Towards a comprehensive time – aspect – model for Bengali

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Unterschiedlichste natürliche Sprachen liefern immer wieder Indizien dafür, daß die Sprecher dieser Sprachen als Wesen einer dreidimensionalen Welt die Zeit als eine weitere vierte Dimension offenbar nur zweidimensional begreifen können. Die Zeitachse scheint daher am ehesten geeignet, sowohl in der Forschung als auch in der Lehre eine Modellierung dieses Phänomens vorzunehmen. Dies um so mehr, als es am konkreten Beispiel des Bengali, einer neuindoarischen Aspekt-Sprache, dadurch möglich wird, Temporalität mit Aspektualität anschaulich zu verbinden. Letztendliches Ziel ist, in das Wesen der einzelnen Tempus-Modus-Formen dieser Sprache vorzudringen, um ausgehend von der jeweiligen Hauptfunktion auch die entsprechenden Nebenfunktionen im Gesamtrahmen des temporalen Feldes besser zu verstehen. Der Artikel gibt prinzipielle Überlegungen wieder, die der Autor bei der Abfassung einer Grammatik des Bengali zur Anwendung bringen will.Peer Reviewe

Valuing diversity in urban renewal : who values, seeks and consumes diversity in Australia

This thesis aims to critically and empirically examine whether – and if so, in what way – economic, social, demographic and cultural diversity adds value to urban neighbourhoods. Whilst planners and a range of – especially public – stakeholder believe in the (social) value of diverse cities and neighbourhoods, it has proven difficult to get investors and public treasuries to invest in diversity when it comes to urban renewal projects. The theoretical concepts applied to explore the value of diversity are super-diversity, reflecting the human complexity found in neighbourhoods, as well as public and shared value, conceptualising how the public and private sector can and should create societal value. The empirical part of the thesis consists of a case study and a survey. The new-build suburb of Docklands in Melbourne served as a case study to examine the role diversity plays in urban renewal. Interviews with five key informants showed that whilst diversity is valued by the public as well as the state and local government, no mechanisms are in place to implement it in an urban renewal project that is market-driven and dominated by private investors – for example, in the form of a quota for affordable housing. The objective of the survey was to ascertain if urban residents value diversity, and what aspects of diversity they value. 513 participants were recruited from the most diverse and sought-after suburbs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The analysis reveals which forms of diversity are valued most – ethnic diversity – and least – economic diversity. Additionally, the analysis sheds light on the demographic characteristics of so-called diversity-seekers – a group who actively seeks to live in a diverse neighbourhood – who are most likely to be male, below 55, tertiary-educated and on a relatively high income, working as a professional or manager and have an Asian ethnic background. This is in accordance with findings from other studies and Florida’s creative class theory, and confirms that the taste-for-diversity phenomenon exists in Australia. Interestingly, the demographic profile of the diversity-seeker conforms to the demographic of the people who live in urban renewal projects such as Docklands. The overall contribution of the thesis is to demonstrate that urban residents value diversity in its many different forms. Furthermore, the research has shown that the diversity-seeker phenomenon, as identified by previous research in the US (Allen 1980, Florida 2002) and the Netherlands (Blokland & van Eijk 2009), is evident in Australia

Urban Planning and Corona Spaces – Scales, Walls and COVID-19 Coincidences

This study focuses on the role and responsibility of urban planning in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic ́s impact. The far-reaching social and economic consequences of this threat are counteracted by organisational and constructional measures to prevent lockdowns and finally illnesses and deaths. Corona spaces and voids are introduced as a consistent multi scale approach concerning the pandemics spatial implications and respective measures. These terms are operationalised for urban planning and can be used as an overarching concept to be communicated within cross-sectoral planning tasks. A comparison of Taiwan's and the USA's responses to the outbreak suggests that the coincidence at the beginning of a pandemic can be controlled by institutional precautions. On an urban scale, organisational measures (e.g. contact tracing, quarantine, and lockdown) can be supported by constructional ones concerning e.g. transport, public spaces, urban agriculture, and offices aimed at crowding reduction. If appropriate measures are applied, urban density does not seem to increase spreading the virus, whereby a regression analysis based on data of districts in Germany shows no relationship between population density and COVID-19 deaths. Lockdown prevention should be a planning goal and multifunctional approaches that integrate aspects of virus resilience should be favoured over the monothematic urban development approach (Leitbild) of a virus resilient city. Urban planning can contribute to the mitigation of future outbreaks by including pandemic preparedness in planning frameworks

The mother-writer : navigating motherhood through creative work

The relationship between motherhood and creative work has received increased scholarly attention in recent years. However, in contrast to most existing research that examines the negative impact motherhood has on creative work, there is an emerging, less studied trend of middle-class women engaging in creative work when they become mothers – most often from home and as micro-entrepreneurs/self-employers. So far, it remains unclear how this group of creatives experiences and navigates creativity and motherhood, what the appeal of creative work is for mothers and what function it serves in their lives. To examine these issues, this thesis brings together two currently disconnected literatures, those of cultural work and maternal studies. Conceptual frameworks such as passionate work and intensive mothering provide insights into the expectations that middle-class women face with respect to (creative) work and motherhood, however, these frameworks alone are insufficient for explaining the emergence of the ‘mother-creative phenomenon’. This thesis draws on a qualitative study of the lived experiences of thirteen writers and mothers based in Australia almost all of whom took up their creative practice after they had children, indicating that for some women motherhood can actually be a pathway into creative work. The overall argument of this thesis is that creative work is particularly appealing to some women when they become mothers because it enables them to navigate both contemporary mothering and work expectations. While engaging in meaningful, fulfilling work with social legitimacy they are simultaneously able to adhere to dominant norms of mothering and invest in their own self-actualisation. By examining the negotiation work that study participants performed in relation to their transition to motherhood, their everyday lives and their identity, this thesis also highlights the importance of considering creative work within the particular life context of practitioners. My insights into the lived experiences of a less ‘fashionable’ creative cohort – mother-writers – foreground the different functions that creative work fulfils, which can only be understood in relationship to their context as mothers as well as the discourses and expectations that they have to navigate

Profitability of multi‐loop aquaponics: Year‐long production data, economic scenarios and a comprehensive model case

This case study examined the productivity and economic performance of a double recirculation aquaponic system in Germany with a total interior area of about 540 m2. Calculations were carried out as an ex post analysis based on one-year production data. The initial situation was not profitable; therefore, two scenarios were developed, which envisaged a significantly improved productivity of the fish as well as of the plant unit and a more than threefold enlargement of the greenhouse to make maximum use of the fish effluent. An ex ante analysis was performed and showed that the second scenario was profitable with a payback period of about 12 years. On the basis of this scenario, a simple but comprehensive model case with the complete set of economic key indicators showed that aquaponics is feasible if it exploits its potential, regardless of the high initial investment costs. The model case would cover an overall space of about 2,000 m2, which is suitable for professional aquaponics in urban and peri-urban areas with their limited space availability. Furthermore, multi-loop aquaponics with its inherent circles fits into the circular city concept and implements resource-efficient and sustainable food production into the urban fabric, which is important with increasing urbanization.Belmont Forum and the European Commission via CITYFOODINAPR

Simplified immobilisation method for histidine-tagged enzymes in poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic devices

Article in press. Kulsharova, G., New BIOTECHNOLOGY (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2017.12.004Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfluidic devices have become promising platforms for a wide range of applications. Here we report a simple method for immobilising histidine-tagged enzymes suitable for PMMA microfluidic devices. The 1-step-immobilisation described is based on the affinity of the His-tag/Ni-NTA interaction and does not require prior amination of the PMMA surface, unlike many existing protocols. We compared it with a 3-step immobilisation protocol involving amination of PMMA and linking NTA via a glutaraldehyde cross-linker. These methods were applied to immobilise transketolase (TK) in PMMA microfluidic devices. Binding efficiency studies showed that about 15% of the supplied TK was bound using the 1-step method and about 26% of the enzyme was bound by the 3-step method. However, the TK-catalysed reaction producing l-erythrulose performed in microfluidic devices showed that specific activity of TK in the device utilising the 1-step immobilisation method was approximately 30% higher than that of its counterpart. Reusability of the microfluidic device produced via the 1-step method was tested for three cycles of enzymatic reaction and at least 85% of the initial productivity was maintained. The device could be operated for up to 40 h in a continuous flow and on average 70% of the initial productivity was maintained. The simplified immobilisation method required fewer chemicals and less time for preparation of the immobilised microfluidic device compared to the 3-step method while achieving higher specific enzyme activity. The method represents a promising approach for the development of immobilised enzymatic microfluidic devices and could potentially be applied to combine protein purification with immobilisation.Peer reviewe

Intelligent modelling of bioprocesses: A comparison of structured and unstructured approaches

This contribution moves in the direction of answering some general questions about the most effective and useful ways of modelling bioprocesses. We investigate the characteristics of models that are good at extrapolating. We trained 3 fully predictive models with different representational structures (diff eqns, inheritance of rates, network of reactions) on Saccharopolyspora erythraea shake flask fermentation data using genetic programming. The models were then tested on unseen data outside the range of the training data and the resulting performances compared. It was found that constrained models with mathematical forms analogous to internal mass balancing and stoichiometric were superior to flexible unconstrained models even though no A priori knowledge of this fermentation was used

Using a Parallel Micro-Cultivation System (Micro-Matrix) as a Process Development Tool for Cell Culture Applications

Micro-bioreactors appear frequently in today's biotechnology industry as screening and process development tools for cell culture applications. The micro-bioreactor's small volume allows for a high throughput, and when compared to other small-scale systems, such as microtiter plates, its measurement and control capabilities offer a much better insight into the bioprocess. Applikon's micro-Matrix is one of the micro-bioreactors that are commercially available today. The micro-Matrix system consists of shaken disposable 24 deep square well plates in which each well is controlled individually for pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and temperature. Additionally, a feeding module supports automated additions of liquid to each well. This chapter describes how the micro-Matrix can be used for fed-batch cultivations of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells