Exploring the Linkage of Spatial Indicators from Remote Sensing Data with Survey Data: The Case of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and 3D City Models

This paper demonstrates the spatial evaluation of survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study using geo-coordinates and spatially relevant indicators from remote sensing data. By geocoding the addresses of survey households with block-level geographic precision (while preventing their identification by name and guaranteeingtheir complete anonymity), data on SOEP respondents can now be analyzed in a specific spatial context. In the past, regional analyses of SOEP based on official regional indicators (e.g., the unemployment rate) always had only very imprecise spatial information to work with. This limitation has now been overcome with the geocoded respondents' information. Within a protected unit of the fieldwork organization responsible for SOEP (TNS Infratest, Munich), the addresses of survey households can now be used to generate a variable describing the location of the household with block-level precision. At DIW Berlin, this additional variable is fed into a special computer infrastructure with multiple security layers that makes the socio-economic analysis possible. This paper demonstrates the use of this geographicallocation and remote sensing data to check respondents' subjective assessments of the location of their residence, anddiscusses the analytical potential of linking remote sensing data and survey data.Remote sensing data, social sciences, behavioral sciences, multi-disciplinarity, SOEP

Breaking through: The effects of a velocity distribution on barriers to dust growth

It is unknown how far dust growth can proceed by coagulation. Obstacles to collisional growth are the fragmentation and bouncing barriers. However, in all previous simulations of the dust-size evolution in protoplanetary disks, only the mean collision velocity has been considered, neglecting that a small but possibly important fraction of the collisions will occur at both much lower and higher velocities. We study the effect of the probability distribution of impact velocities on the collisional dust growth barriers. Assuming a Maxwellian velocity distribution for colliding particles to determine the fraction of sticking, bouncing, and fragmentation, we implement this in a dust-size evolution code. We also calculate the probability of growing through the barriers and the growth timescale in these regimes. We find that the collisional growth barriers are not as sharp as previously thought. With the existence of low-velocity collisions, a small fraction of the particles manage to grow to masses orders of magnitude above the main population. A particle velocity distribution softens the fragmentation barrier and removes the bouncing barrier. It broadens the size distribution in a natural way, allowing the largest particles to become the first seeds that initiate sweep-up growth towards planetesimal sizes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Big Suit Departing

Big Suit Departing è il progetto dell’artista per l’aeroporto Schönefeld di Berlino e consiste nella realizzazione di una figura di dimensioni colossali - 10 m di altezza e 3,5 m in larghezza - che in posizione inclinata del 50% pende nel vuoto in mezzo alla hall dell’aeroporto tedesco. Il “manichino” non ha né testa né arti, è completamente cavo e consente ai passeggeri di vedere attraverso ad esso, la realizzazione è particolarmente realistica e i dettagli come bottoni, asole e tessuto sono resi nei minimi particolari. Questo lavoro è caratteristico per tutto l’operato di Erwin Wurm (Bruck ad der Mur, 1954) che con i suoi lavori distorce in parte la realtà che ci circonda. Erwin Wurm ha dichiarato che la mancata realizzazione è dovuta al fatto che “la commissione ha trovato la divisa non sufficientemente rappresentativa per un aeroporto internazionale”.Big Suit Departing was conceived for the Berlin Schönefeld airport; the project consisted in the realization of a giant figure - 10 x 3,5 mt - hanging inside the airport hall with a 50% slope. The “dummy” has neither head nor limbs, it is totally hollow so that the passengers can see through it; the realization is really realistic, with details such as buttons, eyelets and fabric rendered in every detail. This characteristic is typical of Erwin Wurm’s works, that partially distort the reality we live in. Erwin Wurm said that the missed realisation was due to the fact that: "The commission found a human suit not sufficiently representative enough for an international airport.

Spectroscopy of Solar Neutrinos

In the last years, liquid-scintillator detectors have opened a new window for the observation of low-energetic astrophysical neutrino sources. In 2007, the solar neutrino experiment Borexino began its data-taking in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. High energy resolution and excellent radioactive background conditions in the detector allow the first-time spectroscopic measurement of solar neutrinos in the sub-MeV energy regime. The experimental results of the Beryllium-7 neutrino flux measurements as well as the prospects for the detection of solar Boron-8, pep and CNO neutrinos are presented in the context of the currently discussed ambiguities in solar metallicity. In addition, the potential of the future SNO+ and LENA experiments for high-precision solar neutrino spectroscopy will be outlined.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, highlight talk at the annual fall meeting of the German Astronomische Gesellschaft in Potsdam (Sep 2009

Forum Vogelsang

Questo progetto è nato come collaborazione con Coop Himmelb(l)au, e consisteva nel riempire gli edifici preesistenti dell'Adlerhof con una colata di cemento armato, e ricavare quindi nuovi spazi abitativi all'interno di un'enorme banana che sarebbe stata costruita al di sopra di questo “Sarkophag”. Le diverse proposte fatte per il complesso di 50,000 m² di Ordernsburg, nella regione North Rhine-Westphalia in Germania, ricordano alcune tecniche pop di ingigantimento, anche se a dimensioni ambientali: basti pensare al grande hamburger o gelato di Claes Oldenburg. Wurm però non vuole certo conferire dignità estetica ad una banana, ma vuole piuttosto creare un cortocircuito di significati tra la l’oggetto e il luogo per cui è stato studiato il progetto, tra il contenuto e il contenitore. La critica in questo progetto sta proprio nella contestualizzazione e nel rapporto con il luogo stesso, difatti Vogelsang, con il nome di “Ordernsburg” è stato costruito tra il 1934 e il 1936 come istituto formativo per i giovani membri del partito Nazional Socialista dei lavoratori tedeschi (NSDAP).This project started as a cooperation with Coop Himmelb(l)au: the idea was to fill up the consisting building of the so called Adlerhof with reinforced concrete and build new rooms within the huge banana, that should be arranged above that “Sarkophag”. The different proposals for the 50.000 m² complex of Ordernsburg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, seem to resemble to some pop “techniques of swell“, such as Claes Oldenburg’s big hamburger or ice-cream, but the intention is definitely not to give aesthetic dignity to a banana, but rather to create a short circuit of meanings between the object and the place for which the project was studied, between the contents and the container. The criticism in this project lies exactly in the relationship with the context and with the place itself: Vogelsang, indeed, once called Ordernsburg, was built from 1934 to 1936, as a former training institution for young party members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)

St. Pancras Truck

Questa scultura è stata pensata per la stazione St.Pancras, che si trova nella parte nord di Londra: la struttura risale al 1861 e questa sua essenza vittoriana induce sempre di più a incorniciare questo lavoro di Wurm come irreale, anche se l’artista con le sue opere ci vuole comunicare ben altro e superare questa forma fantastica per approdare ad una riflessione più profonda sul defunzionamento dell’oggetto, uno sguardo sulla realtà da una prospettiva diversa. L'artista ha dichiarato che il progetto non è stato realizzato in quanto “Il camion è stato progettato con una lunghezza massima di 10 m, ma la Commissione ha constatato che era troppo piccolo e che avrebbe dovuto essere 20m!”This sculpture was thought for St. Pancras station, located in northern London; the building dates back to 1861 and its victorian character contributes to frame this work as unreal, even if the artist through his works wants to communicate much more than that and goes beyond this “fantastic” dimension to reach a much deeper reflection on the de-functioning of the object, gazing at reality from a different perspective. The artist declared that the project has not been realized because “the truck was planned with a maximum length of 10m, the Commission found that too small, it should have been 20m!

DIGITAL TRACE DATA RESEARCH IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Digital trace data research is an emerging paradigm in Information Systems (IS). Whether for theory development or theory testing, IS scholars increasingly draw on data that are generated as actors use information technology. Because they are ‘digital’ in nature, these data are particularly suitable for computational analysis, i.e. analysis with the aid of algorithms. In turn, this opens up new possibilities for data analysis, such as process mining, text mining, and network analysis. At the same time, the increasing use of digital trace data for research purposes also raises questions and potential issues that the research community needs to address. For example, one key question is what constitutes a valid contribution to the body of knowledge and how digital trace data research influences our collective identity as a field? In this panel, we will discuss opportunities and challenges associated with digital trace data research. Reflecting on the panelists’ and the audience’s experience, we will point to strategies to mitigate common pitfalls and outline promising research avenues

Fluorescence decay-time constants in organic liquid scintillators

The fluorescence decay-time constants have been measured for several scintillator mixtures based on phenyl-o-xylylethane (PXE) and linear alkylbenzene (LAB) solvents. The resulting values are of relevance for the physics performance of the proposed large-volume liquid scintillator detector LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy). In particular, the impact of the measured values to the search for proton decay via p -> K+ antineutrino is evaluated in this work.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Silvius Leopold Weiss and the Improvised Prelude

The prelude, whether pre-composed or improvised, presented an opportunity for lute players of all periods to demonstrate their skill in improvisation and exploit their powers of musical expression in a very personal way. The preludes and fantasias of Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750) demonstrate a masterful continuation of the same tradition. This article aims to show that some pre- ludes in lute manuscripts from the middle of the eighteenth century contain features that are related with attempts to emulate Weiss’s powers of improvisation. Unmeasured preludes for lute survive in larger numbers than the well-known French repertory for the harpsichord. Some are based—at least in their openings—on standard gestures; in particular, a common d-minor melodic formula can be found in at least twenty-five examples from the 1650s through to Weiss’s early years of maturity. Otherwise, a basic harmonic sequence provided a flexible structure for preludes as shown in sketches or more complete examples in many sources. After a brief discussion of some prominent features of improvised music, the article focusses on a group of manuscripts from Silesia showing that some passages within written-out preludes in these sources are extracts from other works, including by Weiss himself, suggesting that quotation may have been a step on the way to learning to compose