Konferenzbericht: „Analysen und Politik für Ostdeutschland – aus der Forschung des IWH“

On November 18th, 2010, the conference “Analyses and Policies for East Germany“ took place for the 4th time. IWH’s objective as the host of the conference was to present and discuss current research and, based on that, to provide some political consulting. The meeting dealt with possible paths of economic development of East Germany after the global financial crisis and how political objectives will influence the region. After presenting a general overview of the current situation, speakers also covered specific topics. Among these issues were: the co-operation between private companies and academic science in the field of photovoltaics, the demographic situation as well as potentials due to immigration to the region, the long-term results of the new administrative order of East German cities, and the necessity to overcome the current high-debt situation of the East German Länder.East Germany

Investigating long-term human ecodynamics in the European Arctic:Towards an integrated multi-scalar analysis of early and mid Holocene cultural, environmental and palaeodemographic sequences in Finnmark County, Northern Norway

Most parts of the Circumpolar Arctic have only discontinuous evidence for long-term human settlement. In contrast, Northern Norway has an unbroken archaeological record that extends back to the early Holocene. Numerous high-resolution archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records have been generated by commercial excavations and surveys, offering archaeologists unique opportunities to investigate long-term human ecodynamics in an Arctic coastal setting. To date, however, deeper analysis of the new datasets has yet to be undertaken. This paper aims to present a new synthesis of early and mid Holocene archaeological and paleoenvironmental sequences for Western Finnmark (11500-2000 cal BP). This enables us to identify three major phases of culture change that broadly correlate with climatic and environmental shifts. We then present emerging results from our multi-scalar analysis of the processes driving these transformations. At supra-regional and regional scales, our palaeodemographic modelling indicates major population events centered around 6000 cal BP and 4000 cal BP. At intra-regional scales, we are identifying spatial clustering of prehistoric settlements into local socio-economic communities. At the scale of local settlements, our analysis of house-pit chronologies is clarifying the degree of simultaneous occupation and re-use. We also draw on recent research into rock art and ritual landscapes in an effort to reconstruct the relationship between settlement clusters and general interaction patterns. Integration of these diverse lines of evidence is generating a vivid picture of thriving Arctic coastal communities, with indications that the timing and pace of cultural responses to climatic and environmental changes were more complex than previously thought

Fe1-xNix alloy nanoparticles encapsulated inside carbon nanotubes: Controlled synthesis, structure and magnetic properties

In the present work, different synthesis procedures have been demonstrated to fill carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with Fe1-xNix alloy nanoparticles (x = 0.33, 0.5). CNTs act as templates for the encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles, and provide a protective shield against oxidation as well as prevent nanoparticles agglomeration. By variation of the reaction parameters, the purity of the samples, degree of filling, the composition and size of filling nanoparticles have been tailored and therefore the magnetic properties. The samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Bright-field (BF) TEM tomography, X-ray powder diffraction, superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The Fe1-x Nix-filled CNTs show a huge enhancement in the coercive fields compared to the corresponding bulk materials, which make them excellent candidates for several applications such as magnetic storage devices

Variability of physical factors relevant to fisheries production in the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea

Recent publications have shown that river runoff and wind mixing are two major environmental factors affecting productivity of fish populations in subtropical and tropical areas, as opposed to water temperature in colder waters. In the present paper, we compare the variability of seawater temperature, river runoff and wind mixing in three different seas: a subtropical sea (the Mediterranean) and two cold seas (the North Sea and the Baltic). Temperature variability decreased from colder to warmer areas. The highest temporal variability in the river runoff corresponded to rivers flowing into the Mediterranean, and the lowest corresponded to rivers flowing into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The variability in the wind mixing index (cube of the wind speed) depended on the area under consideration, and attained maximum values in the Cap Béar station (northwestern Mediterranean). The effect of these regional variability differences in environmental factors on fisheries production is briefly discussed.Investigaciones recientes demuestran que las descargas fluviales y los vientos son factores ambientales clave para la productividad de las poblaciones explotadas en zonas subtropicales y tropicales, mientras que en mares fríos la temperatura del agua constituye el factor ambiental más importante para la productividad pesquera. Este estudio compara las diferencias geográficas en la variabilidad temporal de tres factores físicos (temperatura del agua, aportes fluviales y velocidad del viento) en un mar subtropical (Mediterráneo) y dos mares fríos (Mar del Norte y Báltico). La variabilidad temporal de la temperatura del agua es mayor en los dos mares fríos que en el subtropical. Así mismo, los ríos que desembocan en el Mediterráneo presentan mayor variabilidad temporal en cuanto a los aportes fluviales que los ríos que desembocan en el Mar del Norte y el mar Báltico. La variabilidad temporal en el índice de mezcla del viento (velocidad del viento al cubo) es distinta según la zona que se considere, y es máxima en la estación de Cap Béar (Mediterráneo noroccidental). Finalmente, se discuten los efectos de esta variabilidad ambiental geográfica sobre las poblaciones explotadas.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Monitoring austenite decomposition by ultrasonic velocity

The ultrasonic longitudinal velocity measured by the laser-ultrasonic technique is compared to dilatometry for the monitoring of austenite decomposition of low alloy steels. It is demonstrated that the technique could be an interesting alternative to dilatometry. The temperature dependence of the ultrasonic velocity and the various phases in steels is determined and used to calculate the decomposed austenite by a simple law of mixtures approximation. As a non-destructive and non-contact technique, laser-ultrasonics can be applied to monitor austenite transformation of real products in an industrial production line, which would be much more difficult with dilatometry.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Scaling analysis of the magnetic monopole mass and condensate in the pure U(1) lattice gauge theory

We observe the power law scaling behavior of the monopole mass and condensate in the pure compact U(1) gauge theory with the Villain action. In the Coulomb phase the monopole mass scales with the exponent \nu_m=0.49(4). In the confinement phase the behavior of the monopole condensate is described with remarkable accuracy by the exponent \beta_{exp}=0.197(3). Possible implications of these phenomena for a construction of a strongly coupled continuum U(1) gauge theory are discussed.Comment: Added references [1

Being Warm Being Happy: fuel poverty and adults with intellectual disabilities

Self-determination has been acknowledged as a criticalconstruct for people with intellectual disability (ID), given the benefits itspromotion entails towards an enhanced quality of life..

The relationship between ecosystem services and human modification displays decoupling across global delta systems

The ties between a society and its local ecosystem can decouple as societies develop and replace ecosystem services such as food or water regulation via trade and technology. River deltas have developed into important, yet threatened, urban, agricultural and industrial centres. Here, we use global spatial datasets to explore how 49 ecosystem services respond to four human modification indicators, e.g. population density, across 235 large deltas. We formed bundles of statistically correlated ecosystem services and examined if their relationship with modification changed. Decoupling of all robust ecosystem service bundles from at least one modification indicator was indicated in 34% of deltas, while 53% displayed decoupling for at least one bundle. Food-related ecosystem services increased with modification, while the other bundles declined. Our findings suggest two developmental pathways for deltas: as coupled agricultural systems risking irreversible local biodiversity loss; and as decoupled urban centres externalising the impact of their growing demands

Processing Succinct Matrices and Vectors

We study the complexity of algorithmic problems for matrices that are represented by multi-terminal decision diagrams (MTDD). These are a variant of ordered decision diagrams, where the terminal nodes are labeled with arbitrary elements of a semiring (instead of 0 and 1). A simple example shows that the product of two MTDD-represented matrices cannot be represented by an MTDD of polynomial size. To overcome this deficiency, we extended MTDDs to MTDD_+ by allowing componentwise symbolic addition of variables (of the same dimension) in rules. It is shown that accessing an entry, equality checking, matrix multiplication, and other basic matrix operations can be solved in polynomial time for MTDD_+-represented matrices. On the other hand, testing whether the determinant of a MTDD-represented matrix vanishes PSPACE$-complete, and the same problem is NP-complete for MTDD_+-represented diagonal matrices. Computing a specific entry in a product of MTDD-represented matrices is #P-complete.Comment: An extended abstract of this paper will appear in the Proceedings of CSR 201