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Field margins are often the only remaining habitats of various wild plant species in agricultural landscapes. However, due to their proximity to agricultural fields, the vegetation of field margins can be affected by agrochemicals applied to the crop fields. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the individual and combined effects of herbicide, insecticide and fertilizer inputs on the plant community of a field margin. Therefore, a 3-year field experiment with a randomized block design including seven treatments (H: herbicide, I: insecticide, F: fertilizer, H+I, F+I, F+H and F+H+I) and one control was conducted on a low-production meadow. Each treatment was replicated 8 times in 8 m x 8 m plots with a distance of 2 m between each plot. The fertilizer rates (25 % of the field rate) and pesticide rates (30 % of the field rate) used for the plot applications were consistent with realistic average input rates (overspray + drift) in the first meter of a field margin directly adjacent to a wheat field.
The study revealed that fertilizer and herbicide misplacements in field margins are major factors that affect the natural plant communities of these habitats. In total, 20 of the 26 abundant species on the study site were significantly affected by the fertilizer and herbicide treatment. The fertilizer promoted plants with high nutrient uptake and decreased the frequencies of small species. The herbicide caused a nearly complete disappearance of three species directly after the first application, whereas sublethal effects (e.g., phytotoxic effects and reduced seed productions of up to 100 %) were observed for the other affected species. However, if field margins are exposed to repeated agrochemical applications over several years, then such sublethal effects (particularly reproduction effects) also reduce the population size of plant species significantly, as observed in this study.
Significant herbicide-fertilizer interaction effects were also detected and could not be extrapolated from individual effects. The fertilizer and herbicide effects became stronger over time, leading to shifts in plant community compositions after three years and to a 15 % lower species diversity than in the control. The insecticide significantly affected the frequencies of two plant species (1 positively and 1 negatively). The results of the experiment suggest that a continuous annual agrochemical application on the study site would cause further plant community shifts and would likely lead to the disappearance of certain affected plants. A clear trend of increasing grass dominance at the expense of flowering herbs was detected. This finding corresponds well with monitoring data from field margins near the study site.
Although herbicide risk assessment aims to protect non-target plants in off-field habitats from adverse effects, reproduction effects and combined effects are currently not considered. Furthermore, no regulations for fertilizer applications next to field margins exist and thus, fertilizer misplacements in field margins are likely to occur and to interact with herbicide effects.
Adaptations of the current risk assessment, a development of risk mitigation measures (e.g., in-field buffers) for the application of herbicides and fertilizers, and general management measures for field margins are needed to restore and conserve plant diversity in field margins in agricultural landscapes.
Aspect-orientation in PHP
(2012)
Diese Diplomarbeit hat das Thema der fehlenden Cross-Cutting-Concerns(CCCs)-Unterstützung in PHP zum Inhalt. Die Basis bilden zu definierende Anforderungen an eine AOP-Realisierung im PHP-Umfeld. Es wird analysiert, wie und ob verwandte Sprachen und Paradigmen es gestatten, CCCs zu unterstützen. Darüber hinaus wird die Möglichkeit erörtert, AOP in PHP ohne PHP-Erweiterung zu realisieren. Weiter werden die bisherigen Ansätze, AOP in PHP umzusetzen, qualitativ untersucht. Die vorliegende Arbeit zielt darauf ab, eine eigene AOP-PHP-Lösung zu präsentieren, die nicht die Schwächen existierender Lösungen teilt.
Navigation is a natural way to explore and discover content in a digital environment. Hence, providers of online information systems such as Wikipedia---a free online encyclopedia---are interested in providing navigational support to their users. To this end, an essential task approached in this thesis is the analysis and modeling of navigational user behavior in information networks with the goal of paving the way for the improvement and maintenance of web-based systems. Using large-scale log data from Wikipedia, this thesis first studies information access by contrasting search and navigation as the two main information access paradigms on the Web. Second, this thesis validates and builds upon existing navigational hypotheses to introduce an adaptation of the well-known PageRank algorithm. This adaptation is an improvement of the standard PageRank random surfer navigation model that results in a more "reasonable surfer" by accounting for the visual position of links, the information network regions they lead to, and the textual similarity between the link source and target articles. Finally, using agent-based simulations, this thesis compares user models that have a different knowledge of the network topology in order to investigate the amount and type of network topological information needed for efficient navigation. An evaluation of agents' success on four different networks reveals that in order to navigate efficiently, users require only a small amount of high-quality knowledge of the network topology. Aside from the direct benefits to content ranking provided by the "reasonable surfer" version of PageRank, the empirical insights presented in this thesis may also have an impact on system design decisions and Wikipedia editor guidelines, i.e., for link placement and webpage layout.
Die nächste Generation des World Wide Web, das Semantic Web, erlaubt Benutzern, Unmengen an Informationen über die Grenzen von Webseiten und Anwendungen hinaus zu veröffentlichen und auszutauschen. Die Prinzipien von Linked Data beschreiben Konventionen, um diese Informationen maschinenlesbar zu veröffentlichen. Obwohl es sich aktuell meist um Linked Open Data handelt, deren Verbreitung nicht beschränkt, sondern explizit erwünscht ist, existieren viele Anwendungsfälle, in denen der Zugriff auf Linked Data in Resource Description Framework (RDF) Repositories regelbar sein soll. Bisher existieren lediglich Ansätze für die Lösung dieser Problemstellung, weshalb die Veröffentlichung von vertraulichen Inhalten mittels Linked Data bisher nicht möglich war.
Aktuell können schützenswerte Informationen nur mit Hilfe eines externen Betreibers kontrolliert veröffentlicht werden. Dabei werden alle Daten auf dessen System abgelegt und verwaltet. Für einen wirksamen Schutz sind weitere Zugriffsrichtlinien, Authentifizierung von Nutzern sowie eine sichere Datenablage notwendig.
Beispiele für ein solches Szenario finden sich bei den sozialen Netzwerken wie Facebook oder StudiVZ. Die Authentifizierung aller Nutzer findet über eine zentrale Webseite statt. Anschließend kann beispielsweise über eine Administrationsseite der Zugriff auf Informationen für bestimmte Nutzergruppen definiert werden. Trotz der aufgezeigten Schutzmechanismen hat der Betreiber selbst immer Zugriff auf die Daten und Inhalte aller Nutzer.
Dieser Zustand ist nicht zufriedenstellend.
Die Idee des Semantic Webs stellt einen alternativen Ansatz zur Verfügung. Der Nutzer legt seine Daten an einer von ihm kontrollierten Stelle ab, beispielsweise auf seinem privaten Server. Im Gegensatz zum zuvor vorgestellten Szenario ist somit jeder Nutzer selbst für Kontrollmechanismen wie Authentifizierung und Zugriffsrichtlinien verantwortlich.
Innerhalb der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Framework konzeptioniert und entworfen, welches es mit Hilfe von Regeln erlaubt, den Zugriff auf RDF-Repositories zu beschränken. In Kapitel 2 werden zunächst die bereits existierenden Ansätze für die Zugriffssteuerung vertraulicher Daten im Sematic Web vorgestellt. Des Weiteren werden in Kapitel 3 grundlegende Mechanismen und Techniken erläutert, welche in dieser Arbeit Verwendung finden. In Kapitel 4 wird die Problemstellung konkretisiert und anhand eines Beispielszenarios analysiert.
Nachdem Anforderungen und Ansprüche erhoben sind, werden in Kapitel 6 verschiedene Lösungsansätze, eine erste Implementierung und ein Prototyp vorgestellt. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse der Arbeit und die resultierenden Ausblicke in Kapitel 7 zusammengefasst.
Agricultural intensification is leading to a severe decline in farmland biodiversity worldwide. The resulting landscape simplification through the expansion of monocultures and removal of non-crop habitats has a major impact on arthropod communities in agricultural landscapes. While arable fields are often highly disturbed and ephemeral habitats that are unsuitable for many species, non-crop habitats in agroecosystems can provide important refugia. The creation of non-crop habitats through agri-environmental schemes (AES) in intensive agricultural landscapes, such as the ‘Maifeld’ region in western Germany, is intended to mitigate the negative effects of agricultural intensification, although the effectiveness of these measures for nature conservation is still controversial. Therefore, this work focuses on the taxonomic and functional diversity of beetles (Coleoptera) and spiders (Araneida), being important providers of ecosystem services, between wheat fields and different non-crop habitats, namely grassy field margins adjacent to wheat and oilseed rape fields, small- and large-scale set-aside areas sown with wildflowers, and permanent grassland fallows. Arthropods were collected between 2019 and 2020 using pitfall traps and suction sampling. Land-use type influenced beetle and spider diversity in the study area, with significantly higher values in grassland fallows than wheat fields. Surprisingly, species diversity differed little among all non-crop habitats, but all harboured distinct species assemblages. In particular, large long-term grassland fallows showed the largest within-group variation of beetle and spider assemblages and represented important habitats, especially for habitat specialists and threatened species, likely due to their variable soil moisture and complex habitat structure. In contrast, the homogeneous arthropod assemblages of wheat fields exhibited lower trait richness and were dominated by a few predatory species adapted to such disturbed, man-made habitats. Interestingly, all conservation measures complemented each other in that they contributed in different ways to supporting beetles and spiders in agricultural landscapes. Even small-scale non-crop habitats and existing habitat boundaries in an agricultural matrix appear to be valuable habitats for farmland arthropods by enhancing taxonomic diversity. Field margins and small wildflower-sown patches can link isolated non-crop habitats and contribute to a heterogeneous agricultural landscape. Consequently, a combination of various small- and large-scale greening measures leads to increased compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity, resulting in improved beetle and spider diversity. Considering the ongoing loss of farmland biodiversity worldwide, agri-environmental schemes should be promoted in the future, as they are particularly important for arthropod conservation in intensive agricultural landscapes such as the Maifeld region.
Eine Ursache des Insektenrückgangs ist die Abnahme der für Arthropoden wichtigen Lebensräume. Der kleinstrukturierte Obstanbau als Dauerkultur mit vielfältigen Strukturen (Bäume, Grünland, offener Boden) kann als Refugium wirken. Gerade Dauerkulturen, welche über viele Jahre bestehen bleiben, können einen großen ökologischen Wert für Insekten und Spinnentiere darstellen, wenn die negativen Einflüsse der Bewirtschaftung durch gezielte Maßnahmen minimiert werden. Im Gegensatz zu den gut untersuchten Streuobstwiesen liegen bisher nur wenige oder ungenaue Daten über die Arthropodenfauna in Erwerbsobstanlagen vor. Ziele dieser Arbeit sind eine genauere Erfassung der Arthropodenfauna in Erwerbsobstanlagen, Benennung der Einflussfaktoren und Erarbeitung einer indikatorgestützten Bewertungsmethode mit Entwicklung von Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Biodiversität. Es wurde eine intensive Erfassung der Insekten und Spinnentiere auf Basis von Individuenzahlen, Verteilung der Tiere auf Großgruppen, Artenzahlen der Käfer (inkl. Rote Liste) und Wanzen, deren Diversität und der sie beeinflussenden Faktoren auf vier Erwerbsobstflächen und einer Streuobstwiese als Referenzfläche in der Gemeinde Zornheim (Rheinland-Pfalz) untersucht. Mittels des erarbeiteten Bewertungsbogens wurden die Auswirkungen der fünf Faktorenkomplexe: Sonderstrukturen, Anlagenstruktur, Beschattung, Mahdregime und Einsatz von Pflanzenschutzmitteln auf die Arthropodenfauna erhoben und die auf der Fläche zu erwartende Biodiversität ermittelt. Die visuelle Darstellung der Einflussfaktoren mit Netzdiagrammen zeigt biodiversitätsbeeinträchtigende Faktoren und ermöglicht so Empfehlungen zur Aufwertung der Biodiversität. Die Bewertungsmethode kann nach Verifizierung im Rahmen von erfolgsorientierten Agrarumwelt- und Klimamaßnahmen (AUKM), zur Anerkennung von Kompensationsmaßnahmen (z.B. PIK) und zur Ermittlung des ökologischen Wertes (Ökosystemdienstleistung) von Obstanlagen genutzt werden. In modifizierter Form könnte es ebenfalls im Bereich der Flächenbewertung in Landschafts- und Bauleitplanung eingesetzt werden.
Agricultural plastic covers made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) provide increased yields and an improved crop quality. However, such covers are suspected of partially breaking down into smaller debris and thereby contributing to soil pollution with microplastics. To scrutinize this, we randomly sampled 240 topsoil cores (0–5 cm) from eight fields which were covered with fleeces, perforated foils, and plastic mulches for less than 2 years. Samples from the field periphery (50 m perimeter) served as a reference. Visual plastic debris > 2 mm was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Smaller, soil-associated plastic debris was dispersed from 50 g of fine soil (≤ 2 mm) using sodium hexametaphosphate solution and density-separated with saturated NaCl solution. The collected PE, PP, and polystyrene (PS) debris was selectively dissolved in a mixture of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and p-xylene at 150 °C and quantified by pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). We counted six PE and PS fragments > 2 mm in two out of eight fields. By contrast, Py-GC/MS detected PE, PP, and PS contents in the fine soil of six fields (6 % of all samples). In three fields, PE levels of 3–35 mg kg−1 were potentially associated with the use of thinner and less durable perforated foils (40 µm thickness). This was slightly more pronounced at field edges where the plastic covers are turned and weighed down. By contrast, 50 µm thick PE films were not shown to emit any plastic debris. PP contents of 5–10 mg kg−1 were restricted to single observations in the field centers of three sites. At one site, we found expanded PS particles > 2 mm that concurred with elevated PS levels (8–19 mg kg−1) in the fine soil. Both PP and PS were distributed indistinctly across sites so that their source remained unresolved. In addition, the extent to which plastic contents of up to 7 mg kg−1 in the field periphery of some sites were attributed to wind drift from the covered fields or from external sources needs to be investigated in future studies. Our results suggest that the short-term use of thicker and more durable plastic covers should be preferred over thinner or perforated films to limit plastic emissions and accumulation in soil.
This Work analyzes if a hardware prototype on an Arduino basis for an Adhoc Network can be created. The objective of the prototype development is, the creation of a sensor node with a modular design, where components can be easily changed. Furthermore the application area has requirements, which the node must fulfill. These requirements are derived from the Tmote Sky sensor node, therefore the new created sensor node must be a possible alternative for it and fulfill the same functions. For that purpose this study reviews some available Arduino microprocessors on their suitability for a sensor node. Later in the work the composition of the sensor node is documented. For this, the hardware and their costs are illustrated. The created hardware prototype allows, through easily changed radio modules, the covering of 433 MHz, 866 MHz and 2,40 GHz radio frequencies. At the end of the work, the sensor node prototype is used in an experiment to check for the suitability for water monitoring. For this, an experiment was performed on land and on water and the results evaluated. In the end the prototype fulfilled most of the requirements, but the cost was a little too high.
Menschen wünschen sich im Allgemeinen "Kontrolle" über ihre Umweltbedingungen. Dieses Bedürfnis kommt in Form von Selbstgestaltungen von Architektur und Selbstregulierungen von Stressoren zum Ausdruck. Aus diesem Grund wird das Konzept der Umweltkontrolle als zentrales Kriterium für gebaute Umwelten in allen drei Fall-Studien zu Schule (Waldorfschule Köln), Hochschule (Universität Koblenz) und Bürogebäude (Post Tower Bonn) angewendet. Im deutschen Sprachraum werden damit erstmalig in einer Monographie psychologische Untersuchungen von innovativen Gebäuden in Anlehnung an die International Building Performance Evaluation (Gebäudeleistungsevaluation) beschrieben. Der "Koblenzer Architekturfragebogen" wird als Instrument zur Beurteilung von gebauten Umwelten in drei Varianten vorgestellt. Bis zu 21 psychologische Kriterien für den Erfolg von Organisationen werden pro Studie angewandt. Ziel aller drei Studien ist unter anderem, Empfehlungen für Verbesserungen von Um- und Neubauten benennen zu können. Zwei zentrale Fragestellungen lauten daher: Unterscheidet sich in einer User-Needs Analysis eine Einschätzung des Gebäudes "zur Zeit" von der Beurteilung der "Wichtigkeit in Zukunft"? Haben Merkmale der Architektur Auswirkungen auf die Performance-Kriterien? Zu den Studien wurden drei Abbildungssätze nach dem Facettenansatz und zwei Schemata zur Beurteilung der Qualität von Schul- und Bürogebäuden entwickelt. Die in den drei Studien ermittelten Zusammenhänge der zentralen Performance-Kriterien lassen begründet annehmen, dass durch gezielte Verbesserungen wichtiger Umweltaspekte, insbesondere solcher, die Umweltkontrolle ermöglichen, das Wohlbefinden und somit die Leistung von Nutzern positiv beeinflusst werden können.
Die Reputation von Unternehmen ist einer zunehmenden Gefahr ausgesetzt, die sich aus der (unreflektierten) Nutzung sozialer Netzwerke durch die eigenen Mitarbeiter ergibt. Die Treiber und Hemmnisse eines solchen Nutzerverhaltens von Arbeitnehmern in sozialen Netzwerken wurden bislang nur unzureichend erforscht. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht unter Verwendung der Boundary Theorie am Beispiel der Plattform Facebook, inwieweit die Persönlichkeitsmerkmale Neurotizismus und Extraversion, die Organisationsidentifikation und die Unternehmensreputation ein zustimmendes Verhalten von Nutzern begünstigen. Eine experimentelle Online-Studie mit 494 Probanden zeigt, dass insbesondere eine hohe Unternehmensreputation und Organisationsidentifikation zu einem erhöhten zustimmenden Verhalten führen.
Augmented Reality ist eine neuartige, auf vielen Gebieten einsetzbare Technologie. Eines dieser Gebiete ist die Touristeninformation. Hier ermöglicht die AR dem Anwender eine schier endlose Fülle der verschiedensten Möglichkeiten. Mit Ihrer Hilfe kann der Benutzer nicht nur die Zeit bereisen, er kann auch Unsichtbares sehen. Doch stellt sich die Frage, ob die AR auch für weiterreichende Zwecke geeignet ist. Ist es möglich mit ihrer Hilfe Wissen nachhaltig zu vermitteln? Und wenn ja, wie kann dies geschehen? In althergebrachter Form von Texten und Bildern, oder auf interaktive und spielerische Weise? Was muß beachtet werden bei dem Versuch eine AR Anwendung für die Wissensübermittlung zu erstellen? Wie kann der Benutzer mit Ihr umgehen? Weiss der Benutzer später auch wirklich mehr? Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit geht diesen Fragen nach, indem sie zuerst der AR einen genaueren Blick widmet. Sie betrachtet die möglichen einsetzbaren Medien und gibt Vorschläge für interaktive Anwendungen, die mit Hilfe von AR ausgeführt werden. Zum Schluß untersucht sie anhand einer erstellten Beispielanwendung, ob der Benutzer mit Hilfe der AR etwas lernen und auch behalten kann.
Streams are coupled with their riparian area. Emerging insects from streams can be an important prey in the riparian area. Such aquatic subsidies can cause predators to switch prey or increase predator abundances. This can impact the whole terrestrial food web. Stressors associated with agricultural land use can alter insect communities in water and on land, resulting in complex response patterns of terrestrial predators that rely on prey from both systems.
This thesis comprises studies on the impact of aquatic nsects on a terrestrial model ecosystem (Objective 1, hapter 2), the influence of agricultural land use on riparian spiders’ traits and community (Objective 2, Chapter 3), and on the impact of agricultural land use on the contribution of different prey to spider diet (Objective 3, Chapter 4).
In chapter 2, I present a study where we conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine the effects of aquatic subsidies on a simplified terrestrial food web consisting of two types of herbivores (leafhoppers and weevils), plants and predators (spiders). I focused on the prey choice of the spiders by excluding predator immigration and reproduction. In accordance with predator switching, survival of leafhoppers increased in the presence of aquatic subsidies. By contrast, the presence of aquatic subsidies indirectly reduced weevils and herbivory.
In chapter 3, I present the results on the taxonomic and trait response of riparian spider communities to gradients of agricultural stressors and environmental variables, with a particular emphasis on pesticides. To capture spiders with different traits and survival strategies, we used multiple collection methods. Spider community composition was best explained by in-stream pesticide toxicity and shading of the stream bank, a proxy for the quality of the habitat. Species richness and the number of spider individuals, as well as community ballooning ability, were negatively associated with in-stream pesticide toxicity. In contrast, mean body size and shading preference of spider communities responded strongest to shading,
whereas mean niche width (habitat preference for moisture and shading) responded strongest to other environmental variables.
In chapter 4, I describe aquatic-terrestrial predator-prey relations with gradients of agricultural stressors and environmental variables. I sampled spiders, as well as their aquatic and terrestrial prey along streams with an assumed pesticide pollution gradient and determined their stable carbon and nitrogen signals. Potential aquatic prey biomass correlated positively with an increasing aquatic prey contribution of T. montana. The contribution of aquatic prey to the diet of P. amentata showed a positive relationship with increasing toxicity in streams.
Overall, this thesis contributes to the emerging discipline of cross-ecosystem ecology and shows that aquatic-terrestrial linkages and riparian food webs can be influenced by land use related stressors. Future manipulative field studies on aquatic-terrestrial linkages are required that consider the quality of prey organisms, fostering mechanistic understanding of such crossecosystem effects. Knowledge on these linkages is important to improve understanding of consequences of anthropogenic stressors and to prevent further losses of ecosystems and their biodiversity.
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.
This thesis focuses on approximate inference in assumption-based argumentation frameworks. Argumentation provides a significant idea in the computerization of theoretical and practical reasoning in AI. And it has a close connection with AI, engaging in arguments to perform scientific reasoning. The fundamental approach in this field is abstract argumentation frameworks developed by Dung. Assumption-based argumentation can be regarded as an instance of abstract argumentation with structured arguments. When facing a large scale of data, a challenge of reasoning in assumption-based argumentation is how to construct arguments and resolve attacks over a given claim with minimal cost of computation and acceptable accuracy at the same time. This thesis proposes and investigates approximate methods that randomly select and construct samples of frameworks based on graphical dispute derivations to solve this problem. The presented approach aims to improve reasoning performance and get an acceptable trade-off between computational time and accuracy. The evaluation shows that for reasoning in assumption-based argumentation, in general, the running time is reduced with the cost of slightly low accuracy by randomly sampling and constructing inference rules for potential arguments over a query.
In this paper, we demonstrate by means of two examples how to work with probability propagation nets (PPNs). The fiirst, which comes from the book by Peng and Reggia [1], is a small example of medical diagnosis. The second one comes from [2]. It is an example of operational risk and is to show how the evidence flow in PPNs gives hints to reduce high losses. In terms of Bayesian networks, both examples contain cycles which are resolved by the conditioning technique [3].
This paper offers an informal overview and discussion on first order predicate logic reasoning systems together with a description of applications which are carried out in the Artificial Intelligence Research Group of the University in Koblenz. Furthermore the technique of knowledge compilation is shortly introduced.
Studies have shown that wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are the major pathways of organic and inorganic chemicals of anthropogenic use (=micropollutants) into aquatic environments. There, micropollutants can be transferred to ground water bodies - and may finally end up in drinking water - or cause various effects in aquatic organisms like multiple resistances of bacteria. Hence, the upgrading of WWTPs with the aim to reduce the load of those micropollutants is currently under discussion.
Therefore, the primary objective of this thesis was to assess ecotoxicological effects of wastewater ozonation, a tertiary treatment method, using specifically developed toxicity tests with Gammarus fossarum (Koch) at various levels of ecological complexity. Several studies were designed in the laboratory and under semi-field conditions to cope with this primary objective. Prior to the investigations with ozone treated wastewater, the ecotoxicity of secondary treated (=non-ozone treated) wastewater from WWTP Wüeri, Switzerland, for the test species was assessed by a four-week experiment. This experiment displayed statistically significant impairments in feeding, assimilation and physiological endpoints related to population development and reproduction. The first experiment investigating ecotoxicological implications of ozone application in wastewater from the same WWTP displayed a preference of G. fossarum for leaf discs conditioned in ozone treated wastewater when offered together with leaf discs conditioned in non-ozone treated wastewater. This effect seems to be mainly driven by an alteration in the leaf associated microbial community. Another series of laboratory experiments conducted also with wastewater from WWTP Wüeri treated with ozone at the lab- or full-scale, revealed significantly increased feeding rates of G. fossarum exposed to ozone treated wastewater compared to non-ozone treated wastewater. These laboratory experiments also indicated that any alteration in the organic matrix potentially caused by ozone treatment is not related to the effects in feeding as this endpoint showed only negligible deviation in secondary treated wastewater, which contained hardly any (micro)pollutants (i.e. pharmaceuticals), from the same wastewater additionally treated with ozone. Moreover, it was shown that shifts in the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) profile do not affect the feeding rate of gammarids. In situ bioassays conducted in the receiving stream of the WWTP Wüeri confirmed the results of the laboratory experiments by displaying significantly reduced feeding rates of G. fossarum exposed below the WWTP effluent if non-ozone treated wastewater was released. However, at the time the ozonation was operating, no adverse effects in feeding rates were observed below the effluent compared to the unaffected upstream sites. Also population studies in on-site flow-through stream microcosms displayed an increased feeding and a statistically significantly higher population size after ten weeks when exposed to ozone treated wastewater compared to non-ozone treated wastewater.
In conclusion, the present thesis documents that ozonation might be a suitable tool to reduce both the load of micropollutants as well as the ecotoxicity of wastewaters. Thus, this technology may help to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive also under predicted climate change scenarios, which may lead to elevated proportions of wastewater in the receiving stream during summer discharge. However, as ozone application may also produce by-products with a higher toxicity than their parent compounds, the implementation of this technique should be assessed further both via chemical analysis and ecotoxicological bioassays.
Der Apple ][ war einer der drei ersten kompletten Computersysteme auf dem Markt. Von April 1977 an wurde er rund 16 Jahre lang mehrere Millionen mal verkauft. Entwickelt wurde dieser 8 Bit Homecomputer von Steve Wozniak und Steve Jobs. Sie ebneten damit den Weg für den Macintosh und das heute gut bekannte Unternehmen Apple.
Diese Arbeit beschreibt die Implementierung eines Softwareemulators für das komplette Apple ][ Computersystem auf nur einem Atmel AVR Microcontroller. Die größte Herausforderung besteht darin, dass der Microcontroller nur eine geringfügig höhere Taktrate als die zu emulierende Hardware hat. Dies erfordert eine effiziente Emulation der CPU und Speicherverwaltung, die nachfolgend zusammen mit der Laufzeitumgebung für die Emulation vorgestellt wird. Weiterhin wird die Umsetzung des Emulators mit Display und Tastatur in Hardware naher erläutert.
Mit dieser Arbeit wird die erfolgreiche Entwicklung eines portablen Apple ][ Emulators, von der Software über die Hardware bis hin zu einem Prototypen, vorgestellt.
Computers assist humans in many every-day situations. Their advancing miniaturisation broadens their fields of use and leads to an even higher significance and spread throughout society. Already, these small and powerful machines are wide-spread in every-day objects and the spread increases still as the mobility-aspect grows in importance. From laptops, smartphones and tables to systems worn on the body (wearable computing) or even inside the body as cyber-implants, these systems help humans actively and context-sensitively in the accomplishment of their every-day business.
A part of the wearable-computing-domain is taken up by the development of Head-mounted displays (HMD). These helmets or goggles feature one or more displays enabling their users to see computer-rendered images or images of their environment enriched with computer-generated information. At the moment, most of this HMD feature LC-Displays, but newer systems start appearing that allow the projection of the image onto the user's retina. Newest break-throughs in the field of study already produced contact lenses with an integrated display. The data shown by a HMD is compiled using a multitude of sensors, like a Head-Tracker or a GPS. Increasing computational performance and miniaturisation lead to a wide spread of HMD in a lot of fields.rnThe multiple scenarios in which a HMD can be used to help improve human-perception and -interaction led the "Institut für Integrierte Naturwissenschaften" of the University of Koblenz-Landau to come up with a HMD on the basis of Apple's iOS-devices featuring Retina Displays. The high pixel density of these displays combined with condensor lenses into a HMD offer a highly immersive environment for stereoscopic imagery, while other systems only display a relatively small image projected a few feet away of the user. Furthermore, the iPhone/ iPod Touch and iPad exhibit a lot of potential given by their variety of offered sensors and computational power. While producing a similarly feature-rich HMD is very costy, using simple iPod Touches 4th Gen as the basis of a HMD results in a very inexpensive solution with a high potential. The increasing popularity and spread of Apple devices would reduce the costs even more, as users of the HMD could simply integrate their device into the system. A software designed with the specific intent to support a large variety of Apple iOS-devices that could easily be extended to support newer devices, would allow for a universal use of such a HMD-solution as the new device could simply replace an old device.rnrnThe focus of this thesis is the conception and development of an application designed for Apple's iOS 5 operating system that will be used in a HMD evolving around the use of Apple iOS-devices featuring Retina Displays. The Rollercoaster2000-project depicting a ride in a virtual rollercoaster will be used as the application's core. A server will syncronize the display of clients conntected to it which are combined to form a HMD. Furthermore the gyroscope of the iOS-devices combined into a HMD will be used to track the wearer's head-movements. Another feature will be the use of the devices cameras as a mean of orientation while wearing the HMD.
As a first step in the realization of a software meeting the set specifications is the introduction of the Objective-C programming languages used to develop iOS-Applications. In conjunction with the compiler and runtime environment, Objective-C makes up the base of the second step, the introduction of the iOS-SDK. Aimed with this iOS-app-development-knowledge, the last part of the thesis consists of the ascertainment of requirements and development of a software complying to the goals of a software written specifically for the used in a HMD.
Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit Konzepten für die Anzeige eines frei programmierbaren Kombinationsinstrumentes (FPK). Ziel ist es, die zunächst theoretischen Anzeigekonzepte auf Basis einer zu ermittelnden Hard- und Softwareplattform zu entwickeln. Zu Beginn wird die Evolution von analogen, mechanischen Kombinationsinstrumenten zum FPK beschrieben. Darauf folgt ein Überblick bereits bestehender FPK-Konzepte mit einer genaueren Sicht auf dargestellte Anzeigeelemente. Dabei wird besonders auf die Personenwarnung in der Night-view-Anzeige und eine Anzeige der ökologischen Fahreffizienz eingegangen. Die Arbeit ist Teil eines in Entwicklung befindlichen FPK-Projektes. Basierend auf den durch dieses Projekt vorgegebenen Anforderungen wird eine geeignete Soft- und Hardwareplattform für die Umsetzung eines FPK ermittelt. Dabei zeigt sich, dass die optimale Plattform nur durch eine präzise Änderungsdefinition des graphischen Systems bestimmt werden kann. Da die Projektanforderungen nicht präzise genug sind, wird Adobe Flash in Verbindung mit Actionscript zur Umsetzung der Anzeigekonzepte eingesetzt, um Plattformunabhängigkeit zu erreichen. Mittels Techniken des User-centered Designs wurden Konzepte einzelner und kombinierter Anzeigeelemente entwickelt. Dabei wurde besonders darauf geachtet, die Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten durch die Größe der zur Verfügung stehenden Anzeigefläche des FPK auszunutzen. Nach theoretischen Überlegungen bezüglich des Verwendungskontexts und wahrnehmungspsychologischer Erkenntnisse werden entwickelte Konzepte skizzenhaft beschrieben und die erstellten Animationen erläutert. Den Schluss bildet eine Evaluation einzelner Prinzipien. In einer Umfrage mit 14 Probanden konnte die intuitive Erkennbarkeit einzelner Konzepte teilweise bestätigt oder widerlegt werden. Die Wirksamkeit einer entwickelten Warnmeldung zur Steuerung der Aufmerksamkeit wurde anhand eines Tests mit Nutzern in einer Simulation bestätigt. Die Warnmeldung und andere Konzepte sind nur in einem FPK umzusetzen. So wird gezeigt, dass der Einsatz eines FPK zu einer erhöhten Sicherheit und besseren Bedienbarkeit führen kann. Das FPK sollte jedoch nicht isoliert vom restlichen HMI betrachtet werden, damit seine Möglichkeiten voll ausgeschöpft werden können. Der Einsatz echter 3-D-Graphik für FPK ist zweifelhaft. Über den Bedarf muss im Einzelfall nach einem Test auf Usability entschieden werden. Die Evaluation zeigt, dass Konventionen eines herkömmlichen Kombinationsinstrumentes auch bei der Gestaltung von Anzeigeelementen für ein FPK genutzt werden sollten, um eine Lesbarkeit zu garantieren.