The Hydraenidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the Maltese Archipelago (Central Mediterranean)

The Hydraenidae of the Maltese Archipelago are reviewed, based on literature records and examination of historical and recently collected specimens. A total of eleven species is included of which Hydraena (s.str.) sub impressa REY, Ochthebius (s.str.) fossulatus MULSANT, O. (s.str.) punctatus STEPHENS, and O. (s.str.) viridis PEYRON (species complex) are recorded from the Maltese Islands for the first time. The records of the following four species by CAMERON & CARUANA GATTO (1907) are based on misidentifications: Hydraena (s.str.) nigrita GERMAR (= H. (s.str.) subimpressa REY), Ochthebius (s.str.) foveolatus GERMAR (= O. (s.str.) eyrei JACH, and O. (s.str.) fossulatus MULSANT), O. (s.str.) lanuginosus REICHE & SAULCY (= O. (s.str.) punctatus STEPHENS), and O. (s.str.) sub integer MULSANT & REy (= O. (s.str.) celatus JACHpeer-reviewe

Sensitivity of land-atmosphere coupling strength in dependence of land cover and atmospheric thermodynamics over Europe

Biogeophysical feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere have been identified to heavily control the climate system. Land-atmosphere (L-A) coupling strength is a concept to quantify the feedback processes. However, the quantification is still subject to uncertainties, in particular, in the context of land surface influences on local convective precipitation. On the one hand, feedback processes are the result of a chain of complex interactions between various components in the L-A system all exhibiting spatiotemporal variability. On the other hand, L-A coupling strength is not a directly measurable quantity. It can be assessed with different scientific approaches, which makes the quantification dependent on the methodology and the availability of suitable data sets. The aim of this doctoral thesis is to investigate the impact of changes in the vegetation cover and the atmospheric thermodynamic conditions on the long-term coupling signal between the land surface and the triggering of deep moist convection during the European summer. The convective triggering potential low-level humidity index framework, which is a commonly used L-A coupling metric, classifies a day in favor for L-A coupling or not, based on the prevailing thermodynamic conditions in the atmosphere. The daily classifications are used to measure the frequency of days with favorable conditions during the study period, and to identify regions with high frequencies of favorable conditions as coupling hot spots. The framework is applied to model output from regional climate model (RCM) simulations with WRF-NoahMP with diverging land cover conducted over the historical period 1986-2015 for the Euro-CORDEX domain. Impacts of changes in vegetation cover are analyzed by comparing the L-A coupling strength from two sensitivity experiments with idealized extreme land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) against a simulation with realistic land cover. A posteriori modifications to the temperature and moisture output fields of the simulation with realistic land cover were implemented to analyze impacts of systematic changes in the atmospheric thermodynamic conditions. A potential coupling hot spot with predominantly positive feedbacks was identified over Eastern Europe. In Southern Europe and Europes coastal areas, the coupling is regularly inhibited by very dry, very wet or stable conditions in the atmosphere. The location of the hot spot appeared insensitive to LULCCs and changes in the thermodynamic conditions. None of the sensitivity tests within a realistic range of temperature and moisture modifications for a recent climate period, led to a disappearance of the hot spot or to overcome the causes for inhibiting coupling in the respective areas in summer. Nevertheless, the experiments demonstrated also considerable variance of the coupling strength within the hot spot region. LULCCs changed the turbulent heat fluxes from the land surface, and thus the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) heating and moistening. This impacted the boundary layer development of each day. It also caused changes in the average thermodynamic characteristics during the study period, which changed the frequency of favorable pre-conditioning for convection triggering and enhanced the variance in the coupling strength in the hot spot. Both effects were identified to influence the land surface control on the occurrence of convective precipitation. Furthermore, the sensitivity tests with a posteriori modifications revealed uncertainties in the predominant atmospheric response to differently wet surfaces around the Black Sea, shown by a disagreement in the predominant coupling pathway between the modification cases. The findings further indicate uncertainty in whether the hot spot expands over Central Europe, as the feedback signal was sensitive to changes in temperature and moisture. Additionally, the model has a warm and dry bias in this area, which suggests an overestimation of the humidity deficit. The large humidity deficit, in turn, was the inhibiting factor for a high frequency of occurrence of favorable pre-conditions for deep moist convection. The analyses reveal a sensitivity of the L-A coupling strength and atmospheric response to the prevailing land surface and atmospheric conditions in the hot spot. This highlights the need to consider both the land surface state and its impact on L-A coupling strength with respect to predictions of convective precipitation events in strongly coupled regions (and periods). Given that L-A coupling provides predictive skill for climate projections and seasonal forecasts, improved understanding about causes of variability in L-A coupling strength is crucial for improvements therein.Biogeophysikalische Rückkopplungsprozesse zwischen Landoberfläche und Atmosphäre haben einen großen Einfluss auf das Klimasystem. Allerdings unterliegt ihre Quantifizierung, allen voran des Einflusses der Landoberflächen auf die Auslösung konvektiver Niederschläge, weiterhin großen Unsicherheiten. Ursachen dafür sind die Komplexität der Interaktionen im Land-Atmosphären (L-A)-System unter Beteiligung vieler verschiedener Komponenten, die alle unterschiedlich starker räumlich-zeitlicher Variabilität unterliegen. Zudem ist die L-A Kopplungsstärke keine direkt messbare, sondern eine diagnostische Größe, die noch dazu mit verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Ansätzen untersucht wird, sodass Ergebnisse sowohl von derWahl der Metrik, als auch von der Qualität und dem Zugang zu geeigneten Datensätzen abhängt. Das Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit ist die Untersuchung, ob und wie sich Änderungen in der Landnutzung und den thermodynamischen Bedingungen der Atmosphäre auf die potentielle Kopplungsstärke zwischen Landoberflächenfeuchte und dem Auslösen von hochreichender Konvektion in den europäischen Sommermonaten auswirken. Dafür wurden drei Klimasimulationen mit dem regionalen Klimamodel WRF-NoahMP für den historischen Zeitraum 1986-2015 für die Euro-CORDEX Domain durchgeführt, die sich in der Landbedeckung unterscheiden. Die Kopplungsstärke wurde mit Hilfe der L-A-Kopplungsmetrik Convective triggering potential low-level humidity index Framework analysiert, welche die Häufigkeit von förderlichen Bedingungen für lokal ausgelöste Konvektion in der Atmosphäre quantifiziert. Durch den Vergleich der Ergebnisse der Kopplungsmetrik für die Simulationen mit verschiedener Landbedeckung konnten die Einflüsse von Änderungen in der Vegetation analysiert werden. Weitere systematische Änderungen in den thermodynamischen Bedingungen und deren Auswirkungen auf die Kopplungsstärke konnten mit Hilfe von nachträglichen Modifikationen der Temperatur- und Feuchtefelder der Simulation mit realistischer Landbedeckung erfasst werden. Sämtliche Analysen zeigten einen Kopplungshotspot über Ost- und Nordosteuropa, wo vorwiegend positive Rückkopplungen zwischen Landoberfläche und konvektiven Niederschlägen auftreten. Die Lage des Hotspots wir nicht durch Änderungen der Landbedeckung oder der Atmosphärenstruktur beeinflusst. Keine der Temperatur- und Feuchteänderungen, deren Spektrum einen realistischen Rahmen für das gegenwärtige Klima abdecken, konnten ein Verschwinden des Hotspots herbeiführen oder die Ursachen für die Unterdrückung von Rückkopplungen (zu starke Trockenheit, Feuchte oder Stabilität in der Atmosphäre) über Südeuropa und in Küstennähe beseitigen. Allerdings zeigen die Experimente und Sensitivitätstests eine deutliche Varianz in der Kopplungsstärke in der Hotspotregion. Landnutzungsänderungen modifizieren die Aufteilung der Wärmeflüsse an der Landoberfläche und beeinflussen, ob die Grenzschicht vorwiegend feuchter oder aufgeheizt wird. Dadurch wird die Grenzschichtentwicklung jedes Tages beeinflusst, aber auch die mittleren thermodynamischen Eigenschaften der Atmosphäre, welche direkt mit förderlichen Vorbedingungen für das Auslösen von hochreichender Konvektion in Verbindung stehen und diese verändern. Beides wirkt sich auf den Einfluss der Landoberfläche auf das Auftreten konvektiver Niederschläge aus. Zusätzlich zeigten die Sensitivitätstests Unsicherheiten in der Reaktion der Atmosphäre auf die Variabilität der Landoberflächenfeuchte um das Schwarze Meer, und der Ausdehnung des Hotspots über Zentraleuropa. Die Ausdehnung wird von den Temperatur- und Feuchtemodifikationen beeinflusst, und im Modell wird das Feuchtedefizit in dieser Region überschätzt. Das regelmäßig hohe Feuchtedefizit ist die Hauptursache für das Verhindern von Rückkopplungen in dieser Region. Sämtliche Analysen zeigen eine Sensitivität der L-A Kopplungsstärke und der Reaktion der Atmosphäre auf die Landoberflächen- und Atmosphärenbedingungen im Hotspot. Daher ist es notwendig, sowohl die Landoberflächenbedingungen selber, als auch deren Einfluss auf die Kopplungsstärke zu berücksichtigen, um konvektiven Niederschlag akkurat vorhersagen zu können, vor allem in stark gekoppelten Regionen bzw. Zeiträumen. Da L-A Kopplung auch einen prognostischen Wert für Klimaprojektionen und saisonale Vorhersagen hat, trägt ein erhöhtes Verständnis über Ursachen für Variabilität in L-A Kopplungsstärke zu deren Verbesserung bei

Optimization of the Control System Parameters with Use of the New Simple Method of the Largest Lyapunov Exponent Estimation.

This text covers application of Largest Lapunov Exponent (LLE) as a criterion for control performance assessment (CPA) in a simulated control system. The main task is to find a simple and effective method to search for the best configuration of a controller in a control system. In this context, CPA criterion based on calculation of LLE by means of a new method [3] is compared to classical CPA criteria used in control engineering [1]. Introduction contains references to previous publications on Lyapunov stability. Later on, description of classical criteria for CPA along with formulae is presented. Significance of LLE in control systems is explained. Moreover, new efficient formula for calculation of LLE [3] is shown. In the second part simulation of the control system used for experiment is described. The next part contains results of the simulation in which typical criteria for CPA are compared with criterion based on value of LLE. In the last part results of the experiment are summed up and conclusions are drawn

Theoretical approaches in the study of the non-governmental, non-commercial sector in modern Russia

As part of a political system constituted by individuals and social groups, due to its pro publico bono activities, the non-governmental, non-commercial sector (also known as institutions of civil society) is usually referred to by different terms, both in foreign (English) and Russian languages. Since the Russian nongovernmental, non-commercial sector (некоммерческая неправительственная организация) is not identical to its Western variants, it exhibits a number of differences, the sources of which are both exogenous and endogenous conditions. The issue of the specificities of the non-governmental, non-commercial sector can be researched through a system analysis. The theoretical context for this method creates a new institutionalism, also called neo-institutionalism. In turn, the institutional analysis refers to such theories as systemic change and neo-corporatism as well as the theory of participation or political participation. What turned out to be indispensable were the models defining the conceptual framework for such phenomena as group theory - interest/pressure, or metapolitics, but with regard to its civil forms of participation. The abovementioned methods and stances prove the complexity of the presented subject - the multifaceted nature of the problem, where the exploratory field requires referring to research techniques and tools from many related disciplines. The issue of the non-governmental, non-commercial sector in contemporary Russia should be perceived as a specific phenomenon, primarily because this sector is developing, no matter what transformations of an internal nature occur. Its exploration requires using such theoretical approaches that will allow its mechanisms to be defined. Such an approach must include the specifics of the society and the state within which the social sector develops. Therefore the presentation of theoretical premises applied in research on non-governmental, non-commercial sector in today's Russia is the first step in diagnosing the phenomenon of the functioning of a non-governmental, non-commercial sector in the conditions of an authoritarian state

Events of August '91 as an expression of political disobedience in the process of shaping civil conduct

Civil disobedience is the attitude which in the 20th century proved to be the only effective form of resistance to authoritarian regimes. So it was in the case of the events of August ‘91 when the Soviet society objected to the activities of the State Committee on the State of Emergency. It would not have been possible without the reform programme known as perestroika initiated by the last USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Thanks to perestroika and the accompanying glasnost - transparency of socio-political life - the previously apathetic and alienated Soviet society felt responsible for their own life and for the fate of the State. By opposing the rebels through passive resistance, the citizens proved to the leaders of their own country, to the world, and above all, to themselves that they were aware of their rights and responsibilities. The process of socio-political socialization stimulated the development of civil society in the Soviet Union

Understanding Views on Undocumented Students’ Access to Higher Education: A Critical Review and Call for Action

This review critically examines previous literature on opinions of undocumented immigrants in the United States as well as undocumented students’ access to higher education through a consideration of the context of the current political climate, and interrogates going beyond raising consciousness towards taking action, as invoked by Freire’s (2000) liberatory praxis and postcolonial feminism

Autyzm jako wyzwanie w wymiarze medycznym, diagnostyczny i terapeutyczny

Introduction and purpose of the work: Autism is a holistic, extensive development disorder. It influences the course of various processes and significantly reduces the possibility of an independent life, independent of other people's care, for those affected by it. According to modern knowledge, autism is classified as a neurobiological problem. It arouses great interest among researchers, while still being relatively poorly understood [24]. The aim of the study was to review knowledge in the area of ​​the multifaceted basis of autism and the diagnostic and therapeutic nature of autistic disorders. Description of the state of knowledge: Currently, autism is treated as a neurodevelopmental disorder, the symptoms of which usually appear before the child reaches the age of three. People affected by this disorder exhibit deficits in social interactions, verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as display disturbed (limited or stereotypical) behavior patterns. Autism as a heterogeneous disease may also coexist with various types of disorders, including mental retardation, epilepsy, anxiety or mood disorders [1, 35]. Summary: The prognosis for development, adaptation and recovery from autism is not optimistic. Despite advances in diagnosis, therapy, and education, success to a full cure is still "rare". On the other hand, it is important that the situation of people affected by these development disorders is gradually improving, thanks to better and better educational and therapeutic programs, as well as thanks to the initiatives taken to increase the opportunities for these people to participate in social life.Wprowadzenie i cel pracy: Autyzm stanowi całościowe, rozległe zaburzenie rozwoju. Wpływa na przebieg różnych procesów i znacznie ogranicza osobom nim dotkniętym, możliwość samodzielnego, niezależnego od opieki innych ludzi, życia. Zgodnie ze współczesną wiedzą autyzm zaliczany jest do problemów o podłożu neurobiologicznym. Budzi on duże zainteresowanie badaczy, pozostając wciąż stosunkowo słabo poznanym [24]. Celem pracy był przegląd wiedzy w obszarze wieloaspektowego podłoża autyzmu oraz diagnostycznego i terapeutycznego charakteru zaburzeń autystycznych. Opis stanu wiedzy: Obecnie autyzm traktowany jest jako zaburzenie neurorozwojowe, którego objawy ujawniają się zwykle przed osiągnięciem przez dziecko wieku trzech lat. Osoby dotknięte tym zaburzeniem przejawiają deficyty w zakresie interakcji społecznych, komunikacji werbalnej i niewerbalnej, jak również prezentują zaburzone (ograniczone lub stereotypowe) wzorce zachowania. Autyzm jako schorzenie niejednorodne, może również współistnieć z różnego rodzaju zaburzeniami m.in. upośledzeniem umysłowym, padaczką, zaburzeniami lękowymi czy nastroju [1, 35]. Podsumowanie: Prognozy dotyczące rozwoju, stopnia przystosowania się i wyjścia z autyzmu nie są optymistyczne. Mimo postępów w diagnozowaniu, terapii i edukacji sukces w postaci pełnego wyleczenia jest wciąż „rzadki”. Natomiast istotny jest fakt, że sytuacja osób dotkniętych tych zaburzeniem rozwoju stopniowo poprawia się, dzięki coraz lepszym programom edukacyjnym oraz terapeutycznym, jak również dzięki podejmowanym inicjatywom na rzecz zwiększania możliwości uczestniczenia tych osób w życiu społecznym

Academic Citizenship as Civic Professionalism

In this essay, I argue that academic citizenship needs to be focused on civic professionalism. Too often, individualism renders undue costs to the broader academic community. Looking to research in higher education on civic professionalism, I argue that its tenets, which focus on contributing to the community, can allow those of us in academia to realize for ourselves what we want for our students and future generations. I employ the lens of an ecological framework to illustrate the possibilities and priorities of viewing and implementing academic citizenship as civic professionalism