DEVONIAN RUGOSE CORALS FROM THE KARAKORUM MOUNTAINS (NORTHERN PAKISTAN)

The Karakorum Block is regarded as a microplate of "Gondwanan" origin and was part of the Cimmerian continent ("Mega Lhasa") which rifted away from the northern margin of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic/Early Mesozoic. From the Northern Karakorum Range (Yarkhun and Karambar River Valleys: structurally belonging to the Northern Sedimentary Belt) an Upper Givetian to Lower Frasnian rugose coral fauna of the Shogram Formation is described. The fauna is dominated by cosmopolitan genera such as Hexagonaria, Disphyllum, Macgeea and the Temnophyllum/Spinophyllum group, generally showing a geographically wide distribution, although being absent from the Eastern Americas Realm in the Upper Givetian/Lower Frasnian. Therefore its components are of little use for biogeographical deductions at sub-realm level, and in explaining the relation between the Karakorum Range and other Cimmerian crustal blocks. A remarkable exception is the first record of the genus Pseudopexiphyllum outside of Turkey, indicating a connection to the western part of the Cimmerides. On species level, the coral fauna of the Shogram Formation is characterized by the development of a diverse and rather unique fauna including about 35 taxa, that differs from the faunas known from neighbouring crustal blocks. So far, faunistic links to the Central Iranian Microcontinent (Yazd-, and Tabas-Block), the northwest Iranian Plate (Elburz), Central Pamir, the Lhasa Block and Western Qiangtang are not clear, and although each of these fragments are believed to be closely connected they were apparently not in direct contact during the Devonian. However, the Karakorum fauna is remarkably close to one known from the Helmand Block in Afghanistan, showing a very similar generic composition that includes numerous morphologically closely related, although not identical species. Accordingly, the restricted faunal exchange led to the development of new taxa. Distribution of the new species of Spinophyllum, Pseudopexiphyllum and Pseudozaphrentis is limited to the Karakorum Mountains. Reasons for this individual faunistic development and the missing faunal exchange are unexplained, but suggest that some kind of active faunal barrier must have existed during the Devonian, which led to the development of the specific Karakorum fauna.With the exception of Phillipsastrea orientalis Smith, 1930, which is elsewhere only known from the Burmese Devonian, the occurrence of some other species suggest a connection to regions which are regarded as biogeographically unrelated. A weak relation to central European faunas is indicated by the occurrence of characteristic species of Macgeea and Hexagonaria known from the Ardennes and the Holy Cross Mountains. More unusual are the faunistic affinities to the Altai-Sayan region shown by the surprising occurrences of species of Spinophyllum and siphonophrentid corals morphologically very close to those known from the Altai Mtns. and Kazakhstan.{1} PDF {2

Neue Elektronische und Multifunktionale Polymerdünnschichten Ermöglicht durch die Initiierte Chemische Gasphasenabscheidung

The aim of this work was the establishment of initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) at the Chair for Multicomponent Materials (Prof. Dr. Franz Faupel) and the development of iCVD thin film electrets for biomagnetic sensors. The iCVD process developed by Gleason et al. enables a high-precision film growth control and control of the resulting film functionality of the polymer thin films due to the CVD-typical growth characteristics and the solvent-free radical polymerization from the vapor phase. Based on the work of Gleason et al., the iCVD process is newly established and further developed as the first objective of this work at the Chair for Multicomponent Materials. In order to obtain a more detailed understanding of the underlying reaction processes and to improve the process control, an in-situ mass spectrometry extension for the iCVD process, which is newly developed in the course of this work, is also presented. Starting from simple insulators, which can currently be deposited by iCVD, the next objective is to investigate whether it is possible to produce so-called thin film electrets by iCVD. Electrets are functional dielectrics that can store a charge over a very long period of time and thus provide a (quasi)permanent electric field over a long period of time, much like a permanent magnet provides a magnetic field for a long period of time. Their versatile field of application ranges from electret microphones to energy generators and electrostatic air filters. Within the scope of this work, the electrets are intended for new electrostatic magnetic field sensors, which are developed in close cooperation with the Chair for Functional Nanomaterials (Prof. Dr. Rainer Adelung) as project A2 within the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1261. For this purpose, the long-standing experience in the field of thermal evaporation of Teflon AF thin film electrets at the Chair for Multicomponent is used and, among other things, it is investigated whether the iCVD fluoropolymers enable a further improvement of the charge carrier stability as well as better film control by the CVD-typical growth conditions. The subsequent objective is dedicated to the question of how iCVD electrets can be further developed and tailored for the application in sensors. This can only be achieved by a better understanding of the underlying charge storage mechanisms. Therefore, the influence of different end groups on the charge storage properties, enabled by the individual tunability of the film functionality in the iCVD process, is investigated first. In addition, new organic iCVD electret multilayers are demonstrated to specifically address challenges that may arise in connection with the electret component in sensors. Furthermore, an approach is demonstrated that allows the formation of microporous polymer films by phase separation during deposition, which can increase the effective surface charge. Finally, to complete the field, it is investigated whether it is possible to deposit conjugated thin films by iCVD via new acetylene-like monomers in contrast to the typical insulating iCVD films. Adhesion problems that occur during deposition, especially with fluoropolymer films, are finally solved by novel gradient copolymer films inspired by nature. The chemical composition of these films changes from polymer type A to polymer type B along the film thickness. With the help of the newly developed in-situ mass spectrometry extension, the deposition of the new nanoscale gradient copolymer films with film thicknesses below 30 nm is finally made possible. A combination of two materials in one material represents a completely new type of material in terms of physical and chemical properties. It not only enables improved adhesion, but can also pave new paths for organic electronics, future sub-wavelength devices and the replication of natural gradient structures, for example for molecular machines on the lower nanoscale

Efficient and Modular Coalgebraic Partition Refinement

We present a generic partition refinement algorithm that quotients coalgebraic systems by behavioural equivalence, an important task in system analysis and verification. Coalgebraic generality allows us to cover not only classical relational systems but also, e.g. various forms of weighted systems and furthermore to flexibly combine existing system types. Under assumptions on the type functor that allow representing its finite coalgebras in terms of nodes and edges, our algorithm runs in time $\mathcal{O}(m\cdot \log n)$ where $n$ and $m$ are the numbers of nodes and edges, respectively. The generic complexity result and the possibility of combining system types yields a toolbox for efficient partition refinement algorithms. Instances of our generic algorithm match the run-time of the best known algorithms for unlabelled transition systems, Markov chains, deterministic automata (with fixed alphabets), Segala systems, and for color refinement.Comment: Extended journal version of the conference paper arXiv:1705.08362. Beside reorganization of the material, the introductory section 3 is entirely new and the other new section 7 contains new mathematical result

Wahrnehmung von Wirtsdüften durch Forstschädlinge : Vergleich zwischen einem Holzbrüter und einem Rindenbrüter

The blue pine wood borer (Phaenops cyanea) and the black pine sawyer beetle (Monochamus galloprovincialis) (Fig. 1) both are pests of the white pine (Pinus silvestris) and other Pinus species. Both insects have nearly the same demands regarding their breeding site. Larval development requires a fresh, unwilted inner bark. An infestation occurs on freshly cut trees or on trees suffering from stress (e.g. after dry seasons, loss of needles caused by feeding caterpillars or damage by forest fires). Phaenops cyanea detects susceptible pines by their volatile emissions (SCHÜTZ et al. 2004) and is able to infest the trees already at a low stress level. During feeding the larvae avoid the resin ducts of the tree and thus evade the oleoresin defence. The beetle is endemic in Europe and – under favourable climatic conditions – can cause substantial damage to pine forests. It is the most significant bark-breeding beetle of white pine in the lowlands of north-eastern Germany. Monochamus galloprovincialis is found in Europe and northern Africa. The larvae tend to a more copious feeding which makes them more susceptible to the oleoresin defence of the tree. Thus, M. galloprovincialis prefers trees that are weakened by a higher degree of stress. The economic damage caused by feeding of thebeetle is low. However, the beetle has gained a special attention of forest scientists because of its association with the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus which is causing the pine wilt disease (PWD) in Pinus. The only outbreak of the PWD within Europe is limited to an area of 258.000 ha in Portugal. (MOTA et al. 1999).Die Forstschädlinge Phaenops cyanea (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) und Monochamus galloprovincialis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) befallen beide Kiefern (Pinus sylvestris), die geschwächt sind, z.B. durch Wasser-Stress. Die Larven von P. cyanea entwickeln sich in oder unter der Rinde, während Larven von M. galloprovincialis nach einem Fraß im Kambium des befallenen Baumes auch tief in das Holz eindringen. P. cyanea befällt bereits Bäume, die nur einem geringen Stress ausgesetzt waren, während M. galloprovincialis Bäume bevorzugt, die erheblich geschwächt oder bereits tot sind. Die vorliegende Studie soll anhand elektrophysiologischer Experimente untersuchen, welchen olfaktorischen Hinweisen die beiden Insekten bei ihrer Suche nach einem geeigneten Eiablageplatz folgen. Duftstoffe von Pinus sylvestris wurden auf Aktivkohle gesammelt und mit Gaschromatographie, Massenspektroskopie und Elektroantennographie untersucht (GC-MS/ EAD). Die stärksten Signale von P. cyanea traten im Retentionsindex-Bereich von 936 (α-Pinen) bis 1200 auf, wobei insbesondere bizyklische Terpene und Terpenoide wie α-Pinen, β-Pinen, 1,8-Cineol und trans- Verbenol detektiert wurden. M. galloprovincialis reagierte auf einen weiteren Bereich von Stoffen, ebenfalls beginnend mit α-Pinen, bis hin zu Stoffen mit einem Retentionsindex von ca. 1300. Es scheint eine spezifische Empfindlichkeit für monozyklische und azyklische Terpene und Terpenoide vorzuliegen, insbesondere für γ-Terpinen, Terpinolen, β-Myrcen und p-Cymen