Artificial Societies, Virtual Worlds, and Their Meaningful Integration

Artificial societies and virtual worlds are two areas of interest to modern social scientists that are distinctly separate in modern academic study, and are yet undeniably related. Artificial societies are multi-agent systems comprised of autonomous social agents, programmed with their own set of rules and behavior. While virtual worlds are occupied in large part by human controlled agents participating in a collective virtual experience and space. Within both types of virtual environments there can be found a scarcity of resources and intricate cross-entity interaction. This often results in the development and evolution of complex economic and cultural structures. In addition, by examining the modern research and common history shared by each field, it is possible to compile a set of shared attributes. This work attempts to capitalize on these shared features and promote a new type of integrated analysis that holds potential for future development in both fields. The concrete implementation of these ideas takes form as a simple economic model containing meaningful computer and human interaction as well as a framework designed for future extensibility

Benchmarking impact of nitrogen inputs on grain yield and environmental performance of producer fields in the western US Corn Belt

Benchmarking crop yields against nitrogen (N) input levels can help provide opportunities to improve N ferti-lizer efficiency and reduce N losses on maize in the US Corn Belt by identifying fields most likely to benefit from improved N management practices. Here, we evaluated a large producer database that includes field-level data on yield and applied N inputs from 9280 irrigated and rainfed fields over a 7-year period (2009–2015) in Nebraska (USA). A spatial framework, based on technology extrapolation domains, was used to cluster each field into spatial units with similar climate and soil type that represent 1.3 million ha of US farm land sown annually with maize. Three metrics were employed to evaluate agronomic and environmental performance: partial factor productivity for N inputs (PFPN, ratio between yield and N inputs), N balance (difference between N inputs and grain N removal), and yield-scaled N balance (ratio between N balance and yield). Nitrogen inputs included N from fertilizer and N contained in applied irrigation water. Average yield and N inputs were 40 and 44% higher in irrigated versus rainfed fields. The N balance was ca. 2-fold greater in irrigated versus rainfed fields (81 versus 41 kg N ha−1). Of the total number of field-years, 58% (irrigated) and 15% (rainfed) had N balance ≥ 75 kg N ha−1, which was considered a threshold to identify fields with potentially large N losses. Very large (\u3e 150 kg N ha−1) and negative N balance estimates were not apparent when analysis was based on field averages using a minimum of three years\u27 data instead of individual field-years. Nitrogen balance was smaller for maize crops following soybean compared to continuous maize. Despite the larger N balance (on an area basis), irrigated fields exhibited smaller yield-scaled N balance relative to rainfed fields. The approach proposed here can readily be adopted to benchmark current use of N fertilizer for other cereal-based crop systems, inform policy, and identify opportunities for improvement in N management

Benchmarking impact of nitrogen inputs on grain yield and environmental performance of producer fields in the western US Corn Belt

Benchmarking crop yields against nitrogen (N) input levels can help provide opportunities to improve N ferti-lizer efficiency and reduce N losses on maize in the US Corn Belt by identifying fields most likely to benefit from improved N management practices. Here, we evaluated a large producer database that includes field-level data on yield and applied N inputs from 9280 irrigated and rainfed fields over a 7-year period (2009–2015) in Nebraska (USA). A spatial framework, based on technology extrapolation domains, was used to cluster each field into spatial units with similar climate and soil type that represent 1.3 million ha of US farm land sown annually with maize. Three metrics were employed to evaluate agronomic and environmental performance: partial factor productivity for N inputs (PFPN, ratio between yield and N inputs), N balance (difference between N inputs and grain N removal), and yield-scaled N balance (ratio between N balance and yield). Nitrogen inputs included N from fertilizer and N contained in applied irrigation water. Average yield and N inputs were 40 and 44% higher in irrigated versus rainfed fields. The N balance was ca. 2-fold greater in irrigated versus rainfed fields (81 versus 41 kg N ha−1). Of the total number of field-years, 58% (irrigated) and 15% (rainfed) had N balance ≥ 75 kg N ha−1, which was considered a threshold to identify fields with potentially large N losses. Very large (\u3e 150 kg N ha−1) and negative N balance estimates were not apparent when analysis was based on field averages using a minimum of three years\u27 data instead of individual field-years. Nitrogen balance was smaller for maize crops following soybean compared to continuous maize. Despite the larger N balance (on an area basis), irrigated fields exhibited smaller yield-scaled N balance relative to rainfed fields. The approach proposed here can readily be adopted to benchmark current use of N fertilizer for other cereal-based crop systems, inform policy, and identify opportunities for improvement in N management

Das deutsche Rundfunksystem unter dem Einfluss des Europarechts

Ziel der Arbeit ist es zu untersuchen, wie das Europarecht auf das duale Rundfunksystem in Deutschland einwirkt und der Frage nachzugehen, ob und inwieweit dieses System angesichts des Europarechts reformbedürftig ist:Der Verfasser legt zunächst dar, was die Charakteristika des deutschen dualen Rundfunksystems, bezogen auf das Verfassungs-, Rundfunk- und Wettbewerbsrecht, ausmacht und zeichnet dann die Entwicklung der EU-Rundfunkpolitik nach. Dabei untersucht er vorrangig, in welcher Weise im Laufe der Jahre die spezifischen Probleme des dualen Rundfunksystems eine Rolle gespielt haben. Außerdem legt er die Vorgaben dar, die aus den Grundfreiheiten des EG-Vertrages für das deutsche duale Rundfunksystem folgen, und untersucht, ob die maßgeblichen Regelungen des Rundfunkrechts diesen genügen können.Mit der Feststellung, dass das deutsche duale Rundfunksystem den Vorgaben der Grundfreiheiten entsprechen muss, ist noch nicht automatisch die Konsequenz verbunden, dass die Gemeinschaft auch befugt ist, eigene Regelungen für den Rundfunkbereich zu erlassen. Daniel Krausnick erörtert deshalb die Frage, ob die Gemeinschaft eine "Rundfunkkompetenz" hat und welchen Grenzen diese Kompetenz, insbesondere bei der Regelung von Medien- und Meinungspluralismus unterliegt. Anschließend widmet er sich sowohl den wettbewerbsrechtlichen Problemen als auch der nach wie vor heftig umstrittenen Frage, welche Elemente der Rundfunkfinanzierung staatliche Beihilfen i.S.d. Art. 87 EG sind, und ob der öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk in Deutschland an die EG-Transparenzrichtlinie gebunden ist. Abschließend rücken noch einmal grundrechtliche Fragen in den Vordergrund. So beleuchtet der Verfasser auch den neuen Art. 11 der EU-Grundrechtscharta, der nach derzeitiger Planung als Art. II-11 Bestandteil der künftigen Verfassung der EU werden soll

Das Berliner Rathhaus

DAS BERLINER RATHHAUS Das Berliner Rathhaus / Krausnick, Heinrich Wilhelm (Public Domain) ( - ) Cover front ( - ) Tafel: Blatt I. Rathhaus zu Berlin ( - ) Title page ( - ) Preface ( - ) I. Das ursprüngliche Rathhaus (1240) (1) II. Der Neubau des Rathhauses (um 1270) (2) III. Der Wiederaufbau des im Jahre 1380 abgebrannten Rathhauses (7) IV. Zweiter Brand des Rathhauses im Jahre 1484 und dessen Wiederaufbau (9) V. Der 3. Brand im Jahre 1581 und Wiederaufbauung des Rathhauses (11) VI. Der Bau des Seitenflügels in der Spandowerstr. im Jahre 1692 (14) VII. Der innere Ausbau im Jahre 1768 und die bauliche Erweiterung im Jahre 1798 (16) VIII. Abbruch des Thurms und des Anbaues (19) Beilage I. (27) Beilage II. Anno 1718 den 11. Augusti (29) Imprint ( - ) Tafel: Blatt II. Rathhaus zu Berlin ( - ) Tafel: Blatt III. Rathhaus zu Berlin ( - ) Tafel: Blatt IV. Rathhaus zu Berlin. Laube in der Spandauerstrasse ( - ) Tafel: Blatt V. Rathhaus zu Berlin. Details aus der Laube und den Kellern ( - ) Tafel: Blatt VI. Rathhaus zu Berlin. Details des Rathsstuhls ( - ) Tafel: Blatt VII. Rathhaus zu Berlin ( - ) Cover back ( -