The German Socio-Economic Panel as a Reference Data Set

This paper discusses how household panels in general - and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in particular - can serve as reference data for researchers collecting datasets that do not represent the full universe of the population of interest (e.g., through clinical trials, intervention studies, laboratory and behavioural experiments, and cohort studies). We first discuss potential benefits of using questions similar to those in the SOEP for studies where researchers are interested in using the SOEP as reference data. We present a comprehensive list of SOEP core questions that we recommend researchers to consider when collecting their own data. We focus on seven topics: (1) demographic and parental characteristics; (2) labour market; (3) health; (4) personality, preferences, and subjective orientations; (5) subjective wellbeing; (6) political involvement and participation, and finally, a set of core questions for young children before they enter school. Of course the selection of a minimum set of questions depends on the research question. In this paper, we offer general advice for the selection of variables to researchers interested in comparing their own data with the SOEP.clinical trials, intervention studies, behavioural experiments, cohort studies, household panels, SOEP, reference data

Cash in the Trash? An Austrian Perspective on Mobile Payment Adoption

Despite offering many benefits to consumers, merchants, banks, and other providers, mobile payment still has not found widespread acceptance in Austria, for example, in 2015, 15% of Austrian consumers used the Internet or a mobile device for payments and 16% made contactless payments at least once a week. This study sheds light on this issue by taking a consumer perspective and investigating the factors that foster or hinder mobile payment adoption. Three popular user acceptance models were compared and in the end, a unified theory of acceptance and use of technologybased model (UTAUT2) was chosen. The developed model was composed of 12 factors (behavioral intention, utilitarian performance expectancy, hedonic performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, perceived risk, perceived security, privacy concerns, trust, cost, personal innovativeness) and three moderators (age, gender, experience). The proposed model was tested using data from 158 Austrian consumers and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that 68% of consumers’ intention to use mobile payments could be explained, making it a promising model in the mobile payment research area based on the baseline data. Perceived risk and hedonic performance expectancy are the greatest drivers with psychological risk (a lack of fit with one’s self-image) as the most important risk dimension. The results suggest that mobile payment possesses lifestyle characteristics and its usage needs to be fun in order for consumers to prefer it to cash and cards. Keywords: mobile payment adoption, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, user acceptance models, partial least squares structural equation modelin

Analyse der Virulenzsituation des Roggenschwarzrostes (Puccinia graminis f. sp. secalis) im ökologischen Landbau zur Züchtung resistenten Roggens

Organic Agriculture is especially affected by the increasing spread of stem rust in rye (Puccinia graminis f. sp. secalis) because there is a lack of resistant cultivars in Germany. To analyze the virulence situation of rye stem rust, 71 single-pustule-isolates were established and 30 of those were tested with a differential set consisting of 19 lines. The isolates could be classified into 22 different pathotypes. Only seven pathotypes could be found more than once. Most of the isolates showed a complexity of five virulences. In a preliminary analysis a Simpson index of 0,98 was found indicating a high level of diversity of German stem rust populations. Nine of 19 tested lines reacted fully resistant in seedling stage. In 2011, 70 and 30 rye populations, were cultivated under organic conditions at three and five field sites, respectively, to determine the level of adult-plant resistance. The most common cultivars Recrut, Conduct, Amilo, Firmament®, Lichtkornroggen®, Rolipa, and Lautenbacher were highly susceptible to stem rust under artificial infection with disease severities of about 50%. Twelve rye populations contained resistant plants in varying frequencies resulting in disease severities ranging from 6-34%

Kontrolle des Roggenschwarzrostes, Puccinia graminis f. sp. secalis, im Ökologischen Landbau durch Züchtung resistenten Roggens

Der Ökologische Landbau (ÖLB) ist von der zunehmenden Ausbreitung des Roggenschwarz-rostes, Puccinia graminis f. sp. secalis, besonders betroffen, da resistente Roggensorten bisher nicht zur Verfügung stehen. Zur Analyse der Virulenzsituation des Roggenschwarzrostes wurden 389 Einpustelisolate (EPI) hergestellt, von denen 323 mit einem Differentialsortiment aus 15 Inzuchtlinien getestet wurden. Die EPI konnten 226 Pathotypen zugeordnet werden, von denen nur 56 Pathotypen häufiger als einmal vorkamen. Die Mehrzahl der Isolate wies in den Jahren 2011, 2012 und 2013 eine Komplexität von sieben, sechs bzw. fünf auf. Keine der 15 Differentiallinien reagierte vollständig resistent. Mit einem Simpson-Wert von 0,99 zeigt sich eine maximale Diversität der deutschen Schwarzrostpopulation. Das im Rahmen des Projektes entwickelt Isolatesortiment deckt das aktuelle Virulenzspektrum der Schwarzrostpopulationen ab und kann auch zukünftig genutzt werden, um die Wirksamkeit von Schwarzrostresistenzen zu prüfen. Außerdem kann das Auftreten neuer Virulenzen in der Schwarzrostpopulation jetzt rechtzeitig erkannt und wirtschaftlicher Schaden abgewendet werden. Zur Ermittlung der Adultpflanzen-Resistenz wurden bis zu 70 Genetische Ressourcen sowie adaptiertes, selbstfertiles Roggenmaterial unter ökologischen Bedingungen an fünf Feldstandorten je Jahr angebaut. Das Inokulum für die künstlichen Inokulationen wurde am JKI produziert und die Inokulation fand im Entwicklungsstadium BBCH37 (Mai 2013 und Mai 2014) statt. Die im Ökologischen Landbau verwendeten Sorten Recrut, Conduct, Amilo, Firmament®, Lichtkornroggen®, Rolipa und Lautenbacher waren nach künstlicher Infektion hoch anfällig gegenüber Schwarzrost mit Befallsstärken von über 50%. Nach drei Versuchs-jahren konnten insgesamt 17 Populationssorten aus Österreich (Tiroler, Kärntner, Oberkärnt-ner), Russland (Hy75/81, Hy2407/87, Talwoskaja 29, Hy9a/86, Talowskija, Zidlochowicke rane, Instituckie Wcz), den USA (Wheeler, Elbon, Wrens Abruzzi, Gator, Alfa), und Argentinien (Manfredi), mit mittleren Befallswerten von ≤30 % für die Züchtung bereitgestellt werden. Das Projekt leistete damit einen erheblichen Beitrag zur Nutzung der Biodiversität des Roggens und zur Optimierung der Resistenzzüchtung im ÖLB. Resistente Roggensorten werden in Zukunft eine effiziente Kontrolle des Roggenschwarzrostes ermöglichen, die den Grundsätzen des ÖLB entspricht. Das Projekt kann den Hauptaufgaben 2.1, 2.3, 2.4 und 2.14 des Forschungsplanes des BMELV zugeordnet werden und ist Grundlage für die Weiterentwicklung von Strategien zur Nutzung von Schwarzrostresistenzen sowie die Bewertung der Widerstandfähigkeit von Roggen gegenüber Schwarzrost

A New Method for the Determination of Area-Averaged Turbulent Surface Fluxes from Low-Level Flights Using Inverse Models

The low-level flight method (LLF) has been combined with linear inverse models (IM) resulting in an LLF+IM method for the determination of area-averaged turbulent surface fluxes. With this combination, the vertical divergences of the turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes were calculated from horizontal flights. The statistical errors of the derived turbulent surface fluxes were significantly reduced. The LLF+IM method was tested both in numerical and field experiments. Large-eddy simulations (LES) were performed to compare ‘true’ flux profiles with ‘measurements’ of simulated flights in an idealised convective boundary layer. Small differences between the ‘true’ and the ‘measured’ fluxes were found, but the vertical flux divergences were correctly calculated by the LLF+IM method. The LLF+IM method was then applied to data collected during two flights with the Helipod, a turbulence probe carried by a helicopter, and with the research aircraft Do128 in the LITFASS-98 field campaign. The derived surface fluxes were compared with results from eddy-covariance surface stations and with large-aperture scintillometer data. The comparison showed that the LLF+IM method worked well for the sensible heat flux at 77 and 200m flight levels, and also for the latent heat flux at the lowest level. The model quality control indicated failures for the latent heat flux at the 200m level (and higher), which were probably due to large moisture fluctuations that could not be modelled using linear assumptions. Finally the LLF+IM method was applied to more than twenty low-level flights from the LITFASS-2003 experiment. Comparison with aggregated surface flux data revealed good agreement for the sensible heat flux but larger discrepancies and a higher statistical uncertainty for the latent heat flux