Thousands of chemicals from daily use are being discharged from civilization into the water cycle via different pathways. Ingredients of personal care products, detergents, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals thus find their way into the aquatic ecosystems and may cause adverse impacts on the ecology. Pharmaceuticals for instance, represent a central group of anthropogenic chemicals, because of their designed potency to interfere with physiological functions in organisms. Ecotoxicological effects from pharmaceutical burden have been verified in the past. Therapeutic groups with pronounced endocrine disrupting potentials such as steroid hormones gain increasing focus in environmental research as it was reported that they cause endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms even when exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations. This thesis considers the comprehensive investigation of the occurrence of corticosteroids and progestogens in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and surface waters as well as the elucidation of the fate and biodegradability of these steroid families during activated sludge treatment. For the first goal of the thesis, a robust and highly sensitive analytical method based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed in order to simultaneously determine the occurrence of around 60 mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids and progestogens in the aquatic environment. A special focus was set to the compound selection due to the diversity of marketed synthetic steroids. Some analytical challenges have been approved by individual approaches regarding sensitivity enhancement and compound stabilities. These results may be important for further research in environmental analysis of steroid hormones. Reliable and low quantification limits are the perquisite for the determination of corticosteroids and progestogens at relevant concentrations due to low consumption volumes and simultaneously low effect-based trigger values. Achieved quantification limits for all target analytes ranged between 0.02 ng/L and 0.5 ng/L in surface water and 0.05 ng/L to 5 ng/L in WWTP effluents. This sensitivity enabled the detection of three mineralocorticoids, 23 glucocorticoids and 10 progestogens within the sampling campaign around Germany. Many of them were detected for the first time in the environment, particularly in Germany and the EU. To the best of our knowledge, this in-depth steroid screening provided a good overview of single steroid burden and allowed for the identification of predominantly steroids of each steroid type analyzed for the first time. The frequent detection of highly potent synthetic steroids (e.g. triamcinolone acetonide, clobetasol propionate, betamethasone valerate, dienogest, cyproterone acetate) highlighted insufficient removal during conventional Summary wastewater treatment and indicated the need for regulation to control their emission since the steroid concentrations were found to be above the reported effect-based trigger values for biota. Overall, the study revealed reliable environmental data of poorly or even not analyzed steroids. The results complement the existing knowledge in this field but also providednew information which can beused particularly for compound prioritization in ecotoxicological research and environmental analysis. Based on the data obtained from the monitoring campaign, incubation experiments were conducted to enable the comparison of the biodegradability and transformation processes in activated sludge treatment for structure-related steroids under aerobic and standardized experimental conditions. The compounds were accurately selected to cover manifold structural moieties of commonly used glucocorticoids, including non-halogenated and halogenated steroids, their mono- and diesters, and several acetonide-type steroids. This approach allowed for a structure-based interpretation of the results. The obtained biodegradation rate constants suggested large variations in the biodegradability (half-lifes ranged from < 0.5 h to > 14 d). An increasing stability was identified in the order from non-halogenated steroids (e.g. hydrocortisone), over 9α-halogenated steroids (e.g. betamethasone), to C17-monoesters (e.g. betamethasone 17-valerate, clobetasol propionate), and finally to acetonides (e.g. triamcinolone acetonide), thus suggesting a strong relationship of the biodegradability with the glucocorticoid structure. Some explanations for this behavior have been received by identifying the transformation products (TPs) and elucidating individual transformation pathways. The results revealed the identification of the likelihood of transformation reactions depending on the chemical steroid structure for the first time. Among the identified TPs, the carboxylates (e.g. TPs of fluticasone propionate, triamcinolone acetonide) have been shown persistency in the subsequent incubation experiments. The newly identified TPs furthermore were frequently detected in the effluents of full-scale wastewater treatment plants. These findings emphasized i) the transferability of the lab-scale degradation experiments to real world and that ii) insufficient removals may cause adverse effects in the aquatic environment due to the ability of the precursor steroids and TPs to interact with the endocrine system in biota. For the last goal, the conceptual study for glucocorticoids was applied to progestogens. Here, two sub-types of the steroid family frequently used for hormonal contraception were selected (17α-hydroxyprogesterone and 19-norstestosterone type). The progestogens showed a fast and complete degradation within six hours, and thus empathizes pronounced biodegradability. However, cyproterone acetate and dienogest Summary have been found to be more recalcitrant in activated sludge treatment. This was consistent with their ubiquitously occurrence during the previous monitoring campaign. The elucidation of TPs again revealed some crucial information regarding the observed behavior and highlighted furthermore the formation of hazardous TPs. It was shown that 19-nortestosterone type steroids are able to undergo aromatization at ring A in contact with activated sludge, leading to the formation of estrogen-like TPs with a phenolic moiety at ring A. In the case of norethisterone the formation of 17α-ethinylestradiol was confirmed, which is a well-known potent synthetic estrogen with elevated ecotoxicological potency. Thus, the results indicated for the very first time an unknown source of estrogenic compounds, particularly for 17α-ethinylestradiol. In conclusion, some steroids were found to be very stable in activated sludge treatment, others degrade well, and others which do degrade but predominantly to active TPs depending on their chemical structure. Fluorinated acetal steroids such as triamcinolone acetonide and fluocinolone acetonide are poorly biodegradable, which is reflected in high concentrations detected ubiquitously in WWTP effluents. Endogenous steroids and their most related synthetic once such as hydrocortisone, prednisolone or 17α-hydroxyprogesterone are readily biodegradable. Regardless their high influent concentrations, they are almost completely removed in conventional WWTPs. Steroids between this range have been found to form elevated quantities of TPs which are partially still active, which particularly the case for betamethasone, fluticasone propionate, cyproterone acetate or dienogest. The thesis illustrates the need for an extensive evaluation of the environmental risks and carried out that corticosteroids and progestogens merit more attention in environmental regulatory and research than it is currently the case

Scientific and public interest in epidemiology and mathematical modelling of disease spread has increased significantly due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Political action is influenced by forecasts and evaluations of such models and the whole society is affected by the corresponding countermeasures for containment. But how are these models structured? Which methods can be used to apply them to the respective regions, based on real data sets? These questions are certainly not new. Mathematical modelling in epidemiology using differential equations has been researched for quite some time now and can be carried out mainly by means of numerical computer simulations. These models are constantly being refinded and adapted to corresponding diseases. However, it should be noted that the more complex a model is, the more unknown parameters are included. A meaningful data adaptation thus becomes very diffcult. The goal of this thesis is to design applicable models using the examples of COVID-19 and dengue, to adapt them adequately to real data sets and thus to perform numerical simulations. For this purpose, first the mathematical foundations are presented and a theoretical outline of ordinary differential equations and optimization is provided. The parameter estimations shall be performed by means of adjoint functions. This procedure represents a combination of static and dynamical optimization. The objective function corresponds to a least squares method with L2 norm which depends on the searched parameters. This objective function is coupled to constraints in the form of ordinary differential equations and numerically minimized, using Pontryagin's maximum (minimum) principle and optimal control theory. In the case of dengue, due to the transmission path via mosquitoes, a model reduction of an SIRUV model to an SIR model with time-dependent transmission rate is performed by means of time-scale separation. The SIRUV model includes uninfected (U) and infected (V ) mosquito compartments in addition to the susceptible (S), infected (I) and recovered (R) human compartments, known from the SIR model. The unknwon parameters of the reduced SIR model are estimated using data sets from Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Jakarta (Indonesia). Based on this parameter estimation the predictive power of the model is checked and evaluated. In the case of Jakarta, the model is additionally provided with a mobility component between the individual city districts, based on commuter data. The transmission rates of the SIR models are also dependent on meteorological data as correlations between these and dengue outbreaks have been demonstrated in previous data analyses. For the modelling of COVID-19 we use several SEIRD models which in comparison to the SIR model also take into account the latency period and the number of deaths via exposed (E) and deaths (D) compartments. Based on these models a parameter estimation with adjoint functions is performed for the location Germany. This is possible because since the beginning of the pandemic, the cumulative number of infected persons and deaths are published daily by Johns Hopkins University and the Robert-Koch-Institute. Here, a SEIRD model with a time delay regarding the deaths proves to be particularly suitable. In the next step, this model is used to compare the parameter estimation via adjoint functions with a Metropolis algorithm. Analytical effort, accuracy and calculation speed are taken into account. In all data fittings, one parameter each is determined to assess the estimated number of unreported cases.

Previous research concerned with early science education revealed that guided play can support young children’s knowledge acquisition. However, the questions whether guided play maintains other important prerequisites such as children’s science self-concept and how guided play should be implemented remain unanswered. The present dissertation encompasses three research articles that investigated 5- to 6-year-old children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept in the stability domain and their relation to interindividual prerequisites. Moreover, the articles examined whether children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept can be supported by different play forms, i.e., guided play with material and verbal scaffolds, guided play with material scaffolds, and free play. The general introduction of the present dissertation first highlights children’s cognitive development, their science self-concept, and interindividual prerequisites, i.e., fluid and crystallised intelligence, mental rotation ability, and interest in block play. These prerequisites are applied to possible ways of supporting children during play. The first article focused on the measurement of 5-to-6-year-old children’s stability knowledge and its relation to interindividual prerequisites. Results suggested that children’s stability knowledge could be measured reliably and validly, and was related to their fluid and crystallised intelligence. The second article was concerned with the development of children’s intuitive stability theories over three points of measurement and the effects of guided and free play, children’s prior theories as well as their intelligence on these intuitive theories. Results implied that guided play with material and verbal scaffolds supported children’s stability theories more than the other two play forms, i.e., guided play with material scaffolds and free play. Moreover, consistency of children’s prior theories, their fluid and crystallised intelligence were related to children’s theory adaptation after the intervention. The third article focused on the effect of the playful interventions on children’s stability knowledge and science self-concept over three points of measurement. Furthermore, the reciprocal effects between knowledge acquisition and science self-concept were investigated. Results implied that guided play supported knowledge acquisition and maintained children’s science self-concept. Free play did not support children’s stability knowledge and decreased children’s science self-concept. No evidence for reciprocal effects between children’s stability knowledge and their science self-concept was found. Last, in a general discussion, the findings of the three articles are combined and reflected amidst children’s cognitive development. Summarising, the present dissertation shows that children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept can be supported through guided play that considers children’s cognitive development.

Since the Bologna reform a continuous improvement of the lessons’ quality at school, which is often connected with the professionalization of the future teachers and the teaching post education, is aimed by Alliance and federal states. The quality of the lessons is connected with the professionalization of the future teacher and the teaching post education. In most studies about quality improvement the consideration occurs predominantly from the university view and it is seldom related on the subject Sport. The quality study is established on these two points and leads to the main question: Are there any differences in the teachers‘ and learners‘ perceptions of the professionalization of sport teachers in the certain education phases in Rheinland-Pfalz? With the help of 101 guide interviews and the evaluation according to the Grounded Theory this source question can be answered straight. There were interviewed teachers of the universities, of the state study seminars and the school, as well as learners, to that refer trainees and students. During the study the „missing school relation” crystallizes consistent in all personal groups as key element (core category) in the first and second education phase. The interviewed, which belong to different school forms, give relevant concrete, specific for sport and partially subject covering optimization proposals. As a result a main focus forms untimely relations to the school everyday life and at the same time collect teaching experiences with learning groups at school to get to know their different motor abilities and skills. The improvement approaches concern the university phase and the training period in the study seminars and schools, and the involved consider for necessary a more intensive interlinking of the individual institutions. A mutual, continuous cooperation for the professionalization in the sportsman's education and therefore the optimization of the sports teacher training is very important for all involved.

Enterprise Collaboration Systems (ECS) have become substantial for computer-mediated communication and collaboration among employees in organisations. As ECS combine features from social media and traditional groupware, a growing number of organisations implement ECS to facilitate collaboration among employees. Consequently, ECS form the core of the digital workplace. Thus, the activity logs of ECS are particularly valuable since they provide a unique opportunity for observing and analysing collaboration in the digital workplace. Evidence from academia and practice demonstrates that there is no standardised approach for the analysis of ECS logs and that practitioners struggle with various barriers. Because current ECS analytics tools only provide basic features, academics and practitioners cannot leverage the full potential of the activity logs. As ECS activity logs are a valuable source for understanding collaboration in the digital workplace, new methods and metrics for their analysis are required. This dissertation develops Social Collaboration Analytics (SCA) as a method for measuring and analysing collaboration activities in ECS. To address the existing limitations in academia and practice and to contribute a method and structures for applying SCA in practice, this dissertation aims to answer two main research questions: 1. What are the current practices for measuring collaboration activities in Enterprise Collaboration Systems? 2. How can Social Collaboration Analytics be implemented in practice? By answering the research questions, this dissertation seeks to (1) establish a broad thematic understanding of the research field of SCA and (2) to develop SCA as a structured method for analysing ac-tivity logs of ECS. As part of the first research question, this dissertation documents the status quo of SCA in the academic literature and practice. By answering the second research question, this dissertation contributes the SCA framework (SCAF), which guides the practical application of SCA. SCAF is the main contribution of this dissertation. The framework was developed based on findings from an analysis of 86 SCA studies, results from 6 focus groups and results from a survey among 27 ECS user companies. The phases of SCAF were derived from a comparison of established process models for data mining and business intelligence. The eight phases of the framework contain detailed descriptions, working steps, and guiding questions, which provide a step by step guide for the application of SCA in practice. Thus, academics and practitioners can benefit from using the framework. The constant evaluation of the research outcomes in focus groups ensures both rigour and relevance. This dissertation employs a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods approach. As part of the university-industry collaboration initiative IndustryConnect, this research has access to more than 30 leading ECS user companies. Being built on a key case study and a series of advanced focus groups with representatives of user companies, this dissertation can draw from unique insights from practice as well as rich data with a longitudinal perspective.

We are living in a world where environmental crises come to a head. To curb aggravation of these problems, a socio-ecological transformation within society is needed, going along with human behavior change. How to encourage such behavior changes on an individual level is the core issue of this dissertation. It takes a closer look at the role of individuals as consumers resulting in purchase decisions with more or less harmful impact on the environment. By using the example of plastic pollution, it takes up a current environmental problem and focuses on an understudied behavioral response to this problem, namely reduction behavior. More concrete, this dissertation examines which psychological factors can encourage the mitigation of plastic packaging consumption. Plastic packaging accounts for the biggest amount of current plastic production and is associated with products of daily relevance. Despite growing awareness of plastic pollution in society, behavioral responses do not follow accordingly and plastic consumption is still very high. As habits are often a pitfall when implementing more resource-saving behavior, this dissertation further examines if periods of discontinuity can open a ’window of opportunity’ to break old habits and facilitate behavior change. Four manuscripts approach this matter from the gross to the subtle. Starting with a literature review, a summary of 187 studies addresses the topic of plastic pollution and human behavior from a societal-scientific perspective. Based on this, a cross-sectional study (N = 648) examines the deter-minants of plastic-free behavior intentions in the private-sphere and public-sphere by structural equation modeling. Two experimental studies in pre-post design build upon this, by integrating the determinants in intervention studies. In addition, it was evaluated if the intervention presented during Lent (N = 140) or an action month of ‘Plastic Free July’ (N = 366) can create a ‘window of opportunity’ to mitigate plastic packaging consumption. The literature review emphasized the need for research on behavioral solutions to reduce plastic consumption. The empirical results revealed moral and control beliefs to be the main determinants of reduction behavior. Furthermore, the time point of an intervention influenced the likelihood to try out the new behavior. The studies gave first evidence that a ‘window of opportunity’ can facilitate change towards pro-environmental behavior within the application field of plastic consumption. Theoretical and practical implications of creating the right opportunity for individuals to contribute to a socio-ecological transformation are finally discussed.

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.

There has been little research on out-of-school places of learning and their effec-tiveness in the context of ESD education measures. With the help of a multi-stage analysis, this study identifies out-of-school places of learning with reference to the ESD education concept in the Rhineland-Palatinate study area. To this end, qualita-tive literature analyses were first used to generate ESD criteria, which were opera-tionalised as a methodological instrument in the form of an ESD checklist for out-of-school places of learning. The data obtained in this way provide the basis for the creation of a geographically oriented learning location database with ESD refer-ence. A cartographic visualisation of the data results in a spatial distribution pattern: Thus, there are districts and cities that are well supplied with ESD learning loca-tions, but also real ESD learning location deserts where there is a need to catch up. Furthermore, there is an accumulation of ESD learning sites in areas close to for-ests. A guideline-based explorative interview with two ESD experts provides additional insights into the question of how ESD has been implemented in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the extent to which there is a need for optimisation, and which continuing measures are being taken for ESD outside schools within the framework of Agenda 2030. In addition, a quantitative questionnaire study was carried out with 1358 pupils at 30 out-of-school places of learning after participation in an educational measure, in which environmental awareness, attitudes towards environmental behaviour and local learning were also considered. By including non-ESD learning locations, a comparative study on the effectiveness of ESD learning locations became possible. The statistical data evaluation leads to a variety of interesting results. Contra-intuitively, for instance, the type of learning location (ESD or non-ESD learning lo-cation) is not a significant predictor for the environmental awareness and environ-mental behaviour of the surveyed students, whereas communication structures within educational measures at extracurricular learning locations, the multimediality and action orientation and the duration of educational measures have a significant influence. Keywords: extracurricular learning locations, education for sustainable develop-ment (ESD), ESD criteria, learning location landscape Rhineland-Palatinate, ESD learning locations, environmental awareness, environmental behaviour.

Water is used in a way as if it were available infinitely. Droughts, increased rainfall or flooding already lead to water shortages and, thus, deprive entire population groups of the basis of their livelihoods. There is a growing fear that conflicts over water will increase, especially in arid climate zones, because life without water - whether for humans, animals or plants - is not possible. More than 60 % of the African population depend on land and water resources for their livelihoods through pastoralism, fishing and farming. The water levels of rivers and lakes are decreasing. Hence, the rural population which is dependent on land and water move towards water-rich and humid areas. This internal migration increases the pressure on available water resources. Driven by the desire to strengthen the economic development, African governments align their political agendas with the promotion of macro international and national economic projects. This doctoral thesis examines the complex interrelationships between water shortages, governance, vulnerability, adaptive capacity and violent and non-violent conflicts at Lake Naivasha in Kenya and Lake Wamala in Uganda. In order to satisfy the overall complexity, this doctoral thesis combines various theoretical and empirical aspects in which a variety of methods are applied to different geographical regions, across disciplines, and cultural and political boundaries. The investigation reveals that Lake Naivasha is more affected by violent conflicts than Lake Wamala. Reasons for this include population growth, historically grown ethnic conflicts, corruption and the preferential treatment of national and international economic actors. The most common conflict response tools are raiding and the blockage of water access. However, deathly encounters, destruction of property and cattle slaughtering are increasingly used to gain access to water and land. The insufficient implementation of the political system and the governments’ prioritization to foster economic development results, on the one hand, in the commercialization of water resources and increases, on the other hand, non-violent conflict between national and sub-national political actors. While corruption, economic favours and patronage defuse this conflict, resource access becomes more difficult for the local population. Resulting thereof, a final hypothesis is developed which states that the localization of the political conflict aggravates the water situation for the local population and, thereby, favours violent conflicts over water access and water use in water-rich areas.

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.

Real-time operating systems for mixed-criticality systems must support different types of software, such as real-time applications and general purpose applications, and, at the same time, must provide strong spatial and temporal isolation between independent software components. Therefore, state-of-the-art real-time operating systems focus mainly on predictability and bounded worst-case behavior. However, general purpose operating systems such as Linux often feature more efficient---but less deterministic---mechanisms that significantly improve the average execution time. This thesis addresses the combination of the two contradicting requirements and shows thread synchronization mechanisms with efficient average-case behavior, but without sacrificing predictability and worst-case behavior. This thesis explores and evaluates the design space of fast paths in the implementation of typical blocking synchronization mechanisms, such as mutexes, condition variables, counting semaphores, barriers, or message queues. The key technique here is to avoid unnecessary system calls, as system calls have high costs compared to other processor operations available in user space, such as low-level atomic synchronization primitives. In particular, the thesis explores futexes, the state-of-the-art design for blocking synchronization mechanisms in Linux that handles the uncontended case of thread synchronization by using atomic operations in user space and calls into the kernel only to suspend and wake up threads. The thesis also proposes non-preemptive busy-waiting monitors that use an efficient priority ceiling mechanism to prevent the lock holder preemption problem without using system calls, and according low-level kernel primitives to construct efficient wait and notify operations. The evaluation shows that the presented approaches improve the average performance comparable to state-of-the-art approaches in Linux. At the same time, a worst-case timing analysis shows that the approaches only need constant or bounded temporal overheads at the operating system kernel level. Exploiting these fast paths is a worthwhile approach when designing systems that not only have to fulfill real-time requirements, but also best-effort workloads.

Internationale Bildungsstudien (TIMSS und PISA) offenbarten, dass es deutschen Schülern nur begrenzt gelingt, ihr erworbenes Wissen im Physikunterricht zur Problemlösung in neuen Kontexten zu nutzen. Als Grund nennen die Studien die gering ausgeprägte Kompetenz-erwartung in Bezug zum Fach Physik. Die Folge ist eine geringe Motivation der Lernenden, physikalische Aufgaben zu lösen. Studien zeigen aber auch, dass die Motivation beim Lernen durch den Einsatz digitaler Lernmedien gesteigert werden konnte. Aus diesem Grund wird in dieser Arbeit untersucht, ob das Vertrauen in die eigenen Fähigkeiten durch das Lernen in einer integrierten Lernumgebung gefördert werden kann. Im Rahmen eines Design-Based-Research-Forschungsansatzes (DBR) wurde eine integrierte Lernumgebung „Wärmelehre“ mit digitalen Lernmedien für den Physikunterricht gestaltet, die dann in zwei Schulformen (IGS und Gymnasium) innerhalb einer quasi-experimentellen Feldstudie erprobt wurde. Im 1. Zyklus des DBR wurden die Wirkungen des selbstständigen Lernens mit digitalen/analogen Medien in Einzelarbeit untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Wissenstests zeigen einen höheren Lernerfolg bei den Lernenden der Experimentalgruppen, der sich aber nicht signifikant von den Lernenden der Kontrollgruppen (analoge Medien) unterscheidet. Die Lernenden konnten sich in der integrierten Lernumgebung mit Unterstützung beider Medienformate selbstständig Fachwissen aneignen und problembasierte Textaufgaben lösen. Die Ergebnisse der Befragungen der Lernenden zeigen, dass sich die Lerngruppen signifikant in ihrem erlebten Grad der Selbststeuerung unterscheiden. Die Lernenden beider Experimentalgruppen bewerten ihren Handlungsspielraum besser als die Lernenden der beiden Kontrollgruppen. Ebenfalls konnte festgestellt werden, dass sich die individuellen Lernvoraussetzungen, der Lernstiltyp, das Kompetenzerleben und die Aspekte der Medien-gestaltung wechselseitig beeinflussen und auf den Lernerfolg wirken. Die Ergebnisse der Lernstilanalyse zeigen, dass sich selbst kleine Lerngruppen heterogen zusammensetzen. Demnach scheint es für einen guten Lernerfolg notwendig zu sein, dass die Lehrenden, die Lernumgebung an die individuellen Lernpräferenzen der Lernenden der Lerngruppe anpassen. Aus den Ergebnissen lässt sich als Konsequenz für den Physikunterricht ableiten, dass Selbstlernphasen mit digitalen Lernmedien regelmäßig in den Unterricht integriert werden sollten, um die Problemlöse- und die Selbststeuerungskompetenz zu fördern. Es ist von Vorteil, wenn die Lehrenden für die Gestaltung einer Lernumgebung, das Vorwissen, die individuellen Lernvoraussetzungen und die Zusammensetzung der Lerngruppe (Lernstiltyp) als Qualitätsdimensionen erfassen. Im Re-Design werden Vorschläge unterbreitet, wie die integrierte Lernumgebung lernstilgerecht weiterentwickelt werden kann. Im 2. Zyklus soll dann erforscht werden, ob sich Unterschiede im Lernerfolg und in den untersuchten Aspekten zeigen, wenn die Lernenden in Einzelarbeit, in Partnerarbeit oder in ihrer Lernstilgruppe selbstgesteuert lernen, um die Lernumgebung zyklisch weiterzuentwickeln.

Obwohl Kinder beim Bauen mit Bauklötzen bereits früh Erfahrungen mit Aspekten der Stabilität von Bauwerken, wie z. B. Kräfteverteilung, Standfestigkeit sowie Gleich- und Gegengewicht, sammeln und es verschiedene Studien gibt, die den fächerübergreifenden Lerngehalt von Bauklötzen hervorheben, ist das Verständnis bezüglich der Stabilität von Bauklotzanordnungen bisher kaum erforscht. Daher wurde untersucht, welche Vorstellungen sechs- bis siebenjährige Kinder zur Stabilität von Bauklotzanordnungen zeigen und welche Unterstützungsmaßnahmen eine Vorstellungsveränderung anregen. In Studie 1 und 2 zeigt sich, dass Kinder in der Schuleingangsphase erste Vorstellungen zur Stabilität von Bauklotzanordnungen haben. Über verschiedene Analysen wurden schwierigkeitsbestimmende Merkmale bzw. lösungsrelevante Dimensionen identifiziert. Kinder mit ca. fünf Jahren orientieren sich eher an der geometrischen Mitte und beziehen somit die Abstandsdimension ein, bei Neunjährigen berücksichtigen hingegen knapp über die Hälfte bereits den Massenmittelpunkt. Folglich reicht die „Bauerfahrung“ von Kindern bis zum neunten Lebensjahr nicht aus, um die Fähigkeit, Bauklotzanordnungen bezüglich ihrer Stabilität zu beurteilen, vollständig zu entwickeln. Deshalb wurde in Studie 3 untersucht, inwieweit sich eine Vorstellungsveränderung zur Stabilität von Bauklotzanordnungen mithilfe verschiedener Unterstützungsmaßnahmen innerhalb einer kurzen Lerneinheit anregen lässt. Dabei wurden verschiedene materiale und verbale Unterstützungsmaßnahmen in Form von Fotos und gezielten sprachlichen Instruktionen in einem systematischen Vergleich gegenübergestellt. Die Ergebnisse weisen nach, dass bereits mit einer kurzen Lerneinheit ein Wissenszuwachs bei Siebenjährigen angeregt werden kann, insbesondere wenn sie durch Fotos und gezielte sprachliche Instruktionen unterstützt werden. Die Ergebnisse sind ein erster Schritt für die Entwicklung eines naturwissenschaftlichen Unterrichts zur Stabilität von Bauklotzanordnungen.

Perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA) are substances of anthropogenic origin and have been used for several decades. These compounds are a new class of environmental pollutants. Their high surface activity, thermal stability, amphipathicity and weak intermolecular interactions lead to persistence and bioaccumulation. Therefore, there is a great need for reliable analytical methods for detecting the presence and determination of concentration in both environmental samples and everyday products. GC-MS is a cost-effective alternative and supplement to established LC-MS/MS methods. The greatest challenge in the method development is the derivatization reaction. Many of the previously published derivatization reactions for PFCA are time consuming and require high reaction temperatures or toxic reagents. In the present dissertation, two new derivatization reactions for PFCA have been developed and optimized. The first part of the thesis shows the development and optimization of the reaction with triethylsilanol in water. In addition to optimizing the reaction, classical solid-phase extraction was modified to simplify the sample preparation. In the second part of the work, the reaction products of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA) and -diethyl acetal (DMF-DEA) were identified. From these measurements, it follows that both DMF-DMA and DMF-DEA in the presence of PFOA form an iminium cation, which leads to salt formation. This PFOA salt react further in the GC injector and a corresponding amine is produced. In the last part of the thesis, an analytical method based on the DMF-DMA reaction was developed. The matrix effects have been described in detail. The method has been successfully applied for three different types of samples: dental floss, textiles and sewage sludge. The results were verified by LC-MS/MS analysis in an external laboratory. The differences between the PFCA values for a spiked sample measured by GC-MS and LC-MS/MS were less than 10%.

Warum kann ich mir nicht vorstellen, meine Haare wachsen zu lassen, insbesondere meine Körperhaare? Diese Frage und das damit verbundene Unbehagen motivierten mich 2016 zur Entwicklung meines Dissertationsprojektes. Die Suche nach einer Antwort führt zu einer Studie, die einen feministisch-phänomenologischen Erfahrungsbegriff zentral setzt. Bedeutsam für die Entwicklung eines solchen Begriffs sind die phänomenologischen Beiträge „Zur poststrukturalistischen Kritik an der Erfahrung im Kontext der feministischen Philosophie“ (Stoller 2005) von Silvia Stoller und „Phänomenologie, Poststrukturalismus und feministische Theorie. Zum Begriff der Erfahrung“ (Alcoff 1997) von Linda Martín Alcoff. Darauf aufbauend verfolgt das Dissertationsprojekt zunächst das Anliegen, Erfahrungen sichtbar zu machen, indem sie veranschaulicht und zur Sprache gebracht werden. Auf diese Weise wird es möglich, Erfahrungen hinterfragen zu können, um anschließend Antworten entwickeln zu können. Demnach beruhen mein Unvermögen, Körperhaare wachsen zu lassen, sowie das damit einhergehende Unbehagen darauf, eine drohende Erfahrung der Fremdheit mir selbst gegenüber abwenden zu wollen. Zu einer solchen Fremderfahrung würde es kommen, wenn ich durch meine Körperhaare damit konfrontiert werde, dass ich mir fremd bin. Jedoch um sich selbst kennenzulernen sind Menschen nach phänomenologischem Verständnis (vgl. Meyer-Drawe 2001: 141-142) auf andere Menschen angewiesen, da sie sich selbst erst durch andere bewusst werden können. Doch stellt es angesichts des gelebten Ideals der Haarlosigkeit (vgl. Labre 2002: 120-122, Strmljan 2018: 406) eine Herausforderung dar, meine drohende Fremderfahrung, aufgrund der Konfrontation mit meinen Körperhaaren, im Kontakt mit anderen Menschen zu überwinden, sodass ich eine solche Fremderfahrung vermeide, indem ich meine Körperhaare entferne. Als Resultat verbleibt mein Unbehagen darüber, dem Ideal der Haarlosigkeit zu entsprechen. Zu einer solchen Antwort gelange ich anhand einer Studie, die folgender Forschungsfrage folgt: Wie erfahren sich Menschen beim Waxing in einem Kosmetikstudio unter den Bedingungen der binären Geschlechterordnung? Dass die Erfahrungen in einem Kosmetikstudio erforscht werden, begründet sich damit, dass in einem solchen der Zugang zu Erfahrungen bei der Entfernung von Körperhaaren möglich wird. Körperhaare zu entfernen ist zwar ein alltäglicher Umgang mit Körpern, jedoch intim und persönlich, sodass ein Zugang schwierig wird. Eine Lösung stellt hierfür ein Kosmetikstudio dar. Als Praktikantin in dem Kosmetikstudio Beautystudio werden mir Erfahrungen beim Waxing – einer kosmetischen Technik der Haarentfernung – zugänglich. Auf solche Weise Daten zu erheben folgt dem ethnographischen Vorgehen der teilnehmenden Beobachtung. Forscher*innen nehmen beobachtend vor Ort teil und erheben Daten, indem sie Notizen, Protokolle und schließlich Studien erstellen. Mittels eines solchen Forschungsstils können Forscher*innen Erfahrungen in einer Studie zentral setzen, da sie so Erfahrungen selbst machen können und Zugang zu den Erfahrungen anderer erhalten (vgl. Amann/ Hirschauer 1997: 29-30, Breidenstein et al. 2013: 86-87, 103, 177-178). Im Zuge der Datenerhebung zeigt sich wiederum, dass im Umgang mit Körperhaaren die Bedingungen der binären Geschlechterordnung wirksam werden. Beispielsweise wird in vielen Situationen die dichotome Differenz zwischen Männern und Frauen betont, ohne dass es konkret für die kosmetische Anwendung notwendig zu sein scheint. So erklärt sich, dass für die Analyse und das Hinterfragen der zur Sprache gebrachten Erfahrungen ein geschlechtertheoretisches Konzept herangezogen wird, welches Erfahrungen hinsichtlich der Bedingungen der binären Geschlechterordnung befragen kann. Eine solche Betrachtung der Daten bietet Gesa Lindemanns Konzept „Der leiblich-affektiven Konstruktion des Geschlechts“ (1992). Basierend auf dem feministisch-phänomenologischen Erfahrungsbegriff, dem ethnographischen Vorgehen und dem Geschlechterkonzept Lindemann zeigt sich, dass Menschen beim Waxing erfahren (können), mit anderen Menschen verbunden und sich selbst unverbunden zu sein. Dabei wird die Haut zum Kristallisationspunkt der Verbindung zu anderen Menschen (und auch Apparaten). Durch die Berührungen wird einerseits Verbundenheit gestaltet und eine gegenseitige Zuwendung erfahrbar, andererseits wird diese aber auch unterbrochen, wenn durch das Waxing Schmerz zugefügt wird oder Menschen durch Blicke entblößt werden. So wird die Haut zum Medium zwischen den Erfahrungen der Verbundenheit und Unverbundenheit. (Hinweisen möchte ich an dieser Stelle, dass alle Namen und Orte anonymisiert sind. Demnach handelt es sich beim Beautystudio um den anonymisierten Namen des Kosmetikstudios, in welchem ich forschte. Auf diese Weise soll die Persönlichkeit der Kontaktpersonen im Feld gewahrt bleiben.) Literaturhinweise: Alcoff, Linda M. (1997): Phänomenologie, Poststrukturalismus und feministische Theorie. Zum Begriff der Erfahrung. In: Stoller, Silvia/ Vetter, Helmuth (Hg.): Phänomenologie und Geschlechterdifferenz. Wien: WUV-Universitäts-Verlag: 227-271. Amann, Klaus/ Hirschauer, Stefan (1997): Die Befremdung der eigenen Kultur. Ein Programm. In: Hirschauer, Stefan/ Amann, Klaus (Hg.): Die Befremdung der eigenen Kultur: Zur ethnographischen Herausforderung soziologischer Empirie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag: 7-52. Breidenstein, Georg/ Hirschauer, Stefan/ Kalthoff, Stefan/ Nieswand, Boris (2013): Ethnografie. Die Praxis der Feldforschung. Konstanz & München: UVK Verlagsgesellschaft Labre Peixoto, Magdala (2002): The Brazilian Wax: New Hairlessness Norm for Women? In: Journal of Communication Inquiry: 26 (2): 113-132. Lindemann, Gesa (1992): Die leiblich-affektive Konstruktion des Geschlechts. Für eine Mikrosoziologie des Geschlechts unter der Haut. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie: 21 (5): 330-346. Meyer-Drawe, Käte (2001): Leiblichkeit und Sozialität. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Stoller, Silvia (2005): Zur poststrukturalistischen Kritik an der Erfahrung im Kontext der feministischen Philosophie. In: Stoller, Silvia/ Vasterling, Veronica/ Fisher, Linda (Hg.): Feministische Phänomenologie und Hermeneutik. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann GmbH: 139-170. Strmljan, Alina (2018): Haare zum Schämen? Weibliche Körperbehaarung und ihre Entfernung – Normen, Tabus und Trivialisierungen. In: Breuss, Susanne (Hg.): Mit Haut und Haar. Frisieren, Rasieren, Verschönern. Wien: Metroverlag: 404-410.

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.

The history of human kind is characterized by social conflict. Every conflict can be the starting point of social change or the escalation into more destructive forms. The social conflict in regard to rising numbers of refugees and their acceptance that arose in most host countries in 2015 already took on destructive forms – in Germany, right-wing extremists attacked refugee shelters and even killed multiple people, including political leaders who openly supported refugees. Thus, incompatible expectancies and values of different parts of the society led to violent action tendencies, which tremendously threaten intergroup relations. Psychological research has developed several interventions in past decades to improve intergroup relations, but they fall short, for example, when it comes to the inclusion of people with extreme attitudes and to precisely differentiate potential prosocial outcomes of the interventions. Thus, this dissertation aimed to a) develop psychological interventions, that could also be applied to people with more extreme attitudes, thereby putting a special emphasis on collecting a diverse sample; b) gain knowledge about target- and outcome specific effects: Who benefits from which intervention and how can specific prosocial actions be predicted in order to develop interventions that guide needs-based actions; and c) shed light on potential underlying mechanisms of the interventions. The dissertation will be introduced by the socio-political background that motivated the line of research pursued, before providing an overview of the conceptualization of social conflicts and potential psychological inhibitors and catalyzers for conflict transformation. Based on past research on socio-psychological interventions and their limitations, the aims of the dissertation will be presented in more detail, followed by a short summary of each manuscript. Overall, the present thesis comprises four manuscripts that were summarized in the general discussion into a road map for social-psychological interventions to put them into a broader perspective. The road map aspires to provide recommendations for increasing – either approach-oriented or support-oriented actions – by the socio-psychological interventions for a variety of host society groups depending on their pre-existing attitude towards refugees. A Paradoxical Intervention targeting central beliefs of people with negative attitudes towards refugees influenced inhibitory and catalyzing factors for conflict transformation over the course of three experiments – thereby providing an effective tool to establish approach-oriented action tendencies, such as the willingness to get in contact with refugees. Further, the dissertation presents a novel mechanism – namely Cognitive Flexibility – which could explain the Paradoxical Interventions’ effect of past research. By positively affecting a context-free mindset, the Paradoxical Intervention could impact more flexible thought processes in general, irrespective of the topic tackled in the Paradoxical Intervention itself. For people with rather positive attitudes addressing emotions may increase specific support-oriented action tendencies. The dissertation provides evidence of a positive relation between moral outrage and hierarchy-challenging actions, such as solidarity-based collective action, and sympathy with prosocial hierarchy-maintaining support-oriented actions, such as dependency-oriented helping. These exclusive relations between specific emotions and action intentions provide important implications for the theorizing of emotion-behavior relations, as well as for practical considerations. In addition, a diversity workshop conducted with future diplomats showed indirect effects on solidarity-based collective action via diversity perception and superordinate group identification, thereby extending past research by including action intentions and going beyond the focus on grassroot-initiatives by presenting an implementable intervention for future leaders in a real world context. Taken together, this dissertation provides important insights for the development of socio-psychological interventions. By integrating a diverse sample, including members of institutions on meso- and macro-levels (non-governmental organizations and future politicians) of our society, this dissertation presents a unique multi-perspective of host society members on the social conflict of refugee acceptance and support. Thereby, this work contributes to theoretical and practical advancement of how social psychology can contribute not only to negative peace – by for example (indirectly) reducing support of violence against refugees – but also to positive peace – by for example investigating precursors of hierarchy-challenging actions that enable equal rights.

In the context of augmented reality we define tracking as a collection of methods to obtain the position and orientation (pose) of a user. By means of various displaying techniques, this ensures a correct visual overlay of graphical information onto the reality perceived. Precise results for calculation of the camera pose are gained by methods of image processing, usually analyzing the pixels of an image and extracing features, which can be recognized over the image sequence. However, these methods do not regard the process of image synthesis or at least in a very simplyfied way. In contrast, the class of model-based methods assumes a given 3D model of the observed scene. Based on the model data features can be identified to establish correspondences in the camera image. From these feature correspondences the camera pose is calculated. An interesting approach is the strategy of analysis-by-synthesis, regarding the computer graphics rendering process for extending the knowledge about the model by information from image synthesis and other environment variables. In this thesis the components of a tracking system are identified and further it is analyzed, to what extend information about the model, the rendering process and the environment can contribute to the components for improvement of the tracking process using analysis-by-synthesis. In particular, by using knowledge as topological information, lighting or perspective, the feature synthesis and correspondence finding should lead to visually unambiguous features that can be predicted and evaluated to be suitable for stable tracking of the camera pose.

Initial goal of the current dissertation was the determination of image-based biomarkers sensitive for neurodegenerative processes in the human brain. One such process is the demyelination of neural cells characteristic for Multiple sclerosis (MS) - the most common neurological disease in young adults for which there is no cure yet. Conventional MRI techniques are very effective in localizing areas of brain tissue damage and are thus a reliable tool for the initial MS diagnosis. However, a mismatch between the clinical fndings and the visualized areas of damage is observed, which renders the use of the standard MRI diffcult for the objective disease monitoring and therapy evaluation. To address this problem, a novel algorithm for the fast mapping of myelin water content using standard multiecho gradient echo acquisitions of the human brain is developed in the current work. The method extents a previously published approach for the simultaneous measurement of brain T1, T∗ 2 and total water content. Employing the multiexponential T∗ 2 decay signal of myelinated tissue, myelin water content is measured based on the quantifcation of two water pools (myelin water and rest) with different relaxation times. Whole brain in vivo myelin water content maps are acquired in 10 healthy controls and one subject with MS. The in vivo results obtained are consistent with previous reports. The acquired quantitative data have a high potential in the context of MS. However, the parameters estimated in a multiparametric acquisition are correlated and constitute therefore an ill-posed, nontrivial data analysis problem. Motivated by this specific problem, a new data clustering approach is developed called Nuclear Potential Clustering, NPC. It is suitable for the explorative analysis of arbitrary dimensional and possibly correlated data without a priori assumptions about its structure. The developed algorithm is based on a concept adapted from nuclear physics. To partition the data, the dynamic behavior of electrically even charged nucleons interacting in a d-dimensional feature space is modeled. An adaptive nuclear potential, comprised of a short-range attractive (Strong interaction) and a long-range repulsive term (Coulomb potential), is assigned to each data point. Thus, nucleons that are densely distributed in space fuse to build nuclei (clusters), whereas single point clusters are repelled (noise). The algorithm is optimized and tested in an extensive study with a series of synthetic datasets as well as the Iris data. The results show that it can robustly identify clusters even when complex configurations and noise are present. Finally, to address the initial goal, quantitative MRI data of 42 patients are analyzed employing NPC. A series of experiments with different sets of image-based features show a consistent grouping tendency: younger patients with low disease grade are recognized as cohesive clusters, while those of higher age and impairment are recognized as outliers. This allows for the definition of a reference region in a feature space associated with phenotypic data. Tracking of the individual's positions therein can disclose patients at risk and be employed for therapy evaluation.

Stream ecosystems are one of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide due to their exposure to diverse anthropogenic stressors. Pesticides appear to be the most relevant stressor for agricultural streams. Due to the current mismatch of modelled and measured pesticide concentrations, monitoring is necessary to inform risk assessment or improve future pesticide approvals. Knowing if biotic stress responses are similar across large scales and long time frames could ultimately help in estimating protective stressor thresholds. This thesis starts with an overview of entry pathways of pesticides to streams as well as the framework of current pesticide monitoring and gives an outline of the objectives of the thesis. In chapter 2, routine monitoring data based on grab sampling from several countries is analysed to identify the most frequently occurring pesticide mixtures. These mixtures are comprised of relatively low numbers of pesticides, of which herbicides are dominating. The detected pesticide mixtures differ between regions and countries, due to differences in the spectrum of analysed compounds and limits of quantification. Current routine monitoring does not include sampling during pesticide peaks associated with heavy rainfall events which likely influences the detected pesticide mixtures. In chapter 3, sampling rates of 42 organic pesticides for passive sampling are provided together with recommendations for the monitoring of field-relevant peaks. Using this information, in chapter 4 a pesticide gradient is established in an Eastern European region where agricultural intensity adjacent to sampled streams ranges from low to high. In contrast to current routine monitoring, rainfall events were sampled and a magnitude of pesticides were analysed. This led to the simultaneous detection of numerous pesticides of which one to three drive the pesticide toxicity. The toxicity, however, showed no relationship to the agricultural intensity. Using microcosms, the stress responses of fungal communities, the hyphomycetes, and the related ecosystem function of leaf decomposition, is investigated in chapter 5. Effects of a field-relevant fungicide mixture are examined across three biogeographical regions for three consecutive cycles of microbial leaf colonisation and decomposition. Despite different initial communities, stress responses as well as recoveries were similar across biogeographical regions, indicating a general pattern. Overall, this thesis contributes to an improved understanding of occurrence and concentrations of pesticides mixtures in streams, their monitoring and impact on an ecosystem function. We showed that estimated pesticide toxicities reach levels that affect non-target organisms and thereby potentially whole ecosystems. Routine monitoring, however, likely underestimates the threat by pesticides. Effects leading to a loss in biodiversity or functions in streams ecosystems can be reduced by reassessing approved pesticides with ongoing targeted monitoring and increased knowledge of effects caused by these pesticides.

The three biodegradable polymers polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) were coated with hydrogenated amorphous carbon layers (a-C:H) in the context of this thesis. A direct alignment of the sample surface to the source was chosen, resulting in the deposition of a robust, r-type a-C:H. At the same time, a partly covered silicon wafer was placed together with the polymers in the coating chamber and was coated. Silicon is a hard material and serves as a reference for the applied layers. Due to the hardness of the material, no mixed phase occurs between the substrate and the applied layer (no interlayer formation). In addition, the thickness of the applied layer can be estimated with the help of the silicon sample. The deposition of the layer was realized by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). For the coating the samples were pre-treated with an oxygen plasma. Acetylene was used as precursor gas for the plasma coating. Coatings with increasing thickness in 50 nm steps from 0-500 nm were realised. The surface analysis was performed using several techniques: The morphology and layer stability were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The wettability was determined by contact angle technique. In addition, the contact angles provide macroscopic information about the bond types of the carbon atoms present on the surface. For microscopic analysis of the chemical composition of the sample and layer surfaces, diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT) as well as synchrotron based X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) were used. All coated polymers showed several cases of layer failure due to internal stress in the layers. However, these were at different layer thicknesses, so there was a substrate effect. In addition, it is visible in the SEM images that the coatings of PLA and PHB can cause the applied layer to wave, the so-called cord buckling. This does not occur with polymer PBAT, which indicates a possible better bonding of the layer to the polymer. The chemical analyses of the layer surfaces show for each material a layer thickness dependent ratio of sp² to sp³ bonds of carbon, which alternately dominate the layer. In all polymers, the sp³ bond initially dominates, but the sp² to sp³ ratio changes at different intervals. Although the polymers were coated in the same plasma, i.e. the respective layer thicknesses (50 nm, 100 nm, ...) were applied in the same plasma process, the respective systems differed considerably from each other. A substrate effect is therefore demonstrably present. In addition, it was found that a change in the dominant bond from sp³ to sp² is an indication ofan upcoming layer failure of the a-C:H layer deposited on the polymer. In the case of PLA, this occurs immediately with change to sp² as the dominant bond; in the case of PHB and PBAT, this occurs with different delay to increased layer thicknesses (at PHB 100 nm, at PBAT approx. 200 nm. Overall, this thesis shows that there is a substrate effect in the coating of the biodegradable polymers PLA, PHB and PBAT, since despite the same coating there is a different chemical composition of the surface at the respective layer thicknesses. In addition, a layer failure can be predicted by analyzing the existing bond.

Data-minimization and fairness are fundamental data protection requirements to avoid privacy threats and discrimination. Violations of data protection requirements often result from: First, conflicts between security, data-minimization and fairness requirements. Second, data protection requirements for the organizational and technical aspects of a system that are currently dealt with separately, giving rise to misconceptions and errors. Third, hidden data correlations that might lead to influence biases against protected characteristics of individuals such as ethnicity in decision-making software. For the effective assurance of data protection needs, it is important to avoid sources of violations right from the design modeling phase. However, a model-based approach that addresses the issues above is missing. To handle the issues above, this thesis introduces a model-based methodology called MoPrivFair (Model-based Privacy & Fairness). MoPrivFair comprises three sub-frameworks: First, a framework that extends the SecBPMN2 approach to allow detecting conflicts between security, data-minimization and fairness requirements. Second, a framework for enforcing an integrated data-protection management throughout the development process based on a business processes model (i.e., SecBPMN2 model) and a software architecture model (i.e., UMLsec model) annotated with data protection requirements while establishing traceability. Third, the UML extension UMLfair to support individual fairness analysis and reporting discriminatory behaviors. Each of the proposed frameworks is supported by automated tool support. We validated the applicability and usability of our conflict detection technique based on a health care management case study, and an experimental user study, respectively. Based on an air traffic management case study, we reported on the applicability of our technique for enforcing an integrated data-protection management. We validated the applicability of our individual fairness analysis technique using three case studies featuring a school management system, a delivery management system and a loan management system. The results show a promising outlook on the applicability of our proposed frameworks in real-world settings.

Microbial pollution of surface waters poses substantial risks for public health, amongst others during recreational use. Microbial pollution was studied at selected sampling sites in rivers Rhine, Moselle and Lahn (Germany) on the basis of commonly used fecal indicator organisms (FIO) indicating bacterial (Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci) and viral (somatic coliphages) fecal contamination. In addition, blaCTX-Mantibiotic resistance genes (ARG) were quantified at twosites in river Lahn and were used as markers for tracking the spread of antibiotic resistance in the aquatic environment. The impact of changes in climate-related parameters on FIO was examined by studying monitoring results of contrasting flow conditions at rivers Rhine and Moselle. Analyses at all studied river sites clearly indicate that high discharge and precipitation enhance the influx of FIO, ARG and thus potentially (antibiotic resistant) pathogens into rivers. In contrast, a decrease in hygienic microbial pollution was observed under high solar irradiation and increasing water temperatures. Based on identified contributing key factors, multiple linear regression (MLR) models for five sites at a stretch of river Lahn were established that allow a timely assessment of fecal indicator abundances. An interaction between abiotic and biotic factors (i.e. enhanced grazing pressure) considerably contributed to the formation of seasonal patterns among FIO abundances. This was enhanced during extraordinary low flow conditions in rivers with pronounced trophic interactions, clearly hampering a transfer of model approaches between rivers of different biological and hydrological characteristics. Bacterial indicatorswere stronger influenced by grazing pressure than phages. Hence, bacterial indicators alone do not sufficiently describe viral pollution in rivers. BlaCTX-Mgenes were omnipresent in Lahn River water and corresponded to distribution patterns of FIO, indicating fecal sources. Agriculture and waste watertreatment plant effluents contributed to ARG loads and participants in non-bathing water sports were found to be at risk of ingesting antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) including ARG, bearing the risk of infection or colonization. Results of the present study highlight the need to be aware of such risks not only in designated bathing waters. ARG abundance at both riverine sampling sites could largely be explained by E. coliabundance and may thus also be incorporated into multiple regression models using E. colispecific environmental predictors. It can be expected that the frequency of short-term microbial pollution events will increase over the next decades due to climate change. Several challenges were identified with regard to the implementation of early warning systems to protect the public from exposure to pathogens in rivers. Most importantly, the concept of the Bathing Water Directive (Directive 2006/7/EC) itself as well as the lack of harmonization in the regulatory framework at European Union (EU) level are major drawbacks and require future adjustments to reliably manage health risks related to microbial water pollution in waters used in multifunctional ways.

Lastkraftwagen werden weltweit in verschiedenen Konfigurationen für den Transport von Gütern und für Spezialanwendungen genutzt. Das sichere Navigieren solcher Großfahrzeuge stellt eine herausfordernde Aufgabe für den Fahrer und unter Umständen für automatische Steuerungssysteme, z. B. im semi-autonomen oder autonomen Betrieb, dar. Insbesondere in kinematisch schwierigen Situationen, auf unebenem Untergrund oder bei engen Platzverhältnissen steigt die Komplexität des sicheren Steuerns. Umso verwunderlicher ist es, dass unterstützende Systeme, welche die speziellen Belange von LKW und insbesondere LKW-Gespannen adressieren, im Vergleich zum Angebot auf dem PKW-Markt nur in rudimentärem Maß angeboten werden. Das Gefahrenpotential, dass von Großfahrzeugen ausgeht, wird zunehmend in der aktuellen Tagespolitik diskutiert. Unter anderem wird die verpflichtende Einführung von Fahrerassistenzsystemen gefordert. In dieser Arbeit werden zwei Themen behandelt, die sich mit den speziellen Anforderungen von Nutzfahrzeugen befassen. Im ersten Themenblock wird die Erfassung der Artikulation in einem LKW-Anhänger-Gespann mit Drehschemelanhänger bearbeitet. Dabei wird ein neuartiges Verfahren vorgestellt, das auf an der Universität Koblenz-Landau geleisteten Vorarbeiten aufbaut. Es ermöglicht die Erfassung von Knickwinkeln in mehreren Dimensionen und ist daher auch für den Einsatz auf unebenem Grund, wie beispielsweise in Baustellen- oder Agrarszenarien geeignet. Das Verfahren nutzt dabei eine Kamera und ein künstliches Muster, um den Gespannzustand zu ermitteln. Im zweiten Bereich wird die Umfeldvisualisierung durch eine Vogelperspektivenansicht thematisiert. Herkömmliche Systeme weisen systembedingte Verzerrungen auf, die unnatürlich wirkende Ansichten zur Folge haben. Diesem Problem wird durch die Entwicklung einer neuen Herangehensweise begegnet: Mit den Tiefendaten von Stereokameras wird eine Umgebungsmodellierung realisiert, die im nächsten Schritt perspektivisch korrekt mit Kamerabildern fusioniert wird. Mittels einer speziell für diesen Fall erweiterten Stereo-Hinderniserkennung wird zudem eine zusätzliche Umfeldüberwachung ermöglicht. Die beiden in dieser Dissertation vorgestellten Verfahren beinhalten grundlegende Arbeiten, die für die Entwicklung maßgeschneiderter Assistenzsysteme für LKW angewandt werden können.

Because silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are broadly applied in consumer products, their leaching will result in the continuous release of Ag NPs into the natural aquatic environment. Therefore, bacterial biofilms, as the prominent life form of microorganisms in the aquatic environment, are most likely confronted with Ag NPs as a pollutant stressor. Notwithstanding the significant ecological relevance of bacterial biofilms in aquatic systems, and though Ag NPs are expected to accumulate within these biofilms in the environment, the knowledge on the environmental and ecological impact of Ag NPs, is still lagging behind the industrial growth of nanotechnology. Consequently, aim of this thesis was to perform effect assessment of Ag NP exposure on bacterial biofilms with ambient Ag NPs concentrations and under environmentally relevant conditions. Therefore, a comprehensive set of methods was applied in this work to study if and how Ag NPs of two different sizes (30 and 70 nm) affect bacterial biofilms i.e. both monospecies biofilms and freshwater biofilms in environmentally relevant concentrations (600 - 2400 µg l-1). Within the first part of this work, a newly developed assay to test the mechanical stability of monospecies biofilms of the freshwater model bacterium Aquabacterium citratiphilum was validated. In the first study, to investigate the impact of Ag NPs on the mechanical stability of bacterial biofilms, sublethal effects on the mechanical stability of the biofilms were observed with negative implications for biostabilization. Furthermore, as it is still challenging to monitor the ecotoxicity of Ag NPs in natural freshwater environments, a mesocosm study was performed in this work to provide the possibility for the detailed investigation of effects of Ag NPs on freshwater biofilms under realistic environmental conditions. By applying several approaches to analyze biofilms as a whole in response to Ag NP treatment, insights into the resilience of bacterial freshwater biofilms were obtained. However, as revealed by t-RFLP fingerprinting combined with phylogenetic studies based on the 16S gene, a shift in the bacterial community composition, where Ag NP-sensitive bacteria were replaced by more Ag NP-tolerant species with enhanced adaptability towards Ag NP stress was determined. This shift within the bacterial community may be associated with potential detrimental effects on the functioning of these biofilms with respect to nutrient loads, transformation and/or degradation of pollutants, and biostabilization. Overall, bringing together the key findings of this thesis, 4 general effect mechanisms of Ag NP treatment have been identified, which can be extrapolated to natural freshwater biofilms i.e. (i) the identification of Comamonadaceae as Ag NP-tolerant, (ii) a particular resilient behaviour of the biofilms, (iii) the two applied size fractions of Ag NPs exhibited similar effects independent of their sizes and their synthesis method, and (iv) bacterial biofilms show a high uptake capacity for Ag NPs, which indicates cumulative enrichment.