The Planning OLAP Model

A wealth of multidimensional OLAP models has been suggested in the past, tackling various problems of modeling multidimensional data. However, all of these models focus on navigational and query operators for grouping, selection and aggregation. We argue that planning functionality is, next to reporting and analysis, an important part of OLAP in many businesses and as such should be represented as part of a multidimensional model. Navigational operators are not enough for planning, instead new factual data is created or existing data is changed. To our knowledge we are the first to suggest a multidimensional model with support for planning. Because the main data entities of a typical multidimensional model are used both by planning and reporting, we concentrate on the extension of an existing model, where we add a set of novel operators that support an extensive set of typical planning functions

Labour hoarding during the pandemic: assessing the impact of job retention schemes in Europe

Job retention schemes have helped Europe to avoid mass unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Lukas Lehner write that while these schemes had an immediate impact during lockdown, the future development and long-term consequences of job retention policies remain uncertain

Einstellungen, Einflussfaktoren und Verhaltensmuster zu Bio-Konsum – Eine Fallstudie über Mehrpersonenhaushalte mit geringer Kaufkraft

Für die Untersuchung von Einstellungen, Einflussfaktoren und Verhaltensmustern zu Bio-Konsum von Personen aus Mehrpersonenhaushalten mit geringer Kaufkraft wurden zwei Fokus-Gruppen durchgeführt. Eine Fokus-Gruppe wurde mit sieben Personen aus jungen Paarhaushalten durchgeführt, die andere mit sechs Personen aus Familienhaushalten mit Kindern. Zusätzlich füllte jeder der TeilnehmerInnen einen ergänzenden Fragebogen über Personendaten und Konsumverhalten aus. Die TeilnehmerInnen verlautbarten grundsätzliches Interesse an Bio-Konsum und die meisten von ihnen äußerten eine persönliche Nachfrage nach biologischen Produkten. Die TeilnehmerInnen äußerten zudem eine Wahrnehmung von positiven Aspekten einer Bio-Ernährung, dennoch bestanden viele Unsicherheiten und Zweifel in Bezug auf Alleinstellungsmerkmale und Vorteile eines biologischen Konsums. Beide Fokus-Gruppen nahmen einen höheren Bio-Preis und ein eingeschränktes Einkommen als persönliche und gesellschaftliche Konsumbarriere wahr. Es wurden jedoch auch Erklärungs- und Verständnis-Ansätze hervorgebracht, warum Bio mehr kostet sowie eine Mehrpreistoleranz aufgrund wahrgenommener Produktnutzen. Der Produktnutzen erschien als Schlüssel für eine höhere Bioprodukt-Aufgeschlossenheit. Ein niedriges Bildungsniveau wurde bezogen auf die Gesellschaft in beiden Fokus-Gruppen als Konsumbarriere für Bio verstanden – diese Beurteilung wurde jedoch weniger klar und einheitlich wie bzgl. Preis und Einkommen abgegeben. Die Befragten empfanden einen Bio-Konsum mit steigender Familiengröße als schwierig. Jedoch können weibliche Beziehungspartner und Kinder im Haushalt förderlich auf einen Bio-Konsum wirken. Als Taktik, um sich Bio-Produkte leisten zu können, äußerten TeilnehmerInnen Prioritätensetzung und Verzicht in ihrem Konsumverhalten

Hybrid Data-Flow Graphs for Procedural Domain-Specific Query Languages

Domain-specific query languages (DSQL) let users express custom business logic. Relational databases provide a limited set of options to execute business logic. Usually, stored procedures or a series of queries with some glue code. Both methods have drawbacks and often business logic is still executed on application side transferring large amounts of data between application and database, which is expensive. We translate a DSQL into a hybrid data-flow execution plan, containing relational operators mixed with procedural ones. A cost model is used to drive the translation towards an optimal mixture of relational and procedural plan operators

Welfare state support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Change and continuity in public attitudes towards social policies in Germany

Our analysis asks whether the pandemic situation affects welfare state support in Germany. The pandemic has increased the health and income risks calling for welfare state intervention. While increased needs, more deservingness, and higher state responsibility during such a crisis would suggest augmented support generally and among those at risk, this might be a short‐term effect and cost considerations could reverse this trend. We study public attitudes towards four key social policy areas based on the German Internet Panel (GIP). We use three waves prior and further three waves since the pandemic had been declared in March 2020. The analysis shows both continuity in the popularity of social policies, in particular health and pensions, and some short‐term increase in support for unemployment and family policies. The results after nearly 2 years suggest rather continuation with some thermostatic short‐term boosts in support instead of any long‐lasting change

An index-based framework for assessing patterns and trends in river fragmentation and flow regulation by global dams at multiple scales

The global number of dam constructions has increased dramatically over the past six decades and is forecast to continue to rise, particularly in less industrialized regions. Identifying development pathways that can deliver the benefits of new infrastructure while also maintaining healthy and productive river systems is a great challenge that requires understanding the multifaceted impacts of dams at a range of scales. New approaches and advanced methodologies are needed to improve predictions of how future dam construction will affect biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and fluvial geomorphology worldwide, helping to frame a global strategy to achieve sustainable dam development. Here, we respond to this need by applying a graph-based river routing model to simultaneously assess flow regulation and fragmentation by dams at multiple scales using data at high spatial resolution. We calculated the cumulative impact of a set of 6374 large existing dams and 3377 planned or proposed dams on river connectivity and river flow at basin and subbasin scales by fusing two novel indicators to create a holistic dam impact matrix for the period 1930–2030. Static network descriptors such as basin area or channel length are of limited use in hierarchically nested and dynamic river systems, so we developed the river fragmentation index and the river regulation index, which are based on river volume. These indicators are less sensitive to the effects of network configuration, offering increased comparability among studies with disparate hydrographies as well as across scales. Our results indicate that, on a global basis, 48% of river volume is moderately to severely impacted by either flow regulation, fragmentation, or both. Assuming completion of all dams planned and under construction in our future scenario, this number would nearly double to 93%, largely due to major dam construction in the Amazon Basin. We provide evidence for the importance of considering small to medium sized dams and for the need to include waterfalls to establish a baseline of natural fragmentation. Our versatile framework can serve as a component of river fragmentation and connectivity assessments; as a standardized, easily replicable monitoring framework at global and basin scales; and as part of regional dam planning and management strategies

A Sharper Look at the World’s Rivers and Catchments

Rivers are the arteries of the planet, providing vital resources as they flow and pulse across landscapes in a vast global network. Rivers and streams convey sediments and nutrients to fertile valleys and river deltas, create habitat corridors and transportation routes, and deliver life-sustaining fresh water to aquatic and riparian ecosystems and to human populations. In the absence of a universally accepted digital global river network, the HydroSHEDS database has emerged in the past decade as the most frequently applied global hydrographic mapping product, supporting a large and growing community of users. Soon this community will have access to a new version of HydroSHEDS offering expanded capabilities and promising clearer views of Earth’s arteries. HydroSHEDS version 2 (also called HydroSHEDS-X), currently under development, will offer substantial revisions and improvements on version 1 while following the same design characteristics to ensure maximum compatibility between versions and to related products. The new version is derived from the TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for digital elevation measurement) global elevation model, which was created in partnership between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Airbus, and is superior to the SRTM DEM in several ways. The elevation data of TanDEM-X were produced at an original resolution of 12 meters, and they cover the entire global land surface area, including northern latitudes. To enhance the quality of results while retaining spatial compatibility, HydroSHEDS-X has been created from the original, nonpublic 12-meter-resolution version of TanDEM-X, yet it will be released at the same 3-arc-second resolution as HydroSHEDS version 1. This approach ensures fully global, homogeneous coverage, including of areas above 60°N latitude, at substantially improved quality due to both the finer resolution of the underpinning DEM and the reduced need to fill data gaps compared with the SRTM data