The Race for Leasing Rights: Pasture Access and Institutional Change During Post-socialist Reforms in Azerbaijan

"Within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries our study focuses on the pasture reform in Azerbaijan. The pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in scientific literature although it displays a rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region. Using empirical case study evidence we analyse the implementation and outcomes of the reform process for pastoral land in the context of the macroeconomic development in Azerbaijan and in comparison to pasture reforms in other post-socialist transition countries. We apply the evolutionary theory of property rights to explain and analyse the exceptionally rapid emergence of individual property rights for pasture in Azerbaijan." (author's abstract

Protein adsorption and interfacial rheology interfering in dilatational experiment

The static and dilatational response of β-lactoglobulin fibrils and native β-lactoglobulin (monomers) at water-air and water-oil interfaces (pH 2) was measured using the pendant drop method. The resulting adsorption behavior and viscoelasticity is dependent of concentration and adsorption time. The interfacial pressure of the β-lactoglobulin fibrils obtained in static measurements was 16-18 mN/m (against air) and 7 mN/m (against oil) for all concentrations. With higher concentrations, faster adsorption kinetics and slightly higher interfacial and surface pressure is achieved but did not lead to higher viscoelastic moduli. The transient saturation of the interface is similar for both the fibril solution and the monomers, however the fibril solution forms a strong viscoelastic network. To evaluate the superimposed adsorption behavior and rheological properties, the formed interfacial layer was subjected to dilatational experiments, which were performed by oscillating the surface area of the drop in sinusoidal and sawtooth (diagonal) deformation manner. The sinusoidal oscillations (time depended area deformation rate) result in a complex interfacial tension behavior against air and oil interfaces and show remarkable differences during compression and expansion as emphasized by Lissajous figures. For diagonal (constant area deformation rate) experiments, a slight bending of the interfacial tension response was observed at low frequencies emphasizing the influence of protein adsorption during rheological measurement

Facile synthesis of self-healing microcapsules

In nature biological materials self-heal and adapt repeatedly to stresses caused by the environment. So far, major efforts have been made to create engineered microcapsules that can, upon rupturing, release a healing agent. To mimic the dynamic biological function, we create functional microcapsules that release self-healing agents, but may also themselves be healed, allowing for multiple release events. Currently there are many limitations in synthesizing microcapsules with self-healing hydrogel shells. We address these challenges with a facile strategy for synthesizing monodisperse hydrogel microcapsules by the deprotection and aqueous solubilization of an initially water-insoluble polymer shell. We use a microfluidic approach to produce w/o/w emulsions as a template for microcapsules [1], where the monomer is in the oil phase. Using such a technique one can prepare poly(acrylic acid) shell microcapsules by the deprotection of a poly(tert-butyl acrylate) shell microcapsule through hydrolysis [2]. Hydrophobic comonomers and water insoluble interpenetrating polymers may be included with the tert-butyl acrylate monomer in order to form microcapsules with self-healing shell materials such as semi-interpenetrating hydrogels or hydrophobic association hydrogels [3,4]. To stabilize self-healing microcapsules we used particle armoring as self-healing hydrogels posses sticky surfaces and tend to aggregate [5]. With this work we demonstrate an easy approach to produce microcapsules with self-healing shells. These capsules will open up the possibility of repeated release from microcapsules, taking a step closer to reproducing self-healing processes seen in nature. [1] Utada, A. S.; Lorenceau, E.; Link, D. R.; Kaplan, P. D.; Stone, H. A.; Weitz, D. A. Science 2005, 308, 537–541. [2] Heise, A.; Hedrick, J. L.; Trollsås, M.; Miller, R. D. … 1999. [3] Hou, C.; Huang, T.; Wang, H.; Yu, H.; Zhang, Q.; Li, Y. Sci Rep 2013, 3, 3138. [4] Jiang, G.; Liu, C.; Liu, X.; Chen, Q.; Zhang, G.; Yang, M.; Liu, F. Polymer 2010. [5] Chen, R.; Pearce, D. J. G.; Fortuna, S.; Cheung, D. L.; Bon, S. A. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 2151–2153. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Design Thinking für Bibliotheken - Neue Wege der Bürgerbeteiligung am Beispiel der Gestaltung einer neuen Stadtteilbücherei in Würzburg

Design Thinking bietet Bibliotheken neue, kreative Möglichkeiten, Nutzer an Gestaltungsprozessen zu beteiligen. Ziel dieser Methodik ist, innovative Lösungen zu entwickeln, die exakt auf Nutzerbedarfe zugeschnitten sind. Die Stadtbücherei Würzburg wendet für die Gestaltung einer neuen Stadtteilbibliothek als erste deutsche Bibliothek Design Thinking an. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, welche Methoden für diese Art von Projekten geeignet sind und wie Bibliotheken erfolgreich mit Design Thinking arbeiten können. Ein Teil der Arbeit behandelt die Theorie von Design Thinking, mit Schwerpunkten auf dem Prozess, einem Methodenüberblick und Erfolgsfaktoren. Im zweiten Teil werden die Ergebnisse einer empirischen Untersuchung dargelegt: Erfahrungswerte anderer Bibliotheken werden gebündelt und ausgewertet. Das Ergebnis sind Handlungsempfehlungen für die Anwendung von Design Thinking in Bibliotheken

Lagrangian connectivity of the upper limb of the overturning circulation studied with high-resolution ocean models

Lagrangian connectivity studies with ocean models comprise the analysis of sets of virtual fluid particle trajectories to identify connecting pathways, as well as associated timescales and transports between distinct oceanic regions. They constitute a powerful tool in physical oceanography and a unique means to coherently study seawater pathways associated with the global overturning circulation (GOC). However, there are several open questions related to the (partially unresolved) impact of small-scale flow variability on large-scale Lagrangian connectivity measures. This doctoral dissertation addresses different aspects of the question how high-resolution ocean models can help improving our understanding of the spreading of water masses associated with the global overturning circulation, by: (i) reviewing the theoretical background of Lagrangian connectivity studies with ocean models, thereby highlighting the importance to distinguish Lagrangian analyzes of simulated purely advective volume transport trajectories from Lagrangian modeling approaches to estimate advective-diffusive tracer trajectories; (ii) investigating Lagrangian volume transport pathways and along-track tracer changes of the GOC’s upper limb in the South Atlantic (study 1) and Indian Ocean (study 2) with high-resolution models; and (iii) assessing the performance of near-surface particle dispersal simulations in the extended Agulhas Current system by means of lateral eddy diffusivity estimates (study 3).Lagrangesche Konnektivitätsstudien mit Hilfe von Ozeanmodellen stellen ein wichtiges Analysetool in der physikalischen Ozeanographie dar. Sie beruhen auf der Simulation von Trajektorien virtueller Fluidpartikel, und ihrer Auswertung hinsichtlich dominanter Ausbreitungspfade und -zeiskalen, sowie Volumen- oder Tracertransporte zwischen ausgewählten Ozeangebieten. Dennoch bestehen einige offene Fragestellungen bezüglich des Einflusses von (nicht vollständig aufgelösten) relativ kleinskaligen Prozessen auf großskalige Langrangesche Konnektivität. In dieser Doktorarbeit wurden verschiedene Aspekte der Frage untersucht, wie Lagrangesche Konnektivitätsstudien mit hochauflösenden Ozeanmodellen zu einem verbesserten Verständnis der Wassermassenausbreitung der globalen Umwälzbewegung beitragen können. Es wurden (i) Theorie und bisherige Anwendungen Lagrangescher Konnektivitätsstudien mit Ozeanmodellen zusammengefasst, und auf die Wichtigkeit hingewiesen Lagrangesche Analysen von rein advektiven Volumentransportpfaden und Lagrangesche Modellierung advektiv-diffusiver Tracerausbreitung zu unterscheiden; (ii) Lagrangesche Volumentransportpfade der globalen Umwälzbewegung im Südatlantik (Studie 1) und Indischen Ozean (Studie 2) in hochauflösenden Ozeanmodellen bestimmt und die damit verbundenen Netto-Wassermassentransformationen analysiert; und (iii) simulierte oberflächennahe Lagrange Ausbreitungspfade im Agulhasstromsystem mit beobachteten Driftertrajektorien hinsichtlich abgeleiteter Wirbel-Diffusivitäten verglichen (Studie 3)

Cold vs. warm water route – sources for the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation revisited in a high-resolution ocean model

The northward flow of the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is fed by waters entering the South Atlantic from the Indian Ocean mainly via the Agulhas Current (AC) system and by waters entering from the Pacific through Drake Passage (DP), commonly referred to as the “warm” and “cold” water routes, respectively. However, there is no final consensus on the relative importance of these two routes for the upper limb's volume transport and thermohaline properties. In this study we revisited the AC and DP contributions by performing Lagrangian analyses between the two source regions and the North Brazil Current (NBC) at 6∘&thinsp;S in a realistically forced high-resolution (1∕20∘) ocean model. Our results agree with the prevailing conception that the AC contribution is the major source for the upper limb transport of the AMOC in the tropical South Atlantic. However, they also suggest a non-negligible DP contribution of around 40&thinsp;%, which is substantially higher than estimates from previous Lagrangian studies with coarser-resolution models but now better matches estimates from Lagrangian observations. Moreover, idealized analyses of decadal changes in the DP and AC contributions indicate that the ongoing increase in Agulhas leakage indeed may have induced an increase in the AC contribution to the upper limb of the AMOC in the tropics, while the DP contribution decreased. In terms of thermohaline properties, our study highlights the fact that the AC and DP contributions cannot be unambiguously distinguished by their temperature, as the commonly adopted terminology may imply, but rather by their salinity when entering the South Atlantic. During their transit towards the NBC the bulk of DP waters experiences a net density loss through a net warming, whereas the bulk of AC waters experiences a slight net density gain through a net increase in salinity. Notably, these density changes are nearly completely captured by Lagrangian particle trajectories that reach the surface mixed layer at least once during their transit, which amount to 66&thinsp;% and 49&thinsp;% for DP and AC waters, respectively. This implies that more than half of the water masses supplying the upper limb of the AMOC are actually formed within the South Atlantic and do not get their characteristic properties in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.</p

Development of a nature conservation standard for enhancing biodiversity and marketing in organic farming systems

Abstract Organic farms are proven to yield highly beneficial environmental services for nature. But an appreciation of these services by consumers is nearly non-existent. Furthermore the state does not offer sufficient financial support in this field. This has led to the situa-tion that many farms, due to economic constraints, cannot tap their nature conservation potential, even though the will to do so is very high. It is hoped that through the devel-opment of a nature conservation standard for organic farms connected with nature con-servation advisory services and rewarding farmers for facilitating environmental services by marketing organic+biodiversity products, farmers will experience a higher added value. At the same time consumers who purchase these products will be exposed to more information about organic products and their nature conservation effects