High-Performance research for High-tech materials:1. Degussa’s Science-to-Business Center Nanotronics, 2. Four percent for the future

High-performance research for High-tech materials is an article about Degussa AG´s research efforts and strategy. Degussa AG, Germany, has decided to increase investment in research and development significantly—from 3.1 percent of sales revenue in 2004 to 4 percent by 2007. How is the firm going to achieve this goal? The paper is divided into two parts. First Dr. Andreas Gutsch gives newest insight into the Science-to-Business Center Nanotronics. Second an interview with Prof. Dr. Michael Dröscher answers questions about research strategy and project portfolio management

Retrievals of the main phytoplankton groups at Lake Constance using OLCI, DESIS, and evaluated with field observations

Phytoplankton play an important role in the aquatic biogeochemical cycling such as for the formation of organic matter by photosynthetic processes through the fixation of carbon dioxide, and assimilation of macro- and micronutrients depending on their metabolic needs. These processes are common to all phytoplankton, however some phytoplankton groups have specific needs and thus play different functional roles in the biogeochemical cycle, which are used to classify phytoplankton into different phytoplankton functional types (PFTs). Information on the phytoplankton groups can be obtained from satellite observations such as the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) onboard of ISS and Sentinel-3. PFTs global ocean abundance can be estimated based on the OC-PFT algorithm (Hirata et al. 2011 and related updates to it) which is based on the assumption that a marker pigment for a specific PFT varies in dependence to the chlorophyll-a concentration. In this study, OC-PFT retrieval has been developed and adapted for estimation of PFT from Lake Constance by using a large collection of in-situ HPLC data set measured since 2000 at the largest German inland water by the regional authority and further analysed to derive PFT using the diagnostic pigment analysis following Vidussi et al. (2001) with adapted coefficients for Lake Constance. The PFT retrieved from OLCI are validated using independent in situ data derived from HPLC pigment measurements from 4 field campaigns performed in 2019 and 2020 at Lake Constance. Concentrations for five phytoplankton groups (diatoms, dinoflagellates, cryptophytes, green algae, and prokaryotes) are retrieved for Lake Constance, being the dominants diatoms and cryptophytes and at lesser degree green algae. In addition, evaluation of synergistic PFT products are presented to enlarge the capabilities of PFT data in inland and coastal waters analytically retrieved from high spectral and high spatial data such as DESIS, EnMAP or PRISMA by synergistic use with OLCI OC-PFT data sets is discussed

Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory

The text of the calligraphy on the front page means Cosmos, comprising the two chinese symbols for space and time. This calligraphy was done by Hozumi Gensho Roshi, Professor of Applied Sci-ences at Hanazono University, Kyoto, Japan in September 2003. The two red squares depict the sea

The evolution of cuckoo parasitism: a comparative analysis.

Cuckoos (family Cuculidae) show the highest diversity of breeding strategies within one bird family (parental care, facultative and obligate brood parasites). We used independent contrasts from two phylogenies to examine how this variation was related to 13 ecological and life-history variables. The ancestral state was probably tropical, resident, forest cuckoos with parental care. The evolution of brood parasitism was correlated with a shift to more open habitats, a change in diet, increases in species breeding-range size and migration, and a decrease in egg size. Once parasitism had evolved, more elaborate parasitic strategies (more harmful to host fitness) were correlated with decreased egg size, a change in diet, increased breeding-range size and migration, a shortened breeding season and a decrease in local abundance. Establishing the most probable evolutionary pathways, using the method of Pagel, shows that changes in ecological variables (such as migration, range size and diet type) preceded the evolution of brood parasitism, which is likely to be a later adaptation to reduce the cost of reproduction. By contrast, brood parasitism evolved before changes in egg size occurred, indicating that egg size is an adaptive trait in host--parasite coevolution. Our results suggest that the evolution of cuckoo brood parasitism reflects selection from both ecological pressures and host defences