Quellen in der Rhön : eine faunistisch-ökologische Erfassung im Biosphärenreservat Rhön

Durch den Landesverband für Höhlen- und Karstforschung Hessen e.V. wurden im Biosphärenreservat Rhön insgesamt 1.021 Quellen mit faunistischem Schwerpunkt kartiert und untersucht. Die gute Qualität der unbeeinträchtigten Quellen lässt sich aufgrund verschiedener Leitarten hervorragend dokumentieren. So wurden beispielsweise zahlreiche grundwasserbesiedelnden Krebsarten, die endemisch nur in Rhön und Vogelsberg vorkommende Rhön-Quellschnecke, der als Glazialrelikt geltende Alpenstrudelwurm und quellbewohnende Wassermilben nachgewiesen. Das vorgefundene Artenspektrum spricht für ein weitgehend intaktes Ökosystem im Grundwasserkörper und in den unbeeinflussten Quellregionen des Biosphärenreservats. An einzelnen Quellstandorten wurden aber auch anthropogene Beeinflussungen festgestellt, die nachhaltig in den Lebensraum Quelle eingreifen. In mehreren Untersuchungsberichten, die im Auftrag der Verwaltungsstellen des Biosphärenreservats Rhön angefertigt wurden, konnten die Gefährdungen der einzelnen Quellen aufgezeigt und Maßnahmenvorschläge unterbreitet werden. Es wäre wichtig, die Kartierungsarbeiten im Biosphärenreservat Rhön auch in Zukunft fortzusetzen, da bisher nur ein kleiner Teil der Quellstandorte bekannt ist und hinsichtlich des Artenspektrums noch einige zoologische Überraschungen zu erwarten sind. Erstmals in Deutschland besteht hier die Möglichkeit, eine Mittelgebirgsregion flächendeckend und länderübergreifend zu untersuchen. Da alle Quellen nach den gleichen Untersuchungsmethoden erfasst werden, ist die Vergleichbarkeit der Ergebnisse gewährleistet

EyeScout: Active Eye Tracking for Position and Movement Independent Gaze Interaction with Large Public Displays

While gaze holds a lot of promise for hands-free interaction with public displays, remote eye trackers with their confined tracking box restrict users to a single stationary position in front of the display. We present EyeScout, an active eye tracking system that combines an eye tracker mounted on a rail system with a computational method to automatically detect and align the tracker with the user's lateral movement. EyeScout addresses key limitations of current gaze-enabled large public displays by offering two novel gaze-interaction modes for a single user: In "Walk then Interact" the user can walk up to an arbitrary position in front of the display and interact, while in "Walk and Interact" the user can interact even while on the move. We report on a user study that shows that EyeScout is well perceived by users, extends a public display's sweet spot into a sweet line, and reduces gaze interaction kick-off time to 3.5 seconds -- a 62% improvement over state of the art solutions. We discuss sample applications that demonstrate how EyeScout can enable position and movement-independent gaze interaction with large public displays

Learning and engagement through natural history museums

This review examines how natural history museums (NHMs) can enhance learning and engagement in science, particularly for school-age students. First, we describe the learning potential of informal science learning institutions in general, then we focus on NHMs. We review the possible benefits of interactions between schools and NHMs, and the potential for NHMs to teach about challenging issues such as evolution and climate change and to use digital technologies to augment more traditional artefacts. We conclude that NHMs can provide students with new knowledge and perspectives, with impacts that can last for years. Through visits and their on-line presence, NHMs can help students see science in ways that the school classroom rarely can, with opportunities to meet scientists, explore whole topic exhibitions, engage with interactive displays and employ digital technologies both in situ and to support learning in the school science classroom. Although these interactions have the potential to foster positive cognitive, affective and social outcomes for students, there is a lack of reliable measures of the impact of NHM experiences for students. Opportunities to foster relationships between NHM staff and teachers through professional development can help articulate shared goals to support students’ learning and engagement

Improvements on coronal hole detection in SDO/AIA images using supervised classification

We demonstrate the use of machine learning algorithms in combination with segmentation techniques in order to distinguish coronal holes and filaments in SDO/AIA EUV images of the Sun. Based on two coronal hole detection techniques (intensity-based thresholding, SPoCA), we prepared data sets of manually labeled coronal hole and filament channel regions present on the Sun during the time range 2011 - 2013. By mapping the extracted regions from EUV observations onto HMI line-of-sight magnetograms we also include their magnetic characteristics. We computed shape measures from the segmented binary maps as well as first order and second order texture statistics from the segmented regions in the EUV images and magnetograms. These attributes were used for data mining investigations to identify the most performant rule to differentiate between coronal holes and filament channels. We applied several classifiers, namely Support Vector Machine, Linear Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree, and Random Forest and found that all classification rules achieve good results in general, with linear SVM providing the best performances (with a true skill statistic of ~0.90). Additional information from magnetic field data systematically improves the performance across all four classifiers for the SPoCA detection. Since the calculation is inexpensive in computing time, this approach is well suited for applications on real-time data. This study demonstrates how a machine learning approach may help improve upon an unsupervised feature extraction method.Comment: in press for SWS

The Implementation of Scenarios using DSGE Models

The new generation of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models seems particularly suited for conducting scenario analysis. These models formalise the behaviour of economic agents on the basis of explicit micro-foundations. As a result, they appear less prone to the Lucas critique than traditional macroeconometric models. DSGE models provide researchers with powerful tools, which allow for the design of a broad range of scenarios and can tackle a large range of issues, while at the same time offering an appealing structural interpretation of the scenario specification and simulation results. This paper provides illustrations of some of the modelling issues that often arise when implementing scenarios using DSGE models in the context of projection exercises or policy analysis. These issues reflect the sensitivity of DSGE model-based analysis to scenario assumptions, which in more traditional models are apparently less critical, such as, for example, scenario event anticipation and duration, as well as treatment of monetary and fiscal policy rules.Business fluctuations, monetary policy, fiscal policy, forecasting and simulation

Validity and worth in the science curriculum: learning school science outside the laboratory

It is widely acknowledged that there are problems with school science in many developed countries of the world. Such problems manifest themselves in a progressive decline in pupil enthusiasm for school science across the secondary age range and the fact that fewer students are choosing to study the physical sciences at higher levels and as careers. Responses to these developments have included proposals to reform the curriculum, pedagogy and the nature of pupil discussion in science lessons. We support such changes but argue from a consideration of the aims of science education that secondary school science is too rooted in the science laboratory; substantially greater use needs to be made of out-of-school sites for the teaching of science. Such usage should result in a school science education that is more valid and more motivating and is better at fulfilling defensible aims of school science education. Our contention is that laboratory-based school science teaching needs to be complemented by out-of-school science learning that draws on the actual world (e.g. through fieldtrips), the presented world (e.g. in science centres, botanic gardens, zoos and science museums) and the virtual worlds that are increasingly available through information and communications technologies (ICT)

The Advocate

Headlines Include: Laurels For Feerick: An Alumnus To Remember; Crime at Fordham; Who\u27s Next?, Film at 11https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/student_the_advocate/1007/thumbnail.jp

Sobre la presència de Teucrium pumilum i Teucrium libanitis (Lamiaceae) a la província de València.

12p. fotog.color.[EN] About the presence of Teucrium pumilum and Teucrium libanitis (Lamiaceae) in the Valencian province, Spain.- Teucrium pumilum and T. libanitis have been cited from Valencia province (Spain) since the middle of the XXth Century from the gypsic soils in the Valle de Ayora-Cofrentes shire. The analysis of specimens and labels is not conclusive; no specimen would certify the presence of any of these taxa. The field identification and their inclusion in a phyotosociological table (relevé) by Rivas Goday are the only basis of their presence in the territory in a particular moment of the recent Spanish botanical history. Additionally, the unique herbarium specimen from Valencia, impossible to assign a concrete geographic locality, which was traditionally assigned to T. pumilum by some authors, is actually its congeneric T. carolipaui.[ES] Sobre la presencia de Teucrium pumilum y Teucrium libanitis (Lamiaceae) en la provincia de Valencia.- Teucrium pumilum y T. libanitis son dos especies que han sido citadas como presentes en la provincia de Valencia desde mediados del siglo XX, para los yesos que afloran en la comarca del Valle de Ayora-Cofrentes. El análisis de las etiquetas de los pliegos de los herbarios no es concluyente; ningún pliego testigo certificaría la presencia de estas especies. La determinación de visu por parte de Rivas Goday, y su inclusión en una tabla de inventarios fitosociológica, son el único fundamento de su existencia en la zona en algún momento determinado de la reciente historia botánica española. Además, para T. pumilum, el pliego de herbario que tradicionalmente se ha asignado a la cita valenciana se trata de una confusión en la determinación por parte de algunos autores con su congénere T. carolipaui, siendo imposible al mismo tiempo asignar una localidad geográfica concreta a este material.[CAT] Sobre la presència de Teucrium pumilum i Teucrium libanitis (Lamiaceae) a la província de València.- Teucrium pumilum i T. libanitis són dues espècies que han estat citades com a presents a la província de València des de mitjans del segle XX, sobre els guixos que afloren a la comarca de la Vall d’Aiora-Cofrents. L’anàlisi de les etiquetes dels plecs dels herbaris no és concloent; cap plec testimoni certificaria la presència d’aquestes espècies. La determinació de visu per part de Rivas Goday, i la seva inclusió en una taula d’inventaris fitosociològica, són l’únic fonament de la seva existència a la zona en un moment determinat de la recent història botànica espanyola. A més, per a T. pumilum, el plec d’herbari que tradicionalment s’ ha assignat a la cita valenciana es tracta d’una confusió en la determinació per part d’alguns autors amb el seu congènere.Peer reviewe

Modeling of Nucleation Processes

Nucleation is the onset of a first-order phase transition by which a metastable phase transforms into a more stable one. Such a phase transition occurs when an initial system initially in equilibrium is destabilized by the change of an external parameter like the temperature or the pressure. If the perturbation is small enough, the system does not become unstable but rather stays metastable. In diffusive transformations, the system then evolves through the nucleation, the growth and the coarsening of a second phase. Such a phase transformation is found in a lot of situations in materials science like condensation of liquid droplets from a supersaturated vapor, solidification, precipitation from a supersaturated solid solution, ... The initial stage of all these different processes can be well described within the same framework. Since its initial formulation in 1927 by Volmer, Weber and Farkas and its modification in 1935 by Becker and D\"oring the classical nucleation theory has been a suitable tool to model the nucleation stage in phase transformations. In this article, we first describe this theory. A kinetic approach, the cluster dynamics, can also be used to describe nucleation. This constitutes the second part of this article. The links as well as the difference between both descriptions are emphasized. Since its initial formulation, the classical nucleation theory has been enriched, so as to take into account the fact that clusters other than monomers can migrate and react. It has been also extended to multi-component systems. These generalizations of the initial formalism are also presented