51 search hits
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Theoretical and Computation Basis for CATNETS - Annual Report Year 3
(2007)
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Daniel Veit
Georg Buss
Björn Schnizler
Dirk Neumann
Werner Streitberger
Torsten Eymann
- In this document the developments in defining the computational and theoretical framework for economical resource allocation are described. Accordingly the formal specification of the market mechanisms, bidding strategies of the involved agents and the integration of the market mechanisms into the simulator were refined.
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Documentation of reference data for the experimental areas of the Bayreuth Centre for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) at the Waldstein site
(2007)
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Katharina Staudt
Thomas Foken
- no abstract
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COPS experiment - Convective and orographically induced precipitation study, 01 June 2007 – 31 August 2007
(2007)
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Stefan Metzger
Thomas Foken
- no abstract
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The Arctic Turbulence Experiment 2006, Direct measurements of turbulent fluxes in the near surface environment at high latitudes applying the eddy-covariance method, Part 3
(2007)
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Johannes Lüers
Jörg Bareiss
- no abstract
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The Arctic Turbulence Experiment 2006, Direct measurements of turbulent fluxes in the near surface environment at high latitudes applying the eddy-covariance method, Part 2
(2007)
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Johannes Lüers
Jörg Bareiss
- no abstract
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The Arctic Turbulence Experiment 2006, Direct measurements of turbulent fluxes in the near surface environment at high latitudes applying the eddy-covariance method, Part 1
(2007)
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Johannes Lüers
Jörg Bareiss
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Structuring Descriptive Data of Organisms — Requirement Analysis and Information Models
(2007)
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Gregor Hagedorn
- Data that describe organisms in a structured form are indispensable not only for taxonomic and identification purposes, but also many phylogenetic, genetic, or ecological analyses. By analyzing existing information models and performing selected fundamental requirement analyses, the present work contributes to a broadening of the understanding of these forms of data. It falls into an interdisciplinary area between biology and information science. The term “descriptive data” is understood here in a broad sense: As descriptions of individuals, populations, or taxa, intended for various purposes (e. g., genetic, phylogenetic, diagnostic, taxonomic, or ecological), and covering a wide array of observation methods and data types (e. g., morphological, anatomical, genetic, physiological, molecular, or behavioral data). The position of descriptive data in the context of biodiversity framework concepts (covering, e. g., nomenclatural data, specimen collection data, or resource management) is discussed. A number of fundamental problems arise when modeling biological descriptive data. The ways in which existing data exchange formats, information models, and software applications address them are studied and future possible solutions are outlined. One such solution, the information model for the software “DiversityDescriptions (DeltaAccess)” is one of the results of this thesis and fully documented (Ch. 7). This entity relationship model fully supports the concepts of the traditional DELTA data exchange format (Description Language for Taxonomy; TDWG standard since 1986). If further improves on DELTA by introducing “modifiers” as a new terminology class, by introducing a more flexible system of handling statistical measures, by improving the handling of multilingual data sets, by supporting subset and filter features for concurrent collaborative editing (instead of supporting these for report-generation purposes alone), by supporting improved character attributes to create natural language descriptions from structured descriptions, and by adding metadata for a data set to improve the ability of data exchange without external documentation. In preparation of a future improved information model for descriptive data, the results of three requirement analyses are presented: a data-centric analysis of general concepts, a process-centric analysis of identification tools, and a high-level use case analysis. The first analysis (Ch. 4) is a structured inventory of fundamental approaches and problems involved in collecting and summarizing scientific descriptions of organisms. It is informed in part by current practices in information science, comparative data analysis, statistical, descriptive or phylogenetic software applications, and data exchange formats in biodiversity informatics. At the end three topics are discussed in particular detail (“Federation and modularization of terminology”, “Modifiers”, and “Secondary classification resulting in description scopes”). Except for phylogenetic analyses, identification is the most common usage of descriptive data. The second analysis (Ch. 5) therefore studies the processes, data structures, presentational and user interface requirements for printable and computer-aided identification tools (“keys”). Finally, a general use case analysis is performed with the goal of creating a framework of high-level use cases into which present as well as future requirements may be integrated (Ch. 6). All three requirement analyses are explorative and do not fulfill formal criteria of software engineering. They identify many requirements not addressed by the relational DiversityDescriptions model. Some of these could only be explored and await future solutions. For others solutions are proposed (some of which could already be incorporated into the design of SDD, an xml-based TDWG standard since 2005): The traditional data types are changed into an extensible character type model. The importance of data aggregation concepts was recognized to be fundamental. Complementary to data aggregation, the present and potentially future use of data inheritance along the lines of the taxonomic hierarchy is briefly studied. The concept of calculated characters could be addressed only insofar as the mapping between values can potentially be generalized. Character decomposition models are studied, but ultimately the traditional character concept, supplemented with a forest of ontologies for compositional and generalization concept hierarchies, is preferred as a more general concept. Both the traditional character subset and character applicability models can be integrated into concept hierarchies.
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Investigations of the geomorphologic and pedologic system of sedimentary vega deposits from Lanzarote (Canary Islands) supported by luminescence dating – important steps towards their palaeoclimatic interpretation
(2007)
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Hans von Suchodoletz
- On Lanzarote (Canary Islands/Spain), sequences similar to loess-palaeosol-sequences from other regions developed in dammed volcanic valleys during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Based on former investigations, we assumed that these sequences could serve as palaeoclimate archives for the NW-African region, an area characterised by a lack of investigations from continuous terrestrial palaeoclimate archives. The material deposited in the valleys consists of Saharan dust as well as of local volcanic material. Due to their location in valley positions and adjacent strongly eroded slopes it is obvious that these sequences do not represent classic loess-palaeosol-archives. Instead, they must consist of a mixture of in situ aeolian fallout as well as of sediments derived from colluvial input from the slopes. Consequently, prior to a correct palaeoclimatic interpretation the geomorphologic character of the archives and the properties of their sediments must be analysed. Thus, in this study we intensively investigate the geomorphologic and pedologic system, combining geomorphologic mapping and quantitative GIS-calculations with sedimentological-pedological methods (grain size, XRD, rock magnetic und pedologic analyses as well as investigation of micromorphologic properties). Furthermore, we built up a chronostratigraphy using different luminescence-methods (quartz coarse- and fine grain-OSL, polymineral fine grain-IRSL). Fundamental investigations on the bleaching-behaviour of recent Saharan dust and colluvial sediments on Lanzarote demonstrate, that in spite of partial insufficient bleaching of the luminescence signal a dating of the valley-bottom sediments is possible. These datings were supported by a correlation of local kaolinite-contents with iron and kaolinite contents from nearby marine cores as well as a stratigraphic correlation between different profiles. Thus, we could establish a chronostratigraphy for the last 180 ka. We demonstrate that outcropped sediments were deposited almost continuously from the Middle Pleistocen until the Holocene, wheras the uppermost sections of the profiles consist of anthropogenic colluvia which can not be interpreted in a palaeoclimatic way. The alternation of reddish-clayey and yellowish-silty layers tracks changes of soil humidity on Lanzarote rather than variations of the composition of Saharan dust. Due to the colluvial dynamics of the valleys, reddish-silty layers in the valley bottoms are no palaeosoils sensu strictu but mainly consist of colluvial soil sediments originating from pedogenesis on the slopes. These soils as well as unweathered material were eroded and deposited with high frequency and low amplitude. Thus, their sedimentation age in the valley bottoms is close to the primary time of aeolian deposition on the slopes and the formation of pedogenetic properties. These findings allow a palaeoclimatic interpretation of the sediment sequences. We could demonstrate that glacials and stadials were characterised by higher soil moisture than interglacials and interstadials. When comparing our results with other palaeoclimatic studies from a broader region, we can show that the causes for periods of enhanced humidity were westerly cyclones using a more southern way than at recent, as well as lowered sea and air temperatures in the area of the Canary Islands. During some periods, soil humidity was possibly occasionally amplified by a northward advance of the African summer monsoon up to the latitude of Lanzarote. Although we are not able to directly derive palaeoprecipitation values from soil moisture, we can show that maximal precipitation values must have been in the the range of ca. 560 mm/a. Our results demonstrate that during most of the investigated period of the Late Quaternary the climate of Lanzarote was influenced by northern high latitude processes. Furthermore, during most of the investigated period the recent aridity of the island was somewhat mitigated.
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Measure and Integration on Lipschitz-Manifolds
(2007)
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Joachim Naumann
Christian G. Simader
- The first part of this paper is concerned with various definitions of a k-dimensional Lipschitz-manifold and a discussion of the equivalence of these definitions. The second part is then devoted to the geometrically intrinsic construction of a sigma-algebra L of subsets of the manifold and a measure on L.
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Incentive Compatibility and Efficiency in the Contractual Insurer-Provider Relationship - Economic Theory and Practical Implications: The Case of North Carolina
(2007)
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Andreas Schmid
- The paper is concerned with the efficient organization of contractual relationships between health insurers and providers. An introduction to relevant aspects of contract theory is followed by their adaptation to the characteristics of the health care system. The focus lies on an ex ante alignment of incentive structures as well as on an efficient handling of conflicts of interest once a contract has been sealed (ex post). The theory based conclusions are contrasted with the situation in North Carolina, USA. Due to the implemented regulation, this state is well suited to serve as a reference. An excursus to the American health care system provides the reader with the necessary background. A discussion of results completes the paper.
