Doctoral Thesis
645 search hits
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Biomass and Nutrient Studies of Selected Tree Species of Natural and Plantation Forests: Implications for a Sustainable Management of the Munessa-Shashemene Forest, Ethiopia
(2004)
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Asferachew Abate
- Plantation forests with exotic tree species have been introduced to alleviate the problems of deforestation in Ethiopia. In the future, more plantation forests with fast growing species should be grown for coping with the ever-increasing demands for fuelwood and other forest products. However, it is not known whether plantation forests are sustainable or not. For the sustainability of plantation forests with exotic tree species, it is of paramount importance to thoroughly understand their ecological and social attributes through a holistic approach. For this reason, a multidisciplinary project was initiated in the Munessa-Shashemene Forest. Such an approach gives valuable information about the sustainability of plantation forests when the basic ecological features of the natural forests are compared with plantation forests. As an integral part of the multidisciplinary project, the objectives of this study are to: 1) quantify the fine roots and aboveground biomass of selected tree species in both natural and plantation forests; 2) quantify the macronutrient stocks of the fine roots and aboveground components of selected trees species in both natural and plantation forests; and 3) evaluate the implication of the changes in the biomass and macronutrient stocks for a sustainable management of forests. The study focused on four tree species, Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) Mirb., Podocarpaceae and Croton macrostachys Hochst. ex Del. Euphorbiaceae, were selected from a natural forest. Cupressus lusitanica Miller, Cupressaceae and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Myrtaceae were selected from plantation forests. Root architectures of the study trees were studied by excavation. The live fine root biomass (<2 mm in diameter) of the dry and wet seasons was determined from samples collected at the distances of 1, 2 and 3 meters from the bole of the study trees. At each of the distances, root cores were taken at the depth intervals 0-10, 10-35, 35-60, 60-85 and 85-100 cm using a hand auger. Linear regression equations were used to estimate the aboveground biomass on the basis of the relation between DBH and dry weights of the aboveground plant components. Macronutrient concentrations were determined following a standard laboratory procedure. Studies on the root architecture revealed that C. lusitanica has a shallow root and is more susceptible to windthrow compared to E. globulus. With the exception of E. globulus, the dry season live fine root (LFR) biomass was higher for all trees studied. The seasonal variation in the fine root biomass was attributed to the changes in soil moisture of the study area. For all trees investigated, the mean annual LFR biomass was highest at the depth interval 0-10 cm at all distances. The favorable soil texture, pH and organic matter content at the depth interval 0-10 cm might be responsible for higher LFR biomass. The significantly higher LFR biomass of P. falcatus (1.34 kg m-2) coupled with its higher macronutrient stocks compared to C. macrostachys (0.32 kg m-2) suggest the importance of P. falcatus in the sustainability of the natural forest by transferring more macronutrients to the soil through its fine roots. Similarly, the significantly higher total LFR biomass of C. lusitanica (0.88 kg m-2) coupled with its higher macronutrient stock compared to E. globulus (0.27 kg m-2) indicated less depletion of soil nutrients by the former. The stand structure of the natural and plantation forests differed largely. In the natural forest, the density of C. macrostachys was much higher (143 ± 72 trees ha-1) than the density of P. falcatus (73 ± 39 trees ha-1). Generally, the structural change of the natural forest due to selective cutting of P. falcatus was found to have negative implications on the sustainability of the natural forest. The differences in the structure of C. lusitanica and E. globulus, despite their similar densities, resulted in a significantly lower understory ground cover by herbaceous and shrub species in the former. The effect of a poor understory growth on the floor litter thickness and thereby on nutrient capital of the soil may negatively affect the sustainability of C. lusitanica plantation. The harvesting of the stemwood of C. lusitanica and E. globulus removes a substantial amount of nutrients from the plantation sites. Furthermore, the current practice of collecting foliage, twigs and branches for firewood by the local people results in a higher depletion of nutrients. In order to make the plantation forests sustainable, the silvicultural practice in the future should consider on site conservation of foliage and bark. It is recommended that more studies on aboveground and belowground biomass, fine root turnover, and nutrient concentrations of the plantation forests should be carried out in a chronosequence in order to gain more insight on their sustainability.
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The Allatoregulatory Neuropeptides and their Genes in the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
(2004)
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Mohatmed Abdel-latief
- The genes encoding the S. frugiperda allatotropin (Spofr-AT), allatostatin (Spofr-AST), allatostatin type-A (Spofr-AST A) peptide family and allatotropin 2 (Spofr-AT 2) peptides were isolated from S. frugiperda brain cDNA. The Spofr-AT gene is expressed in three mRNA isoforms with 134, 171, and 200 amino acids, respectively, differing from each other by alternative splicing. The Spofr-AST cDNA encodes 125 amino acid residues including one copy of the Manse-AST mature peptide (type-C allatostatin). The deduced precursor sequence of Spofr-AST A gene contains 231 amino acids and allowed unambiguous identification of nine (or ten) peptides of YFXFGL-a peptide family, which are tandemly arranged in three blocks. A cDNA that encodes 53 amino acids was cloned from S. frugiperda brain cDNA, including one copy of a non-amidated decapeptide (Arg-Val-Arg-Gly-Asn-Pro-Ile-Ser-Cys-Phe-OH). This peptide strongly stimulates the synthesis and release of juvenile hormone (JH) in vitro by the corpora allata (CA) of S. frugiperda adult females and was code-named Spofr-AT 2. The primary structure of Spofr-AT 2 is identical at its C-terminus (-NPISCF) with the M. sexta type-C allatostatin (Manse-AST). One-step RT-PCR for semi-quantification of the gene expression, it is demonstrated that both genes (Spofr-AT and Spofr-AST) are expressed in brain, digestive tract, and reproductive organs of larvae, pupae, and adults of S. frugiperda in a time-, tissue-, and sex specific manner. The tissue-specific localization of the prohormone expression, as demonstrated by whole-mount in situ hybridization, confirms the overall tissue distribution of the prohormones as shown by RT-PCR and supports the pleiotropic functions of the peptides. Spofr-AST type-A gene is expressed in the brain, midgut, and reproductive organs of S. frugiperda larvae and adults in a time- and tissue-specific manner. Data confirm the nature of the allatostatin type-A peptides as brain/gut myoregulatory hormones. Northern blotting and RT-PCR analyses revealed that the Spofr-AT 2 gene is expressed as one transcript in the brain, midgut, and ovary in a tissue- and developmental-specific manner. Treating the CA with the synthetic peptide caused an up to tenfold increase in the release of JH. The stimulation of JH release was dose-dependent with an apparent EC50 of ca. 10-7 M. CA that were activated with Spofr-AT 2 could be inhibited by the addition of synthetic Manse-AST. In conclusion, the presented date strengthen the hypothesis that “allatoregulating” neuropeptides are diverse in structure, widely distributed and exhibit multiple functions. The functions may be tissue-specific as well as specific to particular developmental stages of insects. Knowledge of the various peptide precursor sequences has opened the way for synthesis of these peptides for detailed physiological and functional studies. Further quantitative experiments formulated in context of the life history of the animals will certainly yield a more detailed understanding of the mode of action of these peptides in S. frugiperda. Other major challenges in the future will be to clone the receptors for these peptides and to study the receptor distribution in the fall armyworm.
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Phase Behavior and Structural Transitions in The Mixtures of Cationic Surfactants and Hydrophobic Counterions
(2003)
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Rami Abdel-Rahem
- Anionic hydrophobic counterions with certain geometry adsorb onto the surface of cationic surfactant micelles and they minimize the repulsion between the headgroups, so the charge density on the surface is reduced. As a result of this, the micelle spontaneously changes its morphology due to a new packing for the head groups. The adsorption of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid 2,1 HNC and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid 6,2 HNC onto the surface of the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide was studied. The results were compared to the published system 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid 3,2 HNC/CTAOH. When an increasing amount of 2,1 HNC is introduced into a micellar solution of 100 mM CTAOH, one finds low viscous micellar solution, viscoelastic gel (consisting of rod like micelles), turbid region (two phase region), and viscoelastic liquid crystalline gel (consisting of multilamellar vesicles MLV with yield value). The complex viscosity (0.01 Hz) of 100 mM CTAOH rises by six orders of magnitude as the rodlike micelles form.It decreases then to the turbid region, and then rises again approximately six orders of magnitude. The second rising of the complex viscosity is accompained by the formation of a liquid crystalline phase which consists of multilamellar vesicles. This has been proven by DICM, FF-TEM and Cryo-TEM. The vesicles were polydisperse and ranged from 100 to 1000 nm in diameter. SANS detected the transition in the microstructure which was caused by changing the concentration of 2,1 HNC in the system. SANS calculations show results similar to that obtained by microscopic methods. Surprising rheological behavior was measured in the rodlike micelle region, at which storage modulus was about one order of magnitude higher than loss modulus and both were parallel in the frequency range 0.001-10 Hz. Such behavior usually indicates the presence of vesicles in the liquid crystal phases. It was proved that other rheological measurements can be used to distinguish the tow types, namely, amplitude sweep measurements, first normal stress difference N1 (Weissenbeg effect), the effect of adding electrolyte, and stress relaxation curves. When 6,2 HNC (new substitution of HNC) is added with an increasing amount to 100 mM CTAOH, a new phase behavior is observed. Here the structure changes from small micelle aggregates into rodlike micelles, and then a two phase region consisting of L1-phase and un-reacted 6,2 HNC is formed. No transition into MLV has been detected. In the case of 3,2 HNC and 2,1 HNC, the hydroxyl and the carboxyl group are neighboring, so they can effectively share in reducing the repulsion between the headgroups while the rings are in interaction with hydrocarbon tails. For 6,2 HNC the hydroxyl group is in position number 6 on the aromatic rings, which means that hydroxyl group is distant from the carboxyl group, thereby, less screening for the cationic charge in the micelle surface is obtained. Substitution of HNC plays a main role in controlling the microstructure and other physical properties such viscosity, Krafft point, ..etc. In the second part of this work, the hydrophobic counterion is fixed (2,1 HNC), and the length of the cationic surfactant‘s chain is changed from C16 into C14, C12, C10 and C8. For the system 2,1 HNC/ tetradecyltrimethylammonium hydroxide TTAOH similar phase behavior as 2,1 HNC/CTAOH is observed. At 2,1 HNC/TTAOH ratio r aproximately 1, formation of MLV is observed. After the neutralization addition of excess amount of 2,1 HNC is possible since the insoluble molecular form of 2,1 HNC becomes solublized in the formed MLV. Conductivity measurements prove that 2,1 HNC stays in the molecular form after the neutralization. A difference in the rheological behavior of the system 2,1 HNC/TTAOH compared to 2,1 HNC/CTAOH is seen. In the rodlike micelles region of 2,1 HNC/TTAOH, the solutions exhibit a short relaxation time compared to 2,1 HNC/CTAOH system. FF-TEM and SANS proved the formation of polydisperse MLV in this system with a maximum diameter of about 2000 nm and wall thickens of about 28 nm. As a result of this work, it is concluded that the role of the hydrophobic counterions with certain geometry could be looked upon as a co-surfactant with a shorter chain length which changes the bending rigidity, of the bilayer. They are surface active species that bind strongly on the micelle surface and change the packing parameter of the headgroups. It is suggested that the hydrophobicity of the counterion plays an important role in deciding the structure of the supramolecular assemblies such as vesicles, or micelles. As a consequence one can change the morphology of micelle species by changing the ratio of counterion /surfactant ion. These studies also suggest that by mixing cationic surfactant and hydrophobic counterion with varying cationic surfactants chain lengths, one can have a control over the supramolecular structures formed.
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The use of 10Be surface exposure dating of erratic boulders in the reconstruction of the late Pleistocene glaciation history of mountainous regions, with examples from Nepal and Central Asia
(2004)
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Uwe Abramowski
- Be-10 surface exposure dating (SED) of erratic boulders is an innovative approach in Quaternary geochronology. It proves to be an excellent tool for the reconstruction of the glacial history of mountainous regions, which is an important part of climate change research. In the course of this work, I have 1) installed the analytical procedure to extract in-situ produced Be-10 from quartz-bearing rock surface samples in the laboratory of the Institute of Soil Science and Soil Geography at the University of Bayreuth; 2) developed and calibrated the program TEBESEA for quick calculation of Be-10 surface exposure ages with fully propagated errors, thereby evaluating the existing procedures; 3) deduced a new interpretation scheme for exposure age distributions from several stratigraphically related moraines in an area; 4) provided 37 new Be-10 exposure ages for the Nepal Himalaya, complementing earlier soil geographic studies in the Langtang Valley and the Macha Khola Valley; and finally 5) provided 108 new Be-10 exposure ages for the Pamir, and the Alay- and Turkestan Ranges, defining a new glacial chronology for Central Asia. The analytical procedure used to extract Be-10 from quartz-bearing rocks and to prepare it for measurement closely followed the one established at the ETH Zurich, where all Be-10 measurements have been done. The accuracy of the analytical work in Bayreuth was confirmed by preparation of five calibration samples from the Koefels landslide, Oetz Valley, Austria. The traditional scaling system of Lal (1991) as modified by Stone (2000) still proves to be the most suitable one to be used in Be-10 exposure age calculations. For this procedure, I have calibrated a total standard production rate at sea level, high latitude of 5.35 ± 0.15 atoms/(g a), using a contribution of capture of slow negative muons of 1.2%, and including all possible corrections. The altitude dependency of Be-10 production used in the scaling systems of Dunai (2001) and Desilets & Zreda (2003) is as yet not convincing, given the existing calibration data, but suggests that ages calculated for sites above 2000-3000 m a.s.l. in High Asia may be overestimates. Detailed error propagation shows that the uncertainties of Be-10 surface exposure ages at present are dominated by the errors of the scaling factor, the erosion rate, and the tectonic uplift rate. As long as surface erosion and tectonic uplift rates cannot be constrained to within 10%, however, exposure ages older than 30-40 ka have uncertainties of 20% or more and can be no more than rough approximations. For exposure age distributions from a set of stratigraphically related moraines, a new interpretation scheme is presented, which is able to detect ages older than the deposition age of the moraine (Be-10 inheritance), and to interpret age clusters younger than the deposition age, which may be synchronous on several moraines (phases of regionally enhanced surface activity). In the Nepal Himalaya, glacier advances in the Macha Khola Valley have occurred 70-100, 20-23, 11-12 and around 3 cal. ka B.P. Glacier advances in the Langtang Valley are dated to 14-15, 8-9 and ~3.5 cal. ka B.P. Late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial activity in the Nepal Himalaya seems to be controlled by the Indian monsoon rather than the westerly circulation. Only in the MIS 2, the westerly jetstream appears to have shifted as far south as to affect glaciation all over the Himalaya. During the Younger Dryas, the eastern limit of the influence of the westerly circulation on Himalaya glaciation may have been situated between the Manaslu and Langtang Himal. Glacial advances in the Pamir and in the Alay and Turkestan Ranges have occurred >93->136, ~60-80, (40-55), ~27-25, ~22-20, ~18, ~15.5, ~14.3, and 10.5 cal. ka B.P. The most extensive late Pleistocene glaciation occurred during the MIS 5-3, and is characterized by ELA depressions of ~370-380 m in the eastern Pamir, as well as 600 m and >750 m, in the Alay and Turkestan Ranges, respectively. Late Pleistocene glacier advances in northwestern High Asia, were triggered by climatic cold phases rather than by monsoonal maxima. Climate in the region seems to have been mostly under the influence of the westerly circulation and the Siberian anticyclone. Asynchrony of Central Asian and western hemisphere glacier advances is due to increasing aridity in Central Asia in the course of the last glacial cycle. High altitude glaciers seem to have reached their maximum extent earlier (MIS 5-4) than low altitude glaciers (first half of MIS 3). Some indirect monsoonal influence in the eastern Pamir may be responsible for the existence of some of the lateglacial moraine stages in this area.
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Synthese, Charakterisierung und Materialeigenschaften borreicher Boride und Boridcarbide des Magnesiums und Aluminiums
(2005)
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Volker Adasch
- Hauptziel der Arbeit war die Synthese und Charakterisierung neuer borreicher Boride und Boridcarbide des Magnesiums. Es konnten Einkristalle von MgB7, MgB12, MgB17, B12MgC2 (orthorhombisch), B24Mg2C, B12MgC2 (monoklin) und B50Mg3C8 erhalten und durch RSA sowie WDX charakterisiert werden. Alle Synthesen fanden aus den Elementen statt. Entsprechend theoretischer Phasendiagramme erfordert die Synthese borreicher Boride und Boridcarbide des Magnesiums hohe Reaktionstemperaturen und niedrige Mg-Dampfdrücke. Speziell Reaktionstemperaturen oberhalb des Siedepunkts von Mg sind in offenen Reaktionsgefäßen nicht sinnvoll zu realisieren. Daher wurden die Synthesen in geschlossenen Gefäßen (aus h-BN) durchgeführt. Um während der Synthesen sowohl ein Bersten der h-BN-Tiegel als auch Mg-Verluste durch Diffusion zu vermeiden, wurden die h-BN-Tiegel wiederum in verschließbare Ta-Ampullen eingeführt. Die doppelte Wandung aus h-BN und Ta wurde gewählt, da ausgeschlossen werden sollte, dass B mit Ta Tantalboride bildet. Zur Realisierung eines niedrigen Mg-Dampfdrucks innerhalb des Reaktionsgefäßes wurden die Synthesen in Anlehnung an das Raoultsche Gesetz in Hilfsmetallbadschmelzen durchgeführt. Als Hilfsmetalle kamen Kupfer und Aluminium zur Anwendung. Speziell Kupfer erwies sich als optimales Hilfsmetall. In MgB7 und B12MgC2 (orthorhombisch) liegen B12-Ikosaeder vor, die eine hexagonal primitive Packung bilden. In MgB7 werden die trigonal prismatischen Lücken dieser Packung alternierend mit einem Mg-Atom und mit zwei B-Atomen besetzt. Zusätzlich befindet sich eine Mg-Lage auf einer gemeinsamen Vierecksflächen zweier trigonaler Prismen. In B12MgC2 (orthorhombisch) erfolgt die Besetzung der trigonal prismatischen Lücken alternierend mit einem Mg-Atom und mit zwei C-Atomen. Weitere interstitielle Lagen gibt es hier nicht. In MgB12 bilden B12-Ikosaeder 3.6.3.6.-Ikosaeder-Kagomè-Netze, die in der Schichtenfolge ABA angeordnet sind. Zwischen den Schichten befinden sich B12-Ikosaeder und B21-Einheiten. Alle Bor-Cluster sind miteinander zu einem dreidimensionalen Netzwerk verbunden, in dessen Hohlräumen sich Mg befindet. Die B21-Einheit besteht aus einem B12-Ikosaeder, einem B11-Fragment und einem einzelnen Bor-Atom. Das B12-Ikosaeder ist mit der B11-Einheit über eine gemeinsame Dreiecksfläche verbunden. Dieses B21-Cluster wurde im Bereich der Stoffklasse der borreichen Boride bislang noch nicht beobachtet. Das Elektronendefizit der B21-Einheit wurde über die sogenannte mnopq-Regel bestimmt und beträgt vier Elektronen. MgB17 ist eine Auffüllungsvariante des beta-rhomboedrischen Bors. Die Mg4-Position in MgB17 wurde bislang noch in keiner anderen Auffüllungsvariante besetzt. Das Mg3-Atom substituiert teilweise ein B-Atom der B28-Einheit. B24Mg2C ist die erste stöchiometrische Auffüllungsvariante des tetragonalen Bor (1). Die Basistruktur beider Verbindungen ist eine tetragonal innenzentrierte Stabpackung von B12-Ikosaedern. In B24Mg2C befinden sich zwischen den Stäben zwei Arten von Kanälen. In der einen Hälfte der Kanäle werden alle Tetraederlücken besetzt, wobei Mg und C alternieren. Im anderen Typ von Kanälen können Oktaederlücken definiert werden, hierbei ist jede zweite Oktaederlücke mit Mg gefüllt. Das strukturbestimmende Merkmal von B12MgC2 (monoklin) sind B12-Ikosaeder, die in einer verzerrten kubisch dichtesten Packung angeordnet sind. Die Tetraederlücken dieser Packung werden mit C, die Oktaederlücken mit Mg besetzt. B12MgC2 (monoklin) ist an Luft bis etwa 600 °C stabil, die Vickers-Härte liegt im Mittel bei 29,9 GPa. In B50Mg3C8 liegen B12-Ikosaeder vor, die in hexagonalen Schichten angeordnet sind. Die Schichten sind nach der Folge AABBCC gestapelt. Zwischen den Schichten ungleicher Orientierung befinden sich lineare C-B-C-Einheiten. Zwischen den deckungsgleich angeordneten Schichten sind C2-Einheiten und Mg-Atome positioniert. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurden außerdem die Bruchspannungen von Einkristallen von c-BN und B48Al3C2 bei statischer uniaxialer äußerer Krafteinwirkung bestimmt. Die Bruchspannung eines Einkristalls ist dabei eine Funktion der Kristallgröße und -form, der Härte (bzw. der Kristallstruktur), der kristallographischen Orientierung zur äußeren Kraft und der Art und Anzahl von Kristalldefekten, speziell von Versetzungen. Ziel war es die Mittelwerte der kritischen Spannungen von c-BN und B48Al3C2 sinnvoll in Relation zueinander zu setzen bzw. nur als Funktion der entsprechenden Kristallstrukturen und -defekte zu begreifen. Dazu wurde der Einfluss der Kristallgröße und -form auf die kritische Spannung über verschiedene Verfahrensschritte normiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Mittelwert der kritischen Spannung von c-BN um den Faktor 1,88 größer ist als der von B48Al3C2.
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The one-dimensional spin-1/2 ANNNI model in non-commuting magnetic fields
(2006)
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Adekunle Moses Adegoke
- In this thesis we have investigated the one-dimensional spin-1/2 Axial Next Nearest Neighbour Ising (ANNNI) model in non-commuting magnetic fields. As a starting point we obtained an estimate of the phase diagram of the model by treating the spins as classical vectors. This was followed by an investigation of the zero temperature ground state of the one-dimensional spin-1/2 ANNNI model in a longitudinal magnetic field. By using the symmetries of the Hamiltonian, we were able to diagonalize the longitudinal ANNNI model exactly. We found that there are four different possible ground state configurations for the longitudinal ANNNI model, in the thermodynamic limit. Rayleigh Schroedinger perturbation series for the ground state energy of the ANNNI model in non-commuting fields were then developed in each of the four ordered regions. Order parameters and the associated susceptibilities as well as specific heats were calculated. By application of the finite-size scaling technique it was possible to obtain the phase boundaries of the model numerically. For certain limits of the full Hamiltonian we compared the obtained results with the existing literature and we got good agreement.
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The Dynamics of Molecular Glasses Studied by Light Scattering
(2006)
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Sergei Adichtchev
- The present work is devoted to studying the dynamics in molecular glass formers applying the light-scattering (LS) technique, in particular tandem Fabry-Perot interferometry which allows to cover the frequency range from 0.3 GHz to 1000 GHz. Chapters 4 to 7 each present, in a self-contained way, different aspects of the dynamics, as summarized below. In Chapter 4, the results of the study of the molecular glass formers 2-picoline and m-tricresyl phosphate are presented. The LS spectra are analyzed in the frame of the Mode Coupling Theory (MCT). At high temperatures the evolution of the susceptibility minimum is well described by MCT. Below the critical temperature Tc, the asymptotic scaling laws of MCT fail due to the appearance of the excess wing of the alpha-process, which shows a universal evolution as a function of relaxation time, as was demonstrated by dielectric spectroscopy. A phenomenological approach, which allows to separate slow (alpha-process) and fast relaxation processes in the LS spectra is developed. Applying this approach, the temperature dependence of the non-ergodicity parameter f is obtained. The anomaly of f as well as a crossover to "white noise" of the fast dynamics spectra is found. In Chapter 5, the most extensive dielectric data of glycerol compiled by Lunkenheimer et al. [Contemp. Phys. 41, 15 (2000)] are reanalyzed. In contrast to the analysis of Lunkenheimer et al., the normalized susceptibility spectra, i.e, the dielectric loss data normalized by the static susceptibility, including the high temperature data, are analyzed. For this purpose a phenomenological approach, which describes the whole dielectric spectrum including the alpha-peak, its high frequency wing, and fast dynamics, is applied. The crossover temperature extracted from the phenomenological analysis and defined by the emergence of the high frequency wing upon cooling agrees well with the critical temperature extracted from the MCT analysis. The crossover temperature Tc=288 is significantly higher than reported before. Extracting the non-ergodicity parameter f, the characteristic anomaly similar to the one of 2-picoline and m-TCP discussed in Chapter 4, is found. In Chapter 6, the study of the fast relaxation below Tg in the molecular glasses 2-picoline, m-TCP, o-terphenyl (OTP), as well as in ethanol is presented. In addition to the boson peak, the depolarized LS spectra reveal quasi-elastic contributions that we attribute to i) the nearly constant loss (NCL) in the frequency range below 10 GHz and ii) a power law contribution with positive exponent alpha at higher frequencies. In the majority of glasses the latter may be attributed to thermally activated dynamics in asymmetric double well potentials (ADWP), as was previously found for the DLS spectra in silica. Following the Gilroy-Phillips model, the exponent alpha shows a master curve as a function of T /Vo for the various glasses where Vo specifies the width of the exponential distribution of barriers g(V), i.e., g(V) is propotional to the exp(-V/Vo). In Chapter 7, the investigation of the fast relaxation processes in the structural glass (T<Tg) and in the glassy crystal phase of ethanol, as well as in cyano cyclohexane, is presented. Depolarized and polarized LS spectra including the Brillouin lines were measured. It was found that depolarized, polarized LS and internal friction data exhibit fairly similar behavior, and thus reflect the same relaxations. The DLS spectra were described by assuming that the NCL contribution dominates below a few tens GHz, while the fast relaxational dynamics dominates at higher frequencies.
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First principles phase diagram calculations in group IV carbides and Mg2SiO4 liquid from Molecular Dynamics
(2009)
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Omar Adjaoud
- Atomistic simulations on stability and physical properties of Earth materials are playing an increasingly important role in high pressure mineralogy. Such computations can provide guidance for experimental studies and insight into underlying causes of observations, or explore conditions and properties that are inaccessible to experiments at the current time. A variety of approaches have been applied in such research, with density functional theory based methods having become a reliable tool in computational mineral sciences. Despite this progress there are interesting problems which density functional theory based methods are not able to tackle on a routine basis. These include computations of phase diagrams and transport properties in liquids. The sub-solidus phase diagrams of the binary systems TiC-ZrC, TiC-HfC, ZrC-HfC at ambient pressure are computed based on electronic structure and energy calculations within density functional theory. Formation energies for a large number of supercells with compositions of (M1,M2)C, M1, M2 = Ti, Zr, or Hf, are computed by a plane-wave pseudopotential method. The energies serve as a basis for fitting cluster expansion Hamiltonians that are used to explore the sub-solidus phase diagram, i.e. stability of ordered intermediate compounds and the degree of miscibility in the systems by Monte Carlo simulations. Hamiltonians can be fit to the formation energies of the cells directly or after taking into account vibrational free energy. As it is prohibitive to compute vibrational free energy for all configurations they are approximated by the transferable force constant scheme: nearest neighbor force constants are computed for the end-member crystals with imposed but varying lattice parameters. The resulting bond stiffness versus bond length relationships are applied to the superstructures, using the relaxed bond lengths and their chemical identities as predictor. Significant miscibility gaps were predicted for the binaries TiC-ZrC and HfC-TiC, with consolute temperature in excess of 2000 K, in good agreement with experiments. The system HfC-ZrC shows complete miscibility at room temperature. Approximately symmetric phase diagram for HfC-TiC and asymmetric phase diagrams for HfC-ZrC and TiC-ZrC were predicted. With the success of the method in the simple carbide systems similar computations can now be performed for geologically relevant mineral families. Mg2SiO4 liquid at high pressure is of central importance in our understanding of melts that occur in the deep Earth and in particular in the early history of our planet, when it was in a magma ocean stage. Due to high melting temperatures little is known experimentally about its high pressure thermodynamic and transport properties that govern magma ocean structure and dynamics. Molecular dynamics simulations now fill this gap. Currently, density functional theory based computations are restricted to a few hundred atoms and a few picoseconds. While such simulations allow for determination of thermodynamic properties, longer run durations and larger cells are necessary to obtain transport properties such as diffusivity and viscosity with sufficient precision. By contrast, semi-empirical pair potentials provide an efficient route to perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. They suffer, however, from the fact that the transferability of the potentials to different conditions is not guaranteed. The development of aspherical flexible potentials that are fit to density functional theory results bridge the gap between ab-initio methods and classical potentials. Comprehensive large-scale molecular dynamics simulations using the aspherical ionic model were performed on Mg2SiO4 melt to obtain thermodynamic properties as well as diffusivity and viscosity. The pressure-temperature range covered was 0-32 GPa and 2600-3200 K. The thermodynamic parameters agree well with density functional theory based results: the Grüneisen parameter $gamma$ was found to increase significantly with pressure. Diffusivity is predicted to decrease and viscosity to increase with pressure. Both transport properties were readily fit with closed Arrhenius expression. Independent estimates on diffusivity and viscosity allows an examination of their relation through the Eyring equation, often employed to compute viscosity from diffusivity data. The proportionality factor between them, the translation distance for a diffusion event $lambda$, is determined as $lambda$=18 AA at 0 GPa, and decreases with pressure. This is in good agreement with previous molecular dynamics simulations using classical potentials, but significantly larger than other estimates of $lambda$ based on experimental data that yield 2.8 AA $ < lambda < $ 5 AA. Combining the thermodynamic and viscosity fits a magma ocean adiabat and the associated viscosity profile were computed.
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“Mad King Ludwig”, « Père Rhin » und “Foresta Nera”. Das Deutschlandbild in englisch-, französisch- und italienischsprachigen Reiseführern
(2003)
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Mechtild Agreiter
- Das Deutschlandbild, das von ausländischen zeitgenössischen Reiseführern gezeichnet wird, wurde in dieser Arbeit anhand aller zum 1. Januar 2000 auf dem internationalen Markt vorhandenen englisch-, französisch- und italienischsprachigen Reiseführer über Deutschland untersucht. Die von den Reiseführern beachteten Regionen Deutschlands wurden mittels quantitativer Methoden identifiziert. Die qualitative Inhaltsanalyse ließ Aussagen über Deutschland, aber auch über Regionen, die bei bestimmten Themen für ganz Deutschland stehen, zu. Es konnten anhand der Reiseführeranalyse Motive dargestellt werden, die für eine Reise nach Deutschland sprechen. Dies sind vor allem die deutsche Küche, die vorhandene Infrastruktur für Outdooraktivitäten und das romantische Deutschland. Deutschland wird von den ausländischen Reiseführern auf sehr wenige, klar umrissene und somit überschaubare Regionen und Zuschreibungen reduziert. Sie wählen für ihre Zwecke passende Highlights aus und vernachlässigen darüber in weiten Teilen die Beschreibung anderer Regionen und aktueller Entwicklungen. Die regionale Überbetonung Süddeutschlands zeigt sich vor allem darin, dass Bayern und der Schwarzwald stellvertretend für ganz Deutschland stehen. Eine Gegenüberstellung mit den tatsächlichen Zielregionen der Touristen in Deutschland aus den entsprechenden Herkunftsländern brachte eine noch stärkere regionale Fokussierung der Touristen zu Tage. Vor allem die Dominanz Bayerns wird noch deutlicher. Die Deutschlandbilder in allen Reiseführern aller Herkunftsländer weisen große Übereinstimmungen auf. Dies trifft besonders auf die regionalen Schwerpunktsetzungen zu, jedoch greifen die Reiseführer in erstaunlicher Übereinstimmung auch die gleichen, typischen Themen zu Deutschland heraus. Die vorhandenen Unterschiede zwischen den Reiseführern aus den verschiedenen Herkunftsländern liegen mehr in der Art und Weise der Behandlung der Themen und den damit verbundenen regionalen Zuweisungen. Diese Themen machen sich weniger an Deutschland fest, als dass ihre Begründung vielmehr im Herkunftsland des Reiseführerautors bzw. –verlags liegt und somit den Kundenwünschen. Alle ausländischen Reiseführer beschreiben kritische bzw. negative Aspekte in Deutschland. Sie weisen darauf hin, dass Deutschland ein zum Teil gefährliches Reiseland ist. Die Beschreibung von Sehenswürdigkeiten, die für das Dritte Reich und die beiden Weltkriege stehen ist ein deutlicher Hinweis auf die Existenz von Dark Tourism. Außerdem zeichnen die Reiseführer ein klares Bild des deutschen Paradoxons: umfangreicher Umweltschutz bei gleichzeitigem Fehlen eines allgemeinen Tempolimits.
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Gesprochene Sprache im Deutsch-als-Fremdsprache-Unterricht. Eigenschaften der gesprochenen Sprache in Lehrwerkdialogen
(2011)
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Mohammed Al-Nasser
- Gegenstand der hier vorgestellten Arbeit ist der Lehrwerkdialog, der als Grundlage des Fremdsprachenunterrichts dient. Ihr Ziel ist es, die Eigenschaften der gesprochenen Sprache in den Lehrwerkdialogen zu untersuchen. Im ersten Kapitel wird die Kommunikative Wende, die den fremdsprachlichen Deutschunterricht beeinflusst hat, dargestellt. Das zweite Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit der Fertigkeit des Sprechens. Im dritten Kapitel werden die Gesprochene-Sprache-Forschung und die Gesprächsanalyse mit einigen ihrer Merkmale vorgestellt. Im vierten Kapitel werden Methodik und Auswahlverfahren der Arbeit erklärt. Das fünfte Kapitel führt eine Analyse der Dialoge und ihrer Übungen in fremdsprachlichen Lehrwerken hinsichtlich dreier Eigenschaften der gesprochenen Sprache und Interaktion vor: die Prosodie, die Operator-Skopus-Struktur und der Sprecherwechsel. Es geht darum, zu untersuchen, ob die Lehrwerkdialoge die oben erwähnten Merkmale enthalten und inwieweit sie im Fremdsprachenunterricht eingeübt werden. Kapitel sechs widmet sich der Zusammenfassung und der Diskussion der Analyseergebnisse und der Schlussbetrachtung. Mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung der aufgenommenen Modelldialoge der fremdsprachlichen Lehrwerke mit dem Instrument der Gesprächsanalyse wird insofern eine Forschungslücke geschlossen, als bisher nur die Texte der Muster-Dialoge, die in Lehrbüchern vorhanden sind, untersucht wurden.
