The true bisimulations for 'since' and 'until'

The aim of this paper is to establish a new notion of equivalence between temporal models, so-called S-similarity, as the appropriate notion of bisimilarity for temporal logic with Since and Until. The main technical results of the paper provide semantical characterizations of the first-order formulas that are equivalent to a temporal formula: Theorem 3.7 concerns the equivalence of temporal and first-order formulas with respect to pointed temporal models, whereas Theorem 4.4 takes the level of temporal models into account

Natural environment and land use in the Chad Basin, NE-Nigeria : preliminary results of an interdisciplinary research

The objective of this paper is to combine the environmental conception of the Kanuri with detailed findings of pedological and botanical field investigations. Interpretation of multitemporal satellite data and aerial photographs should provide land cover and land use information for an extended area. The area of investigation was outlined within the transitional zone from the clay plains to the sandy areas by interpretation of satellite images. The presented subset of a SPOT-XS-satellite image shows part of the Marte Local Government Area with its capital Old Marte in the north-eastern part of the image. The darker colours represent the clay plains while the lighter parts are related to the sandy areas. Almost half of the research area is covered by clay but all settlements are located on the slightly elevated sandy areas. Within these sandy areas different gray shades demonstrate the pattern of the rainy season farming area. Differences in colour within the clay plains are mainly due to variances in soil, water content and vegetation cover. In the north-eastern part of the image irrigation channels of the South Chad Irrigation Project are visible. The main attention, especially of the pedological and botanical research, was directed towards the south-western part of the subset in the vicinity of the villages of Wulwa, Dura, Kajere and Ngubdori

Beschriebene Zisterziensität

1000 Worte Forschung: Dissertation (Mittelalterliche Geschichte) mit dem Titel „Das ‚Exordium magnum Cisterciense‘ des Konrad von Eberbach unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Codex Eberbacensis (Hochschul- und Landesbibliothek RheinMain Wiesbaden, Hs. 381), eingereicht im Mai 2018 an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, verteidigt am 31.10.2018, Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Tebruck (Gießen) und Prof. Dr. Werner Rösener (Gießen). Die Dissertation wird im Patrimonium-Verlag unter dem Titel „Beschriebene Zisterziensität. Das ‚Exordium magnum Cisterciense‘ des Konrad von Eberbach unter besonderer Be-rücksichtigung des Codex Eberbacensis (Texte der Zisterzienserväter, Band III) voraussichtlich Ende 2019 erscheinen

A Tableau Calculus for Temporal Description Logic: The Constant Domain Case.

We show how to combine the standard tableau system for the basic description logic ALC and Wolper´s tableau calculus for propositional temporal logic PTL (with the temporal operators ‘next-time’ and ‘until’) in order to design a terminating sound and complete tableau-based satisfiability-checking algorithm for the temporal description logic PTL ALC of [19] interpreted in models with constant domains. We use the method of quasimodels [17, 15] to represent models with infinite domains, and the technique of minimal types [11] to maintain these domains constant. The combination is flexible and can be extended to more expressive description logics or even do decidable fragments of first-order temporal logics

Chalcogenides as thermoelectric materials

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2018.10.049. © 2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Thermoelectric materials can be utilized to generate electricity from a temperature gradient, thereby recycling the nowadays abundant waste heat, as well as for cooling applications by creating a temperature gradient from electricity. The former is based on the Seebeck effect, and the latter on the Peltier effect. Noticing the continuously declining fossil fuel resources and mankind's increasing need for energy, the importance for clean thermoelectric energy generation continues to climb. Traditional thermoelectric materials were based on the binary tellurides Bi2Te3 and PbTe, which have been utilized for decades. The focus on tellurium as the heaviest non-radioactive chalcogen stems from the observation that heavier elements are advantageous for a reduced thermal conductivity, which is essential for the thermoelectric energy conversion. Moreover, tellurides are less ionic than sulfides or selenides, which leads to an enhanced carrier mobility that is advantageous for the desired high electrical conductivity. This review presents these traditional routes to low thermal conductivity, as well as alternatives based on the lighter analogues of tellurium, namely sulfur and selenium.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council [RGPIN-2015-0584

Control of phase formation of (AlxGa1 - X)2O3thin films on c-plane Al2O3

In this paper, the growth of orthorhombic and monoclinic (Al x Ga1 - x )2O3 thin films on (00.1) Al2O3 by tin-assisted pulsed laser deposition is investigated as a function of oxygen pressure p(O2) and substrate temperature Tg. For certain growth conditions, defined by Tg = 580°C and p(O2) = 0.016 mbar, the orthorhombic ?-polymorph is stabilized. For Tg = 540°C and p(O2) = 0.016 mbar, the ?-, and the ß-, as well as the spinel ?-polymorph coexist, as illustrated by XRD 2?-?-scans. Further employed growth parameters result in thin films with a monoclinic ß-gallia structure. For all polymorphs, p(O2) and Tg affect the formation and desorption of volatile suboxides, and thereby the growth rate and the cation composition. For example, low oxygen pressures lead to low growth rates and enhanced Al incorporation. This facilitates the structural engineering of polymorphic, ternary (Al,Ga)2O3 via selection of the relevant process parameters. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies of a ? - (Al0.13Ga0.87)2O3 thin film reveal a more complex picture compared to that derived from x-ray diffraction measurements. Furthermore, this study presents the possibility of controlling the phase formation, as well as the Al-content, of thin films based on the choice of their growth conditions. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd

Zinserhöhung der EZB: Wie groß ist die Inflationsgefahr?

Für Thomas Mayer, Deutsche Bank, erscheint es sinnvoll, dass die EZB den Leitzins auf sein neutrales Niveau hochführt. Noch wichtiger für die Wahrung der Stabilität des Euro wäre es aber, dass sich die EZB aus der Finanzierung von durch Insolvenz bedrohten Staaten und ihren Banken zurückzieht. Holger Schmieding, Berenberg Bank, sieht keine Inflationsgefahr. Er rechnet für Deutschland mit einem jährlichen Preisanstieg von gut 2%. Manfred Jäger-Ambroz.ewicz, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, vertritt die Meinung, dass die EZB eine sachgerechte Leitzinspolitik umsetzt und einen angemessenen Leitzinspfad suggeriert. Michael Lamla und Jan-Egbert Sturm, ETH Zürich, betonen, dass die EZB genügend Glaubwürdigkeit und Transparenz besitzt, um die Inflationserwartungen zu beeinflussen und zu homogenisieren. Ihrer Ansicht nach steigen insgesamt die Inflationserwartungen im Euroraum für das nächste Jahr weiterhin an, ohne aber beunruhigende Werte anzunehmen. Auch Ulrich Kater, DekaBank, sieht die Glaubwürdigkeit des Inflationsregimes mit der Geldwertstabilität als wichtigster Zielsetzung unabhängiger Notenbanken nicht gefährdet. Leon Leschus, HWWI, geht davon aus, dass hohe Rohstoffpreise weiterhin zum Inflationsdruck beitragen werden. Es wäre somit wünschenswert, wenn die EZB ihre begonnene restriktive Geldpolitik fortsetzen würde. Hans Wolfgang Brachinger, Universität Fribourg, sieht angesichts teurer Rohstoffe, zunehmender Spekulation und steigender Produktionskosten in China die Inflationsrisiken in Deutschland wachsen, und zwar unabhängig vom Handeln der EZB.Preisniveaustabilität, Geldpolitik, Zins, Zinspolitik, Inflation, Zentralbank, Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion

Missense variants in ANO4 cause sporadic encephalopathic or familial epilepsy with evidence for a dominant-negative effect

Anoctamins are a family of Ca$^{2+}$-activated proteins that may act as ion channels and/or phospholipid scramblases with limited understanding of function and disease association. Here, we identified five de novo and two inherited missense variants in ANO4 (alias TMEM16D) as a cause of fever-sensitive developmental and epileptic or epileptic encephalopathy (DEE/EE) and generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) or temporal lobe epilepsy. In silico modeling of the ANO4 structure predicted that all identified variants lead to destabilization of the ANO4 structure. Four variants are localized close to the Ca$^{2+}$ binding sites of ANO4, suggesting impaired protein function. Variant mapping to the protein topology suggests a preliminary genotype-phenotype correlation. Moreover, the observation of a heterozygous ANO4 deletion in a healthy individual suggests a dysfunctional protein as disease mechanism rather than haploinsufficiency. To test this hypothesis, we examined mutant ANO4 functional properties in a heterologous expression system by patchclamp recordings, immunocytochemistry, and surface expression of annexin A5 as a measure of phosphatidylserine scramblase activity. All ANO4 variants showed severe loss of ion channel function and DEE/EE associated variants presented mild loss of surface expression due to impaired plasma membrane trafficking. Increased levels of Ca$^{2+}$-independent annexin A5 at the cell surface suggested an increased apoptosis rate in DEE-mutant expressing cells, but no changes in Ca$^{2+}$-dependent scramblase activity were observed. Co-transfection with ANO4 wild-type suggested a dominant-negative effect. In summary, we expand the genetic base for both encephalopathic sporadic and inherited fever-sensitive epilepsies and link germline variants in ANO4 to a hereditary disease

Regionale Standards: Ausgabe 2019

Die "Regionalen Standards" gehen zurück auf die Initiative eines gemeinsamen Arbeitskreises, bestehend aus Vertretern des Statistischen Bundesamtes, der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Institute e.V. (ASI) und des ADM Arbeitskreis Deutscher Markt- und Sozialforschungsinstitute e.V. Sie stellen ein Angebot für die Forschung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland dar. Die "Regionalen Standards" beschreiben Gebietsabgrenzungen und Instrumente zur Typisierung von Regionen, wie sie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von der amtlichen Statistik und/oder der Markt- und Sozialforschung in gewisser Regelmäßigkeit eingesetzt werden. Zusätzlich werden Datensätze aus unterschiedlichen Quellen vorgestellt, die für die Regionalisierung von Bevölkerungsumfragen genutzt werden können und für die Forschung (teils jedoch mit Einschränkungen) zur Verfügung stehen