759 research outputs found
Gastropoden aus palĂ€ozoischen Geschieben des Kies-Sand-RĂŒckens in der Laerheide (Landkreis OsnabrĂŒck)
Aus altpalĂ€ozoischen karbonatischen Gesteinen, die als nordische Geschiebe in den Kame-Ablagerungen der Laerheide am Nordrand der WestfĂ€lischen Bucht vorkommen, werden ordovizische und silurische Gastropoden beschrieben. AltpalĂ€ozoische Gastropoden sind zwar aus verschiedenen sĂŒdskandinavischen Kalkstein-Geschieben seit langem bekannt, jedoch sind Bestimmungen und Eingruppierungen innerhalb der modernen Gastropoden-Systematik bislang noch nicht erfolgt, so dass auf diesem Gebiet noch erheblicher Nachholbedarf besteht, wozu hiermit ein erster Beitrag geleistet wird.Glacial erratic boulders from kame sediments of the Laerheide in the northern part of the âWestfĂ€lische Buchtâ south of OsnabrĂŒck have yielded Ordovician and Silurian gastropods. Although early Palaeozoic gastropods are fairly well known from glacial erratics they lack adequate descriptions and classification within the modern systematic framework which is presented here
Land Cover Changes (1963â2010) and Their Environmental Factors in the Upper Danube Floodplain
To analyze the changes in the Upper Danube Floodplain, we used aerial photos to quantify the change of landscape pattern from 1963 to 2010. We focused on typical ïŹoodplain habitats, i.e., riparian forest and ïŹoodplain grassland. We used landscape metrics and transformation matrix to explore changes in land cover structure and composition. The active ïŹoodplain experienced increasing fragmentation from 1963 to 2010. Despite an increase of aggregation, riparian forest suffered a 2.3% area loss from 1995 to 2010. Arable land in the active ïŹoodplain declined by 28.5%, while its patch size signiïŹcantly increased. Elevation, distance to river and soil quality were the most relevant environmental factors for the land cover change in the ïŹoodplain. Higher soil quality or longer distance to river led to an increase of conversion from grassland into arable land; grassland patches with poorer soil quality were likely to change into riparian forest; riparian forest closer to the river and with a lower height above mean water level tended to remain stable. This comprehensive understanding of historical land cover change and environmental factors is needed for the enhancement of landscape functions and sustainable development in the ïŹoodplain
MagiBricks: Fostering Intergenerational Connectedness in Distributed Play with Smart Toy Bricks
Playing together is crucial to the unique and invaluable bond between grandparents and grandchildren. However, co-located interactions and play can be limited due to time, distance, or pandemic-related restrictions. To facilitate distributed play, we developed MagiBricks, a system comprised of 3D-printed smart toy bricks and baseplates that provide feedback regarding their placement. The familiarity and appeal of toy bricks to both older adults and children make them ideal for intergenerational play. We conducted a within-subjects study with six grandparent-grandchildren pairs. We compared the interactions and perceived connectedness of the pairs while playing over a distance with either i) MagiBricks or ii) identical regular toy bricks. We found that MagiBricks affected communication dynamics, role taking, nature of play, and perception of connectedness during playtime compared to regular bricks, and were unanimously preferred. We contribute design implications for future systems leveraging (smart) tangibles and fostering intergenerational connectedness
Creepy Technology: What Is It and How Do You Measure It?
Interactive technologies are getting closer to our bodies and permeate the
infrastructure of our homes. While such technologies offer many benefits, they
can also cause an initial feeling of unease in users. It is important for
Human-Computer Interaction to manage first impressions and avoid designing
technologies that appear creepy. To that end, we developed the Perceived
Creepiness of Technology Scale (PCTS), which measures how creepy a technology
appears to a user in an initial encounter with a new artefact. The scale was
developed based on past work on creepiness and a set of ten focus groups
conducted with users from diverse backgrounds. We followed a structured process
of analytically developing and validating the scale. The PCTS is designed to
enable designers and researchers to quickly compare interactive technologies
and ensure that they do not design technologies that produce initial feelings
of creepiness in users.Comment: 13 page
Links between seawater flooding, soil ammonia oxidiser communities and their response to changes in salinity
Acknowledgements We thank Heather Richmond and Mechthild Bömeke for providing excellent technical assistance. In addition, we thank Jessica Heublein for support with respect to basic soil analyses and Laura Lehtovirta-Morley for useful discussion on cultivation of AO. We also thank Ruth Hartwig-Kruse, Michael Kliesch and the team of the âSchutzstation Wattenmeer Langenessâ for support during sampling. FUNDING This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (NA 848/1-1).Peer reviewedPostprin
The dose makes the poison: have âfield realisticâ rates of exposure of bees to neonicotinoid insecticides been overestimated in laboratory studies?
Recent laboratory based studies have demonstrated adverse sub-lethal effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on honey bees and bumble bees, and these studies have been influential in leading to a European Union moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoids, clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam on âbee attractiveâ crops. Yet so far, these same effects have not been observed in field studies. Here we review the three key dosage factors (concentration, duration and choice) relevant to field conditions, and conclude that these have probably been over estimated in many laboratory based studies
Research Proposal for an Experiment to Search for the Decay {\mu} -> eee
We propose an experiment (Mu3e) to search for the lepton flavour violating
decay mu+ -> e+e-e+. We aim for an ultimate sensitivity of one in 10^16
mu-decays, four orders of magnitude better than previous searches. This
sensitivity is made possible by exploiting modern silicon pixel detectors
providing high spatial resolution and hodoscopes using scintillating fibres and
tiles providing precise timing information at high particle rates.Comment: Research proposal submitted to the Paul Scherrer Institute Research
Committee for Particle Physics at the Ring Cyclotron, 104 page
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