European context. First, the analyses show that a European political focus of election campaign communication can no longer be found only on the part of the small (eurosceptic) parties. Second, parties have a good chance of being present in media coverage if the they pursue a European political focus in their campaign communication. Third, a negative tone in party communication turns out not to be decisive for the parties' visibility in the election campaign. Fourth, a clear positioning on political issues also prepares parties for restrictions of the further development of a European thematic agenda. After a discussion of these results, the paper concludes with an assessment of the analysis limitations and an outlook on further research approaches.

Response-Shift bezeichnet eine Veränderung des Bewertungshintergrunds für subjektive Konzepte wie bspw. der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität (GLQ) im Rahmen der Auseinandersetzung mit einer schweren bzw. chronischen Erkrankung. Krebserkrankungen werden als Auslöser eines Response-Shifts angesehen. Response-Shift kann in drei verschiedenen Formen auftreten: Als Rekalibrierung, Reprioritisierung und Neukonzeptualisierung der GLQ. Eine Erfassung dieser drei Response-Shift-Prozesse bei einer homogenen Stichprobe von PCa-Patienten in der onkologischen Rehabilitation liegt in Deutschland bisher nicht vor. Es wurden von insgesamt 212 Prostatakrebspatienten (PCa-Patienten) in der Anschlussheilbehandlung Daten zur GLQ mittels des EORTC-QLQ-C30 vor Beginn der Maßnahme sowie 3 Monate nach Beginn erhoben und in die Auswertung zur Response-Shift-Erfassung aufgenommen. Die Prozesse Rekalibrierung, Reprioritisierung und Neukonzeptualisierung wurden mit Hilfe der konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalyse (KFA) erfasst. Eine Rekalibrierung läßt sich auf der Ebene der Messfehler und Intercepts überprüfen. Die Reprioritisierung und Neukonzeptualisierung kann anhand der Veränderung der Faktorladungen untersucht werden. Bei dem Vorgehen handelt es sich um einen Ansatz aus der Invarianzmessung von Variablen und Parametern im Längsschnitt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde untersucht, ob in der Gesamtstichprobe ein Response-Shift auftritt, und falls ja, in welcher Form (Fragestellung 1). Weiterhin sollte anhand von Subgruppenanalysen (Medianisierung) geprüft werden, welchen Einfluss einerseits das Ausmaß der Veränderung der globalen Lebensqualität (Fragestellung 2) und andererseits die Variablen Benefit-Finding, Selbstwirksamkeit sowie Positive und Negative Affektivität (Fragestellung 3) auf einen Response-Shift haben. Es konnte ein Basismodell der GLQ zu zwei Messzeitpunkten bei den PCa-Patienten identifiziert werden, dass als geeignet bezeichnet wurde, um einen Response Shift in der vorliegenden Stichprobe zu untersuchen (2/df = 1.50, RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.97). Ein so genanntes Nullmodell, in dem alle Response-Shift relevanten Parameter für beide Messzeitpunkte als gleich angenommen wurde, wies eine inakzeptable Modellpassung auf (2/df = 5.30, RMSEA = 0.14, CFI = 0.76, TLI = 0.71). Über die Ableitung geschachtelter Modellvergleiche konnte ausgehend von dem Nullmodell ein Response-Shift-Modell berechnet werden, dass wiederum eine gute Passung aufwies (2/df= 1.31, RMSEA = 0.04, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.98). In der vorliegenden Gesamtstichprobe wurden Rekalibrierungsprozesse auf den Skalen Physische, Kognitive und Rollenfunktionsfähigkeit identifiziert, die sich auf die Kalkulation der beobachteten Effekte auf Skalenebene auswirkten. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Response Shift einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die beobachteten Effekten auf Skalenebene hat (Fragestellung 1). So schätzen PCa-Patienten ihre Physische und Rollenfunktionsfähigkeit zum 2. Messzeitpunkt positiver ein, ohne dass dies auf Veränderungen der GLQ zurückgeführt werden kann. Unabhängig von der Veränderung der GLQ zwischen den Messzeitpunkten schätzen die Patienten ihre Kognitive Funktionsfähigkeit zum Postmesszeitpunkt negativer ein als zur ersten Messung. In den Subgruppenanalysen zeigt sich, dass das Ausmaß der Veränderung der globalen Lebensqualität einen Einfluss auf die Anzahl von Response-Shift-Prozessen hat. Dies gilt ebenso für die Variablen Benefit-Finding, Selbstwirksamkeit und Positive Affektivität. Jedoch lassen sich Unterschiede im Ausmaß von Response-Shift-Effekten zwischen verschiedenen Subgruppen nicht eindeutig nachweisen (Fragestellung 2 und 3). Response Shift sollte bei Untersuchungen der GLQ bei Krebserkrankungen mehr Berücksichtigung finden. Das setzt jedoch voraus, dass die Methoden zur Erfassung des Phänomens weiterentwickelt werden. Mit der hier eingesetzt Methode der KFA im Längsschnitt steht ein geeignetes Verfahren zur Verfügung, das Response-Shift bei einfachen Prä-Post-Messungen erfassen kann. Praktisch relevant erscheint das Ergebnis der Arbeit im Zusammenhang mit der Überprüfung der Wirksamkeit von Maßnahmen der onkologischen Rehabilitation. Werden zur Evaluation Skalen eingesetzt, die response-shift-beeinflusst sind, darf nicht ohne Weiteres auf eine Veränderung des zugrundeliegenden Konstrukts geschlussfolgert werden. In der vorliegenden Arbeit würde die Veränderung der GLQ anhand der Veränderung der manifesten Werte der Skalen Physische und Rollenfunktionsfähigkeit eher überschätzt. Anhand der Skala Kognitive Funktionsfähigkeit würden Veränderungen der GLQ jedoch eher unterschätzt. Somit bietet sich der KFA-Ansatz an, um die Änderungssensitivität von Lebensqualitätsinstrumenten zu prüfen und diese entsprechend weiter zu entwickeln. Außerdem bietet die Methode Möglichkeiten, um inhaltliche Einflussfaktoren auf einen Response-Shift zu prüfen.

Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Positionierung und anbieterinternen Kommunikation der innovativen IT-Architektur SOA. Die zentralen Ziele der vorliegenden explorativen und empirischen Forschungsarbeit, die im Kontext der Innovations-Erfolgsfaktorenforschung angesiedelt ist, bestehen in der Beantwor-tung der beiden folgenden forschungsleitenden Fragestellungen: Forschungsfrage 1: Welche Bedingungen tragen zu einer erfolgreichen Positionierung von SOA bei? Forschungsfrage 2: Welche Bedingungen tragen zu einer erfolgreichen anbieterinternen Kommunikation bezüglich SOA bei? Zur Überprüfung dieser beiden Forschungsfragen wurde ein zweistufiges Delphi-Verfahren durchgeführt. Hierbei wurde zunächst eine qualitative Befragungswelle (N=53) zur Identifizierung der SOA-Positionierungsbedingungen und anbieterinternen SOA-Kommunikations-bedingungen durchgeführt. Insgesamt wurden in der ersten Befragungswelle 122 SOA-Positionierungsbedingungen identifiziert, die sich in 65 Bedingungen auf Anbieterseite, 35 Bedingungen auf Kundenseite, 19 Bedingungen auf SOA-Seite und 3 Bedingungen aufseiten des weiteren Umfeldes aufteilen. Im Rahmen der anbieterinternen SOA-Kommunikation konnten 31 Bedingungen identifiziert werden. Die in der ersten Welle identifizierten SOA-Positionie-rungsbedingungen und anbieterinternen SOA-Kommunikationsbedingungen wurden mittels der zweiten Befragungswelle (N=83) einer quantitativen Analyse unterzogen. Somit liefert die vorliegende Studie Bedingungen, die sowohl zu einer erfolgreichen SOA-Positionierung als auch zu einer erfolgreichen anbieterinternen SOA-Kommunikation beitragen. Die Resultate dieser Arbeit werden zusammengefasst und theoretisch eingeordnet. Ebenfalls wird die methodische Vorgehensweise kritisch diskutiert und die Güte der Daten beurteilt. Schließlich wird ein Ausblick auf zukünftige Forschungsfelder gegeben.

Over the last three decades researchers of Cognitive Metaphor Theory have shown conclusively that metaphor is motivated rather than arbitrary and often used to systematically map out conceptual territory. This cognitive semantic proposal holds the potential for alternative L2 teaching strategies. As an abstract domain, business discourse is naturally rich in metaphors and is additionally filled with consciously used metaphorical language to strategically manipulate clients and business partners. Business English courses especially stand to profit from metaphor-oriented language teaching, as (future) managers aim to quickly improve their language performance to be prepared for international business communication. In using metaphors, speakers as well as hearers conceptualize and thus experience one thing in terms of another. Having been made aware of the conceptual linkage, students are immediately equipped with a whole set of vocabulary they may already have learned for a concrete domain and are then able to elaborate in the more abstract area of business discourse. Enhanced metaphor awareness may thus prove to be a valuable vehicle for vocabulary acquisition as well as for vocabulary retention. This thesis is subdivided into ten chapters. With each successive chapter, the focus will increasingly sharpen on the main hypothesis that metaphor awareness raising and explicit teaching in the business English classroom assists the students to dip into their savings' and transfer already acquired vocabulary to abstract business discourse and thus to become more proficient business communicators. After an introduction to the main objectives, chapter two critically looks at the different strands of Cognitive Linguistic contributions to metaphor theory made within the last three decades and discusses the structure, function and processing of figurative language to single out relevant aspects of the language classroom applications. Chapter three narrows the perspective to the socio-economic discourse as the very target domain in focus and surveys the conceptual metaphors that have been identified for this target domain, namely the source domains most productive for the target and therefore most valuable for the language classroom. In chapter four Cognitive Linguistic findings are put in contact with language didactics; i.e., the Cognitive Linguistic basis is discussed in the context of language teaching and learning theories and a first classification of metaphor teaching in the theoretical framework of language didactics is proposed. Ten cornerstones summarize the theoretical output of the previous chapters and the respective didactic consequences are considered. Theories of cognitive psychology pertaining to noticing, processing, and storing metaphors are systematically revisited and expanded to formulate further didactic implications for metaphor teaching. The consequences drawn from both linguistic as well as didactic theory are translated into a list of ten short guidelines identifying essentials for the explicit integration of metaphors into the language classroom. In chapter five those experimental studies that have already been conducted in the field of Cognitive Linguistic-inspired figurative language teaching are systematically summarized and possible contributions to set up a didactic framework for metaphor teaching are investigated. Chapters six to nine then present a piece of original research. Starting out from five research questions tackling receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition and retention as well as the influence of and on the learner- level of language proficiency, a three-fold study was designed and conducted in a regular business English classroom and results are discussed in detail. The last chapter deals again with specific implications for teaching. Earlier statements about and claims for the language classroom are revisited and refined on the basis of the theoretical linguistic, didactic and empirical findings, and an agenda for further empirical investigations is sketched out.

In this study the influence of soil moisture and soil type on the selected pests and diseases Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, Fusarium graminearum Schwabe and F. culmorum (W.G. Smith) Saccardo, respectively, as well as the larvae of the most important Elateridae Agriotes lineatus Linnaeus, A. obscurus Linnaeus, A. sputator Linnaeus, A. sordidus Illiger and A. ustulatus Schaller (called wireworms) was characterized. The aim was to integrate soil modules in prediction models for agricultural and horticultural pests and diseases, to optimise the scheduling of disease controls, to detect periods of high-intensity attacks and to reduce the number of preventive treatments. The measurement of soil moisture is time intensive and additionally soil moisture is highly varying within small areas. Therefore this parameter did not have a high impact in the prediction models for agricultural and horticultural pests and diseases in the past. In this study the possibilities for a site-specific simulation of soil moisture was investigated. The soil moisture simulation model SIMPEL (HÖRMANN 1998) was adapted to agricultural conditions and the site-specific simulation of soil moisture was realised on the basis of radar measured precipitation data from the German Meteorological Service (DWD) and on interpolated weather data (ZEUNER 2007). The comparison of the simulated soil moisture data with the field measurements showed a highly significant correlation (Alpha = 0.01) and an average of 3.8 % differences. Therefore the site-specific simulation of soil moisture will be possible and can be included in the prediction models for agricultural and horticultural pests and diseases. The results of laboratory and field experiments as well as analyses on monitoring data showed, that the influence of soil parameters on the three selected pests and diseases varied. Whereas the investigations on the influence of soil moisture on P. infestans identified no clear correlation, considerable correlations between soil moisture and soil type on wireworms as well as F. graminearum and F. culmorum could be detected. For the prediction of the appearance of wireworms in the upper soil level in relation to soil moisture and soil type the simulation model SIMAGRIO-W was developed. The validation of the new model showed highly significant correlations between soil moisture and soil type on the appearance of wireworms. The influence of soil type on F. graminearum and F. culmorum was integrated in the existing prediction model FUS-OPT. A correlation between air cached spores of F. graminearum and simulation results from the modified model FUS-OPT showed a high significance in PEARSON test. The results of this study showed that the implementation of soil moisture and soil type in the prediction models for agricultural and horticultural pests and diseases can be realised. The developed and modified prediction models can be used by the Governmental Crop Protection Services in Germany through www.isip.de.

This doctoral thesis concerns the theoretical basis, development and validation of a multipart instrument to provide students of educational sciences with some feedback about their competence-development (instrument KIPBI) and report to their experiences in practical training (instrument EIPRA). It thus supports the reflection capability of the student teachers. Both instruments are part of an online self-assessment (Tour 3-RLP), which is similar to the Career-Counselling for Teachers (CCT, see cct-germany.de) but unlike this, does not focus on ability but on competence-development. The instruments serve to promote the professional development of student teachers. This is a goal of the reformed concept of teacher training in Rhineland-Palatinate, the so-called KMK-standards for teacher training and education, the Rhineland-Palatinate "Framework School Quality" as well as of handouts and manuals for the implementation of in-depth practical training in teacher education. The first part of this dissertation describes the theoretical framework for the development of instruments for the "CCT-Tour 3-RLP" starting with the issue of professionalization in teacher profession. Historical dimensions and their associated approaches to teacher education research are manifold. They range from the aspect of "teacher personality" to the implementation of teaching-standards and standards for teacher education and output orientation. While within the 60s and 70s the personality approach was pivotal in teacher education research, nowadays expertise-development and models of skills-development are discussed as central issues. Therefore, the theory section describes the influence of previous research-paradigms and their semantic content upon the current trend. As one part of the analysis the construct of "teacher self-efficacy" will be explained, along topological and typological models of competence-development. Furthermore the practical elements of teacher education and their contribution to the professionalization of future teachers are presented. Professional reflection is assumed to be a basis for developing expertise. Therefore it is necessary to investigate how theoretical knowledge can be "transferred" to practical performance. A unifying theory connecting the integration hypothesis (assuming that knowledge is directly transferable into practice) with the differentiation hypothesis (teacher skills form their own knowledgebase independent from both theoretical and practical knowledge) is provided by cognitive psychology (particularly by research on expertise). Endpoint of the theoretical discourse is the evaluation of the referred theoretical positions and their meaning for the Rhineland-Palatinate reform of teacher education and teacher training and the role that the "Tour 3-RLP" is going to play in this context.In the empirical part the methodical and methodological steps for validation of the instruments are discussed. At first the Swiss standards for teacher profession (developed by the Pädagogische Hochschule Schwyz, Central Switzerland) are presented. They can serve as a model building a competency-oriented tool that refers to competency stages. An analysis of various methods for the setting of cut-scores aiming to develop appropriate competency levels is also a fundament for the procedures developed in the context of the empirical investigations. The results of the pilot-study and a follow-up study conducted with both described instruments (KIPBI and EIPRA) show that the instruments for competence-measurement fulfil the requirements of psychometric criteria (like a scale-structure) and tend to support student teachers´ self-reflection. Core concern of both instruments is the promotion of students, realized by the online-self-assessment by the use of appropriate feedback structures and related recommendations for action.The final chapter of this thesis includes the discussion of the results of the validation and implementation study. This final view is devoted to the question whether or not competency-modeling or standard-based approaches to professionalization are the only possible accesses to map and explain skills development. The role of reflection seems to be important for both the integral and the differential approach and interconnects them.

Homonegative discrimination such as the denial of leadership qualities and higher salaries concern not only lesbians and gay men but also individuals who were perceived as lesbian or gay (Fasoli et al., 2017). Hence, it is assumed that especially straight people become victims of homonegative discrimination (Plöderl, 2014). The perception of sexual orientation is indeed stereotype-driven (e.g., Cox et al., 2015) but there is a lack of knowledge on how accurate stereotypes are – particularly those referring to speech. Despite a variety of sociophonetic and social psychological research related to sexual orientation and gender, an encompassing understanding is missing on how sexual orientation is expressed and perceived. The present thesis aims to fill these gaps. The two major aims of the present work are a) the examination of the accuracy of speech stereotypes in the context of sexual orientation and b) the development of a model on how sexual orientation is interpersonally construed. Overall, the present thesis comprises five manuscripts with the following aspects in common: They integratively deal with social psychological and sociophonetic perspectives, share a social identity approach, and primarily center speech instead of facial appearance. Moreover, mostly German and German native speaking participants, respectively, have been investigated. Manuscript 1 establishes the Traditional Masculinity/Femininity-Scale as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing gender-role self-concept. The invention was necessary because existing scales insufficiently represented the self-ascribed masculinity/femininity yet (e.g., Abele, 2003; Evers & Sieverding, 2014). Manuscripts 2, 3, and 4 address the (in)accuracy of speech stereotypes regarding stereotypic content and suggested within-group homogeneity. This is carried out by the application of different methodological approaches. On the one hand, relevant acoustic parameters of lesbian/gay and straight women and men were averaged for each group. On the other hand, voice morphing was applied in order to create prototypical and naturally sounding voice averages (Kawahara et al., 2008). Lesbians and straight women differed in none, gay and straight men in one of the analyzed acoustic parameters only. In contrast, a fine-grained psychological analysis yielded various evidence for acoustic within-group heterogeneity. In particular, the exclusivity of sexual orientation and gender-role self-concept have been acoustically indexicalized which suggests that speech stereotypes are inaccurate. However, voice averages do carry perceivable sexual orientation information. Hence, speech stereotypes can be considered as exaggerations of tiny kernels of truth. In Manuscript 5, previous literature on the interpersonal construction of sexual orientation is integrated in a model: The Expression and Perception of Sexual Orientation Model (EPSOM). This model postulates an indirect route and describes how sexual orientation information is transmitted from producer to perceiver by proposing three mediating components. Thereby, the model is able to offer an explanation why sexual orientation can be perceived with above-chance but far-away-from-perfect accuracy. Overall, the present thesis provides meaningful impulses for enhancements of research on social markers of sexual orientation and gender. This thesis offers a model on how sexual orientation is expressed and perceived, shows the benefits of combining sociophonetic and social psychological approaches, and points out the value of applying novel methods and technologies. Beyond that, the present thesis offers useful implications for practice. Speech stereotypes in the context of sexual orientation can be rejected as inaccurate – for example, native German straight men do not nasalize more or less than gay men. Thereby, the present thesis contributes to an erosion of stereotypes and a potential reduction of homonegative discrimination.

Die Dissertation "Schreibprozesse in der Wikipedia" untersucht auf Basis einer linguistischen Textanalyse individuelle und gemeinschaftliche Schreibhandlungen in der Wikipedia. An Beispiel ausgewählter Artikel werden Artikelinitiationen, Handlungsmuster beim Er- und Überarbeiten der Texte, Prozesse des Planens, Gliederns und Bewertens sowie Kontroversen, Edit Wars und Vandalismus als grundlegende Aspekte des Schreibens in gemeinschaftlichen Online-Kontexten betrachtet. Dabei erscheinen vor allem Kontroversen als ein in der Schreibforschung bisher vernachlässigter Einflussfaktor, der nicht nur Auswirkungen auf die Schreibprozesse in der Wikipedia, sondern auch auf die gesamte Abbildung, Genese und vor allem Aushandlung von Wissen hat.

Demografische und gesellschaftliche Wandlungsprozesse drohen die informelle Pflege als tragende Säule des Pflegesystems in Deutschland zunehmend zu erodieren. Während einerseits die Zahl an Pflegebedürftigen zukünftig ansteigen wird, nimmt andererseits die Zahl derer, die Pflegetätigkeiten übernehmen könnten ab. Zudem werden Frauen, die heute noch die Hauptlast der Pflegeverantwortung tragen, in Zukunft vermehrt erwerbstätig sein. Vor diesem Hintergrund ergibt sich folgendes Problemfeld: Bei der Übernahme von informellen Pflegeaufgaben entsteht häufig ein Vereinbarkeitsproblem zwischen Pflege- und Erwerbstätigkeit. Pflegende reduzieren deshalb nicht selten ihre Erwerbsarbeitszeit oder geben die berufliche Tätigkeit ganz auf. Im Kontext des deutschen Sozialversicherungssystems bedeutet das, dass sich informell Pflegende erhöhten sozialen Risiken aussetzen, wenn sie ihre Erwerbs- und Verdienstpotenziale am Arbeitsmarkt nicht vollumfänglich ausschöpfen. Ferner entstehen indirekte Kosten beim Fiskus, die auf verringerte Einkommensteuer- und Sozialversicherungsbeiträge und/oder erhöhte Transferleistungen zurückzuführen sind. Diese sogenannten fiskalischen Kosten wurden im wissenschaftlichen und gesellschaftspolitischen Diskurs bisher jedoch nur unzureichend berücksichtigt. Demnach ist das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit, die fiskalischen Kosten aufgrund informeller Pflege im deutschen Wohlfahrtsstaat empirisch zu prognostizieren. Dazu werden zunächst die Auswirkungen einer Pflegeübernahme auf das Arbeitsangebot evaluiert und dann in ein Steuer- und Sozialversicherungsmodell überführt, um so die fiskalischen Kosten aufgrund informeller Pflege zu quantifizieren. Mithilfe eines dynamischen Populationsmodells erfolgt abschließend die empirische Prognose der fiskalischen Kosten. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass beim Fiskus erhebliche (Mehr-)kosten durch informelle Pflege in Form von entgangenen Einkommensteuer- und Sozialversicherungsbeiträgen und/oder erhöhte Transferleistungen entstehen. Darüberhinaus ist die informelle Pflegeerbringung von Frauen aus staatlicher Perspektive kostengünstiger als die von Männern.

Different techniques (weight loss, electrochemical, and spray corrosion measurements) have been used to evaluate four sarcosine derivatives to inhibit corrosion and one commercial compound as synergist. The basic metal was low carbon steel CR4 tested at different conditions. As working media mainly neutral water and 0.1 M NaCl was applied. The protective film was formed on the steel surface via direct absorption of the tested substances during the immersion process. A highly improved corrosion protection with direct correlation to the molecular weight and carbon chain length of the tested compounds was detected. The protection of steel CR4 against corrosion in 0.1 M NaCl enhanced with increasing concentration of selected sarcosine compounds. The best inhibitor throughout all tested concentrations and all evaluation systems was Oleoylsarcosine (O) with efficiencies up to 97 % in potentiodynamic polarization (PP), 83 % electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and 85 % weight loss (WL) at 100 mmol/L as highest concentration tested here. The second best inhibitor was Myristoylsarcosine (M) with efficiencies up to 82 % in PP, 69 % in EIS, and 75 % in WL at highest concentration. The inhibitor with the shortest hydrocarbon chain in this series is Lauroylsarcosine (L). It showed lowest effects to inhibit corrosion compared to O and M. The efficiencies of L were a bit more than 50 % at 75 and 100 mmol/L and less than 50 % at 25 and 50 mmol/L in all used evaluation systems. Furthermore, the overall efficiency is promoted with longer dip coating times during the steel CR4 immersion as shown for 50 mmol/L for all present derivatives. This survey indicated 10 min as best time in respect of cost and protection efficiency. The commercial inhibitor Oley-Imidazole (OI) improved significantly the effectiveness of compound Cocoylsarcosine (C), which contains the naturally mixture of carbon chain lengths from coconut oil (C8 - C18), and enhanced protection when used in combination (C+OI, 1:1 molar ration). In this system the efficiency increased from 47 % to 91 % in PP, from 40 % to 84 % in EIS, and from 45 % to 82 % in WL at highest concentration. Spray corrosion tests were used to evaluate all present sarcosine substances on steel CR4 in a more realistic system. The best inhibitor after a 24 h test was O followed by the combination C+OI and M with efficiencies up to 99 %, 80 %, and 79 %, respectively. The obtained results indicate a good stability of the protective film formed by the present inhibitors even after 24 h. All evaluation systems used in the current investigation were in good agreement and resulted in the same inhibitor sequence. Furthermore, the adsorption process of the tested compounds is assumed to follow the Langmuir type isotherm. Response surface methodology (RSM) is an optimization method depending on Box- Behnken Design (BBD). It was used in the current system to find the optimum efficiency for inhibitor O to protect steel CR4 against corrosion in salt water. Four independent variables were used here: inhibitor concentration (A), dip coating time (B), temperature (C), and NaCl concentration (D); each with three respective levels: lower (-1), mid (0), and upper (+1). According to the present result, temperature has the greatest effect on the protection process as individual parameter followed by the inhibitor concentration itself. In this investigation an optimum efficiency of 99 % is calculated by the following parameter and level combination: upper level (+1) for inhibitor concentration, dip coating time, and NaCl concentration while lower level (-1) for temperature.

Confidentiality, integrity, and availability are often listed as the three major requirements for achieving data security and are collectively referred to as the C-I-A triad. Confidentiality of data restricts the data access to authorized parties only, integrity means that the data can only be modified by authorized parties, and availability states that the data must always be accessible when requested. Although these requirements are relevant for any computer system, they are especially important in open and distributed networks. Such networks are able to store large amounts of data without having a single entity in control of ensuring the data's security. The Semantic Web applies to these characteristics as well as it aims at creating a global and decentralized network of machine-readable data. Ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of this data is therefore also important and must be achieved by corresponding security mechanisms. However, the current reference architecture of the Semantic Web does not define any particular security mechanism yet which implements these requirements. Instead, it only contains a rather abstract representation of security. This thesis fills this gap by introducing three different security mechanisms for each of the identified security requirements confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Semantic Web data. The mechanisms are not restricted to the very basics of implementing each of the requirements and provide additional features as well. Confidentiality is usually achieved with data encryption. This thesis not only provides an approach for encrypting Semantic Web data, it also allows to search in the resulting ciphertext data without decrypting it first. Integrity of data is typically implemented with digital signatures. Instead of defining a single signature algorithm, this thesis defines a formal framework for signing arbitrary Semantic Web graphs which can be configured with various algorithms to achieve different features. Availability is generally supported by redundant data storage. This thesis expands the classical definition of availability to compliant availability which means that data must only be available as long as the access request complies with a set of predefined policies. This requirement is implemented with a modular and extensible policy language for regulating information flow control. This thesis presents each of these three security mechanisms in detail, evaluates them against a set of requirements, and compares them with the state of the art and related work.

Ray tracing acceleration through dedicated data structures has long been an important topic in computer graphics. In general, two different approaches are proposed: spatial and directional acceleration structures. The thesis at hand presents an innovative combined approach of these two areas, which enables a further acceleration of the tracing process of rays. State-of-the-art spatial data structures are used as base structures and enhanced by precomputed directional visibility information based on a sophisticated abstraction concept of shafts within an original structure, the Line Space. In the course of the work, novel approaches for the precomputed visibility information are proposed: a binary value that indicates whether a shaft is empty or non-empty as well as a single candidate approximating the actual surface as a representative candidate. It is shown how the binary value is used in a simple but effective empty space skipping technique, which allows a performance gain in ray tracing of up to 40% compared to the pure base data structure, regardless of the spatial structure that is actually used. In addition, it is shown that this binary visibility information provides a fast technique for calculating soft shadows and ambient occlusion based on blocker approximations. Although the results contain a certain inaccuracy error, which is also presented and discussed, it is shown that a further tracing acceleration of up to 300% compared to the base structure is achieved. As an extension of this approach, the representative candidate precomputation is demonstrated, which is used to accelerate the indirect lighting computation, resulting in a significant performance gain at the expense of image errors. Finally, techniques based on two-stage structures and a usage heuristic are proposed and evaluated. These reduce memory consumption and approximation errors while maintaining the performance gain and also enabling further possibilities with object instancing and rigid transformations. All performance and memory values as well as the approximation errors are measured, presented and discussed. Overall, the Line Space is shown to result in a considerate improvement in ray tracing performance at the cost of higher memory consumption and possible approximation errors. The presented findings thus demonstrate the capability of the combined approach and enable further possibilities for future work.

Studies on the toxicity of chemical mixtures find that components at levels below no-observed-effect concentrations (NOECs) may cause toxicity resulting from the combined effects of mixed chemicals. However, chemical risk assessment frequently focuses on individual chemical substances, although most living organisms are substantially exposed to chemical mixtures rather than single substances. The concepts of additive toxicity, concentration addition (CA), and independent action (IA) models are often applied to predict the mixture toxicity of similarly and dissimilarly acting chemicals, respectively. However, living organisms and the environment may be exposed to both types of chemicals at the same time and location. In addition, experimental acquisition of toxicity data for every conceivable mixture is unfeasible since the number of chemical combinations is extremely large. Therefore, an integrated model to predict mixture toxicity on the basis of single mixture components having various modes of toxic action (MoAs) needs to be developed. The objectives of the present study were to analyze the challenges in predicting mixture toxicity in the environment, and to develop integrated models that overcome the limitations of the existing prediction models for estimating the toxicity of non-interactive mixtures through computational models. For these goals, four sub-topics were generated in this study. Firstly, applicable domains and limitations of existing integrated models were analyzed and grouped into three kinds of categories in this study. There are current approaches used to assess mixture toxicity; however, there is a need for a new research concept to overcome challenges associated with such approaches, which recent studies have addressed. These approaches are discussed with particular emphasis on those studies involved in computational approaches to predict the toxicity of chemical mixtures based on the toxicological data of individual chemicals. Secondly, through a case study and a computational simulation, it was found that the Key Critical Component (KCC) and Composite Reciprocal (CR) methods (as described in the European Union (EU) draft technical guidance notes for calculating the Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) and Derived No Effect Level (DNEL) of mixtures) could derive significantly different results. As the third and fourth sub-topics of this study, the following two integrated addition models were developed and successfully applied to overcome the inherent limitations of the CA and IA models, which could be theoretically used for either similarly or dissimilarly acting chemicals: i) a Partial Least Squares-Based Integrated Addition Model (PLS-IAM), and, ii) a Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship-Based Two-Stage Prediction (QSAR-TSP) model. In this study, it was shown that the PLS-IAM might be useful to estimate mixture toxicity when the toxicity data of similar mixtures having the same compositions were available. In the case of the QSAR-TSP model, it showed the potential to overcome the critical limitation of the conventional TSP model, which requires knowledge of the MoAs for all chemicals. Therefore, this study presented good potential for the advanced integrated models (e.g., PLS-IAM and QSAR-TSP), while considering various non-interactive constituents that have different MoAs in order to increase the reliance of conventional models and simplify the procedure for risk assessment of mixtures.

With the increasing importance and urgency of climate change, companies are challenged to contribute to sustainable development, especially by younger generations. However, existing corporate contributions have been criticized as insufficient, which could be particularly caused by a lack of employee engagement in corporate sustainability. In this context, gamification has been proposed and increasingly investigated in recent years as a promising, innovative tool to motivate sustainable employee behaviors in the workplace. However, there are few studies and applicable gamification solutions that address more than one specific sustainability issue and thus take a holistic perspective on sustainable behaviors in the workplace. Moreover, previous research lacks a comprehensive understanding of how different gamification elements elicit specific psychological effects, how these manifest in behavioral changes, and how these, in turn, cumulatively result in measurable corporate outcomes. The path from gamification as ”input” to corporate sustainability as ”output” thus remains unexplored. This dissertation fills this gap by conceptualizing, designing, and evaluating a holistic gamified intervention that supports employees in various sustainable behaviors in their daily activities. The project uses a design science research approach that closely involves employees in the incremental development of the solution. As part of the iterative design process, this dissertation presents six studies to extend the theoretical understanding of gamification for sustainable employee behaviors. First, a comprehensive review of existing research on gamification for sustainable employee behavior is provided, analyzing gamification designs and results of previous studies and outlining an agenda for further research (Study 1). Theoretical foundations of research on gamification, serious games, and game-based learning (Study 2) and empirical design principles for gamification and persuasive systems (Study 3) are then systematically reviewed as a basis for the successful design of gamified applications. Subsequently, empirical studies explore employees’ motivations for sustainable behavior and illuminate their expectations for design features (Study 4), and identify contextual challenges and design dilemmas when implementing gamification in an organizational context (Study 5). Finally, a quantitative field study (Study 6) explores how different gamification designs influence sustainable employee behavior and corporate sustainability in organizations. Based on the findings, this dissertation presents a comprehensive framework of gamification for sustainable employee behavior that incorporates design, individual behavior, and organizational perspectives. Finally, building on these insights, it provides practical recommendations for designing gamification to encourage sustainable employee behavior at work.

Software is vital for modern society. The efficient development of correct and reliable software is of ever-growing importance. An important technique to achieve this goal is deductive program verification: the construction of logical proofs that programs are correct. In this thesis, we address three important challenges for deductive verification on its way to a wider deployment in the industry: 1. verification of thread-based concurrent programs 2. correctness management of verification systems 3. change management in the verification process. These are consistently brought up by practitioners when applying otherwise mature verification systems. The three challenges correspond to the three parts of this thesis (not counting the introductory first part, providing technical background on the KeY verification approach). In the first part, we define a novel program logic for specifying correctness properties of object-oriented programs with unbounded thread-based concurrency. We also present a calculus for the above logic, which allows verifying actual Java programs. The calculus is based on symbolic execution resulting in its good understandability for the user. We describe the implementation of the calculus in the KeY verification system and present a case study. In the second part, we provide a first systematic survey and appraisal of factors involved in reliability of formal reasoning. We elucidate the potential and limitations of self-application of formal methods in this area and give recommendations based on our experience in design and operation of verification systems. In the third part, we show how the technique of similarity-based proof reuse can be applied to the problems of industrial verification life cycle. We address issues (e.g., coping with changes in the proof system) that are important in verification practice, but have been neglected by research so far.

Naturwissenschaftliches Experimentieren im Förderschwerpunkt geistige Entwicklung: An Schulen mit dem Förderschwerpunkt geistige Entwicklung führen Schülerinnen und Schüler nur selten naturwissenschaftliche Experimente durch. Doch auch diese Schülerschaft kann mit adressatengerechten Lernmaterialien Experimente durchführen, deren Gestaltungskriterien in dieser Studie ermittelt werden. Zudem wird in der Studie erfasst, wie sich die Schülerinnen und Schüler über ein Schuljahr in ihrer experimentellen Kompetenz weiterentwickeln.

In dieser Arbeit werden die schottischen Liedbearbeitungen Ludwig van Beethovens auf ihre möglichen gälischen Vorläufer untersucht und in ihrem historischen Kontext aus einer gälischen Perspektive betrachtet. Ihre Liedbiographien werden um Vorläufer ergänzt und vervollständigt, die vom dem schottischen Auftraggeber Beethovens, George Thomson teilweise vorsätzlich unterschlagen wurden. Gründe hierfür sind in der politischen und kulturellen Unterdrückung der gälischen Sprachgemeinschaft Schottlands zu finden. Handelt es sich wirklich um anonyme Volkslieder, oder auch um Kompositionen bekannter Musiker aus der gälischen Kultur? Welche Veränderungen erfuhren sie im Zuge der Anonymisierung und der Degradierung zur Volksmusik, sowie der anschließenden Neuausrichtung in der schottischen Nationalmusik? Zu 12 der schottischen Lieder Beethovens sind ausführliche Liedbiographien mit allen gälischen Liedtexten, deutscher Übersetzung und den historischen Hintergründen der gälischen Vorläufer und ihrer Notierungen entstanden.

Despite their importance to the permanent success of service firms, the construct of perceived customer discrimination and its impact on the customer so far has received relatively little attention in business and management research. Existing studies, mostly social science studies from the United States, show the existence of discrimination in different service contexts. Nevertheless, the existing literature shows some gaps that require further research. So far primarily qualitative and case-based studies about customer discrimination exist which hinder the generalization of the findings. Moreover, although such studies give insight into the origin and the perception of discrimination from the customers" perspective, they provide no useful means to the management of service firms to verify the existence of discrimination in the customer contact of their own company. A research gap exists mainly with regard to the measurement of perceived customer discrimination and the investigation of its consequences. The aim of this thesis is to develop and validate a multi-item scale for measuring perceived customer discrimination. Firstly, this thesis develops a literature-based understanding of perceived customer discrimination, assuming a three-dimensional conceptualization of the construct. Based upon this three-dimensional conceptualization in a first study, an instrument for measuring perceived customer discrimination with the dimensions "overt discrimination", "discriminatory level of service" and "subtle discrimination" is being developed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Based on this three-dimensional conceptualization of perceived customer discrimination hypotheses are formulated and empirically tested supporting the nomological validity of the scale (study 1). Subsequently, the predictive validity of the scale is examined with a further sample and a known groups validity is conducted (study 2). To reconfirm the three-dimensionality and the nomological validity of the scale, dyads of service employees and customers are being surveyed in a further study via a questionnaire (study 3). Managerial and research-related implications of the results are discussed.

In Idar-Oberstein gab es ab der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts eine bedeutende Produktion von Modeschmuck in zahlreichen großen Fabriken, die sich bis in die 1980er Jahre halten konnte. Neben Pforzheim, Schwäbisch Gmünd und Hanau war Idar-Oberstein eines der vier wichtigsten deutschen Schmuckzentren. Heute sind nur noch vierzehn Firmennachlässe erhalten, dazu kommen die Bestände des Museums unterhalb der Felsenkirche. In dem erhaltenen Schmuck spiegeln sich die jeweils aktuellen Kunstrichtungen vom Historismus über Jugendstil, Art déco bis hin zu Informel und Zero in den 1960er und 70er Jahren. Außerdem haben sich auch viele alte Dokumente erhalten, die zusammengenommen ein Bild des damaligen Wirkens und Werkens der Schmuckfabriken liefern. Im Zentrum dieser Arbeit steht deshalb die wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung dieser 15 Bestände. Jedoch wurde schnell klar, dass diese nicht einfach so für sich allein stehen können. Zunächst fehlte ein geistiger Überbau, um das Phänomen Modeschmuck wirklich verstehen und einordnen zu können. Daher steht am Anfang der Arbeit die Grundlegung einer bisher noch nicht vorhandenen Schmucktheorie mit schmuckästhetischen Überlegungen, die kunsthistorische, soziologische, psychologische und philosophische Standpunkte mit einbeziehen. Aber nicht nur ein geistiger Überbau, sondern auch ein materieller Unterbau waren nötig, um das Phänomen umfassend zu klären: In der bildenden Kunst käme niemand auf die Idee, ein Kunstwerk zu beurteilen, ohne seine Entstehungstechnik zu kennen. Ob etwas eine Ätzradierung oder ein Ölgemälde ist, macht doch einen enormen Unterschied. Beim Schmuck wurden derartige Überlegungen bisher weitgehend ignoriert, obwohl sein äußeres Erscheinungsbild genauso stark von den Techniken, die bei seiner Fertigung zum Einsatz kommen, geprägt ist. So haben wir es beim Idar-Obersteiner Modeschmuck nicht nur mit einer Entwicklung des Geschmacks, sondern auch mit einer technologischen Entwicklung zu tun, die jeweils neue bzw. andere Formen ermöglichte. Darauf folgt ein industriegeschichtlicher Überblick über die Idar-Obersteiner Schmuck- und Metallwarenproduktion, in dem gezeigt wird, warum gerade Idar-Oberstein sich neben Pforzheim, Hanau und Schwäbisch Gmünd zu einem der vier wichtigsten deutschen Schmuckzentren entwickeln konnte. Von zentraler Bedeutung ist der nun folgende Abschnitt über die kunsthistorische Entwicklung des Idar-Obersteiner Modeschmucks. Besonders gewürdigt wird dort die Nähe der Entwürfe zur zeitgenössischen bildenden Kunst und der innovative Umgang mit einfachen Materialien, der schon früh zu Schmuckformen führte, die unabhängig vom Echtschmuck waren. Es folgt die wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung der vierzehn erhaltenen Firmennachlässe. Im Katalog werden schließlich repräsentative Ausschnitte aus dem erhaltenen Schmuckbestand der einzelnen Firmen und Höhepunkte der Bestände des Museums Idar-Oberstein unterhalb der Felsenkirche gezeigt, darunter bisher unbekannte Arbeiten aus dem Magazin. Meine Arbeit soll einerseits das, was sich in Idar-Oberstein erhalten hat, dokumentieren, andererseits aber auch ganz allgemein neue Impulse zum wissenschaftlichen Umgang mit dem Thema Schmuck geben und zeigen, wie wichtig es ist, sowohl schmucktheoretische Aspekte als auch die historischen Verfahrenstechniken in die Analyse mit einzubeziehen.

The application of pesticides to agricultural areas can result in transport to adjacent non-target environments. In particular, surface water systems are likely to receive agricultural pesticide input. When pesticides enter aquatic environments, they may pose a substantial threat to the ecological integrity of surface water systems. To minimize the risk to non-target ecosystems the European Union prescribes an ecotoxicological risk assessment within the registration procedure of pesticides, which consists of an effect and an exposure assessment. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of the exposure assessment and the implications to the complete regulatory risk assessment, and is based on four scientific publications. The main part of the thesis focuses on evaluation of the FOCUS modelling approach, which is used in regulatory risk assessment to predict pesticide surface water concentrations. This was done by comparing measured field concentrations (MFC) of agricultural insecticides (n = 466) and fungicides (n = 417) in surface water to respective predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) calculated with FOCUS step 1 to step 4 at two different levels of field relevance. MFCs were extracted from the scientific literature and were measured in field studies conducted primarily in Europe (publications 1 and 3). In addition, an alternative fugacity-based multimedia mass-balance model, which needs fewer input parameters and less computing effort, was used to calculate PECs for the same insecticide MFC dataset and compared to the FOCUS predictions (publication 3). Furthermore, FOCUS predictions were also conducted for veterinary pharmaceuticals in runoff from an experimental plot study, to assess the FOCUS predictions for a different class of chemicals with a different relevant entry pathway (publication 2). In publication 4, the FOCUS step-3 approach was used to determine relevant insecticide exposure patterns. These patterns were analysed for different monitoring strategies and the implications for the environmental risk assessment (publication 4). The outcome of this thesis showed that the FOCUS modelling approach is neither protective nor appropriate in predicting insecticide and fungicide field concentrations. Up to one third of the MFCs were underpredicted by the model calculations, which means that the actual risk might be underestimated. Furthermore, the results show that a higher degree of realism even reduces the protectiveness of model results and that the model predictions are worse for highly hydrophobic and toxic pyrethroids. In addition, the absence of any relationship between measured and predicted concentrations questions the general model performance quality (publication 1 and 3). Further analyses revealed that deficiencies in protectiveness and predictiveness of the environmental exposure assessment might even be higher than shown in this thesis, because actual short-term peak concentrations are only detectable with an event-related sampling strategy (publication 4). However, it was shown that the PECs of a much simpler modelling approach are much more appropriate for the prediction of insecticide MFC, especially for calculations with a higher field relevance (publication 3). The FOCUS approach also failed to predict concentrations of veterinary pharmaceuticals in runoff water (publication 2). In conclusion, the findings of this thesis showed that there is an urgent need for the improvement of exposure predictions conducted in the environmental risk assessment of pesticides as a group of highly relevant environmental chemicals, to ensure that the increasing use of those chemicals does not lead to further harmful effects in aquatic ecosystems.

The establishment of aquatic alien species can strongly affect community and food web structure of the invaded systems and thus represents a major threat to native biodiversity. One of the most important aquatic invasive species in European rivers is the Ponto-Caspian amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus. The species invaded most of the major European waterways within two decades, often associated with a decline of many other macroinvertebrate species, including other amphipods. Based on laboratory results predation by the so called ‘killer shrimp’ is often regarded as the key driver for observed displacement effects, but recent studies indicated a minor relevance of predation by D. villosus in the field. To allow the determination of exact predator-prey interactions from field samples, I established 22 group-specific rDNA primers for freshwater taxa suitable for prey species identification in dietary samples (Chapter II) and an approach for the screening of D. villosus gut contents using 16 of these primers. Combining genetic gut content analyses, with one of these primers, and stable isotope analyses, I examined the importance of intraguild predation (IGP) by D. villosus, which is often assumed the key driver for the displacement of native amphipod species, at an invasion front of the species in Switzerland (Chapter III). The results of this study revealed a low importance of IGP during this particular D. villosus invasion and indicated an overall sparsely predacious feeding behaviour of the species. As the feeding behaviour of D. villosus is supposed to differ between habitats and this study was only conducted at a few sampling sites of one river, I also investigated the role of predation by D. villosus at multiple sites of the River Rhine system, covering a broad range of microhabitats (Chapter IV). In keeping with the results from the invasion front results of this study strongly indicated a sparsely predacious feeding but rather a flexible feeding behaviour of D. villosus even within the same microhabitat. However, established populations of D. villosus have changed aquatic food webs and can be expected to affect aquatic-terrestrial energy fluxes. In Chapter V of my thesis, I present a field study investigating the impact of D. villosus on the diet of two riparian spider taxa. The results of this study indicate an effect of D. villosus on the terrestrial food web via cross-ecosystem resource flow. In conclusion, D. villosus influences terrestrial food webs by altering cross-ecosystem resource fluxes, but it is rather an opportunistic omnivore than a predator in the field.

Leaf-associated microbial decomposers as well as periphyton serve as important food sources for detritivorous and herbivorous macroinvertebrates (shredders and grazers) in streams. Shredders and grazers, in turn, provide not only collectors with food but also serve as prey for predators. Therefore, decomposer-shredder and periphyton-grazer systems (here summarized as freshwater biofilm-consumer systems) are highly important for the energy and nutrient supply in heterotrophic and autotrophic stream food webs. However, both systems can be affected by chemical stressors, amongst which antimicrobials (e.g., antibiotics, fungicides and algaecides) are of particular concern. Antimicrobials can impair shredders and grazers not only via waterborne exposure (waterborne effect pathway) but also through dietary exposure and microorganism-mediated alterations in the food quality of their diet (dietary effect pathway). Even though the relevance of the latter pathway received more attention in recent years, little is known about the mechanisms that are responsible for the observed effects in shredders and grazers. Therefore, the first objective of this thesis was to broaden the knowledge of indirect antimicrobial effects in a model shredder and grazer via the dietary pathway. Moreover, although freshwater biofilm-consumer systems are most likely exposed to antimicrobial mixtures comprised of different stressor groups, virtually nothing is known of these mixture effects in both systems. Therefore, the second objective was to assess and predict diet-related antimicrobial mixture effects in a model freshwater biofilm-consumer system. During this thesis, positive diet-related effects of a model antibiotic on the energy processing and physiology of the shredder Gammarus fossarum were observed. They were probably triggered by shifts in the leaf-associated microbial community in favor of aquatic fungi that increased the food quality of leaves for the shredder. Contrary to that, a model fungicide induced negative effects on the energy processing of G. fossarum via the dietary pathway, which can be explained by negative impacts on the microbial decomposition efficiency leading to a reduced food quality of leaf litter for gammarids. For diet-related antimicrobial effects in periphyton-grazer systems, a model algaecide altered the periphyton community composition by increasing nutritious and palatable algae. This resulted in an enhanced consumption and physiological fitness of the grazer Physella acuta. Finally, it was shown that complex horizontal interactions among leaf-associated microorganisms are involved, making diet-related antimicrobial mixture effects in the shredder G. fossarum difficult to predict. Thus, this thesis provides new insights into indirect diet-related effects of antimicrobials on shredders and grazers as well as demonstrates uncertainties of antimicrobial mixture effect predictions for freshwater biofilm-consumer systems. Moreover, the findings in this thesis are not only informative for regulatory authorities, as indirect effects and effects of mixtures across chemical classes are not considered in the environmental risk assessment of chemical substances, but also stimulate future research to close knowledge gaps identified during this work.

This thesis addresses the reduced basis methods for parametrized quasilinear elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations with strongly monotone differential operator. It presents all of the ingredients of the reduced basis method: basis generation for reduced basis approximation, certification of the approximation error by suitable a-posteriori error control and an Offine-Online decomposition. The methodology is further applied to the magnetostatic and magnetoquasistatic approximations of Maxwell’s equations and its validity is confirmed by numerical examples.

The present thesis investigates attitudes and prosocial behavior between workgroups from a social identity and intergroup contact perspective. Based on the Common In-group Identity Model (CIIM; Gaertner & Dvoidio, 2000), it is hypothesized that "optimal" conditions for contact (Allport, 1954) create a common identity at the organizational level which motivates workgroups to cooperate and show organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) rather than intergroup bias. Predictions based on the CIIM are extended with hypotheses derived from the In-group Projection Model (IPM; Mummendey & Wenzel, 1999) and the Self-Categorization Model of Group Norms (Terry & Hogg, 1996). Hypotheses are tested with data from N1 = 281 employees of N2 = 49 different workgroups and their workgroup managers of a German mail-order company (Study 1). Results indicate that group- and individual-level contact conditions are predictive of lower levels of intergroup bias and higher levels of cooperation and helping behavior. A common in-group representation mediates the effect on out-group attitudes and intergroup cooperation. In addition, the effect of a common in-group representation on intergroup bias is moderated by relative prototypicality, as predicted by the IPM, and the effect of prosocial group norms on helping behavior is moderated by workgroup identification, as predicted by the Self-Categorization Model of Group Norms. A longitudinal study with Ntotal = 57 members of different student project groups replicates the finding that contact under "optimal" conditions reduces intergroup bias and increases prosocial behavior between organizational groups. However, a common in-group representation is not found to mediate this effect in Study 2. Initial findings also indicate that individual-level variables, such as helping behavior toward members of another workgroup, may be better accounted for by variables at the same level of categorization (cf. Haslam, 2004). Thus, contact in a context that makes personal identities of workgroup members salient (i.e., decategorization) may be more predictive of interpersonal prosocial behavior, while contact in a context that makes workgroup identities salient (i.e., categorization) may be more predictive of intergroup prosocial behavior (cf. Tajfel, 1978). Further data from Study 1 support such a context-specific effect of contact between workgroups on interpersonal and intergroup prosocial behavior, respectively. In the last step, a temporal integration of the contact contexts that either lead to decategorization, categorization, or recategorization are examined based on the Longitudinal Contact Model (Pettigrew, 1998). A first indication that a temporal sequence from decategorization via categorization to recategorization may be particularly effective in fostering intergroup cooperation is obtained with data from Study 2. In order to provide a heuristic model for research on prosocial behavior between workgroups, findings are integrated into a Context-Specific Contact Model. The model proposes specific effects of contact in different contexts on prosocial behavior at different levels of categorization. Possible mediator and moderator processes are suggested. A number of implications for theory, future research and the management of relations between workgroups are discussed.

The cytological examination of bone marrow serves as clarification of variations in blood smears. It is also used for the clarification of anemia, as exclusion of bone marrow affection at lymphoma and at suspicion of leukemia. The morphological evaluation of hematopoietic cells is the basis for the creation of the diagnosis and for decision support for further diagnostics. Even for experienced hematologists the manual classification of hematopoietic cells is time-consuming, error-prone and subjective. For this reason new methods in the field of image processing and pattern recognition for the automatic classification including preprocessing steps are developed for a computer-assisted microscopy system. These methods are evaluated by means of a huge reference database. The proposed image analysis procedures comprise methods for the automated detection of smears, for the determination of relevant regions, for the localization and segmentation of single hematopoietic cells as well as for the feature extraction and classification task. These methods provide the basis for the first system for the automated, morphological analysis of bone marrow aspirates for leukemia diagnosis and are therefore a major contribution for a better and more efficient patient care in the future.

Larvae of Cx.pipiens coocurred with Cladocera, but the latter established delayed in time. Biotope structure influenced time of species occurrence with ponds at reed-covered wetlands favouring crustacean development, while ponds at grassland biotopes favoured colonization by mosquito larvae. The mechanisms driving the negative effect of crustaceans on mosquito larvae were investigated within an experiment under artificial conditions. Crustacean communities were found to reduce both oviposition and larval development of Cx.pipiens. Crustacean communities of high taxa diversity, including both predatory and competing crustaceans, were more effective compared with crustacean communities dominated by single taxa. Presence of crustacean communities characterised by high taxa diversity increased the sensitivity of Cx.pipiens larvae towards Bti and prolonged the time of recolonization. In a final step the combined approach, using Bti and crustaceans, was evaluated under field conditions. The joint application of Bti and crustaceans was found to reduce mosquito larval populations over the whole observation period, while single application of Bti caused only short-term reduction of mosquito larvae. Single application of crustaceans had no significant effect, because high abundances of prior established mosquito larvae impeded propagation of crustaceans. At combined treatment, mosquito larvae were reduced by Bti application and hence crustaceans were able to proliferate without disturbance by interspecific competition. In conclusion, natural competitors were found to have a strong negative impact on mosquito larval populations. However, a time span of about 2 weeks has to be bridged, before crustacean communities reached a level sufficient for mosquito control. Results of a combined approach, complementing the short-term effect of the biological insecticide Bti with the long-term effect of crustaceans, were promising. Using natural competitors within an integrated control strategy could be an important tool for an effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable mosquito management.

In this thesis, I study the spectral characteristics of large dynamic networks and formulate the spectral evolution model. The spectral evolution model applies to networks that evolve over time, and describes their spectral decompositions such as the eigenvalue and singular value decomposition. The spectral evolution model states that over time, the eigenvalues of a network change while its eigenvectors stay approximately constant. I validate the spectral evolution model empirically on over a hundred network datasets, and theoretically by showing that it generalizes arncertain number of known link prediction functions, including graph kernels, path counting methods, rank reduction and triangle closing. The collection of datasets I use contains 118 distinct network datasets. One dataset, the signed social network of the Slashdot Zoo, was specifically extracted during work on this thesis. I also show that the spectral evolution model can be understood as a generalization of the preferential attachment model, if we consider growth in latent dimensions of a network individually. As applications of the spectral evolution model, I introduce two new link prediction algorithms that can be used for recommender systems, search engines, collaborative filtering, rating prediction, link sign prediction and more. The first link prediction algorithm reduces to a one-dimensional curve fitting problem from which a spectral transformation is learned. The second method uses extrapolation of eigenvalues to predict future eigenvalues. As special cases, I show that the spectral evolution model applies to directed, undirected, weighted, unweighted, signed and bipartite networks. For signed graphs, I introduce new applications of the Laplacian matrix for graph drawing, spectral clustering, and describe new Laplacian graph kernels. I also define the algebraic conflict, a measure of the conflict present in a signed graph based on the signed graph Laplacian. I describe the problem of link sign prediction spectrally, and introduce the signed resistance distance. For bipartite and directed graphs, I introduce the hyperbolic sine and odd Neumann kernels, which generalize the exponential and Neumann kernels for undirected unipartite graphs. I show that the problem of directed and bipartite link prediction are related by the fact that both can be solved by considering spectral evolution in the singular value decomposition.

The goal of this thesis is the development of methods for augmented image synthesis using 3D photo collections. 3D photo collections are representations of real scenes automatically generated from single photos and describe a scene as a set of images with known camera poses as well as a sparse point-based model of the scene geometry. The main goal is to perform a photo-realistic augmented image synthesis of real and virtual parts, where the real scene is provided as a 3D photo collection. Therefore, three main problems are addressed. Since the photos may be represented in different device-specific RGB color spaces, a color characterization of the 3D photo collections is necessary to gain correct color information that is consistent with human perception. The proposed novel method automatically transforms all images into a common RGB color space and thereby simplifies color characterization of 3D photo collections. As a main problem for augmented image synthesis, all environmental lighting has to be known in order to apply illumination to virtual parts that is consistent with the real portions shown in the photos. To solve this problem, two novel methods were developed to reconstruct the lighting from 3D photo collections. In order to perform image synthesis for arbitrary views on the scene, an image-based approach was developed that generates new views in 3D photo collections making direct use of its point cloud. The novel method creates new views in real-time and allows free-navigation. In conclusion, the proposed novel methods show that 3D photo collections are a useful representation for real scenes in Augmented Reality and they can be used to perform a realistic image synthesis of real and virtual portions.

In dieser vergleichenden Untersuchung werden die Philosophien David Humes und John Deweys gegenübergestellt. Es werden sämtliche philosophischen und wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, denen sich beide Denker gewidmet haben, einbezogen: Anthropologie, Bewusstseinstheorie, Psychologie, Erkenntnistheorie, Ethik (Moralphilosophie), Politik, Ökonomie, Soziologie, Sozialphilosophie, Geschichtswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft. Dabei wird thesengeleitet vorgegangen. - Pragmatismus-These: David Hume sei Pragmatist avant la lettre gewesen. - Begriffs-These: Begriffe (hier etwa nature und experience) seien breit genug zu fassen, um mit ihnen zielführend zu operieren. - Quasi-System-These: Die Vielfalt der philosophischen und wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, mit denen sich beide Denker befassten, bilde jeweils ein System, ohne als solches angelegt worden zu sein. - Klassik-These: Es sei ergiebig, sich mit Philosophen zu beschäftigen, die bislang noch nicht oder kaum verglichen wurden, da es neben Entsprechungen, Ähnlichkeiten und Weiterentwicklungsmöglichkeiten auch Lerneffekte aus Überwindungen und Differenzen gebe. - Instrumentalismus-These: Deweys Philosophie sei dem Streben nach Lösungen für das praktische soziale Zusammenleben dienlich. Benannte Disziplinen werden einzeln in der folgenden Reihenfolge behandelt: 1) David Humes Gedanken 2) John Deweys Gedanken 3) Prüfung, inwieweit sich Dewey auf Hume direkt oder indirekt bezog 4) Verbindungslinien zwischen den Gedanken beider Philosophen Diesen Untersuchungsschwerpunkten werden vorgelagert bzw. beigestellt: - Ausführliche Begriffsarbeit, insbesondere zu den „Ismen“, welche man beiden Denkern zurechnet: Empirismus, Pragmatismus/Pragmatiszismus, Skeptizismus, Naturalismus. Der Verfasser geht dabei auch Bezüge dieser Ismen untereinander ein. - Die Philosophie William James‘ als eventueller Verbindung zwischen Hume und Dewey - Der Darwinismus als möglicher missing link zwischen beiden Denkern - Die Thematik Willensfreiheit/Determinismus als Scharnierstelle zwischen theoretischer und praktischer Philosophie Als Hauptsäulen seiner Untersuchung arbeitet der Verfasser folgende Konzeptionen heraus. - Den „pragmatistic turn“, mit dem der Verfasser aussagt, dass Hume durch die unterschiedliche Behandlung seiner skeptischen Denkergebnisse in seinen Hauptwerken Treatise und Enquiry Pragmatist avant la lettre gewesen sei - Die Idee des „Instrumentalismus zu einem höheren Zweck“, gemäß dem Dewey (und im Effekt auch Hume) zwar instrumentalistisch operierte (was ihm u. a. von Horkheimer vorgeworfen wurde), diesen Instrumentalismus selbst aber dem höheren Zweck der sozialen Gemeinschaft untergeordnet habe. Als Nebenergebnisse der Arbeit (neben der systematischen Prüfung der Thesen in allen benannten Disziplinen) entstanden Reflexionen über - Kreativität - Kommunikation - Kultur - Natur - Meliorismus, Kommunitarismus und Voluntarismus - Die Stellung der Philosophie in Bezug zu geistes-, natur- und Sozialwissenschaften - Rekonstruktion, jeweils in Bezug zum Werk beider Denker. Darüber hinaus werden die Biographien beider als „Faktor Existenz und Authentizität“ mit Blick auf die jeweilige Entsprechung zwischen Leben und Werk ausgewertet. Die vorliegende Arbeit umfasst die Auswertung des jeweils umfangreichen Gesamtwerkes sowohl von Hume als auch von Dewey und bezieht den aktuellen Stand der Sekundärliteratur mit ein. Die bisherige Forschungslage zu einem Vergleich zwischen den beiden Philosophen ist sehr spärlich; diese Arbeit ist in diesem Sinne innovativ im Themenbezug. Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist, dass in nicht wenigen Teilbereichen große Entsprechungen beider Philosophien vorhanden sind. Aber auch durch Unterschiede und bislang nicht weiterverfolgte Interpretationsansätze werden mögliche Denklinien in der Bewertung beider Philosophien und in der Betrachtung des Bezugs zwischen klassischem Empirismus und dem Pragmatismus sichtbar gemacht.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Zusammenhänge zwischen sozialer Kompetenz und den Big Five der Persönlichkeit. Nach einer Erörterung des Kompetenzbegriffs in der Psychologie wird ein Überblick über die verschiedenen theoretischen Ansätze zur sozialen Kompetenz sowie deren Erfassungsmöglichkeiten gegeben. Daneben wird das Fünf-Faktoren-Modell der Persönlichkeit hinsichtlich seiner Entwicklung und seines Stellenwerts innerhalb der Persönlichkeitsforschung analysiert und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten sowie Erfassungsmethoden der Big Five werden dargelegt. Im Anschluss werden theoretisch gefundene spezifische Zusammenhänge der beiden Konstrukte aufgezeigt. Die daraus resultierenden theoretischen Modelle zu den Zusammenhängen zwischen sozialer Kompetenz und Persönlichkeit sowie die damit verbundenen empirischen Hypothesen werden mithilfe von Strukturgleichungsmodellen an einer Stichprobe von jungen Erwachsenen aus der deutschsprachigen Schweiz überprüft. Die Strukturgleichungsmodelle können mit akzeptablen bis guten Gütekriterien beibehalten werden. Eine zusätzliche Kreuzvalidierung an einer zweiten unabhängigen Stichprobe bestätigt die Ergebnisse in weiten Teilen. Eine weitere Modellprüfung an einer französischsprachigen Stichprobe gibt erste Hinweise für eine kulturübergreifende Generalisierung. Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Studie werden sowohl methodisch als auch mit Bezug auf die theoretischen Ausführungen diskutiert und es werden Implikationen für die weitere Forschung erörtert.

Die Geometrie unseres Anschauungsraumes – die euklidische Geometrie – ist für einen allgemeinbildenden Mathematikunterricht elementar. Seitens der Mathematiklehrkraft stellt grundsätzlich ihr Fachwissen das Fundament des Unterrichtens dar. Als Teil ihres Professionswissens sollten Mathematiklehrkräfte prinzipiell über ein Fachwissen verfügen, das in Bezug zur akademischen Mathematik den unterrichtlichen Anforderungen der schulischen Mathematik gerecht wird. Die im Rahmen der Dissertation entwickelte Theorie des metrisch-normalen euklidischen Raumes charakterisiert sich in ihrer perspektivischen Dualität, der mathematischen Stringenz eines axiomatisch-deduktiven Vorgehens auf der einen und der Berücksichtigung der fachdidaktischen Anforderungen an Mathematiklehrkräfte auf der anderen Seite; sie hebt sich darin von bestehenden Theorien ab.

In the last decades, it became evident that the world is facing an unprecedented, human-induced global biodiversity crisis with amphibians being one of the most threatened species groups. About 41% of the amphibian species are classified as endangered by the IUCN, but even in amphibian species that are listed as "least concern", population declines can be observed on a local level. With land-use change and agrochemicals (i.e. pesticides), two of the main drivers for this amphibian decline are directly linked to intensive agriculture, which is the dominant landscape type in large parts of Europe. Thus, understanding the situation of amphibians in the agricultural landscape is crucial for conservation measures. In the present thesis, I investigated the effects of viticulture on amphibian populations around Landau in der Pfalz (Germany) in terms of habitat use, pesticide exposure, biometric traits as well as genetic and age structure. From the perspective of amphibians, land-use change means usually the destruction of habitats in agricultural landscapes, which often leads to landscape fragmentation. Thus, I followed the question if also vineyards lead to the fragmentation of the landscape and if pesticides that are frequently used in viticulture have to be considered as a factor too, so if there is a chemical landscape fragmentation. Using telemetry, I could show that common toads (Bufo bufo) can be found directly in vineyards, but that they tend to avoid them as habitat. Analysing the genetic structure of common frogs (Rana temporaria) revealed that vineyards have to be considered as a barrier for amphibians. To identify if pesticides contribute to the resulting landscape fragmentation, I conducted an arena choice experiment in the laboratory in which I found evidence for an avoidance of pesticide-contaminated soil. Such an avoidance could be one of the underlying reasons for a potential chemical landscape fragmentation. By combining telemetry data with information about pesticide applications from local wine growers, I could show that a large part of the common toads is likely to come in contact with pesticides. Further, I demonstrated that the agricultural landscape, probably due to the application of pesticides, can have negative effects on the reproduction capacity of common toads. By studying palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus) I found that adult newts from agricultural ponds are smaller than those from forest ponds. As I did not find differences in the age structure and growth, these differences might be carry-over effects from earlier life stages. While agricultural ponds might be suitable habitats for adult palmate newts, the potential carry-over effect indicates suboptimal conditions for larvae and/or juveniles. I conclude that the best management measure for sustaining amphibians in the agricultural landscape would be a heterogeneous cultural landscape with a mosaic of different habitat patches that work without or at least a reduced amount of pesticides. Green corridors between populations and different habitats would allow migrating individuals to avoid agricultural and thus pesticide-contaminated areas. This would reduce the pesticide exposure risk of amphibians, while preventing the fragmentation of the landscape and thus the isolation of populations.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden auditorische Vernachlässigungen (auditorische Extinktion und auditorischer Neglekt) bei Patienten mit visuell-räumlichem Neglekt untersucht. Neben diesen Patienten mit rechtshemisphärischer Hirnschädigung wurde eine hinsichtlich des Alters kontrollierte Vergleichsgruppe untersucht. Als Verfahren zur Untersuchung des auditorischen Neglekts und der auditorischen Extinktion wurden drei aus der Literatur adaptierte experimentelle Verfahren eingesetzt, in denen sowohl alltagsnahe (Zahlenwörter, Alltagsgeräusche) als auch alltagsferne (Rauschen) akustische Reize monaural und binaural präsentiert wurden. In einem der Verfahren wurde ein monaural und binaural präsentiertes Rauschen durch den Stimulus unterbrochen. Über alle Untersuchungsbedingungen hinweg wiesen die Patienten im Vergleich zu der Kontrollgruppe in den untersuchten Bereichen deutlich schlechtere Leistungen auf. Unter monauralen Untersuchungsbedingungen machten die Patienten unabhängig vom präsentierten Stimulusmaterial wenig Fehler mit einer tendenziellen Abhängigkeit der Performanz von der Präsentationsseite, wobei rechtsseitig präsentierte Reize besser erkannt wurden. Monaurale Reizdetektion bei gleichzeitiger Präsenz eines kontinuierlichen Hintergrundgeräusches führt darüber hinaus zu einer deutlich schlechteren kontraläsionalen Detektionsleistung sowie zu einer Abhängigkeit der Detektionsleistung von der Art des Stimulusmaterials. Diese Ergebnisse liefern einen Hinweis auf eine grundsätzliche Beeinträchtigung der kontraläsionalen Diskriminationsfähigkeit in der untersuchten Patientengruppe, welche in der vorliegenden Studie als kritisches Merkmal des auditorischen Neglekts angesehen werden. Bei der binauralen Stimuluspräsentation zeigte sich, dass identische, simultan an beiden Ohren präsentierte akustische Reize von den Patienten kaum ihren getrennten Ursprungsorten zugeschrieben werden können. Die Patienten identifizierten diese Reize häufig als monaural, was charakteristisch für das Störungsbild der Extinktion ist, und zeigten eine Tendenz, diese Reize dem rechten, auf der Seite der Hirnschädigung gelegenen, Ohr zuzuschreiben. Unter dichotischen Präsentationsbedingungen, das heißt bei simultaner Darbietung von zwei ungleichen akustischen Reizen, steigert sich dagegen die Lokalisations- und Identifikationsleistung der Patienten signifikant. Zusätzlich zeigte sich unter dichotischen Untersuchungsbedingungen eine deutliche Asymmetrie der Extinktionsseite, mit einer signifikant häufigeren Extinktion linksseitiger im Vergleich zu rechtsseitigen Reizen. Insgesamt zeigt sich eine Abhängigkeit der Testergebnisse von den spezifischen Bedingungen der Reizpräsentation und dem Alltagsrelevanz des Stimulusmaterials. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass nahezu alle untersuchten Patienten mit visuell-räumlichem Neglekt auch von Vernachlässigungsphänomenen in der auditorischen Modalität betroffen sind. Allerdings konnte kein genereller Zusammenhang der Schweregrade der Symptome in der auditorischen und visuellen Modalität nachgewiesen werden. Während sich ein Zusammenhang hinsichtlich der Schwere der Beeinträchtigung für den auditorischen Neglekt zeigte, ließ sich diese Assoziation für die auditorische Extinktion nicht nachweisen. Auf Grundlage der vergleichenden Analyse der untersuchten experimentellen Testverfahren zur auditorischen Vernachlässigung wird vorgeschlagen, dass Neglekt und Extinktion auch in der auditorischen Domäne als sinnvolle Störungsbilder beibehalten sollten und ihre Unterscheidung in Analogie zur visuellen Modalität vorgenommen werden kann. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Notwendigkeit des Einsatzes experimentell-neuropsychologischer Aufgaben in der klinischen Praxis um räumlichattentionale Beeinträchtigungen in der akustischen Reizverarbeitung nach einer Hirnschädigung erfassen zu können. Es wird eine Testbatterie bestehend aus einem auditorischen Extinktionstest " mit simultaner Darbietung von identischen und unterschiedlichen binauralen Stimuli " sowie einem Neglekttest vorgeschlagen, bei dem unterschiedliche Zielreize in der Gegenwart eines kontinuierlichen binauralen Hintergrundrauschens detektiert werden müssen.

With 47% land coverage in 2016, agricultural land was one of the largest terrestrial biomes in Germany. About 70% of the agricultural land was cropped area with associated pesticide applications. Agricultural land also represents an essential habitat for amphibians. Therefore, exposure of amphibians to agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, seems likely. Pesticides can be highly toxic for amphibians, even a fraction of the original application rate may result in high amphibian mortality. To evaluate the potential risk of pesticide exposure for amphibians, the temporal coincidence of amphibian presence on agricultural land and pesticide applications (N = 331) was analyzed for the fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina), moor frog (Rana arvalis), spadefoot toad (Pelobates fuscus) and crested newt (Triturus cristatus) during spring migration. In 2007 and 2008, up to 80% of the migrating amphibians temporally coincided with pesticide applications in the study area of Müncheberg, about 50 km east of Berlin. Pesticide interception by plants ranged between 50 to 90% in winter cereals and 80 to 90% in winter rape. The highest coincidence was observed for the spadefoot toad, where 86.6% of the reproducing population was affected by a single pesticide in winter rape during stem elongation with 80% pesticide interception by plants. Late migrating species, such as the fire-bellied toad and the spadefoot toad, overlapped more with pesticide applications than early migrating species, such as the moor frog, did. Under favorable circumstances, the majority of early migrants may not coincide with the pesticide applications of arable fields during spring migration. To evaluate the potential effect of pesticide applications on populations of the common frog (Rana temporaria), a landscape genetic study was conducted in the vinicultural area of Southern Palatinate. Due to small sample sizes at breeding sites within viniculture, several DNA sampling methods were tested. Furthermore, the novel repeated randomized selection of genotypes approach was developed to utilize genetic data from siblings for more reliable estimates of genetic parameters. Genetic analyses highlighted three of the breeding site populations located in viniculture as isolated from the meta-population. Genetic differentiation among breeding site populations in the viniculture (median pairwise FST=0.0215 at 2.34 km to 0.0987 at 2.39 km distance) was higher compared to genetic differentiation among breeding site populations in the Palatinate Forest (median pairwise FST=0.0041 at 5.39 km to 0.0159 at 9.40 km distance). The presented studies add valuable information about the risk of pesticide exposure for amphibians in the terrestrial life stage and possible effects of agricultural land on amphibian meta-populations. To conserve endemic amphibian species and their (genetic) diversity in the long run, the risk assessment of pesticides and applied agricultural management measures need to be adjusted to protect amphibians adequately. In addition, other conservation measures such as the creation of new suitable breeding site should be considered to improve connectivity between breeding site populations and ensure the persistence of amphibians in the agricultural land.

Die Studie thematisiert die Positionierung und Subjektivierung von Medienpädagog*innen im Diskurs um Gewaltdarstellungen in Computerspielen. Der sogenannte ‚Killerspiel‘-Diskurs in den Jahren 2001 bis 2016 stellt für medienpädagogische Fachkräfte ein Feld widersprüchlicher Handlungserwartungen dar, Gewaltdarstellungen in Computerspielen entweder als Problem wahrzunehmen und dieses zu bearbeiten oder Computerspiele als Chance zu begreifen. Als rele-vante Multiplikator*innen diskursiver Wissensbestände wurden deswegen für diese Studie Me-dienpädagog*innen interviewt, die an maßgeblichen Positionen in der Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis agieren und daher für viele Kolleg*innen deutungs- und praxisrelevan-tes Wissen generieren. Um die Ausrichtung dieses Wissens zu prüfen, wurde in dieser Studie die Frage gestellt, wie sich diese medienpädagogischen Fachkräfte, die korrigierend in Diskurse ein-greifen, positionieren und inwiefern (medien-)pädagogische Professionalität als Ressource und Grenze der Positionierung fungiert. Um die Fragestellung zu beantworten wurden zwei empirisch analytische Untersuchungen durchgeführt. Zuerst wurde eine Sekundäranalyse bestehender Diskursanalysen zum ‚Killer-spiel‘-Diskurs durchgeführt, um die Subjektpositionen herauszuarbeiten, mit denen sich die Me-dienpädagog*innen auseinandersetzen mussten. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde eine qualitative Interviewstudie mit neun Medienpädagog*innen durchgeführt. Im Anschluss an die semi-narrativen Expert*inneninterviews wurden diese in einem dreistufigen Verfahren ausgewertet. Nach der deduktiven und induktiven Kategorienbildung in Anlehnung an die inhaltlich struktu-rierende Inhaltsanalyse, wurde im Rahmen einer Deutungsmusteranalyse das Deutungswissen der Medienpädagog*innen und der Sinnhorizont ihrer Intervention in den Diskurs feinanalytisch rekonstruiert. Zuletzt wurden drei biographische Fallanalysen durchgeführt, um die Relationie-rung zwischen Diskurs und (Berufs-)biographie zu diskutieren. Im Rahmen der Sekundäranalyse des ‚Killerspiel‘-Diskurses konnte die bisher in Diskursanaly-sen rekonstruierte Differenzierung von Risiko- und Chancennarrativ erweitert werden. Durch die Abgrenzung jeweils zweier Deutungsmuster des Problemdiskurses (‚Gefahr‘ und ‚Risiko‘) und des Gegendiskurses (‚Optimierung von Lernchancen‘ und ‚Kultur‘) konnten dadurch Positionie-rungen in multiplen Konfliktfeldern sichtbar gemacht werden. So war es möglich die fachliche Positionierung der Medienpädagog*innen als Zwischenraum zu fassen, in dem sowohl Deutun-gen des Gegendiskurses als auch des Problemdiskurses eigenwillig miteinander relationiert wer-den. Die eigenwillige Aneignung diskursiver Problem- und Deutungsmuster verläuft bei den Medienpädagog*innen über unterschiedliche fachliche Schnittstellen und Kopplungen. Statt den Diskurs mit der eigenen Lebensgeschichte zu relationieren wird er mit der in Handlungsfeld-strukturen situierten fachlichen medienpädagogischen Praxis in Beziehung gesetzt. Dabei ist eine Pädagogisierung des Diskurses und eine Diskursivierung pädagogischer Handlungsfelder zu beobachten. Mittels mehrerer Pädagogiken werden diskursive Deutungsmuster transformiert und das medienpädagogische Handeln durch die Re-Interpretation medienpädagogischer Hand-lungsfelder im Sinnhorizont des Diskurses als Intervention in den Diskurs gerahmt. Gleichzeitig wird in einem ‚Opportunismus der Uneindeutigkeit‘ die Anschlussfähigkeit an Problemdeutun-gen durch die Selbstdarstellung als verantwortliche Problembearbeiter*innen gewahrt, wodurch die eigene Handlungsfähigkeit, die Legitimität des Handelns und der Zugang zu gesellschaftli-chen Ressourcen gesichert wird. In den Fallanalysen zeigte sich, dass diese fachlichen Positionierungen nur dann einen Subjekti-vierungsprozess dokumentieren, wenn die Erzählbausteine des Diskurses (Deutungsmuster und diskursiver Konflikt) als Material für die eigene Selbsterzählung herangezogen und als Professi-onsverständnis re-artikuliert werden. Das Konfliktszenario wird dann über dessen öffentliche Thematisierung hinaus als berufsbiographisches Projekt formulierbar, was sich insbesondere da-rin zeigt, dass prospektive Zukunftsentwürfe weiterhin im Deutungs- und Konfliktspektrum des Diskurses verortet werden. Subjektivierung professioneller Akteure kann daher als über fachliche Positionierungen (als fachlich orientierte, kommentierende Auseinandersetzungen mit im Diskurs verhandelten Deutungsmustern und Wissensbeständen) hinausgehende Prozesse der Deutung des eigenen Professionalitätsverständnisses, die Ausbildung von Pädagogiken und die Veranke-rung berufsbiographischer Ziele im Horizont des Deutungsspektrum des Diskurses gefasst wer-den. In der medienpädagogischen Professionsforschung können die Deutungsmuster und Subjektpo-sitionen des Diskurses als Professionalitätserwartungen analytisch Anwendung finden. Ihr Vor-teil gegenüber den hierfür auch herangezogenen Paradigmen der Medienpädagogik ist der Aktu-alitäts- und Gegenstandsbezug. Auch in anderen Themenbereichen (bspw. Mediensucht) können die Deutungsmuster des Diskurses sinnvoll Anwendung finden. Die Studie konnte zudem zei-gen, dass eine Subjektivierungsheuristik sinnvoll auf professionelle Akteure anwendbar ist, da fachliche Positionierungen von Subjektivierungen deutlich unterschieden werden können. Dafür wurde eine spezielle für professionelle Akteure konzipierte Subjektivierungsheuristik entworfen, die insbesondere den unterschiedlichen Funktionen diverser Wissensformen Rechnung tragen kann und in der Professionsforschung die Relevanz des diskursiven Wissens als relevanter Wis-sensform für professionelle Praxis herausstellt.

Virtual reality is a growing field of interest as it provides a particular intuitive way of user-interaction. However, there are still open technical issues regarding latency — the delay between interaction and display reaction — and the trade-off between visual quality and frame-rate of real-time graphics, especially when taking visual effects like specular and semi-transparent surfaces and volumes into account. One solution, a distributed rendering setup, is presented in this thesis, in which the image synthesis is divided into an accurate but costly physically based rendering thread with a low refresh rate and a fast reprojection thread to remain a responsive interactivity with a high frame-rate. Two novel reprojection techniques are proposed that cover reflections and refractions produced by surface ray-tracing as well as volumetric light transport generated by volume ray-marching. The introduced setup can enhance the VR experience within several domains. In this thesis, three innovative training applications have been realized to investigate the added value of virtual reality to the three learning stages of observation, interaction and collaboration. For each stage an interdisciplinary curriculum, currently taught with traditional media, was transferred to a VR setting in order to investigate how virtual reality is capable of providing a natural, flexible and efficient learning environment

Rivers play an important role in the global water cycle, support biodiversity and ecological integrity. However, river flow and thermal regimes are heavily altered in dammed rivers. These impacts are being exacerbated and become more apparent in rivers fragmented by multiple dams. Recent studies mainly focused on evaluating the cumulative impact of cascade reservoirs on flow or thermal regimes, but the role of upstream reservoirs in shaping the hydrology and hydrodynamics of downstream reservoirs remains poorly understood. To improve the understanding of the hydrodynamics in cascade reservoirs, long-term observational data are used in combination with numerical modeling to investigate the changes in flow and thermal regime in three cascade reservoirs at the upper reach of the Yangtze River. The three studied reservoirs are Xiluodu (XLD), Xiangjiaba (XJB) and Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). In addition, the effects of single reservoir operation (at seasonal/daily time scale) on hydrodynamics are examined in a large tributary of TGR. The results show that the inflow of TGR has been substantially altered by the two upstream reservoirs with a higher discharge in spring and winter and a reduced peak flow in summer. XJB had no obvious contribution to the variations in inflow of TGR. The seasonal water temperature of TGR was also widely affected by the upstream two reservoirs, i.e., an increase in winter and decrease in spring, associated with a delay in water temperature rise and fall. These effects will probably be intensified in the coming years due to the construction of new reservoirs. The study also underlines the importance of reservoir operation in shaping the hydrodynamics of TGR. The seasonal dynamics of density currents in a tributary bay of TGR are closely related to seasonal reservoir operations. In addition, high-frequency water level fluctuations and flow velocity variations were observed in response to periodic tributary bay oscillations, which are driven by the diurnal discharge variations caused by the operation of TGR. As another consequence of operation of cascade reservoirs, the changes in TGR inflow weakened spring thermal stratification and caused warming in spring, autumn and winter. In response to this change, the intrusions from TGR occurred more frequently as overflow and earlier in spring, which caused a sharp reduction in biomass and frequency of phytoplankton blooms in tributary bays of TGR. This study suggests that high-frequency bay oscillations can potentially be used as an efficient management strategy for controlling algal blooms, which can be included in future multi-objective ecological conservation strategies.