Moderate deviations for the eigenvalue counting function of Wigner matrices

We establish a moderate deviation principle (MDP) for the number of eigenvalues of a Wigner matrix in an interval. The proof relies on fine asymptotics of the variance of the eigenvalue counting function of GUE matrices due to Gustavsson. The extension to large families of Wigner matrices is based on the Tao and Vu Four Moment Theorem and applies localization results by Erd\"os, Yau and Yin. Moreover we investigate families of covariance matrices as well.Comment: 20 page

Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder Not Participating in an RCT: Are They Different?

Background: Despite the notion that randomized controlled trials are regarded as the gold standard in psychotherapy research, questions about their generalizability have been raised. This paper focuses on the differences between participants and eligible nonparticipants of a randomized controlled trial for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Sampling and Methods: One hundred forty-two patients were screened, and 122 were found eligible for study participation. Out of these, 64 patients (52.5%) gave informed consent and were included in the study. Results: The 58 eligible nonparticipants showed a lower level of functioning (global assessment of functioning score), had a history of more outpatient treatment attempts and were living alone more often. Regarding acute symptoms and severity of BPD as indexed by suicide attempts, inpatient treatments, substance abuse and history of trauma, no differences between the groups could be detected. Moreover, participants showed significantly more eating disorders, whereas nonparticipants presented more affective and anxiety disorders. Conclusions: The results indicate that lower psychosocial functioning and comorbid affective and anxiety disorders decrease BPD patients' willingness to participate in an RCT. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Ertragsstabilität im Ökolandbau: Wo steht die Forschung?

Despite the importance of yield stability in organic agriculture, little quantitative information is currently available on the factors limiting stability or on optimal approaches for improving it. Research so far indicates that organic systems are not always more stable than conventional systems; which system is more stable is likely to depend on the spatial and temporal scale of stability and on the measure of stability used. We show that opportunities for quantifying yield stability in organic farming lie in the targeted coordination of existing data networks within the organic community in order to increase yield stability on farms and beyond

A new European Project on cover crops

Poster of the summary of the EU FP7 project OSCAR

OSCAR – a new European project on cover crops

There is widespread concern over the damage caused by modern agriculture to soil structure and the ecosystem services provided. One approach to overcome this problem is conservation agriculture (CA) which aims to maintain soil structure by minimising soil disturbance, maximising soil cover and using crop rotation. However, despite recent legislation supporting minimum tillage and direct seeding, together with the efforts of pioneer farmers, CA is still practised on less than 4% of the agricultural land in Europe. This underlines the need for major improvements in the approach together with consolidation of, and access to, information about alternative cropping methods and their biological and economic value and performance. A new European FP7-funded research project has started in April 2012 to address these issues. The project, called OSCAR is conducted by 20 partners and is led by University of Kassel, Germany. OSCAR aims to Optimise Subsidiary Crop Application in Rotations. It extends existing knowledge and improves and develops novel cropping systems based on cover crops, catch crops, living mulches and other subsidiary crops (SC). OSCAR aims to enhance the implementation and increase the duration of soil coverage by plants, introduce diversity to the crop rotation and reduce the need for and the intensity of soil tillage. Optimization will counteract the sometimes reduced yields associated with minimum or non-tillage systems whilst providing durable ecological benefits. Particular attention is given to conservation tillage systems. To maximise the potential of ecological benefits, both conventional and conservation agricultural systems are considered in OSCAR, encouraging a high level of innovation as well as offering a more immediate transfer into practical agriculture

Strukturentwicklungen in Hessen : Tendenzen zu einer "mittleren" Systematisierung der Weiterbildung

"Auf der Grundlage eines für den Hessischen Landtag erstellten Gutachtens werden empirische Befunde über die Strukturentwicklung des Weiterbildungssystems eingeordnet. Angesichts des Aufgabenzuwachses und des Bedeutungswachstums von Weiterbildung stehen neue Weichenstellungen für die Zukunft an. Daraus ergeben sich Tendenzen zu einer 'mittleren' Systematisierung. Mit dieser Bezeichnung ist gemeint, daß Weiterbildung auch auf Dauer nicht das Maß von Strukturiertheit, Planung, Festlegung von Zielen relativer Einheitlichkeit usw. enthält, wie dies im Bereich der Schulen und Hochschulen der Fall ist. Ein großes Maß an Vielfalt, institutionellem und curricularem Wandel und Offenheit ist für eine aufgabengerechte Struktur angemessen. Gleichzeitig legen qualitative Probleme und 'Lücken' im Weiterbildungsangebot nahe, ein höheres Systematisierungsniveau sicherzustellen. Durch die Intensivierung von 'Support-Strukturen' kann die Transparenz und Zugänglichkeit der Angebote verbessert werden; durch stärkere Abstimmung und Kooperation zwischen den zahlreichen Institutionen können Ressourcenaufbringung und -nutzung optimiert werden. Als Entwicklungsaufgaben stehen an: Die Entwicklung eines zugangsoffenen Angebots lebenslanger Qualifizierung; eine zunehmende Verknüpfung der früher eher getrennten Bereiche der beruflichen, allgemeinen und politischen Weiterbildung; eine Schließung von Lücken gegenüber einem Weiterbildungsangebot, das möglichst allen Erwachsenen gleiche Lernchancen bietet, bzw. die Bereitstellung besonderer Lernangebote für Erwachsene, denen durch Weiterbildung ein Ausgleich sonst ungleicher Lebenschancen geboten werden kann; die Förderung der Selbständigkeit von Erwachsenen mit Hilfe von Weiterbildung; die Weiterentwicklung der bestehenden Institutionen der Weiterbildung durch verstärkte Einbeziehung der Mitarbeiter dieser Institutionen; die Beseitigung von Forschungsdefiziten und strukturellen Mängellagen in der Erfassung von Weiterbildungsinformationen, -daten und -statistiken." (Autorenreferat)Weiterbildung, Bildungssystem, Strukturierung, Hessen, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

EU-Projekt OSCAR: Optimierung von Lebendmulchen, neuen Zwischenfrüchten, Minimalbodenbearbeitung und Wissenstransfer

The EU project OSCAR (“Optimising Subsidiary Crop Applications in Rotations” [http://www.oscar-covercrops.eu]) aims to achieve comprehensive advances in conservation agriculture to improve sustainability of low-input, organic, and conventional farming systems. The research integrates living mulches, dead mulches, or cover crops with the main crops in rotations so as to simultaneously improve crop nutrition, health, and productivity. Coordinated field experiments in addition to three long-term experiments take place in different climatic regions in Europe and Brazil. Economic and ecological impacts including legume root health will be investigated. Private breeders and manufacturers of agricultural equipment are involved in finding adapted solutions by extending the range of potentially useful plant species and by developing appropriate machinery. The potential for useful chemical extraction from the subsidiary crops will also be studied. A central project deliverable is a database supported Decision Support Tool for multilingual stakeholder exchange and dissemination

Quality of life of patients after retropubic prostatectomy - Pre- and postoperative scores of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with newly diagnosed early stage prostate cancer (PCa) face a difficult choice of different treatment options with curative intention. They must consider both goals of optimising quantity and quality of life. The quality of life (QoL) is a psychometric outcome which is measured using validated questionnaires. Only few data are published concerning pre - and postoperative QoL.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study investigated pre perative QoL of 185 patients who consecutively underwent open radical retropubic prostatectomy for organ-confined PCa to postoperative QoL of another 185 patients. The EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQPR25 module and 24 h ICS pad test were used (mean follow-up 28.6 months).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The examined symptom scores of the EORTC QLQ-PR25 were on lowest level. In the dyspnoea symptom score differences of age emerged: the amount of patients who are short of breath rose significantly in older patients after surgery (p < 0.05 paired, two-tailed student's t-test).. Lastly, the urinary symptom score was found postal-therapeutically low; this fact was age independent. The results of sexual symptom score need to be taken into consideration, since prostatectomy resulted in a significant reduction of sexual activity independent of age. All functioning scales postoperatively reached high values without significant changes (p > 0.05 student's t-test ), which implies a high QoL after surgery. A reliable and satisfying status of continence was found in our patients after retropubic prostatectomy. A high rate of patients (89.2%) would choose retropubic prostatectomy again.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Retropubic prostatectomy represents a reliable and accepted procedure in the treatment of organ-confined PCa. For the first time it could be shown that patients` QoL remained on a high level after retropubic prostatectomy. Nevertheless, the primary avoidance or postoperative therapy of erectile dysfunction should be in the focus of surgeons.</p

Berechnung von Bewegungsvorgaben unter Beachtung der Prozessdynamik am Beispiel des schnelllaufenden Transports von kleinformatigen Stückgütern

Dieser Beitrag widmet sich dem Problem der Berechnung optimierter Bewegungen unter Beachtung der Prozessdynamik. Es wird auf den Transport von kleinformatigen Stückgütern eingegangen und eine ergänzende Lösungsmöglichkeit vorgestellt, die sich im Zusammenhang mit diesem Berechnungsansatz ergibt. Um die Anwendung von Optimierungsverfahren unter Einbeziehung eines sensiblen Prozessmodelles zu ermöglichen, sind geeignete Startlösungen erforderlich. Hierzu wird das interaktive Bewegungsdesign vorgeschlagen, welches im Transportbereich durch eine auf der „Graphenmethode“ basierende Vorgehensweise unterstützt wird. Im Rahmen eines Vergleichs wird auf die Umsetzbarkeit der gewonnen Startlösungen eingegangen.This paper addresses the problem of calculating optimized motions with respect to process dynamics. For the transport of small-sized cargo a complementary solution is presented. In order to enable the application of optimization techniques involving a sensitive process model, suitable start solutions are required. For this purpose, the interactive motion design is proposed, which is supported in the transport section by a minimum-time approach. Experiments show the feasibility of the obtained solution