Glacier changes in the Bavarian Alps from 1989/90 to 2006/07

The five glaciers in Bavaria which today cover a total area of less than one square kilometer were frequently monitored by geodetic methods from the mid of the 20th century. In this paper, the record is extended by new surveys in 1999 and 2006. The glaciers show a prolonged surface lowering, which is intensified compared to the 1980s and reaches maximum rates from 1999-2006. Moreover, the ice thickness of four glaciers was determined in 2006 and 2007 by geophysical field techniques and allows the calculation of ice volumes. First simple extrapolations of observed volume losses indicate that the two Berchtesgaden glaciers and Südlicher Schneeferner could disappear by 2016, while the ice of Nördlicher Schneeferner endures until 2027. Ice thicknesses and surface changes are visualized in five annexed maps.Die fünf bayerischen Gletscher, die heute insgesamt eine Fläche von weniger als einem Quadratkilometer bedecken, wurden seit der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts regelmäßig geodätisch aufgenommen. Diese Reihe wird hier um zwei Neuvermessungen in den Jahren 1999 und 2006 erweitert. Alle Gletscher zeigen in dem Zeitraum eine fortgesetzte Erniedrigung ihrer Oberfläche, die im Vergleich zu den 1980er Jahren verstärkt ist und in der Periode 1999-2006 Maximalwerte aufzeigt. Außerdem wurden in den Jahren 2006 und 2007 die Eisdicken von vier Gletschern durch geophysikalische Messungen bestimmt, was erstmalig die Ermittlung des verbleibenden Eisvolumens erlaubt. Erste einfache Extrapolationen der beobachteten Volumenverluste in die Zukunft deuten an, dass die beiden Gletscher in den Berchtesgadener Alpen sowie der Südliche Schneeferner bis zum Jahr 2016 verschwinden könnten, während der Nördliche Schneeferner noch bis 2027 überdauern würde. Eisdicken und Oberflächenänderungen werden anhand von fünf Karten im Anhang verdeutlicht

BaitFisher: A software package for multispecies target DNA enrichment probe design

Christoph Urs Mayer [et al.]Target DNA enrichment combined with high-throughput sequencing technologies is a powerful approach to probing a large number of loci in genomes of interest. However, software algorithms that explicitly consider nucleotide sequence information of target loci in multiple reference species for optimizing design of target enrichment baits to be applicable across a wide range of species have not been developed. Here we present an algorithm that infers target DNA enrichment baits from multiple nucleotide sequence alignments. By applying clustering methods and the combinatorial 1-center sequence optimization to bait design, we are able to minimize the total number of baits required to efficiently probe target loci in multiple species. Consequently, more loci can be probed across species with a given number of baits. Using transcript sequences of 24 apoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae, Sphecidae) from the 1KITE project and the gene models of Nasonia vitripennis, we inferred 57,650, 120-bp-long baits for capturing 378 coding sequence sections of 282 genes in apoid wasps. Illumina reduced-representation library sequencing confirmed successful enrichment of the target DNA when applying these baits to DNA of various apoid wasps. The designed baits furthermore enriched a major fraction of the target DNA in distantly related Hymenoptera, such as Formicidae and Chalcidoidea, highlighting the baits' broad taxonomic applicability. The availability of baits with broad taxonomic applicability is of major interest in numerous disciplines, ranging from phylogenetics to biodiversity monitoring. We implemented our new approach in a software package, called BaitFisher, which is open source and freely available at https://github.com/cmayer/BaitFisher-package.git.C.B. is a “Ramon y Cajal” fellow supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (MEC) (RYC-2014-15615).Peer Reviewe

Sub-debris melt rates on southern Inylchek Glacier, central Tian Shan

Melt rates of glacier surfaces are strongly influenced by the existence of a debris cover. Dependent on thickness and other physical parameters the debris layer can enhance or reduce ablation as compared to bare ice conditions. Supraglacial moraines appear very frequently on Central Asian glaciers, highly affecting water yield from these high mountain regions. In summer 2005, a network of 22 ablation stakes was drilled into locations with varying debris thicknesses on Southern Inylchek glacier in the central Tian Shan. Mean ablation rates varied from 2.8 to 6.7 cm/d, strongly correlated with moraine thickness. Parallel observation of air temperature allowed the application of a simple degree-day approach and the calculation of ablation rates. Efforts to improve calculations of melt rates by incorporating relative air humidity to account for latent heat fluxes failed. This proves that air temperature is already a very good melt indicator. Ice albedo measurements show that reflectivity might be controlled by the occurrence of evaporation or condensation, but this topic needs further investigation

Space-Time Singularities and the Kahler Cone

We review recent results on the interplay between the five-dimensional space-time and the internal manifold in Calabi-Yau compactifications of M-theory. Black string, black hole and domain wall solutions as well as Kasner type cosmologies cannot develop a naked singularity as long as the moduli take values inside the Kahler cone.Comment: 8 pages, latex, uses fortschritte.sty, contributed to the proceedings of the 36th International Symposium Ahrenshoop, Berlin, August 26-30, 200

Security and Privacy Challenges in the Internet of Things

The future Internet of Things as an intelligent collaboration of miniaturized sensors poses new challenges to security and end-user privacy. The ITU has identified that the protection of data and privacy of users is one of the key challenges in the Internet of Things [Int05]: lack of confidence about privacy will result in decreased adoption among users and therefore is one of the driving factors in the success of the Internet of Things. This paper gives an overview, categorization, and analysis of security and privacy challenges in the Internet of Things

Hybrid routing in delay tolerant networks

This work addresses the integration of today\\u27s infrastructure-based networks with infrastructure-less networks. The resulting Hybrid Routing System allows for communication over both network types and can help to overcome cost, communication, and overload problems. Mobility aspect resulting from infrastructure-less networks are analyzed and analytical models developed. For development and deployment of the Hybrid Routing System an overlay-based framework is presented

Hybrid Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks

This work addresses the integration of today\u27s infrastructure-based networks with infrastructure-less networks. The resulting Hybrid Routing System allows for communication over both network types and can help to overcome cost, communication, and overload problems. Mobility aspect resulting from infrastructure-less networks are analyzed and analytical models developed. For development and deployment of the Hybrid Routing System an overlay-based framework is presented

Glaciological results of the 2005 expedition to Inylchek Glacier, Central Tian Shan

Like many other glaciers in Central Asia, Southern Inylchek glacier in the Kyrgyz Tian Shan is covered by supraglacial moraine, which drastically influences melt rates and complicates the estimation of ablation. The quantification of sub-debris melt from simple parameters is still an unsolved problem, but also essential to predict future yield from high mountains. Snow cover and glacier ice are the main water storages for the surrounding arid lowlands and a better understanding of ablation processes is the prerequisite for a sustainable water resources management. Another interesting feature of Southern Inylchek glacier is the existence of an ice dammed lake in a tributary valley, which is drained regularly by outburst floods. Improvements in predicting these floods would lower the risk potential for the downstream population. The main objectives of a group of glaciologists which participated in an expedition to the glacier in 2005 were to investigate melt rates on debris covered glacier parts and to quantify the ice flux into the glacier lake. The results of their field experiments are reported in this paper