In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Auswirkung des Persönlichkeitsmerkmals Neigung zum intensiven Nachdenken (NFC) (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) auf die Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung bei Grundschullehramtsstudierenden untersucht. NFC bildet als stabiles Persönlichkeitsmerkmal ab, wie sich Individuen bezüglich ihres Engagements und ihrer Freude bei aufwändiger gedanklicher Aktivität wie Argumentieren, Informationsaneignung und komplexem Problemlösen unterscheiden (Bless et al., 1994). Mit der Untersuchung eines Persönlichkeitsmerkmals auf die Professionalisierung von Lehrkräften schließt die Arbeit an den Persönlichkeitsansatz der Lehrer:innenbildung an (Mayr, 2016; Rothland, 2021). In einem Mixed-Methods Design aus quantitativer Vor- und qualitativer Nacherhebung nahmen zunächst 294 Grundschullehramtsstudierende einer deutschen Universität an einem bereits validierten Persönlichkeitsfragebogentest zum NFC teil (Preckel, 2014). Zusätzlich zum NFC wurde eine im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit entwickelte Skala zum wissenschaftlichen Interesse im Lehramtsstudium (WIL), weitere etablierte Persönlichkeitsmaße wie die Big-5 (McRae & Costa, 2008), die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1999) und die Abiturnote als etablierter Prädiktor für den Studienerfolg (Haase et al., 2022) erhoben, um den Einfluss des NFCs auf das wissenschaftliche Interesse im Lehramtsstudium (WIL) differenzierend beurteilen zu können.

Die Ergebnisse der Auswertung der Daten der quantitativen Erhebung belegen, dass das Persönlichkeitsmerkmal NFC das wissenschaftliche Interesse im Lehramtsstudium (WIL) besser vorhersagen kann als die anderen verwendeten Prädiktoren.

Um Erkenntnisse zum Einfluss des NFC auf die Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung – im Sinne eines reflexiv-forschungsorientierten Habitus (Fichten, 2017; Helsper, 2021) – bei den Studierenden zu gewinnen, wurden acht Studierende, die sich durch extrem hohe oder niedrige Werte auf der NFC-Skala auszeichnen, zu narrativ-biographischen Interviews eingeladen. Für die Interviews wurden als wesentliche Kategorien das familiäre Aufwachsen, die Bildungsbiographie und – für die Forschungsfrage der vorliegenden Arbeit besonders relevant – das Erleben wissenschaftlicher Anforderungen an der Universität operationalisiert. Die Auswertung der Interviews mit der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse (Kuckartz, 2018) führte zu einer Typologie mit zwei Haupttypen: Typ 1: Offenheit gegenüber der Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung und Typ 2: Ablehnung gegenüber der Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung. Die Ergebnisse der qualitativen Auswertung zeigen, dass bei den untersuchten Fällen die Ausprägung des NFC deutlich die Bildungsbiographie und das Erleben wissenschaftlicher Lernsettings an der Universität beeinflusst. Mit der Ausnahme von zwei Grenzfällen konnten Personen mit hohem NFC eindeutig dem Typ 1: Offenheit gegenüber der Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung und Personen mit niedrigem NFC dem Typ 2: Ablehnung gegenüber der Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung, zugeordnet werden.

Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit belegen die Relevanz individueller Persönlichkeitsfaktoren für eine erfolgreiche Professionalisierung im Lehramtsstudium. Die Auswertung der quantitativen und qualitativen Daten spricht deutlich dafür, dass das Persönlichkeitsmerkmal Neigung zum intensiven Nachdenken (NFC) wesentlichen Einfluss auf die erfolgreiche Bewältigung wissenschaftlicher Anforderungen im Studium und damit auf die Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Grundhaltung bei Grundschullehramtsstudierenden hat.

Long-term maintenance of positive health-related behaviors is key in the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. Habits, i.e., context-response associations where the context automatically triggers a behavioral impulse, are proposed to facilitate behavioral maintenance by guiding behavior despite low intentions (de Bruijn & Rhodes, 2011). However, findings on the interplay between habit and intention strength remain inconclusive due to methodological limitations, and little is understood about how habit interacts with volitional processes, such as spontaneous action planning. Supporting successful habit formation requires an understanding of determinants that facilitate learning of context-response links. Habits are assumed to form more quickly if the behavior is intrinsically rewarding (de Wit & Dickinson, 2009), but study designs that are able to capture reward in the critical moment are lacking. Aside from intrinsic reward, few theoretical determinants have been tested that may be linked to habit strength beyond behavioral repetition. Moreover, unwanted habits present a barrier for behavior change (Gardner et al., 2021) and opposing assumptions exist on whether old habits persist or decay, when substituted with a new habitual response (Mercuur, 2021). These propositions warrant investigation in real-life settings where participants are supported to substitute unwanted habits with healthier alternatives. The present thesis examined the role of habit in complex health behaviors and its determinants in real life settings. Specifically, the following research questions were addressed: RQ 1: How do reflective processes (i.e., intention strength and spontaneous action planning) and habit interact when guiding complex health behavior? (Study 1). RQ 2: How do habits form over time and what factors facilitate habit formation in real-life settings? (Study 2 and 3). RQ 3: How do habits decay over time and what factors facilitate habit decay in real-life settings? (Study 3). The empirical findings of this thesis are based on three data sets. The first study is a secondary analysis of data from 225 participants in a planning intervention that targeted increase of daily physical activity. The participants self-reported their intention strength, spontaneous action planning, and habit strength at five measurement follow-ups over a one-year period. The second study is a secondary analysis of data from 135 participants in an online planning intervention that aimed at forming a healthy nutrition habit. The participants reported habit strength and theoretical determinants daily over 12 weeks. The third study is a primary analysis of data from 42 participants in an online planning intervention that targeted substitution of an old with a new, more active commuting habit. The participants provided multiple daily assessments during a baseline week and five post-intervention weeks, spanning 14 weeks. Participants reported daily habit strength, experienced reward and regret, and weekly plan enactment for both new and old commuting behaviors. In all studies multilevel models were fit. Based on the empirical findings of this thesis, the research questions 1-3 can be answered as follows: RQ 1) Strong habits seem to compensate lowered intention strength when guiding complex health behavior. However, spontaneous action planning remains an important reflective process for behavioral engagement independent of habit strength. RQ 2) In the context of habit formation and substitution, habit strength increases more quickly in earlier phases whereas the increase is less pronounced in later phases. Every opportunity to engage in the new behavior seems important when substituting habits. Moreover, experienced reward upon behavioral performance, captured through momentary assessments, is associated with higher habit strength, whereas more distal affective judgments may not reflect the reward directly linked to habit strength. Additionally, the findings suggest that higher than usual alignment between reflective processes and habit is associated with more automatic behavioral performance on a given day and a certain degree of average alignment of reflective processes and habit seems to be a pre-requisite for healthy habits to form. RQ 3) When substituted with a healthier alternative, old habit strength decays linearly but only in part. The decay of old habit strength is associated with consistently performing the new, desired behavior in the old context. Moreover, immediate negative experiences of the old behavior seem to be associated with habit decay. Future research is needed to further examine how determinants of habit change can be manipulated in habit interventions to facilitate habit formation and habit decay.

Die orthotope Lebertransplantation ist das Standardtherapieverfahren bei terminalem Leberversagen. Auf Grund von anhaltendem Spenderorganmangel, dem Risiko von Abstoßungsreaktionen und dem Nebenwirkungsprofil der notwendigen Immunsuppression besteht der dringende Bedarf nach Optimierung des Transplantationsverfahrens und Alternativen wie der Leberzelltransplantation. Das übergeordnete Ziel des Projektes in dessen Rahmen diese Arbeit entstand, ist es, orthotope allogene Transplantate mit autologen Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen zu besiedeln und somit eine sogenannte neohybride Leber zu schaffen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, den Einfluss der Zellquelle auf die Neohybridisierung der Mausleber zu vergleichen. Hierzu werden, wie bereits in Vorarbeiten der Arbeitsgruppe untersucht, die Rekolonisierungseigenschaften der Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen von Patienten ohne chronische Lebererkrankung (bei denen eine Leberteilresektion zur Entfernung einer Neoplasie in der Leber vorgenommen wurde) und Zellen aus erkrankten, zirrhotischen Lebern isoliert und deren unterschiedliche Rekolonisierung im Empfängertier evaluiert. Zudem soll geprüft werden, ob eine Verlängerung des Tierversuches auf 30 Tage ohne Abnahme der Überlebensrate der Versuchstiere möglich ist. Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen wurden isoliert, mittels Dichtegradientenzentrifugation aufgereinigt und bis zur Transplantation über 12 bis 24 Stunden kühl gelagert. Viabilität, Zellzahl und Verhalten in Zellkultur wurden verglichen. Parallel zur Zellisolation wurden für jede Probe je 12 FOX CHASE SCID / beige® Mäuse mit dem Pyrrolizidinalkaloid Monocrotalin (200mg / kg intraperitoneal) vorbehandelt, um eine Leberschädigung zu initiieren. 12 bis 24 Stunden später wurden die Mäuse einer 50 % igen Hepatektomie unterzogen und jeweils 1 Mio Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen über die Milz transplantiert. Nach 7, 15 und 30 Tagen wurden jeweils 3 Mäuse euthanasiert und die Leber entnommen. Der Rekolonisierungsnachweis wurde mittels immunhistochemischer Färbung (anti-human-Albumin) geführt. Zusätzlich erfolgte die Detektion der humanen Hepatozyten in der Mausleber mittels real time PCR (Humanalbumin, B2M und ACTN4). Die Isolierung von Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen gelang sowohl aus Resektaten als auch Explantaten in hoher Zellzahl und Viabilität, allerdings war die Viabilität bei den Resektaten signifikant höher. Die anschließende Kühllagerung der Zellen für 12 bis 24 Stunden konnte mit akzeptablen Verlusten der Zellviabilität durchgeführt werden. Hier schienen die Explantatzellen deutlich stabiler, so dass die Viabilität und Zellzahl beider Zellgruppen nach Kühllagerung in etwa identisch war. Auch in Zellkultur waren beide Zellquellen gleichermaßen stabil. Das etablierte Mausmodell konnte mit einer Überlebensrate von 86 % der Tiere als erfolgreich gewertet werden, wobei in der Resektatgruppe weniger Tierverluste zu verzeichnen waren, als bei den Explantaten. Der immunhistochemische Rekolonisierungsnachweis zeigte mittels Detektion von Humanalbumin bei 92 % der Tiere ein Engraftment von humanen Hepatozyten in der Mausleber in den ersten 15 Tagen in gleichem Maße in Resektat- und Explantatgruppe, an Tag 30 dann in deutlich höherer Menge bei den Explantaten. Eine Bestätigung der immunhistochemischen Ergebnisse mittels Real Time PCR gelang nur bedingt. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit zeigen, dass eine erfolgreiche Zellisolation, Kühllagerung und Transplantation sowohl von Hepatozyten und Vorläuferzellen aus gesundem Lebergewebe, als auch aus erkrankten, zirrhotischen Lebern möglich ist. Zudem gibt es Hinweise dafür, dass die Explantatzellen bei Kühllagerung den Resektatzellen überlegen sind und sie auch bei der Rekolonisierung über längere Zeiträume den Resektatzellen überlegen sind. Um beide Zelltypen weiter auf ihre repopulativen Eigenschaften zu untersuchen, eignet sich das in dieser Arbeit verwendete Mausmodell, zur weiteren Untersuchung der Rekolonisierung sollte und kann die Versuchsdauer für zukünftige Studien verlängert werden.

'Opposing Desires' delves deeply into the contentious practices of the South Korean anti-LGBT movement, investigating its roots, framing strategies, transnational ties, and political endeavors. In times of right-wing populists gaining traction worldwide, this case study offers new insights into the cunning ways conservative Christians engage in both continuous and dynamic action forms to gain societal and political hegemony. Sociologists, political scientists and practitioners alike will discover how this dynamic continuity runs like a thread through anti-LGBT politics in Korea, displaying not just another far-right success story, but unveiling also contradictions and internal conflicts.

This thesis examines the role of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as spaces of resistance and transformation of the hegemonic food system in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. Embedded in critical debates about food movements and social innovations as dynamics that can counter intersectional food inequalities in processes of socio ecological transformation of the food and agrarian system (Motta 2021a, 2021b) this study combines the diverse economies approach (Gibson-Graham 1996, 2006) with Foucault's concept of heterotopias (2005) as sites of resistance. It aims to contribute both theoretically and empirically to understanding how CSA can create food heterotopias, influencing the (re)production of new subjectivities. Positioned at the intersection of food studies, social movement studies, and diverse economies studies, this research employs a multi-method qualitative approach in a case study of a CSA cooperative. This includes ethnography, interviews, content and discourse analysis, conducted during fieldwork between 2020-2023. The fieldwork involved participant and online observations, participation in various cooperative events, and a working stay on the farm. The findings highlight the significance of creating alternative spaces where food practices are guided by principles of solidarity, cooperation, care, social justice, and diversity, to transform food system based on conventional forms of enterprise, labor, and transactions. Furthermore, this research underscores the necessity of adopting feminist perspectives in research to address the intersections of social categories such as race, nationality/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation in food and interspecies relations.

Redox biomolecules play vital roles in many biological processes, where their level relates to the occurrence and progression of various diseases. Inorganic fluorescent nanoprobes have been widely used for biomedical studies in the last decades due to their tunable optical properties and outstanding photostability. Furthermore, recent advances show their diagnostic potential for in vitro quantification or in vivo imaging of redox biomolecules, which can provide essential information to guide treatment. However, there are two recognized bottlenecks in this research field. On the one hand, many nanoprobes lack robustness in biologically relevant environments due to their sensitivity to temperature, humidity, or oxygen, which is unfavorable for their production and especially their application. On the other hand, all current research on nanoprobe-guided treatment remains at the stage of evaluating therapeutic efficiency, overlooking the impact of individual differences, such as tumor depth and microenvironment, which leads to significant under- and over-treatment. In this thesis, the robustness of inorganic fluorescent nanoprobes has been improved by designing a thermostable recognition group or developing a novel confined flash (conFlash) synthesis method. In addition, a customized phototherapeutic strategy has been devised to minimize the individual differences of for example tumor environment during treatment. In Chapter 2, I applied engineered enzymes to replace the traditional natural enzymes as recognition groups on inorganic fluorescent nanoprobes, which allows their storage at an elevated temperature of 37 °C for 10 days and maintains a serodiagnostic accuracy of >95% within this period. Moreover, I established the conFlash method to prepare stable nanofilm of perovskite quantum dots (PQD) under ambient conditions, combining perovskite synthesis, crystallization, and polymer protection in a single step within milliseconds. By marrying with thermostable engineered enzymes, for the first time, I could realize serodiagnosis by using PQD nanofilms. Next, in Chapter 3, aiming at the individual difference of intratumoral glutathione (GSH) level, I proposed a customized phototherapeutic strategy by using lanthanide-doped nanoprobes with multiple fluorescence channels. The orthogonal fluorescence channels indicate the distribution, intratumoral GSH level, and eigen temperature (E.T.) of the nanoprobe, respectively. This provides sufficient information to predict the photothermal heat generation by the nanoprobes, which accumulated in the tumors, under different laser prescriptions. By using customized laser prescriptions, the temperature could be precisely controlled in an efficacious range (42 – 45 °C), allowing photothermal-based therapy with both high efficiency and reduced risk of over-therapy. Finally, I expanded this customization strategy to regulate the tumor sensitivity to hyperthermia in Chapter 4. A specificially functionalized nanoprobe can load more hydrophilic heat shock protein (HSP) 90 inhibitor (~389.8 μg mg-1) than the traditional ones (~88.9 μg mg-1) by forming a hydrogen bond network with the surrounding environment through an encapsulated heteropolymetalate guest. With the assessment of tumor depth by fluorescence, an irradiation prescription can be customized to release sufficient HSP90 inhibitor and generate heat for sensitized photothermal treatment of tumors, which not only ensured therapeutic efficacy but also minimized damage to the surrounding tissues. In conclusion, the strategies proposed in this thesis provide practical solutions to the current challenges in robustness of nanoprobes and precise theranostics of diseases. Furthermore, the presented approaches will also guide future sustainable development of inorganic fluorescent nanoprobes for diagnostics and treatment.

Volatile cycles are crucial feedback processes balancing Earth´s chemical and physical systems. The outgassing of volatiles such as H-C-O (hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen) is an essential source for the formation of the atmosphere and hydro- sphere. These reservoirs significantly shaped the Earth´s surface and transformed our planet into a habitable environment. Especially on early Earth, hot mantle temperatures led to vigorous convection, resulting in enhanced volcanism and volatile outgassing. However, hydrous conditions in the mantle are proposed to be required to develop the continental crust, another major player in shaping the Earth´s surface and determining its evolution. This renders the recycling of volatiles a critical sink, rehydrating the mantle. Volatile cycles stabilize the global climate (by maintaining clement conditions) and influence physical and chemical mantle properties (e.g., oxygen fugacity, solidus temperature, viscosity, and den- sity). All these processes and feedback mechanisms render investigating volatile cycles essential for geology and natural sciences in general. In this thesis, I focus on three research questions regarding H-C-O cycling from an observational, theoretical, and modeling point of view: • How did the mantle redox state affect volatile outgassing on early Earth and vice versa? • What are the relative amounts of H2O and CO2 that can be released from an intrusive system on (early) Earth? • Which parameters influence the deep recycling of water, the melt generation, and the water-melt ascent? The Earth´s redox state (considered crucial for the emergence of life) is significantly influenced by volatile cycles and conversely. To answer the first research question of this thesis, I review the accretion and partitioning of volatiles on early Earth. Additionally, I investigate the H-C-O contribution to the early atmosphere. Here, I consider intrusive and extrusive volatile release, including the redox state of the melt, by combining my newly developed RICH (Release of Intrusive CO2 and H2O) code with the volatile speciation code of Caroline Brachmann. The results reveal that the proportions of outgassed volatiles can vary considerably for intrusive versus extrusive systems and for distinct oxygen fugacities. Finally, I discuss the mechanisms that have led to a delayed accumulation of free oxygen in Earth´s atmosphere (e.g., subaerial outgassing of oxidized or burial of reduced species). The primary source of Earth´s atmosphere is volatile outgassing (intrusive and extrusive). As previous publications have already investigated extrusive out- gassing, the second study of this thesis focuses in detail on intrusive volatile release and its potential contribution to the (early) atmosphere. For this purpose, I developed the RICH code that calculates the solubility, accumulation (due to fractional crystallization), and release of H2O and CO2 from an intrusive melt. Furthermore, this study considers the buoyancy of the melt and the uptake of OH via the formation of hydrous phases. I found that about 0 - 85 % of H2O and 100 % of CO2 can be released from intrusive systems depending on the initial volatile content, the buoyancy of the melt, and the formation of hydrous minerals. These results indicate that the total outgassing on Earth is likely underestimated if intrusive volatile release (including fractional crystallization and repartitioning of volatiles in the system) is neglected. Therefore, the process of fractional crystallization and the resulting release of volatiles from intrusions are crucial in estimating outgassing fluxes on rocky planets, including Earth. Closing the volatile cycle, recycling is the essential volatile sink process, returning volatiles to the Earth´s interior. To investigate the depth to which water can be recycled and water outgassing during subduction, I enhanced a 2D numerical convection code, simulating a subduction process. The innovative features of this third study are the coupling of the dehydration calculation with that of the melt generation and the introduction of a saturation efficiency factor. This factor controls the proportion of excess water reacting with the surrounding rock. One result of this study is that the saturation efficiency factor significantly influences the extent of the (water-saturated) melt ascent. If the water that reacts with the surrounding rock exceeds 40 %, the water-saturated melt does not reach the surface (within the maximum simulation time of 50 Myr). Furthermore, the ascent of the water-saturated melt is facilitated by comparatively high initial water contents, high dip angles, and low plate velocities. In contrast, the deep recycling of water is favored by low dip angles, high plate velocities, and comparatively low initial upper mantle temperatures. In summary, this thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding of volatile cycles by investigating the sources (outgassing) and sinks (recycling). Specifically, it reveals the importance of intrusive volatile release and the redox state for total outgassing on early Earth. Regarding volatile recycling, the thesis highlights the significance of the water-melt ascent as an essential process forming arc volcanism.

Die Körperhaftigkeit der Werkzeichnungen (1963-1974) von Franz Erhard Walther und ihre Bedeutung für das Gesamtwerk des Künstlers wurde vielfach unterschätzt.

Lucia Schreyer nimmt sich dieser beidseitigen Blätter an, in denen Sprache und Bild ineinandergreifen und die auf Erlebnissen und Vorstellungen bei der Handlung mit den 58 Werkstücken des 1. Werksatzes (1963-1969) beruhen. Dabei zeichnet sie ihre spannungsreiche Entwicklungsgeschichte zwischen Zensur und Emanzipation im ideologischen Zeitgeist der Konzeptkunst nach und stellt fest: Ihre Ambivalenz und Resistenz gegenüber tradierten Kunstformen steht für eine autonome künstlerische Sprache, in der die dialektische Verbindung von Gegensätzen gedacht wird.

The accessibility of chromatin is a prerequisite for regulatory elements in a cell to carry out their role in gene regulation in a dynamic and cell type-specific manner. Various methods have been developed to investigate the accessibility of chromatin. Initially, techniques were developed for an entirety of cells (“bulk”), but with technological progress, methods were also developed to determine the accessibility of chromatin at the single-cell level. One of the popular techniques to measure chromatin accessibility at single-cell resolution is scATAC-seq. While the resulting data holds promising insights for unraveling the heterogeneity that bulk measurements cannot capture, annotating cell types in scATAC-seq data remains a challenging task. Current methods typically translate the accessibility of a gene to its expression levels and rely on methods developed for scRNA-seq data for cell-type annotation. Given that gene expression is regulated in a highly complex manner, this assumption may not always hold true and does not fully exploit the unique characteristics of the scATAC-seq modality. In this thesis, we developed a novel method for cell-type annotation in scATAC-seq datasets that we call scATAcat. Our method leverages a large number of characterized bulk ATAC-seq data to annotate scATAC-seq data without relying on biological assumptions. When compared to existing methods across various datasets, scATAcat demonstrates better or comparable performance. Although the main focus of this thesis is on cell-type annotation in scATAC-seq data, we also discuss and provide a comprehensive guide to other challenges in scATAC-seq data analysis.

The present volume is the systematic analysis of the chronostratigraphic occupational sequence and spatial organization of the Lower Town South excavation sample of the third millennium BCE at Tell Leilan, northeastern Syria. Tell Leilan is located along the wadi Jarrah on the Khabur Plains where 440 mm annual precipitation can generate extensive cereal agricultural surpluses. The deployment of these surpluses assisted Leilan’s swift growth from a fifteen hectare town to a ninety hectare city at ca 2700 BCE, when the city was known as Shekhna, and its subsequent reorganization as the regional capital, Shubat Enlil, at the post-collapse Amorite resettlement of the region in the early 19th century BCE. Tell Leilan was investigated between 1978 and 2008 by the Yale University Tell Leilan Project with seven seasons of excavation designed to sample the topographically distinct Acropolis and Lower Town, and four seasons of the Leilan Region Survey across 1650 square kilometers, north to south from the Turkish to the Iraqi frontiers. The Tell Leilan occupational sequence spanned the mid-fifth millennium to the 19th century BCE, while the Leilan Region Survey quantified settlement from the early Neolithic to the Islamic periods. The Lower Town South excavation exposed six hundred square meters of third millennium residential occupation on each side of a planned street. The general stratigraphic sequence and organization of the area was published in Weiss 1990, with 15 radiocarbon dates in Weiss et al. 1993, and a schematic doctoral dissertation in Senior 1998. The present doctoral thesis refines and finalizes the chronostratigraphic history of the Leilan Lower Town South: 1) the analysis and description of the stratigraphy and architecture of the 600 m2 area based on the excavation field notes, stratigraphic sections, topographic plans, and the excavation’s photographic record; 2) the generation of 24 new cereal grain radiocarbon dates, flotation-retrieved during the 1989 excavations, with OxCal calibration and modelling, using a total of 38 Lower Town South radiocarbon dates; 3) the analysis of the stratigraphically retrieved ceramic assemblages, ca. 2100 diagnostic sherds and profiles, to produce a new typology and a quantified ceramic chronology. The resulting relative and absolute sequence spans 500 years, from ca. 2700 to 2200/2150 cal. BCE, and provides detailed correlations with the contemporary occupations on the Leilan Acropolis and the northern City Gate, with their ceramic assemblage sequences and their radiocarbon dates. The Tell Leilan Lower Town radiocarbon-dated occupations, LTS/domestic-workshop, Acropolis/public-official and City Gate/administrative, show that different ceramic types’ distributions are not always chronological but can also be functional/social. The chronology of occupational transformations at Tell Leilan during the 3rd millennium, from initial occupation to terminal abandonment, defined here in six stages, is reflected in Khabur Plains regional settlement history that is now enhanced in detail.

Freshwater ecosystems are highly biodiverse and provide essential ecosystem services, yet they are highly endangered, with approximately one in three freshwater species at risk of extinction due to human activity. Among other taxa, aquatic insects are a significant component of freshwater biodiversity. Their immense intrinsic value derives from their status as the most diverse taxonomic group of animals, encompassing high richness of species and traits and occupying numerous positions within food webs. Because of their different sensitivities to water pollution, they are widely used as bioindicators of ecosystem health. However, delineating the global distributions of aquatic insects has been hindered by the limited availability of species occurrence data and the lack of scalable hydrographic data processing tools that would allow assessing their environmental preferences and mapping their populations. This thesis suggests a novel, open-science approach to assess and map global freshwater biod- iversity at a high spatial resolution, with an emphasis on aquatic insects. My research aims were threefold: i) to create a comprehensive, standardised global dataset of aquatic insect occurrences, ii) to develop intuitive tools for complex hydrographic data processing and provide reproducible workflow examples, and iii) to explore the spatial patterns of ecological niche breadths of aquatic insects at the global scale. Therefore, the thesis is divided into three parts. First, I compiled the Global EPTO Database by standardising 50 datasets of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata georeferenced occurrences at the genus level and attributing them with additional environmental and topographic information. I mapped the global distributions of aquatic insect genera, revealing biodiversity hotspots and knowledge gaps across the different regions of the world. Second, I co-lead the development of the ’hydrographr’ R-package, a tool that enables large-scale freshwater-specific longitudinal connectivity and network analyses, as well as the processing of numerous types of spatial data. Further, I created reproducible workflows of case studies that involve species distribution modelling and network distance and connectivity ana- lyses, aiming to facilitate the use of the package by freshwater ecologists. Third, I explored the large-scale spatial patterns in the ecological niche breadth of aquatic insects using worldwide occurrence records from the Global EPTO Database. The study showed that spatial patterns of assemblage niche breadth are likely shaped by evolutionary origins and dispersal history of EPTO, challenging the common assumption that niches are consistently narrower in species-rich tropical regions. Overall, this thesis represents a valuable contribution to spatial freshwater biodiversity science by providing the first comprehensive and standardised global dataset of aquatic insect occurrences, intuitive tools for complex hydrographic data processing, and novel insights into the spatial patterns of ecological niche breadth of aquatic insects at the global scale. All three outcomes are of high importance in freshwater ecological research, not only by tackling knowledge gaps on global aquatic insect biodiversity distributions, but also by suggesting an integrative approach that can be applied to other freshwater taxa.

Zoonoses are infectious diseases caused e.g. by bacteria and can be transmitted from animals to humans through direct contact, vectors such as mosquitoes or contaminated food. Poultry meat is an important source of transmission for zoonotic bacteria, with Campylobacter and Salmonella being the most common. This poses considerable challenges for food safety, also in view of the fact that poultry consumption will increase worldwide in the future, with Germany being one of the leading producers in the EU. Microbial contamination of poultry meat with Campylobacter or Salmonella can come from various sources, including the environment, live birds and processing plants. Effective risk minimization strategies, monitoring and intervention methods are crucial to ensure the safety of poultry meat. Given the high economic and health burden of campylobacteriosis in the EU, strategies have already been introduced to control Campylobacter along the poultry value chain, e.g. in the form of contamination limits or HACCP concepts. Nevertheless, contaminated meat still finds its way onto the market. Current control strategies need to be reviewed and adapted based on new data. Implementing additional measures at different stages of production can help to minimize the risks associated with bacterial pathogens. Measures may include hygiene practices during slaughtering, logistical slaughter planning and decontamination treatments. Faster, new detection methods can improve the assessment of contamination levels compared to conventional standards as well. The aim of this work was to assess the current state of bacterial contamination in broiler slaughtering and meat storage and to investigate physical decontamination procedures during processing and different detection methods for Campylobacter and Salmonella. In this study, the quantitative contamination of Campylobacter, E. coli and mesophilic bacteria during the broiler slaughter process was analyzed in three large German slaughterhouses. Campylobacter counts on the chicken carcasses decreased from after killing until after chilling, but increased briefly after evisceration before decreasing again until the final processing step. Scalding, plucking, evisceration and chilling were identified as the key processing steps. This trend is consistent with international studies, although the contamination rate for Campylobacter at the end of processing was lower at around 1.6 log10 CFU/ml compared to 2.2 log10 CFU/ml of international studies. Furthermore, the effects of different physical treatments on Campylobacter and Salmonella along the primary broiler processing were analyzed. Recontamination after evisceration and hygiene after the chilling process were identified as intervention points based on the quantitative data analysis of the three German abattoirs. Hot water treatment (20, 70, 75, 80 °C/ 20, 30, 40 s) and cold air treatment with the SafeChill(TM) process (-80 °C, -90 °C/ 20 s, 30 s, 40 s) were carried out in a pilot plant or under industrial conditions, respectively. Hot water treatments resulted in a significant reduction in Campylobacter and Salmonella concentrations of around 1 log10 CFU/ml, with longer and hotter treatments leading to a slightly greater effect. With regard to the sensory appearance, the optimum temperature and exposure time was identified at 70 °C and 30 s treatment. Immersion in room-temperature water alone did not lead to a reduction in pathogens, but did have an effect on the native bacteria (E. coli and TCC). Exposure to -90 °C cold air led to a reduction in Campylobacter concentration of approximately 0.35 to 0.5 log10 CFU/ml, with the duration of exposure having no significant effect on the result. These measures provide a fundament for further investigation in larger trials and may help to reduce the final contamination rate of carcasses after initial processing and thus improve food safety. Finally, we investigated how different packaging methods affect the number of Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli on chicken breast meat. The meat was inoculated with these pathogens, then packaged under modified atmosphere (MAP) or vacuum and stored at different temperatures. 4 °C was selected as the maximum permitted storage temperature and 10 °C as the temperature at which the cold chain was not adequately maintained. The results showed that MAP led to a reduction in the number of Campylobacter compared to vacuum packaging. No significant changes in bacterial counts were observed for Salmonella and E. coli. Native bacteria multiplied faster when stored at 10 °C than at 4 °C, which emphasizes the importance of a continuous cold chain in order to keep poultry meat safe for as long as possible. Detection limits, sample size, detection methods and sample types can affect the comparability of studies and data. The standardized detection method for Campylobacter is the microbial method according to the ISO standard. However, microbiological analyses are associated with uncertainties, especially under stress conditions such as oxygen or heat, which can affect the detection of e.g. Campylobacter. The PMA v-qPCR method can distinguish between live and dead cells and includes an internal sample process control (ISPC) to monitor dead cells and DNA loss. When using this v-qPCR method in the heat treatment and storage experiments, we found inconsistencies between the cultural enumeration and the v-qPCR method for Campylobacter. These results suggest that the processing and storage conditions may induce stress and viable but not culturable (VBNC) states in pathogens, which may affect detection results. To compare the quantitative results of different sample types, whole carcass rinse samples (WCR) were compared with neck skin samples. Higher bacterial counts were found on the neck skin after chilling, whereas the WCRs had better recovery rates for mesophilic bacteria and E. coli before chilling. It can be surmised that the neck skin samples are better suited for detecting bacteria in deeper skin layers, while the WCR can represent the entire surface contamination and fresh recontamination. Both methods provided valuable information on surface contamination and can be used to evaluate measures. Despite the introduction of strict control measures, bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella are still widespread and pose a significant risk to human health. In order to improve hygiene standards in the context of microbiological contamination, it is necessary to establish continuous microbiological testing along the process chain alongside the process hygiene criterium (PHC) and thus improve the monitoring of zoonotic pathogens. The most important processing steps can be further improved through effective decontamination methods such as heat or cold treatments. Current storage conditions primarily extend shelf life but offer only limited decontamination. It is also crucial for food safety that the consumer is made aware of the correct handling of the product. In addition, innovative detection methods, such as v-qPCR, can improve risk assessment to ensure the safety of poultry meat under the One Health umbrella.

In order to transition to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future, a change in power generation is necessary. Reducing CO2 output is a crucial factor to combat climate change. A major contributor to CO2 emissions is the generation of electricity, mainly from coal and lignite combustion, emitting billions of tons of CO2 every year. Additionally, coal and lignite are fossil fuels and therefore are not replenishable in human time frames. One solution to this problem is firing existing power plants with biomass as a substitute. This has the advantage of both being a renewable energy source and significantly reducing CO2 emissions. However, the use of biomass can cause issues within the reactor by corroding the super heater tubes. This phenomenon occurs due to the chemical differences between biomass and coal, as well as the composition of super heater tubes, which were engineered to withstand coal combustion, not biomass combustion. During the firing of biomass, salt deposits form on the surface of the steel, quickly corroding the underlying metal. This hinders the efficiency and lifetime of super heater tubes, requiring replacement and causing excessive costs.

In this work, model alloys, designed after commercially utilized steels, are investigated in varying environmental conditions. One ferritic alloy (Fe-13Cr, similar to X20 steel) and two ferritic-austenitic alloys(Fe-18Cr-12Ni (similar to TP347H), Fe-25Cr-20Ni (similar to HR3C)) are exposed to experimental temperatures of 560°C. The corrosion attack is investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to determine the structure and elemental distribution of both alloy and the forming scale. Phase composition of the scale is determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermodynamic boundary conditions are calculated using FactSage.

A common phenomenon observed in biomass combustion is the formation of KCl deposits. Therefore the effect of KCl deposits on steel corrosion is investigated in chapter 2. For these experiments steels are tested in a SO2 bearing atmosphere with and without KCl deposits. Steels without KCl show good corrosion resistance in the form of a thin Cr2O3 layer. Samples with KCl deposits show a multilayered scale comprised of metal sulfides and oxides. The alloy composition also shows a large impact, with higher alloyed steels showing stronger Cr depletion and Ni bearing samples exhibiting large internal corrosion for samples with KCl.

The third chapter studies the initial growth (5h) of the scale in samples with and without KCl coating using synchrotron radiation. The initial formation of the scale is important, since some phases only exist for a short time before reacting further. This allows for a better understanding of the corrosion mechanism and how KCl impacts the scale growth. The impact of alloy composition and different microstructure of the alloys was studied. Samples without KCl coating showed a protective scale of Cr2O3 throughout the experimental length. All samples coated with KCl showed a weight gain about one order of magnitude higher than their non-coated counterpart. This increase in weight gain is linked to the higher proportion of formed Fe-oxides and higher Fe/Cr ratios in mixed (Fe,Cr)2O3. The coated samples also show a large Cr depletion towards the surface for highly alloyed samples. This prevents the formation of new Cr2O3 after possible spallation events. The results show that KCl is detrimental for all sampled steels and that highly alloyed Ni bearing steels aren't beneficial in this kind of environment, with Fe-13Cr performing the best.

The fourth chapter studies the impact of humidity on the corrosion behavior in biomass fired power plants. To simulate the impact, Fe-18Cr-12Ni, with KCl deposits, is exposed at 560°C in either laboratory air or SO2. In each atmosphere one experiment is performed under dry conditions while a second one is conducted under humid conditions. This variation in humidity represents both the possible range of humidity from different biomass sources as well as the possibility of influencing the humidity artificially by drying the biomass. In dry lab air the sample showed about double the weight gain and porosity when compared to humid air. In SO2 bearing atmosphere the difference is even more pronounced. The dry sample showed a scale width about one order of magnitude larger than the humid counterpart. Additionally, the dry sample showed internal corrosion, which wasn't observed in the humid sample. The better performance of Fe-18Cr-12Ni is linked to the chlorine compounds found in this environment. H2O allows for the formation of HCl, instead of Cl2, which has a lower reaction rate with steels. When SO2 is present, the H2O facilitates the formation of K2SO4, which together with Cr2O3 form a protective layer preventing further scale growth. These results show that artificial drying is counterproductive for biomass combustion and significantly accelerates the corrosion attack.

The genus Chlamydia comprises eleven pathogenic species, including the human specific, sexually transmitted pathogen C. trachomatis and the zoonotic pathogen C. psittaci, that causes lung infections. During their intracellular development, Chlamydia exist in two distinct forms, the infectious elementary bodies (EBs) and the metabolizing and replicating reticulate bodies (RBs). Intracellular development initiates with the invasion of EBs, which differentiate to RBs inside of a membrane-bound compartment, the chlamydial inclusion. RBs abuse host cellular metabolites to replicate. After redifferentiation to EBs, they egress from the host to start a new round of infection. Two chlamydial egress forms were described in the past: Lytic egress and Chlamydia-specific, non-lytic extrusion formation. In the first part of this study, the intracellular development of C. psittaci in HeLa cells was investigated. It was shown that EB to RB differentiation was completed at 12 hours post infection (h pi) and RB replication initiates. At 24 h pi, RB redifferentiation to EB started and at 34 h pi, similar amounts of EBs, RBs and intermediate forms were present in the inclusion. Starting at 42 h pi, most of the bacteria were in EB form and the infectivity reached a maximum, suggesting to perform egress studies at this time point. In the following part of this study, it was shown that C. psittaci uses a previously not characterized egress pathway, the formation of Chlamydia-containing spheres (CCS). CCS formation is a sequential process starting with proteolytic cleavage of an Aspartate-Glutamate-Valine-Aspartate (DEVD) tetrapeptide-containing substrate that can be detected inside of the chlamydial inclusions, followed by an increase in the intracellular calcium concentration of the infected epithelial cell. Subsequently, blebbing of the plasma membrane begins, the inclusion membrane destabilizes and the proteolytic cleavage of a DEVD-containing substrate increases rapidly within the whole infected cell. Finally, infected, blebbing cells detach and leave the monolayer thereby forming CCS. CCS contain infectious progeny and morphologically impaired cellular organelles and are surrounded by a phosphatidyl serine exposing membrane with specific barrier functions for TrypanRed or SYTOX Green. Interestingly, no extrusion formation was observed for C. psittaci infections, while CCS formation was the predominating egress type. In addition, CCS formation was also observed for C. trachomatis. Next, investigations about the inclusion membrane stabilization during intracellular development mediated by the human ceramide transport protein CERT and about the inclusion membrane destabilization during CCS formation were realized. It was shown that CERT is recruited to the bacterial inclusion during intracellular development, while at late infection timepoints before CCS formation, this recruitment was not observed. An early lack of CERT at the inclusion membrane drove the formation of premature CCS containing non-infectious bacteria. Finally, the lipidome of C. psittaci-infected HeLa cells during intracellular development and before host cell egress was investigated. It was shown that both, during intracellular development and during egress, increased concentration of phospholipid species with saturated, odd chain fatty acids were found, suggesting that they are a general characteristic of chlamydial infection. Before egress, the amount of specific phospholipids species comprising shorter fatty acids was increased, suggesting that they are a specific characteristic of late infections. Taken together, this study shows that egress by CCS formation is a relevant part of the chlamydial developmental cycle. CCS formation depends on both, bacterial and host cellular factors, as a putative bacterial DEVD-cleaving protease and a CERT-recruiting factor or as the ceramide transporter CERT, calcium signaling and lipid metabolism, respectively. The zoonic pathogen C. psittaci and the human-specific pathogen C. trachomatis apply different egress strategies with CCS formation being the predominant egress pathway of C. psittaci. This suggests that the different biology of the different Chlamydia spp. including host tropism, protection from host cell defense mechanisms or bacterial pathogenicity could possibly be linked to different egress strategies.

This dissertation consists of four chapters that contribute to the literature on gender and labor economics. More specifically, this dissertation contributes to exploring the role of women as corporate leaders in the labor market and in firms, examining the causes and consequences of women's (under)representation in management, and understanding the interaction of these factors with gender stereotypes. Chapter 2 documents the underrepresentation of women as leaders of German companies by presenting data from the DIW Women Executives Barometer, the most comprehensive data collection on women's representation on supervisory and executive boards in Germany, which was recently made available for scientific research. The data shows that, despite progress in recent years, women remain underrepresented on both supervisory and executive boards in Germany, with shares ranging from 33 to 38 percent on supervisory boards and 14 to 23 percent on executive boards of the largest publicly listed companies as of the end of 2023. Women's representation is even lower among chairs of executive or supervisory boards of these companies, with values below 10 percent in all groups assessed. The DIW Women Executives Barometer is then used as a data source for further work in Chapter 3.

Chapter 3 examines how women and men on German company boards are portrayed in the media and explores the relationship between this coverage and gender stereotypes. By providing initial evidence on gender differences and stereotypes in newspaper coverage of board members through quantitative text analysis of more than 45,000 newspaper articles, this chapter expands our understanding of stereotypes as barriers to women’s career advancement and shaping public perception of female leaders through media coverage. In regularized regressions, terms related to family and social interaction predict articles about women, while terms related to power and competition, as well as to failure, scandals, and adversity, predict articles about men. An association of women with family and men with careers is further shown using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (tf-idf) and word embeddings. Additionally, agentic language depicting male stereotypes like success-orientation is more prevalent for men, while communal language related to female stereotypes like caregiving is more associated with women. Economists' view of gender stereotypes as a form of statistical discrimination suggests that stereotypes in the portrayal of female managers in newspapers should decrease over time as more women attain board positions and information asymmetries about their characteristics diminish. However, I find no clear-cut changes in newspaper coverage in the analyzed articles over the period from 2010 to 2022. Further, in the context of statistical discrimination, gender differences in newspaper coverage would arise if they correctly reflect gender differences in aggregate distributions of managers' characteristics. I assess demographics and previously unanalyzed psychological traits of managers from representative data of the German population, finding that female managers are less likely to be married or have children than male managers. There is no evidence for gender gaps in agency among managers. Thus, the stereotyped representation of board members in newspapers to a large extent does not seem to reflect aggregate distributions of characteristics of women and men in these positions, providing little support for an explanation based on statistical discrimination.

Chapter 4 then asks to what extent gender stereotypes in newspaper coverage of company board members affect perception and economic decision-making of newspaper readers. Taking the result from Chapter 3 that more family-related language is used in newspaper articles on female than male company leaders as a starting point, we assess this question in a randomized online experiment. We show participants articles consisting of elements from real newspaper coverage on a real company and its CEO, varying whether and how information about their family is presented. We then ask participants incentivized questions on their perception of the CEO's competence (measured by expected `survival' in the firm and their rating by employees on Glassdoor), the firm's performance on the stock market, and to make a decision on an investment in the firm. We find that expected firm performance substantially differs by CEO gender with participants being less likely to believe in better stock performance in the year after compared to the year before CEO appointment for female CEOs. Although expected stock performance does not differ by CEO coverage, investments in the firm's stock are significantly lower for female CEOs when their family is neutrally mentioned. However, highlighting the successful management of family and career as a trade-off for female CEOs does not result in less favorable investment decisions. The treatment effects are most pronounced for female respondents and parents. Further, we find that women expect female CEOs to be rated worse by their employees, in particular for the treatment highlighting a trade-off between family and career, while male participants perceive an employee bonus for female CEOs in the trade-off treatment compared to female CEOs without a family mention. There is no effect of stereotypical coverage on CEO `survival' over a two or five year horizon. Through quantitative analyses of free-text questions, we find that considerations about family and gender play a role in respondents' reasoning.

Finally, Chapter 5 focuses on spillover effects of female leadership by assessing the causal impact of women's representation in management on labor market outcomes of their direct subordinates on the establishment level. We investigate the influence of women's representation in first- and second-level management on the gender pay gap among employees in German establishments. To this end, we estimate a panel model with establishment fixed effects and industry-specific time dummies based on Linked-Employer-Employee data from the years 2004 to 2018. Our results show that a higher share of women in management significantly reduces the gender pay gap within the establishment. An increase in the share of women in first-level management from zero to above 33 percent decreases the adjusted gender pay gap from a baseline of 15 percent by 1.2 percentage points, i.e. to roughly 14 percent. The effect is stronger for women in second-level compared to first-level management, indicating that female managers with closer interactions with their subordinates have a higher impact on the gender pay gap than women on higher management levels. Notably, the results are very similar for East and West Germany, despite the lower gender pay gap and more gender-egalitarian social norms in East Germany. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that increasing the presence of women in management positions has the potential to reduce the gender pay gap to some extent. However, further policy measures will be necessary to fully close the gender gap in pay.

Eisen ist ein essenzielles Spurenelement für Mensch und Tier. Neben der wichtigen Rolle in Transport- und Funktionsproteinen (Hämoglobin und Myoglobin) kommt Eisen zudem eine entscheidende Rolle in enzymatischen Prozessen sowie bei der Bildung von Zytochromen zu. Durch die potenzielle Bildung von reaktiven Sauerstoffradikalen hat Eisen im Stoffwechsel ein toxisches Potential, welches durch die Kontrolle von Aufnahme, Speicherung, Transport, Verteilung und Ausscheidung gezielt reguliert wird. Der Eisenmangel in Form der Eisenmangelanämie steht beim Kalb im Vordergrund. Adulte Rinder zeigen auf Grund von ubiquitär vorkommenden Eisen im Boden, des im Vergleich zum Bedarf ausreichenden Eisengehalts im Futter sowie eines geringen Eisenbedarfs keine primäre Unterversorgung. Vielmehr kommt es häufig zur Eisenüberversorgung. Ursächlich hierfür ist ein hoher Eisengehalt im Futter. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Eisenstoffwechsel von Milchkühen. Zunächst wurde der Eisengehalt von Einzelfuttermitteln und der Gesamtration (TMR) zur Beurteilung der nutritiven Eisenversorgungslage der Milchkuhherden ausgewertet. Danach wurden die Eisenkonzentrationen in verschiedenen diagnostischen Probenmedien (Kot, Blutserum, Blutplasma, Vollblut, Harn, Haare) sowie die Parameter des roten Blutbilds (Hämatokrit, Hämoglobinkonzentration, Erythrozytenzahl), Zusammenhänge zwischen und Einflussfaktoren auf (Untersuchungsjahr, Jahreszeit, Bundesland, Laktationsgruppe) den Eisengehalt in diesen Medien statistisch analysiert. Als Ziel sollten Empfehlungen zur diagnostischen Beurteilung der nutritiven und der metabolischen Eisenversorgungslage von Milchkühen herausgearbeitet werden. Zur Auswertung lagen drei Datensätze vor. Sie wurden im Rahmen der Bestandsbetreuung der Klinik für Klauentiere der Freien Universität Berlin erhoben. Der Probenzeitraum erstreckte sich von 1996 bis 2020. Die Eisenkonzentration wurde in Einzelfuttermittelproben (n = 5263), TMR-Proben (n = 2129), Kotproben (n = 600), Blutserumproben (n = 5990), Blutplasmaproben (n = 1597), Vollblutproben (n = 989), Harnproben (n = 2052), Haarproben (n = 698) mit zertifizierten Methoden analysiert. Zusätzlich wurde in Vollblutproben (n = 5927) der Hämatokrit, der Hämoglobingehalt und die Erythrozytenzahl gemessen. Die Entnahme der Kot-, Blut-, Harn- und Haarproben erfolgte nach einem spezifischen Stichprobenverfahren mit dem Gruppierungsmerkmal Laktationsstatus (frühe Trockenstehperiode = 8 bis 3 Wochen a.p., Vorbereitungsperiode = 3 bis 0 Wochen a.p., 0 bis 1 Woche p.p., 0 bis 5 Wochen p.p., 3 bis 5 Wochen p.p., 15 bis 18 Wochen p.p.). In Abhängigkeit von der Herdengröße wurden vier oder fünf Gruppen pro Bestand beprobt. Analysiert wurden gepoolte Proben von je 10 Kühen pro Gruppe und somit entsprechen die Einzelwerte in den Datensätzen den Mittelwerten der Untersuchungsgruppen. Mit Hilfe des Programms IBM® SPSS Statistics, Version 29.0 wurde mit den Standardverfahren für alle Untersuchungsgrößen die deskriptive Statistik durchgeführt. Die analytische Statistik bezieht Korrelations-, Regressions- und Varianzanalysen ein. Die Kalkulation der Referenzwerte basiert auf dem nichtparametrischen Verfahren über die Berechnung der 2,5-97,5-Interperzentilbereiche. Der Eisengehalt in den analysierten Futtermitteln variierte über den weiten Bereich von 10 bis 36952 mg/kg TS (Median 276 mg/kg TS). In den für die Rationszusammenstellung wichtigen Futtermittelgruppen betrugen die 2,5-97,5-Interperzentilbereiche der Eisenkonzentrationen für Silagen 50 bis 1137 mg/kg TS, Stroh 24 bis 834 mg/kg TS, Getreide 26 bis 902 mg/kg TS, Proteinfuttermittel 53 bis 704 mg/kg TS und für Mineralstoffgemische 575 bis 24792 mg/TS. Grassilagen enthielten eine hohe (Median 415 mg/TS, 2,5%-97,5%-Bereich 125 bis 1561 mg/kg TS), Maissilagen eine moderate (Median 75 mg/kg TS, 2,5%-97,5%-Bereich 40 bis 243 mg/kg TS) Eisenkonzentration. Für die Futterrationsberechnung sind für mengenmäßig relevante Futtermittel nicht Tabellenwerte, sondern die korrekt analysierten Eisenkonzen-trationen heranzuziehen. Eine Eisenergänzung über das Mineralstoffgemisch ist obsolet. In keiner der 2129 TMR-Proben wurde eine Eisenunterversorgung (Bedarf 50 bis 100 mg/kg TS) festgestellt, nur in zwei (= 0,1%) der TMR-Proben lag der Eisengehalt zwischen 50 bis 100 mg/kg TS. Milchkuhrationen sind durch eine Eisenüberversorgung (99,9% der TMR-Pro-ben) gekennzeichnet. Ab einem Eisengehalt von 250 mg/kg TS beginnen negative Effekte der Eisenüberversorgung auf die Tiergesundheit (iron stress). Dieser Wert ist in der praktischen Rationsgestaltung schwer einzuhalten. Als Kompromiss sollte über die gezielte Futtermittel-auswahl die Eisenkonzentration in der Gesamtration unter 400 mg/kg TS bleiben. 687 (= 32%) der TMR-Proben überschritten diesen Grenzwert. Das unterstreicht die Bedeutung der regelmäßigen Überwachung der Eisenversorgung von Milchkuhherden im Rahmen der veterinärmedizinischen Bestandsbetreuung. Die TMR-Analyse kann als Methode der Wahl zur Beurteilung und Kontrolle der nutritiven Eisenversorgungslage empfohlen werden. Neben dem Eisen aus den Einzelfuttermitteln werden auch sekundäre Eiseneinträge (Erd- und Schmutzeintrag aus der Umwelt, Eisenablösungen von technischen Geräten wie dem Mischwagen) erfasst. Alternativ geben Kotanalysen Auskunft zur nutritiven Eisenversorgungslage, wobei zusätzlich zur TMR-Analyse auch die Eisenaufnahme über das Trinkwasser und aus dem Belecken von Gegenständen und dem Fressen von Erde gemessen wird. Zwischen der Eisenkonzentration in TMR- und Kotproben bestand ein hoch signifikanter linearer Zusammenhang (r = 0,667, b = 2,24, n = 544). Blutserum ist ein laboranalytisches Untersuchungsmedium zur Beurteilung der kurzfristigen (Tage) metabolischen Eisenversorgungslage und der Verwendung von Blutplasma und Vollblut vorzuziehen. Allerdings wird die Blutserumeisenkonzentration von verschiedenen Einflussfaktoren signifikant verändert. Ein starker Faktor ist die Untersuchungsgruppe, die den Laktationszeit-punkt repräsentiert. In den ersten 5 Laktationswochen sinken die Eisenkonzentrationen im 7.Zusammenfassung 112 Blutserum (Blutplasma, Vollblut) signifikant als Reaktion auf infektiöse und entzündliche Prozesse. Blutserumproben zur Beurteilung der metabolischen Eisenversorgungslage sind im Zeitraum ab 15 Wochen p.p. bis zur Trockenstehperiode zu entnehmen. Ein vom Laktationsstatus unabhängiger Parameter zur Beurteilung der mittelfristigen (Wochen bis Monate) metabolischen Versorgungslage ist die Eisenkonzentration im Erythrozyten (im Hämatokrit, im Hämoglobin). Dieser neue Parameter bedarf der weiteren wissenschaftlichen Bearbeitung. Das trifft auch für die Eisenkonzentration im Harn zu. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für die Möglichkeit der aussagekräftigen Wiedergabe der metabolischen Eisenüberversor-gung. Der Haaranalyse kommt in der Beurteilung der Eisenversorgung keine Bedeutung zu. Abschließend wurden Referenzbereiche unter Berücksichtigung des Einflusses der Laktationsgruppen kalkuliert.

In dieser Arbeit wird ein proteoliposomaler membranspannungssensitiver Assay mittels biophysikalischer Methoden entwickelt, charakterisiert und angewendet. Dieser Assay ermöglicht die direkte Untersuchung der Membranpotentialentwicklung von membranständigen Ionenpumpen, wie der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase. Dazu wurden einige Fluoreszenzaufbauten neu konzipiert, um diese Methoden anwenden zu können. Zur molekularen Charakterisierung des Assays wurde ein geeigneter membranständiger Spannungssensor identifiziert, hier Varianten von Archaerhodopsin-3 aus Archaebakterien. Der Mechanismus, der die Abhängigkeit der Spannungssensitivität und der Fluoreszenzänderung bewirkt, wurde mittels Absorption- und Fluoreszenztechniken untersucht. Nach Auswahl einer geeigneten Variante, Archon 1, wurde dieses Protein in Bakterien und Proteoliposomen mittels (zeitaufgelöster) Fluoreszenztechniken weiterführend charakterisiert. Anschließend wurde sein Einbau und seine Funktionsweise mittels Fluoreszenzlebenszeitmikroskopie und totaler interner Reflektion Fluoreszenzmikroskopie (TIRF) im proteoliposomalen Assay untersucht, und der Mechanismus der Signalweiterleitung anhand von zwei Punktmutationen weiter untersucht. Dabei konnte der Mechanismus als statisches Quenching identifiziert werden, wahrscheinlich bedingt durch benachbarte Tryptophane. Als zu untersuchendes spannungsgenerierendes System diente die Cytochrom-c-Oxidase aus Paracoccus denitrificans. Vor der Verwendung im liposomalen Assay wurde der Einbau in Liposomen analysiert und charakterisiert. Hierzu wurde ein alternierendes Laseranregungssystem aufgebaut, um Einzelmolekül-FRET zu etablieren. Basierend auf diesen Untersuchungen konnte der Assay genutzt werden, um den Aufbau der Membranspannung durch den Protonentransport der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase zu untersuchen. Die initiale Aufnahme eines Elektrons von Cytochrom-c und der Elektronenweiterleitung an das aktive Zentrum der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase wurde mittels zeitaufgelöster Absorptionsspektroskopie untersucht. Hierfür wurde der Spektroskopie-Aufbau durch ein neues Anregungssystem und einer Erweiterung der Software verbessert, um das schwache Elektronensignal am Häm a der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase zu registrieren. Der Assay wird auf Varianten der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase angewendet, um mögliche Einwirkungen auf Protonenaufnahme und -abgabe zu untersuchen. Die Mutationsstellen dieser Varianten befinden sich an der Oberfläche der Cytochrom-c-Oxidase. Die Untersuchung von einigen Varianten zeigen ein verändertes Membranpotential im Vergleich zum Wildtyp. Ebenso wird die direkte Interaktion von Doxorubicin, einem Krebsmedikament das auch Veränderungen in der zellulären Atmungskette hervorruft, mit Cytochrom-c-Oxidase zum ersten Mal identifiziert. Ich konnte hierbei die Veränderung der generierten Membranspannung bedingt durch Mutationen und Inhibitor zeigen und mögliche zugrunde liegende Mechanismen der Funktionalität aufzeigen.

Qualitative Forschung hat eine lange Tradition in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften und wurde lange in der medizinischen Forschung wenig beachtet. In den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten erfolgte ein Wandel, so erlebt qualitative Forschung und Mixed Methods Research nun zunehmende Aufmerksamkeit auch in der medizinischen Forschung. So können kausale Zusammenhänge durch quantitative Methoden und subjektorientiertes, praxisnahes Verstehen durch qualitative Methoden gleichermaßen erfasst werden.

Diese Habilitationsschrift hat zum Ziel qualitative Forschung in konventioneller und Integrativer Medizin mit der Bedeutung des Persönlichen, Individuellen und Interaktiven darzulegen. Darüber hinaus zielt sie darauf ab, die Bedeutung von Mixed Methods Research mit ihrer Vielfältigkeit der Erkenntnisse durch die Anwendung von verschiedenen Forschungsmethoden und ihren unterschiedlichen Perspektiven vorzustellen. In dieser Schrift wurden zwei qualitative Projekte und zwei Projekte im Mixed Methods Design vorgestellt und diskutiert. Dabei wurden verschiedene qualitative Methoden (Einzelinterviews, Gruppendiskussionen in Form von World Café und Fokusgruppen und teilnehmende Beobachtung) allein, in Kombination im Within Methods-Ansatz oder in einem Mixed Methods Design, also unter Anwendung von qualitativen und quantitativen Methoden, genutzt. Alle vorgestellten Projekte fokussieren sich dabei vor allem auf Auswirkungen sowie Erleben von Therapieangeboten und Einstellung.

Das erste Projekt ergab die Bedeutung der Lebenserfahrung von Senior*innen als mögliche Ressource in der Gesundheitsversorgung. Das zweite Projekt zeigte Schmerzlinderung bei Patient*innen mit chronischen Schmerzen durch eine Berührungsbehandlung, sowie Entspannung, Wohlbefinden und verbesserte therapeutische Beziehungen bei Patient*innen und Pflegekräften. Das dritte Projekt berichtete von positiv erlebten Auswirkungen auf Psyche und Körper von Akupunktur während der Chemotherapie bei Brustkrebs und der Bedeutung von Coping-Strategien zur Verbesserung der Lebensqualität. Und das vierte Projekt wies auf eine positive Bewertung von Nutzer*innen und Akteur*innen einer psychosozialen Beratungsstelle hin, insbesondere Stärkung psychosozialer Ressourcen und zur Krisenintervention.

Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass in allen Studien die Bedeutung der Beziehungen, der Einfluss der eigenen Einstellung auf Krankheitserleben und -bewältigung und der Wunsch als Mensch in seiner Gesamtheit gesehen zu werden eruiert wurde. Insbesondere zur Untersuchung von komplementären und Integrativen Therapien und im psychosozialen Bereich sind qualitative Methoden besonders gut geeignet, da sie die Effekte komplexer Therapieverfahren gut darstellen. Studien im Mixed Methods Design ermöglichen einen vertieften und erweiterten Erkenntnisgewinn durch die Anwendung multiperspektivischer Methoden. Qualitative Forschung und Mixed Methods Research stellen daher eine Bereicherung im medizinischen Wissenschaftsdiskurs dar.

Kardiovaskuläre Erkrankungen stellen die weltweit führende Todesursache dar, weshalb ihrer Früherkennung eine übergeordnete Rolle zukommt. In dieser kumulativen Habilitationsschrift wurde experimentell untersucht, wie sich verschiedene Pathologien in ihren Frühphasen auf die Deformationseigenschaften ("Strain") des linken Ventrikels auswirken, und wie dies für diagnostische Zwecke genutzt werden könnte. Am Beispiel von Subendokardfibrose, Adipositas-Kardiomyopathie und Anthrazyklin-induzierter Kardiotoxizität wurden verschiedene Mechanismen identifiziert, die zu einer eingeschränkten linksventrikulären Myokarddeformation führen. Dabei wurde insbesondere der Stellenwert des longitudinalen Strains als sensitiver Parameter mit diagnostischem Potenzial in der Früherkennung kardiovaskulärer Erkrankungen herausgearbeitet.

The notion of modeling complex physical systems using randomness goes back to the beginnings of statistical mechanics. Since then, randomized physical systems have been a subject of study from many-body physics to quantum information. In this thesis, we will examine random quantum systems in different contexts.

To start, we discuss the emergence of equilibrium statistical mechanics in isolated quantum systems, more specifically, the phenomena of equilibration and thermalization. How these two very common and intuitive phenomena arise from unitary evolution is a riddle that, despite intense research, is not as of yet fully solved. We will argue that while it is hard to derive this phenomenology from the microscopic description of a specific physical system, such phenomena are \emph{typical}, in the sense that they occur in the vast majority of physical systems, and under some assumptions their absence is sensitive to small, hard to detect changes in the underlying Hamiltonian.

We will then move on to systems which seem to avoid thermalization by retaining memory of their initial conditions due to a phenomenon known as many-body localization. Most systems known to exhibit such a behavior are so called disordered systems, described by an ensemble of Hamiltonians in which certain couplings are drawn randomly. We will discuss the notion of local integrals of motion in many-body localized systems and describe a method to measure their properties by observing the spread of entanglement in the system. Following this, we will more closely examine the role of randomness and disorder in the emergence of many-body localization by examining the local integral of motions of disorder-free systems which appear to resist thermalization.

Finally, we will discuss how randomizing a quantum system can allow one to extract information about its state. More specifically, we describe an algorithm which interpolates between two known extreme schemes, one allowing to capture only local properties, and the other only globally, and show that this intermediate version is able to perform efficiently in both regimes.