Prosuming in der Telekommunikationsbranche:Konzeptionelle Grundlagen und Ergebnisse einer Delphi-Studie

Der vorliegende Bericht systematisiert verschiedene Formen des Prosuming und erarbeitet einen Klassifikationsrahmen speziell für die computergestützte Konfiguration digitaler Produkte. Innovative Telekommunikationsdienstleistungen wie unified messaging oder locationbased services sind gleichsam der Prototyp computergestützter Konfiguration, da sie kundenindividuelle, situativ differenzierte Einstellungen erfordern, um ihre Leistungen entfalten zu können

Stability of resilience in times of the COVID‐19 pandemic

There is disagreement among researchers regarding the conceptualization of resilience as a dynamic state or stable trait. Aiming to shed light on the state-versus-trait debate, we explored the stability and construct validity of four of the most frequently utilized state or trait resilience scales in a longitudinal assessment. Additionally, we examined the predictive validity of these scales. Our study was conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which served as collectively experienced adversity. Correlations among the resilience scales and among resilience scales and Big Five personality traits were strong. All except one scale showed high test-retest correlations. Experience of an additional critical life event during the pandemic led to an increase in resilience. Other than in cross-sectional studies, associations between resilience and psychological distress were weak, because personality and baseline psychological distress were controlled for. Nevertheless, next to personality, resilience explained additional variance in distress change. Our results show relatively high stability of resilience overall. Yet, they also confirm dynamic resilience features, suggesting that resilience change occurs with significant adversity, leading to improved adaptation. To gauge the true association between resilience and mental health, baseline levels of these variables as well as personality traits should be considered

Resilience and personality as predictors of the biological stress load during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, pandemic-specific stressors have potentiated the-already severe-stress load across the world. However, stress is more than an adverse state, and chronic exposure is causally involved in the development of mental and physical disease. We ask the question whether resilience and the Big Five personality traits predict the biological stress response to the first lockdown in Germany. In a prospective, longitudinal, observational study, N = 80 adult volunteers completed an internet-based survey prior to the first Covid-19-related fatality in Germany (T0), during the first lockdown period (T1), and during the subsequent period of contact restrictions (T2). Hair strands for the assessment of systemic cortisol and cortisone levels were collected at T2. Higher neuroticism predicted higher hair cortisol, cortisone and subjective stress levels. Higher extraversion predicted higher hair cortisone levels. Resilience showed no effects on subjective or physiological stress markers. Our study provides longitudinal evidence that neuroticism and extraversion have predictive utility for the accumulation of biological stress over the course of the pandemic. While in pre-pandemic times individuals high in neuroticism are typically at risk for worse health outcomes, extraverted individuals tend to be protected. We conclude that, in the pandemic context, we cannot simply generalize from pre-pandemic knowledge. Neurotic individuals may currently suffer due to their general emotional lability. Extraverted individuals may primarily be socially stressed. Individualized stress management programs need to be developed, and offered in a lockdown-friendly format, to minimize the stress burden caused by Covid-19 or future pandemics and to protect the most severely affected individuals from the development of stress-associated disease

BIOCONTROL OF PHYTOPHTHORA CINNAMOMI ON AVOCADO: IDENTIFICATION AND FIELD TESTING OF LOCAL NATURAL ANTAGONISTS, AND EVALUATION OF ROOTSTOCKS FOR RESISTANCE

Abstract Soils suppressive to root rot of avocado (caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi), were first identified in South Africa in 1990. Mcro-organisms from these soils were tested for in vitro antagonism to Phytophthora cinnamomi and subsequently evaluated for suppression of root rot of avocado seedling plants in a mistbed. Three fungal antagonists, Paecilomyces filacinus, Aspergillus candidus and Trichoderma hamatum were effective in suppressing root rot. These antagonists have been evaluated since 1992 for control of root rot in avocado trees in the field. Populations of the antagonists have been found to increase in the root zone of newly planted trees (after antagonist treatment in the nursery and in the orchard) and in the root zone of established Hass and Fuerte trees planted in 1981 and 1980 (after antagonist treatment in the orchard). In an isolated planting site consisting of various ungrafted avocado rootstocks (eg. G1033, Dusa, Latas, D9, Duke 7, Barr Duke, Thomas, Velvic) trees undergo open pollination. Seeds from this orchard, situated at Westfalia Estate, are germinated and the seedlings evaluated for resistance to root rot in a mistbed. A number of successful selections have been made and these are being clonally propagated and grafted with Hass. These trees are to be planted in a root rot infested field site where they will be evaluated for yield and resistance to root rot

The societal cost of treatment-seeking patients with borderline personality disorder in Germany

According to previous research, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with high cost-of-illness. However, there is still a shortage of cost-of-illness-studies assessing costs from a broad societal perspective, including direct and indirect costs. Further, there are considerable differences in the results among the existing studies. In the present study, 167 German men and women seeking specialized outpatient treatment for BPD were included. We assessed societal cost-of-illness bottom-up through structured face-to-face interviews and encompassed a wide range of cost components. All costs were calculated for the 2015 price level. Cost-of-illness amounted to € 31,130 per patient and year preceding disorder-specific outpatient treatment. € 17,044 (54.8%) were direct costs that were mostly related to hospital treatment. Indirect costs amounted to € 14,086 (45.2%). Within indirect costs, costs related to work disability were the most crucial cost driver. The present study underlines the tremendous economic burden of BPD. According to the present study, both the direct and indirect costs are of significant importance for the societal costs associated with BPD. Besides the need for more disorder-specific treatment facilities for men and women with BPD, we assume that education and employment are topics that should be specifically targeted and individually supported at an early stage of treatment. Trial Registration: German Clinical Trial Registration, DRKS00011534, Date of Registration: 11/01/2017, retrospectively registered

The ℓs\ell^s-boundedness of a family of integral operators on UMD Banach function spaces

We prove the $\ell^s$-boundedness of a family of integral operators with an operator-valued kernel on UMD Banach function spaces. This generalizes and simplifies earlier work by Gallarati, Veraar and the author, where the $\ell^s$-boundedness of this family of integral operators was shown on Lebesgue spaces. The proof is based on a characterization of $\ell^s$-boundedness as weighted boundedness by Rubio de Francia.Comment: 13 pages. Generalization of arXiv:1410.665

FACT -- the First Cherenkov Telescope using a G-APD Camera for TeV Gamma-ray Astronomy (HEAD 2010)

Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) bear the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). We are currently building the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) by refurbishing an old IACT with a mirror area of 9.5 square meters and construct a new, fine pixelized camera using novel G-APDs. The main goal is to evaluate the performance of a complete system by observing very high energy gamma-rays from the Crab Nebula. This is an important field test to check the feasibility of G-APD-based cameras to replace at some time the PMT-based cameras of planned future IACTs like AGIS and CTA. In this article, we present the basic design of such a camera as well as some important details to be taken into account.Comment: Poster shown at HEAD 2010, Big Island, Hawaii, March 1-4, 201

The sharp-interface limit for the Navier--Stokes--Korteweg equations

We investigate the sharp-interface limit for the Navier--Stokes--Korteweg model, which is an extension of the compressible Navier--Stokes equations. By means of compactness arguments, we show that solutions of the Navier--Stokes--Korteweg equations converge to solutions of a physically meaningful free-boundary problem. Assuming that an associated energy functional converges in a suitable sense, we obtain the sharp-interface limit at the level of weak solutions

FACT -- The G-APD revolution in Cherenkov astronomy

Since two years, the FACT telescope is operating on the Canary Island of La Palma. Apart from its purpose to serve as a monitoring facility for the brightest TeV blazars, it was built as a major step to establish solid state photon counters as detectors in Cherenkov astronomy. The camera of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telesope comprises 1440 Geiger-mode avalanche photo diodes (G-APD), equipped with solid light guides to increase the effective light collection area of each sensor. Since no sense-line is available, a special challenge is to keep the applied voltage stable although the current drawn by the G-APD depends on the flux of night-sky background photons significantly varying with ambient light conditions. Methods have been developed to keep the temperature and voltage dependent response of the G-APDs stable during operation. As a cross-check, dark count spectra with high statistics have been taken under different environmental conditions. In this presentation, the project, the developed methods and the experience from two years of operation of the first G-APD based camera in Cherenkov astronomy under changing environmental conditions will be presented.Comment: Proceedings of the Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (IEEE-NSS/MIC), 201